After (#3)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Max and JJ leapt to their feet in a burst of simultaneous, adrenaline-fuelled desperation and darted towards the elevator shaft. However, as JJ looked over his shoulder to chance an inspection of the unmanned barricade, he noticed Max make a late dart towards the recently-vacated treatment room.

"What are you doing?" he screamed above the unnerving sounds of wood splintering and metal creaking.

"CLIMB!" Max roared, his eyes wide and demanding.

As JJ continued to hesitate at the base of the elevator shaft, hearing the echoing cries of his beloved Lizzie, the door to the laboratory finally gave way. Initially, a single undead body toppled through a sizeable gap in the centre of the door, dragging its rotten flesh through endless splinters to do so. Within another second, the door itself was torn from its hinges and a river of green and yellow limbs cascaded through the rectangular portal to hell.

Taking one glance up towards the small window of light at the top of the shaft, spotting the silhouette of Lizzie's face peering into the abyss, JJ swore under his breath and darted into the treatment room after Max. The older survivor slammed the door behind them, barricaded it as best he could with the treatment table and a cupboard, before unleashing his anger on JJ.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" he screamed at the unsuspecting teenager.

"You said you'd be right behind me!" JJ shot back accusingly, but unable to replicate Max's rage.

"I also told you to climb!"

JJ scoffed, "And, what? You were just stopping to get a plaster?"

"I was stopping..." Max sighed. "To put an end to all of this. To find us a way out."

"When you say us, you mean us though, don't you?" JJ sniped, gesturing towards himself and those at the top of the elevator shaft. "What about you?"

"This was a one-way ticket, kid," Max explained, now scoping out the ceiling with the tips of his fingers. "I was hoping that, for once, you'd let me ride the train alone."

The glass windows adjoining the treatment room to the main laboratory were already cracking under the pressure of the mounting wave of clickers. In the few seconds that Max and JJ had taken to hash it out, the room had filled to near capacity.

"At least tell me what you're looking for so I can help," JJ suggested.

Max threw a hand towards the far side of the room, "Fetch me that trolley."

JJ did as he was asked, wheeling the metal table over to Max who steadied it and hoisted himself on top. Now with an extra foot or two to his name, he was able to properly push against the ceiling tiles, trying a few until one came loose. He tossed the discarded tile to the floor and placed a hand on either side of the hole, pulling himself up to peer inside.

"I believe we have our exit," he announced via a muffled echo.

"Where the hell is that going to take us?" JJ questioned.

Max's head remerged from his newly created 'exit', "In the short-term, away from here. In the long-term, maybe something better."

JJ peered down at the tile beside his feet and then up again at Max, "Does it not worry you that you pulled that thing off within seconds, but now expect the rest of them to hold out body weights?"

"Oh, quit your whining. Just lean on the supports in between the tiles and try not to fall."

"That simple is it?"

"In principle," Max grinned.

The latest sound of glass cracking represented their cue to leave, as Max hauled himself up into the crawl space above the laboratory before offering JJ a hand up. The tiles immediately welted under their weight as they spread themselves as wide as possible on their stomachs.