Speaker 1: When the Night Comes Out presents the Hive Part eighteen.
Exactly how many stepped into the gym, Mike did not know,
but it seemed as if everyone still alive in the
admin building was determined to end this. They wanted some
kind of vengeance against these things that had killed or
taken their coworkers and friends. Mike wondered how many families
had been destroyed as parents and siblings were eaten or
turned into these hideous things. They did their best to
cover their mouths and noses with their shirts or handkerchiefs
or whatever anyone could find, but there was nothing to
stop the stench. It was a mixture of rot and
burned flot Mike nearly threw up the moment the door
swung open, but he choked it down and walked inside.
Dalton seemed completely nonplussed about any of it. Mike wondered
just how many wrecked buildings and burned bodies he had
seen Before King began ordering the others around, pointing to
places where these creatures were moving and struggling to keep going.
He was able to instantly see a situation and spot
things that it took Mike minutes to see. Mike looked
down at the bodies at his feet, and he nearly
threw up again. The faces of these creatures were all melted,
and he could see the teeth, but the eyes were gone,
the feature sliding down the skull. Mike felt like a monster,
although he knew that these things at his feet were
the real monster. All of those war movies where it
was so easy to show what an atrocity looked like
by having the enemies walk through the wounded soldiers and
shooting them dead. Thankfully, the bodies at his were almost unrecognizable,
and so it did not feel like he was shooting
his friends and colleagues. He aimed his pistol and fired
into the heads as he went. Then he stopped and
reloaded his pistol and fired again and again. At some point,
Mike felt something wet running down his face, and he
realized he was crying. He wiped away the tears and
kept firing. The smell made him want a wretch, and
whatever small bits of food were still in his stomach
nearly ejected rather violently. There was work to do. He
had to do it. Throughout his life, he had been
the type who could put away his thoughts and emotions
and do the work ahead of him. This had been
a particularly horribler day. There were so many people he
had known just yesterday who were now dead or were
about to be dead. There were more people people who
turned to him as a kind of leader, who were
fighting for their lives. One step at a time, he whispered,
One shot at a time, He kept firing, moving from
body to body. Alvin and at least twenty others climbed
the ladder into the ceiling. Once they got up there,
it was obvious the creatures had just ripped apart the
roof and dropped down. The ceiling had been nothing for
them to smash through. Alvin popped his head up through
the hole in the roof and then boosted himself all
the way up. As soon as he was up there,
he saw six of the creatures coming straight for him.
Without hesitation. He lifted his rifle and fired six bullets.
He had no time to really aim properly, but he
knocked them all down behind him. The others climbed out,
shoot them all in the head, then spread out all
around the roof stop them from even getting up here.
They made quick work of the ones on the roof,
but they could also hear the creatures all around the building.
Alvin finished off another one off the ground and then
jogged to the edge of the roof. His nose was
agony and he had to breathe through his mouth. There
were gunshots from the front of the building. They were
steady and regular. Good. He thought, they're taking their time
and firing to kill. No one is panicking. He raised
his rifle and looked down at the wall. They were
all over the building like ants at a picnic. Jesus Christ,
he said, they're all over the building. Knock them down.
Alvin began shooting. The sound of gunfire from the school
was regular. It was steady, but it was not frantic.
Reg had to admit he was impressed that the people
inside the building had been trained. However, there were so
many more of the creatures than he had thought were
in here. They were hurling themselves at the building, and
they were stacked. To his relief, they were all finally
close enough that their weapons could add to the fire.
Hopefully none of his own men would be shot. No
time to worry. Reg reached down and grabbed one of
the small canisters that Dalton King had somehow managed to
turn into a grenade. He pulled the makeshift pin King
had also manufactured out of spare parts from the medical ward.
He hoped none of them would go off in his hand,
but he threw it right at the stack of creatures
climbing over each other to get into the roof. The
bomb went off and there was a loud explosion, fire,
and soon the pile of creatures all fallen, and most
of them were on fire and headed right back toward
Reg and his men. Look out, guys, Reg called. Four
of his men, turned their flamethrowers on and created a
wall of fire that further engulfed the creatures as they
ran toward them. This consumed them fast. They stepped through
the wall to fall down face first onto the ground. Lewis,
to your right, Red yelled, It was too late. The
man was grabbed in the fiery embrace of the flaming demon.
Lewis let out a high pitched scream as the flames
engulfed him, but the creature also kept its mission in view.
The teeth sank into Lewis's shoulder. As the fire reached
the flame thrower, they both exploded in a ball of
flame and shrapnel. Reg felt something slice through his left
shoulder and he spun around, crying out instinctively. He came
back around, trying his best to shrug off the pain.
He was more upset over the fact Lewis had bought it.
He was losing far too many men and this was
making him mad. Reg gritted his teeth and didn't even
realize he was making a guttural growling noise, and that
the sound was escalating As he moved forward. The flames
erupted from his flamethrower, and he walked steadily, robotically toward
the horde of these creatures. Bullets zipped by him from
those on the roof, trying to shoot at the creatures.
He paid at no mind. He was not going down
to friendly fire, he told himself. He was going to
take down these things that had taken so many of
his friends. Jen staggered into the area by the gym.
So many from within the office were still there, but
it didn't take long for her to sum up the situation.
Most of the people had waded into the horrid stench
and the cluster of burned bodies she could easily see
spilling out of the gym doors. Jen she turned around
and saw Louise, another of the executive assistants, running over
to her. It was weird to see her in the jumpsuit,
in the baseball cap with the gun strapped to her hip. Hey, Louise,
Jen said, but found it was hard to talk very loud.
It was hard to breathe really, the pain in her
chest was a lot to handle. You look terrible. I've
been put in charge of creating a kind of field
hospital back of for that way, She pointed in a
generic sort of way over her shoulder. I think you
need to come over and sit down. Where's Mike? Jen asked,
But the more she talked, the harder it became to
do so. I need to tell him there might be
more in the ceilings. I found one in the abandoned office.
What did you say, Jen? Are you okay? Louise stepped
forward and put a hand on her shoulder. I said
there might be some in the She got that far
before she felt lightheaded and fainted dead away. Louise caught her,
but Jen's wade was a bit too much. Help help me,
hear Jenny's help. Mike finally looked up and saw that
he had made it most of the way across the gym.
There were at least twenty to thirty others still walking
through the bodies. At this point he had fired so
many guns and had so many fired near him, he
barely heard the sporadic gunfire. Dulton, we have to to
Hive City, he said. Dalton did not seem to hear him.
Mike watched the man work and could not help but
feel a bit of a chill down his spine. This
was the man who had murdered thousands on the surface,
but now given full permission to just keep killing. For
a moment, it appeared that the man had a slight
smile on his face. Dalton, Mike cried. King snapped his
head up and looked around as if coming out of
a stupor. He finally found Mike and raised a hand
in greeting, as if they were old buddies just meeting
up for lunch. We have to get to Hive City,
he repeated. Dalton nodded and jogged over. Mike turned and
began to head back the way he had come, stepping
over the bodies at his feet. He saw others also
stop their tasks and start to follow them. We can't
all go Mike cried out, some of you have to
stay here and finish these creatures off. Once they're all done,
then you can come. Several people stopped and turned back
to the task at hand, but no one wanted to
stay here when their homes were in jeopardy. Mike was
worried about what was happening behind the gate. He hadn't
had an update on the speaker in a while. No
one had come over the radio asking for help. They
were either too busy, or they were all dead or
turned into one of these things. The thought of having
to burn or shoot reg was a lot for Mike
to deal with right now. As they neared the door,
a woman came up to Mike, her face filled with concern.
Mike could not recall her name. Mike Jen was attacked
by one of the things in an old, unused office.
She said she has broken ribs and having trouble breathing.
Mike cursed under his breath, I have to head to
Hive City. Do we have enough medical staff to help her?
The woman nodded, her face full of fear and concern, Yes,
just go save the city. Mike gave her a wink
and then started moving again. Get to the there are
two of the faster carts charging out there. I'm taking one.
They'll make it there first. With those orders, dozens of
the workers ran for the doors and for the carts
charging beside the building. The silence from the radio was
making my nearly panic and he had to calm down.
How much longer could he handle this? Alvin saw the
pile of climbing creatures burst apart into flames. Fire and
shrapnel flew up onto the roof, and he had to
duck down. He had barely registered that reg and the
other guards had even arrived on the scene. Once the
fire and explosions died down, Alvin got back to his
feet and saw that the huge wall of zombie things
had been blown to pieces, and most of them were
running around on fire. Watch out for the guards. Alvin
cried out, shoot carefully. Just then four of the creatures
leaped onto the roof at the same time. Alvin shifted
focus to fire and took one down. However, the shooter
to his right was quickly grabbed by two of them,
and they ripped her arms right out of her sockets.
She screamed, and one of the creatures shot forward and
ripped her throat out in a gush of red and viscera.
Alvin turned and fired, but he shot high, and he
shot wide. He took down the one who had her
throat ripped out, sparing her the rest of the terror
that was to befall her. Now there were more of
the creatures swarming up over the top onto the roof.
Shoot goddamn it, Alvin shouted, we have to stop them,
for fuck's sake. The gunfire drowned out the rest of
what he was saying, and he began firing too. He
was shocked when he felt the iron grip of a
creature's hand on his left shoulder. Fuck, he cried out.
Reg saw that the creatures were swarming the building all
the round, along all of the walls. There were feigned
creatures scrabbling up the side of the school on the roof.
The defenders were firing and shooting, but there were far
too many of them. Get to the roof, he shouted,
concentrate the fire, get up there. Reg got down on
one knee, ignoring the fact. Another bullet fired from the slits,
and the barrier at the front of the school zipped
right past his ear. He balanced his gun aimed and
took out the creature that had grabbed Alvin. One shot
right through the head. The ground shook. One of the
men had gone around the side of the building and
set off another fire bomb. The creatures began their screaming
and shrieking. Several of them, completely engulfed, ran around the
side of the school building, running blindly. Reg ignored them
and continued to fire at the ones he could see
on the roof. How many of these things had gotten
through the gate. Rege had been so sure they had
taken most of them down on the other side of
the gate. Now it seemed like there were hundreds of
them in Hive City. He was so focused on the
school he barely noticed the creature running up to his left.
He saw the shape running toward him the instant before
it leapt into the air. Reg had just enough time
to turn the gun on it and fire without aiming.
The shot took the ghoul and the guts, and it
fell out of the sky, landing right next to Regge's
left leg. It began twitching and vibrating, still trying to
get him. Reg stood and fired one shot into the head,
and the creature stood still. It was one of the teachers.
He recognized him instantly. They had been neighbors, and his
name had been simply Bob, nice guy. Reg wiped his
forehead and felt the weight of things for the first
time in a while. He was good at pushing those
emotions away, burying them deep within his mind, locking that
part of his brain off. Damn it, he whispered. Just
then he heard a noise. For a moment, he was
sure the demonic creatures had found some new way of attack,
and he raised his rifle through the scope. He saw
it was Mike and Dalton and most of the people
from the Admin building, all of them coming in golf carts.
Reg had to laugh. No cavalry here with horses and
swords brandished like in the old movies. Nope, here in
Hive City. The reinforcements came on golf carts all right,
Reg cried out and raised his rifle up over his head.
About time. No time to mourn that would come later.
Time to get back to business. Mike clenched his teeth.
Dalton drove beside him. These were things just a few
days ago he would never have thought could or would
happen here. They were now a team trying to get
to the school and stop these things together. The world
was weird, weirder than they could even imagine. Almost there,
Mike Dalton said, is that reg looks like he and
his guys almost have them. And look at the people
on the roof. I must say, Mike, the people here
really do come to help out when the need arises,
and they appeared to be crack shots were buried underground
with a prison filled with some of the most dangerous
people in the world. Everyone here, down to the kids,
knows how to fight if they have to, and all
of them know how to shoot. I shall keep that
in mind. Dalton pointed. We have to find the right spot, Mike,
and we have to make sure those inside don't accidentally
shoot us. Mike nodded it was a fair point. For
the first time in a while. He triggered the mic
on his shoulder. We have people coming from the admin
building and more guards. If you were inside the school,
please be careful about what you were shooting at. Just then,
a bullet flew past Mike's left ear and ricocheted off
the ground, just passed where the car was. Christ Dalton cried,
did you want to live forever? Mike chided, I had
hoped to be honest. Just find a place to get
off his goddamn cart and take these fuckers down. Mike said,
ready to jump out right now if need be. He
had never had such an itch to get into a
fight than he had right now. Alvin knew he was
running short on AMMO. The gun felt lighter, but the
damn creatures kept climbing over the edge of the roof.
How many of them had they killed? Dozens of their
bodies littered the top of the school, and he could
see more bodies lying on the ground below where they
were making their final stand. He saw the golf carts
and the souped up version at the front. The cavalry
was coming, but could they hold out? He knew if
he was also out of ammo, then the rest of
them were likely running out too. Keep fighting, get him
in the head. Alvin had no idea who he was
even shouting to anymore. For all he knew, he was
the only one who was still alive or still human.
He aimed and fired one more time. This time the
rifle just clicked. He was out. He swung the gun around,
grabbing it by the barrel, which was hot and burned
his hands immediately and took a huge swing at the
nearest ghoul. The gun butt slammed into the creature's head,
which erupted into pieces and the body fell. Really wish
I'd grabbed a knife, he muttered to himself and turned
to swing the gun at another of the creatures. Soon
they were all around him. Dalton brought the cart to
a stop and jumped out without a second thought. Mike
was right after him, and he immediately began firing the flamethrower,
setting the creatures on fire behind them. The army of
golf carts, like something out of a movie made for
elderly people in Florida, all came to a stop, and
the residents of Hive City poured out, screaming, yelling, and
determined to attack. Immediately, Mike saw where Dalton could really shine.
The man stepped up and began to directing everyone where
to go. The man had an innate sense of command, strategy,
and determination. In minutes, they had the entire school surrounded
and the gunfire from within and without began to take
the creatures down while Mike and Dalton kept them near
the school with the flamethrowers. Mike lost track of the
people on the roof, but the last thing he saw
was the principal, Alvin, swinging his rifle around. People would
be running out of ammo inside the school as well
as on top. They had to get this done fast.
We've got to get people on the roof. Mike called
out to Dalton. They're running out of ammunition. Dalton gave
a cursory nod and continued to push forward as the
creatures retreated from the flames, but had nowhere to go.
We've got them, Dalton cried out in victory. Keep going,
keep going, don't let any of them passed you. Reg
and his men were nearly at the front of the school.
His flamethrower was empty by this point, and he had
already thrown most of the grenades. His bullets were running low, too,
but he kept firing. They were so close. He gritted
his teeth and kept moving forward, one step at a time,
firing firing, taking down one ghoul with each shot. Behind him,
the rest of his men came up and set fire
to the bodies, turning them to ash up. Ahead was Mike,
and he wanted to reach the rest of the team.
They had a net around the building now, but reg
could also see that the people on the rooftop were struggling.
There were so many of these creatures up there now,
and from what he could see, they were out of AMMO.
If they were taken down, then there was nothing to
stop them from dropping into the school. By the time Redge, Mike,
and the rest of them got to the school, everyone
inside could be dead or turned into one of these things.
Rege began to run. His men also started to move faster.
To his right, he shot down one and then picked
off another to his left. He felt another bullet hit
the ground near him, but he kept running. Just as
he was about to shoot another of the ghouls, they
fell to the ground, their head blown apart from a
shot from within the school. We've got them, Reg called triumphantly,
We're almost there. Alvin lost himself in the battle. He
kept swinging the gun. Eventually the butt of the rifle
broke off and he ended up with the jagged parts
of the weapon in each hand. To successfully get them,
he had to get close, and the teeth got close
to biting his arm, but he just kept stabbing and stabbing. Eventually,
everyone who had not yet been killed or turned formed
into a bit of a circle, most of them back
to back. No one had bullets left, so all of
them were swinging the guns like clubs. At least one
woman had a knife and she was stabbing like crazy,
all of them going for shots. The world went away.
There was only the creature in front of him. To
the right and the left. There were just the objects
he had in his hands to try and destroy them.
His mind became laser focused on just not being bit,
not being grabbed, not being dragged away and either torn
to pieces or turned. Alvin felt like his arms were
going to fall off. His hands were covered in blood
and his fingers hurt. The longer it went on, the
harder it was to keep the weapons he had in
his hands. He knew he was ready for a collapse
from the wounds he had gotten earlier to the fact
this was more stress than he had put on his
body in years. He pulled his arm back and thrust
forward again, driving the metal spike into the creature's eye socket.
The ghoul collapsed and he felt the spike slide out
of his hand. Alvin swung his other arm around, ready
to fight, and he nearly drove the spike right into
Mike Kenninger's face. Whoa, whoa, Mike called, both hands up
in front of him. What. Alvin stammered out of breath,
his legs shaking. Mike. You did it, Mike said, Alvin,
you did it. You held them off. Alvin was still
not registering what he was being told. He looked around.
All of the people he had been back to back
with were still there. All around them were piles and
piles of the creature bodies. Everyone was covered in blood
and whatever bodily fluids had flowed from the creatures around them.
Redge was also here, as well as others and guard uniforms.
They were sporadically firing into some of the bodies around,
but most of the shooting had stopped. We did it,
Alvin asked. Mike smiled, Yeah, I think we did. I
think we got them. Alvin smiled. Then he fainted dead
away