Free The Demented Z (Book 3): Contagion by Derek J Thomas Page B

went silent, only the screams
remained.
    Bear’s eyes went wide as he spun for the door.
  Tom followed in his wake, noticing that
Hannah was already turning the corner to make her way down the stairs.
  The pounding of boots echoed up the stairs as
they raced down and around the tight bend.
    Tom hesitated at the top, not liking the sinking feeling in
his stomach. He glanced over his
shoulder, verifying the hall behind him was empty.
  He rushed over to the nearby window that
looked out over the backside of the base.  
Empty white snow and roof lines stared back at him.
    Abruptly the screams from below came to a stop.
  There was the faint din of multiple voices
talking at once. Tom began to turn and
head their direction when he caught movement below.
  He stepped close to the window and rose up on
his toes trying to get a better look.  
There was a person, tucked in close to the building, shifting along the
wall. The angle was too tight; Tom was
only able to see part of a leg and an arm.  
The sight of digital camo let Tom know that
the man was not one of theirs. It was
during this moment of indecision that he disappeared out of sight.
    Tom turned and quickly made his way down the stairs.
  The voices got louder as he rushed through
the set of double doors that led to the rec room.
  He was immediately met with a chaotic scene.
    “I know what I saw.”  
Axel shouted.
    “There’s nothing out there.”  
Bear growled back from next to a blown out window.
  A cold breeze blew in swirling white flakes.
    “I saw him.” Axel
insisted.
    “Shadows.”
  Bear said while shaking his head.
    Everyone turned when Tom said, “Axel’s right.”
    “Really?”
  Bear said with skepticism in his voice.
    “We have company. I
saw our ghost from the upper window.”
    Axel stepped forward.  
“I told you man…call me a liar.”
    Bear started toward him, anger flushing his face.
    “Stop you two!”  
Hannah shouted. “Pull yourselves
together. Are you even listening to what
Tom said? Somebody else is here…with
us.”
    “She’s right.” Hank
said. “We have to stick together…not
lose our crap. There may be several of ‘em.”
    April remained huddled up on the couch as Axel nervously
brushed past with his shotgun at low ready.  
He moved over to another window and cautiously peered out, slowly
rapping his fingers across the pump on his gun.
    Hannah moved back to the double doors next to Tom.
  She listened at the door for a bit and then
said, “We in trouble?”
    “What’s your cop gut tell you?”
  He asked.
    “Bad.”
    “Yeah, that’s what I’m getting too.”
    Hannah delved back into her Seattle police training.
  “Even with a single perp ,
he’s got site knowledge…huge advantage.  
More than one, depending on goal, we could be in real trouble.”
    Tom didn’t like the sound of any of that.
  He nodded his head.
  “Let’s move up, we need to get to a
defensible location…an area with overlooking windows.”
    A loud screech followed by a bang caused all of them
to spin toward the set of double doors.
    “What was that?” Axel
said.
    April tucked her knees up to her chest and buried her head
in her arms. Had anyone been paying
close enough attention they would have heard a soft whimpering.
    Hank stood in the center of the room, rifle raised and
pointed right at the center of the doors.  
His heart was hammered in his chest.  
Flashbacks of the hot jungles of Vietnam hit him.
  Vietcong and their vicious traps…panic…fear…the
stench of death. He didn’t like this
situation one bit.
    “Bear, watch the windows.”  
Tom said while pointing to the front of the room.
  He turned to Hannah, but she was already on
the move.
    She had her rifle pointed at the ceiling with her other hand
reaching for the door handle. Her
movements were fluid, practiced. After a
turn of the doorknob and a slight push she stepped back lowering her rifle