Free Infected by Anthony Izzo Page A

– or beyond – it would be disastrous. The infection would spread and they'd be looking at a serious health crisis.
     
    “Back upstairs. No choice,” Lori said.
     
    They went back to the elevators and pressed the button.  The zombies from down the hallway spotted them and came for them. The doors opened and Weiss urged Lori onto the elevator. He stepped in and jammed the first button he saw. He mashed it again, as if it would make them close any faster.
     
    As they began to shut, one of the creatures stuck its head in the elevator. The doors pinched the zombie, and it tried lunging at them. Weiss swung the hammer, cracking its cheekbone. He swung again, smashing the thing's temple. It caved in like rotten fruit. Lori joined him, shoving the zombie backwards and out of the elevator. With it gone, the doors closed.
     
    They stopped at the second floor and the doors opened. Weiss caught the stench of blood in the air and figured the bastards had been on this floor. “We'll backtrack to the stairs. Hopefully get around them.”
     
    “They're blocking the exits.”
     
    “Maybe they moved in the hospital. The entrance might be clear.”
     
    Weiss heard a commotion at the end of the hallway.  He saw a woman in bloody pink scrubs leading a pack of the newly risen towards them. A section of her scalp had been peeled away and hung on her forehead. Weiss glanced at the elevators and figured they wouldn't have enough time to wait. They ran around the corner, turned right. There was an office at the end of the hallway and Weiss tried the door. It opened. They went inside, the sounds of the dead echoing in the halls.
     
    They shoved a desk in front of the door and backed away. Weiss turned around and looked out the window. He had a view of the parking lot, where a few dozen cars remained. He hoped to see extra police cars out in the lot, but there were none.
     
    From the other side of the door came scratching as they tried to get in. He looked out the window again and saw a cluster of bushes beneath the window.
     
    “How do you feel about jumping?” Weiss said.
     
    “It doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy, if that's what you mean.”
     
    “It's about twenty feet. If we were to hang and drop, it would cut down on the fall. There's some bushes down there that might break our fall,” Weiss said.
     
    “Considering the alternative.”
     
    He yanked a drawer from the desk and smashed it into the glass. It cracked but stayed in the frame. Using the drawer, he completely busted out the glass. Lori climbed up first, straddling the sill then hanging out before dropping. He heard a thud and looked out to see Lori rolling out of the bushes. “You okay?”
     
    “Just a little battered.”
     
    Weiss did the same, letting himself drop. When he hit the ground his ankle turned and he got up, hopping and swearing. From above, he heard the door crash inward and the woman with the peeled scalp stuck her head out the window and growled at them.
     
    “Don't suppose you have your keys?”
     
    “In my purse. Which is in my desk.”
     
    “We'll go to the ambulance bays. Maybe there's a rig parked.”
     
    “Your ankle.”
     
    “Just twisted it a little.”
     
    They made their way to the rear of the hospital, where an ambulance was parked outside the emergency room doors. The crew was nowhere in sight. As they got closer, Weiss saw someone on the ground. They were on the opposite side of the ambulance, and he went around to find one of the paramedics. His blue uniform was darkened with blood. His right ear had been torn off. Weiss recognized him as one of the men that had brought Marty in. “Shit. Think his name was John.”
     
    Lori opened the driver's side door. “Keys are in it,” she said, and climbed in.
     
    “His partner must've taken off.”
     
    Weiss was about to get into the passenger seat when he was grabbed. He spun around, slamming his arm into the person that had grabbed him. It was the other paramedic,