Charm City

[Crypt]

This is a novel i wrote when i was 18, i wrote it on a paper and stored it in my Computer's notepad.

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Charm City

Chapter I-A Taste of Things to Come

It was a decent night in Baltimore. Spring time in charm city. A young man was walking up the street. A well built Caucasian man wearing cargo pants, a red t-shirt, a dark gray jacket, and carried an olive colored book bag. This man's name was Vince White, 19 years old, a student at John Hopkins University. He walked up the path to his house, a decent sized brown house that was just across the street from the neighborhood fire department where he once volunteered. The front porch creaked and made a loud booming sound as he walked across it to the front door. He opened up the screen door and reached in his pocket pulling out his house keys. Vince fiddled with them for a second before finding the one to the front door.

"You've used this a thousand times before you'd think you knew which one by now." He jokingly said to himself as he stepped through the door.

Once inside he switched on the nearest lamp, he continued to walk through the living room to the kitchen, dropping his book bag and turned on the dining room lights, along the way. He walked passed the base of the stair case, stopped for a second and yelled up. "Jim, you home?"

Vince waited at the base of the dark stair case for a reply. No one answered back. He shrugged his shoulders and walked into the kitchen switching on the light. It reflected off the yellow painted walls that his mom picked just before his parents moved out and left him the house. Vince reached in his jacket pocket and tossed his keys onto the table before he walked across the checkered floor to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. He noticed his reflection at the beer glass, Brown wavy hair, green eyes, and a small scar bellow his eye made by a knife that his dead sister accidently scratched him.

He looked around the room at the walls.

"Man, we gotta do something about these walls." He said to himself as he opened up the bottle of beer and took a sip.

He knew he was not suppose to drink it but he didn't care. He walked back to the base of the steps and stared up the dark silent stair case. Just as he was about to take a second sip the front door of the house suddenly came open. He heard a loud grown and quickly looked at the front of the house. It was just his big brother Jim. He had much of the same features as Vince, except his hair was slightly shorter.

"Hey needle dick." Jim said walking through the dining room.

"Hey asshole." Vince replied.

Jim noticed the open beer in Vinces's hand. "Aw Christ Vince."

Vince rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen. "Shut up, you sound like mom."

"Yeah? They left me in charge so give me the damn beer!" Jim took off his coat and hung it on the back of a chair.

Vince putted the beer down hard on the counter top. He was about to walk past his brother and leave the room when he noticed Jim's fore arm.

"What happened?" Vince said pointing to the large white bandage that covered most of Jim's fore arm.

Jim looked at it. "Oh that. I was with a patient and he took a small chunk of my arm."

"A small chunk?"

"Yeah." Jim grabbed the beer Vince was drinking from off the counter top.

"Jesus, a fucking chunk?" Vince took off his jacket and rested it on another kitchen chair.

"Yeah so what?"

Vince stood there eyes wide for a second then shook his head. "Never mind." He flipped on the stair case light and walked up the steps with the worn down carpeting.

He took a left at the top of the stairs and followed the hall to his room. He opened the tan door and closed it behind him as he walked into his little corner of the world. He slipped off his shoes and sat on the edge of his bed which wasn't really a bed at all. It was just a box spring with a mattress on top, with sheets and a cover. Vince smiled as he looked at the bed remembering what happened the night it broke. He sat there and thought of Jenny. He went to pick up his wireless phone from the charger that was on his old brown night stand that his dad made for him when he was a kid. Vince hesitated.

"I'll call her first thing tomorrow." He said to himself before he took off his shirt and slipped off his pants.

He got under the covers of his nice comfortable bed and plopped his head on the pillow. He closed his eyes and fell asleep some time later. The next morning Vince got up and walked to his farthest right bedroom window. There were three of them. Vince always looked out the farthest right one. He opened the vaheshen blinds and was shocked at what he saw. It was chaos on Roland Avenue. It looked like the whole world had gone crazy. People were running around like mad. An armored police cruiser road slowly up the street with a load speaker.

"This area needs to be evacuated immediately. Please stay calm and evacuate immediately." The police officer in the cruiser kept repeating the same thing over and over.

"Holy shit." Vince said under his breath as he saw the guys, from the fire house across the street, helping people get their luggage on there cars.

He heard gun shots as he grabbed his t-shirt, ran out of his room, down the hall, and made a right into Jim's room.

"Jim dude listen to me your not gonna believe this but something big is going down you gotta get up." Vince said frantically as he put his shirt on. "Jim get the fuck up, man!"

He went to wake his brother. Jim was laying on the white covered bed with his back to him. Vince shook him and smacked him in the back of the head a couple times, but he didn't even budge, just made a deep moan.

"Shit!" Vince said as he left his brother's room and ran back to his.

He grabbed the TV remote on his night stand and switched on channel 13, for WJZ News, to try and find out what the hell is going on. As he watched the news report he grabbed his phone and dialed Jenny's number.

"Oh God baby girl please pick up, please pick up, please pick up." Vince said worriedly as ring after ring sound was heard making him start to worry more about his girlfriend Jenny. "Come on baby girl, come on, pick up, pick up, come on, God please let her pick up the phone."

"Hey this is Jenny please leave a message after the beep." A loud beep occurred on the other end of the phone.

After the beep Vince immediately began to talk. "Jenny if your there please pick up it's very important. All hell is breaking loose down here. If your there please pick up!"

Jim slowly walked out of his room and up the hall towards Vince who was standing just inside the open doorway. Vince looked at him strangely as he shuffled toward him slowly moaning.

"Hey when you get this message call me back." Vince said while staring at Jim's strange behavior cautiously. He pushed the "end" button on the wireless phone and tossed it on his bed as he turn to look at what was going on in Downtown Baltimore.

Vince looked on in horror as he saw many pale undead strangely walking and moaning toward a police barricade. Innocent people being helped over the barricade by police and SWAT officers.

"My God in all my years as a reporter I've never seen anything like this. If your watching this get out of Baltimore now!" The reporter said to the camera.

"AIM HIGH, SHORT BURSTS!!!!" A police officer yelled to the men as they began firing into the crowd of undead.

"It seems the only way to kill these things is to aim for the head. Folks don't worry I ain't leaving this!" The reporter said as if he was in a movie and didn't realize the true danger he was in. Vince gave out a short chuckle.

Vince shook his head in disbelief as he turned around and saw Jim almost near him. He looked at Jim in horror as his only brother has become one of those undead creatures. He lunged at Vince. Vince gave him a hard punch to the face knocking him back. He slammed the door shut and ran across his bed to his closet. He opened it up anxiously looking for a weapon to use. Jim began banging at the door as Ethan searched faster through the clutter. All he could find was his baseball bat. A hard well made Louisville slugger coated in a fine black paint.

Jim busted the unlocked door open and walked towards Vince. All that separated them was the mattress and box spring. Vince stood there at his side of the bed ready to "play ball". Jim stood at the other end with a lustful hunger for Vinces's flesh. All that could be heard was the crackle and pop of gunfire on the TV screen. Vince slowly approached Jim, his eyes starting to fill with tears. He approached his brother slowly and Jim did the same. Jim lunged, Vince swung the baseball bat at Jim's head hitting him across the left side of his face making him spit out blood and teeth. He hit him again this time across the right side of his face. More blood and teeth flew out of his mouth. He hit him again to the right and again to the left. He still was moving. Vince hit Jim's left knee making it bend sideways.

The phone rang slightly distracting him. Jim was now on the floor. Vince hit him across the left side of the mouth then the right. The phone rang a second time. He hit him straight down on his face with the bat. The phone rang a third time. He hit him again straight down on his face this time harder. The phone rang a fourth time. Vince grabbed the phone.

"Hold on." He said quickly as he walked over to Jim and started rapidly and continuously bashing the bat hard straight down on his face.

Each blow being stronger than the next as Vince began to scream in rage pelting faster and harder with the bat until Jim's head caved in and brain matter splattered across the floor.

Vince, shocked at what had just happened, dropped the baseball bat, crawled backwards against the wall, and shook with fear at what he had just seen and done. He slowly began to cry.

"Vince are you ok? Vince?! What the hell is going on?! What's happening are you ok?" Vince snapped out of it when he heard Jenny's voice on the phone. He jumped up and grabbed it.

"Jenny? It's bad.... very bad. Turn on.... turn on the news."

There was a pause as Vince listened to what Jenny was saying.

"Ok I'll be right over."

There was another pause this time shorter. "Ok wait there I'll be right over."

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Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, there is a total of 20 chapters.

Sorry if my grammar is bad.

Edited April 20, 2008 by Cryptic Slayer

[Crypt]

Chapter II-Good Morning

Jenny was asleep in her bed. Laying face down with the white sheets pushed away from her by her feet probably sometime in the middle of the night. She's 23, Caucasian, with long brown hair, green eyes, athletic build, 5'5, wearing a black pair of boy shorts and a red t-shirt. The phone rang down the hall in the main room of her apartment. The phone rang a second time. She moved from the noise and quietly moaned while grabbing a pillow to the left of her and covering her head to suppress the noise. The phone rang again, and again, and again.

"Hey this is Jenny please leave a message after the beep." There was a loud beep. "If your there please pick up it's very important. All hell is breaking loose down here. Jenny please if you're there pick up now." There was a short pause. "Hey when you get this message call me back."

Jenny removed the pillow from her head and looked up. "Vince?" She said to herself in a groggy tone.

She turned onto her back and looked straight at the sheets on her bed, then she looked at her stomach and sucked in her flat stomach. "I gotta stop eating." She said getting up from her bed sitting on the edge looking at the floor rubbing the back of her neck.

She got up from her bed and walked out of her bedroom. She gently wobbled as she walked down the short hall and into the main room of her apartment yawning as she moved into her kitchenette to her left. She grabbed the coffee pot full of water in the coffee machine on her counter top. She poured the water into the coffee machine, put the empty glass pot back into the machine, and flipped it on. As the hot steamy coffee started dripping, Jenny walked over to her cordless phone that sat on the glass top table next to her couch and pushed the message button.

"You have three new messages." The automated voice on the machine said.

"Hey Jenny why are you with that loser Vince? I got a bigger..." Jenny rolled her eyes and pushed the delete button on the machine.

"You have two new messages." The automated voice said.

"Jenny are you coming in tomorrow? I gotta know cause Ben and I were thinking of calling in sick. Please?" Jenny could hear mocked puppy whimpers in the message as she started to laugh at the message. She pushed the next button on the machine.

"You have one new message." The machine's automated voice said.

"Jenny if your there please pick up it's very important. All hell is breaking loose down here. If you're there please pick up now." There was a short pause. "Hey when you get this message call me back." She got a look of concern as she picked up the cordless phone and dialed Vince's number.

She heard a ring tone, then a second ring tone, then a third ring tone, then a fourth ring tone, then someone finally answered.

"Hello Vince?" She said.

"Hold on." Vince replied. Jenny could hear a loud pounding noise on the other end of the phone.

Someone started screaming while the rapid pounding continued. Jenny began to wonder just what the hell was going on the other end of the line. She began to hear something that sounded like Vince crying. She remembered the sound from the night Vince told her that his grand father died.

"Vince are you ok? Vince?! What the hell is going on?! What's happening are you ok?" Jenny said frantically.

There was a pause until she heard Vince's voice on the other end of the phone. "Jenny? It's bad... very bad. Turn on... turn the news channel 13." Vince replied over the phone.

Jenny grabbed the TV remote and switched on WJZ news. There was a zoom in shot of the army of undead coming toward a police barrier with a small army of police and SWAT officers firing there handguns, shotguns, and machine guns at the large group of zombies.

"HEY CAN I HAVE A GUN!?" The reporter yelled at the cops.

Jenny looked at the TV with dread. She ran to her balcony and opened the shutters. She couldn't believe what she saw from the view of her apartment. She saw black smoke rising from multiple fires around the city. A police helicopter flew past in a hurry.

"Vince, I think we should get out of Baltimore. We need to get your dad." Jenny said closing the shutters and walking away from the balcony door.

"Ok I'll be right over." Vince replied on his end of the phone.

"I'll get ready."

"Ok just wait there I'll be right over. Don't go anywhere." Vince was about to hang up. "I love you." Vince said as if he wasn't gonna see her again.

Jenny bit her lower lip as her eyes began to water. "I love you too." Jenny replied before Vince hung up.

Jenny pushed the "end" button and closed her eyes as she touched the phone to her forehead. She stood there for a second looking at the closed shutters of the balcony door. A morbid curiosity went through her wanting to look through the shutters but she quickly shook that feeling off. She ran to her front door and peeked through the peep hole. She checked to make sure the door was locked. She grabbed a chair from her dining room table and propped it up against the door tightly incase of looters that she thought would be running around.

Jenny briskly walked back through the main room, down the short hallway taking off her t-shirt along the way. She walked into her bedroom tossing the red t-shirt aside as she walked to her dresser, that was located across from her bed, opening the top drawer and grabbing a black bra. She put it on, hooked it, then moved the straps up onto her shoulders. Jenny next went to the closet and grabbed a dark blue t-shirt and pair of green cargo pants. She threw them both down on her un-made bed. She picked up the cargo pants and put them on, she double tied the white straps to keep the pants up. Next Jenny grabbed the blue t-shirt and slipped it right on.

As she pulled the t-shirt down she walked out of her room but paused halfway along the short hall. She turned around and went back into her room to her gray night stand and opened the middle drawer of the three drawers. Inside the middle drawer was a Colt Model 1911 .45 automatic. She took the gun and tucked it in the back of her cargo pants, reached down in the drawer, and pulled out four clips each containing seven rounds of .45 ACP ammo and a box of .45 ACP ammo. She put the four clips in her left pants pocket and the box of ammo in her left back pants pocket. She went back out into the hall, and down to the main room. She made a left to the kitchenette and grabbed an empty cup from the cabinet above the coffee maker. She took the now full pot of coffee from the coffee maker and filled up the empty cup.

After emptying a packet of sugar twin and some coffee mate in she was about to take a sip until she thought about Vince's dad who worked as a security guard at the Baltimore Museum of Art. She took a sip of coffee then laughed about the jokes he always makes about the artsy people he sees every day. She began to think about how sweet he is and how he's always been the father she never had.

"God he must have no idea what's going on out there." Jenny said to herself before she took another sip of coffee. She stood there for a minute as if she was staring into space. "I need to get there now." She hastily put the cup of coffee on the counter top and ran to the front door grabbing her tan deer skin jacket.

Jenny stopped and removed the chair that was propped up against the front door. She pulled out the Colt 1911 and pulled back on the slide bringing a round up into the chamber and cocking the gun. It was ready to fire if she needed it.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Jenny said as she put the gun in her left hand as she began unlocking the door with her right hand. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." She slowly opened the door and peaked out. She saw nothing down the hall from where she was looking. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." She opened up the door completely she peeked around the corner and saw nothing down the other end of the hall. She walked out the door closing it behind her. Jenny reached in her jacket pocket pulling out her keys and locked up her apartment so no zombies could get in just in case they knew how to open doors. She began walking down the hall to the right heading toward the elevators. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

[MrLlamaLlama]

Nice work cryptic, but just one thing i want to point out (yes, I've read it all)

It seems to lack a sense of... urgency.. this IS a zombie pandemic.... Other than that, excellent

[Crypt]

Chapter III-Brother's Keeper

"I love you." Vince said to Jenny as if he was never gonna see her again. "I love you too." Jenny replied to Vince before he pushed the red "end" button on the cordless phone and tossed it on his bed. He looked at his dead brother Jim. Vince looked at all the blood he had over his black t-shirt and blue boxer shorts. Vince ran out of his room and down the hall to the bathroom. He took off the t-shirt and boxers and got in the shower closing the blue shower curtain and turning on the water. He quickly grabbed the orange bar of soap on the soak rake and washed the blood off of his face.

As he washed the rest of his body as if there was blood everywhere he stopped and thought for a second. "I don't got time for this." He said to himself pulling back the blue shower curtain and getting out of the shower. Vince grabbed a towel off the towel rack and ran back to his room. He ran straight ahead to his brown coated red wood dresser and opened the top drawer. Carefully avoiding the blood and brain matter that was splattered across the floor, he grabbed a pair of socks and a gray pair of boxer shorts.

Vince looked at the blood and brain matter that covered his bed room floor and parts of his bed. He sat down on the black leather couch that was next to his dresser and slipped on the white socks. He then stood up and put on the gray boxer shorts. Vince, avoiding the bloody parts of his sheets, ran across his bed to his closet and grabbed a dark green t-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. He immediately slipped on the faded jeans and buttoned them. He zipped up the jeans then slipped on the dark green t-shirt. Vince looked at the bloody baseball bat that was laying near his dead brother's corpse. He picked it up looked at the blood and bits of brain matter that was on the black painted bat. He stopped and looked at Jim's "battered" body. "He needs some kind of Christian burial, after all he was my brother." Vince said to himself before he took the corner of the blood soaked sheets and threw them over the body of his brother. He shook off the feeling of guilt he had and, once again avoiding the blood and brain matter, ran across his bed and slipped on his black shoes tying them tight. He opened the top drawer of his old brown night stand that his dad made for him when he was a kid.

Vince put the bloody bat in his left hand as he grabbed his cell phone and put it on the top of the old brown night stand. He then grabbed a Zippo lighter and placed it in his right front jeans pocket. Next Vince grabbed his switch blade and placed it in his back jeans pocket. He slowly closed the drawer and stood there looking at the nightstand. Vince tapped it a couple times then grabbed his cell phone and ran down the hall. He made a right into Jim's room and dropped to the floor peeking under Jim's bed.

Vince pushed the baseball bat aside and with both hands reached under the bed and pulled out a large but flat cardboard box that fit just perfectly under Jim's bed. Vince brought the box up onto the bed and looked at it for a second. Vince got a guilty look on his face and shook his head no. He stood there in the middle of Jim's room thinking. He walked over to the closet and grabbed Jim's leather jacket. Vince tugged on the leather jacket a few times to get it snug. "Were gonna give them hell bro. Both of us." Vince said to Jim's leather jacket as he began to tear up a little from killing his brother. Revenge is the best medicine now to get even with the sick feeling deep inside Vince. Jim would have been fighting right along side of him. The thing that he killed looked like his brother but it wasn't Jim. "There all gonna pay." Vince said to himself in sorrow.

After he put on the leather jacket, and placed the cell phone in the left jacket pocket, he picked up the bat, walked out of Jim's room, making a right into the hall, and went straight to the bathroom. Vince took a bath towel off the towel rack and started wiping the blood off the Louisville slugger. When Vince was convinced it was clean he left the bathroom and ran down the stairs into the kitchen. He grabbed his keys off the kitchen table and put them in the right jacket pocket.

Vince also grabbed Jim's keys and put them in his right jacket pocket. He heard a gun shot coming from out front of his house. He ran to the front of his house and peeked out the window to the right moving the curtain to the left. He saw a fire fighter shooting at a zombie with a hunting rifle. "I'm gonna kick your ass!" The firefighter said as he shot the undead being in the head causing it's head to almost completely explode in a dark red puff of blood. Vince ran out the front door of his house and down the short path to the side walk.

"Hey Carl nice shot." Ethan shouted to the firefighter as he worked the bolt action on the rifle then aimed it at Vince thinking he's a zombie. "Hey I'm human put down the gun!" Vince shouted at Carl before he recognized his old buddy Vince and put the gun down. "Vince what the hell are you still doing here." Another firefighter said as he came out the side door to see what was going on. "I could ask you the same question chief." Vince replied. "Hell you know us we ain't going no where." A third firefighter said as he came out through the side door of the firehouse.

"Is the whole crew here chief?" Vince said. "Most of them." Chief replied. "Where you going kid?" The third firefighter, Denise asked. "I'm heading over to Jenny's place then me and her are going to the Art Museum to get my dad." Vince replied. "Let me get you a gun. Denise get Vince a shot...." "No thanks Chief I'll be ok." Vince interrupted the chief with a smile. "I got this." Vince said holding up his black baseball bat then running back into the house.

"Hey Chief why didn't Vince want a gun?" Denise said in curiosity. Carl looked at the chief and nodded as he headed toward the firehouse and went inside. The chief thought for a second. "I'll tell you later golden boy." The chief said to Denise as they headed for the side door of the firehouse.

Vince closed and locked the white door behind him then walked through the living room and dining room then into the kitchen. He stopped in where his mom use to have her sowing room and made sure he had everything he needed. After a moment of thought Vince went out the back door. As Vince walked down the back red painted wooded steps, and down the brick path toward the swimming pool, he stopped got a skip to his step and double timed it down the brick path and around the pool to the garage.

Vince unlocked the garage door and walked in. On the wall to the right was countless tools that all could be used as a weapon. Most notably a sledge hammer and a chainsaw. Vince ignored them both as he got on the yellow dirt bike and pulled out Jim's set of keys. Vince tried each key from the set until he go to the one that fit. He put it in the ignition key hole with a large grin and turned the ignition. Only to have the grin turned to a frustrated look as after countless turns the bike wouldn't turn over. "Shit!" Vince said with disappointment as he got off the bike. He checked the fuel gauge. The needle on the gauge read empty.

Vince went back outside locking and closing the door behind him. Slamming it shut to get it fully closed. He made a left and ran down the path along side of the garage that lead to the back gate. Vince opened the ten foot tall wooden gate and closed it behind him as he pulled out his keys like he's done thousands of times before when he was late for a class and left the back way. He ran down the alley heading north toward 38th Street. As Vince walked up the alley a dog savagely barked at him on the other end of a small chain linked fence.

The dog looked different than any other. It's eyes were dead white and it's teeth were exposed more from the rotting flesh around it's mouth. It growled ferociously at Vince then began ramming the chain link fence trying to bust through. Vince ran for his life up the alley as the dog continued to ram the chain link fence beginning to break it. Vince ran full speed making a right onto 38th Street heading east. He ran down the hill gathering momentum as he got to the bottom crossing an intersection and entering a vacant parking lot.

Vince looked back to make sure the dog hadn't followed him. He stood there bent over as he rested to regain his breath. "Lost him." Vince said with a smirk as he stood tall and turned only to be greeted with deep moaning from two zombies. "Aw shit." Vince said with a sigh before he whacked the first zombie, on the left, in the side of the head colliding it into the second zombie. Vince smacked the second zombie in the left part of his head. As both zombies fell to the ground Vince began evenly dealing out heavy bashing on each of the zombie's heads.

Once the two zombies were taken care of Vince breathed a sigh of relief. Then he heard a growl behind him. Vince turned around and saw the zombie dog from earlier except this time there was no chain link fence. The dog lunged at Vince as he jumped to the right dodging the dog's attack. Vince did a sweep with his baseball bat breaking the dog's back right leg. As the dog limped at Vince for another attack he got up and started bashing the wounded creature's head with his baseball bat. After several heavy hits the dog was just as dead as the two human zombies.

Vince brushed off his leather jacket and ran up the cement stair case at the north end of the vacant parking lot. At the top of the stairs Vince looked at the next parking lot making sure there were no new threats. He ran across the empty parking lot to the rotunda. He pushed open the in operable power slide doors. Vince ran down the man made slop to the next pair of in operable electric doors and slide them open. He walked into the dark mall. Vince walked down the large corridor looking around for any threats.

Vince got to a small T intersection. He found treats alright. A couple dozen of them. Vince dodged the first couple as he ran down the corridor only to find a wall of undead coming straight for him. Vince was surrounded. A zombie got close to him. Vince gave a quick one handed swing to knock it back. He started swinging at the zombie's heads. There didn't seem to be a way out for Vince.

Vince looked to his left and saw a vacant store. He swung his bat hard at the window shattering the glass every where within the vacant store. Vince jumped through the newly shattered opening and ran across the store and through the double doors. By passing the bottle neck of zombies. Now passed the zombies, Vince ran fast toward the front doors of the rotunda. Some scattered zombies where near the doors. Any that Vince couldn't dodge he just smashed them hard across either the left or right side of their head.

Vince ran out a set of double doors then down the cement steps and out to 40th Street. The zombies inside the rotunda easily pushed open the front doors and pursued Vince at a slow but steady speed. Vince ran fast down the middle of 40th Street. He ran and ran until he hit University Parkway. He slowed to a jog as he head south on University Parkway. Once Vince got to the intersection of University Parkway and 39th Street he stopped and rested for a moment right in the middle of the intersection.

Vince looked around the area and couldn't find one zombie besides the ones that were chasing him from the rotunda. "They're still on 40th." Vince said to himself with a laugh. "Though I was wrong about the dog." Vince continued as he got up and started running east up 39th Street as it curved south towards Jenny's apartment building. When he got up the street to the building Vince entered through the east entrance and shut the doors behind him.

Vince stood there for a second and made sure the zombies from the rotunda still weren't following him. He turned around to be greeted by an African American zombie dressed in brown slacks, a blue jacket, and blue baseball cap. Vince swung his baseball bat hard at the zombie smashing it across the right side of it's head. He took another swing this time hitting the zombie's left side of the head. Vince pushed him out of the way with a hard two handed swing to the left of the zombie's head again dropping it to the ground. Several more zombies were coming down the hall to the left and three more zombie was coming up the hall to the right coming after Vince. He ran to the elevator and quickly started tapping the elevator button. The zombies began to get closer as Vince kept hitting the elevator button until the elevator doors finally opened. He quickly ran into the elevator and began tapping the "close door" button. One of the zombies tried to get in the elevator at Vince. Vince gave the zombie a straight hit to it's face with his baseball bat knocking the undead being out of the way of the elevator doors just as they closed.

Vince breathed a sigh of relief as he hit the "7" button on the elevators button panel. Vince heard a strong hum of the elevator moving. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. He rested from all the running and fighting, relaxing, and enjoying the ride. While the elevator continued to floor 4 on the green "floor" indicator just above the elevator doors. Vince thought about his brother as he looked down at the leather jacket he was wearing. Vince then looked up at the "floor" indicator. The elevator was going past floor 6. "Almost there baby girl." Vince said as the elevator got to floor 7.

The elevator doors opened as Vince rushed out and looked left and right with his baseball bat at the ready. There were no zombies in the hall, Vince turned left and ran towards Jenny's apartment. As he ran up the hall Vince reached in his right jacket pocket and shuffled through them looking for his copy of Jenny's apartment key. He unlocked the door and opened it with a smile on his face hoping to see Jenny. "Jenny? Jenny where are you?" Vince said as he walked into Jenny's apartment closing the door behind him. He was about to throw the bloody baseball bat down onto the floor when he looked down at Jenny's white carpeting. Vince thought that Jenny would kill him if he got blood on her carpet. He ran into the little kitchenette to the right and shoved the bloody Louisville slugger in the sink.

"Jenny?" Vince shouted as he ran right down the short hall to her bed room. Vince looked in the bathroom. "Jenny?" Vince said as he entered the bathroom across the hall from Jenny's bed room. He began to worry as he searched the whole apartment again. Vince went back to the main room of the apartment and dropped down into the white couch. Vince reached in his left jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He flipped it open and opened the menu. He highlighted Jenny's name on the speed dial list and pressed the green "talk" button.

Vince, thinking it would be forever before Jenny would answer, was surprised to hear her answer so fast. "Yeah it's me why are you whispering?" Vince said, there was a pause as Vince listened to what Jenny was saying. "Jenny I told you to stay here. Ok, ok, ok, never mind, never mind. I'll be right there to help you just hang...." The signal cut off. "Jenny? Jenny!?"

[Crypt]

Chapter IV-Knockin on Heaven's Door

Jenny began walking down the hall to the right heading toward the elevators. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." She said as she walked to the two elevators, she pushed the elevator button and waited for one of the two sets of elevator doors to open. After a minute of waiting the set of elevator doors on the right opened. She stepped on the elevator and pressed the "ground floor" button on the elevator's control panel to the left of the doors.

She leaned at the back of the elevator and thought about what she would run into after she left the apartment building. While the elevator continued to floor 4 on the green "floor" indicator just above the elevator doors. She thought about Vince and how he was gonna react to her leaving without him. She frowned as she thought about the situation. She wondered whether the police won that battle with the zombies downtown. She wondered how many people got out of town after the outbreak started. A tear ran down Her cheek as she thought about who didn't get out and how many became what she was going to have to fight today.

The elevator continued to floor G on the green "floor" indicator just above the elevator doors. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. A figure was at the front of the doors, Jenny aimed her gun up at the man thinking he was a zombie.

"Hey!" The man yelled at her as he looked at the front of her .45. The man was African American, 5'7, 63 years old dressed in brown slacks, a blue jacket, and blue baseball cap.

"Emmet, why are you still here?" she asked.

"I can't leave this place, Jenny. I've lived here since they first built it you know that." Emmet replied. "Where are you going, child?"

"I'm going to the BMA to get Vince's dad."

"Where is that boy?" Emmet asked Jenny as he walked back behind the front desk of the small lobby.

"He's on his way here now." Jenny looked at Emmet's shoulder.

"When he gets here I'll greet him." He said with a smile then looked at his shoulder. Emmet immediately knew what Jenny was thinking.

"I got bit by one of those things." He said before she could speak. "I'm probably gonna turn soon."

Jenny walked over to Emmet as she began to cry and gave him a hug.

"It's ok child, it's ok. Get out of Baltimore. Just get out while you can." Emmet said as he held Jenny while she cried.

"There's gotta be something...." "Go!" Emmet interrupted Jenny and motioned her to toward the front doors. She continued to cry for Emmet as she hesitantly walked toward the front doors of the apartment building.

Jenny ran west on 39th Street as it curved north. She made a left on University Parkway as she jogged south on University Parkway. There wasn't one zombie in the streets. Before the intersection of University Parkway and Charles Street she stopped and looked at the Hyatt Agency building that was just across the street from John Hopkins University campus.

"Maggie and Ben." She said to herself as she remembered the message on her cordless phone from earlier. "I should have come in today. Damn it I should have come in today." She ran across University Parkway to the Hyatt building. She entered through the main front doors and was greeted by three zombies. One on the left and two straight ahead. The one zombie on the left lunged at her immediately after she entered through the front doors. She aimed the gun up at the undead creature's head at close range and shot just above the mouth knocking the zombie down to the floor. She aimed at the closet of the next two zombies and fired five rounds into the zombie's chest. She aimed at the creature's head and fired a single shot into it's forehead instantly dropping it.

"The head." She said to herself as she aimed at the next zombie's head and pulled the trigger of the .45 Model 1911 only to hear a click. She looked at the gun, the slide was locked back and the second of the two zombies were getting closer. She quickly ejected the empty clip and loaded in a fresh clip from her left cargo pants pocket. She slapped in the new full clip and locked the slide back into place. She took aim at the zombie's head and fired missing the head and shooting off it's right ear. She took aim again this time concentrating longer then firing hitting the zombie in the top of the head splattering a puff of red mist out the back of it's head. She picked up the empty clip off the marble floor and placed it in her back left cargo pants pocket.

Jenny went down the hall to the right of the main lobby and into the bar that was to the left. The door was barricaded from the inside. She went down the hall to one of the bar's windows on the left. She looked around for something to smash the end window with. She noticed a steel chair in the beauty parlor across the hall. She would shoot the end window but she needed to save ammo and she knew this. She ran back up the hall and into the completely opened beauty parlor. The zombie she shot in the mouth from earlier was just getting up. It was on one knee preparing to stand back up to full height.

Jenny aimed the gun up at the zombie and fired a shot into the top of the undead creature's head making a small fountain of blood to pour out the top. She walked over to the "dead" zombie and fired another shot into the back of it's head. The creature's body jolted from the shock of the .45 caliber round. She walked back to the beauty parlor to grab a steel chair. She tucked the gun in the small of her back then picked up the steel chair in both hands. She left the beauty parlor and made a right back into the hall. She walked down the hall, at a steady pace, to the last bar window on the left. Jenny got a firm grip on the chair and smashed the window sending shards of glass shattering all over the floor and table of the booth inside the bar.

"I hope I don't get fired for this." Jenny said jokingly as she threw down the steel chair and climbed through the newly smashed window onto the table of the last booth in the bar. She pulled out the Model 1911 and gripped it in both her hands as she looked around looking for any threats or any survivors. She could see almost the whole bar/restaurant from where she stood. She walked behind the bar, put the Colt .45 on the counter, and opened the cash register. She flipped a thin plastic lid that was at the back of the cash register drawer and reveled a secret compartment behind the money trays.

Inside the secret compartment was a .38 Detective Special revolver and a box of .38 caliber bullets. She took the .38 and the box of bullets and put them on the counter top next to the Colt .45. She then took the box of .45 caliber bullets, that were in her left back pants pocket, and put them on the counter next to the box of .38 caliber bullets. She grabbed the sawn-off double barrel shotgun that was under the bar and put that on the counter top next to the .45 and .38 handguns. She reached down again where the shotgun's holster under the counter was and pulled up a box of .10 gauge shotgun shells.

She put the shotgun shells next to the .45 ACP ammo and .38 caliber bullets. As she observed her small arsenal two figures came around the corner from the restaurant section of the bar. It was Ben and Maggie, but at the same time it wasn't. Jenny stood there in horror as the zombie forms of her former friends and co-workers walked toward her coming for her flesh. With tears rolling down her face She picked up the double barrel shotgun and took aim at Maggie and Ben's heads. They're undead forms started to come behind the bar in single file, Ben in front of Maggie. She aimed before she closed her eyes then fired the first shot, she heard a splatter then a thud, she counted to three then fired the second shot. Once again hearing a splatter then a thud. Jenny opened her eyes and didn't look down at the two bodies of the undead creatures that were once her friends.

"God forgive me." Jenny said with guilt and remorse.

She wept gently as she opened the breech of the double barrel shotgun and dropped out the two spent .10 gauge shotgun shells. She opened the box of shotgun shells and took two new shells from the white box. She loaded them into the breech of the double barrel shotgun then closed it and put the gun on the counter top. She picked up the box of shotgun shells and counted. There were eight left in the box. She dumped the eight shotgun shells into her left hand then put them in her upper right jacket pocket.

Jenny took the box of .38 caliber bullets and opened them up. She counted the bullets that were in the blue and white box. There were thirty two bullets in the box. She put the box of bullets on the counter top and picked up the .38 Detective Special. She looked at it for a moment looking for how to open the cylinder. She remembered how from watching The French Connection. She opened the cylinder and checked the gun. There was a full six .38 caliber rounds in the gun. She closed the cylinder back into the gun and put the small revolver in her right leg pocket of her cargo pants. She then took the box of .38 caliber bullets and put them in her left leg pocket of her cargo pants.

Jenny took the empty Model 1911 clip from her left back pants pocket and put it on the counter top next to the box of .45 ACP ammo. She opened up the red box of .45 ammo and picked up the empty 1911 clip. She loaded seven bullets in the clip then put the loaded clip in her left cargo pants pocket. She then ejected the clip that was in the gun and looked at it. There were two shots left in the clip and one left in the chamber of the gun but she didn't know that. She loaded five .45 caliber bullets from the box into the clip. She then slapped the clip back into the gun and put the safety on. She put the gun in the small of her back then counted the bullets in the red box of .45 ACP ammo. There were thirty three bullets left in the box. Jenny closed the box of .45 ACP and put it in her back left pants pocket.

Jenny picked up the sawn-off double barrel shotgun and went back from behind the bar. She walked toward the front doors of the bar. She moved the pile of bar stools out of the way of the doors and unlocked them. She left the bar and checked to make sure the zombie from earlier was finally dead. She left the Hyatt building and continued south toward Charles Street. When she got to the intersection of Charles Street and University Parkway. Charles Street was covered in cars. Some where on fire and some were turned over. She looked in horror thinking about who got out of town. She saw half eaten bodies of children and families, they appeared to be shot instead of eaten. Possibly over wanting a free ride out of town. There were many horrible sights on Charles Street but not many bodies meaning that most of everybody abandoned their vehicles. Thought that's what Jenny wanted to think.

She ran west down Charles Street. Halfway down the long street she noticed zombies trapped in some of the cars and others walking around. She didn't see many but they were coming for her. She began to run down Charles Street easily out running them. When she thought it was safe she slowed back down to a jog as she continued down the long street along John Hopkins University campus. She made a right onto Art Museum Drive heading north.

Jenny ran up Art Museum Drive to the Baltimore Art Museum where Vince's father, William worked as a security guard. She ran into the side visitor entrance inside the building. She looked around in the main room looking for William who's usually posted at this entrance. The large room was dark, the only light was from the security lights. She didn't know where Vince's father could be. She decided to search each floor.

She made a left and walked into an art gallery full of African masks in large glass cube displays. She walked into a large corridor, as she walked past a gallery to the left she looked in and saw a thin creature in the shadows. It looked like a very thin, pale man. It was grotesque, Jenny thought she would never see a person so thin and pale. She put her back to the wall to the left of the doorway praying that the creature didn't see her. She stood there eyes wide thinking of what to do. It didn't seem to know she was there. Shooting it was the last thing on Jenny's mind. For one she wasn't a great shot and she was in shock. She looked to the left a little and saw the stairs leading to the second floor. She then peeked around the corner at the monster to see what it was doing. It was eating some poor soul who fell victim to the sick looking creature.

Jenny tried to sneak past the doorway while the creature was distracted. Keeping an eye on it. Halfway past the doorway the creature looked up and gave a deeply chilling hiss as it licked it's razor sharp teeth with it's freakishly slimy tongue. She ran up the steps as fast as she could, climbing two steps at a time, as the creature gave chase. At the top of the steps on the second floor she ran straight ahead looking for some place to hide. A sign on the ceiling said "restroom" with an arrow pointed to the right.

Jenny ran to the restroom and entered the lady's room. She ran into the last stall. She slammed shut the metal door and locked it. She aimed the sawn-off double barrel shotgun up at the door and stood on the toilet seat so her legs wouldn't be visible. Just before she breathed a sigh of relief her cell phone went off, her ring tone was Bob Dylan's Knockin on Heaven's Door. She quickly held the shotgun in her left hand as she pulled out the cell phone, that was in her right jacket pocket, with her right hand. She flipped it open and answered.

"Vince? Is that you?" Jenny said whispering nervously.

"Yeah it's me why are you whispering?" Vince replied.

"I'm at the Museum there's a monster here."

"I told you to stay here."

"I don't have time for an argument right now. Please get here now!" She cut him off sternly whispering.

"Ok, ok, ok, never mind, never mind. I'll be right there to help you just hang....". Jenny heard the bathroom down bust open. She pushed the red "end" button and put the phone back in her jacket pocket.

The creature slowly walked into the bathroom, on all fours, searching for it's prey. It searched each stall, it's claws clicked on the tile floor as it took each step, pushing in any of the doors that weren't opened completely. Sarah was silently praying that she would live through this, that the creature would give up and leave. The creature came to the last stall. It stuck it's thin arm underneath the door. Feeling for it's prey. After about a minute of feeling the creature gave up and walked back to the restroom door. It got on it's hind legs and pushed it's left arm on to the left of the door as it curiously figured out how to open it. It then used it's right hand to turn the handle and open the door.

Jenny heard the door click shut, she stood to full height peeking over the other stalls. She could see that the creature had gone. She cautiously got down off the toilet and slowly opened the stall door. She peeked out just to make sure it was really gone. She left the stall with shotgun at the ready walking up the bathroom checking each stall as she went. When Jenny got to the bathroom door she got down onto the floor and peeked under the crack of the bathroom door.

Jenny couldn't see the creature. She stood up and opened the door with her left hand and held the shotgun with her right hand. She looked around and made sure the creature wasn't there before she left. She held the shotgun tightly with both hands as she walked back down the stairs to the first floor looking around for the creature. She couldn't see very far from the lack of light, becoming nervous as she got to the bottom of the stairs. The creature was to the left up the corridor, about thirty feet away.

Jenny backed away in the other direction, the creature had it's back to her. She walked backward about another twenty feet before the creature turned and noticed her. She turned around and began running as the creature took chase. She ran as fast as she could through a few galleries and over to the west side of the building.

"Jenny!" A voice yelled to here. Jenny looked around as the creature got closer. "Jenny over here!" She looked and saw William motioning her to come towards him. "Quick get inside." William said while holding open the thick steel door. Jenny ran into the security room as the creature got closer. Once inside William immediately shut the steel door and locked the bolt.

"Don't worry it can't get in." William said with a smile as he looked over at Sarah.

William was 6'1, 54 years old, gray hair, wearing black dress pants and a white dress shirt, holding a red handled fire axe with blood on the blade. Jenny hugged him with gratitude.

"Where's Vince?" William said.

"He isn't with me. we were gonna meet up but..." Jenny replied.

"Is he ok?"

"I talked to him about fifthteen minutes ago."

"He'll be ok." William said with a smile.

The security room had monitors all over the left wall. It was completely safe. The security room was made up of four separate rooms. CO's office, locker room, security guards' own restroom, and the surveillance room which Jenny and William were in now.

"What weapons do you have other than that fire axe?" She asked him.

"There's some pistols that Ronny brought from home just in case something happened."

"Where are they?"

"They're in the CO's office in a safe but I don't know the combination. What weapons do you have?" William was looking at the sawn-off double barrel shotgun in her right hand.

"I got this shotgun, that .45 you gave me, and a .38 snub nose." Jenny replied as she reached behind her and pulled out the Model 1911 with her right hand while she held the shotgun in her left.

Sarah handed the 1911 to William who smiled at the thoughtful gesture on her part. She reached in her left cargo pants pocket and handed him the four full 1911 clips. He took the clips and put them in his left dress pants pocket.

"I know I don't have the combination to the safe....." William was interrupted by sounds of gunfire going from the other side of the security door. He looked at the monitor of the surveillance camera that was just outside the door. He couldn't quite make out who it was. He checked the Model 1911 .45 pistol by pulling back slightly on the slide to see if it was ready to fire. Earlier Jenny had loaded a full eight rounds into the gun. Seven in the clip and one in the chamber. William gripped the gun in his left hand as he unbolted and opened the steel security door with his right hand. He aimed the gun at the man. He couldn't quite make out who it was from the darkness of the area. "Who's there?"

Edited April 23, 2008 by Cryptic Slayer

[Hansui]

Chapter IV-Knockin on Heaven's Door

Jenny began walking down the hall to the right heading toward the elevators. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." She said as she walked to the two elevators, she pushed the elevator button and waited for one of the two sets of elevator doors to open. After a minute of waiting the set of elevator doors on the right opened. She stepped on the elevator and pressed the "ground floor" button on the elevator's control panel to the left of the doors.

She leaned at the back of the elevator and thought about what she would run into after she left the apartment building. While the elevator continued to floor 4 on the green "floor" indicator just above the elevator doors. She thought about Vince and how he was gonna react to her leaving without him. She frowned as she thought about the situation. She wondered whether the police won that battle with the zombies downtown. She wondered how many people got out of town after the outbreak started. A tear ran down Her cheek as she thought about who didn't get out and how many became what she was going to have to fight today.

The elevator continued to floor G on the green "floor" indicator just above the elevator doors. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. A figure was at the front of the doors, Jenny aimed her gun up at the man thinking he was a zombie.

"Hey!" The man yelled at her as he looked at the front of her .45. The man was African American, 5'7, 63 years old dressed in brown slacks, a blue jacket, and blue baseball cap.

"Emmet, why are you still here?" she asked.

"I can't leave this place, Jenny. I've lived here since they first built it you know that." Emmet replied. "Where are you going, child?"

"I'm going to the BMA to get Vince's dad."

"Where is that boy?" Emmet asked Jenny as he walked back behind the front desk of the small lobby.

"He's on his way here now." Jenny looked at Emmet's shoulder.

"When he gets here I'll greet him." He said with a smile then looked at his shoulder. Emmet immediately knew what Jenny was thinking.

"I got bit by one of those things." He said before she could speak. "I'm probably gonna turn soon."

Jenny walked over to Emmet as she began to cry and gave him a hug.

"It's ok child, it's ok. Get out of Baltimore. Just get out while you can." Emmet said as he held Jenny while she cried.

"There's gotta be something...." "Go!" Emmet interrupted Jenny and motioned her to toward the front doors. She continued to cry for Emmet as she hesitantly walked toward the front doors of the apartment building.

Jenny ran west on 39th Street as it curved north. She made a left on University Parkway as she jogged south on University Parkway. There wasn't one zombie in the streets. Before the intersection of University Parkway and Charles Street she stopped and looked at the Hyatt Agency building that was just across the street from John Hopkins University campus.

"Maggie and Ben." She said to herself as she remembered the message on her cordless phone from earlier. "I should have come in today. Damn it I should have come in today." She ran across University Parkway to the Hyatt building. She entered through the main front doors and was greeted by three zombies. One on the left and two straight ahead. The one zombie on the left lunged at her immediately after she entered through the front doors. She aimed the gun up at the undead creature's head at close range and shot just above the mouth knocking the zombie down to the floor. She aimed at the closet of the next two zombies and fired five rounds into the zombie's chest. She aimed at the creature's head and fired a single shot into it's forehead instantly dropping it.

"The head." She said to herself as she aimed at the next zombie's head and pulled the trigger of the .45 Model 1911 only to hear a click. She looked at the gun, the slide was locked back and the second of the two zombies were getting closer. She quickly ejected the empty clip and loaded in a fresh clip from her left cargo pants pocket. She slapped in the new full clip and locked the slide back into place. She took aim at the zombie's head and fired missing the head and shooting off it's right ear. She took aim again this time concentrating longer then firing hitting the zombie in the top of the head splattering a puff of red mist out the back of it's head. She picked up the empty clip off the marble floor and placed it in her back left cargo pants pocket.

Jenny went down the hall to the right of the main lobby and into the bar that was to the left. The door was barricaded from the inside. She went down the hall to one of the bar's windows on the left. She looked around for something to smash the end window with. She noticed a steel chair in the beauty parlor across the hall. She would shoot the end window but she needed to save ammo and she knew this. She ran back up the hall and into the completely opened beauty parlor. The zombie she shot in the mouth from earlier was just getting up. It was on one knee preparing to stand back up to full height.

Jenny aimed the gun up at the zombie and fired a shot into the top of the undead creature's head making a small fountain of blood to pour out the top. She walked over to the "dead" zombie and fired another shot into the back of it's head. The creature's body jolted from the shock of the .45 caliber round. She walked back to the beauty parlor to grab a steel chair. She tucked the gun in the small of her back then picked up the steel chair in both hands. She left the beauty parlor and made a right back into the hall. She walked down the hall, at a steady pace, to the last bar window on the left. Jenny got a firm grip on the chair and smashed the window sending shards of glass shattering all over the floor and table of the booth inside the bar.

"I hope I don't get fired for this." Jenny said jokingly as she threw down the steel chair and climbed through the newly smashed window onto the table of the last booth in the bar. She pulled out the Model 1911 and gripped it in both her hands as she looked around looking for any threats or any survivors. She could see almost the whole bar/restaurant from where she stood. She walked behind the bar, put the Colt .45 on the counter, and opened the cash register. She flipped a thin plastic lid that was at the back of the cash register drawer and reveled a secret compartment behind the money trays.

Inside the secret compartment was a .38 Detective Special revolver and a box of .38 caliber bullets. She took the .38 and the box of bullets and put them on the counter top next to the Colt .45. She then took the box of .45 caliber bullets, that were in her left back pants pocket, and put them on the counter next to the box of .38 caliber bullets. She grabbed the sawn-off double barrel shotgun that was under the bar and put that on the counter top next to the .45 and .38 handguns. She reached down again where the shotgun's holster under the counter was and pulled up a box of .10 gauge shotgun shells.

She put the shotgun shells next to the .45 ACP ammo and .38 caliber bullets. As she observed her small arsenal two figures came around the corner from the restaurant section of the bar. It was Ben and Maggie, but at the same time it wasn't. Jenny stood there in horror as the zombie forms of her former friends and co-workers walked toward her coming for her flesh. With tears rolling down her face She picked up the double barrel shotgun and took aim at Maggie and Ben's heads. They're undead forms started to come behind the bar in single file, Ben in front of Maggie. She aimed before she closed her eyes then fired the first shot, she heard a splatter then a thud, she counted to three then fired the second shot. Once again hearing a splatter then a thud. Jenny opened her eyes and didn't look down at the two bodies of the undead creatures that were once her friends.

"God forgive me." Jenny said with guilt and remorse.

She wept gently as she opened the breech of the double barrel shotgun and dropped out the two spent .10 gauge shotgun shells. She opened the box of shotgun shells and took two new shells from the white box. She loaded them into the breech of the double barrel shotgun then closed it and put the gun on the counter top. She picked up the box of shotgun shells and counted. There were eight left in the box. She dumped the eight shotgun shells into her left hand then put them in her upper right jacket pocket.

Jenny took the box of .38 caliber bullets and opened them up. She counted the bullets that were in the blue and white box. There were thirty two bullets in the box. She put the box of bullets on the counter top and picked up the .38 Detective Special. She looked at it for a moment looking for how to open the cylinder. She remembered how from watching The French Connection. She opened the cylinder and checked the gun. There was a full six .38 caliber rounds in the gun. She closed the cylinder back into the gun and put the small revolver in her right leg pocket of her cargo pants. She then took the box of .38 caliber bullets and put them in her left leg pocket of her cargo pants.

Jenny took the empty Model 1911 clip from her left back pants pocket and put it on the counter top next to the box of .45 ACP ammo. She opened up the red box of .45 ammo and picked up the empty 1911 clip. She loaded seven bullets in the clip then put the loaded clip in her left cargo pants pocket. She then ejected the clip that was in the gun and looked at it. There were two shots left in the clip and one left in the chamber of the gun but she didn't know that. She loaded five .45 caliber bullets from the box into the clip. She then slapped the clip back into the gun and put the safety on. She put the gun in the small of her back then counted the bullets in the red box of .45 ACP ammo. There were thirty three bullets left in the box. Jenny closed the box of .45 ACP and put it in her back left pants pocket.

Jenny picked up the sawn-off double barrel shotgun and went back from behind the bar. She walked toward the front doors of the bar. She moved the pile of bar stools out of the way of the doors and unlocked them. She left the bar and checked to make sure the zombie from earlier was finally dead. She left the Hyatt building and continued south toward Charles Street. When she got to the intersection of Charles Street and University Parkway. Charles Street was covered in cars. Some where on fire and some were turned over. She looked in horror thinking about who got out of town. She saw half eaten bodies of children and families, they appeared to be shot instead of eaten. Possibly over wanting a free ride out of town. There were many horrible sights on Charles Street but not many bodies meaning that most of everybody abandoned their vehicles. Thought that's what Jenny wanted to think.

She ran west down Charles Street. Halfway down the long street she noticed zombies trapped in some of the cars and others walking around. She didn't see many but they were coming for her. She began to run down Charles Street easily out running them. When she thought it was safe she slowed back down to a jog as she continued down the long street along John Hopkins University campus. She made a right onto Art Museum Drive heading north.

Jenny ran up Art Museum Drive to the Baltimore Art Museum where Vince's father, William worked as a security guard. She ran into the side visitor entrance inside the building. She looked around in the main room looking for William who's usually posted at this entrance. The large room was dark, the only light was from the security lights. She didn't know where Vince's father could be. She decided to search each floor.

She made a left and walked into an art gallery full of African masks in large glass cube displays. She walked into a large corridor, as she walked past a gallery to the left she looked in and saw a thin creature in the shadows. It looked like a very thin, pale man. It was grotesque, Jenny thought she would never see a person so thin and pale. She put her back to the wall to the left of the doorway praying that the creature didn't see her. She stood there eyes wide thinking of what to do. It didn't seem to know she was there. Shooting it was the last thing on Jenny's mind. For one she wasn't a great shot and she was in shock. She looked to the left a little and saw the stairs leading to the second floor. She then peeked around the corner at the monster to see what it was doing. It was eating some poor soul who fell victim to the sick looking creature.

Jenny tried to sneak past the doorway while the creature was distracted. Keeping an eye on it. Halfway past the doorway the creature looked up and gave a deeply chilling hiss as it licked it's razor sharp teeth with it's freakishly slimy tongue. She ran up the steps as fast as she could, climbing two steps at a time, as the creature gave chase. At the top of the steps on the second floor she ran straight ahead looking for some place to hide. A sign on the ceiling said "restroom" with an arrow pointed to the right.

Jenny ran to the restroom and entered the lady's room. She ran into the last stall. She slammed shut the metal door and locked it. She aimed the sawn-off double barrel shotgun up at the door and stood on the toilet seat so her legs wouldn't be visible. Just before she breathed a sigh of relief her cell phone went off, her ring tone was Bob Dylan's Knockin on Heaven's Door. She quickly held the shotgun in her left hand as she pulled out the cell phone, that was in her right jacket pocket, with her right hand. She flipped it open and answered.

"Vince? Is that you?" Jenny said whispering nervously.

"Yeah it's me why are you whispering?" Vince replied.

"I'm at the Museum there's a monster here."

"I told you to stay here."

"I don't have time for an argument right now. Please get here now!" She cut him off sternly whispering.

"Ok, ok, ok, never mind, never mind. I'll be right there to help you just hang....". Jenny heard the bathroom down bust open. She pushed the red "end" button and put the phone back in her jacket pocket.

The creature slowly walked into the bathroom, on all fours, searching for it's prey. It searched each stall, it's claws clicked on the tile floor as it took each step, pushing in any of the doors that weren't opened completely. Sarah was silently praying that she would live through this, that the creature would give up and leave. The creature came to the last stall. It stuck it's thin arm underneath the door. Feeling for it's prey. After about a minute of feeling the creature gave up and walked back to the restroom door. It got on it's hind legs and pushed it's left arm on to the left of the door as it curiously figured out how to open it. It then used it's right hand to turn the handle and open the door.

Jenny heard the door click shut, she stood to full height peeking over the other stalls. She could see that the creature had gone. She cautiously got down off the toilet and slowly opened the stall door. She peeked out just to make sure it was really gone. She left the stall with shotgun at the ready walking up the bathroom checking each stall as she went. When Jenny got to the bathroom door she got down onto the floor and peeked under the crack of the bathroom door.

Jenny couldn't see the creature. She stood up and opened the door with her left hand and held the shotgun with her right hand. She looked around and made sure the creature wasn't there before she left. She held the shotgun tightly with both hands as she walked back down the stairs to the first floor looking around for the creature. She couldn't see very far from the lack of light, becoming nervous as she got to the bottom of the stairs. The creature was to the left up the corridor, about thirty feet away.

Jenny backed away in the other direction, the creature had it's back to her. She walked backward about another twenty feet before the creature turned and noticed her. She turned around and began running as the creature took chase. She ran as fast as she could through a few galleries and over to the west side of the building.

"Jenny!" A voice yelled to here. Jenny looked around as the creature got closer. "Jenny over here!" She looked and saw William motioning her to come towards him. "Quick get inside." William said while holding open the thick steel door. Jenny ran into the security room as the creature got closer. Once inside William immediately shut the steel door and locked the bolt.

"Don't worry it can't get in." William said with a smile as he looked over at Sarah.

William was 6'1, 54 years old, gray hair, wearing black dress pants and a white dress shirt, holding a red handled fire axe with blood on the blade. Jenny hugged him with gratitude.

"Where's Vince?" William said.

"He isn't with me. we were gonna meet up but..." Jenny replied.

"Is he ok?"

"I talked to him about fifthteen minutes ago."

"He'll be ok." William said with a smile.

The security room had monitors all over the left wall. It was completely safe. The security room was made up of four separate rooms. CO's office, locker room, security guards' own restroom, and the surveillance room which Jenny and William were in now.

"What weapons do you have other than that fire axe?" She asked him.

"There's some pistols that Ronny brought from home just in case something happened."

"Where are they?"

"They're in the CO's office in a safe but I don't know the combination. What weapons do you have?" William was looking at the sawn-off double barrel shotgun in her right hand.

"I got this shotgun, that .45 you gave me, and a .38 snub nose." Jenny replied as she reached behind her and pulled out the Model 1911 with her right hand while she held the shotgun in her left.

Sarah handed the 1911 to William who smiled at the thoughtful gesture on her part. She reached in her left cargo pants pocket and handed him the four full 1911 clips. He took the clips and put them in his left dress pants pocket.

"I know I don't have the combination to the safe....." William was interrupted by sounds of gunfire going from the other side of the security door. He looked at the monitor of the surveillance camera that was just outside the door. He couldn't quite make out who it was. He checked the Model 1911 .45 pistol by pulling back slightly on the slide to see if it was ready to fire. Earlier Jenny had loaded a full eight rounds into the gun. Seven in the clip and one in the chamber. William gripped the gun in his left hand as he unbolted and opened the steel security door with his right hand. He aimed the gun at the man. He couldn't quite make out who it was from the darkness of the area. "Who's there?"

i love the title "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"... love that song

btw, nice story, but i haven't finished reading it yet... and sorry for spamming in your topic

[Crypt]

tnx, and only you and MrLlama read my story...

Edited April 23, 2008 by Cryptic Slayer

[Crypt]

Chapter V-House 21

It was 12:00 PM on the day of the outbreak in Baltimore City. Roland Avenue had been in chaos for the past two hours since the news reports began. Everyone in the neighborhood was frantically stocking their cars with whatever belongings they could get. Inside the fire house of pump truck 21 had it's own problems. The fire house was built back in 1902 back when horse and carriage were used before fire trucks were invented. The building was old but well made and sturdy. Half of the floor had been re-paved back in the 1960's and new garage doors and windows were put in six years ago. With a little work it could be the perfect fort. There was sleeping quarters, a gym, Chief's office, Chief's sleeping quarters, lounge and game room, showers and bathroom, and a storage room with metallic shelves on the second floor. There was a dispatch booth, lounge, kitchen, bathroom, engine house, and lockers on the first floor. There was a boiler, large refrigerator, and Carl's Y2K bunker down in the basement.

There were two back doors on the west side of the fire house. One on the first floor and one on the second floor with a black metal staircase leading up to it. The entire north side of the fire house was just walls except for a thirty foot tower that use to be used in the old days to dry the hoses. There was also a long steel ladder that was used in the tower for roof access in case of special maintenance. On the east end of the fire house was the two large white garage doors that had six windows per door. On the south side of the fire house was six seven foot tall windows. In the small bathroom on the west end of the fire house was a small ventilation window. There was also a small window on the first floor just above the kitchen and lounge. On the second floor of the fire house were six windows on the south side, two on the west end, and four on the east end. The engine house usually housed two Ambulances, a pump truck, and Chief's SUV. There use to be a ladder truck before the city took it away eight years ago.

"Downtown needs you, they're setting up medical tents, otherwise you all are free from my command." Chief said to the Paramedics as they all reviewed a city map covered in red, yellow, and blue circles, then went to their assigned ambulances. "Ok, open them up." Chief ordered to Joey who then opened the two large white garage doors from inside the small dispatch booth that was at the front of the fire house. The two Ambulances pulled out of the fire house and headed south down Roland Avenue. Chief was 6'0, 59 years old, African American, with black hair wearing a white uniform shirt and navy blue pants.

Joey was 5'2, 19 years old, Caucasian, with brown hair wearing a navy blue fire fighters uniform. Gun shots could be heard outside from Carl's hunting rifle. Denis walked in through the side door of the fire house.

"Almost everybody's packed." He said to Chief. Denis was 5'8, 49 years old, Caucasian, with blonde hair wearing a navy blue fire fighters uniform. Before Chief could reply, Denis turned to Joey who was just coming out of the dispatch booth.

"Hey get out there and help out Darrel and Carl". Joey nodded and headed toward the side door. "Hey!" Denis said pointing at the open garage doors of the fire house. "Close those up." Denis said as Joey rolled his eyes and ran back to the dispatch booth to shut the garage doors. "Did you just roll your eyes at me?" Denis asked into the booth as the doors closed.

The residence outside were peeling away driving north up Roland Avenue. Horns honking, drivers yelling, and a slight fender bender that didn't seem to faze either driver.

"Hey hold up!" A man from outside yelled into the fire house as the residence of the neighborhood drove north up Roland Avenue. Joey quickly hit the door button once to stop them from closing then again to open them completely.

"Mike what the hell are you still doing here?" Chief said to Mike who was 5'9, and Latino, with buzz cut hair wearing a police uniform with Kevlar body armor.

"I'm heading out of town but I figured you guys would hold up here." He said as he opened the back of the police SUV. "Help me out with these." Mike began taking guns out of the back of the black SUV. Chief, Denis, and Joey began helping Mike putting them in a pile in the fire house. Mike did the same. Several minutes later Carl and Darrel carrying a gas can in each hand came in through the side door of the fire house. They put the gas cans down next to the Chief's SUV. They both looked in amazement at the arsenal Mike had given them.

"Ok that's everything I'm outta here. Good luck guys." Mike said as he hastily ran to his SUV and drove off making a U turn and going north on Roland Avenue.

"Joey shut the doors." Chief said.

Joey nodded and ran into the dispatch booth and closed the two large white garage doors of the fire house. Carl went back outside, shots could be heard.

"Hey, Carl nice shot. Hey I'm human put down the gun!" Was heard from outside the fire house. Chief ran out the front door to see who was shouting. He looked across the street at Vince.

"Vince, what the hell are you still doing here." Chief said as he came out the side door.

"I could ask you the same question chief." Vince replied.

"Hell you know us we ain't going no where." Denis said as he came out through the side door of the firehouse.

"Is the whole crew here chief?"

"Most of them."

"Where you going kid?" Denis asked.

"I'm heading over to Jenny's place then me and her are going to the Art Museum to get my dad."

"Let me get you a gun. Denis, get Vince a shot...."

"No thanks Chief I'll be ok." Vince interrupted the chief with a smile. "I got this." Vince said holding up his black baseball bat before running back into his house across the street.

"Hey Chief why didn't Vince want a gun?" Denis said in curiosity. Carl looked at Chief and nodded as he headed toward the fire house and went inside. He thought for a second. "I'll tell you later golden boy." Chief said to Denis as they headed for the side door of the fire house.

"What was that all about?" Darrel asked as they walked in waiting for a response from at least one of the three men.

"Vince gonna go play Shaun of the Dead." Denis sarcastically said after a few seconds of silence.

"What the hell is Shaun of the Dead?"

"Never mind, asshole."

"Where you moving the stuff Mike brought?" Chief asked Darrel.

"Right by the lockers in the back." Joey answered Chief as he went to the pile of weapons and ammo that were by the side door to grab another hand full.

Carl reloaded his Remington M700 hunting rifle as Darrel and Joey continued moving the weapons and ammo to the north end of the engine house.

"Hey finish that load then grab some wood, nails, and hammers." Chief said to Joey and Darrel as they carried their load of guns from one pile to the next at the north end of the room. "Denis grab a steel cutter, visor, and gloves, go out back and start taking apart that stair case out there."

"Why?" Denis asked.

"We might need that metal."

Denis gave Chief a weird look then headed for the steel spiral stair case that lead upstairs.

"Carol go with him." Chief said to Carl who then nodded and headed out to the alley out back with rifle in hand.

"Hey guys what's up?" A firefighter said as he came down the steel black spiral stair case. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. "Uhhh.... I'm gonna go back to bed." The firefighter said as he began going back up the spiral stair case.

"No hey Richie get back here. Come down here." Chief said to him. Richie came down the spiral stair case.

"What ya need Chief?" He asked cautiously.

"Darrel finish moving the guns and ammo, then grab a pad and pencil and list what Mike brought us. Joey grab some wood, nails, and three hammers. Richie you, me, and Joey are gonna board up this left garage door." Chief said as Joey grabbed some boards, Chief grabbed a box of nails, Richie stood there in awl.

"Chief? Can you please tell me what the fuck's going on here?" Richie said sternly to Chief.

Chief rolled his eyes then turned to him. "Baltimore's been taken over by zombies. Denis, Carl, Darrel, Joey, and me are not leaving this house. Your either in or out, which is it gonna be?" He said fast and sternly.

Richie looked on in horror. "Hell yeah I'm in." He said as his look of horror quickly turned into a large smile as he grabbed a hammer and some wood and walked over to the left garage door. Richie was 5'5, 28 years old, Asian American, with brown hair, wearing a navy blue firefighter uniform.

"Board up the windows but don't block the slants, just incase we need to open the doors." Chief said as him, Joey, and Richie began hammering boards over there sections of door they each picked. Several minutes passed before they were done hammering the left garage door. There was a gun shot outside from Carl's hunting rifle.

"Well there goes another one." Joey said happily with a hint of sarcasm as he went to get more nails and wood for the right garage door.

Darrel had all the rifles and shotguns leaned up against the south wall and all the pistols, clips, magazines, and ammo on the two tables that were in the middle of the room. He then ran upstairs to get a pad and pencil from Chief's office.

Chief, Richie, and Joey began boarding up the right garage door. A few minutes into doing that Darrel came back down from up stairs with a pad in his left hand and pencil in his right hand. He then began counting up the arsenal that Mike brought to the fire house. Several minutes later Chief, Joey, and Richie finished boarding up the right garage door.

"What do we got Darrel?" Chief said to Darrel noticing that he had finished counting. Darrel handed Chief the list. He looked at the list and read it to himself.

"Jesus." He said to himself after he finished reading the list. "Ok Darrel go get all the guns that we brought in and count those up too." He said to Darrel who then took the pad of paper from Chief then went to the kitchen where the fire fighter's personal guns were. Darrel began listing the small arsenal.

"Richie, Joey get some more wood and nails and start boarding up those three windows there on the south wall. I'll get the fourth one in a minute." Chief said to the two men as he walked over to the empty clips and magazines and began filling them with bullets. Darrel came into the engine house with the pad of paper in his hand.

"Here." Darrel said to Chief as he handed him the list. He looked at the list and read it to himself as he did the one before.

"Take over." Chief said to Darrel who then began loading clips and magazines with bullets.

"We'll be alright." Chief said to himself with a smile. He threw the pad of paper onto the table covered in ammo and grabbed some wood and nails. Richie and Joey had boarded up the first two windows, Joey was just finishing window three as Richie began boarding window four. Chief was about to begin working on window number five when his cell phone rang. He was surprised that he was getting a phone call considering the current circumstances.

"Hello?" He said, there was a pause. "Vince, don't worry we'll be there real soon to help you out." He said with a burst of confidence as he realized Vince was ok. There was a pause as he listened to Vince. "Ok hang in there buddy." He said before he closed the small silver cell phone with one hand and looked at the red pump truck parked on the left side of the engine house.

"Guys come here, stop what your doing." He said to Darrel, Richie, and Joey as they stopped what they were doing and crowded around Chief. "Joey get everything out of the cab of the pump truck and open that extra seat." Joey ran right to the cab and began clearing the fire fighting gear and junk from the truck cab. "Richie, Darrel I want you to get the ladders off the truck. It's a two man job. Go!" Richie and Darrel ran to the truck and began untying the ropes that held the right side ladder on the truck. Chief went into the kitchen and out the back door where Denis was still cutting the steel stair case. Carl was still keeping guard.

"Denis." Chief said but Denis couldn't hear him in account of the loud metallic scrapping noise of the cutter cutting into the steel stair case. "Denis!" He stopped the cutter and lifted his visor. "Yeah?" He said to Chief as Carl was being motioned inside the fire house. "I need you to come inside. It's an emergency." Chief said as Denis and him walked straight into the fire house at a steady pace. Chief closed and locked the wooden door, then pushed the kitchen table, with all of the firefighter's weapons from home on it, up against the back door to barricade it.

"Carl I want you to get some guns and ammo together. Denis I want you to strip this truck of any equipment we don't need out there." Carl went back to the kitchen to grab some of his favorites, Denis ran to the truck and began opening doors on the side removing oxygen tanks. Chief grabbed a green vehicle repair kit, an orange first aid kit, and a black nylon bag full of road side tools and put them in the cab of the truck just as Joey was done clearing it.

"Done Chief." Joey said awaiting his next orders.

"Go help Denis strip the truck of equipment. Go tell Richie and Darrel to do the same." Joey ran to the other side of the truck to begin taking equipment out of the compartments on that side.

Chief went to the back of the truck and began pulling the center column of hose off of the truck. Carl came walking out of the kitchen carrying a plastic container. He put the container on the "ammo table" as he removed a black duffle bag from the container and began putting clips and boxes of ammo in the bag. He loaded an M16A1, two shotguns, three Glocks, two Berettas, and an M4A1 assault rifle. He put the Berettas in the duffle bag. He then put the two shotguns and the M4 in the cab of the truck along with the duffle bag. The three Glocks were placed in the plastic container, he then slung the M16A1 over his shoulder along with his Remington hunting rifle and picked up the plastic container. Chief had just finished pulling the rest of the hose from the center column off the truck. Denis, Richie, Darrel, and Joey had finished taking the equipment off the truck.

Carl went to the back of the truck and pushed the plastic container and the two rifles onto the back. "Everybody come here. Crowed around." Chief said to everyone. "Vince's in trouble, he needs a ride. Denis, Carl your coming with me. Darrel, Joey, Richie your staying here. Finish boarding up the windows. Except the one above the kitchen. We can use that as a look out....." He stopped and thought for a second. "After you guys board the windows, search all these lockers for anything useful. Then use the empty lockers to barricade the boarded windows.... But don't touch Carl's, Jesus you guys remember when Tom nearly blew his hand off poking around in there?" Chief and the guys had a short laugh remembering how Tom got worked up over nothing knowing his hand was ok.

Chief turned to Denis and Carl. "Let's move out." He said as he grabbed a Kevlar vest. Denis and Carl grabbed ones too. The three men put on the black Kevlar vests. Carol, Denis, and Chief began putting on they're yellow firefighting pants, boots, and coats for extra protection incase they needed it.

"Darrel your in charge until we get back." Chief said as Denis got into the truck cab. Chief walked around the front of the truck to the driver's side door. He opened to door and saw Denis in the front seat. "I'm driving." He said to Denis sternly with a no nonsense look on his face. Denis didn't put up a fight and slid over into the passenger seat. Chief climbed up into the truck's driver seat and turned the ignition.

"Hey Chief wait!" Joey shouted to him as he ran to the driver's side of the truck. "Here." Joey handed him two radios, Chief handed one of them to Denis.

"When you hear those sirens open the door for us." He said to Joey as he handed a third radio up to Carl who was tying himself tight with hoses to the rods that separated the three columns of hoses.

"I'll do that sir, good luck out there." Joey said to him with sympathy. He nodded and looked sternly at the garage door waiting for Joey to enter the dispatch booth and open it. After a few seconds the garage door slowly opened. The red fire truck drove out of house 21 heading south on Roland Avenue on it's way to the Art Museum.