Free The Real Night of the Living Dead by Mark Kramer, Felix Cruz

virus that’s driving their mind or whatever.”
    No one said a word for a minute or two. The only noise was that of the older patient, biting into his apple.
    Then I broke the silence, “I’ll tell you what, whether you mugs believe me or not, there are a bunch of them headed this way.”
    “What do you mean a bunch?” said Hank.
    “The patients broke loose from N-3 and spread across the campus,” I said. “Looks like they hit the women’s buildings and infected people there. Now they’re coming this way.”
    Hank was eyeing Melvin now. “So if you catch the infection from being bitten, then this sorry bastard here should be turning into one of them. Right?” I stayed quiet. “So why’s he in here? I ought to shoot him now, before he has the chance to attack us.”
    “Leave him,” I said. “I’ll handle him myself.”
    Melvin looked horrible. He had already lost so much blood, his skin was pale, and he passed out as soon as we came in the storage room. I knew he wasn’t going to last another twenty minutes.
    I had a lump in my throat. Wanted to cry so bad . But I held it, fought it back. “He’s my friend. I don’t want anything to happen to him unless he really does change.”
    “Then you keep him away from us,” said Hank. “If he attacks me, I’m killing you, him, hell, I’ll kill everyone in this room.”
    The doctor shook his head in disgust.
    Melvin moaned and whispered, “Hey, pal.”
    I looked. He motioned me over. I walked and knelt down beside him. “How you feeling?”
    “Lousy. But I don’t quit. Never have. Listen, I gotta tell you something. Come closer.” I moved in, my face, a few inches from his. “I ain’t exactly who you think I am, see?” I squinted. He continued, “I’m a reporter…a reporter for the Inquirer…I…I was working undercover…supposed to do an exposé…on…the…conditions of this joint…” I couldn’t believe it. I had known this guy for months and would never have even imagined him to be a reporter. “Go in my wallet. Get my driver’s license. And get my keys from my pocket.”
    “Why? What do you want me to do with that?” I said.
    “My…address…is on it. If things don’t turn out…good…for me…I want you to go…my place. All my files are there…about my…investigation. Take…to… the paper…turn them in to the editor. But make sure you fill them in on what’s…going on…tonight. Get me?”
    I swallowed the urge to cry. He was dying, and it was tearing me apart inside. Since we first met, we were kind of like partners, always working together. But soon that would be over. “I get you.”
    “Christ, I could…really use a drink,” he said.
    I nodded, smiled and had to turn away. It was too painful to see him like that. I stood and faced the rest of the group. They were staring at me, save Billy; he was busy wiping the caked mud from his feet.
    “We must leave,” said the doctor. “If you say there are so many approaching, then we really need to leave. We can exit out this back door.”
    The lights flickered.
    “Did any of you try calling the police?” I said.
    “We tried,” said Hank, “but the line was already dead.”
    The doctor said, “Yes, but I would hope one of the employees, who managed to make it out of here, went for help. Even if they did, who knows how long it would be before the authorities arrived? We can’t afford to stay and wait and suffer at the hands of them.”
    “If you leave, where do you go?” I said. “The creek is probably flooded, so the roads surrounding this place are going to be out.”
    “I say we stay here,” said Hank. “We’ll be safe. They’ll never get through that door. We have plenty of food to last for all of us. Trust me, we’re fine in this room. At the most, we just need to wait until morning. Once the day crew arrives and sees what’s going on, they’ll go for help.”
    “I’m going to the children’s camp,” I said.
    “The children’s camp?” said