Grenades launched from both sides exploded randomly in the ranks. Those superzombies that weren't firing grenades charged the defenses at full speed. When the wall of zombies was thirty yards from the NW perimeter trenches the troops triggered the Claymore antipersonnel mines that ran the length of the perimeter. The deadly devices shredded the first three rows of zombies as thousands of razor sharp pieces of shrapnel the size of a tiny pebble were released from each Claymore. But those behind them pressed foreword, oblivious to anything but the live flesh ahead.

Another Apache gunship exploded from missile fire, this time directly over the battlefield, raining flaming debris for one hundred yards in every direction.

The men in the trenches began fleeing for their lives when the wall of zombies was twenty yards away. The charging superzombies cut many of them down with a bullet to the back or the legs. The fallen soldiers tried crawling to safety but the lead zombies in the advancing ranks fell upon them, tearing large chunks of flesh with their teeth. Their screams were smothered by a wave of zombies.

Flamethrower wielding soldiers stepped from behind the tanks now that the zombies were in range, spraying liquid fire along the length of the zombie line. As they burst into flame the ones behind them instantly fell back, afraid of the fire. But there were simply too many zombies to stop them all and with a final surge the NW perimeter line broke and the sea of zombies flooded in.

The tanks were moving now, crushing zombies like fruit beneath their tracks. Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand and Soldiers piled on top of tanks and into the vehicles to escape being eaten alive. The transport trucks were moving south, trying to retreat to a secondary rally point at the northern edge of the refugee camp.

Once the superzombies were in the melee they split into pairs and concentrated on the vehicles. One pair blasted the men from the back of the Abrams and clambered up themselves. Soldiers nearby fired their M-16's at them but the Superzombie's paid them no attention. One superzombie poked his rifle into the tanks view port and let fly the bullets. Trapped within, the crew popped the hatch to escape the gunfire. The second superzombie was waiting for them, and blasted the first one to emerge in the head before leaning over the open hatch and letting rip a burst from its M-16. Ignoring the bullets that continued to pepper them the two superzombies climbed down the hatch of the tank and took control. The tank turned and fired near pointblank range at another tank twenty yards away, blowing the top half into flaming wreckage. Two more Abrams were quickly commandeered this way. An Apache unleashing a pair of missiles as it cruised by destroyed one of the Zombie driven tanks. Another of the Z-tanks was targeting fleeing transport trucks full of troops. Mutilated body parts were flung in every direction as the trucks exploded.

Anarchy reigned.

The refugee area was complete chaos. Mass hysteria had overtaken them once they realized the hospital was under attack. One third of them took up arms and ran to join the perimeter defenses. Another third made a mad scramble for the hospital, some in their vehicles, but most on foot. And the final third stood about, numbed with terror like cows waiting for slaughter. And a slaughter was what it turned out to be as the tattered remnants of the Western Perimeter militia came fleeing in from the north followed by the army of zombies led by three Z-tanks and over a dozen superzombies. Reinforcements from the main perimeter were dispatched out to reform the crumbled NW perimeter. They met the army of the dead at the northern edge of the refugee camp where the zombies were already feasting on those poor souls not fortunate enough to escape.

So the battle raged.

The perimeter of Fort Douglas was also under attack. Hundreds of zombies had swept out of the commercial area below the base as well as the suburbs between the hospital and the base. The men in the trenches along that stretch of road fled, where they ran into the wave sweeping in from the commercial district and were eaten alive, or they stayed in the trenches and fought while the army of zombies overwhelmed them and they were eaten alive. But the defenses of the main base held solid, and the tanks and artillery and flamethrowers kept the zombies one hundred yards distant...

Chapter 14.

Saturday June 23 2001 Fort Douglas Salt Lake City, UT 2:10 PM.

David used the barrel of his rifle to push the blinds aside and peer out the window once again. The base was quiet now, almost empty; a few soldiers here and there...A Humvee speeding by now and then...nothing more. But the sounds of battle were not too distant and an oily slick ball of anxiety was swirling in his stomach. He looked back at his mother. She on a cot with her eyes closed. The sound of machinegun fire close by snapped David's attention back to the window. The street was clear. A Humvee suddenly streaked by, heading for the south end of the base...More machinegun fire...Seconds later the explosion of a grenade no more than a few hundred feet away! A few moments later several soldiers went running in the same direction as the Humvee, shouting incoherently at one another.

He left the window.

"Mom! Get up!" he said. "Mom! Get up!"

"What?" she asked as she slowly sat up on the bed.

"Get up. Something's happening." David opened the barracks door and peered into the hall. The guard was not behind his desk. But someone was approaching from the far end of the barracks; a short, stout woman with long black hair, wearing Levis, a red blouse and sneakers with an M-16 cradled in her arms. He recognized her as Jennifer Black, Rick's wife. He and his sister had met her as well as Rick's two young daughters, Jennifer's sister Samantha and her infant son last night at dinner and again this morning at breakfast. David hurried down the hall to meet her in front of the main entrance.

"What's going on?" he asked her. He tried not to sound afraid.

"The university and base are under attack." she said.

More gunfire sounded from nearby.

"That's just outside!" David exclaimed. "I think they might have entered the base!"

"How could they get in without being spotted?" she said.

"I've got to get to my mom." he turned to leave then stopped. "Is it all right if I bring my mom over there with you?"

"That's why I was coming over. I think it's best we all stick together." They hurried back to his barracks room. His mother sat at the edge of the cot.

"Get up mom." David said. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and stood his mother up. Another grenade explosion made with windows rattle in the panes. It was closer than the last.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"I'm taking you over to Mrs. Black's quarters," he said. "It's much safer there." Jennifer took his mothers arm and was leading her out of the room.

"Why is that alarm going off?" Sharon asked. "I hear gunfire." she sounded as if she just now became aware of it.

"Some zombies are attacking the base." Jennifer said. "But the soldiers will protect us." As they passed the main entrance David could see more soldiers heading towards the south end of the base.

"But we can't leave." Sharon said, feebly trying to resist. "We have to wait for Susan and Matt."

"We're not leaving." Jennifer said, keeping hold of Sharon's arm and leading her down the hall. "We're just moving you to a safer area."

They reached the door to her barracks room and her sister Samantha opened it for them. A cute, waifish girl his sisters age with the same dark hair as Jennifer only cropped shorter. They hurried in and Jennifer closed the door behind them. Two young toddlers dressed in child-sized fatigues sat at a table, bowls of soup in front of them. Mary was a curly haired, blue eyed three year old barely out of diapers and Tiffany, a chubby, round-faced doll half her sisters age and still in them.

"Did they tell you what time they were coming back?" Jennifer asked David.

"No." he said. He and his sister hadn't really been on speaking terms when they had left. "Matt told me some army guys were going with them. I bet they have a radio."

"Jenkins is with them." Jennifer said. David had met him only briefly, but that was all it took for him to realize the guy was an asshole. "But we have no way of contacting them. But I'm sure the base would recall him. He's a platoon sergeant."

Another grenade exploded somewhere outside. The noise wakened Samantha's six-month-old baby boy who had been sleeping peacefully in a small bassinet one corner. His small screams quickly attracting his mother's attention.

"I'm going to see what is going on outside." Jennifer said.

"I'm going with you." David said."

"Samantha, lock the door behind us." Jennifer said. "Don't open it until we get back. And keep your gun with you." Samantha nodded and picked up her own M-16.

Jennifer opened the door and peered down. Empty.

"Come on." she said to David and they sprinted down the hall.

Gunfire roared just outside as they reached the open door. David peered out just in time to see a retreating soldier crumple to the ground as bullets raked his back.

"Get down!" Jennifer hissed, pulling him out of the doorway and to the ground against the wall. "Silent." she said into his ear. David tried not to breathe lest it give away their position. He heard the heavy booted footsteps just before he saw the shadow of someone or something pass the wide-open barracks door.

This is it! You're dead! You are fucking dead!

He tightened his grip on his rifle, preparing to fire the second anything stepped through the door. But whomever it was passed by and the sound of footsteps faded. Jennifer held them down another full minute before nodding for them to rise.

David took a quick peek out the door, glancing all around. The soldier's body was lying in the road a few yards to the left, clear streets ahead and to the right. With the coast clear they both stepped out onto the sidewalk. More dead bodies were scattered behind the first in a ragged line stretching perhaps fifty feet. Screams, less than one hundred feet away echoed through the rows of barracks followed by the chatter of several M-16's...Another grenade explosion.

"There are some of those superzombies loose in the base." David said. "There's no other explanation."

"But how did they get in?" Jennifer asked. "Every inch of perimeter on this base is covered."

"Obviously not." David said.

Superzombies in the base! Where the hell are Matt and my sister?

"We have to find a way of contacting the others."

"I told you Jenkins is a platoon Sergeant. I'm sure they have radioed him back by now." Jennifer wished she felt as confident as she sounded.

"I have to go get Zack from the hospital." David said.

"What are you talking about?" Jennifer asked.

"As soon as they get back we are going to get the hell out of here. If the base really is getting overrun with zombies we won't have another chance to get him out of there."

"Are you crazy? What if we run into one of those things? Bullets can't stop it!" she was aghast at the prospect of running into a superzombie. "And your friend is hurt. How are you going to move him?"

"Zack can walk if he has to. If he's too weak I'll get him a wheel chair. But I'm going to get him out of that hospital." The look in her eye told him she was not leaving the barracks. And he couldn't blame her. She had family here to protect. And so did he. But Zack had taken those bullets trying to save David and his family. Another pang of loss stabbed at his heart as he thought of his father. No, he could not leave Zack there.

"If they show up while I'm gone tell them where I went. And watch out for my mom."

"Be careful." Jennifer said, squeezing his hand.

"You too." he said. He cast another quick look around before bolting west, across the street and down the sidewalk towards the hospital. He made the two blocks to the hospital in record time seeing no one the entire way. The battle sounded fierce as ever from the perimeter with the tank blasts coming every couple seconds now. Behind him he could still hear gunfire and the occasional grenade explosion as soldiers encountered the superzombies.

As he ran up to the main entrance of the hospital he saw four dead soldiers lying out front. The brick wall behind them was scarred from gunfire, and the main glass doors were shattered. He glanced down at the soldiers as he passed between them. Their bodies were riddled with bullet holes and fresh blood was splattered about in pools everywhere. But not a single one of them had been shot in the head, which meant these soldiers would be rising as zombies very soon. David took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he had to do, and very quickly put a bullet through each corpses brain. The main lobby was a mess. Another half dozen dead soldiers were strewn about as well as several white clad nurses and other hospital staff. All appeared to have been killed by gunfire. Papers were scattered across the lobby, and bullet holes pockmarked the main desk. He caught movement behind the desk and he watched silently as the snooty ass receptionist from earlier pulled herself to her feet. Only now she was one of the walking dead. Bullet holes dotted her body and her once white uniform was now covered with still wet blood. David put a bullet through her skull. Other corpses in the lobby began stirring to life. David ran across the lobby to the main elevators as two of the zombies, a soldier and a nurse, climbed to their feet.

Early risers.

David pushed the button to go up and turned to face the approaching zombies. He took aim and blasted the nurse, catching her in the throat. She was blown off her feet from the impact but instantly began climbing back to her feet. He mentally cursed himself for his bad aim and targeted the soldier. This time his aim was true and the zombie collapsed to the floor. More of the zombies were climbing to their feet now. David turned to the button and pushed it several times.

"Come on! Come on!" he shouted at the elevator doors. Three more zombies stepped out of a hallway from across the lobby... Hospital workers. But they were too far away for him to worry about right now. He turned his attention back to those near the main entrance. Over ten zombies now stood on their feet, including the nurse he had already shot. David took aim on her once again, hitting her squarely between the eyes this time. Carefully he aimed and dropped another, and another. The elevator gave a loud DING behind him and he heard the doors slide open. He turned to see a bloody soldier stagger out of the elevator arms extended towards him...David screamed and raised his gun to shoot.

"Wait!" croaked the soldier, falling beside him. "Help me. Please." He raised a bloody hand up to David's face. The zombies were less than thirty feet from him. David grabbed the solider by the arm and dragged him back into the elevator. He quickly pushed the button for the second floor. Just as the doors were closing the nearest zombie reached the elevator, thrusting its arm in between the doors. They rebounded, sliding fully open again. The zombie took a step into the elevator before David shot it point blank range in the face with his M-16. The zombie flew backwards out of the elevator but two more were right behind it. David began pulling the trigger quickly, hitting the zombies in the throat and chest. They were sent stumbling into the ones behind them and the elevator doors closed and the carriage began to rise.

"Don't go up there. Don't go up there!" the wounded soldier gasped weakly. David pushed the stop button and the elevator came to a halt between the first and second floor. "Sit me up." He sounded as if he were choking on his own blood. He was reminded of Zack's ordeal the other night. As David sat him up he felt the soldiers skin was very cool to the touch. His face was pale and his eyes were droopy. He was losing blood very fast. Already a large pool had begun to collect beneath him.

"What happened here?" David asked.

"Some of those things...we tried to stop them...we tried." he broke into a fit of coughing, bloody spittle flying from his lips and his eyes drooped and he began to fade into unconsciousness.

"How many zombies are there?" David asked. "Wake up!" He shook him and the soldier gave a cry of pain and his eyes opened. "How many are there?" He asked again.

"Shooting the patients," the soldier said, not even listening to David. "We tried to stop them. We trie-" he gave a final gasp of pain before his eyes closed and his head slumped to the side.

He was dead.

"Shit!" There were superzombies loose inside shooting the patients. That meant there were going to be zombies all through this hospital. Zack may already be dead but David couldn't leave until he knew for sure. "Shit!" he exclaimed again. He took aim and shot the dead soldier in the head, the M-16 deafening in the confines of the elevator.

Taking another deep breath he knelt down and searched the body, turning up a 9mm automatic pistol and three extra clips. He checked the safety on the automatic and tucked it into his belt and the clips in his back pocket. He continued searching the body and turned up two more clips for the M-16. He quickly reloaded the M-16 with a fresh clip then disengaged the stop button and the elevator began rising toward the second floor...

Chapter 15.

Saturday, June 23, 2001 Fort Douglas Salt Lake City, UT 2:35 PM.

Zack had not been afraid until he heard the first shots fired from inside the hospital. He quickly rang for a nurse, looking at the three other patients who occupied the room with him. All of them had been brought in sometime yesterday while Zack had drifted in and out of consciousness. From what little Zack had picked up in his morphine induced stupor these were soldiers injured in a battle with zombies somewhere on the Northwestern perimeter. Maybe even the same battle Matt had been involved. After five minutes a nurse still hadn't come. Biting back the pain in his side and the itching need to cough Zack slowly climbed out of his bed. The tile floor was cold against his bare feet and a soft breeze wafted through his open backed gown causing him to shiver. The shivers caused fresh pain to burn in his side and he silently curse whatever fool had taken his clothes. Zack peered out the window, which gave a view of the main road sloping down the hill towards the base entrance. He could see several soldiers running east up the hill, rifles at ready. The sounds of the battle at the perimeter were loud as ever with tank cannon blasting every few seconds and the popping of gunfire a continuous background noise.

"What's going on?" The man in the bed beside Zack's was awake. One of his legs was up in a sling, both his arms and face bandaged. And he was in better condition than the other two soldiers in the room. Both of them were on breathing machines and had a dozen tubes and wires running into them. The heart monitors attached to each one beeped in a steady rhythm.

"I don't know." Zack said. "I rang for the nurse. She should be along any time now."

"I can hear tanks firing." The man said, trying to raise his head.

"They're shooting zombies outside the perimeter."

Why am I talking to this guy? I have no idea what the hell is going on!

More gunfire sounded from somewhere inside the hospital, definitely on his floor. He could hear screaming from somewhere beyond his closed door. Gunfire in the hospital could mean only one thing. There were zombies loose inside. Zack pinched the crimper in his IV line and pulled the tube from the IV in his hand. It had been several minutes now and the nurse still hadn't come along. He considered pulling the IV from his vein as well but he had no way to stop the bleeding.

"What the hell is going on?" the man in the bed asked, his voice as frightened as it was angry.

"I don't know." Zack said, trying to stay calm. There was no point screaming at that poor bastard.

More gunfire... More screams; these ones definitely closer than the last. He had to get the hell out of this hospital and find the others. And he very well couldn't do it in this gown. There was a closet at the foot of his bed, and inside he was surprised to find his Levis, shoes and socks. His shirt had been cut off him in the nightmare surgery center in the parking lot. Zack cringed at the memory of that ordeal. He sat on one of the chairs and slowly pulled his pants on.

Damn how his left side ached! It was a deep, hot, pulsing ache that caused his body to hunch to that side. And breathing was a study in concentration. Every ragged breath burned like teargas, and sent a maddening itch straight through his chest and into his throat that made him need to cough constantly. But the doctor had told him to cough as little as possible for the next few days. It would help to give his wounded lung a chance to heal. He remained sitting to put on his socks and shoes.

He heard an explosion somewhere on his wing and felt the tremor in his bones. More gunfire...more screams of fear and pain, these just outside his door. He expected someone to open his door and hurry into his room but who ever was screaming ran past his closed door, their screams fading.

"What the fuck is going on?" the wounded soldiers voice was pure terror now.

"I'm going to go see." Zack said. He silently cursed the fool who had taken his gun. Zack opened his door a crack and peeked out. The nursing station was fifty feet down the hall from his room and between here and there he could see the bodies of three dead nurses, a soldier, and a patient clad in a white gown. Blood was still pooling around their bodies from the many gunshot wounds that laced their bodies. There were several rooms between Zack's and the nursing station and the two at the far end were open. A soldier clad in full combat gear suddenly stepped out from the room on the left, M-16 with grenade launcher held ready to fire. Zack was about to call to him when he suddenly noticed that the soldiers face was skeletal, and its flesh looked like wrinkled old leather where patches of yellowed bone actually were showing through. It could only be one of those superzombies that David had told him about.

Zack held his breath. Never had the urge to cough been so great. He dared not close the door for fear of attracting the attention of the creature. It was open less than two inches. He prayed the creature would not see him that far down the hall. But it didn't even look in his direction. It stopped at the next door it came to and opened it and went in. Zack heard screams of terror from the patients inside. A single three round burst sounded...Seconds later another...Then another. There were no more screams coming from the room. The zombie was methodically going from room to room executing the patients. Zack was speechless. The superzombie walked out of the room and opened the door right across the hall. Gunfire erupted from within the room and Zack saw several bullets chew into the zombie's combat armor. He even saw at least two bullets strike it right in the face causing its head to snap back violently. But instead of dropping dead the superzombie calmly took a step back and raised its gun. Bullets continued to pepper it chest and face. The helmet was sent flying from its head. It reached one bony hand down and fired the grenade launcher into the room. There was a loud explosion and smoke and debris came churning out of the room. The zombie waited three seconds before stepped into the room to no return fire. Zack heard it fire three round bursts before it stepped out of the room and began up the hallway to the closed door. It would be to Zack's room in just a few minutes. Zack watched it step into the next room.

It's now or never!

Zack opened his door and stepped out into the hall. Instead of going away from the zombie he moved as quickly as his weak legs would carry him towards the nursing station. If he could only make it to one of the open rooms the zombie had already entered before it stepped back into the hallway he should be safe. The ache in his side was a molten ball of fire now, expanding into his back and stomach, cramping his guts. His knees buckled and he nearly collapsed to the floor.

STAY ON YOUR FEET!.

He kept his balance, halfway to safety. As he passed the corpses on the floor he noticed that none of them had been shot in the head. He heard the zombie open fire in the room. Please let there be four patients in there! Hoping for others to die so that he may live... He felt ashamed as soon as he thought it. His breath was ragged, a great ball of mucous rattling in his throat. He was going to cough!