Desolate The Complete Trilogy

15



The girl had run down what appeared to be the main road in town. Down the street I could make out a large group of abandoned vehicles. They surrounded one of the few multistory structures in town. It was painted bright white and stood out like a gleaming temple compared to the other shabby buildings surrounding it. As I got closer, I could make out the sign above the door: “Boones Run Health Centre.”

As I weaved through the maze of cars, I saw many of them were still occupied. A few drivers were still behind the wheel, slumped over or lying back in the seat, covered in blood and flies. Many of the dead were in the passenger seats, no doubt left behind as the drivers ran ahead to the clinic for help that never arrived. Several dogs were nosing about, investigating the dead. I wondered if they were immune to the disease like I was.

The front of the clinic was in shambles. Several bodies littered the sidewalk in front of the main entrance. The doors were locked and it looked like they had taken quite a beating from the rocks, pipes, and lumber scraps scattered around. The door windows were smashed but remained intact due to the reinforced metal mesh woven through the glass. The windows on the clinic walls all had bars over them, the glass behind them broken.

There was no sign of the girl so I decided to try to find a way into the clinic. I walked down the sidewalk, looking for any other possible access. If anybody besides the girl and the bum were alive in this town, I figured there would be a good chance they were inside.

In the alley behind the building, a cinderblock wall about ten feet tall formed a little courtyard. It smelled awful back there but I continued forward. At the far end, the rear half of a pickup truck stuck out of a crumbled section of the wall. I climbed into the bed of the truck, planning on jumping into the courtyard, when I froze.

The entire yard was full of bodies.

Near the back door, body bags were stacked three or four high. The clinic must have run out of bags quickly, and I doubt they had much of a supply to begin with. The rest of the bodies rotted out in the sun and the elements. The sea of flies was so thick it practically looked like a storm cloud. The farther the bodies were from the door, the less organized the piles became.

Speaking of piles, the truck was in the middle of a doozy. When it smashed through the wall, it drove right through a sea of corpses before stopping. The mangled mess of bones and guts and gray matter under the wheels made the scene that much more gruesome. If that wasn’t enough, I peered into the cab of the truck and spotted what was left of the driver. Apparently, he lost hope when he saw what was left of the hospital. The interior of the truck was painted with the contents of his head-thanks to the handgun on the seat. I considering grabbing the gun for a second before the smell got to me and I gagged. I stumbled out of the back of the truck while dry heaving. The air was a little better outside of the walls and I got myself together.

Before I jumped off the truck, I noticed the loading dock door was up a few feet. Judging by the large pile of corpses below it, the hospital staff eventually resorted to simply tossing them off the dock. If the regular door was locked, at least I knew I’d be able to get in that way. The question was, did I still want to go in?

It was obvious by now the entire town was lost. Sure, there was the girl and the homeless guy, and probably a few others around town who were immune like me, but I doubt if they’d be able to help me. They were probably in no better shape than I was. There didn’t appear to be any electricity in town and no authority still standing. I could commandeer one of the cars sitting around, but would it be better anyplace else? This was only one small town. I could only imagine what the bigger cities must be like.

Still, somebody had locked the clinic doors from the inside when things went to shit. I felt like I had to find out if there were any survivors inside.

There was a small yard off the alley with some laundry hanging on a clothes line. I grabbed a towel and tied it around my head to cover my nose and mouth. It didn’t kill the stench completely, but it was better than nothing. I returned to the truck, climbed over, and dropped into the courtyard.

I slowly weaved through the sea of death, careful not to trip and end up face-to-face with one of the bodies. I finally reached the back door after what seemed like hours. Locked. The door was solid metal and secured with a dead bolt.

I looked over at the loading dock. It was about three or four feet off the ground. In order to get up there, I would literally have to climb up the pile of bodies below it. Before I had a chance to lose my nerve, I headed that way.

As I got closer to the dock, the ground disappeared and I couldn’t help but walk on the dead. Glassy eyes stared at me as I carefully stepped on bloated flesh. Flies buzzed around my face. I kept waiting for a hand to reach out and grab my ankle. A survivor among the dead. Lying there. Ready to drag me down. I felt my sanity slipping away with each step.

Climbing up to the loading dock wasn’t as difficult as I feared. A mad dash up the pile of bodies and I was there. I slipped under the door and into the dark clinic.





I ripped the towel off my face and used it to clean my hands as best I could. Once or twice I lost my balance out there and had to break my fall with my hands. I may be immune to the infection that killed everybody, but who knows what other germs were cooking up out there? I wanted to rip off my clothes and shower in scalding hot water. But that would have to wait.

The only door to the receiving area led to a hallway barely lit by emergency lighting. I moved slowly down the hall, waiting for my eyes to adjust in the low light. The air in the clinic was thick and I was dripping with sweat. What I wouldn’t give for some air conditioning and an iced tea.

I passed exam rooms and triage stations with overflowing garbage cans and puddles of dried blood and vomit on the floor. The poor people who worked there had been busy right up to the end. My hopes of finding survivors were quickly fading. This place was dead like every other building in town. Still, it was secure, and at the very least I would have a safe place to spend the night.

After exploring most of the first floor, I headed upstairs and discovered twenty or so patient rooms. At least half of the rooms had bodies in them. These were probably some of the first victims to get sick before all hell broke loose. I shut their doors and looked for a clean one I could perhaps sleep in for the night.

While I was looking for a room, I came across a door marked Nutrition. It was a small kitchenette with a refrigerator and a coffee station. The fridge was loaded with water, soda, juices, and soft foods like gelatin, yogurt, and pudding. The bottom shelf held a few sandwiches wrapped in plastic and labeled with marker-ham, turk, chz. I picked up one of the cans of cola and it was still cold, despite the fridge’s lack of power. The building probably had a generator that recently gave out long after the city power died. I popped open the can and took a healthy sip.

The cabinets held a bountiful supply of crackers, granola bars, instant soup packets, and other dry snacks. Nothing that would be confused with gourmet dining, but at least I wouldn’t starve to death. The scene out in the courtyard killed my appetite for the time being, but I felt better knowing all this food was here. I finished the soda and ripped a satisfying belch that echoed throughout the second floor of the dead hospital. I was just about to place the empty can on the counter when I heard footsteps running down the corridor.

I stuck my head out just in time to see a door closing at the end of the hall.

“Hey!” I shouted. “Hello?”

I ran down the hall to the door and entered what appeared to be a large storeroom. The emergency lights flickered and complained with a loud buzzing noise. The door behind me closed and I jumped at the sound.

“Is anybody in here?” I asked. “Don’t be afraid, I come in peace.”

Come in peace? Really? I couldn’t believe I’d just said that. Like I just stepped out of a UFO or something.

I took a few steps and the lights decided that this would be the perfect time to finally die. The buzzing stopped and I was engulfed in total darkness and silence. I bumped into something, lost my balance, and tumbled to the floor along with a shelf filled with boxes. I never considered myself to be a clumsy person before, but this felt like about the hundredth time I’d fallen in the last few days.

As all the crap I knocked over settled to the floor, I heard a shuffle from the far end of the room. Somebody else was in there with me. I sat perfectly still, holding my breath and straining my eyes to see anything through the blackness.

“Hello?” I said again.

The sound of my own voice, a few octaves higher than normal, sounded weird in the dark. More shuffling from the other side of the room. I pictured one of the dead people from the yard heading my way. Blood-soaked clothing, swollen face, arms outstretched, coming for me. Coming to make me pay for starting all this mess.

The room suddenly filled with light as a door on the far end opened and a form slipped through. As quickly as it had come, the light faded as the door shut and I was surrounded by black again. I scrambled to my feet and ran in that direction, knocking over more shelves and boxes along the way. I held my hands out, frantically looking for the door, and I found the wall. I followed it and finally reached the door.

I entered a room filled with filing cabinets from floor to ceiling. A window let in light from the outside. A broom stood in the corner of the room and I grabbed it. Not much of a weapon against the flesh-eating zombie I was convinced I was about to run into, but it felt good to be holding something. I would sweep it into submission.

Slowly weaving through the maze of files, I turned the corner and found the zombie. She was sitting on the floor in the corner with her knees pulled up to her chest. It was the little girl from the street.