4th chapter

Part 7 Aisle “D”


Captain Monarch and Corporal Bean focus their eyes to the surroundings being revealed by the low light shining in from the open doorway and the high bay windows above. Supply bldg #13 is obviously a warehouse, tall; about 25 foot high, with towering metal racks stretching toward the back and, from their corridor vantage point, methodically lined up as far as their eyes could make out, at least a quarter mile. On the racks, appeared to be box upon box, large vials and flasks of chemicals, devices of all sorts, lined up cleanly for what appears to be a robotic selection conveyor system hung by heavy channeling from the roof trusses above.

Corporal Bean turns on his hand held mag-light, but the captain deflected Corporal Bean’s arm downward, and whispers loud enough thru the gas mask: Turn it off, that door was unlocked for some reason and we don’t want to alert who or whatever’s in here; unsure if an encounter would be friendly.

Bean switched it off and placed it back in its sling and responded: Captain, more than likely it was left open by the fleeing warehouse people when they heard of the giant escaping LHS. I’d sure run too, without looking back. And don’t forget we have to balance our time schedule versus being too careful. And, Captain, there's always our trusty point 38’s, as he patted the pistol on his side-belt. I received the silver cluster in marksmanship last year.

You’re right, but we still must move with caution.

From the doorway, the first rack they approached had a large black letter “Z” on a white placard background 15’ up. The Captain states: Well, at least we know they work their inventory alphabetically and not by pharmaceutical codes, it makes for a lot easier retrieval. Corporal, grab that electric wagon near the wall and we’ll work backwards from Z to A in getting the supplies. And keep the headlight off. What did the professor want? Visqueen plastic, 6” ducting, dehumidifiers, duct tape, cotton, powder shields, dust spot testers, I have the list in my pocket. Looks like most of it will be in the “D” aisle and will make it easy on us. But the dehumidification apparatus is normally very heavy.

The men set to pulling the supplies working down the aisles quietly, loading the items in the electric wagon. They retrieve the plastic, shields, other ancillary items and then head toward their main goal in “D” aisle. It was a good quarter mile down the main corridor, with the electric wagon quietly whirring, the rubber wheels softly making an occasional squirch noise while rolling along the smooth concrete floor. The warehouse darkness engulfs them even more than the night itself. They park the wagon at the head of the “D” aisle, and walk down the aisle to scope out the locations and to coordinate the rest of the supplies they need. The Captain stops in front of the dehumidification apparatus, luckily located on a lower shelf since it is heavy. He turns to Corporal Bean: Corporal, proceed down the aisle to assure the ducting and dust testers are there. He turns back to the dehumidifier to look for lifting hooks.

Moments later the Corporal comes running hurriedly back in a panic: Captain, Captain! As I passed some empty shelving I spied large scratch marks in the floor and almost stepped in some liquid that looks like that blithering zombie-making blather. Thank God the moonlight reflected off the green droplets or I would have been a goner for sure.

Hmmm, lets go down and see what is there, or at least see what is missing.

The two men went to the empty shelving, avoiding the green droplets: Corporal that looks like blather alright. I saw it up close when the 5th battalion was sprayed. Luckily it missed me. And those scratch marks start at that empty shelf. No robotic retrieving devices would make such markings unless those robots were out of whack. But the empty shelving, what’s that shelf tag say that was originally stored there?

The Captain bent down and peered closely trying to make out the letters: Hmmm, it reads “distillation device”. It looks like all the distillation devices were removed and dragged down toward the back wall of the warehouse. Corporal, I know we're behind schedule but we must follow these scratches to make sure everything’s secure, before we return to HQ.

The men not knowing the Schering Plough layout were unaware that bldg #14 which is connected to supply bldg#13 is the pharmaceutical clean rooms where most of the lab testing is done.

The two men, following the scratches went deeper into the warehouse; coming to a closed door in the back of Bldg #13. Through the opaque window in the door they could just make out a yellowish-green light and possibly shadows moving inside: Corporal, look, this may be dangerous, but I’m planning to look inside. I don’t have a good feeling so you better go back to the wagon. I’ll return in a few moments.

Captain, my choice is with you, we’ve been through enough together. One more look-see won’t hurt us. But I think you better be the one to open the door first.

They both unclasp the holsters of their point 38’s, the captain turning the knob on the door, noting that the door swung into the warehouse. It quietly opened.


Part 8 The Inner Ring and the second escape-inside


The lab room door opened silently to a slit. Putrid steam-like gases and yellow greenish air seeped out, tumbling across the concrete floor like low rolling fog, slowly engulfing their boots. There was a slight electrical humming noise and they heard that now-dreaded constant sound of dull “duhs”.

Crouching next to each other, Captain Monarch puts his hand on Corporal Bean’s shoulder to direct his sight, and whispers closely: Look on the lab benches, that apparatus in the center of the main zombie ring must be those distillation devices from inventory. You can recognize them by the large copper electric heating flasks and the spiral glass cooling tubes. And hovering over the top of that equipment is a most terrible discovery for us so far. That half man, half blithering idiot standing up on the lab chair emptying that pail of what appears to be blather into the top flask of that distillation device I recognize as a key political figure around this area. That’s Senator LesManiac. He appears to be the one leading this experiment. Look at him! He’s actually eating chunks of the disgusting green blather like he thrives on it; it’s become part of him. Is there no humanity left in him?

Says Corporal Bean in return, pointing to an area below LesManiac: It even gets worse. Look at those creatures on the reclining chairs around the distillation devices. My God, they each have catheters coming from the distillation cooling manifold into the veins of their arms. They are being transfused by the distilled blather. What is in that stuff that they thrive on?

The Captain replies: I think can make out who some of them are, too. It looks like the Onion County Freeholders are in on this experiment. There’s freeholder Miraclelbelly, Scallion, Slimyman, O’strada, even freeholders Weird and Kowallaby are there, although I never thought they would have been part of it, but sadly they are. It looks like these blithering idiots are being groomed as the new leaders of the dimwitted zombie masses, to take complete control of Onion County and even further out, once our society is reduced to shambles. Horrible, just horrible.

Shocked by that reality, Corporal Bean is taken aback and by mistake knocks his mag-light out of the sling and it clinks on the concrete floor. The horde turns their direction. Senator LesManiac gives a huge roar: DUH, DUH, DUH!!!!

And the blithering masses start stumbling at Captain Monarch and Corporal Bean with blank but fierce looks of dimwittedness. Duh…duh….duh….

The zombies plow thru the door filling into building 13 with the Captain and Corporal falling back, and pulling out their point 38’s and firing.

Captain, the bullets are not doing anything!

Corporal, keep firing as we run. Aim for their legs, we have to get back to the cart and into the jeep.

But Captain, the dehumidification device…

There’s no time for that Corporal, get into the cart, we have to get back to HQ to warn them. Keep firing.

The men keep firing but there is no slowing the zombies, as one falls another take its place.

duh…duh…duh.

They make it back to the cart, reloading and firing; the zombies closing in. The weighted down cart heads up the main corridor leaving the main blithering mass at back. Near aisle “S”, suddenly a zombie drops from the conveyor system, overturning the cart forcing them and the cart to slide and slam against the “T” shelf overturning boxes, bottles and equipment, throwing them to the floor. A mass of zombies are closing in. The 2 soldiers hide behind piles of broken boxes, firing and reloading and firing again. They run out of ammunition.

Captain, my 38’s empty.
So’s mine, Corporal.
What are we going to do? We are being surrounded.
Start throwing anything to hold them back for our escape.

The two men start throwing anything they could get their hands on. The Corporal found a huge box of textbooks ripped open from the cart impact and, starts heaving them at the zombies just in the hopes of holding them back a few more seconds. Suddenly, the zombies open rank and stopped their forward motion. Duh…duh…duh…duh……………….

Screams the Captain: The books! For some reason…throw more books at them!

The Corporal is heaving them left and right, the zombies start falling back. The captain got the cart re-righted.

Captain, we’re running low on the textbooks.

Get in, throw the last of the books, we’re almost out of here.

They neared the back door and jumped out of the cart, through the door and back in the jeep. The captain starts it up and speeds toward the front gate, breaking the warning arm and pulling out onto Galloping Hill: I’ll head east into 5-Points and up Chestnut street avoiding the Boulevard blockade.