Chapter 7:
"It's so quiet outside...", whispered a twelve year old boy who pressed his ears against the wooden door of their apartment.
"Th-they're dead, aren't they? Those people we saw in the unit next door... those things must have gotten them.." mumbled a man in a security officer's uniform. He sat on the sofa, bent over in gloom with his fingers digging into his scalp. His gun rested idly on the coffee table. "They're dead. They're... they're all dead."
"Shhh... Don't talk like that Allan. You'll scare my son.", spoke a man seated right next to the security guard. Clad in a white shirt riddled with small mice-eaten holes and loose basketball shorts, this single dad and his two sons were enjoying an early family dinner when the outbreak hit. Daniel Jimenez, known to his friends as Danny, with his two sons Mico and Mikee lived a simple life in their little apartment home. His wife had passed away four years ago and he had since then did all he could to raise his boys on his own. Because of this, his eldest son Mico was obliged to fill the role of parent for his brother Mikee while their father was out to work. It was a difficult life for all of them but nevertheless, they were happy.
Allan stood up and paced around the room. In the deafening silence, he heard the wind shriek and felt his fear clawing at his nerves. Blood violently pulsed through the veins in his temple, threatening to burst out. Clearly bothered by Allan's erratic behavior, Mico hurriedly ran towards his father.
"It's alright son, it's alright.", said Danny to Mico. Mico huddled underneath his arm as he watched Allan walk around like a madman. "Allan, for God's sake, sit down! SIT DOWN!"
The nervous security guard stopped. He looked blankly at Danny and for a moment, it seemed as if he had calmed down. His eyes bore an unnerving distant quality within them. Allan's gaze was sternly fixed onto Danny yet Danny felt as if Allan was seeing something else entirely. He shifted in his seat in an attempt to better cover an already frightened Mico.
"Allan, calm down. I understand how you feel." , said Danny. "We're scared, too. We're all scared... but we shouldn't panic. Panicking will do us no good. We need to stay together and stay strong. We need to help each other and figure our way through this."
"M-my family...", whispered the security guard.
"What did you say Allan?"
"...my family is still out there.", replied Allan. He kept his gaze trained onto Danny's eyes as he walked closer to him. Allan picked up his gun from the table and inspected it in his hands. It was an old Glock with 9x19mm Parabellum ammo, issued by the security agency that sponsored him. Quickly, he turned and walked towards the door. He yanked out the chair jammed against the doorknob and opened the door.
"STOP! Allan, please, don't do this! Everyone in here relies on you!" exclaimed Danny who was already on his feet. Mico curled on the sofa behind him, his fearful eyes welling up with tears.
"SHUT UP! Just... Just shut up!" yelled Allan. Tears gushed from his eyes and he used his free hand to wipe it off.
"Allan, come here and sit down. Let's talk things over."
"Shut up! I said... shut up! I have to leave... I have to go."
"No, you don't, Allan. You need to stay here with us. We're much safer here than... OH GOD ALLAN NO!"
The muzzle of the Glock 17 glared at Mico. Its parts rattled softly in Allan's grip.
"I have... I have a daughter the same age as Mico. She needs me out there. She needs me, Danny."
"Allan..." said Danny softly. When that day started, the last thing Danny expected to do was put his own life in any danger. Yet, in the face of such danger befalling either of his sons, Danny would have gone against anything even worse than bullets "I understand, Allan. Just, put the gun down. We don't want anyone getting hurt."
"I... I have to save my family. They're all I have..." replied Allan in a bout of dismal tears and sobs.
"I understand that Allan. I feel the same way you do right now."
Danny had positioned himself directly in the Glock's line of fire, blocking any possibility of his son getting shot. Though still with gun aimed at him, Danny felt some amount of relief.
"...put the gun down Allan, please."
Allan hesitated for a moment, the gun now rattling even more violently in his hands. Without saying a word, he lowers the gun and turns swiftly back towards the door. He hurried his steps, urging necessity to overcome his guilt and fear.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Allan froze a few steps from the staircase. His heart pounded heavily against his chest powered by a haunting guilt that tortured him from within. He feared for his family greatly. Are they okay? Were they waiting for him, a loving husband and father, to protect them from these monsters just as he had promised to do? He was a security guard after all. He remembered how his daughter's eyes glowed in reverence every time she sees him in his guard's uniform. She looked up to him as if he was a soldier, or perhaps even a gallant knight in armor.
What if they were hurt or even worse, dead? Allan acknowledged this possibility grimly but struggled with his faith to believe otherwise. What was he to do if he finds them in a state very similar to these monsters?
A new fear gripped him... a new, crippling fear that rendered him unable to take a step further. Allan hurried back into the apartment. Tears fell with the words I'msorry lingering quietly on his lips.
"Allan..." murmured Danny. His eyes showed befuddlement and gratitude that he had quickly returned.
A woman peeked from inside one of the rooms.
"Hurry up, both of you! Help us here!" bellowed Tess.
The room was cramped with people. Mikee clung tightly onto Tess's skirt. He had been sleeping in the adjacent room but woke to fear from the cries and screams around him.
"Mikee, stay on the sofa with Mico." said Danny calmly to his son. "Go on."
Mikee tried to give the scene one final glance. Camille, a student nurse and resident of the apartment complex, was inside trying to restrain the thrashing pregnant woman on the bottom bunk of the double deck bed.
"Jen, stop it! You'll hurt your baby." pleaded Camille.
Pain took hold of all of Jen's senses. She dug her fingers deep into the sheets and were it not for the wadded cloth that Camille put in her mouth, she would have either bit her own tongue or gritted her teeth until they chipped.
"Danny, Allan, hold her down! Please, do it now!" yelled Camille.
Both men reacted instantly. Danny pressed down on her shoulders while Allan held her knees.
"We need morphine! She needs some sedative... a painkiller... there has to be something..." Camille was speaking in between sobs. "Oh God, she's in so much pain! Jen..."
Jen convulsed on the bed. Her muffled screams were so intense that it made her gag seem useless. Both men struggled to pin her down. Pain had addled her senses and with much force Jen managed to free her right leg of Allan's grasp. She kicked up at him, though it was much more like an involuntary spasm. Her foot caught Allan square on the jaw. Allan staggered and fell to the floor. Danny moved quickly to prevent her from hurting herself or anyone else any further.
"Hggk... Hggk..." Jen's eyes went still; wide open due to pain but eerily still, staring blankly at Danny's face. She made gurgling noises and choked on the air. Her convulsions stopped. Jen's chest jerked twice before she let out a long, final breath. Danny checked the pulse on her wrist and shook his head. Everyone fell silent.
"DANNY GET AWAY FROM HER!" yelled Camille.
In that same instant, Jen's corpse sat up and got hold of Danny's right arm. With menacing force, she yanked Danny closer for her to move in for the bite. The thick wad of cloth that gagged her was still in her mouth, much to Danny's luck, but her fingers held onto him so tight that her nails were digging into his skin. Danny yelled out in pain.
Allan was scrambled onto his feet, searching frantically for his gun. Unable to find it on himself, he immediately rushed to help Danny. With a surge of adrenaline, he shoved her head back against the wall with both his hands and began flinging punches at the zombie's face. With each hit came the disgusting sounds of breaking bones. Whether it was the bones on Allan's hands or those on the zombie's skull was unclear but Allan continued punching relentlessly until the zombie loosened its grip on Danny's arm.
"Are you okay, Danny?" said Allan. Both of them were still gasping for air.
"Allan... Thank you..." replied Danny. Tears were flowing down the side of Allan's face but he smiled reassuringly towards Danny.
"Wh-what happened?" spoke Danny as he tried to regain his calm. "She suddenly became one of those things outside... how?"
Danny looked at the people around him, searching for anyone who had the answer. Everyone was looking at the same place: the gash on Jen's leg.
"You think the wounds...?"
Danny's heartbeat suddenly spiked and he reeled back from the shock. He nervously lifted his right arm and felt his whole body shaking.
"It's just... It's just a scratch... She didn't really get to bite me. She had a gag, you see. I mean... Look.", pleaded Danny but not to anyone in particular. He was panicked, fearful for his own sake. "It's just a scratch. I'll be fine, right? Right?" He looked around him, desperately hoping for reassurance.
Mikee, Danny's younger son, was standing outside the door with the unmistakable look of terror in his eyes as he gazed at his father.
Danny broke into tears.
Something moved around the partially exposed belly of Jen's corpse. A series of bulges rose and ebbed from under her skin. Upon closer inspection it bore a familiar figure: a baby's hands.