Chapter 133: Audio Induction
Chapter 133: Audio Induction
Christopher buzzed in over the intercom, "Clearing the hospital entrance. You got ten minutes."
James shot back, "Got it!"
As they geared up to leave the broadcast room, James and Isabella swapped weapons.
The steel pipe was handy, but it didn't pack the punch of the fire axe. Plus, the axe was way too heavy for Isabella's skinny arms. She was better off with the pipe.
Emily and Isabella moved the table aside and stood behind the door, watching as James cracked it open and slipped out.
This was the safest play.
James was quicker and stronger than the zombies. The hallway made it tough for him to get surrounded. As long as he held one end, he could take out the zombies one by one.
There were seven mutants outside.
They hadn't heard the door latch. James swung the fire axe, slicing through their nasty heads, sending bits of flesh, brain matter, and blood flying.
The path cleared up fast.
Emily and Isabella waited inside, anxious. When they heard the knock, they flung the door open and bolted out.
From the inpatient building to the hospital entrance, they had to turn a corner. This path led to the plaza in front of the building.
They saw a bunch of zombies lying around.
These virus-infected freaks were stuffed, their bellies bulging. Who knows how much human flesh they had crammed in there, making them too full to move, like overfed pigs. As Emily ran past one, it opened its mouth, wanting to eat, but didn't even have the strength to grab her.
Who knows how many people had been eaten, turned into the junk in their stomachs.
They lay there, lazy, like a bunch of dead bodies.
Turning the first corner, James saw zombies scattered in the plaza.
Some wore uniforms, some T-shirts and shorts, some sportswear, and some dresses. For them, clothes were just a hassle, not for warmth or modesty. A few zombies, maybe with some leftover memory, were tearing at each other's clothes, exposing female breasts and limp male junk.
James wiped the blood off his face, nervously scanning his surroundings.
He needed to find a way through these zombies. It had to be safe and quick.
"Matthew's waiting for us at the hospital entrance. Once we get there, we're golden."
James took a deep breath and said urgently to Emily and Isabella, "Stick close and keep up. We got enough time; I won't sprint, but don't lag behind. Remember, we don't need to kill all the zombies. We just gotta outrun 'em."
He paused and added, "And the most important thing: no noise, and definitely no shouting."
Emily nodded, glancing at Isabella beside her.
Isabella got the message.
She gripped the steel pipe tight, gritted her teeth, and nodded back.
James wiped the sweat off his palms on his pants and gripped the axe again. He stared at the moving horde in the plaza ahead and whispered, "On my count, one, two, three, go!"
He took the lead, with Isabella in the middle and Emily right behind.
James didn't go for the path with fewer zombies; instead, he charged towards the greenbelt on the left side of the plaza.
An old zombie, or rather an old man turned zombie, lunged at him. Mouth open, it tried to bite, but James swung the axe diagonally, splitting its head and brain, sending it crashing onto the concrete.
This was a divider between the plaza and the greenbelt.
The 20-inch wide marble planter was meant to be a resting spot. The upper part wasn't high off the ground, only 20 inches. The zombie James just took down tumbled down, landing on two other zombies coming from the plaza. The resulting pile-up gave Isabella and Emily enough time to run along the planter divider.
The hospital entrance was getting closer, and with the changing view, they could see the parked SWAT vehicle.
Christopher had turned the vehicle around, engine running. Matthew and two other officers formed a defensive line against the vehicle. They hadn't attracted the zombies' attention in the plaza and were anxiously waiting for their rescue targets to show up.
164 feet, no more than 196 feet.
Once they made it out, they'd be home free.
James's route was spot on.
He swung the axe, taking down two zombies in quick succession. Keeping a safe distance from the followers behind him, he reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out an object, and hurled it into the open space ahead.
It was a glass cup.
Cheap, common, something you'd find at any household goods store.
The glass cup hit the ground, shattering into a million pieces with a sharp crack.
Matthew saw James and the others running towards him.
Instinctively, he raised his assault rifle, aiming at the zombies in the plaza to provide cover. But through the scope, he saw James pull another glass cup from his pocket and chuck it into the distance.
There were a dozen of those cups in the broadcast room.
Emily had her backpack slung across her chest, a machete in her left hand, and kept pulling glass cups from the open backpack with her right hand, tossing them in sync with James.
No one said a word.
Even when James swung the axe to take down zombies, he didn't let out any battle cries. That kind of stuff was only useful against regular people; now, they needed absolute silence.
One by one, glass cups fell from the sky, and the surrounding zombies started moving in that direction. Seeing this, Emily felt a rush of joy and quickly pulled out the last cup from her backpack, throwing it into the distance.
She felt an indescribable joy and excitement, along with a faint sense of pride.
The man I chose is indeed excellent, not just a flashy idiot.
When they were discussing the escape route in the broadcast room, James had proposed this plan. Since Hestia turned into a zombie in the basement, he had the most contact with these mutated creatures. Although his research on the virus and cells wasn't as deep as Aaron's, no one understood the habits and characteristics of zombies better than he did.
They had no visual ability but possessed extremely keen hearing and smell.
This was crucial and the key to escaping the hospital.
Christopher and the cops were almost stunned.
Especially Detective Captain Christopher, who had been sitting in the driver's seat, closely monitoring the surroundings. From his higher vantage point in the car, he had a better view than Matthew and the others. When James and the others appeared at the plaza corner, Christopher had already seen them.
In his mind, he should have led Matthew to fight their way through the hospital plaza to meet them.
But seeing James leap onto the planter, Christopher couldn't help but shake his head and sigh inwardly, thinking these young survivors were courting death.
The path through the middle of the planter was too narrow; any mishap could cause them to fall.
The plaza was crawling with zombies. Sure, they couldn't climb up, but they could still swipe at James and the others' legs from below. Honestly, it seemed riskier than just crossing the plaza directly.
When James chucked that glass cup into the distance, Christopher was floored.
He never expected these young folks to come up with such a clever way to distract the zombies.
As Emily kept tossing more glass cups, the whole scene in the plaza shifted. The zombies, blind as bats, started moving away from the planter and towards the sound of breaking glass.
Christopher rarely felt genuine admiration for anyone.
But this time, he had to admit, Matthew's old classmate was really sharp.
Unique ideas, and the guts to lead two girls in such a mess, truly brave.
The three of them dashed to the police car, with Matthew and the other two officers covering the rear. Christopher didn't waste a second; even before the door was fully closed, he released the clutch, floored the gas, and sped towards a pre-selected secluded spot.
On the way, Christopher had carefully scoped out the surroundings. He picked a parking spot at an intersection. The area was open, with few vehicles blocking the road. The visibility was excellent, and any movement within 32 feet could be seen. Even if they ran into a horde of zombies, they could safely retreat in no time.
James sat in the back seat of the police car. He checked out the vehicle and realized it was specially modified for transporting prisoners, a riot police car. The rear compartment was super spacious, and the vehicle was built like a tank. The powerful engine provided plenty of power, and the chassis was higher than a regular SUV, perfect for rough terrains.
Emily sat next to him.
Her nurse's uniform was already in shreds. The hem was tied tightly in front, revealing denim shorts underneath. Isabella leaned on her shoulder, wearing a makeshift outfit found in the hospital room, which was torn in several places. The long garment covered her knees, but it was a pain to move in. Luckily, Isabella was smart; she always kept a spare pair of stockings in her bag. She unwrapped them and used them as a belt, wrapping them around her waist, and rolled up the sleeves. It looked a bit shabby, but it kept everything in place and made it easier to run.