Free The Reaper Virus by Nathan Barnes Page B

to convince myself they were just poor people
running with the rest; those thoughts ended the instant they saw
the trampled woman. She looked alive still, just incapacitated.
    Even in the low light you could see the head
of the foremost infected pursuer swing around in the woman’s
direction. The rest of the unholy pack shifted their path to the
sidewalk where she laid. It didn’t take them long to reach her; and
moved with new purpose.
    I watched in horror. Not even the low
lighting could spare me from the grisly scene. The first infected
leapt on her from a few feet away. Second and third place followed
suit. There wasn’t a goddamn thing she could have done. Soon it
became a writhing pile of limbs. Poor lighting saved me from seeing
the gore that must have spilled from the pile.
    Most of the infected remained over the woman,
wriggling and frenzied like piranha. The ones in the back of the
herd must not have had luck getting through to the feast. They
continued westward, back in a slow pursuit of the desperate crowd.
At the very least, the woman bought everyone else some time and
distance.
    I went back to my desk tasting bile once
again. There was no point in watching the monitor any longer. My
colleagues were still at the window. I loudly said that it would be
a good idea to stay away from the windows when the infected walked
by. We’d be fooling ourselves by thinking they would never find us
in here, but there was no need to draw attention to ourselves
sooner than necessary.
    Everyone cleared from the window area,
ducking around the corner from the nook leading to our shuttered
outdoor view. The window was barely in my line of sight from the
rear cubicle, which I used to call home. Shutters were closed. Only
dim illuminated outlines of the wooden curtains could be seen. Then
even the outlines disappeared.
    Outside, the infected must have passed by one
by one. The sliver of light disappeared and reappeared in an almost
rhythmic fashion. The communications room became enveloped in
silence. Either the phones stopped or the sound of my heart beating
drowned them out.
    My pulse raced further when the crack of
light went out and stayed that way. I glanced at the security
monitor with dread. What I assume was the last of the pursuing
ghouls had stopped directly in front of the window. It was so close
to the camera, yet you could barely see a thing. I think it was
wearing a hospital gown. Its silhouetted head was hanging limp and
forward. Bile again filled my throat with the realization that its
jaw was opening and closing in a snapping motion. The creature
paused for maybe a minute before joining its infected brethren in
the hunt.
    The others returned to their desks. I started
answering phones again. Whatever the person on the other end was
saying went in one ear and out the other. It didn’t matter anyway –
the phone calls were starting to blend together. Everyone was
scared. Everyone was angry. Everyone was desperate.
    Erin (the last stuck dispatcher) was taking
her turn to nap. I was thankful that my turn was next. Sure I was
exhausted, but there was so much going on that I doubted I’d find
sleep. I just wanted to be home.

Chapter 6
Hopeless Night
     
    Day Eight.
    November 17th – 0011 hours:
     
    In the two hours I was allotted, I may have slept
thirty-five minutes. It was hard to erase from my mind the things
I’d witnessed. Walking into the office I felt as if I’d been buried
alive. Beyond the horrors I’d experienced in the last day, I
couldn’t shake a single thought from my head. I had the sinking,
nauseating feeling that I would never leave this wretched place… I
simply hoped and prayed that the feeling was wrong and that my
pessimistic side was just overworking itself again.
    I took out my cell phone when I was lying
there on the makeshift bed. The camera on it isn’t great, but that
was what I was counting on. Hopefully the poor quality would hide
the tears streaming from my face.
    First I recorded