Baseball Nightmare

Baseball Nightmare
 It was a beautiful night for baseball. Of course it was hot. North Texas is always hot in June.  The fans gathering under the lights at the Ballpark in Arlington were used to that.  An exciting division game between the Rangers and the Angels was the attraction.  Everyone was optimistic that their favorite team would win. The employees of the park were already there serving the crowd. The media was there starting to broadcast. No one could have known that this location would be the epicenter of a terrible epidemic that would bring down the human race. No one was prepared for the horrors that were to come.It started on the third level. A thirty-two year old father of two, by the name of Mike, was at the ballgame with his kids. It was Dad's weekend. Sometime around the second inning he started to feel a rumble in his stomach. Nausea came on rapidly. He began to tremble and perspire. "I hope I can make it to the restroom," our unfortunate victim thought. He rose slowly then lost his balance. The guy in the row behind him reached defensively. "Are you all right?" he asked, concerned. Mike didn't answer. Without making eye contact with anyone he staggered clumsily down the row of fans. His frightened children realized they were being left unattended,"Dad! Dad!"  Normally Mike was an attentive father, but his ilness made him unaware of children's voices. He was dizzy and somewhat disoriented. People he passed were alarmed at his sickly appearance . An usher observed Mike as he exited his section.  “Must’ ve had a little too much ,” he thought as he watched Mike stumble towards the men’s room. I’ll watch and see what condition he’s in when he comes back,” he turned back to scanning the rows of fans.
Mike's skin was turning from pale to grayish in color. Blood suddenly trickled from his nostrils. Yellow mucous was clouding his vision. He fell into a stall and vomited on the floor next to the toilet. A green slime spewed out of him as he wretched violently. The smell was nauseating.  The pain in his gut grew with each heave. He lost strength and collapsed in pain.  His face met the wet, disgusting tile. The last thing he saw was the blurry image of white porcelain. His heart beat faintly. He could hear it in his mind... thump....thump....thump. It went slower and slower...thump...thump...thump. Then silence. Everything faded to black.
 Mike was, in fact, deceased. At least his personality was gone. Any semblance of humanity had been taken by some strange malady the likes of which the world has never seen. His body  laid dead on the dirty floor for only a few moments. A jerk. A twitch. A gasp. The corpse rose  behind the stall. He sniffed the air like an animal. Mike’s carcass was now a ferocious, hungry creature with unnatural strength, but no sense of reason at all. Never before had a human transformed so suddenly and so horribly.  He was the first, but others were coming.
Meanwhile, a fly ball finally finished the second inning. Fans left their seats and formed lines in front of the concession stands. Some filed into the restrooms including the one in which Mike had passed away. The first unfortunate victim to meet the undead on this night was a short, pudgy, 53 year old grandfather named Ramirez. Lines were already forming at the urinals so he turned to the first stall. He didn’t take the time to look to see if feet were visible under the door. Nor was he polite enough to knock. A little push and the door swung open revealing the creature standing on the toilet. With one bound he was on top of Ramirez. They  fell to the floor. Ramirez was taken completely by surprise. He never even had a chance to scream. One bite tore open the poor man’s neck. Blood gushed out and poured out onto the filthy floor. Ramirez arms and legs twitched as the attacker began ripping apart his face with his teeth.
Regular people can become so courageous under certain situations. Some of the men who had come into the restroom simply seeking relief jumped in to pull the creature off the mangled victim without any concern for their own safety. They paid a price for their bravery. Dead-Mike tossed the first two heros away flinging them up and against the wall as though they were rag dolls. One was driven hard into the wall just above a urinal. He crumpled to the floor, a blood-splatter leaving its mark on the wall.  The second potential rescuer was picked up by the undead and held over his head with both hands . With a horrible, unhuman shriek the victim was thrown into the crowd that was attempting to file in. No one entering that restroom at that moment had any reason to suspect the gruesome danger that awaited. What they saw was traumatically grisly. Dead-Mike was cannibalizing Ramirez. Anyone who attempted to intervene was violently repelled. Bodies were flung wildly. Men were knocked unconscious by kicks or punches.  Some were killed instantly, such was the strength of the hideous thing. Others bled profusely from painful bites. Frightened on-lookers fled into the concourse in search of help.
Outside, the usher, John,  who had noticed Mike earlier became aware of the commotion coming out of the restroom. Turning to  walk that way, he felt a cold hand grasp his wrist. Looking around, he realized he was being held tightly by a small girl. She may have been twelve but it was difficult to gage her age because her face was distorted into a grotesque expression. Her skin was gray. Her eyes were blank, lifeless. Blood trickled from her nostrils. It appeared that she had vomited on herself. John was instantly repulsed. He tried to yank his hand away but the once-living girl held tight. John screamed in pain as the creature sunk her teeth into his arm. The people sitting near tried to assist John but the little monster fought like a rabid animal. With one bound she jumped on John's neck. In a flash the blood was spurting from his neck. He twisted and sturggled in a vain attempt to free himself. But shock set in quickly. A few men tried to separate John from the dead girl but it was too late. The vicious creature managed to free itself from the good samaritans and escaped into the concourse where it committed more mayhem.
Violent attacks were rapidly happening at other parts of the stadium.  An example was an attack on a woman who was standing in line at a concession stand. Without warning two of the undead suddenly attacked her.  She screamed as they tackled her and ripped her flesh with their teeth. Blood spewed like a fountain. Fortunetly, she did not suffer long. Security came rapidly but they could not pry the monsters away from their dinner.
The zombies were multiplying at alarming rates. They were more ravenous than sharks. Devoid of reason, their only instincts were to kill and devour.
Coporal Howell, an off-duty police officer, was making his rounds on the second concourse. Oblivious to the commotion in the other areas, He did not as yet have any concerns. The crowd seemed well-mannered enough. Families mostly just out enjoygin the ballpark. But then quite  shockingly he came upon the horrifying undead body of what was previously a 23 year old mother. the gross thing was consuming a detached arm as if it was a barbequed turkey drumstick. Blood dripped from her mouth onto her front as she ate the flesh off the bone. A mutilated body laid in a pool of blood beneath her. Howell was shocked and appalled at the sight. There was an act of cannibalism occuring right under his nose. He attempted to summon help via the radio attached to his person but before he could speak a word the horrible abomination raised her arms into the air waving the severed arm like a weapon. She opened her mouth and  and bellowed like a wild animal. Howell thought he saw an insect fly out of her mouth. Fearing for his life, Howell stood his ground and fired his tazer. The creature took the shot. She twitched and jerked as though seizuring but she did not fall. The brave police officer was shocked to see someone, or something, shake off the shock. He knew from his training that  tazing incapacitated anyone no matter how strong.  Not this time. The creature's fury raged. Howell panicked. He fired his tazer again. The creature paused again and took the full voltage of the weapon. Then to Howell's amazement she lumbered toward him, the terrible arm raised above her head like a club. Officer Howell was beaten to death before being consumed by his assailant and one other Zombie who joined her feast. They left only the victims clothes, bones and  blood.
At this point, most of the fans in the stands were unaware of the pandemonia that was breaking out throughout the stadium. That changed abruptly during the fifth inning. The batter, a recent call up from the minors,  brought the crowd to it's feet with a smashing homerun into center field. As the fans rose to applaud the feat a strange figure emerged from the dug-out.  A back-up in-fielder had passed away and reanimated. The transformation was so rapid that no one on his team had known. He had gone into the team's locker room and within moments he had become a hungry killing machine.  The catcher stood with his helmet to his side watching while his teammate enjoyed his vitory lap around the bases. He did not see the undead approach him with a bat. One big swing from the predator sent the catcher's head rolling into the in-field. The dismembered head left a blood trail. It's eyes stared vacantly to the sky. the mouth gaping open. The crowd gasped, incredulous, stunned. The umpire bravely attempted to intervene. His finger was instantly bitten off and chewed like a peice of candy. The dug-outs emptied. The players charged homeplate in order to restrain the living-dead killer who fought ferociously. In the chaos, few noticed the young bat girl projectile vomiting in the first base area.
The transformations were happening quickly. Healthy people were dying and reanimating right under everyone's nose. The creatures that emerged from the process were powerful, hungry predators without any semblance of humanity. The horrible screams of the victims and the shrieks of the monsters were heard throughout the stadium and outside where people were fleeing to their cars in hope of escape. Most made it to their vehicles only to die later. People could be seen everywhere kneeling over someone who had collapsed. Some prayed. These unfortunates were murdered by the dead upon reanimation. Panicked drivers were trapped in traffic. Zombies were crawling on tops of cars. Windows were shattering. Sirens were wailing as emergency vehicles struggled to get through the gridlock.
 The apocalypse was on.