Chapter 7 The lurking horrors

"I'm sorry I know I talk too much."

Both Lindsay and Zane walked down the hall, and through the corridor to a door that Zane had not yet come to open.

"It's okay, given the circumstances."

"Yeah, well I tend to talk a lot when I get nervous."

"Why are you nervous?"

She looked at Zane, half expecting him to be joking. "Because when they bite, some of their saliva is transmitted into the wound."

Zane stopped walking, "So what does that mean exactly?"

She looked up at him, into his eyes. "It means that if you get bitten, that you turn into one of them."

"I'm assuming that you were bitten." He takes glances briefly at Lindsay's wound.

"Wha-oh this?" Lindsay gestures to her lacerated arm. I got this when I tried to escape. One of the scientists had partially changed, and well, I guess he was crazed because he attacked me with a scalpel. He did a little damage, but let's just say he is a little deader than he was before."

"You want me to take care of it?" Zane fixed his gaze upon the shredded arm. "I have something that may help. It's a medicine I'm supposed to take, but I never use it. Supposedly it has the power to clean toxins from the body, while accelerating your metabolism, causing you to heal faster. Or if you would prefer, I could sew your arm back together using a needle and thread. I always carry it around.

"Umm. I'll take the pill, but how good are you with a needle and thread?"

"Let's just say that I can take care of myself." After he finished the statement he lifted his chain-male, coat, and t-shirt, revealing a ten inch scar that started at his left nipple to just above his belly-button. "I was…in the war, one of the enemies…stabbed me…with his combat knife. My, uh, unit found me passed out, I had sewn myself back together, but yeah…" Zane trails off.

Lindsay looked at him as if he was some type of physco. "Just a question, what war were you in?"

Zane paused for a minute, as if thinking and then said, "The war that has consumed my life." Before Lindsay could say anything, Zane commented, "I don't think you'd understand. Anyways were here." Zane pointed behind him at a solid oak door. He pushed the door open and peered inside, making sure the coast was clear, and then stated, as casually as possible with a large grin on his face. "Ladies first."

Lindsay knew Zane was hiding something about himself, and did not press it upon him, for fear he may go insane. After all she was also nervous around him; he had after all just beaten a corpse with a Mesa table leg. She walked into the room, and Zane followed close behind.

"A library!" Zane's voice echoed throughout the room.

Books filled the shelves, covered with dust. Many of the books seem to have never been used, although there seems to be a path that has been worn away with use.

Zane and Lindsay both separated, going to opposite ends of the library. Zane walked to the east side, examining the wear along the floor.

"These books have never been used." Stated Lindsay, pulling a red-spinned book down from the shelf. "Oh! Yuck! That's disgusting!"

"What?"

"The book is covered with dried blood!" Lindsay put her finger on top of the book, pulling the top of the spine towards her.

Zane, nearest the east wall, heard a clicking noise. "Hey! Lindsay, come over here I heard something coming from behind the bookcase!"

As Lindsay came over, Zane heard the same clicking noise, only this time much faster.

"There it is again. It sounds…It sounds like, someone dragging metal on a tiled floor."

"Uh."

Zane pushed a whole shelf of books onto the floor, hoping that he could hear the noise better.

What happened next almost caused Zane to have a heart attack, for he had placed his ear directly onto the wood. He could hear a shuffling noise getting louder, and pressed his ear harder against the wood. Then as quickly as he heard it, it stopped.

"Whatever it was stop-" A bloody hand punctured through the book case, no more than a foot from his head. This caused Lindsay to nearly jump out of her skin, and Zane to bang his head against the shelf that was just above his head.

The bloody hand groped for Zane's neck.

The bloody hand streaked the cold and sticky blood across Zane's face. Zane was able to pull his head out of the shelf just in time. The hand want back through the hole in the wall, leaving Zane feeling violated.

Zane wiped the new and old dried blood from his face with his arm, creating a blotched red surface on his left temple.

Zane lowered his chain maille and shirt. Yet again the brute put its hand through the wall, but this time the arm came through, swinging wildly. The hand whipping around, grabbing the detachable shelves of books located above, and ripping them out of their sleeves. And yet again the arm and hand became obscured by the shelf's backing.

This time nothing came through the hole. But what happened next proves that they feel no pain, for the zombie had rushed its head through the shelves backing, causing wood to splinter and fall around the gaping hole. It brought its head back into the unknown location behind the shelf.

"I think it stopped." stated Lindsay.

"I don't think so," replied Zane.

"Why?"

"Because, we're not dead." chortled Zane

Mr. Grish looked around the room for a weapon of some kind, but could only find books.

Zane glanced back at the wall just in time to see the zombie stick its head through the hole. It looked up, showing its dead eyes, blue lips, and decaying cheeks. It groaned, showing its teeth ravaged by disease. It rushed its head up through the backing, creating a slit about one foot in length, just enough room for the zombie to get through.

Two beasts walked through the gaping hole. One of the beasts seemed to be a changed human, just another zombie. But the other seemed much more dangerous.

If it were to stand up, it would be up to Mr. Grish's shoulders. The teeth dripping blood onto the hardwood floor. Claws, green with slime. Its face was also green, but human-like. But the body's complexity was beyond reason, or at least beyond the comprehension of anyone in that room.

It stood like a human, but leapt like a frog. No sooner had they seen the unknown beast, than it was on top of Lindsay, trying to slash her flesh with its razor sharp claws.

Mr. Grish would have helped, but he had his hands full dealing with the single zombie. He had no weapons of any kind, yet he had to face this formidable foe.

Long ago Zane, after the shooting, learned much about the martial arts and had been a star pupil at his Dojo. Every opponent he faced lost. He quickly surpassed his peers in skill, and the only one in the dojo who had any chance of winning was non other than Zane's Sen-sai.

Zane had become fed up with the slow training of the dojo, and threatened to leave. The Sen-sai told Zane that if he could beat his master, that he would consent to having Zane move at a faster pace, or leave, if he so wished. His master had beaten him, and Zane said it was a fluke and left frustrated. He suddenly wished that he had stayed, for he knew how to take pain but not how to avoid damage.

He stood three meters from the accursed beast, and Zane was now trying to decide what he should do. He disputed in his mind whether it would be better to kill this zombie, and the sharp toothed, sharp clawed, frog-like creature that loomed over Lindsay or the creature and then the zombie.

He made his decision quickly and decisively, moving into a fighting stance. Try as he might he could not truly concentrate on his enemy, as Lindsay was groaning about her arm as she tried to hold the beast far enough back so that it could not damage her.

Mr. Grish, remembering the gun in his coat, quickly pulled it out. He knew he had no bullets but he knew everything could be used as a weapon.

Mr. Grish feebly swung his pistol about, hoping to make contact with the zombie's upper body. Soon he realized that the motion was doing no good, so he kicked the zombie directly in the stomach. The only problem though was that the zombie was reaching out and just happened to grab his leg.

The force of the impact sent the zombie soaring back, and caused Zane's leg to be torn by the zombies nails.

Things were beginning to look very bleak for Zane and Lindsay. For now, Zane's leg was gravely injured, and Lindsay was growing weary from the weight she held up.

The zombie rose, ready for yet another beating. Zane knew his luck and life was soon going to run out if this spiel continued. Zane abandoned the battle with the zombie, hobbled over to Lindsay, and collected himself.

As the beast rose its massive meaty arm and claw, Zane leaped on top of it, forcing his arm around its neck. Zane began to lean back, as if trying to peel the creature off Lindsay. Lindsay also helped by putting her foot on the thing's chest and pushing outward.

Zane tightened his grip on the thing's neck. It began to stumble backwards and fell. It fell directly on Lindsay's legs, yet again pinning her down.

Zane began to loosen his grip on the thing's neck. Lindsay began to say something but froze in mid-sentence. Instead she began to fumble with her hands, trying to convey the point that something was behind him. Zane, unable to realize what was going on behind him began to ask what, but it was too late.

The zombie, while Zane tried to help Lindsay had risen to its feet. It now was grabbing for Zane's neck.

Lindsay, petrified, squirmed out from under the massive beast, and backed up as fast as she could. She hit the far east wall, and turned to see what obstructed her path. Lindsay saw the bloody book lying on the floor, and looked up.

The bookcase looked well made from afar, but up close you could see that the shelf was old and busted. It needed a new coat of varnish, new nails, and even some new wood.

She turned back to see Zane relentlessly attempting to fend off the zombie that was attacking from behind. She wanted to help but aimlessly looked at Zane, then realized she could help. She picked up the book and chucked it at Zane praying he would see it in time to catch it. She hoped that Zane would catch it and use it as a shield from the zombie's teeth. He never saw the release or for that matter her grabbing the bloody book.

All Zane felt was the sudden jolt of the zombie jerking backwards. He wondered what happened, but was suddenly preoccupied with the shrill squeak of Lindsay's laugh of glee.

The zombie did not fall though, it merely stumbled. It continued its assault on Zane. Lindsay realized that what she did only happened to confuse Zane. She looked around the room and found no weapons. She calmly turned to face the bookshelf, leaving Zane looking at her back.

Zane let out a long shrill yelp as the zombie's teeth found a way around the chain maille, and drove into his neck. His blood spilled on the floor like a leaky faucet.

Lindsay meanwhile tried to break the bookshelf with the heel of her hand. On the first hit it groaned, the second made it creak. On the third assault, she used all her strength causing the wood to snap clean from the shelf's backing. She grabbed the wood, holding it like a baseball bat and sprinted towards Zane. She swung the wood at the beast trying to fend it back, trying to keep it away from Zane.

The wood struck the zombie in the hip, shoulder, and skull. The beating it received would have crippled any living human. The smashing blow to the shoulder would have easily dislocated a human's shoulder, but being a zombie it felt no pain.

The concussive beating to the head caused the zombie to die. Lindsay looked at the corpse and noticed a red sticky substance oozing out of the beast's skull. Lindsay tried to lift the wood, but couldn't. She jerked, tugged, and pulled in the attempt of pulling the wood away from the beast's head. After about thirty seconds of tugging on the wood, she finally gave up.

Lindsay scanned the room and saw the zombie lying unmoving before her, and saw the sharp-tooth beast lying still near the bookshelf. Her gaze eventually took her to Zane's still body lying in a heap on the floor. She walked over and knelt beside him, and tried to nurse his wounds.