Science Fiction Smackdown II Entry (Zombie-Fun-Excitement-Spectacular!!!!)

Chapter 16: Atlantis-on-Sea

In the middle of the grassy area was a large flagpole, empty now, the grass overgrown in tufts around it. There were benches facing the sea, and, on the far side of each arcaded corridor, locked door after locked door. Jenna banged on a few; there was no response, and she hadn't expected one. This was the mainland; everyone had probably left or become infected months ago. Eventually, though, there was an unlocked door, and Jenna forced Amy, Oliver, and David into the flat behind it.

The interior of the flat was all white, but rather than looking sterile, the rooms looked welcoming and friendly. Whoever had lived here, they had left expecting to come back some day. There was no rotting food in the cupboards, and the refrigerator had been emptied and turned off, but the flotsam and jetsam of ordinary life were everywhere. There were cups and saucers, plates and bowls stacked neatly on shelves by the kitchen sink. here was a television set surrounded by a couch and two comfy chairs piled high with pillows. There were sheets on the bed in the larger bedroom, and in the smaller bedroom, there was a crib and a pile of plush animals and cuddly rag dolls. Oliver fell on these at once, and, when he emerged from the pile with a teddy bear in hand, Jenna didn't have the heart to order him to put it back.

Jenna got David installed on the couch. He was semi-conscious, babbling incoherently, possibly delirious - all bad signs, according to what Tim had told them.

"But it is treatable," Tim had insisted. "You see what we managed to do with our specimen. But it's better still if he never turns at all."

"Can you do that?" Jenna had asked, desperate. Her heart had sunken into her stomach when Tim had shaken his head, no.

"Why mention it then?!"

"I can't do it. But there are people who can. On the mainland. Take him to the hospital at Milford-on-Sea," Tim had replied.

So here they were. Milford-on-Sea. The white house was the most noticeable building on the shore near the hospital, so that was the landmark Tim had told them to find. Jenna knew they had to find the hospital quickly. David wasn't himself, that much was clear. Jenna kissed Oliver on the forehead, and said, "Amy, watch over them for a while."

Amy, hugging a red and yellow striped cushion to her chest, moaned. "I can't!"

"You most certainly can. Just lock the door, and don't open it for anyone but me."

Amy shook her head, but Jenna simply said "Amy!" in her sharpest voice, and stepped back out into the garden.

~*~

This time, Jenna made her way around to the front of the building. From here, the white house looked even bigger than it had from the sea. Here there was a turret, and a long, paved drive that led out to the road. There were no trees, no bushes, no flowers. There were no signs of zombies, thank goodness, but Jenna still sprinted through the open area. She was panting by the time she reached the wrought-iron gate.

It was difficult to scale the gate; her feet were awkwardly big compared to the narrow space between the bars, and the decorative filligree-work ended in numerous pointed arrow shapes. Eventually, though, awkwardly balanced, Jenna scrabbled up and over. She tripped as she landed, ending in a sprawled heap, skinned elbow stinging.

Jenna looked first to her left, then to her right. Tim had given her instructions to reach the hospital from here. It should be a left here, then a right at Lucerne road. That was the quickest way, Tim had told her. No more than five minutes. If you reach the church, you've gone too far. Jenna went left.

It had been a long time since she had gone wandering entirely alone like this, aside from when they had been on the island. She had appointed herself Oliver's guardian within weeks of the first event. She had found him wandering an abandoned street, and since then, she had not really been alone. They had lived in the hotel for months, and now there was Amy, and of course, David. Jenna had to admit that David was useful. He was resourceful enough that she had felt safe travelling with him. She felt less safe now, all alone.

A street came up on her right, and Jenna turned down it, unthinkingly. To her right was a picket fence, stained brown. On her left, a row of bushes and shrubs, a tangle of cedar and privet and spirea. She tried to stay on the margin of the shrubbery, figuring this made her less visible, and plunged on. Halfway down the road, the fence and the shrubs abruptly ended, and that was when she saw them.

Under a huge pine tree stood not one, not two, but three of the creatures. One had been a man, and one a woman, who grotesquely still wore a pair of earrings, little metal stars dangling by her cheekbones. It was the third creature, however, that made Jenna gasp. The third creature was a child.

The child zombie was halfway in height between Oliver and Amy, and Jenna couldn't tell if it had been a boy or a girl. The blue jeans and red-and-gray knit pullover did not provide enough clues. All Jenna was certain of was the expression on the child-creature's face – blind, mindless hunger. And when the child groaned, the man and woman turned, and their faces bore the same expression.

Tired though she was, Jenna broke into a run. She vaulted over the low wall that marked off someone's flower bed, snagging a cuff in the barberry. The creatures followed, and Jenna forced herself over another low wall, ducking her head as she ran under a shrub she didn't recognize, something spiky and tropical. Running around the side of the house, she found herself on another street. She turned, only to see the creatures were not as far behind as she had hoped.

This street was wider, but still lined by fences and hedges. There was nowhere to go except straight ahead. So Jenna ran. She could feel the lactic acid building up in her legs, her limbs slowly cramping, her stomach churning – and then, inevitably, she fell.

Time seemed to slow down as she fell. She could see the ground rising towards her outstretched hands, and she remembered her skinned elbow, and winced. She hit the ground with a jarring thud, just as, somewhere from the trees to her left, she heard a voice call out.

~*~

The bearded, bespectacled man looked over at his female colleague.

"Well?" He asked, impatiently.

"She's out cold, and her pupils aren't dilating," the young woman replied.

"This is one of those times I wish I were the useful sort of doctor," the man sighed. "Then I'd know what to do when a zombie attack interrupts my glass of wine."

"That's a bad attitude. Some of the others are medical doctors, just because you and I aren't doesn't mean that we can't help this woman."

"Fine, fine. You're right, of course. We did chase off the zombies, after all. And," the bearded man added thoughtfully, "This is a good excuse to break down the door that leads into Accident and Emergency. I've been dying to see in there."

Note: As always, the full prompt is available at the external link. This time around, the characters had to get to Milford-on-Sea, have an injury result in a break-in at an unexpected location, include reference to the song 'Searching for Atlantis' by Saxon, and include three ordinary household objects (in my case, the teddy, striped cushion, and glass of wine)