Needed a wedge, or something to block it. A metal shelf behind him. He grabbed it and pulled it toward him. He ducked aside as it crashed against the door, sending bandages and bottles of disinfectant smashing to the floor--but not before the thing shoved its arm and shoulder through.

Clay stayed out of reach of the slashing talons as the thing gnashed its awful teeth and hissed. It wore a jacket with the emblem of the ambulance outside. One of the formerly dead EMTs. He saw a second one right behind it, trying to push its pal through the opening. That gave him in idea.

He pulled out Alice. Only half a dozen rounds in the Raging Bull, but they were .454 Casulls. He aimed between the eyes of the lead monster and squeezed off a round. The report was like a punch in this small room, and the kick damn near sprained his wrist, but when he looked, the doorway was empty. Cautiously, he peeked through and saw both monsters on the ground, both with holes through their foreheads and enormous exit wounds.

"A two-fer! Awriiight, Alice!"

He wished someone was around for a high five, or at least a knuckle bump. So he settled for kissing Alice.

"There's my good girl. You're the best."

Then he noticed the first one twitching.

Aw, not again. He wasn't going to get up, was he?

No. The twitching stopped and it lay still.

He spotted the phone at the nursing station and had an idea. But first...

He grabbed his duffel from the counter, locked himself in the supply room, and began to reload the AA-12's drum.

Jenny

"EVERYONE!" Jenny said. "I need everyone's attention! I want all of us to move away from the window, to the other side of the playroom. Now."

The hallway--just beyond the room-length finger-painted window--was filled with draculas.

Freakin' filled.

They'd run up en masse after sounds of firecrackers came from the lower floors. Jenny guessed it hadn't been fireworks, but rather gunshots. These monsters seemed to have been retreating, but stopped when they'd caught sight of the children through the window.

At least eight of them. Maybe ten. Clawing at the glass, pressing against it, knocking on it. Some smeared blood and bits of gore across the surface, while others fell into line to lick the blood up with spongy, misshapen tongues and thick, ropey strands of saliva. Saliva right out of that movie Randall loved to watch over and over again. Aliens, with Sigourney Weaver.

"You kinda look like Sigourney Weaver," he'd told her, every time he played that VHS tape. "Cept you got better boobs."

As the children gathered around her, Jenny wondered where Randall was. She hoped he was okay. She also hoped that once he found the little girl, he wouldn't try to bring her back here. Too many of those things out there. Even her husband, whom Jenny thought was damn near indestructible, wouldn't stand a chance.

"Will they break the glass?" Peter asked.

"No," Jenny answered firmly.

But that's what she feared, and why she ordered everyone away. The glass was thick--a necessity in the children's ward--and would be tough to crack bare-handed. These creatures were strong, but so far the glass had resisted their pushing and pounding.

If they did get in, Jenny needed a weapon. Preferably one like Sigourney had in that film. Keeping her eyes on the window, she walked over to the old woman, the one who'd thrown up. The stains on her dentures and fingers were telltale signs of a smoker.

"I need your lighter," Jenny told her.

The woman didn't answer. She just stared, wide-eyed, at the window. The draculas continued to knock and pound at the glass. Some bit at it, their teeth leaving scratches with the sound of nails across a chalkboard.

The boy holding the old woman's hand nudged her. "Grandma, the nurse lady needs your lighter."

The old woman stared at the child like she had just now realized he was there. Then, without a word, she handed her purse to Jenny. Jenny dug around until she found it; a cheap, plastic disposable brand. She flicked it once, and the flame came on big and bright.

She heard a CRUNCH, followed by squeals of fright from the children. Jenny stared at the window and saw that one of the monsters had picked up an office chair and was bashing it against the glass. Jenny didn't even need to read the dracula's nametag on its lab coat to know who it was. She recognized the hair.

Dr. Lanz.

After the second hit, the window spiderwebbed, but stayed intact. It had a plastic safety coating, similar to the one used on car windshields, so children throwing toys wouldn't get showered with shards.

Lanz tried twice more, but the glass held. His eyes met Jenny's, and his toothy mouth yawed open, a hiss escaping the crosshatched fangs. He tossed the chair aside and scurried off, probably to look for something bigger to throw at the window.

Moving quickly, Jenny went into the supply closet Randall had gotten open. She immediately zeroed in on a portable oxygen tank. It was the large MM size, brushed aluminum with a painted green top, almost the size of a scuba tank. A good start, but she needed more. Contrary to popular belief, pure oxygen wasn't flammable.

Luckily, the hospital had something that was very flammable. And it was stored in the same closet as the oxygen.

Jenny walked past the medical supplies to the extra stock for the coffee machine at the nurse's station. She bypassed the packages of regular and decaf, the filters, and the sugar, and took down a full box of non-dairy creamer. Twelve bottles, 15 oz. of powder per bottle. Enough to set a whole building on fire.

Finally, she found some rubber tubing, a large cannula, and a bottle of rubber cement.

Working quickly, Jenny removed the caps from all twelve creamer bottles. A plastic seal covered the opening, keeping the product fresh. She applied a big dollop of rubber cement to the top of each, and set the box next to the doorway.

Next, she hooked the cannula--a large, metal tube with a pointed tip--up to one end of the hose. After pulling over the oxygen tank on a hand truck, she attached the other end of the hose to the nozzle, and pulled the toggle lever to give it a try. O2 hissed out of the cannula, strong enough to blow her hair back.

"Miss! I need your help," Jenny said.

But the old woman, like the other adult in the room, appeared to be catatonic.

CRACK!

Dr. Lanz had returned, resuming his assault on the window. But rather than attack it with a chair, he was now wielding a fire extinguisher. It was heavy, compact, and would easily break through the glass in another swing or two.

Jenny patted her pockets, frantic, afraid she'd misplaced the lighter. She found it in her hip pocket.

CRACK!

Jenny studied the lighter, and frowned when she saw it had one of those child-proof locks on it.

CRACK! Some glass tinkled onto the tile floor, a medium-size hole appearing in the window.

"Quickly! Can any of you children operate a child-proof lighter?"

Every child raised their hand.

"Peter!" she said, calling the oldest of them. "Come here!"

CRACK!

The hole was now big enough to crawl through, and one of the draculas got ahead of Lanz and forced itself through the opening, sliding on its belly into the playroom.

"Light the tops like this!" Jenny ordered, bending down and touching the flame to the rubber cement on the first bottle of creamer. It glowed blue, and Jenny picked up the bottle, jabbed the cannula through the plastic bottom, and then pointed it at the creature scrambling on all fours toward her.