Weekly Wednesday: "Diseased"

A Short Story

(Preface: Halloween Special. This story was a dream I had a few years ago. I was so intrigued by it that I started writing it as soon as I woke up from it. It is written as I remembered it. No alterations were made.)

The first floor served as some sort of holding area for the infected. When I walked through the main entrance, I saw each and every one of them. I didn't understand what was happening to them or why I was even there in the first place, but I stared in curiosity. There were cells like that of a prison recently built within. As soon as I walked in there were cells to my left that went along as the left side of a hallway. To my right was free space for a couple yards until the awfully dirty floor stopped abruptly at another wall of cells that I saw no end to. I went to the single large desk centered in the front lobby.

"What's going on here?" my friend asked when he reached the desk a moment after I did. I had almost forgotten he was with me. There were two women stationed at the desk, neither of which cared to reply let alone look at my friend. He asked them again. No reply.

"What the hell is going on here?" I yelled at one of them. She looked up at me, dark face in tears. She didn't say anything for a moment. Then she did…

"They're coming," she said through her tears. Though, I had no clue what she was talking about. Then I felt the building shake. I looked at the front entrance. It was like a whole mob had just rammed all four walls of the front lobby. In fact, that's almost what it was. They were all dark skinned. Arms were reaching through the windows and in through the door. I heard two gunshots behind me as I stared at the oncoming rioters. Then it hit me; I turned back towards the desk where my friend was staring, mouth gaping. It seemed the women had killed themselves.

I knew when I returned my eyes to the attackers that they were a bit out of the ordinary. They were insane. Like something out of a movie. They acted like zombies... but that would be absurd. Neglecting all awkward thoughts, my friend and I searched quickly for an escape. The infected that were barred were breaking through, as were the ones outside attempting to infiltrate. Why were they coming after us and what was wrong with them? My questions didn't matter; they had broken through. We jumped over the desk and tripped onto the two dead women. Ignoring the gross feeling of their limp bodies beneath us, we ran for the staircase a few feet behind the desk. We began ascending. The building must have been a hundred stories. After a couple flights, my friend ran through a door into a hall and through another door into a room that had a single window. He looked out it and toward the ground. Right then I knew what he was thinking.

"We need to be a little farther up for the fall to kill us," he said. He was actually thinking about killing himself. I just wanted to escape. With all of the thoughts running through our minds, we must not have been thinking clearly or rationally even. He ran back to the stairwell. I followed.

"We need to get to a computer," he yelled back at me. "Maybe we can get help."

I just followed. I knew we were dead, but maybe, just maybe we could hide from them until help arrived. There was no fighting these people. We hadn't any weapons. My friend had a pocketknife. I just ran and ran. Up the stairs to our demise. Our pursuers were slower than us by much. After a couple more seconds of ascending, my friend ran out of another door into a hall again. He ran to a door at the end of the hall and entered. I heard him scream "yes", and when I entered after him I saw a computer. He seated himself at it then laid the knife he pulled out for defense down on the desk, and got to work.

"Watch the hall," he told me. I did. I was shaking like hell, but I watched. Then I saw them. Not the infected as I first assumed, but a family of five. I yelled for them to come and hide with us. They were hesitant.

"They think we're astronauts," the eldest women spoke to me, "We just have to show them we're not." She didn't really make any sense. Then my friend came to my side and spoke to them and me.

"They think we're food. It's a virus. They've all been infected. They don't think anything... They just want to kill us."

That didn't take long to settle into my mind. I ignored the thought of zombies again and ushered the family into the room, the littlest girl first. She was beautiful. Maybe five years of age. Then I saw our demise. One of the infected came in through a window that was in the room we were. It was a woman. She went for the knife my friend set on the desk and shanked the little girl in the stomach. The girl instantly began to cry. In pain and fear. The infected continued to stab in the same spot. I ran for the infected and began to fight. I punched the woman in the face several times to no effect. Then they came from the hall. All of them. I was backed into a window next to the door that came from the hall. The infected began to come in. The family was in the middle of the room and my friend by the desk. Time slowed. The one infected with the knife began to stab the girl again.

"Dammit, get it over with!" I screamed at her. I knew we were dead now. The infected woman looked at me for a moment and then sliced at the girl's neck. Blood spewed everywhere. I began to cry. I started praying to God. I prayed for help. I prayed for forgiveness. Then He showed me the light. The infected began attacking me. I quickly turned and opened the window I was backed against. I jumped through the space I opened, but they caught my legs and pulled me. I pushed off with my hands and made it through. First I noticed the daylight. It was beautiful. Then I saw the concrete hundreds of feet below me. It was suicide, but better than a slow and painful death. Then I saw the rooftop about ten feet below me and to my left. Being that I had already started falling, I didn't think I had a chance, but maybe I could save myself and catch the ledge. I could run. I don't know where to. But I could run. Before I could catch the ledge or fall to my concrete death, I awoke…

by MFW III