The growling echoed down the hall making it sound like it was coming from everywhere. People were yelling back and forth trying to determine where the sound was coming from.
“What is that?”, “Shut that guy up!”, “Shut Up!” was starting to overrule the sound of the growling when someone started screaming as if in pain. Somewhere down the hall I heard people screaming in fear and in pain.
The old man pulled me down, “God help me! I’m starving, and I can’t hold on any more. I’m giving up!” and the old man went limp. I knew what was going to happen, the old man passed out from pure exhaustion trying to withstand his hunger. I was afraid that he would come after me, so I backed to the furthest corner away from him. I could hear Mike and Trav moving around in the cell bumping into each other.
“Hey Buddy, what’d that old man say? Sounded like he said he was starving, and he was giving up…what’d he mean by that?” one of them said.
“It means you may want to keep your distance from him. He’s crazed, you hear that guy screaming down the hall? That’s going to be one of us if the old man wakes up” I said calmly trying to keep the old man from stirring.
“What the fuck do you mean….you mean he’s going to bite us?!” the other said.
“I mean you’re going to wish all he did was bite you. He’s hungry…he’s a virus carrier. The man hasn’t eaten in a while. That’s what he was telling me, and he told me all he could think of is ripping people apart and eating them alive.” I exaggerated, knowing they would be more cautious that way.
“Man you’re high! What kind of person would say that?” he said again.
“The kind that hasn’t had any meat in a few weeks, the kind that has been holding himself back for way too long…” I paused, listening, “the kind that is crouched down over there looking at you two pretty intensely.”
“You better stay over there old man, this guy over here is saying some pretty awful shit about you right now. We don’t know if he’s telling the truth or not, but your best bet is to stay away from us. We won’t take shit from anyone, even someone your age.” one of them said.
The old man started a low gutted growl and I could hear the sharp intakes of breath coming from his clenched mouth. The old man lurched towards them as the lights came on, and the guys jumped back and Trav brought his clenched fists down on the center of the old man’s back. The old man stumbled, and got his balance back quickly. The old man lunged again at Trav. Trav dodged again, while looking over at Mike and nodded his head. Mike quickly got behind the old man and grabbed his head while Trav grabbed his arms to prevent him from hurting them. Mike twisted the man’s neck quickly and the old man dropped to the floor with a thud.
“OPEN ALL THE CELLS! OPEN ALL THE CELLS! CODE BLACK! I REPEAT, CODE BLACK!” someone, who I assumed was an officer, yelled. Clicks were heard all around and the doors swung open. Mike and Trav grabbed my arm and pulled me with them out the door.
“Come on buddy, they’re leaving us to fend for ourselves in here. If you’re not with us, you’re against us. Make your choice and let’s get somewhere safe. If you’re not coming with us, we’ll let you get a head start, but get in our way when you’re not coming with us, and you’ll end up like the old man. Got it?” Mike said.
“You gotta know, I also got the virus. If I don’t eat in the next day or so I will be like the old man.” I said. “But only if I don’t eat! I’m good right now, you don’t have to worry about me. Though if you still want to go without me I’ll understand.” I added quickly.
“Listen man; because you warned us, and probably saved our asses back there, we’re not gonna kill you. But you’re not coming with us if you’re like him. We’re getting out of here one way or another. Find your own way.” Trav said, and they both turned around and ran into the crowd.
I ran back into the cell and shut the door, I turned around and the cell opened again. I quickly grabbed it and held it shut from the inside. A man came to my cell door and tried to get in yelling “LET ME IN MAN, THESE GUYS ARE KILLERS. I’M ONLY IN HERE BECAUSE I DIDN’T PAY CHILD SUPPORT!”
I looked at him in the eyes and seen only fear in them. I quickly opened the door and let him in. He looked down at the old man and back at me. He blanched and started backing away. “Don’t worry man, that wasn’t from me. I was in this cell with two guys. The old man went after them and they took him down.”
The man nodded but kept his distance, periodically looking down. The intercom system sounded an alarm and then a voice came on the horn: “OFFICERS ARE COMING IN, IF YOU’RE INJURED STAY OUT SIDE THE CELLS, EVERYONE ELSE BACK IN A CELL. IF YOU’RE FOUND OUTSIDE THE CELLS AND YOU’RE NOT INJURED, YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON WITH TASERS AND SANDBAGS. IF YOU TRY TO ATTACK US, WE’VE BEEN AUTHORIZED TO USE DEADLY FORCE IF NEEDED! BACK IN YOUR CELLS!”
The place went into a riot as soon as the hallway door opened. Only a few people remained behind, and they looked to be injured, or trying to get into a cell where ever possible. Shots started going off, and people started tumbling to the floor yelling in pain. When the only people left standing started charging after the officers, they unloaded the rest of the sand bags on them. When they kept charging, one of the officers said “LIVE ROUNDS LIVE ROUNDS!”, you could hear their shotguns being loaded, and it got noisy.
For what felt like hours, shot guns were being fired at the remaining people. I saw the remaining people still charging with missing limbs, blood pouring out of their gaping holes, and some falling to the floor with a missing leg.
“THESE MOTHER FUCKERS AREN’T GOING DOWN! DEADLY FORCE! HEAD SHOTS IF POSSIBLE.” one said. An officer was reloading his shotgun when one of the crazed got ahold of him and bit through his neck. Blood spurted all over the crazed and they all went into a frenzy. I could smell the blood as if it were seeping onto the floor next to me. I needed to eat today otherwise things may go really bad. The shots finally ceased and the officers pulled the other injured officers out of the hallway and the doors locked back in place. There was a quietness that was left in the cell block that could only be summarized as death. You could barely hear the sound of yourself breathing, let alone anything else. When the cell block door leading from the police station to the jail opened back up, the officers were in full riot gear. They kicked everyone they shot to make sure they were dead, and looked into every cell.
When they reached ours, one of them yelled “Got one!”, and then said “Back up against the wall, farthest from the body. We are here to clean up. Try anything, and I’ll blow your fucking head off.”
We both head to the furthest part of the cell away from the body and instinctively put our hands behind our heads. I look over at my new cell mate and say, “The name’s Jacob…gotta warn you, I bite.” The man looked over at me and fell to the floor; the smell of feces filled the cell.