It sounded like something had crashed upstairs. David tightened his grip on his baseball bat. He glanced over at the bartender. "Hey Jack. I think we should go check it out." They made their way over to the spiral staircase on the other side of the library. Each footstep made a clanking sound on the metal staircase. "What was that sound?" He wondered. "Maybe it's another person hiding from those things outside."
Once the two of them were on the upper floor, Jake called out to them. "Guys, I wait! I want to come too!" The kid ran over to Luke. David couldn't hear what they were saying, but after they were done the librarian gave the kid his shovel. David looked at Jack who only shrugged.
Jake caught up with them and asked, "Well, where do you think that sound came from?" David didn't say anything, but the bartender spoke up. "The only place I can see is that door down that hallway." He pointed to a corridor to his left. "All the rest of the wall is covered with books." The three of them walked cautiously down to the door. Jake put his hand of the door handle. He looked back to see if the other two were ready. Jack pumped his shotgun and David held his bat in a ready position.
Jake opened the door slightly, and then kicked it in. It was completely dark inside the room. "Hello?" Jake felt the wall on the inside of the room. No light switch. With his shovel in hand he felt around on the other side. His hand touched something cold and fleshy. Before he could jerk his hand back, two strong and bloodied hands latched onto him and pulled him into the darkness. David just barely grabbed onto the young man's other arm to pull him back. Jake fell to the floor behind him clutching his arm. Whatever was inside had bitten him. The creature came out of the room and grabbed hold of David. It knocked him to the ground, and David was lucky enough to get his bat up in time. "Shoot him!" screamed David as he held off the cannibal with his weapon. He looked into the dead man's eyes. Saliva dripped from it's mouth, which tried to get a bite out of David's face. David could see the bloody pieces of Jake's arm.
"I can't get a shot I'll hit both of you! Ah fuck it!" The bartender brought the shotgun to the creature's head and pulled the trigger. The former man's head blew into a mist of blood, which splattered over David. David threw the dead man's body off of him and breathed heavily. He could hear Jake's groans from behind him. David sat up and took off his shirt. It was soaked in blood and he could not stand the smell. David and Jack knelt down to their wounded friend.
Jake had his eyes shut tight and was in a lot of pain. David and the bartender helped him back to the main part of the library. Sarah immediately saw the wound and freaked out over it. She took his arm and looked like she about to cry. She waved her hand to motion the doctor over. "Peter! Come over here!" she yelled. The young man began to look dizzy. He had a hard time staying still in his chair. David held him down while the doctor had a look at the wound.
"Here quick put some pressure above the wound to slow the bleeding. I'll bandage this." The doctor ripped the other sleeve off of his shirt and tied it around the bite. "So that sound we heard was one of them?" Jack and David both nodded. "He should be fine but he should get some rest. Lay him down over there and let him sleep. The bite wasn't too bad but that thing must've gotten a good chunk." Sarah and led Jake over to another part of the library. She found a couch with some pillows so she let him down softly on it. David looked over and Jake seemed like he had fallen asleep right away.
With Jake on the couch, the five others sat down and talked about things. Not one of them wanted to talk about what was really going on. Sarah checked on Jake once in a while and then returned back to the others. The librarian picked up some books and started to read. His explanation was that, "Well, if I'm going to be stuck here, I might as well enjoy it." David agreed, but didn't let his guard down. He started talking to Luke as he read.
"So how long do you think we can stay here?"
"Long enough to catch our breath. Like Jake said, this is not an impenetrable fortress. As long as we lay low, those things outside won't come in… Hopefully."
"Thanks. That makes me feel loads better."
"Anytime buddy."
David wandered the library until he saw a small slit between the bookcase and the window. Curious, he walked up to it and slowly removed the curtain enough to see through. David could not believe his eyes. Outside, there was at least fifty of the monsters. They looked the same as the ones before. Body parts missing and holes where they shouldn't be. David saw to the right that there was one man that didn't look like the rest. He was fighting off the creatures with some sort of metal pole. He had bite marks all over his arms and legs. One of the dead people caught onto the man's leg.
"Hey Luke! There's someone out there that needs our help!"
"What!" he exclaimed as he ran towards the window.
They both looked out the window and didn't see the man outside. There was a sudden banging on the door. Something was trying to get in. The door was pushed open a crack to reveal the man from outside. He saw the people inside and screamed for help. Jack reached out and grabbed the man's hand and tried to pull him in, but it was no use. The collective power of all the un-dead was too much. The man was yanked from the bartender's grip, screaming in pain while being pulled into further into the crowd and out of sight.
David looked around the library to find something, anything that could help the man. He looked towards the couch. Jake was now standing up straight. At first, David was relieved. He then looked into the young man's eyes. "Sarah! Look out!" The girl turned around to see her boyfriend lunge towards her. She narrowly dodged him and ran to the others.
"Jake! What are you…"
"He's not your boyfriend any more." Said the bartender. "He's one of them."
"No! He can't be!"
Jack Wilson raised his shotgun. "I'll give you one chance and one chance only. Don't take another step forward or I'll blast you into the wall."
"Please stop Jake. Please…" said Sarah through her tears.
The zombie stopped for a second. "Maybe he isn't one of them." Thought David. Jake then let a loud roar escape from his throat. As if taunting the bartender, he then took another step forward.
"Sorry kid."
Jack pulled the trigger of his shogun and it took off Jake's head. His body stood there for a second until finally losing it's balance and collapsing to the floor. Sarah ran over to her former boyfriends body and wept on his chest. David felt terrible for her. Jack lowered his smoking shotgun to the floor. Everyone said nothing because they knew that they could not find the words.
The front door then made a smack as it hit the bookcase in front of it. "God damn it! Jake called those other things in here to get us!" said the bartender. The dead people outside were all pushing in the door from outside. It would not be long before they got in and overwhelmed the group.
'Quick! Is there another exit out of here!" yelled David to Luke.
"Yeah this way!"
The Librarian led them to a door near the back.
"Hurry they're coming through!"
"Argh. This door won't budge!"
"Get out of the way!" Jack brought his leg up and sent it crashing through the door. It swung open and David saw a staircase leading upwards. The five of them ran up the flight of stairs. David stood behind and fit his bat though the door handle so it could not be pulled open. He then joined the others at the top.
Luke opened the second door. They were now on the roof of the library. "Where the hell do we go now!" Luke looked around and sprinted to edge of the roof. He leapt quickly off the side. David could see his head vanish below the side of the building. Had he killed himself?
There was a loud snapping sound of the bat down below. "Come on!" yelled Luke from far off. David didn't waste any time and ran towards the edge. Just before he jumped he saw a second roof below him. He jumped into the air in what seemed like slow motion. He felt the air whiz by his head as he looked down to the cold, hard, street beneath him. He put his feet out and connected with the other roof. He did a sort of roll to soften the impact.
He looked back at the large jump he had just made and saw the others falling towards him. He got up and out of the other's way as they too landed on the roof. He helped Sarah up and looked up again to see the undead people try to follow them. They tried to get across but fell into the street below. David could hardly stand the sight of it and looked away. He was startled by a sudden crash beside him. An undead woman had managed to get across somehow but had landed on her neck. It bent the wrong way as she fell forwards with a thump.
David breathed a sigh of relief and sat down. He tried to catch his breath. Everyone had made it across fine except Sarah. She had twisted her ankle on the landing and was struggling to stand on it. Peter examined it and said, "Well, it's not broken, but it looks like you sprained it pretty badly. Just take it easy for now. I think we'll be safe for a while here." David didn't know if that was true or not, but he was hoping to himself that it was.
"All I know is this," said the doctor. "Something must be in their saliva. They have a disease. If you get bitten you become one of them. Just like Jake…"