A feeling of dread creeps into the pit of my stomach again, remembering how Emily is upstairs waiting for me, and Josh… Josh is out there somewhere in this mayhem, so I've got to get out of this and get my children safe. These things are relentless though and coming straight at me. I am straining my mind for an option. The other lads and I, Mick included, are starting to converge in the middle of the foyer, all moving backwards slowly and firing to keep the hoard of Rabids at bay. But we are struggling now, and they are gaining on us.
We cannot keep this up all the way through the canteen to the kitchen and then to the lift and stairs beyond. If we turn and run, they’ll be on us in a flash. I know well how quickly they move, and my mind races, searching for a way to survive.
"Covering fire!"
Dan's voice bellows out from behind me, and I can't describe the feeling of relief in hearing those words from that man; it is nearly overwhelming.
Rapid gunfire from multiple M4s explodes from the rear and more Rabids start to fall, taking some of the pressure off us four men retreating, and we start to move faster towards the canteen doors. Maybe, just maybe, I will survive this.
The four of us are about five meters from the canteen doors. Something comes at me low, and I hesitate for a split second but then shoot its legs away. A boy who couldn’t be much older than Emily falls on his front. The boy lifts his little head, screeching at me; he looks like a boy, but he is a thing, a beast, a hideous creature. Its evil eyes piercing, it is still trying to get at me, pulling itself along by its hands, but this young Rabid is soon trampled over by other Rabids that have also been shot and are collapsing too.
We are now close to the door, constantly firing at anything coming at us. There must be over a hundred Rabids in the foyer, more even, all coming at us in one way or another—and just how many have we shot? I can only guess but it must be well over the same amount again, how many more are out there, preparing to attack us?
Dan shouts, "Grenades!" I see at least six of them pass over our heads and into the mass, two more rolling through low across the floor, followed by a shout of, "Run".
The three other lads turn and make a break for the canteen door. Mick is first through followed by the other two lads, and I take my last couple of shots and then turn and run for the door. Just as the explosions hit almost in unison, I make it through past Dan and his men, with the blasts pushing my back helping me along. Immediately, I turn around, raising my rifle in case the Rabids are still coming. As I do, the last two grenades explode and more Rabids are torn to bits by them, then all that can be seen is a cloud of smoke.
A relative silence draws over the room and I inch forward towards Dan, my rifle still pointing, looking for targets in the smoke. Nothing comes at us through the smoke; have the multiple grenades finished them off?
Sunlight from the windows, or what’s left of them, starts to pierce through as the smoke begins to clear. Before the foyer becomes visible again, the chilling sound of Rabids moaning and snarling can be heard and grows louder.
Out of the smoke, one appears, a middle-aged, white balding man in a white shirt and navy-blue tie with matching navy trousers and brown loafers, its head down as it stumbles forward. The right side of its body is shredded and singed, and dark red blood has stained through to the left side of its white shirt but it’s his right side that is shocking.
The blast from one of the grenades has blown a hole in its body as if someone has taken a big bite out of it. Most of its rib cage is gone, the remaining couple of ribs hanging down and swaying as it stumbles to walk. Its spine is visible but no organs can be seen; they are either gone or they have minced together. Half of its right arm is gone too, the remaining half missing most of its skin, only the bone, some muscle and tatters of flesh remaining. How the fuck can it be alive, and on its feet, still coming towards us? That is the most shocking thing, we all have seen gruesome battle injuries before, but this thing’s body has catastrophic injuries, yet it is still snarling, ready to attack again. It has us all mesmerized!
“Let’s get these doors closed and secured,” I instruct, quickly regaining my composure.
This seems to snap everyone back into action; the canteen doors are hastily closed and a radio call to Stan upstairs gets them locked, all main doors can be locked electronically throughout the building. The relief as the doors are closed is obvious, we all feel it and we all relax very slightly. The doors will keep the horde of Rabids contained, at least until we’ve evacuated to the higher floors.
"Boss, Steve and Ian?" Dan asks the question I was waiting for.
"I'm sorry, mate, they didn’t make it; there was a sudden surge of hostiles and their position was overwhelmed in seconds. I didn’t think any of us were going to make it, there were just so many of them and they kept coming. You got back to us just in time; thanks, mate, I owe you another one," I tell him sombrely.
"You don't owe me for that one, Boss,” he says looking down. “We should have been there earlier, but we got caught up in getting the staff and the supplies upstairs. I was on the sixth floor when I heard the gunfire.
