Free LZR-1143: Evolution by Bryan James

yawned into the hallway, hatch propped halfway open by the body of a woman in a towel whose arm had been torn from her shoulder. Miraculously, the towel was in place.
    Beyond the body, carnage reigned supreme; bodies could be seen littered near the doorway, and into the hall.
    We moved across the room slowly, my eyes still searching for a weapon. As we passed the plates near the bench press rack, Kate’s leg brushed against a pile of metal weights. They toppled loudly against one another, the metal on metal clang resounding against the walls of the room and into the hallway. From behind us, there was an almost instant response. Hands beat hungrily against the steel door, the dead, metallic vibrations of their incessant tempo echoing in the room.
    Kate cursed as Hartliss sprinted for the door, moving, perhaps, to close the hatch in front of us. But he was too late.
    From behind the open door, several blue uniforms appeared. Bloodshot eyes and gray, pallid skin was pulled tightly over their frames, blood decorating their clothes. One man wore the bright yellow vest of someone who worked above-decks, and still wore his visor and ear protection. A large chunk was missing from his thigh, and he dragged his bad leg behind him, smearing fresh blood in a trail.
    I froze in the middle of the room as Hartliss raised his pistol and fired. Two shots scored home, taking the first two in their heads, causing both to snap backward as blood and bone exploded into the air. Two more shots went wild, hitting the torso and arm of the last creature in the orange vest.
    Hartliss moved back as two more appeared from the hallway. They moved forward, shuffling. Their arms extended out, fingers grasping compulsively.
    I backed up, hand grasping around, searching for anything to use as a weapon. My hand found metal, and as Hartliss backed into Kate, I realized it was a long bar. Barely mindful of what I was doing, I brought my other hand across my body for a better grip, and cocked the bar back over my shoulder, bringing it around again with as much force as I could muster.
    My head pounded briefly as my blood raced through my veins. The bar whistled through the air, shivering slightly as it made contact with a skull. The target exploded in a shower of discolored bone and gore. The momentum carried the swing through, taking the other zombie in the chest at an awkward angle, forcing it to crumple to the floor.
    It staggered back as I moved forward, pressing my advantage. Shifting my grip, I pulled the bar back around my shoulder, and swung hard at the head. The creature groaned once as it reached out for me from the floor, and then the bar made impact. I looked back over my shoulder, motioning with my head toward the hatch.
    “Come on. If we close that door we’re trapped in here.”
    I dropped the bar, realizing it was too long for use in the hallways, and it fell heavily against the floor. Kate and Hartliss looked at me warily as they moved past, Kate’s mouth turned down in a slight frown. I glanced down as we moved toward the exit, and did a double take.
    The metal bar I had been swinging like a broomstick was a forty-five pound bench press bar.
    Jesus Christ.
    “Mike! Let’s go!”
    Must have been the adrenalin, I thought, moving toward the door.
    I shivered reflexively and walked into the hallway.
     
    Chapter 9
     
    The hallway outside the gym was not empty.
    It was full of bodies and gore.
    There was no other way to describe it. It was simply hell.
    A haphazardly scrawled sign that read “Inoculations” hung by one strand of thin chain from above a small doorway. An annex infirmary, according to the welded name plate next to the door. It was merely feet from the gym, and Hartliss cursed silently under his breath, realizing now that this was probably not a better way to the flight deck. From behind us, the steady, insistent pounding on the hatchway from the prior stairwell prodded us forward.
    Bodies littered the hallway, all in some state