J. Knoll - Zoe, Undead

"We need to get these doctors to safety," the first soldier shouted. "That is our top priority!"

"I'm out!" the soldier behind them declared. He threw his weapon into the mob and reached for his sidearm, aiming carefully and firing with a good eye right into the heads of those zombies that were closest.

"You have to hold!" the first soldier ordered.

When his weapon made an empty click, the soldier behind looked over his shoulder to see the front was almost clear, then he holstered his empty weapon and drew his knife. "Doctor," he yelled over the gunfire. "Can you really cure this epidemic?"

"We're sure we can," Doctor Kavorski assured, hugging the papers to him as he slowly advanced behind the soldiers before him.

"Make sure you do," the soldier behind them ordered. "Make this all worthwhile." With that, he yelled and charged the crowd of zombies behind the group, and he slammed into them with a furious purpose, slashing his knife, punching, kicking, doing as much damage as he could, and he stopped their advance.

In a moment, one of the zombies got a hand on him, then another clutched him, and another. He yelled again as he was drug into the mass of undead horror, and as he continued to fight them, the first of many screams exploded from him as the zombies began their grisly meal, as they began to eat him alive, but many zombies paid dearly for this meal and the whole mob stopped.

This sacrifice bought time for the four survivors who fled toward the southern stairs, and when they had almost arrived they found themselves confronting yet another group of zombies. Both soldiers fired their rifles into the mob of almost twenty zombies, but after a few loud cracks from the muzzles, both weapons made empty clicks. The soldiers dropped them and each reached for his sidearm, and in a second both had their weapons leveled on the dozen that remained. Both automatic pistols belched fire and lead and zombie after zombie dropped.

When the last one fell, the first soldier withdrew his magazine and looked to it, then to his comrade and he informed. "I have four left."

The other soldier did the same, shaking his head as he grumbled, "Five."

"Nine rounds between us," the first said absently.

Moans from ahead drew everyone's attention.

"They've already breached the stairs," the first soldier reported. "Everybody back."

"There are more behind us!" Rachel cried.

"We won't take that hallway," the first soldier informed. "Let's head toward the west side and see what we find."

"That's back toward ICU," Doctor Kavorski pointed out, "and we heard them from the other side."

"I don't see any other options," the second soldier advised. "We stay in one place too long and they'll find us."

"Let's go," the first ordered.

They fled back the way they had come, taking a different corridor that veered to the left. Somewhere, there had to be stairs or a window or some way out!

The ICU blurred by and they found themselves fleeing toward the west side of the hospital where the critical rooms were located, and hopefully a clear stairway.

"Elevator's ahead," the first soldier barked as they trotted at a cautious place to that end. Looking to the doctors, he ordered, "You two hang back. We'll check it out."

The two doctors stopped and watched the soldiers take aim with their side arms and stalk toward a turn ahead.

"This is a nightmare," Doctor Caswell breathed as she watched their only protection grow further and further away.

The two soldiers disappeared around a corner.

"Just stay calm," Doctor Kavorski ordered. "We'll get there."

Gunfire erupted again, this time in front of them, the unmistakable pops of the handguns. There were the sounds of a struggle. One of the men yelled, then the other. The sounds grew more and more distant…

A door closed hard, then silence.

The two doctors huddled closely together, staring wide eyed down the corridor.

"They got them!" Rachel whispered. "We're alone out here!"

Kavorski looked around them, then he motioned behind with his head and whispered back, "This way. Just stay quiet and let's move as quickly as we can."

They retreated back toward the ICU, but stopped suddenly as they heard a moan from ahead, the moan of a young woman.

"Back," Kavorski ordered in a whisper.

They backed away, then turned and strode the other way, only to stop again when there was a moan from in front of them, and the shuffling of approaching footsteps.

"Oh, God!" Rachel breathed. "We're cornered!"

"Back," Doctor Kavorski said in a low voice.

Another zombie appeared ahead of them, turning in from the next hallway. Another was with him, and another behind that one. All three of them had the doctors in their sights, and all three lumbered toward them.

Looking behind them, they saw a shadow fall over the doorway of one of the rooms. The moans of the zombies before them drew their attention to the first three that were only about ten feet away now, and they backed up.

"Rachel," Doctor Kavorski murmured. "One of us has to make it." He handed her the folder and said, "I'm going to rush them, and when I have them occupied you need to get past them and get upstairs."

"Don't!" she barked. "We have to stay together!"

"We don't have a choice!" he hissed, his eyes locked on the approaching zombies. "Get yourself upstairs! The research has to continue or our whole species could be doomed!"

"I can't do this by myself!" she insisted.

With the zombies only a few feet away, they both backed up again, and Doctor Kavorski braced himself to charge them.

Rachel shrieked as someone grabbed her shoulder from behind, and she swung around, drawing a gasp.

Zoe, dressed in her pink princess shirt and denim shorts, pushed between the doctors and raised her revolver, aiming at point blank range as she declared, "I got this." She fired and the first zombie fell.

The doctors watched wide eyed and backed away.

Firing again, Zoe dropped the second, then the third. She holstered her gun, then turned around and looked to the doctors in turn, setting her hands on her hips as she cried, "You were just going to leave me in there?"

"Zoe!" Rachel declared, hugging the folder and box to her. "You're up! You're okay!"

"I woke up a little while ago," the zombie girl informed. "There were zombies all over the place and… Why didn't you strap down my other arm?"

"Long story," Doctor Caswell answered. "Oh, my God, we thought we had lost you!"

"I'm okay," Zoe assured. "Looking down to her gun, she pulled it again and mumbled, "Twenty-one."

"Twenty-one what?" Doctor Kavorski asked.

"Bullets," she replied.

Rachel raised her chin. "How do you know that?"

"I have three speed loaders left," Zoe answered, "and I just fired three of the six bullets in my gun. Oh, crap! The speed loaders are still in my vest in my room. We need to go get my vest, and I have something else to get." She turned and started down the corridor, beckoning, "Come on."

They arrived at her room and the doctor stopped just inside the door as they watched the girl shrug into her vest, look around her, and then grab her teddy bear and tuck it under her arm.

When she met the doctors' eyes, she raised her chin and insisted, "I'm not leaving Snowflake behind. So where are we supposed to go?"

"Top floor," Kavorski answered. "Everyone's retreated up there by now. We need to join them, but this place is overrun and the stairwells are crowded by zombies. We have no way to get up there."

"What about the elevators?" the girl asked.

Rachel replied, "They were shut down before the zombies got in."

Zoe drew her head back and pointed out, "But zombies don't know how to use elevators." Shaking her head, she strode from the room as the two doctors moved out of the way and looked around her. She turned her eyes to them, seeing that they now relied entirely upon her, and this gave the girl a sense of importance she had never experienced before. They looked back at her with their absolute trust, as if they felt she would get them to safety and they had total faith in feeling so, and Zoe was determined not to let them down.