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bandages and take care of that. The rest of you check for bites
too."
    A few minutes passed in silence as the officers checked
themselves for wounds. The sound of footsteps reached their ears and all of the
officers tensed. James relaxed as he realized the steps were coming from the
way they came in. That was their backup hopefully. A number of officers entered
the room, the chief of police at head. The chief looked around the room in
horror until his eyes found James.
    "What the hell happened here?" he demanded. He
entered the room and glanced at some of the bodies. "Why did you shoot
these people? Have you lost your mind?"
    "No, sir," James responded. "These people are
crazed, sir. They attacked as soon as they laid eyes on us. They've got high
pain tolerance. Several of them that were shot got up and kept attacking. We
didn't have a choice.
    The chief sighed as he saw the bodies of his officers on the
floor. "Any survivors?"
    "Don't know sir. Haven't been past this room."
    The chief nodded. "Alright then. We need to search for
survivors." He looked around the room again. "I'm gonna get the mayor
on the radio. We're gonna need National Guard or something to handle all
this."
    The chief headed outside and the surviving officers took
that time to rest. Only one of them had gotten bitten but they were all winded
from their ordeal. James was grateful for all the intense training he'd been
through with krav maga. Not just for the combat skills that had surely just
saved his life, but also for the conditioning. He still had plenty of reserves
left to see this through.
    The chief returned a few minutes later with a look of fury
on his face. "We're on our own."
    "What do you mean, chief?" Jeffries asked.
    "National Guard won't be coming. They've been deployed
to more 'critical' locations."
    "This isn't critical?" an officer asked.
    "Looks like this is happening all over, son," the
chief said. "We're just not high enough on the totem pole. We'll have to
make do. Let's check for survivors. Maybe we can contain this here in the
hospital."
    Several officers nodded at that. They were angry. Their
brothers had been killed by these things and they wanted payback. James wasn't
so sure though. After what they'd just been through, maybe the best course of
action was to retreat. If they were still a lot of those creatures left, they'd
be facing another massacre. He looked at the chief's face and saw no argument
on his part would make a difference. The chief could be stubborn at times and
he looked to be pretty set on this course of action.
    James sighed. He had a moment where he seriously considered
leaving. Going further seemed like suicide but he wouldn't abandon his
brothers. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if they winded up getting
themselves killed. he shook his head. Nothing for it. He hoped he'd be able to
walk away when this was done.
    The officers headed through the doors and the end of the
room and found themselves in another hallway. The hallway ended at a wide set
of stairs that led into the upper levels. At the first landing, the chief
called a halt.
    "I don't want to be here any longer than we need to be.
We're gonna check each floor as quickly as we can. If we see any creatures, we
put them down. Understand?"
    The officers nodded but James sighed internally. This still felt
like a really bad idea. The entered the second floor and James saw that it was
the maternity ward. Fortunately, there was no sign of the creatures here. James
didn't know what he would have done if they creatures had made it here. A
search showed that the floor was completely empty. That was good. The people on
this floor must have taken another exit from the building. James didn't
remember seeing anyone with babies when he came in.
    The third floor showed signs of struggle but it looked to be
empty. Maybe some of the creatures he had fought had come from this floor. The
fourth floor turned out to be empty as well. One more floor and they could