The Institution Part Two

Sorry for the long break in writing.  The real world was very demanding.  Here's the continuation of my last story.  There is a fair amount of violence so you've been warned.

     I made my way through the deserted halls of the institution.  I looked in rooms as I passed doors.  Most were empty.  In a few rooms I found dead residents.  They had been beaten into bloody pulps and there were bite marks on them.  Unless some wild animals had wandered in the bites had to be human.

     The hall was disturbingly quiet.  There was no background noise, no machinery running or crackle of the intercom or a radio.  The silence and lack of other people was settling. 

     I found guards as I approached the security station.  They had been beaten to death like the other corpses I had encountered.  I checked the bodies for anything usable. As I expected, they were all missing their batons.  They were probably beaten with their own weapons.  But the walkie-talkies were missing, too. 

     The doors of the security station were wide open.  I paused at the doorway.  I had not been outside of the secure area in many years.  This part of the institution had become my home.  Suddenly I was afraid to leave the security of that home. 

     A shuffling sound behind me made me turn.  A guard came around the corner.  He had numerous bites on his arms but showed no signs of beating.  He staggered towards me and I caught a strong whiff of dead flesh. 

     I backed away from him into the checkpoint.  I looked around for a weapon but didn’t see anything useful.  Then I noticed the guard still had his baton on his belt. 

     I rushed him, blocking his grasp with my left arm as I grabbed for the baton with my right.  The death stench was almost overpowering this close and I nearly gagged.  The guard was leaning in trying to bite me.  I yanked the baton free and pushed the guard away with it.  He approached and I struck him repeatedly with the baton.  The guard finally went down when his head was a bloody mess. 

     I heard the sound of more shuffling feet and ran out of the secure area.  It definitely wasn’t secure anymore.