Free Werewolf Suspense (Book 4): Outage 4 (The Reckoning) by T.W. Piperbrook

panic.
    Without another word, Tom led the others down the hallway, praying he wasn't too late. They waded through the carnage, making their way toward Abraham's room. Tom flashed back to when he'd woken up and searched for his friends. At the time, he'd known he'd find them.  
    He wasn't so certain now.
    Each prone body in the hallway only reinforced the nagging fear that Abraham, Sally, and Katherine were dead. Kelsey and Tabatha checked the flayed bodies on the floor. As expected, they were beyond help. The mangled bodies were as horrific as they were disheartening.  
    Tom held tight to Silas's hand, wishing he could spare the boy from the grisly scene. Soon they'd reached the end of the hallway. Tom felt his nerves bunch in his stomach as they rounded the corner. Abraham's room was in sight.  
    A gutted carcass lay at the doorway.  
    His heart sank. Only twenty feet separated him from the room. Twenty feet that Silas would remember forever, depending on what they found. He couldn't let the boy see it. He couldn't. Glancing back at Kelsey and Tabatha, he handed Silas off and walked forward on his own.  
    Tom held his axe high, taking the remaining steps toward the door. He looked down at the body, scanning through the gore. To his relief, he didn't recognize the person, but that didn't make him feel any better. Stepping over the carcass, he swallowed. He placed his hand on the door handle. The room on the other side was silent, betraying nothing about the room's interior.  
    He tried the door, but it was locked.
    Tom wiggled the handle. He called out for his friends.
    "Abraham? Sally?"
    Silence greeted him. And then he heard something—a faint response on the other side. Tom's heart soared.

Chapter Fifteen

    Tom breathed a sigh of relief as Abraham opened the door. Sally and Katherine were huddled by the heating vents, clutching each other in terror. Despite what they'd been through, they were all alive. They were uninjured.  
    The survivors reunited with tears in their eyes, clinging to each other with relief. Abraham filled Tom in on what had happened.
    "A little while ago, one of those things tried to get in here. Then we heard screams from the next hallway. It sounded like the survivors were running."
    "The people from the maintenance room," Kelsey confirmed. "They were with us in the next wing, and they ran for the elevator."
    "That must've distracted the thing. It tore off after them instead of coming in to get us. That's the only reason we're alive." Abraham's eyes were still filled with terror. "We managed to evade another one. It crashed through the window." He gestured toward the broken windowpane.
    Tom relayed the details of his trip to the ground floor, including his battle with the beast in the cafeteria. He described how he'd found Silas, how they'd taken the elevator, and how he'd reunited with Kelsey and Tabatha. He left out the dead woman in the laundry bin, which seemed like it would only upset the children.
    "What happened to Sigrid?" Abraham asked.
    Kelsey shook her head. "She didn't make it."  
    "I take it you didn't get ahold of the police?" Tom asked Kelsey.
    He could already see the answer on her face as she dug the cell phone from her pocket. She swiped the screen uselessly.
    Tom sighed. As grateful as he was to have found his companions alive, circumstances were grave. The creatures had infested the building. He might've disposed of a few, but there was no telling how many others lurked on this floor, or in the building.
    Morning was a distant hope, too far away to bank on.
    Kelsey and Tabatha walked over to the window, accompanied by Sally and the children. Abraham remained by Tom's side.
    "Is the eastern exit broken down?" Abraham asked.
    "Yes. I assume the western exit is, too. Blocking the doors won't do much."
    "At least we have the axe," Abraham said, trying to sound hopeful.
    Tom looked at the weapon he was holding, stained with the creatures' blood. "This won't do much good against