Chapter 8
Mulder leaped back and the thing fell to the cement floor. It didn't move.
Scully breath a sigh of relief. It was dead...really dead. She peered into the back of the van. There were five other corpses, all wearing S.W.A.T. uniforms.
Mulder was still getting over the shock when he felt cold fingers brush his neck. He jumped forward and turned, freezing at what he saw.
There were dozens of zombies. They lurched forward through the open shutter, moaning hungrily. The civilians screamed and ran back, hiding behind parked cars.
"I'm sorry!" Brad yelled franticly. "I didn't mean too...I forgot to close it!" He ran from the garage, back onto the streets. He disappeared into the darkness.
The officers opened fire on the approaching undead, using the little ammunition that they had left.
Ignoring the bullets tearing into their chests, they continued forward. An elderly man who had tripped was instantly joined by three of the zombies. As he screamed, they chewed through his brittle bones.
"Scully, up here!" Mulder jumped, pulling himself on top of the van. Lowering his hand, he helped Scully up. By the time they had their weapons aimed though, they saw that it was too late.
In the few short seconds since their arrival, the zombies has overrun the remaining people.
The only one who seemed to be unharmed was Irons. He watched helplessly as Mayor Harris was torn apart, eaten alive. Hearing a woman's scream, he turned to see a zombie feasting on the soft flesh of Beverly's abdomen. "No!" Irons shouted. Running over, he jammed his gun into the carriers temple and fired. It's head exploded, bloody tendrils splashing the surrounding pavement.
Irons stooped and picked Beverly up. She was breathing weakly, the blood soaking her white gown, staining it a dark red. His face frozen, he gently carried her back into the police station.
"Irons!" Mulder yelled. If he heard, Irons ignored him. Mulder sighed and faced Scully. "We have to get out of here. If we run, we might be able to make it up the ramp and onto the streets."
"What than?" she asked.
Mulder thought a moment. "Hell if I know." he muttered. "But we can't stay here forever. Now might be our only chance."
She nodded reluctantly. "Ok, on three. One, two, three!"
They both jumped to the floor. Running as fast as they could, they dodged the army of the undead and made it to the dark streets.
They continued down the sidewalk, passing deserted shops and trying not to trip over the remains of the dead. Taking a left, they ran down an unlit alley. A brick wall loomed ahead of them. A dead end. Hearing the hungry moans and shuffling behind them, they realized that they were trapped.
As the carriers inched closer, Mulder stepped back and heard a metallic clank beneath his feet. He looked down and couldn't believe their luck. "Scully! Give me a hand here."
They both stooped and lifted the heavy sewer cover. Quickly, they ducked down the small ladder.
After a few moments, they reached the bottom. The sludgy water was knee high, and Mulder chocked back bile as the smell overwhelmed him. "Sure brings back memories of my college dorm." he said, putting his sleeve over his nose.
Scully laughed, but mostly from slight hysteria than her partners bad joke. She coughed and quickly composed herself. "So which way?" she asked.
The tunnel seemed to stretch forever in either direction. "My instincts say...this way." He started walking ahead.
They waded through the sludge in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, there was a deep hum, a sound that they felt more than heard. "Did you hear something?" Mulder asked.
Before she could reply, the ground beneath them opened up and they were pulled down by the raging current. Mulder grasped Scully's hand, but the tidal forces pulled them apart. Separated, they each fell into the watery darkness.
8:27 pm
Scully's lungs burned as she struggled to hold her breath, the inky water engulfing her like a wet blanket. After what seemed like an eternity, the current subsided and she was able to swim towards what she could only hope was the surface.
She finally reached air and took a deep breath, so relieved she hardly noticed the foul sewer stench. Scully gazed around, trying to get a sense of her surroundings. The walls glowed chemical green, barely providing enough light to see by.
She was in a long metal and cement tunnel. From the looks of it, she was still in the sewers and Mulder wasn't in sight. To her left, there was a metal ladder which lead up, presumably towards the surface.
Swimming towards it, she ignored the dull ache in her arm and began the long climb. At the top, she pushed off the heavy sewer lid and crawled out.
The air was significantly hotter, and she noticed a large fire over in the corner of the street. The blaze turned night to day, and she had to squint until her eyes adjusted.
Out of the corner of her eye, Scully saw a flash of movement as a brown haired woman disappeared into a trolley. She reached for her gun, but found the holster empty. Mentally kicking herself for not checking it before leaving the sewers, she cautiously jogged toward the ancient looking streetcar.
Seconds later the car began to move along it's track, quickly picking up speed. "Hey!" Scully shouted, barely hearing herself over the trolley's engine. She jogged after it, managing to jump on the back before it got too fast. She had to get that woman to stop this thing. It might be the only way out of town.
Suddenly, a large crash shook the car and someone yelled. Pulling herself up, Scully looked through the glass window.
"Oh my god..." she said in awe and horror at the sight before her. An impossibly large man stood in the walkway between the passenger seats. It must have been eight feet tall.
The resemblance to a man stopped with it's shape, the rest was out of a nightmare. One eye was surgically stapled shut, it's scarred skin stretched tightly over it's skull. The thing was lumbering towards the woman.
Someone shouted, and Scully noticed a man laying on one of the seats. Judging from his olive-green uniform, she guessed he was part of the Umbrella unit that she saw earlier.
"Run!" he screamed. The woman hesitated a moment before running into the next compartment, the door sliding shut behind her.
The man jumped up and started firing an assault rifle. The bullets pounded into the approaching monsters chest, but the thing barely slowed down.
With a huge hand, it picked him up by the neck and threw him against the wall. Dropping his gun, the man reached for it, but was thrown again by the thing, this time into the walkway.
As he fell to the floor, he reached into his side pouch and pulled out something metal. "You lose," he muttered, pulling a pin on the device.
Scully gasped and ducked beneath the window. An explosion rocked the car, and the windows burst in a ball of fire. Glass rained down on her.
Looking back, Scully saw the monster laying in the street, the force from the blast knocking it out of the car. It was already disappearing into the shadows as the car rode on, but...was it getting up?
It didn't matter, at least it wouldn't be back anytime soon. Scully struggled to pull herself through the broken window. There was no way she could jump off at this speed. Besides, she'd be defenseless against the carriers that wandered the streets.
As she fell through the window, she realized that the car was still accelerating, the wheels beneath squealing in protest. She instinctively reached for a railing, and yelled in pain. It was still burning hot.
Struggling to maintain her balance, she leaned her head out a side window and stole a glance. Scully gasped. The tracks turned sharply up ahead. At this speed, the streetcar would jump the track. She dove to the floor, struggling to find a hand hold.
Before she found one, Scully felt the streetcar leave the ground. It was oddly quiet for a heartbeat, as if the universe was holding it's breath.
And than her body pitched forward as a bone-jarring crash rocked the car. She heard the tearing of metal right before her head struck the handrail above her as she flew through the air. All the noise faded away, replaced by the muffled silence of unconsciousness.