Free Convoy 19: A Zombie Novel by Mark Rivett Page A

gone. Kelly froze with dread. Had it slipped out of the office? Was it hiding in wait for her, ready to attack?
    Kelly forced herself against petrifying terror to take another step forward, until she could reach the office door. Slowly, she stretched her trembling arm out and gripped the door handle.
    More gunfire and yelling from downstairs broke the tension, and Kelly slammed the office door closed. She released the breath she had been holding and scurried back toward Dr. Thomson.
    “What now?” Dr. Thomson asked quietly.
    “Stay here. Watch the stairwell door,” Kelly answered back.
    Dr. Thomson nodded.
    Summoning her courage again, Kelly forced herself onto the first step of the stairway. She took one step after another, slowly descending to the ground floor. She held the rifle as she had seen soldiers hold their weapons, but her discomfort and lack of training only enhanced her fear.
    She stepped over the dead body. Kelly knew the man, a father of two young children. He had always been among the first to offer help whenever an opportunity came up. He had been appreciative of the DDC staff and did whatever he could to lighten the burden on them. No doubt, he had heard the commotion, and his willingness to help had cost him his life.
    When Kelly arrived at the foot of the stairs, she looked out into the darkness of the ground floor. The gunfire had stopped, and she had hoped to see guards in charge of an unfortunate but resolved situation. Instead, she was confronted by blackness. Two flashlights lay on the ground, casting small pools of light onto the clinic floor. Curtains were drawn over the front windows, and the faint yellow street light was not enough to illuminate the large room.
    Kelly felt around for the light switch just outside the stairwell wall. A shadow passed over one of the flashlights on the ground, and Kelly froze. Her heart hammered in her chest, and her breath sounded like a roar in her ears.
    With a flick, the room burst into white fluorescent light. Cots, blankets, pillows, and sheets, were strewn about with the day-to-day possessions of the people who had called the DDC home. Overturned tables and chairs lay on the ground. Clothes, backpacks, and suitcases littered the floor. Among all the clutter, there lay over a dozen bodies.
    Snarls rumbled through the room. Ghouls from every nook and cranny lurched away from consuming the freshly dead to lock their eyes onto Kelly. Other newly dead stirred with unlife and rose with a groan to make their way toward the promise of fresh meat. Kelly was suddenly thrust into her worst nightmare. People she had tried to help, friends, colleagues, and security guards – everyone she had known for the past few months fixated on her with an animalistic hunger.
    “Shit!” Kelly dashed up the stairs. Behind her were the inhuman howls of the undead.
    Dr. Thomson extended his hand to Kelly and she saw his eyes grow wide as he looked past her.
    “Oh… my… God…” he whispered. His face was a mask of horror.
    “Close the door!” She screamed.

 
    Chapter 8
     
    Pam sighted her rifle and fired two shots into the cadaver shambling towards her. “We have to leave right now! Air support is on its way! We need to be gone when it gets here!” She rushed to join Miguel crouched against the back tire of a hummer. Moments ago, bullets had been clanging and buzzing around them, but now, soldiers and civilians alike turned to defend themselves against an onslaught of hungry undead.
    Miguel watched the corpse Pam had shot sway back and forth from the impact of the bullets… only to continue its pursuit after regaining its balance. “The head, Pam! Shoot them in the head!” Miguel took aim at the zombie and fired. The monster’s head snapped back, and it crumpled into a heap. Soldiers were trained to shoot at the center mass of their target. The torso of a person was not only the easiest to hit, but contained a wide range of vital organs that—once ruptured—would