Zombie Apocalypse: Glowing Embers

The stench was coming from this way, no question. Worse than anything yet. What on earth could be causing it? A slight movement against his collarbone told him that his little pal shared his discomfort.
"Cover your nose, Boo. This place reeks of evil." He'd just been joking, but the rodent actually nestled deeper under the over sized collar of his coat. Sometimes he wondered if it actually understood more than the simple commands he'd taught it. Pulling out a spare mask he placed it atop the one he had on. Better than nothing. Katana drawn, he made his way deftly over the gore strewn tiled floors. Most of it was dried, but here and there a juicy bit remained to slip up the unwary. Not surprising, really. The ill and injured couldn't have run very fast.
Looks like the morgue's residents got up for a snack when all this started. Or maybe some of those Virals had caught the madness first. No matter. With any luck whichever it was would have long since moved on. Trusting to luck is a fool's path, and a fool's path always ends abruptly. He slowed down his stealthy run to a walk to make even less noise. Still, his steps sounded loud in his own ears.

The flashlight flickered briefly as he checked his route. A few steps, flicker. A few more, flicker. No need to waste the battery or announce his arrival more than he had to. Not like he could see clearly beyond a short ways even with the light. The flashes revealed white halls, floors, and the occasional chairs whenever he passed a nurses station. Well, they would have been white. The four months since the ZA hit had seen the halls and rooms left untended, though not uninhabited. Black streaks of dried blood marred the walls more frequently as he pressed onward, and the scent actually managed to gradually grow worse. Turning the corner toward the cafeteria suddenly showed him why.
Filling the hallway from side to side and nearly floor to ceiling was a...thing? A mass of flesh. A hop showed him it went as far as he could see down the corridor, and even seemed to branch off to side paths. Bright red veins stood out starkly on the otherwise smooth mass for a moment before the color and texture changed. Between one blink and the next it has shifted from the pinkish red of growing flesh to the greenish grey of decay. Now back again. What could this thing be? Those red veins make it seem related to the Virals. Something new they've mutated into? They've got to know about this. But we need those supplies too. Have to find another way around.

Twice more in the trek towards the pharmacy the weird biomasses halted his progress and forced a detour. Neither showed any more sign of moving than the other, but he sneaked quietly by them anyway.
As the not quite lone warrior neared his goal there was a subtle, but increasingly loud groaning of wood and metal. Very aware of being on the fifth floor, he took his stride back up to a run, which nearly made him slam into the pharmacy counter that he found to be in front of him.
GGGRROOAAANN! It seemed to be coming from somewhere higher up.
Antibiotics, penicillin, and various other meds flew into the pack as fast as he could get them.
GGGGRRROOOAAAAANNN!
Wasting no time, he dashed down a nearby hallway which showed light at the end's T intersection. Light meant windows. Windows meant outside. Static at his hip turned to a worried voice.
"Ninjas! Can you hear me? What's going on in there?" He held down the button to reply.
"Don't kn--"
GRNNN--CRACK!
Only his quick feet kept him from being flattened by the sudden entrance of a biomass crashing through the ceiling. Frantically backpedaling away from the crumbling floor ahead of him, he manged not to be carried over the edge as the biomass hit the floor and kept right on going. The crunch of something inside snapping accompanied by the sound of flesh tearing filled his ears. The smell sent a wave of nausea over him that nearly caused him to empty his stomach into his mask. Which might have been preferable to the shaking starting up. He slammed the button down on his walkie-talkie and began running down the opposite hall.
"This place is losing it, Cel. Get away from here."
"What about you? I'm not leaving without you."
"Great, but I didn't plan on staying. Now move!" Skidding to a stop in front of a broken window, he looked out at ground below for only a moment. That tree would have to do. He sheathed his weapon and pressed the small lever that would lock the blade in place as he took the sheath from behind his back. From his right sleeve he pulled a length of cable and unfastened the claw at the end from his cuff. The shaking worsened which made the job of attaching it to the catch on the sheath no easier, but at last it was done. The groaning of the building threatened to deafen him.
As the floor began to give way he leaped from the window, hurling the sword end over end into the nearby oak. Blessedly, it caught among the old, gnarled branches. Debris rained down around him, some striking as he spiraled around the tree. Something heavy hit him in the side causing him to spin unexpectedly. No way to get oriented in time. His right side slammed heavily into the trunk and everything exploded in pain.

The world came ever so slowly back into focus. Mostly. Everything kept sliding along to his sides sending little jolts of pain through his body. What was happening? He was laying down, but still moving? Movement on his chest caused him to look down. There sat Boo bouncing along with the rocking movement. The little green bandana he'd made for him waved slightly. The little fur ball crouched on top something. Cloth straps encircled his chest and he could see more further down on his feet. A gurney? He shifted his weight and the pain flared up anew. He growled and ground his teeth.
"Finally awake, huh?"
"Do I want to be?"
"Probably not. But it's better than not waking up at all." Apologizing for the bumps between gasping for breath, Cel pushed the gurney along the road at a good clip. "Sorry, but we've got to put distance between here and what's left of that place. If that wasn't enough noise to draw them I don't know what will be."
"My sword? The supplies?"
"The meds are on my back, and your pointy stick is with them, don't worry," she smirked halfheartedly. "Had to cut the cable though. Too tangled. And the rig looks busted besides. You'd ask about that before your own injuries?"
"I think my arm's broken."
"It is. Your whole right half is good and bruised too. But at least you're awake. That's a good sign. That was a plum crazy thing to do though."
"Sometimes the fool's path is the only one left to you."



What is that infernal buzzing? Oh, the radio! Yes.
"Say again, please. There was, um, some static," said the man, pulling his nose out of the book for the first time in hours. How long had that thing been squawking? No matter. He'd gotten to it eventually. "This is Jolli. Say again, please. Um, over."
"Thank God! Jolli, are you still in the place we left you?"
"Yes, yes. Um, over." Somehow the momentary silence from the radio suggested a rolling of eyes on the other end. No call for that. He'd answered, hadn't he?
"Look, Ninja is hurt. We're going to have to hole up there for the day at least. No way we can make it back to camp by nightfall. We should be just up the road from you. Could you and the kid unblock the doors for us please?"
"Of course. Won't take a minute. There's nothing outside, right, Kid?" he asked as he turned towards the scrawny teenager sitting by the ground level window. Jolli waited for the kid's coughing to stop before repeating the question.
"Saw a few earlier. Didn't pop them because we don't need the noise. Too little ammo. Might still be out there."
"Well, you stay here and cover them, okay? They should be coming into sight. I'll go unbar the door." He hurried up the steps while ignoring Kid's grumbling about escort missions or something like that. Ducking his frame through the door up from the basement to the main hall, he set about removing the large tables and shelves pushed against the large double doors of the library's front entrance. This is good solid wood. I could make something from this. Maybe good supports for the glider wings, if that ever gets off the ground, or perhaps reinforce the--
The muffled voices from outside jarred him from his thoughts and he quickly finished his task. He opened the door just in time to see Ninja sitting up on a gurney with the aid of Cel on one side and using his sword as a crutch on the other. Those wheels could be useful too.
"How bad is it, Ninja?"
"Just some bruises and a broken arm. I'll live."
"Good, good! And how's the rig?"
"Busted," said Cel. "I had to cut the cable too. But it did save him out there."
"Well, we can always get more cable. Better cable. The important thing is that it worked...Because it means you're safe. Yes," he added in a rush.

Jolli and Cel eased Ninja into a nearby chair and set about rebuilding the barricade. Just in time too, it seemed. A coughing in the nearby staircase announced Kid's arrival.
"We got hostiles outside. Not too many, but I thought you should know. I'm going to the roof."
None of them knew what to make of the kid. They'd found him only earlier today in this very place. Had to have been here or somewhere close since the first day. He looked frail, but he'd managed so far. It appeared to have affected his mind though. Seemed to think the whole thing was a game. He'd nearly shot them when they first appeared, claiming he thought they were just palette swaps of regular zombies. Still, on realizing his mistake he had put down three of the group of six Shamblers that wandered around the corner.
"Just be ready to go in the morning. We'll camp here toni--" The kid spoke up heatedly, cutting Jolli off.
"I'm not camping! I'm sniping. There's a difference!"
"...Of course. My mistake. Well then, we'll 'rest' here tonight to save our strength. Okay?"
"Save often," Kid nodded, "and on alternating files."
"Oh, always." This seemed to satisfy the kid, and he made his way to the back of the large room filled with books and into the side room with the ladder to the room. The other three shared a confused look.

The day moved on into evening without much further incident. Jolli went back and forth between fussing over the rig being broken and claiming it was worthless and that the next one would be a hundred times better and more presentable as they helped Ninja out of it. Next time the frame would be smaller. They couldn't argue that it didn't work. If he hadn't hit the tree as he did it would have been fine. The lightweight metal frame around his chest connected to the segmented rods sewn into in his sleeve was a perfect way to move the force of a climb off just the one arm and onto the more manageable chest area. He was sure they couldn't argue it, but felt the need to repeatedly remind them.
Ninja about bit through a book as they set the bone in his arm, but he once he'd recovered he was ready for something tastier. They made a meal of rations.
Kid had apparently cleaned out a nearby convenience store, and was content having some chips and a couple bottles of Mountain Dew. No wonder about his health if that's all he lived on.
As the night got on Cel volunteered to do a watch from the roof once she found out that the only other place to be was the small basement.
Which is why she was the first to see the fire flare up in the woods outside the city.