Free Convoy 19: A Zombie Novel by Mark Rivett

lumbered toward him.
    Kelly fired again, and more red erupted from the monster’s back… but it did not stop.
    She fired a third time and then a fourth, and finally the zombie stopped moving toward the doctor.  Its shoulders were slouched, and the life had seemed to drain from its body, until it turned to look over its shoulder at Kelly. A hollow moan issued through its bloodstained jaws.
    “The head!” Dr. Thomson yelled. “Shoot it in the head!”
    The monster turned toward her and took one step followed by another in a relentless quest for its new victim. Kelly took aim. “How could something so fundamental be so easily forgotten?” Kelly wondered as she pulled the trigger.
    The rifle bucked in her grip, and the beast dropped to its knees before thudding face-first into the ground.
    “He…lp…meeeee!” Sergeant Adams whimpered. A dark red puddle of blood had formed in the gravel beneath him, and his arms were stained red to the elbows.
    Kelly and Dr. Thomson rushed to the dying man with a sense of utter helplessness. Even if they could stop the bleeding, the creature’s bite condemned him to join the ranks of the undead.
    “Heeelp me!” Sergeant Adams groaned again as he looked into Kelly’s eyes. He gasped for breath like a fish out of water. His strength was draining from his body.  His arms became too heavy to place pressure on his wound and fell limply to the ground. The blood pumped from his wound to the rhythm of his weakening heartbeat.
    “I’m sorry!” Tears welled up in Kelly’s eyes, as she took aim at the Sergeant’s head. “I’m so, so sorry.”
    “Do… It…” The Sergeant nodded back at her in understanding.
    Kelly pulled the trigger.
    Dr. Thomson put his hand on Kelly’s shoulder, offering some small comfort. They had both seen plenty of terminally ill patients pass, but this was something else entirely. Being the hand of mercy was a scarring task.  The moment was short lived.
    Kelly turned, gun first, towards the rooftop exit. The metal door stood between them and the horrible sounds of screaming and gunshots that came from within the DDC. Kelly wondered why the guard she had taken the gun from had not come through to attack them. She gave Dr. Thomson an apprehensive look. Dr. Thomson cautiously inched toward the door before pulling it open. The only evidence of the soldier who had been killed in the hallway was a gruesome bloodstain that ran down the wall and onto the floor. A crimson smear trailed off into the darkness of the hall. Bloody red footprints told the story simply enough. The reanimated guard had gone to hunt for prey inside the DDC.
    “What do we do?” Kelly whispered.
    Dr. Thomson had no answer. His body shook with fear. He poked his head inside the hallway and peered into the clinic.
    Kelly slid into the corridor as quietly as she could.
    A rapid popping of gunfire from the ground floor prompted a wave of screams and gasps from the families huddled together in the second story living area. Kelly inched her way down to the end of the hallway, stairwell on her right, living area on her left. There were perhaps a dozen families huddled under cots staring back at her with wide-eyed terror.
    Movement in Dr. Thomson’s office caught her attention. There, on the floor, huddled a shadow hunched over a body. The disgusting sound of wet chewing sickened Kelly as she drew closer.
    Dr. Thomson slid in behind Kelly. “That’s…”
    “Shhh!” Kelly ordered.
    “Shoot it!” Dr. Thomson whispered.
    “Shhh!” Kelly repeated.
    Kelly arrived at the stairwell to the ground floor. She chanced a glance as she slid past. A body lay halfway down the stairs, but it was otherwise vacant. She took one step, then another toward Dr. Thomson’s office.
    Yet another chorus of screaming from the living area followed another series of pops from downstairs. Kelly turned to the hiding families and placed her finger over her lips.
    When she turned back toward the office, the ghoul was