I arrived at work and walked into the kitchen. I put on the first pot of coffee and grabbed a double shot energy drink. I cracked it open and gulped the coffee down. I put my earphones in and played my morning playlist to get me in the zone. The morning cook arrived shortly after and began her side of prep. I made sure everything was stocked and good to go, before going to check the papers. I began making cards and an hour later my coworkers began to arrive. It was starting out well and I had only one complaint, coworkers, sure they did the bare minimum but I mean, seriously? Step it up.
I joked and laughed with them as we commenced service. We dished out trays and when we finished service we began to stock up the fridge, the same ol' same ol'. It wasn't until after the last service of the day shift that it all went down. My coworkers left and I stuck around to talk to the boys on Nightshift. Derek, Hunter, Mark, Adam and Zach the cook, worked the night with a few newbies. I was talking to them about how the service went, like a daily report so they know what to expect for the upcoming dinner service. Mark received a call from the kitchen phone and left to take the patients what they ordered.
3:10 everyone's phone started blaring. That eerie unsettling alert that issues for important messages. I yanked out my headphones, I felt deaf, the volume was on the highest level. I looked at my screen to read the report.
'Attention! This is a National Emergency Alert! For the safety of you and your family please remain indoors. Report any suspicious activity or suspicious acting persons to your local police departments. This is National Emergency Alert!'
What the hell was this about? The boys started scanning the medias they were on. They were trying to find anything on the situation. We were taken by surprise as the intercom on the hospital overhead speaker beeped on. The voice that rang out said, "Code Bronze! Code Bronze for every unit in the hospital! I repeat Code Bronze."
For those of you who don't know a Code Bronze meant lock down. The units close and seal or lock down to prevent intruders from entering or leaving. The intercom continued, "Code Purple, ER, Code Purple, ER, Code Purple, ER!"
A Code Purple was meant for Security, so the guards were going to the Emergency Room. Maybe there was active violence but that code wasn't called, maybe it was a suspect? I didn't know. Until the Code Bronze was lifted no one was allowed to leave.
What are the odds of a national emergency alert and these codes being called on the same day? My mind was reeling trying to connect imaginary dots.
Derek stood up and stretched, "Imma check on my kiddos."
"Same." Hunter agreed, after him everyone started calling their families. They were checking to make sure everyone was okay and if anyone had found anything out about what was going on. There were reports of global incidents but nothing concrete. Our attention was brought back to the world around us as muffled bangs hit out ears.
"What the hell was that?" Adam asked.
"Were those gunshots?"
"Bro those were gun shots." Hunter confirmed.
More muffled bangs. The intercom beeped on once again. "Code Silver, Code Silver, Code Silver." A code Silver was active violence."
What was going on in the Emergency Room?
Another announcement this one need security on Medical Surgery, also know as MedSurge or 2West. After that one ended another one, Critical Care needed security as well.
I walked through the cafeteria and into the kitchen. I peeked out the kitchen door. No one in sight and no sounds to be heard. I stepped out into the empty hallway and approached the set of double doors. No one. I shoved them but the doors didn't budge. Magnetically sealed. A scream pierced the silence and more gunshot were heard.
I started to walked back to the kitchen when there was a frantic banging on the door, I jumped, startled at the sudden noise. "LET ME IN, LET ME IN!"
It was a nurse I knew from Med Surge, she kept looking behind her. We figured out how to get the door open and she closed it behind her, the seal didn't click so now the door could be open and closed at our convenience.
She was my height and blonde. She was panting and was waiting for someone behind her. More gun shots and screams as people flooded the floor, nurses, doctors and patients in gowns running scared from some unseen force. They converged on the elevator down the hall. The elevator was taking forever. More gunshots. A gowned man started hugging a nurse and I fixed my glasses to better see what was going on.
He wasn't hugging her he was biting her. Blood began to bleed through her scrubs and the group scattered again, running in all directions to find an escape. Kahlenn, waved down her friend and opened the door for her. Kenna ran towards us and Jadyn followed behind her. As they approached the hallway in front of the door Kenna was tackled to the floor and was ripped into by a white jacket doctor. My eyes widened and my brain went silent with surprise. Jadyn kept running, she made it to us and we closed the door. What the hell. When Kenna stopped struggling the doctor lost interest and made his way back down the hall towards the other people who were lingering by the elevator.
I moved to the front of our group of three and peered through the small window to the floor. Kenna was a bloody mess and I'm not speaking in British terms. Her stomach was ripped open, blood and entrails covering the floor. Her finger twitched. My mind raced, maybe she passed out from pain or shock and was waking up, maybe it was the last of her nerves reaching their endings. I stepped back as she suddenly sat up.
Gotta be rigor mortis right? There have been cases of people sitting up and stuff when they're dead. So maybe that was it. I looked back out. Nope. She was crawling. Nope, nope, definitely not rigor mortis.
My mind shattered as the realization hit me. This was the zombie apocalypse! I got excited. Friends and family were going to die but this is what I've been waiting for my whole life. Now wasn't the time to be scared, it wasn't the time for confusion. I turned to the nurses and ushered them back to the kitchen. I closed the door and went into the cafeteria.
Everyone in attendance looked up as I entered followed by the two nurses. "Guys we have a problem, zombies are eating people." I said a little too nonchalant for the urgency of the situation.
They thought I was joking at first but the nurses corroborated by telling us what happened on the 2nd floor. They said a patient was acting weird and was running a fever. He started getting violent and having outbursts. Security came to restrain them and he bit one. The guard who was bit started to show similar symptoms and it spiraled from there, more people got bit and more started biting others, biting turned into devouring and that's when panic started. That's when security started shooting. They were told by an RN that the same thing was happening downstairs in the ER.
Still not fully grasping the weight of the situation they went out to the hall and looked out the double door windows. Once they saw the blood and gore they began to realize how real this was.
Derek got his jacket and told us he was leaving. He walked to the back door of the kitchen, went to his car and pulled out of the parking lot. That left Hunter, Adam, Mark, Zach, the two newbies Evan and Anna, myself and the two nurses. But where was Mark? I just now only noticed that Mark wasn't here, he'd went onto the floor and I didn't see him come back.
"Mark!" I shouted in the kitchen. Everyone began to look around. No Mark, not in the cafeteria, he wasn't in the office, nor was he in the storeroom.
"Guys we need a plan and fast."
I pulled out my sketchbook and began to draw floor plans of the hospital. To those who think this is ridiculous, you don't know how much I walk the floors of this hospital. I could give directions almost anywhere in here and more than one way to get there.
Once we sketched the floors we used them as a map of operations. We had food and electricity for now. We need inventory done on all food and drinks. The frozen foods and fresh foods will go bad before the canned and packaged ones would so those will have to be used first.
We started looking for weapons and if you've ever been in a kitchen or watched TV you know there's a lot of weapons in a kitchen. There's steak knives, kitchen knives, and clevers. There's pots and pans. We have a pot lid the size of a rotella shield. There's mop and broom handles. Chairs and tables.
We all gathered in the cafeteria. "First order of business, sleeping arrangements. The clean linens are right down the hall. Opposite of the double doors. We can walk down there and get sheets and pillows for everyone one. There's also the cleaning supply closet. We can get stuff to clean and sanitize, if whatever is happening to them is spreading through germs or bacteria." This was our first mission. If there's one thing I know is I can only stay up for 72 hours before it catches up to me and if we are all loopy we won't be a help to anyone. I grabbed two kitchen knives. Adam grabbed to heavy frying pans.
"We'll go down and get two of the big trash bags, fill one up with the blankets and the other with pillows."
We opened the door and peeked out. No one around. We crept down the hall. As we approached the closet a housekeeper walked out and scared us. Before we could recover, she let out an earpieceing scream and pointed behind us. There was a zombie stumbling behind the double doors. Its head snapped in the direction of the housekeeper. It let out a gurgled roar as it rushed forward. At first I had that sense of security, the one where you're scared but know it's going to be okay. That was before I remembered the seal. The magnetic seal wasn't sealed anymore and the door gave way. The zombie started to race towards us. We all sort of froze with fear as it got closer and closer with each limping step. It's hands stripped of flesh reaching out in front for his next meal.