The Snipers of the Apocalypse

Doctor of the Dead Part 5

Everybody was quiet as Murphy led us back down the hall. Although Cass was still breathing when Murphy had made his exit, the feeling of loss hung heavy above our heads.

"Check this out." Murphy breathed as he pointed to the floor, never breaking his stride. "This trail of blood, leads to here."

Following the smeared blood trail, that looked as if someone had been dragged, the five of us rounded the corner, and were welcomed to the end of the hall by yet another red emergency light.

"Biocontainment." I read the words written in bold on the door, a sour taste entering my mouth as I did so.

Warren shot Murphy a look, before pulling her machete out of its holster on her hip and swinging open the door. That look she shot said it all.

If it wasn't for this damned mission, we would have turned around a long time ago.

We cautiously entered the next part of the building, coming into a room with white lights. If I hadn't known any better, it would have looked like this room was so far untouched by the apocalypse.

There were glass cupboards lining the walls, but what made my anxiety spike were the odd metal coffin-looking-things that were lined up in the center of the room. There were roughly 10 of them, and judging by the lack of noise coming from inside, they weren't much of a threat for the time being.

"I hate this place." I muttered to my boyfriend under my breath as the five of us took in our surroundings.

"We'll be out soon." He reassured me quietly.

"If I die down here, I'm going to kill that motherfucker." I spat. "If you get hurt or die down here, he's gonna wish I would kill him." My hushed words dripped with pure venom. 10k stopped and turned to me, holding my face in his hands.

"Neither one of us is getting hurt, or dying down here. Trust me."

Before I could reply, our conversation was cut short.

"Could this place get any creepier?" Doc thought aloud as we made our way slowly through the room, eyes and ears peeled.

"Yes." Warren and I replied at the same time. I jumped slightly when 10k gave my left hand a light squeeze, I hadn't even noticed he was holding it. My right hand tapped nervously on the handle of my pistol from its holster, trying not to pull it out so I wouldn't use that last bullet.

When we neared the end of the room, Warren, who had been leading us, looked to her left and came to a slow stop. The rest of us followed suit, wondering what she was looking at.

Light, strained gargles filled my ears as my eyes took in the sight. Half of a body, skin dried, gray and decaying, laying face-down on a gurney. There was no skin on its ribs, the bones on full display while what was once it's entrails lay behind it. It looked what I imagined it would look like if you were to tear a mummy in half.

"Oh, my God." Warren breathed as we moved slightly closer. Murphy took long, slow strides, until he was standing next to the poor soul.

"It's alive." I choked. There wasn't much of a smell, but something about its eyes had caught me off guard. They didn't look like a Z's eyes. They looked human- the color faded, yes, but there were still hints of a soul in there.

Another reassuring squeeze to my hand from 10k pulled me out of my thoughts, this time I found myself squeezing back.

"Is that doctor Merch?" Doc's question hung heavy in the air, all of us praying he wasn't correct.

"No." Murphy stated confidently. "Somebody else." He thought for a moment. "It's the lab tech from the video."

Doyle? "Holy shit." I hadn't realized I spoke out loud until Warren shot me a glance.