Staff Infection: A Zombie Tale

A tale centered around a peculiar patient being treated by a young nurse inside a hospital: ground zero of an impending zombie apocalypse.

Staff Infection

 

“No, but I really have to go,” Kristi whispered into her cell phone, taking another quick peek under the two stalls to be certain she was alone. “We’ll talk later, okay? Uh, Okay?” He just hung up on me! She shook her head in disgust, while making sure the ringer was still in silent mode. Cell phones were forbidden on her unit. She slid the sleek phone into the right side pocket of her flower print scrub top. After a deep cleansing breath, she stepped out of the restroom to continue her midnight shift in the critical care unit of Marian General Hospital.

“Hey, hon’…you alright?” asked a middle aged nurse, passing Kristi in the hall. Her voice was sickening sweet, oozing with sincere Southern hospitality, which was in stark contrast to her stern, lined face. As always, her lips were painted with the brightest red lipstick anyone had ever seen.

“Yeah, of course, Jane,” Kristi responded, touching her lower eyelids with the side of her index finger, to remove the tears of anger welling up.

“Mmm, hmm,” Jane scoffed, widening her eyes. “S’pose it’s just allergies irritating those big beautiful brown eyes of yours, huh?” she added with cynicism.

Kristi turned to reach for a door handle, refusing to make eye-contact.

“I’ve dated a few ‘allergies’ myself, girl,” Jane added. “Mmm, hmm.”

Kristi forced a smile and hesitated to turn the knob.

“There are plenty of other fish in the sea, missy. But, don’t you get all desperate and start flirtin’ with the famous Mr. Freak Show in there. Did you hear me, little Miss Florence Nightingale?” Jane jested. “He’s not even half the man you deserve.”

“You’re awful, Jane,” Kristi tried to wipe the smile off her tan face.

“Oh, I’m just so awfully good, missy,” the seasoned nurse countered, giving a self-satisfied snap of her fingers.

Kristi shook her head, having had her mood softened by Jane. She turned the handle and entered into the single patient room. She’d only been a Registered Nurse for two years, but this was by far the strangest, most bizarre patient she’d seen, or could imagine seeing in her wildest nightmares. He’d been here a week now, but the shock of seeing him still jolted her each and every time she entered his room. The hairs on her neck stood on end and her pulse would spike.

The television was loud and playing the local news.

“Hello,” Kristi greeted the patient, just above a whisper.

As expected, the man was squirming and moaning, as he’d done non-stop since he’d first arrived.

“I’m going to do my checks, if you don’t mind,” she said out of habit.

She approached the bed and saw that the patient’s eyes were, as always, wide open. They were covered in a viscous film, which drained down his temples, pooling under his head. The muscles in the man’s cheeks were flexing, as he grinded his teeth and rolled his head back and forth on a pillow.

“Oh, you need cleaned up,” she said, with genuine concern, despite the unsettling sight of the man. “I’ll be right back.”

She walked over into the private bathroom. Before grabbing a washcloth from the shelf, she couldn’t resist reaching into her pocket to glance at her phone. No apology text message? What a jerk! I really don’t need him giving me stress, too. She glanced in the mirror.

“You deserve better,” she said to her reflection, attempting to convince herself.

Then, she squeezed her hot pink painted, freshly manicured fingertips into a pair of clear latex gloves and wet a couple of washcloths in warm water. She walked back to the patient.

“Here, let’s get your face wiped off, at least,” she said. With a gentle touch, she began to clean the man’s face, avoiding his open mouth. She was careful not to damage his skin any further than it already was. There were no procedures to care for someone in this patient’s current state. Not once in nursing clinicals did she learn the best way to care for a man missing most of his lower body, whose graying skin was dying and falling away in sheets. Nor had she been instructed how to treat someone with no pulse or respirations, but who was able to pull himself across the floor by his arms, if not strapped down to the bed for safety. No IV’s, no pain medicine and no vital checks of any kind for ‘Mr. Freak Show’, as some of the staff had named him. He’d been admitted as a John Doe and no one had yet stepped forward to offer any information regarding his possible identity.

“Muhhh…grummm,” the man groaned and writhed, with a gaping jaw. He turned his head several times in Kristi’s direction and snapped his teeth together.

Careful to avoid his mouth, Kristi continued to wipe away the built-up, semi-dried gunk. “I’m guessing no one’s even bothered to check on you today, have they?” she asked, knowing the answer.

Kristi knew full well that the rest of the nursing staff�"and doctors�"had stopped viewing this patient as living, despite his ability to move and moan. Hell, he didn’t have a heartbeat! Regardless, even though she couldn’t blame them for their logical assumptions, she couldn’t bring herself to discard his humanity. If there were even the slightest chance he had any feeling whatsoever left�"no matter how unlikely it seemed�"she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t treat him with human dignity. He’s still a person; well, at least he was.

“Grommm!” he uttered, clacking his teeth at the gloved hand touching cheek. Kristi dropped the rag and retracted her fingers just in time to prevent a bite.

“Whoa, mister!” she blurted. “I’m beginning to think no one appreciates me,” she added, along with a forced smile.

“I’d appreciate you,” came the familiar deep voice of a fellow nurse. “I’d appreciate the hell out of you.” He looked her up and down with lustful eyes, while sporting a mischievous smile.

“Steven,” she said, shaking her head. “What’s wrong with you?”

Steven smiled. “I suddenly felt the urge to come wipe crud off of Mister Freak Show, but s**t�"you beat me to it.” He bit his lip and smiled. “Plus, I passed by Jane in the hall and…” he paused.

“Jane… such a gossip queen,” Kristi grumbled.

“Are you okay?” Steven asked, with true sincerity in his warm voice.

If the truth be told, Kristi had had a bit of a crush on Steven from the first time she’d looked into his dark green eyes. He was attractive�"ruggedly handsome�"not at all what a person would think of when they thought of a male nurse. But, she’d been forewarned by all that he was a heartbreaker; the love ‘em and leave ‘em type of guy.

“Yes, I’m just fine,” she responded. “I will be, anyway.”

“Well�"”

“Shhh!” Kristi shushed him, and turned her eyes up toward the television mounted on the wall.

A stiff-looking, middle-aged anchorman with a severe expression was talking about Kristi’s mystery patient. “Seven days after a semi truck traveling along a wooded stretch of Old Ridge Road struck the man in a hit and run incident, local Police are still asking for any information related to this man’s possible identity or on the driver of the truck…”

The screen flashed to a an artist’s rendition, attempting to recreate what the patient might have looked like prior to his illness�"or whatever had led to his current disturbing state.

The anchorman continued. “If you have any pertinent info, please call…”

“Mister Freak Show here’s quite the celebrity, huh?” Steven jested, standing near the opposite side of the hospital bed.

“I guess,” Kristi mumbled, lost in deep thought.

“Listen, Kristi,” Steven switched to a serious tone. “Let me take you out just one time…as friends�"show you a good time.”

“Thanks, but, uh.” she turned her eyes back to the patient. “I need to check the dressings on his lower half,” She said, switching the subject matter. “I’m guessing no one’s changed them since I was in last night.”

“You’re braver than I am, lady,” he said with a smile. “This dude makes my skin crawl. You can’t blame the staff for avoiding him. Hell, the doctors pronounced him dead the moment he arrived here last week.” Steven stared at the patient and shook his head with a look of disgust. “They can’t even do surgery because his skin won’t heal.”

The patient’s unfocused eyes rolled around in their sunken sockets, while his teeth continued to snap together like a pair of novelty wind-up jaws.

“Surely he won’t last much longer,” Steven added, pointing with his hand. He just watched as Kristi undid the layers of gauze covering what little remained of the patient’s upper thighs�"two short, almost non-existent, wriggling stumps with shattered bone poking out. “Oh, that is so…disgusting, Kristi,” he said, unable to take his eyes off the hideous sight.

“Squeamish much?” she asked. “It takes some getting used to.”

“No thanks…I’ll pass,” he frowned. “And, that smell.” he covered his mouth and nose with a cupped hand. “What’s that fragrance he’s sportin’�"Mold Spice?” he snickered.

“Wow,” she responded with wide eyes and unable to fight away a tiny smile. “That was really lame.”

“Yeah, well�"made ya smile.”

“Out of like sheer embarrassment for you.” She smiled again.

“Okay, well, I’m gonna leave you and Mister Wonderful and get back to my living and breathing patients,” he said with a wink.

“Later,” she responded, dropping her fresh gauze roll under the bed. “Crap.”

Steven, looking like he was racking his brain for some clever comment to say, bent down to pick up the roll. As he did, he placed a hand on the hospital bed for support.

“Steven!”

But, Kristi’s warning came too late�"the patient’s teeth clamped down on the side of the male nurse’s hand.

“Damn it!” he jerked his hand away and looked at the wound. “He got me.”

“Oh, Steven! I’m so sorry! Let me see it,” she demanded, removing her gloves and dropping them at the foot of the bed. She stepped around and reached for his hand.

“I’m okay,” he said. “Hardly even broke the skin.”

“That was my fault for dropping the stupid gauze, I�"”

“Breakfast,” Steven interrupted. “Have breakfast with me soon and I’ll give ya a clean slate.”

She stared up into those mesmerizing green eyes of his.

“Maybe…sometime,” she mumbled.

“Maybe?” he asked, holding his bleeding hand out for sympathy.

“A big maybe,” she added.

“Good enough.” He flashed a victorious grin.

“Now, go clean that bite,” She said with concern.

“Yeah, I probably don’t want his cooties coursing through my veins,” he said, nodding his head toward the moaning patient. Steven  feigned dry heaves, with his tongue sticking out. “Okay, so…you and me. After work. Friday. Breakfast.” He blurted, as he turned to rush out of the room before she could respond, grasping his injured hand over his head.

Maybe Steven wouldn’t be so bad to hang out with. At least he attempts to humor me, unlike… she peeked down at her phone. No texts. We’ll see.

She glanced at her watch. One o’clock in the morning...lunch time. Kristi was never one to take her allotted breaks�"including lunch�"but this evening she was burned out. She finished dressing the patient’s morbid wounds and then sank herself down into one of the two empty visitor’s chairs in the room. She listened to a somewhat humorous car commercial and attempted to push her racing thoughts and stress away. Her eyelids felt heavy and slid closed.

1:47 am

Kristi was startled out of a deep sleep by something bumping the entry door to the patient’s room. “Oh,” she gasped. Her mind struggled to make sense of what had happened. “I fell asleep?” Over and over she blinked her eyes, which were feeling ultra dry from falling asleep in her contacts. She glanced down at her watch. Whoa, I’d better get back to my rounds.

The ever-groaning patient strapped down to the bed next to her was writhing more than usual.

“Settle down, mister,” she whispered to him. “I’ll be back to see you again later, okay?”

She stepped into the patient’s bathroom to have a quick look in the mirror. She heard another loud thump on the door to hall, followed by a few scratches.

What in the world? They’re going to wake the whole unit. She undid her long, black ponytail and twisted her hair up into a small bun on the top of her head. She secured it with pins. “Okay,” she said, while taking one last look in the mirror.

The entry door again sustained a bump, followed by someone turning the doorknob back and forth.

Kristi stepped out of the bathroom, and over to the door, watching the knob shake. Weird. Just then, a woman’s scream assaulted her ears over the television’s volume. What was that? She reached for the knob and turned it against the force of someone else’s grip on the opposite side of the door. The door opened in at her with great force, knocking her to the cool, tile floor. Sitting on her rump, resting back on her hands, she looked up to see Steven.

“Steven?” she shouted, confused.

He just stood there for a moment. To the background sounds of more screams, mixed with disturbing moans radiating in through the open door, Kristi stared up at him. Fear’s icy grip took hold of her spine and shook her. Steven didn’t look like Steven. He had dark blood splattered on his blue scrub top, matching the red stains in his exposed teeth and streaking down his chin.

“Steven! What’s happening?”

Steven’s gaping jaws released a devilish groan, sounding as evil as if his open throat were the gateway to Hell.

“Steven!” she screeched again, backing herself into the wall.

Steven hunched over and reached down for her with a crimson stained hand. The moans from the hallway intensified, and seemed to multiply.

Kristi’s fight or flight instincts kicked into over-drive and she reacted without thought, by kicking Steven in the chest with all the adrenaline-charged force she could muster. Steven’s jolted lungs expelled a rush of air through his mouth, spraying Kristi’s face and upper body with droplets of blood. She scrambled to stand to her feet as Steven stumbled back through the open restroom door.

Just before the door to the room shut on its own, a female hand poked in, then gripped the edge. Kristi stepped over to see who was there, while glancing over at Steven�"he’d fallen down under the sink, but was up on all fours, crawling his way back out.

Kristi couldn’t prevent a scream when she saw her co-worker, Jane, stumble into the room in tattered scrubs. Her eyes were bloodshot and distant and she was revealing her teeth like a wild dog.

“Gruhhhm!” she snarled, spewing bloody drool. She shoved open the door and staggered in, with an unnatural, lumbering gate.

“Aaaa!” Kristi screamed and stepped back, only to have Steven’s hand grip her ankle. She stamped on his hand with her opposite foot and then raced away to the far side of the patient’s room.

The door closed behind Jane. More thumps assaulted the door from the hall, mixed with unnerving fingernail scratches and moans.

Steven�"still crawling on his hands and knees�"and Jane gawked at Kristi with eagerness in their eyes, as she hunkered down behind a visitor’s chair. The patient strapped in the bed squealed and groaned with more intensity than ever.

“What happened to you both?” the trembling nurse shouted; her voice splintered out of pure terror. “Stop! Just stop and I’ll try to help you! I can help you! Stop!”

Ignoring her desperate pleas, the zombified-looking pair proceeded to close in on Kristi. Jane’s outstretched arms swatted at the air.

“Stay back!” she demanded in vain.

Jane lunged first, but Kristi had been gripping the legs of the chair and she yanked it up in time to block and knock the threatening nurse off balance.

The chair crashed back down to the floor on top of Steven, who had crawled to within inches of his prize.

Jane, having fallen to the floor, scrambled to get back to her feet. Steven flailed, as Kristi climbed up onto the sturdy wooden chair and jumped up and down one time with all of the force she could muster. Steven’s ribs crunched in his pinned chest. His legs flipped around like a child throwing a tantrum.

Cringing, Kristi’s mind raced to catch-up to what she’d just done in the name of self-preservation. She balanced her long, thin body on the seat of the chair, like a surfer, as Jane approached. Without even thinking, she reached into her scrub top pocket and pulled out her weighty smart phone. Jane tilted her head back and opened her jaw unnaturally wide�"Kristi could hear the woman’s jawbones cracking.

Still on the chair, Kristi held the large rectangular phone in her palm and slammed it into the corner of the female attacker’s lower jaw, detaching one side of the mandible, and leaving Jane’s chin dangling far off center. The desperate nurse recoiled and then smashed the phone screen across the side of Jane’s head, causing her to stutter stepped. However, she regained her balance and continued to walk forward with outstretched arms and squirming fingers. Steven gurgled and groaned on the floor below, as cool, blood-sticky hands took hold of Kristi’s neck. Losing her balance on the chair, she fell away from Jane’s grip and hard to the floor, knocking the wind from her lungs. Wheezing, Kristi slid away on her back, until her head and shoulders greeted the brick wall, under the only outside window in the small room.

The fire alarm began blaring, somewhat drowning out the raspy moans and sounds of things being pounded and smashed in the hall.

Steven pulled his smashed body across the floor by his hands and elbows toward Kristi, keeping pace with the staggering nurse and her dislocated jaw. Jane’s signature bright red lipstick was smudged around her mouth like clown make-up, accentuating the blood clotting in her exposed teeth.

Injured, but too petrified to care, Kristi sat up and watched the pair of attackers close in on her. For a split second, she felt as if she had somehow been warped to the set of some new Hollywood zombie flick. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an off camera director waiting to yell “cut” and save her. It was do or die. But, what’s waiting for me out in the hall, or in the rest of the hospital, even if I get past these two?

Already, something in Kristi’s brain had switched, and she no longer saw Jane and Steven as her friends and coworkers, but as rabid beasts�"and she their prey. She didn’t have time to question why or what chain of events had led to this hellish situation, but she could worry all about that later�"God willing.

She caught her breath and sprang to her feet, leading with her knee straight into Jane’s groin. The wicked-looking nurse stumbled back, as Kristi stomped her foot down onto the back of Steven’s head, cracking his forehead into the unforgiving tile. Without hesitation, he raised his head up, revealing his off-center nose and shattered teeth. He growled at her, unfazed, despite his gruesome injuries.

Jane stepped again toward Kristi, only to be punched in the stomach for her effort, and then collapsing two her knees. Kristi reached over and took hold of the fire extinguisher mounted on the wall. In one fluid motion, she spun back around and bashed Jane across the face, jarring her hard enough to knock her down to her side. Without delay, Kristi clobbered the fallen nurse’s temple over and over until her head was a skin bag of shattered bones. She felt crazy and unable to stop the action, until she felt Steven’s hand grip her shoulder. She swung and missed his head, but stood to her feet�"opting to outrun him and escape.

“No!” she gasped, as Steven’s foot hooked her shin, knocking her off balance. She slammed into the side of the patient’s bed, then landed hard onto both knees, but managed to scramble right back up. Steven army-crawled after her, now even faster than before. She ran around to the opposite side of the bed and found the strength to overturn it, pinning Steven beneath. Feeling she’d bought herself some time, she stopped at the door and listened to the commotion out in the hall with her ear pressed up against the wood.

It sounds like the inner circles of Hell out there! Maybe I should just wait in here. Though, it didn’t seem as if anyone was outside the door at that particular moment. She glanced back over at Steven, who was wriggling and eyeing her with hungry eyes. I should try to make an escape. Maybe I can make my way to an outside exit through all of the chaos out there. I’m a sitting duck in here.

She closed her eyes and attempted to calm herself, which was next to impossible, knowing she was about to step out into only Heaven knew what. She placed a sweaty hand on the cool metal knob and paused for a few moments longer.

Then, just as her hand squeezed to turn the knob, a searing pain assaulted her left calve. She jerked and released the knob, looking down at the disturbing sight below her. Mr. Freak Show had been freed from his straps and dragged his self over to bite her. She sidestepped and hiked up her torn pant leg to see blood trickling down her Achilles tendon and staining her short, white socks. Mr. Freak Show smacked his lips, as he chewed and swallowed his victorious mouthful of flesh. But, before he could lunge for another cannibalistic treat, Kristi ripped open the door and limped out into the hall.

****

Yanked from a deep, tranquil abyss of nothingness, Ron’s consciousness was greeted back to reality by a blend of hurt and confusion. A loud buzzing sound pulsated in the background. Unable to open his eyes, he felt a deep pain surging from his abdomen up through his chest, arms, neck and head. Ron’s frayed mind wrestled with what had happened to him, as he realized he was unable to move.

He coughed several times; his upper body bounced on the flat, firm surface he lay on. Increased pain ravaged his body, until he was unable to fight back the warm tears spilling past his temples and trickling into his ears. He gritted his teeth, cracking a molar. What happened to me?

Then, a vision flashed through his mind. A wreck…it was a head on crash…a pick-up truck crossed the center line at me!

”Crack!"

The unsettling crunch of something solid hitting glass was followed by a woman’s muffled scream. Ron tried, but couldn’t turn his head toward the impact. He listened, though he didn’t hear the woman again. Instead, in between buzzes, he could distinguish several throaty and incoherent voices emanating from outside whatever room he was in. Ron strained and was able to separate his eyelids enough to somewhat perceive of his surroundings, though his vision was filmy and blurred. He concluded he was inside a room of some sort. An operating room?

The rasping voices continued to attack his ears. They sounded wicked and desperate. A horrifying thought came to him. Am I…already dead? What if I’m in hell? His heart thumped out of control, jolting his body. His breaths became shallower, as faintness gripped him. Tears persisted and his eyes closed again.

Then, he reached deep into his soul and visualized his wife, Melinda. He focused with all of his might on remembering her face. I have to figure this out. I need to get help!

“Okay,” he whispered, with trembling lips..

With renewed determination, he reopened his eyes and was shocked to detect a human figure next to him. It looked to be a female and she was hunched over his mid section.

“H-h-helllp…me,” he strained, followed by a stabbing cough. His body was in so much pain. “Helllp,” he repeated.

The unresponsive figure continued to lean over him. He blinked hard several times and rolled his eyeballs around, attempting to clear some of the crud from his eyes, then opened them as wide as he could.

“N-n-nooo!” he screamed at the dark haired lady, who’d turned to face him�"with a mouthful of his intestines dangling from her mouth. The last thing Ron saw before his jarred mind drifted off into oblivion was the nametag on the woman’s yellow flowered scrub top, which read 'Kristi'.

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Zombies. Horror.

Reviews

[Hanhil]

I just have to get it out of the way ...I hate unhappy endings :( Well Unhappy as a normal zombie-uninfested individual would like anyway. lol. Buutt I love the story! Its so gripping. You had me riveted from the word go! Master weaver.:) Need more stories, hopefully with a happy ending this time around.

[creativequill]

this was fantastic I was riveted start to finish, kudos

[Mik Zeal]

I loved the story, there were some small errors that urked me but that's just a pet peeve of mine. I loved how fast you developed the characters and got into the story (a weak point of mine) and I came to like Kristi by the time she was bitten. I love your rendition of the zombies; the thing about zombie writing is IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS. Great job.

[Trigorin]

This is very well done. Your writing is technically correct and, while there's not much of a message, you've definitely presented this story well and captured the reader's attention. The double meaning of the title is just icing on the cake. Good work.

[char]

Awesome!!! This was very easy to read. The dialogue and everything was just perfect!! I especially love the ending!! Those kind of people will usually die first. Spending a whole life being too nice to people, doesn't quite prepare you for zombies!!! Doctors, however, might survive. I mean, hell, they already save people; they sure as hell can kill people!! Cool story!! Keep it up!!!

[Hanhil]

I just have to get it out of the way ...I hate unhappy endings :( Well Unhappy as a normal zombie-uninfested individual would like anyway. lol. Buutt I love the story! Its so gripping. You had me riveted from the word go! Master weaver.:) Need more stories, hopefully with a happy ending this time around.

[Petrichor]

Lol... happy endings are for weenies... :) .... just kidding.... thank you so much for the review and so happy you liked it, despite the not-so-happy ending (that is, unless u see the tale through zombie eyes :)