by Gayle Katz
It was now time for dinner, so she headed for the dining hall.
It was the same food as lunch, so she chose mac and cheese instead of hot dogs. She really hoped there would be something different the next day.
“How is everyone doing?” asked Owen.
“Good,” everyone said through mouthfuls of food.
“I heard there’s a nature walk tonight,” said Mike. “We get to bring our flashlights and walk in the dark.”
“Sounds like fun,” said Owen.
“Great,” said Charlie. “Sounds like I’ll have to tag along so no one does anything stupid.”
“I heard that there’s going to be a party at the dining hall for those who stay behind,” said Mike.
“Hmm, tempting,” said Charlie. “But I’d better go with them. What are the teachers thinking, allowing inexperienced students to traipse around in the dark? There could be coyotes, bears, and cougars out there.”
“Oh my!” said Owen.
Everyone laughed.
“Ahhhh!” screamed one of the students in the distance.
“What the?” called out Mike.
“She bit me!” cried a student.
“What?” shouted Charlie. She jumped out of her chair and raced to the other table.
A student held up her arm. There was a distinctive human teeth-shaped wound near the elbow. “Why did you do that?” she yelled at her friend.
“I don’t know,” said the girl. “Something came over me.”
Charlie rushed over to her and looked in her eyes. They seemed normal. She wasn’t drooling. She reached out a hand to touch her face. It did seem a bit warm.
“I think both need to be sent to First Aid,” she said, as Principal Allan walked up. “There’s an incidence of typhoid fever in the city. She may have given it to the other student. Both need medical assistance,” Charlie explained.
Principal Allan frowned at her but agreed. Both students were escorted to the First-Aid building.
“Oh, and lock them in,” she said. “We don’t want the fever to spread.”
Principal Allan looked like he wanted to ask her questions, but he had to get the students to First Aid.
After they left, she and Owen whispered to each other.
“Man, I don’t like that,” said Owen. “Was that a zombie?”
“It’s curious,” she replied. “Usually, their eyes glow green and they display more symptoms. What are their names?” she asked.
Owen replied, “That was Tonia who bit Sam.”
“The trouble with zombie outbreaks is that they’re ever evolving and changing. I guess we’ll have the answer in a couple of hours if they both start turning.”
“Yep,” said Owen. “Perhaps we should just cancel tonight’s walk?”
“Nah, it’s in an hour, and only half an hour long. If they turn, it won’t be for another two or three hours. We have plenty of time. I can make sure everyone stays safe on the nature walk, then get back here in time to check on Tonia and Sam.”
“We might have to sleep outside tonight to watch them,” suggested Owen.
“Yeah, that’s the spirit!”
“OK, I’m going to go brush my teeth, then I’ll meet you at the beach for the start of the walk,” said Owen.
“That sounds like a plan,” she replied. “It’s odd, but I can’t help but feel that I’m missing something here. Well, let’s hope that I figure it out over the next couple of hours.”
Owen nodded. He headed off to his tent, while Charlie headed to hers. She wanted to grab her pair of hiking boots. It would help to carry one of her daggers. She hoped that Principal Allan didn’t figure it out. It would be disastrous if she had her weapons taken away from her, especially if something bad did happen.
She tucked one of them in her back pants pocket, complete with protective pouch so that she didn’t accidentally stab herself sitting down.
Chapter 7
________________________________________
The nature walk began at the lake. Charlie purposefully was the last in line. Owen was just ahead of her. In front were two teachers that she didn’t know. They were probably from arts or cooking classes that she felt were useless.
“I don’t like this,” said Owen. “What was up back there?”
“I’m not certain. I’d hate to jump the gun and call Stewart, err, Mr. George though.”
“Hmm. Maybe you should. You’re supposed to check in after all.”
“Right. Well, there’s nothing to do on this boring walk anyway.” She hung back a bit more, but made certain that she could see Owen ahead of her. At regular intervals, he’d look back to check on her.
“Hey, what’s up?” asked Stewart. “I was just getting dinner.”
She sighed. “Well, I’m not certain it’s anything, really.”
“Oh? How is camping?” he asked.
“Quite honestly, really, really boring. I had to inject some zombie humor into my self-defense class, otherwise, everyone would have fallen asleep.” As she walked down the dirt pathway, she reached out an arm to brush against the shrubs that framed the path.
“You what?” he said, trying to control his voice.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell them the truth. I just gave them tips in case there was a zombie apocalypse.”
“What did I say about keeping a low profile? You could have mentioned vampires instead. Why zombies? You need to stick to fictitious things that aren’t real.”
“I know, right. I’ll be more careful next time. Trouble is that I was in a class with my truthsayer friend.”
“Darn it,” said Stewart. “Maybe you should stay away from him. What are you going to do if you let something slip when you find the zleader?”
“Well, I was trying to practice keeping my mouth shut, and it’s worked pretty good so far. I guess if I stop being creative and focus, then that will help me a lot.”
“Good, good,” he said. “So, why did you really call me?”
Charlie sighed. If he was unhappy with her joking about zombies, then he was going to be unhappy to hear this.
“OK, so, at dinner tonight, one of the students bit another,” she started to explain.
“Oh my god, what?” he exclaimed.
“It was a little bite, barely broke the skin. But I suggested to Principal Allan that both be confined to the first-aid room, as it might be typhoid fever. He didn’t object.”
“Typhoid, you’re funny!” he said. “So, did either of them exhibit zombie tendencies?” he asked.
“Actually, no,” she replied. “Tonia bit Sam. When they were escorted away, they both seemed fine. Tonia was apologetic. She didn’t have glowing green eyes or anything.”
There was silence on the other end.
And then, something that sounded like a storm came out from the other end of the telephone. Charlie had to hold it far away from her head. There was a long stream of extremely bad words she’d heard before but would get in trouble if she said them in front of Gran.
When the harangue ended, she asked, “So, what’s up?”
“Don’t you get it?” he said into the telephone.
“Mmmm?”
“A zombie who doesn’t look like a zombie? One who probably is wearing contact lenses?”
“What? Are you certain?” she asked. “How is that even possible?”
“You’ll have to track her down and kill her.”
“But, I don’t have my special dagger yet!”
“Damn it, you’re right! I’ll have to drive out there tonight and meet you. OK. Here’s the plan. Do not engage with her. Continue on with whatever you’re doing right now.”
“Got it,” she said. “I’ll just continue on this nature walk we’re doing.”
“Good, I’ll text you when I’m there, and we can arrange to meet for the exchange of the dagger.”
“Ooh,” she squealed. “It’s ready then?”
“Yep, it’s ready. Gotta go.” He hung up.
Owen
looked concerned. “So, what was that about?”
“Apparently Tonia could be the zleader! Who knew?”
“I meant to ask you earlier, but what on earth is a zleader?” he asked.
By now, both of them were far away from the group ahead. They weren’t concerned about being overheard.
“Well, apparently when the first zleader or zombie leader dies, the person they most recently bit becomes the new zleader. There can be benefits. If they are too far-gone, they actually regenerate skin, bones, and hair. They start looking as human as you and me. Usually, they leave the city they’re in, and they move to a new city.”
“Why?” he asked.
“You know, we’re not really sure. We think it might have something to do with respect for the last dead zleader or something.”
“So, if every city had a zleader, and they were killed, there would be none left to make new zombies?”
She nodded. “Well, technically. Obviously we don’t want a zleader in every town. Can you imagine the chaos? It would be the end of the world.”
Just then, they heard rustling sounds coming from ahead.
“Did you miss me?” asked Zan. “It sounds like you need me if the zleader is close.”
“Dammit, were you listening in again?” said Charlie.
“Of course. It’s my job,” Zan said, smirking.
“Fine, but from now on, you follow my orders. It’s your fault that we’re even here,” Charlie said, berating her.
“Yeah, it’s my fault we’re camping.” She paused. “Well, actually it’s my parents’ fault. They wanted me to go.”
“OK, great. Make up already,” said Owen. “We should catch up with the others. Otherwise, they’ll wonder where we are.”
“Let’s go,” said Zan.
“Fine,” said Charlie, grabbing her hand.
“Hey,” said Zan. “Too close!”
Owen rolled his eyes.
“Say, you came back,” Zan said to him.
“Yep, well, I’m the wuss in the group. You ladies tackle the rough stuff. I’ll tackle the mind hacking.”
“You can do mind hacking?” she asked. “Hmmm.”
Just then, there was a commotion from up ahead. The screaming started moments later.
“And so it begins,” said Charlie.
zzz
Charlie, Owen, and Zan raced down the path to find the other students. When they arrived, there were four lying in the path, trying to get up. The rest of the students had scattered, except for one who was chowing down on the teacher on the far end of the path.
“What happened?” cried Owen.
“Someone went crazy,” said one of the students lying on the ground. Owen helped him to stand up.
“You weren’t bitten, were you?” he asked.
“Nope, don’t think so, but that guy wasn’t so lucky.” He nodded at the student eating the teacher. By now, blood and guts were everywhere. Fortunately, the teacher was already dead.
Charlie tiptoed up to the student. It wasn’t anyone she knew. He was probably from the art or the cooking classes. She pulled the dagger from her back pocket and quickly plunged it into the student’s head. He went down fast.
She walked another step and did the same to the teacher. She wasn’t taking any chances, even though when humans were too far eaten they often didn’t turn into zombies themselves.
“Man, that’s crazy,” said Owen. “Are there zombies everywhere now?”
Charlie shook her head.
Zan was running around the path, checking the other students. She’d already dispatched one of the students who had glowing green eyes. Fortunately, the other students outside their group didn’t see her do it.
“What a mess. We need to find some adults in charge,” said Owen.
“Good luck with that,” said Charlie. “Where did the others go?”
“They scattered as soon as the attack happened. That zombie guy came at us and pushed us down. Oh crap,” the other guy said, as he saw that one of the other students hadn’t made it.
“What’s your name?” asked Charlie.
“Ben,” he replied.
“Ben, I’m Charlie. That’s Zan and Owen. Can you help us find the other students? If any one of them has been bitten, they can turn into zombies too.”
He nodded, and followed them down the path.
They walked for a bit, but Charlie had the sneaking feeling that the students had scattered into the forest and weren’t even on the path anymore.
“Hey, I think we’re going to have to report this. How can we expect to hunt for zombies if we’re in the middle of the forest?” said Zan.
“Good point,” said Charlie. “Maybe we can be the bait? You have a dagger, right?”
Zan nodded.
Owen came striding up. “I have this,” he said, holding up a sharp stick.
Charlie rolled her eyes. “Just make sure that you aim for the eye socket with that, otherwise, it’ll be useless.”
He grinned.
“I have an idea,” she added. “Let’s draw them to us now.”
“OK, but I have a question,” said Owen, sticking his head close to her. “That student had to have been bitten by someone else first. So, where did that zombie go?”
“Good question,” she said. “Let’s do this and see if we can draw them out. There is at least one other zombie out there.”
“OK, let’s do it,” said Zan.
Everyone gathered up what sticks and rocks they could carry. Once they had what they needed, they gathered together on the path.
“OK, one, two, three,” cried out Charlie.
“Ahhhhhh,” yelled the team in unison. They used the sticks against the bushes and shrubs to make noise. They banged rocks together.
After a couple minutes, there was success. The bushes in front of them moved. Charlie held up her arm for them to hush. Then there was silence. But the noise still came from the bushes. Out walked one of the other teachers. Her eyes glowed green. Her nose had decayed and was rotting the flesh off her face while her lips had fallen away from her jawline, exposing a row of teeth.
Zan rushed up and killed her with the dagger in her hand.
Charlie looked around but didn’t see anyone else. By now, they were almost back at the beach, as the path took a circuitous route. The group entered the clearing.
There were a bunch of students on the beach. Some looked on edge while others were happy to see them.
“Ben,” said Charlie. “I need you to take attendance. We need to know anyone who is missing.”
“Will do,” he said, pulling out his smartphone.
“I’ll check the others and make sure no one else has been bitten,” said Zan, rushing away.
“Good idea,” said Charlie. She walked up to the lake and washed her dagger off, then placed it back in the holster in her back pocket.
Ben came rushing up to her. “If we include those who were killed, then I think everyone is accounted for, except for Tonia and Sam.”
“Great,” she said. “And except for whoever bit the first person.”
“Probably someone ran in and bit them, and then ran off,” said Owen, trying to be helpful.
“Yep, that’s my best guess. I suggest people stay here, as it’s a wide-open space and you can see danger coming. Also, people need to gather together weapons,” Charlie instructed Ben. “While you do that, Owen, Zan, and I will head to the campsite and see what’s up.”
She headed in that direction, with Owen and Zan following.
“Say, weren’t you supposed to check on Tonia and Sam?” asked Owen.
“That’s right,” she said. “Probably shouldn’t have listened to Stewart and just done it right away. My best guess is that Tonia and Sam are on the loose now.”
“Darn it,” said Zan. “We should have snuck out when we could’ve and offed them right away.”
“Yeah, but there were just too many people watching. As it is, how do we explain what happened on the pa
th? Even the zombies are dead. Perhaps we should have chained one of them up. What a mess,” she commented.
“Well, I don’t think that’s going to be an issue,” said Zan. “Things are escalating here. There may be no one left alive to explain to the cops what happened.”
“I hope not. Otherwise, we haven’t done our jobs properly,” said Charlie. “Say, Owen, if you’re near a person, can you detect if they’re a zombie or not?”
“Yeah, but we already know when they’re zombies. Their eyes glow green and they want to eat human flesh.”
“I mean in finding the zleader, who obviously knows how to mask her appearance.”
“Yes. Yes, I can,” he said.
Chapter 8
________________________________________
Owen, Zan, and Charlie headed to the campsite where the tents were set up, while Ben remained behind.
“Say, I wonder where my roommate is?” asked Owen.
“You mean Mike?” asked Zan. “I haven’t seen him around here anywhere.”
As they entered the clearing, they saw the camp in disarray. Some tents had been collapsed, with camping gear strewn everywhere.
“Hey, guys! Where have you been?” called out a voice behind them.
“Mike! I was wondering where you were!” said Owen.
“I’m fine. I just had to stay behind to look after the camp.”
Zan looked around her. “Wow, good job!”
“No,” he said in protest. “The camp was fine until Principal Allan came along,” explained Mike.
Charlie wandered around, tidying things up. “Oh crap. We’d better get this straightened up before the teachers find out. This day has been a total mess!”
“Wait, it was Principal Allan who messed up the campsite?” Zan asked.
“Yep,” said Mike. “He was tearing through the site, looking for zombies.”
“Zombies?” asked Charlie. “So, he knows they’re a thing. That means there’s another problem on site.”
“Did he find any?” asked Owen.
“No,” said Mike.
“OK, you guys stay here. I’m going to go check on where they put Sam and Tonia. I’m guessing they got out, or something.”
