Darkness Falling - WIP

Skinfull

Mater Hospital A&E,
31st October
6.05AM

“This is the last time I change shifts with him,” Conal said as he pulled the shoulder gloves up his arms and secured his fingers in place. The back of the ambulance was wide open, and even though he had the face mask on he still gagged from the smell of the vomit and other body fluids.

“Wait…you purposefully took the night shift on Halloween?” His partner for the night, Emma, stood back from the bus and lit a cigarette with a smile curving her lips as she watched him brush the vomit out of the cab and into the wide drain on the tarmac below.

“Oh Jesus, oh Christ,” he muttered as the sloshing bile and regurgitated food puddled around his feet clinging to the rubber contours of his boots.
“Keep it coming Conal, you’ve made it past the biggest lump of it, just the scrubbing left to do.”

“Don’t you want to grab a pair of gloves and help me here?” Conal asked as he stepped out of the cab and yanked the mask off his sweating face.
“You know the rules, he who drives the cab, doth not clean the cab.”
“Or she.”
“Either way, your mess. You let that guy puke all over the back.”
“You think you could have stopped him?”

She tossed the end of her cigarette into the puddle and looked at him with a single eyebrow arched in defiance.
“If I was back there Conal,” she said as she slowly pulled the zip of her jump suit down to reveal the tops of her round breasts framed by a lacy red brassiere, “Puking would have been the last thing on his mind.”
Conal’s eyes watched her hands as she pulled her zipper back up and walked into the emergency room. “Yeah…well,” he called after her, desperately trying to come up with something to yell, before she disappeared. “If I had tits…” But she was gone. “Sh1t.”

He pulled his mask back up to cover her mouth and nose and reached for the hose to wash the rest of the cab down. But his mind wasn’t on the job anymore, the image of her cleavage, the taunting lace of her brassiere and the milky white colour of her skin. Finally when he was finished he moved the van and washed the tarmac down before going into the canteen to find her. She was stretched out across a couple of chairs with one hot cup of coffee in her hands, the other untouched on the table beside her. The rest of the room was empty save for one young resident who was wolfing down a sandwich even as he poured his coffee and had left the room before Conal reached her.

“No calls?”
Emma glanced up at him with one arched eyebrow, her coffee in front of her mouth as she blew it. “Am I out in the bus? Did I call for the keys off you?”

“Alright! Alright!” He took the coffee and sipped then sat, propping his feet onto the table. But before he had the chance to get comfy a loud scream penetrated the still night air. Conal started and twirled to face the door almost falling off the chair as he stood and twisted at the same time, but Emma barely reacted to the noise. “What the hell?”

“Conal, sh1t you’d think this was your first night on the job. You’re a four year veteran? Calm the fúck down!”
“Shouldn’t we check that out?”
“Go for it. Knock yourself out. I’m not moving till this little pager goes off,” she said shaking the small black silent pager that was clipped to her belt loop.

Scoffing at her derision Conal crossed the room to the set of double doors and slowly pushed one open before stepping through into the empty corridor. He looked back over his shoulder to see Emma slouching further into her seat. The corridor before him was empty as he stepped through and followed it towards the ER.

“Hello?” he called out but nothing answered. “Hello!”
At the end of the corridor it split left and right and Conal took a moment to examine both routes and called out again but before he could decide which way to go, the scream rattled through him again this time followed by footsteps thundering towards him. They came from the left and as he backed away from the sound he spotted the resident from the canteen earlier racing towards him, the sandwich still in his mouth, the coffee cup, now empty clenched in his fist as he ran.

“Help!” he shouted, his mouth full of food spitting it out over his shirt unnoticed. “Help me!”
The resident ran up to Conal and slammed him against the wall; grasping the collar of his jumpsuit he shook him.
“What happened?!” Conal tried to pry his fingers off his clothes but the resident had a death grip.
“He’s alive!” he shouted but Conal was sure he misheard him.
“What? Who?”

But the resident shoved him to the ground and raced off leaving a trail of chewed food and echoing footsteps in his wake.
Conal watched him in shock then turned at the sound of the doors behind him opening. The double doors slammed into the wall as a large heavy set man staggered through them. He wore a hospital gown over his pants which were saturated in blood from the waist down and covered with a black substance that seemed to dribble from his mouth. But as he looked closer Conal saw his lower jaw hung loose and unhinged from his skull. The left corner of his lip was torn open, slashed in a jagged rip that almost reached his ear.

“Oh my god!” Conal pushed himself away from the wall and stepped towards him as he called out for Emma to join him.

The patient staggered slowly, his trousers were ripped from the knees exposing a wide open gash that oozed with blood, which he smeared across the tiled floor with every dragged step he took. One arm outstretched towards Conal the other, a bloodied stump that hung limply by his side. His eyes were wide but milky white, one rolled back into his head the other seeing nothing. Breaking the stilted silence his voice gurgled through blood and bile that had collected in his throat and mouth. "bluuuuughhhh" he moaned but it wasn’t a word, it was an urge.

“Emma!” Conal called out again as he walked towards the patient that was clearly in distress. “Sir, sir I need you to stop walking.”

Conal held his hands out, palms facing the man as he approached but even as his natural instinct to help kicked in he couldn’t help the urge he felt to run. Run far and run fast. He pulled a gurney that was against the wall and pushed it across the hallway creating a barrier between him and the patient but it did nothing to deter his staggered march.

“What is going on?” Conal turned round to see Emma approaching slowly. “What the hell are you doing?”
“There’s something wrong with him…”
“Jesus Conal, you think?” She hurried over and put her hands on the rails on the bed to push it aside but Conal blocked her.
“No! Look at him!”
“Conal…” she started to argue but her voice faded away as she looked up at the patient who was now pushing against the bed with his thighs. “What the hell?”

“I think we should get out of here…” Conal said his voice barely an audible whisper as he spotted the doors at the end of the corridor opening and another battered looking patient approaching them. “Emma, c’mon!” He grabbed her arm and they backed away towards the canteen again. “There is a back delivery entrance in here, we’ll use that and get into the ambulance.”

“Wait Conal, WAIT!” She shook his arm off and turned back towards the two patients that were still reaching out to them. The second one had now joined the first as they slowly moved the bed aside making the wheels squeak as it moved. “We need to go back there and see what’s happening.”

“Are you kidding me? We’ve both seen this movie Emma and it doesn’t end well when you go investigating!”

“God you are such a chicken sh1t!” She walked over to the gurney and pushed it back against the two men on the other side. Slowly they stumbled backwards mumbling and moaning, noises more than words. Emma turned the bed and angled it to push them against the wall but they pushed back and she found herself struggling. “Conal…help me!” glancing over her shoulder at him she watched him shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he tried to decide on whether to run or not. “Conal! Look out! Behind you!”

She pointed at him losing her grip on the bed and allowing the patients to push her against the wall. And he twirled in time to see the resident crawling towards him. A path of blood from his bloodied and broken legs was smeared from the door Conal had seen him running through a mere four meters away.

“Aaarrgghhh!” Conal kicked out connecting his boot to the resident’s cheek, but it did nothing to halt his progress. His left hand reached out and Conal could make out three broken fingers on his left hand, his right was missing tw,o both of them were ripped and gored, from what he didn’t know. “Jesus!” Conal kicked again and this time backed away towards Emma. “You ready to get out of here now?!” He ran towards the bed and pushed it away from her as best he could then grabbed her arm and they raced into the canteen.

Without slowing down or pausing to collect supplies they ran through the room and into the kitchen to the back door. Conal still held her arm and she pulled it free then fixed her hair into a ponytail.

“I have the keys,” she said taking the handle and turning it but keeping the door closed. “We need to be ready in case they are out there.”
“Run for it. Just run!” Conal said as he backed away from the patient. “I parked the car in Bay A and it’s unlocked.”

“On three…1…2…3…GO!” Emma pushed the door open then raced out into the car park. The bay area for deliveries was deserted but they kept running at pace. Conal who was faster rounded the corner in to the ambulance bay before her and he skidded on the gravel to come to a halt, kicking up a cloud of dust. The front entrance to the ER was visible from the corner and he put his back to the wall to peer around the cement bricks. As Emma caught up, tired and panting she skidded next to him.

“What’s goin on…why did you stop!”
“Can you see this?” He stepped back from the edge to give her room to see and she inched closer to get a better look.
“Oh fuuuuck!”

The lobby was teeming with people lurching to and fro. The automatic doors opened and closed around them each pane of glass smeared with blood and other stains neither she nor Conal could place. In the centre of the car park pay, the yellow box that was marked for ambulance delivery a group of five knelt on the floor.

“What are they doing?” she whispered.
“Feeding? Fúck I dunno…let’s get out of here.”
“sh1t it was you who stopped…let’s go!” She ran out and raced towards the ambulance with Conal right behind her.

Their movement attracted more attention than they had hoped. Slowly the people moved towards them. Some with full bodies in tact moved faster, stumbling and staggering, arms out reached. Others with broken legs dragged themselves across the car park as best they could, abandoning dead flesh in favour of warm blood and fresh food. The noise from them was worse than the sight, muffled moans and groans that became louder as they neared their target.

“Get in, it’s unlocked!” Conal jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door behind him. Emma pulled open the driver’s door but before she could step in a hand grasped her ankle and held on tight.
“Fúck!” she pulled herself up to the van seat but the arm held on pulling her back. “Conal! Help me!”

He crawled across the seats and took her arm and tried to drag her in but the hand that held on to her was joined by another and then a third. They were strong and pulled her down with a force Conal couldn’t match. And soon Emma was being pulled out of the ambulance.

“Emma,” Conal called out to her, holding her wrist with two arms to keep her with him. He braced his feet on either edge of the door frame. She was screaming now, snatching at his arms to hold onto him but it was a losing battle. “Emma, gimme the keys!!!”

“Fúck you, Conal help me!” her cries were saturated with anguish as the hands on her ankles clawed their way up her legs as they got a better grip then with an excruciating scream she felt teeth sink into her upper thigh, through the coarse material of her jumpsuit. She felt the skin tearing the muscle breaking with a spasm as warm blood wept down her leg.
Conal couldn’t be sure but he thought their moans became louder when the blood started to soak through her clothes.

“Conal!”
“Fúck this!” Conal let her go and kicked her away from the van before slamming the door shut and locking it. On the passenger side, a gored hand banged against the glass and was met with a face of melted skin. “Fúck fúck fúck fúck.” He kicked at the steering wheel column until the plastic came loose enough to grab the ignition wires. Stripping the cable covering back from the wire he brushed them together.

“Fúck fúck fúck fúck.” The van rocked to and fro as the numbers on either side grew impatient to the goods they knew lurked inside. Then as the engine fired to life Conal jumped up from his crouched position with a scream of joy and shifted the gear stick into reverse. He slammed his foot down onto the pedal and reversed without checking the mirrors, ignoring the bumps and bangs as he milled through the crowd he aimed the wheels towards the exit and shifted into first gear. He put on the headlights in time to see Emma fall into the huddled mass of bodies. Her screams were louder than any of the moans but not quite as terrifying. Shaking his head free of any regret he drove over and through the crowd to the gate and towards the rising sun on the horizon.

***

No preamble. Straight in. good, bad, indifferent?

Can also be read here

cobsie

Hi Skinfull!

I liked this - it was cleanly written with a nice opening scene of banter and when the action moves to zombies, it does so quite energetically and vividly. Multiple actions and chases are really hard to write, but you did a good job of keeping the action very much front and centre without commentary which would otherwise bog down the pace. Also, you don't get ridiculous with the gore - although being chomped on by zombies does sound like an appropriately painful way to go

The downside I guess is that you have to bring something original to what is very much a genre piece, if you want to keep readers interested. There's nothing in this that isn't by-the-numbers, in terms of plot, but maybe you have something special up your sleeve for how things unfold? I hope so!

look forward to reading more.

pickarooney

I'm in two minds about this. I loved the opening and was really enjoying it until... zombies. I fuсking hate zombie stories. I looked down, realised I had still two-thirds of the story to go and I just lost interest. Sorry, I know that makes me a bad person. It's not you, it's me (and the undead).

Skinfull

It is zombies so you wont like it but at least you like the writing. Maybe you'll like a different one I wrote with no undead in it at all. I'll finish posting this one first though. Next chapter up tomorrow.

Skinfull

St Dominic’s Secondary School,
Chapelizod,
1st November
6.30AM

“Nights are cold but day is certain,” Sean said one arm stretched to the sky as the other held his script low at his hip where he could barely make out the words he was supposed to have learned by heart. “No twilight zone can last very long.”

“Darkness my friend I’ll hide in your curtain…” was all Alison could manage before her laughter swallowed her words. “C’mon…I’ll hide in your curtain?” She flashed her script at Stephen who lay across the front of the stage watching them both enact the scene he wrote. “If you are gonna write a song piece then why this song?”

“Oceans away is a brilliant piece. And the theme of the night is lost love. You have a better song to enact?” He jumped up and dusted off his jeans before approaching them and flipping their scripts to the front page. “From the top!”

“No way, I have to get to rugby.” Sean said pointing at the clock that hung from the back of the room. He folded the pages into his pocket and reached for his bag that lay just behind him on the small makeshift table they were using as every set piece they needed.

“Me too.”
“Rugby? Alison, you don’t even play.”
“No…but I have to go.”
“The pageant is tomorrow night you guys! We haven’t even rehearsed in costume yet.”
“Forget it Stephen. We’ll do it during lunch,” Sean called over his shoulder as he vaulted off the stage and hurried up through the rows of seats. “We’ll meet in here at 2?”
“Yeah, sounds good.” Alison chased after him leaving Stephen in the centre of the stage alone and angry.

***

The student car park was almost empty, except for the three cars that were parked along the entrance to the gym. Nathan pulled his car into a space that was next to a black ford focus he instantly recognized as Sean Fagan’s car. Knowing the team met at 6.30 on the pitch Nathan looked around at the other cars and saw each of them were marked above the back driver’s side wheel with the corresponding player’s number.

He rolled his eyes to the sky and climbed out. The door to his battered Honda opened with a groan. His red paint job was fading and the Chinese delivery sticker for his weekend job had partially peeled off the back window making the sign read “O_ean _alace Delivery Serv_ce” But none of this bothered Nathan.

He unlocked the boot, twiddling the key a few times before managing to open it through the rusted lock then lifted it and secured it with a makeshift rod. In the boot his spare tyre was flat, the wheel-jack was rusted and coated with grease and two bottles of vodka, one half empty the other near full, rolled around loose. He brushed them aside and fumbled for the small opening in the boot carpet then yanked it up to see the dip where the spare should be fastened. Instead in that cubby hole was a navy blue knapsack. Nathan checked in both directions before he pulled it out and swung it over his shoulder. He slammed the boot shut and locked it then walked towards the main entrance of the school.

Before he could reach the door he heard the all too familiar sound of Brian’s dirt bike screaming across the field, kicking up grass and dirt and he braked hard before pulling the front wheel up into a quick wheelie and landing with a skid across the tarmac. Nathan could see his smiling face even behind the helmet he wore. It was painted black with two red eyes in the back looking at whoever was following him. He always hated riding shotgun on the bike when Brian wore that helmet.

With a final rev of his bike engine Brian skidded to a stop creating a cloud of dust and stones. He turned off the engine and pulled his helmet over his head. With a salute to Nathan who was waiting at the door he secured the bike and helmet to the railing with a thick chain then hurried over to join him.

“Awww you waited!”
“Didn’t want you walking to your locker on your own. Thought you might get lost.”

Brian reached the door first and held it open with a small bow then pushed his friend through with a shove in the middle of his back.

“Did you get them?” he asked nodding towards the knapsack that hung heavy on Nathan’s shoulders.
“Yes I got em.” Nathan looked over his friend and noticed he was without any bags. “I see you arrived empty handed.”

“Oh mon dieu, mon ami,” Brian spoke with flourish waving his hands about as if addressing a crowd rather than his best friend since kindergarten in an empty school hallway. “I gots what I was supposed to gets.”
“Then where the fúck is it?”
“Does thou doubteth me?” He feigned being stabbed in the heart complete with twisting knife motion. “I have been here since five. I put all the stuff up in the room and got it all ready awaiting your anticipated arrival!”
“You left it up there unattended?” Nathan said and he turned and thumped his friends shoulder as he spoke. “What if someone sees it?”
“Relax will ya. Gary is already here too. He’s up there now sorting out the map.” Brian grabbed Nathan’s arm to slow him down. “Jesus Nate, relax! You’d think we were planning to blow up the school!”

Nathan’s eyes opened wide with shock and he looked over his shoulder to check that the hallway was empty. “For fúck sake Brian why don’t you take an ad out in the school paper, or announce it over the PA during assembly!”

“Calm the fúck down. This is it Nate!” Brian was visibly excited, barely able to stand still he jumped on the spot and spoke with animated hands. “This is the day we’ve been waiting for, for the last three years…so just sit back and fúcking enjoy it.”

“So if you’ve been here since five and you set all the stuff up in the room where the hell were you just now?”
“Really? That’s what you are asking me?” Brian laughed. “I was over at the swimming pool in clondalkin. Girls swim team has practice from six to seven. Jeez Nate, I thought you knew me by now. Never miss a golden opportunity like that. If you are gonna force me to be here so early then I was gonna make It worth my while. Didn’t wanna waste a perfectly good morning glory ya know!”

“Charming as ever.” They rounded the corner at the end of the hall and raced up the stairs to the upper level where the seniors took most of their classes. Anxious now to get things underway Nathan quickened his pace and Brian floated along beside him seemingly unperturbed by the commencement of their plan. But then why would he, Nathan wondered, when he only knew the first half.

The classroom they picked was homeroom to one class of seniors that had Student council meeting every Friday morning so they knew it would be empty until 11am. And by then their plan would have been executed so it wouldn’t matter who found them in there afterwards. As they walked along Brian insisted on giving him a blow by blow account of what happened in the girl’s locker room complete with hand gestures and specific body movements and in no time they were both laughing. They turned the corner at the end of the corridor and all but ran into a couple kissing.

“Whoa!” Brian called out, putting a hand on Nathan's chest to stop him from moving forward, and noting that the guys hand was inching further up the girl’s short skirt. He had her knee hooked over his hip and he was grinding her into the lockers they were leaning against. “Get a room!” he hollered. The couple stopped kissing and turned to see Brian waving with a leer then grabbing his crotch. “Thanks for that guys, that’ll help with tonight.”

“Fúck you Smith!” The guy dropped the girl’s leg and took a step towards them.
“Sean no!”
“Shut up Alison.” Sean brushed her hands aside and started to move towards

Nathan and Brian who was backing away but Brian’s laughter only served to enrage Sean further. “What the fúck are you looking at dipsh1t!?”

“Nothing, nothing, we didn’t see anything.” Nate held his hands up and tried to wave Sean off but Sean’s focus was on Brian’s face, still curved in mirth. “Brian, let’s go.”
“Fúcking right, you didn’t see anything. If Janice finds out about this I’ll fúcking get you Smith!”
“You’re not my type Sean; I don’t go for rugby players…big muscles, small dicks!”

Sean lunged for him with a feral yell but Nathan stepped in between them. He wasn’t on any sports teams at the school and generally kept to himself but he was tall at 6’2 and well built so it was easy for him to pull Sean up from his stampede.

“Just. Leave. It.” He said slamming Sean into the locker hard enough to knock the wind out of him. The look in Nathan’s eyes seemed to halt Sean’s attack so instead he pushed himself away from the row of lockers and rejoined Alison. With one look over his shoulder at the two guys retreating Sean pulled Alison closer to him and picked up where he left off, banging her into the locker hard enough to make her groan.

“Oh man, did you see those two?” Brian laughed as they took an alternate route to their destination. “Going at it, in the corridor.”
“Jesus Christ Brian,” Nate turned and thumped him in the shoulder. “You’ll fúcking ruin everything is you don’t cop the fúck on!”
“What!” he argued seeing only the funny side. “Don’t tell me you never thought about having Alison Murphy against the lockers at school. I know I sure as fúck have.”
“Just keep it in your fúcking pants today, huh?”

Finally they reached the room. Brian burst in first and raced over to Gary who was lying across four seats trying to get some sleep, to tell him what they had just seen in the corridor. From the second floor classroom they could see the entrance to the school clearly. The car park was still near empty and glancing at his watch Nate knew it would be at least an hour before the teachers started to arrive and another hour after that before the bulk of students would arrive. Teams would be practicing on their various fields and courts but would be centered in and around the gym and outfields behind the school. Some students would arrive early for studies but not enough to warrant panic.

Every Friday for the last month Nate had been sitting in this very classroom scoping out the routine of early arrivals so he wasn’t surprised when he spotted her cycling in through the wide open gates. Today she wore a short summer dress that had no right being worn this side of summer. She had a long stripped colourful scarf wound around her neck and a woolen pair of gloves but her long auburn hair hung loose about her face, whipped back with the wind.

Nate watched as she tied her bike to the rack next to Brian’s then took her bag from the handlebars and swung it over her shoulder. Even before she made it into the relative heat of the school she was peeling off her gloves and shoving them into her bag.

“Get a good look there?”
Nate turned to see Gary and Brian leering out the window.
“What I wouldn’t do to slam Casey against a locker…fúcking hell I bet she’s a dirty lay!” Gary said as he elbowed Brian in the ribs.
“There isn’t a thing in the world that you could do to get her to let you slam her against a locker.” Brian laughed.
“Fúck you I could have her.”
“Really? Then go ask her? She’s in the library right now I bet. All alone and waiting for you.”
“Fúck you I could.” Gary’s face turned red the blood rising from the accusation.
“Go on then! Give us all a laugh.”
“Guys, please. Let’s get started.”

Nate lowered his bag from his shoulder and carried it over to the larger teachers table. He unzipped it and lifted the bottom to empty the contents in one swift motion. Out fell three hand guns, one sawn off shot gun, a couple of boxes of ammo for each and one seven inch hunting knife.

***
A/N: Havent had a chance for a second proof read of this…hope its ok >_<