I press the button for the lift and the doors immediately slide open; we get in and I press G.
“What are your thoughts about arming the civvies?” I ask Dan as we descend.
“Dodgy, Boss. The last thing we want is them shooting each other, or even worse, shooting us by accident.”
“Yes, but if this goes pear-shaped and these things get inside, we are going to need all the firepower we can get.”
“True, your call I guess, that’s why you’re paid the big bucks, Boss.”
“Okay. Get one of the lads to take them through the basics of handling the hardware but don’t issue them with any guns unless things do go pear-shaped—and then only to the ones who they think can handle them.”
“Understood.”
“One of the lads can spend a bit of time with them, take one man off patrolling the perimeter, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
The lift comes to a gentle stop and the doors open onto the main reception, which is quiet. The doors at the entrance are still shut tight and no noise is coming from them. I’m a little surprised by this, considering what is out there on the other side of them.
Mick sits at the reception desk. He has brought the chair around to the front and it looks almost like he is seated at a bar facing outwards. One elbow on the booth, a cup of coffee also resting on top of the booth. And lying next to it is his sidearm. He and Ian will be rotating between here and the rear service entrance, down the corridor off reception and around the back of the building. It is cut off and I can understand why the two men are taking it in turns.
Mick sees Dan and me exit the lift and straight away, he gets up and comes over to us, picking up his gun.
“Okay, lads, what’s the craic?” Mick says in his Australian accent whilst walking over to us.
“Not much to report at the moment, Mick. Anything we need to know about from your end?” Dan asks.
“Nah, mate, all quiet here, the odd bang and scream from the door, but nothing to worry about. When’s the extra firepower arriving? This ain’t gonna cut it if they manage to get in?” Mick jokes, waving his gun in the air.
“Agreed,” I say, “we are just en route to sort that out, we are just going to check how it’s looking outside.”
“Not good, mate. Just had a recce myself up there and think we’re on borrowed time.”
Dan and I look at each other, then tell Mick more firepower is on its way, and to stay alert and report anything new. We head to the stairs leading to the first floor and the windows looking out over the courtyard.
As we climb the stairs, we see the men in their positions watching the perimeter; we go around to the right expecting to see the worst. As we approach the window, Steve who is in position there turns to us.
“They are getting higher; there are fucking hundreds of them climbing all over each other. They’re gonna be at this window soon.”
Steve, a six-foot bearded, hardened combat veteran is sounding nervous and looking worried, and as I get to the window, it hits me immediately how he’s feeling.
The whole courtyard is teaming with Rabids and I do mean the whole courtyard, I actually can’t see any of the ground down there, monsters covering it. The only reference of the courtyard that I can see is the outside perimeter. The gate and gatehouse lie buried somewhere beneath a moving mass of bodies that can’t be differentiated at this distance. I must admit, I’m in shock for a couple of seconds; how can there be so many? This virus only escaped yesterday afternoon or yesterday evening, and yet in front of me, there are hundreds if not thousands of these infected Rabids—or whatever you want to call them!
At my feet, level with the bottom of the window, are grim inhuman faces looking up, looking at us, climbing higher and higher, their only possible reason is to somehow get inside and attack us.
What the fuck are they climbing on to get this high? It can only be on each other, since the walls are tapered outwards but only slightly, and are fabricated in smooth concrete so they can’t be climbing on that. The only explanation is still that they are climbing on top of each other, but surely the ones at the bottom can’t hold all the weight?
There is a pyramid of sorts reaching up to this height, and the point is situated at my feet. Even now, there are others climbing up the outside of the pyramid to form the next level, a level which will probably reach up to our position. Suddenly, the pyramid drops a meter or so as if it has collapsed at the bottom.
“It does that every now and then,” Steve informs us, “then it builds again, getting higher each time. I think the ones at the bottom must be getting crushed,” he adds. “Will the windows hold when they get this high?”
“I don’t know, Steve, they are thick but who knows. We need to prepare for the worst,” I respond.
“These things look absolutely evil through and through, don’t they?” Steve points out.
“Yes, I agree.”
“I dunno, I’ve seen worse,” Dan says.
“You’ve seen worse?” Steve exclaims.
“Yea, you should see this one the morning after a night on the tiles!” Dan jokes, waving his thumb in my direction.
“Charming, with friends like you…” I retort.
Steve doesn’t really respond at all to Dan’s joke, he just looks equally worried. The three of us watch as the pyramid starts to rebuild for a moment. Then, I lean forward and put my ear to the glass, I hear things straight away; it is hard to make out through the thick glass
