Zombie Farm

by Crisp, M. L.

  “So, to be clear, you’re saying…”

  Marla leaned forward, “fine, I’ll spell it out, I want you to be my boyfriend!”

  Kyle couldn’t quite believe his ears, but he wanted to jump up and down for joy. “Um, ok.”

  Marla sighed to herself, all that work, and all he can say is ‘um ok.’She smiled, “good, I’m glad that’s settled.” She closed her eyes and leaned across the table, several seconds passed, and she opened her eyes again. “Kyle, kiss me.” And she closed her eyes again.

  Kyle leaned in and he kissed her. He pulled back, “I hope that was ok, I haven’t kissed that much.”

  Marla grinned, “not bad, we’ll work on it some more.” She closed her eyes again, and this time Kyle didn’t need her to tell him to kiss her. Rodney came out from the kitchen area, “ok, I think I’ve got every container we won’t need for cooking filled with wat…” Rodney stopped talking and stared in disbelief.

  Marla saw Rodney gawking out of the corner of her eye, and pulled away from Kyle. Kyle leaned in and kept trying to kiss her, “um Kyle, we, like, have company.”

  Kyle looked up at his friend Rodney, with his jaw practically on the floor. Kyle smiled, red lipstick smeared on his mouth. Rodney was looking at them, back and forth. Marla Masters making out with a band geek? The dead rising and eating people made more sense.

  “Dude, when did this happen?” Rodney asked.

  “Just now, it was a surprise to me too!”

  Rodney didn’t know what to say, “well, I think we’re done with the water thing for now, I guess we should go back to the library.”

  Kyle shook his head. “Why don’t you go on ahead, Marla and I will catch up in a little bit.”

  “I don’t know, Mr. Kane said he didn’t want us to walk around alone, to always go with a buddy.” Rodney said.

  “It will be fine, just go on.” Kyle said, a bit irritated.

  Marla patted his hand. “No sweetie, Rodney is right, we should be getting back.”

  “I want to kiss some more.” Kyle whispered.

  Marla stood up, “all in good time, look at where we’re at, all we have is time and opportunity.”

  Marla started walking with Rodney, “so Rodney, what were you saying about Transformers and…what was it, Gorobots?”

  Rodney shook his head, “no, Gobots. They’re both giant robots that can turn into other stuff, like cars, tanks, all kinds of cool shit.”

  “That is, like, so totally bitchin’” Marla said, winking at Kyle as they walked out of the cafeteria. Kyle got up and followed them out.

  CHAPTER 18

  Valerie joined Mr. Kane on the roof of the school. Mr. Kane was staring out over the lake. “You wanted to see me sir?” Valerie asked.

  Mr. Kane continued gazing across the lake. “A lot of those things have moved from the school to the outer edge of the lake. Some of them have walked right into the water, like they thought they could just walk over to those boats. As savage as they are, they don’t seem all that smart. Then again, I guess they don’t have to be, look at us trapped in here.”

  “Yes sir, we seem to be in quite a pickle.” Valerie said, not quite believing that she just used such a phrase.

  Mr. Kane turned around and smiled, “indeed Valerie, and please, like I said, call me Tyrone, at least when we’re not around the students.”

  Valerie smiled back, “sure thing Tyrone. I’m not sure if we should leave the students alone for very long though.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they’ll be fine, after all, what kind of shenanigans can they get into in a locked down school?”

  Miss Carpenter shook her head. “I don’t know, but with Marla Masters around…”

  “You don’t like her much do you Valerie?”

  Valerie thought for a second about her response, and then sighed. “It’s not so much that I don’t like her, it’s that I don’t think she likes me, or any other woman for that matter. She reminds me of a female version of Eddie Haskell, except a million times more charming when she wants something.”

  Tyrone nodded, “well, remember, she’s just a teenager, still got a lot of growing up to do. She seems like a nice young lady to me, if a bit conceited. She’ll grow out of it.”

  Valerie smiled a humorless smile. She’s known women like Marla her entire life, she’s never known any of them to grow out of it. But it’s pointless trying to explain that to a man, so she thought it best to not to continue that discussion just now. “You’re probably right. So, why did you want to see me.”

  Tyrone reached into his back pocket and pulled out a silver flask. “After a week of having Rodney attached to my hip, I figured I could use some air, and some adult company. I figured you could too.”

  Valerie saw the flask and whisked her index finger over the other. “Shame, shame, shame Tyrone. I never took you for the rule breaking type.”

  Tyrone smiled. “I’m not really. I found this flask of whiskey in the principal’s office, plus a bottle of peach schnapps. Maybe we can try that later.”

  Valerie giggled. “Our principal, an alcoholic, I never would have thought.”

  “I don’t think any of us did. But if it’s there, we might as well partake. I think the rule book is out the window at this point.”

  Valerie stuck her hand out. “I don’t usually drink hard liquor, I’m a Coors Light girl, but what the hell.”

  Mr. Kane took a long swig, and made a funny face. “I guess Gene liked the cheap stuff.” He said, handing the flask to Valerie.

  Valerie took it and took a drink, and grimaced. “You aren’t kidding! But it will do.” She said with a smile, and took another drink, handing the flask back to Tyrone.

  Mr. Kane took it, and looked over the edge of the school, at the ever growing crowd down below. He took another drink, and became more serious. “You know Valerie, none of the television stations are broadcasting anymore, none of the radio stations either. We may have to face the sad fact that help is not on its way, that this may go on for an extended period of time.”

  “I know. I think I’ve known that for a couple of days now. I still try the phones occasionally, but now there’s not even a dial tone. I try to keep a positive attitude with the students, but I think they’re starting to realize it too. Heck, I’ve caught Kyle and Marla kissing behind some rows of books. If Marla Masters is making out with a band nerd, then the world really has changed.”

  Mr. Kane nearly did a spit take. “Marla and Kyle, well I’ll be damned! Lucky duck!”

  Valerie punched him in the arm. “Hey, not you too! I guess every guy in the school really does have a thing for Marla Masters.” She said, grabbing the flask away from him and taking another swig.

  Mr. Kane held up his hands. “Whoa there, I’m a professional, but damn, I do have eyes.” He said with a smile. Then he became serious again. “But keep an eye out, the last thing we need is a teen pregnancy during all of this.”

  Valerie gave the flask back. “Don’t worry, since I caught them, I’ve tried to make sure they’re not alone together very often. But teenagers have a way of getting together if they want to.”

  Mr. Kane sat down on the roof, and motioned for Valerie to join him. She sat Indian style across from him. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about this situation, and the students. Tell me a little about yourself Valerie; fill in some of the blanks for me.”

  “Well, not much to tell, I graduated from OSU a couple of years ago. I took a teaching position here last year. I was offered a position at the school I graduated from, but it would have felt too weird to go back there this young. Heck, some of the teachers there probably wouldn’t be able to take a former student of theirs very seriously, not this soon. Even here, I feel like I have more in common with some of the students than the other teachers sometimes. I didn’t tell anybody this, but on the first day of school, that football player, Lester Moreland, he saw me in the hall. He stopped me, and flirted with me. I hate to say it, but I flirted back. He asked me out! Don�
�t think less of me Mr. Kane, but I almost said yes! After a long pause, I told him I was a teacher. He said he didn’t care, nobody had to know. Guys like him never gave me the time of day in high school, or college, it felt so good. I was so tempted, but I turned him down, he said he’d look me up after he graduates this year.”

  Tyrone was taken aback. “Well, I’m glad you turned him down, that could have ended your career with a quickness. So, when you’re not busy crushing the hearts of teenage football players, do you date at all?”

  “Not much, but I had been out on a couple of dates with coach Wilkens after he separated from his wife. Nothing serious, I got the feeling there was someone else, so I pulled back. How about you? I don’t see a ring, are you dating anyone.”

  Tyrone took a hard drink. “No, not lately. One marriage was enough for me, I suppose I‘m married to my work now.”

  “You mentioned you were in Vietnam. What was that like?”

  “Oh, I was there at the tail end, I was in the navy, on a ship. I wasn’t in “the shit” or anything. Didn’t really see any action to speak of.” Tyrone said, and offered the flask to Valerie.

  “No thanks, I’m already starting to feel woozy.”

  Suddenly a volley of shots rang out! Tyrone jumped on Valerie to shield her. “It sounds like that came from the lake. Let’s get back inside!” He yelled.

  CHAPTER 19

  Rodney wandered the halls of the school, he couldn’t find Mr. Kane in his office. Rodney had some ideas for fortifying the school he wanted to run by him. He had become kind of lonely since Kyle started spending all his time with Marla and Madison. Kyle wasn’t his best friend or anything, that was Darrel Johnson. Rodney wondered what happened to him, if he was still alive. But mostly, he just tried not to think about it, there was no way to know, and in all likelihood, he was probably dead. Or whatever in between state those things outside were.

  But Kyle was still a good friend, and Marla actually turned out to be pretty cool. He had misjudged her that first day, but still, he missed having a friend he could really relate to. He was happy that somebody in his social circle had landed a girl like Marla Masters, in a weird way, it boosted his own self-esteem a little.

  Of course, it was different for him, he knew that even though Kyle liked nerdy things, he wasn’t a nerd in the same way Rodney was. Rodney was ugly, and he knew it. He was fat, but even if he lost weight, he would still be ugly, his round face would just never be considered attractive, he knew that. It never really bothered him until now, now that he had seen one of his own kind move up the social ladder, even at the end of the world, it stung a little.

  He could probably hang out with Tess, but Marla didn’t like her, which meant that Kyle now didn’t like her. He was afraid if he was too chummy with her, then Marla might not want him around either. The other day Tess mentioned to him that Marla had stopped calling her Triple T and started calling her Grossburger when no adults were around, she couldn’t figure out what she meant. Rodney knew immediately, he asked her if she’d ever seen Stir Crazy, she said she had, he asked if she remembered the fat bald guy that sang, she did. He explained that his character was called Grossburger in the movie. Tess started crying and sputtering that she didn’t look like that. Rodney didn’t know how to comfort a girl, so he just left her there, bawling her eyes out. It was a mean thing to say, Tess is chubby, but still pretty cute. But Rodney didn’t know what bad blood was between them, and didn’t want to know, and besides, if the heat is on someone else, at least it’s not on him. So he kept his distance, and mostly tried to talk to Mr. Kane.

  Mr. Kane was nice to him, he really listened when Rodney would talk about his knowledge of zombies and ideas for protecting themselves from the living dead. This really was something he had thought a lot about over the years. Ever since he happened to catch a late night showing of Night Of The Living Dead

  That movie had really fired up his imagination, he imagined himself inside that house, and what he would do to survive. This situation was different, those things out there were fast. So not technically zombies, but that’s what everybody else called them, so he didn’t argue.

  Still, aside from their speed, they seemed pretty similar to the ones from the movies. Before the TV went out, they had confirmed that shots to the head was the only way to stop them for good. Bites turned people, he wasn’t sure if it was that way in the movies, he seemed to remember that anybody that died turned. Regardless, he felt like he was uniquely equipped to help everyone survive this. He just wished he was in better shape, his diet before this consisted mostly of pizza and Twinkies.

  Rodney entered the library, Tess was sitting on one of the couches, reading a romance novel. “Hey Tess, have you seen Kyle and Marla?”

  Tess looked up. “You mean Luke and Laura?”

  Rodney’s face scrunched into a quizzical expression. “You mean Luke and Leia?” He asked.

  Tess sighed. “No, it’s from a soap opera called…never mind, they’re in the back, they moved one of the couches back there.” Tess said, and went back to the novel.

  Rodney walked through some aisles of books, and then came to one where the bookshelf seemed to have been moved, blocking the view. Madison appeared to be standing sentry. He smiled at her, she nodded, “what’s up Rodney?”

  “Um, is Kyle back there?”

  Madison folded her arms. “He and Marla are busy right now. What did you need?”

  “I just wanted to go over some ideas I had with him, I couldn’t find Mr. Kane anywhere.”

  Kyle poked his head around the book case, his hair was disheveled and red lip imprints covered his face. “Oh, hey Rodney, you scared me, I thought Mr. Kane might have come back.”

  Rodney couldn’t help but feel a little jealous, of who, he wasn’t quite sure. “I couldn’t find him, I just wanted to talk over some new security ideas, I figured you could help me smooth ‘em out.”

  Marla’s face suddenly appeared. “Get back here! Oh, hi Rodney, Kyle is indisposed at the moment.” She said, as she pulled him back behind the bookshelf, Kyle grinning ear to ear. Rodney heard loud smooching sounds.

  Rodney looked at Madison, who just shrugged. Rodney started to turn around when a series of distant gunshots pierced their ears. “On the ground!” Rodney yelled.

  Everyone dove to the floor, and Rodney crawled to the window, stuck his head up, and peered outside. The shots seemed to be coming from outside. This far out, he couldn’t quite make out what was going on, but there was a lot of commotion where all the boats were situated.

  “Everybody ok?” Rodney asked.

  “I’m fine!” Tess answered from behind the couch.

  We’re ok over here!” Madison said.

  “Good, but stay near the ground for now!” Rodney said.

  “Who put you in charge?” Kyle yelled.

  Rodney sighed. “Look, it’s just the smart thing to do, in case there’s anymore gunfire, there could be stray bullets!”

  The doors to the library opened, Tyrone and Valerie rushed in. “Is everyone ok in here?” Tyrone asked.

  Rodney stood up and ran to Mr. Kane. “Yes sir, I’ve got everything under control. I think the shots were coming from the boats in the lake.

  “Is everyone accounted for?” Mr. Kane asked.

  “Yes sir, we were all in here when the shots went down.”

  Tess stood up from behind the couch, and Madison, Marla, and Kyle came from the back of the library. Mr. Kane saw the red lip imprints all over Kyle’s face. “Kyle, go clean up your face, we’re going to have a little talk later on young man.”

  Kyle nodded and left the room. Mr. Kane looked around the room. “I’m not sure if it’s safe for us to spend so much time in the library now, not with those windows. The band room might be safer, it’s underground, no chance of a stray bullet in there.”

  “I don’t know Mr. Kane, I’m not sure that’s a good idea, at least up here we can see out. What if there’s people trying to rescue us, we’ll neve
r know if we’re shut in down there.” Rodney said.

  Mr. Kane rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “good point Rodney, but please, all of you, do your best to steer clear of the windows, at least during the day.”

  Kyle came back in, his face freshly scrubbed. Mr. Kane looked at him, and then at Marla. “Kyle, Marla, I need to talk to both of you in my office, please come with me.” Tyrone departed, with the two of them trailing behind him.

  Mr. Kane sat at his desk and looked sternly at the beautiful blonde in front of him. “Marla, I know you’re seventeen, almost an adult…but not yet. We have been thrust into a bad situation here, and undue fraternization could make it worse. Marla, you’re admired by many in this school, and an unplanned pregnancy could affect more people than just yourself.”

  Marla rolled her eyes. “Mr. Kane, like, I’m so sure…”

  “Now Marla, I was young once, and I’m not blind. You and Kyle like each other. That’s fine, but even in the best of situations, an unplanned pregnancy causes trouble, and this is far from the best of situations.”

  “Like, Mr. Kane, I totally get what you’re saying, but it’s so totally not an issue. I swear to God, me and Kyle are totally just friends.” Marla said earnestly.

  Mr. Kane considered whether or not to continue the conversation, and decided not to. “Ok Marla, that’s good to hear, you may go. Please send in Kyle on your way out.”

  The door closed behind Marla, she looked at Kyle sitting there. “Kyle, he wants to see you now. Don’t tell him anything about us!” Marla said, folding her arms.

  Kyle nodded and walked in, Mr. Kane motioned for him to sit in the chair in front of the desk. “Kyle, I know you’re going to be seventeen soon, damn near an adult! But you’re not one yet! Marla is, well, in my day we would have called her a ‘fox.’ Some of my friends in the navy might have actually used the term ‘stone cold fox.’

  Kyle turned beet red, and Mr. Kane grinned. “I’m not trying to embarrass you son, I actually kind of envy you.”