Chapter 7: The Library
Mark sat at the edge of the military cot that was assigned to him with his head resting in his cupped hands. He sighed again as he slowly switched his hands from rubbing his face to rubbing his temples. His mind was overflowing with multiple thoughts and it was driving him nuts. It had been two days since he had agreed to Logan’s offer, making that three days since he had been here in the undergrounds of the college. Every day was a long list of chores and other things needed to be done. So many things to do and in a certain order Mark was trying hard to focus and play a part but something else was preoccupying his mind, eating at him whenever he had a second to himself. Reaching into his jeans pocket he pulled out the car keys. ‘There was no way they were able to take the car, and with zombies out and about everywhere what happened to them?’
Mark looked out into the hallway as heard two patrol guards passed his cell or what they called his cell. Since he was new, he was still on probation, anytime he wasn’t helping out or eating meals he was sent back to his cell which was basically a storage closet. The underground had plenty of them and since they could be locked from the outside it worked as cells for newcomers until they could be trusted. Mark stood up and tucked the keys back in his pocket. He stretched in the small room as best as possible his body slightly aching from the activities of scrubbing the meal room floor. The walls of the cell were blank and white but it was still wide and long enough to fit the cot and be able to pace back and forth and that is exactly what Mark did.
‘Logan’s search party hasn’t found them either’ Mark thought to himself as he continued to pace. Mark frowned and bit his lip, hating the fact that he didn’t have the answer to his question, where were Rachel and Fin. His pacing stopped and his door flung open suddenly and Logan appeared standing there.
“You found them?” Mark blurted out impatiently.
“What? Oh, your friends, no sorry not yet. Come with me.” Logan said as he backed up and motioned for Mark to follow.
Accepting any freedom out of the cell Mark came out and followed Logan down the hallway, quickly catching up as Logan speed-walked away.
“What’s the hurry for?” Mark asked as they turned a corner and stopped at a door he was not familiar with.
Logan opened the door with a key that was attached to his belt. As he turned the doorknob and pushed open the door, he answered the question. “There was a breakthrough in our defenses and you're going to help stop it.”
The flick of the light switch was heard and bright white lights flooded the dark room revealing stockpiled weapons. Mark took it all in, a little in awe as he saw pistols, shotguns, even military issued AR-15 and M4s.
“I forgot how much you got from that military base that got overrun,” Mark said as he saw a dozen cases of different ammo. He reached out to touch an AR-15 that was leaning against the wall as he asked: “You said there was a breach, why am I dealing with it?”
Logan turned and smacked his hand “Don’t touch that.” Turning around again Logan moved a crate and grabbed something. He then turned to Mark and in his hands was Mark’s pistol, knife, and straps to attach both of them. “We fixed your gun and cleaned both weapons as well. It’s loaded. Anyways you’re coming with me and one other because there is no one else to handle this. Some idiot was probably trying to escape the city when his car flew through the college wall topside. Sent my second in command and 3 others up there to see about damage control.” Logan grabbed a pistol for himself which he strapped to his leg and then grabbing a M4 he slung the strap attached over his shoulder. “That was over an hour ago and they haven’t radioed in. We tried multiple times to reach out but nothing, so either the walkie-talkie broke or they are dead.”
Logan pushed Mark out of the room, flipped the lights off and locked the door back up.
“Maybe the battery is just dead,” Mark said as the two of them started walking again. They turned the corner and met up with a third guy, who Mark believe he had seen before at the dining area. The man nodded at Mark and said “The names’ Greg.” Turning to Logan, Greg said, “Ready to go, sir.”
Logan glanced back at Mark as he continued forward “Whatever the issue is, we are going topside to sort it out. Normally you wouldn’t have this privilege to prove your loyalty like this but since my forging team is still out looking for your friends and other materials, and my second in command and his team aren’t here either, I guess that just means today is your lucky day.” They took two more turns and then there was a set of concrete stairs in front of them leading up. As they got to the top Logan pressed his ear against the door and stood quietly, listening for a moment. Finally nodding, Logan lifted a metal rod that was stuck between the door handles and flipped the metal lock as well sending a loud clunk down the hallways. Logan pushed forward upstairs into the college and the others followed suit. Mark scanned the hallway they were in as Logan locked the door from their side. It was empty and quiet and it made Mark’s hair stand up, the silence was just too eerie for his taste.
“Okay,” Logan whispered, “We just came up the south stairs and the last time we were in contact with the group up here they had just made their way through the library and into the main lobby to check on the breach when we lost communications so from here on stay alert.”
Mark unholstered his pistol and cocked it to make sure that there was one in the chamber ready to be fired. The weight of his gun and the handle in his hands were a comforting feeling and the tension Mark felt earlier eased slightly. He looked over at Greg who had drawn his pistol and had his finger on the trigger, his hand slightly shaking. Mark put a hand on his shoulder “Finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.”
“Oh, right,” Greg said nervously as he removed his finger from the trigger.
“We got your back,” Mark said as he let go of the man’s shoulder. ‘Logan really wasn’t kidding when he said there was nobody left besides me.’ Mark thought as he followed Logan down the hallway and through the doors that connected to the library. Logan entered first, then Mark, with Greg pulling up the rear. The doors were heavy wooden ones that swung both ways. As they passed through and into the library the thumps of them going back and forth felt too loud compared to the vast silence that came from the library itself. Mark expected the library to look more modern since after all this was Las Vegas but instead Mark saw rows upon rows on his left and right of wooden shelves filled with books. Wooden tables with chairs lined the middle of the room for people to sit down and study. Logan pressed forward on the left side of the tables while Mark moved forward on the right side. Greg stuck behind Logan nervously glancing left and right as they moved forward. Together slowly Logan and Mark cleared isle by isle of bookshelves until Logan held up his hand and pointed ahead on his side. Mark leaned closer and saw the object Logan pointed out, a small pool of dark liquid; blood. Crouching a little they hurried forward, Mark crossing in between tables to close the gap between him and the rest of the group. Logan rounded the corner and flashed his pistol side to side before looking down and sighing slightly as he holstered his gun. Leaning against the bookshelf on the floor was a woman and she was the source of the blood. Mark lowered his eyes and noticed that there was a huge gash on her stomach along with a chunk taken out of her arm.
“Lydia…” Greg gasped as he came around the corner. He rushed forward but Logan stuck out his arm and blocked him.
“She’s been bitten.” He said sternly. He looked at Mark “She was part of the first group that came topside.”
Lydia’s eyes fluttered open weakly as she looked at the faces surrounding her. “Logan….is that you?”
Logan crouched down by Lydia’s side “Hey” he said slowly and tenderly “I see you got banged up a bit. Don’t worry we’ll get you on your feet in no time.”
Mark knew that was a lie with the amount of blood she had lost, not to mention she had been bitten, but he figured Logan was trying to ease her through the shock. Crouching as well Mark ask “Hey Lydia, what happened here?”
Lydia looked at Mark slightly confused and then back at Logan. Logan shot an angry look at Mark that clearly said shut up I’ll handle this. Logan turned back to Lydia and softly said: “Lydia sweetie what happened?”
Lydia tried to clear her throat and ended up coughing instead. Blood came from her mouth and she closed her eyes as she moaned slightly in pain. Her breaths came in shutters and Mark knew she didn’t have much time to live. Eventually, the coughing stopped and after a few ragged breathes Lydia opened her eyes again. “They surprised us as soon as we entered the lobby. They took down Steve and Jeff right away. Jason and I made it back into the library when one leaped out at me. Got me right in the stomach with its fingers and sunk its teeth into my arm before Jason killed it. By then half a dozen more came and Jason was forced to leave me and retreat. I guess they were so focused on getting him that they missed me bleeding out. The damage is done now I guess, but Jason should still be alive.” Each sentence was harder than the last for Lydia to get out and the group could tell she was in excruciating pain each time she spoke. The breaths became more ragged and eventually, Lydia was talking to them with her eyes shut and her teeth gritted.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come soon Lydia,” Logan said sadly as she finished speaking.
“It’s fine sir,” Lydia grunted in pain, “Please…just end the pain.”
Logan nodded slowly, not letting his words betray his emotions. With tears starting to run down his face Logan pulled a knife from his belt loop and without hesitation quickly put the blade into Lydia’s head. Instantly her anguish face relaxed into a peaceful position and Logan slowly lowered her now lifeless frame to the floor. Logan wiped the blade and returned it to the belt loop.
“So much death today.” He said slowly, his words coming out quietly, “Even war can’t prepare you for death.” He walked forward towards the stairs that leaded down to the front of the library and Mark started to follow him. Then Mark heard a noise from behind him, the sound of a bookshelf being bumped into and a book hitting the floor. He whirled around just in time to see a zombie reach out and grab ahold of Greg. It felt like time slowed for Mark as he saw the zombie clamp down with its teeth into the neck of Greg. Blood splatter from the now fresh wound and then Greg went down as two more zombies appeared behind the first zombie both grabbing for the bleeding man. A scream escaped Greg’s lips and his gun fired wildly twice before his body disappeared under the zombies. Snapping back into focus Mark lifted his pistol and took precise aim at the zombies. With the silencer still attached, the shots were quiet and after 5 quick shots, the three zombies laid motionless on the floor. Before he could check on Greg more undead started to appear from his left and right, all coming down the isles towards him. He froze for a second trying to evaluate his next plan of action when he felt Logan’s hand grab his upper arm and tug him forward.
“We can’t fight this many without drawing more. Come on!” Logan said as he hopped up onto the nearest wooden table. Mark followed his lead and together they started running back through the library, back to where they had entered. Zombies closed in and Mark had to evade rotted hands reaching out for him. Jumping from tables to table over books and outreached hands, Mark’s heart was pumping and his vision and thoughts narrowed to only his next steps. From the corner of his vision, he saw Logan clear the final table and making it to the doors. Finally, Mark got to the last table and only one zombie stood between him and the doors of the library. Mark quickly slide the last couple feet of the table, the momentum carrying him as he slid feet first into the zombie. Landing on the ugly rotten walking corpse Mark squeezed the trigger of his gun as he aimed at its head and the struggling creature underneath him stopped squirming. Mark ran to the door and rushed past Logan who held the door open wide while pouring shots from his pistol into the now closing horde. They shut the door and bending down, they put the locks into place. Seconds later bodies thudded against the thick wooden doors, the metal locks groaning in response to the pressure.
“That will hold them for now, until we can come back with reinforcements and a plan,” Logan said. His face was grim as he faced Mark, “Greg’s blood is on my hands, I should have been more cautious. At least you’re still alive, whatever that counts for.”
Mark chuckled slightly, “For now.” So much had just happened that Mark felt overwhelmed but he was thankful that he was alive.
They turned and standing in front of them was one of the men Mark knew patrolled his cell.
Mark was surprised and apparently so was Logan because he said: “Davis what are you doing up here?”
“Sorry Sir, you weren’t answering comms.” Davis said hurriedly, “It’s just that Jason is back. Apparently, he was being chased by zombies and barracked himself in a room. The room had a door with a window so each time a zombie pop it’s head in front of the window he killed it. He’s resting now but I can get him for a personal report sir.” Davis said turning away.
“No that’s quite alright, our job here is done so let's all get downstairs for now,” Logan said hurrying them along.
The three of them headed back towards the south stairways in silence. As they got to the stairs, Davis turned to Logan and said “oh, by the way, Sir we found three survivors matching the description you gave us, a man, a boy, and a woman. Got them in the interrogation room waiting for you.”
Mark looked at Logan in bewilderment, “Rachel?”
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