Designated (Book 2): Designated Quarantined by Ricky Cooper Page A

bursting. Pulling his battered and weatherworn Shemag scarf from around his neck, Hawk wrapped the patterned band of cloth around his face in a strident attempt to block out the vile odour.
 
    Her sallow skin slipped and flapped against her age-withered frame as she pulled at the pallid dead flesh of the patient in her grip; the man's vacant, dead form lolled limp and lifeless as it jolted and bounced against the floor with each tug the woman made. She pulled as her lips and gums closed on the string of cabled muscle and skin; a soft, slick pop issued up from her wanton face as the lump of dead meat finally pulled free. Flicking her head back, the tousled curls of her blue-rinsed hair bounced against her age-lined face as she swallowed. The bulbous pustules covering her lips and face made her flesh shiver and move as she pushed the lump of meat around her saliva-drenched mouth.
 
    Strings of the glistening, clear fluid ran from the corners of her mouth, coalescing in thick ribbons as it dropped from her chin to land with a wet plop on the front of her hospital gown.
 
    ****
 
    Janet's head snapped up as the blood flashed over the window; the glistening spray cast a red-hazed shimmer over the walls. The children burrowed against Kevin and Janet, their shifting forms warm against them as they hid from the muted gloss of incandescent red smears sliding down the walls. A face crashed into the window, blood bubbling from its lips as it was crushed further and further against the glass. A small childlike groan rose from it as it began to slide, a weak and pitiful sound that made Janet want to weep. A sudden and almost violent squeal of flesh on glass made them all flinch; a soft whimper of fear boiled up from the girl in Janet's lap. Glancing to her left, Janet watched the softly moving figure of Maria as she shifted in her sleep, her infantile lips clapping together softly as she dreamt. Reaching out, Janet smoothed Maria's downy hair over her scalp as she gently shushed both children, praying they both stayed quiet.
 
    Kevin edged the boy from his lap, setting him gently on the floor. The boy whimpered as he met the cold concrete of the floor, his hands clutching at Kevin's stained and torn lab coat; the fear and need for physical comfort was oozing from the child like water from a slowly dripping tap. Pushing the boy's clutching hands gently away from him, he stood and crept to the door, his hunched form looking like an amorphous crab as he slowly slunk towards the door.
 
    Janet's sharply hissed and panic-edged call gave him pause as he reached out towards the door. His hand hung in the air mere centimetres away from the brushed steel handle of the storage room's door. His fingers brushed against the cold, lifeless steel bar. The cold crept through his fingertips and seeped deep into his knuckles, sending a wave of pain through his fingers as he curled his extended digits around the handle. He slowly pushed down on the handle; the bolt slid back millimetre by millimetre as he edged the handle down ever further. Clutching the steel bar in a death grip, he pulled the door towards him, his eyes pushed shut so tightly they began to ache from the self-imposed pressure. Kevin stepped to the side and peered through the ever-widening gap in the doorway.
 
    The hand shot forwards, its long, slim digits closing around Kevin's neck; his eyes bulged as he felt the warm grasp of the Infected tighten on his throat. Kevin threw himself forwards, the Infected growling as he kicked the door shut behind him. Kevin cast his gaze backwards just as the door swung closed. His eyes begged her to remain silent as she held her hands fast over the children's mouths. She watched her friend and colleague disappear, the door slamming shut on him and their friendship like the lid on a coffin.
 
    The warmth of its skin unsettled Kevin the most; he had expected the cold touch of death around his throat, not the warm supple grasp of another