by Chelsea Luna
Nicky released his death grip from the brick and ignored the zombie reaching for his leg. He gently placed his hand on top of Lindsay’s trembling hand. “I’m right here. You can do it. I know you can.”
Lindsay swallowed. She extended her right leg. The three-foot gap between the window ledges allowed no room for error.
A zombie’s hand clenched Nicky’s pant leg.
Lindsay made the stretch and shifted her weight to the next windowsill. Nicky kicked the zombie and scooted to the edge. Something deep inside forced him to look down again. Morbid curiosity? Maybe. His eyes fell to the cement parking lot below.
The five-story drop immediately spiraled out of focus. A mix of grass, cement and parking lights spun in front of his vision like an out of control merry-go-round. His stomach lurched.
Nicky rested his forehead against the brick. Deal with your fear of heights or that zombie is going to gnaw on your leg like a chicken wing. He stretched his leg over the gap and blindly felt for the ledge. Think of something else. Don’t think of the five-story drop. His sneaker touched the reassuring concrete. He transferred his weight from one leg to the other and moved in between ledges.
“Nicky, are you okay?” Lindsay asked, panting.
Zombies crawled out of the window and fell head over heels five stories below. The periodic splats on the parking lot sounded like a ticking time bomb.
“I don’t like heights,” Nicky admitted.
Lindsay swallowed. “Me neither. Talk to me. It helps. Tell me about something. Tell me about your job before this happened.”
Nicky inched to the next ledge. His job? Great. He was too stressed out to come up with a good lie, so the truth came pouring out. “I worked part-time at General Motors and at the gas station on Fenton Road by the Rite Aid. There’s not much to talk about.”
“We’re halfway there. Tell me something else.”
“Sorry, the only things I can think about right now are zombies and falling to my death. And I curiously have a craving for fried chicken.”
“Tell me about the zombies,” Lindsay said.
“Uh, they’re about to eat me.”
“No, tell me what happened during your first night. Where were you? How did you know they were zombies? How did you meet up with Cage?”
Nicky moved to the next ledge. “Really? That’s all you can come up with? That’s a horrible thing to talk about right now.”
“Do you have a better idea?
“No.”
“Tell me. I think it might distract me.”
He didn’t want to relive that night, but he didn’t want to disappoint Lindsay, either. “I was walking home from the gas station. It was dark outside and it… everything just felt weird, you know?”
“I know.”
“I lived with my grandma on this quiet street lined with big trees. We had so many maple trees in the front yard that it was hard to see my house until I stood right in front of it. I immediately knew something was wrong, because the front door was wide open. My grandma usually had like eight locks on the door.” Nicky inched forward. He didn’t want to relive that night, but it was taking his mind off the fact that he was centimeters away from plunging to his death.
“What happened?”
Nicky exhaled. “I ran inside looking for my grandma. The pink wallpaper had bloodstains all over it. I heard shuffling in the kitchen and I went back there. My grandma was all zombied out and bloody with two other dead people bumping into the counters. I knew right there. I’d watched enough Romero films to spot a zombie when I saw one. I booked it out of there.”
“Did you have to kill your grandma?”
Nicky shook his head. “I couldn’t. She still looked like my grandma and I….” He gripped the brick. I couldn’t kill my grandmother, because I’m a loser. A coward. A useless piece of shit.
“I’m sorry, Nicky.”
“I took off running and stumbled into Rachel and Cage near the Wooden Barrel. Rachel threatened to shoot my foot off, but then we became friends.”
Lindsay sighed. “We made it.” She lunged into Adam’s open arms on the fire escape.
Nicky scooted to the edge and jumped. When his feet hit the metal, he pulled Lindsay into a bear hug. She squirmed in his arms, but she didn’t pull away.
Selena peered over the edge of the fire escape. “I hope this old thing can hold all of our weight.”
“Don’t worry, it’s about to get lighter,” Rachel said. “I’m going back inside.”
“You’re what?” Selena asked.
“I’m not leaving Cage.”
“Rachel,” Nicky said. “We don’t even know if he’s alive.”
Rachel threw him a sharp look.
Nicky put his hands up. “I’m just stating the obvious.”
“I’m going with you,” Adam said. “We can go in through a window on the fourth floor and then figure out how to get up to the fifth.”
“You can’t be serious!” Selena smacked his arm. “Adam Guerra, would you quit trying to be the hero all the time? You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“I can’t let Rachel go alone.”
Selena sighed. “And why can’t you? She’s more than capable.”
“I can —” Rachel started.
Adam shook his head. “I know, I know, you can do it yourself. That’s fantastic, but I’m going in with you. The rest of you, stay on the fire escape. We’ll be in and out in twenty minutes.” Adam looked at Rachel.
“Fine. Twenty minutes.” Rachel turned to Selena.
Selena exhaled. “Don’t worry, I’ll watch Morgan. You keep your eye on Adam.”
“I will. I promise.” Rachel kneeled down to Morgan. “I’ll be right back. I have to save my friend.” She pressed her forehead against her sister’s. “I love you.”
Adam and Rachel jogged down the fire escape stairs. Rachel leaned over the railing and smashed the nearest window with her baseball bat. The glass sprinkled down to the pavement. She hopped to the ledge and ducked inside like an acrobat. Nicky had no idea where she’d learned her moves, but he knew that she’d make the perfect ninja.
Before Adam went inside, he looked up at Nicky. “Twenty minutes. That’s it. We’ll be quick.”
“What if you’re not back in twenty minutes?” Lindsay asked.
Adam frowned. “Then run.”
Chapter Three
Three sets of ice-blue eyes stared at Cage Vance.
One set belonged to a security officer zombie. The other two deadheads were an adult male and female. They must’ve been chaperones or professors, because both of them were still wearing neon yellow Summer Science Fun T-shirts. The rest of the horde pounded on the door of the tiny kitchenette.
After Cage saved Lindsay, he lured the zombies down the hallway. He ducked into the kitchenette, but not before these three had slipped in after him. It wouldn’t be long until the horde broke down the door, but his immediate problem was the three zombies salivating at him like rabid dogs. He was trapped without a weapon.
Cage had fired all of his shots in the hallway and his gun was empty. He backed up until he slammed against the counter. He reached behind and randomly pulled open drawers.
The security officer unhinged his jaw and saliva dripped from his teeth. Splashes of blood covered his gray skin. He staggered forward with a broken tibia and both arms extended.
Cage stuck his hand in a drawer, desperately searching for a weapon. Something sharp sliced his thumb and he thanked his lucky stars.
The security guard lunged. Cage squeezed the handle and swung the knife upward in a quick motion. The sharp blade plunged into the zombie’s chin and up into his brain.
The other two zombies were on Cage before he could pull the blade out. He yanked the knife, but the steel was wedged in the security officer’s head. The others were too close. Cage hopped over the body and rammed his shoulder into the female’s stomach, knocking her off balance. He grabbed a kitchen chair and swung it at the man. The chair s
hattered over the zombie’s face. Cage grabbed a broken shard and plunged it through the man’s head.
The woman seized Cage from behind. Hot breath blew against his neck. She leaned in closer to take a chunk out of his throat. Cage reared his head back and slammed it into her forehead. The woman staggered off balance. Cage seized her by the shoulders and shoved her headfirst into the sharp granite corner until her body fell limp.
Cage retrieved the knife from the security officer’s head.
What was he going to do now? The door was about to break down and the windows didn’t open — not that he’d survive a five-story fall. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He needed a plan, but Rachel kept popping into his head. Was she okay? Did she find Morgan? What about Adam, Selena and Nicky? They were searching for Morgan on the third floor when the zombies stormed the stairwell. Did they get out of the building in time? Was everyone dead? He hadn’t heard gunshots or screams. Only growling. Cage was on his own.
The wooden door exploded off its hinges and zombies crashed into the room. The first wave stumbled to the ground while the ones behind them stomped over their bodies.
Cage backed into the corner with his knife. This was it. There was no way out.
He was trapped.
Chapter Four
Adam slipped into the fourth floor window, careful not to brush against the jagged glass jutting from the windowsill. Re-entering the zombie-infested dorm was a terrible idea, but Rachel was hell-bent on searching for Cage and Adam wasn’t going to let her do it alone. Besides, Adam felt like he owed it to Cage.
Owed it to both of them.
Adam had no idea how many zombies were roaming the fourth floor, but at least the room’s door was closed. They needed a plan to get up to the fifth floor to search for Cage. Hundreds of footsteps stomped on the ceiling above him. Was Cage up there? Was he alive?
It didn’t matter. They had to check.
The room must’ve belonged to a chaperone. A laptop sat open on a wooden desk and a suitcase full of men’s clothing was open on the bed. The laptop’s battery was dead and they didn’t have time to charge it.
Adam rummaged through the suitcase until he found a T-shirt. It would be snug, but it was better than going shirtless. He’d lost his shirt when he used it as a decoy on a sack of flour when he fled the zombies surrounding the U of M’s strip of restaurants and bars. That plan hadn’t worked too well. It was his fault the zombies overwhelmed the building. He led the horde here. It was his fault that Cage was missing.
He slipped on the black T-shirt. It smelled like stale popcorn.
Adam pulled his lead pipe from his back pocket. He felt lighter without the burden of the heavy backpack. It would be easier to fight without the bag and he wouldn’t have to worry about Selena either. Whenever he fought, half of his mind was always on Selena. That wasn’t the case when he was with Rachel. She could take care of herself. They would make an efficient team.
The thought Adam had been suppressing for the last hour resurfaced. When he was running for his life from the horde of zombies on the Strip — only two faces had flashed in his mind. First, his mother’s, understandably. The second face was Rachel’s.
Adam turned around. They had to find Cage.
“Nice shirt.” Rachel squinted. “Biology Nerds Do It Better?”
He shrugged. “Maybe they do.”
Rachel pressed her ear against the door. “I can hear moaning, but I don’t know if it’s coming from the hallway or upstairs.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Adam squeezed the handle and soundlessly opened the door. He leaned into Rachel’s ear. “Go quietly.”
Rachel nodded and slipped into the dark hallway. Light streamed in from the window at the end of the hall. Dawn was coming. The sparse light vaguely outlined the zombies, but it was better that way. Adam could see where the zombies were at in the hallway, but he didn’t have to see their actual faces. He wouldn’t have to do a double take and think he was looking into his mother’s face again.
Adam shook his head. Not now. He had to focus on the people he could help — Cage, hopefully, and the rest of the group. They needed him. They were depending on him. He couldn’t do anything for his mother anymore.
They slid into the hallway. Rachel was quiet. So quiet that Adam had to keep checking to make sure she was still behind him, but she was always inches away, moving like a lioness in the jungle. They reached the first zombie in the hallway.
Adam stepped and the zombie sluggishly swiveled in their direction. It was a female. Long curling hair fell down to her waist. She moaned in a childlike voice before she raised her arms and stumbled forward on uncertain feet.
The woman’s moans deepened into growls, but they were drowned out by the horde upstairs. Adam swung the pipe at the zombie’s head and the woman crumpled to the ground.
He didn’t know if the other zombies on the floor had heard his pipe attack. He didn’t want to wait to find out. Rachel disposed of another zombie sneaking up on them from behind.
They reached the stairwell door. Adam peeked out the square window. “I don’t see any of them, but that doesn’t mean it’s not crawling with zombies. Are you ready?”
“Do we have a plan?” Rachel asked.
“Yeah, don’t get bitten.” Adam slowly opened the door, but the hinges squeaked. The noise echoed off the concrete walls. “Quick, get in!”
Rachel darted in after Adam and closed the door. The stairwell’s emergency lights blinked on and off. The pulsating light resembled a horror movie. Nicky would’ve made a smart-ass comment if he were here. He’d tell them how they were doing things wrong and how it was supposed to be done in the movies. Adam smiled.
“Are you smiling?” Rachel asked.
“No.”
The zombies’ growls floated through the stairwell. Adam inched from the door to the railing. About ten zombies climbed the stairs below. They moved slowly, but they were determined to climb, however long it took them. Their bodies were in various forms of decay, which contributed to their slowness. One of the zombies only had one leg.
That was dedication.
The coast looked clear above them. He motioned for Rachel to follow and they climbed the stairs. One of the zombies two flights below moaned and reached for them, its desire causing its decayed body to tumble down the stairs.
The fifth floor was loud enough that the zombies in the stairwell wouldn’t attract the attention of the horde upstairs. The problem was how they were going to search the fifth floor with hundreds of walking dead crowding the hallway.
They climbed the stairs to the fifth floor. Rachel slid against the wall and peeked through the window. She immediately ducked her head.
“How many?” Adam whispered.
Rachel shrugged. “You know, a few.”
Adam read her face. “A few hundred?”
“Basically.”
The noise from the other side resembled the roaring of the ocean. The snarls and growls mixed into one horrible sound of crazed hunger. A putrid odor hung in the air.
“What’s the plan?” Adam asked.
“Don’t get bitten, right?” Rachel smiled. “You don’t have to do this with me, Adam. You can walk away. Selena is waiting for you on the fire escape. You don’t have to help me.”
Adam ignored her. “What’s the layout?”
“Two or three near the door. The majority of them are down the right hall, but the left hall is full, too.” She slipped her hand in Adam’s and squeezed. “Thank you.”
“We need to stay together. I want you by my side at all times.” He squeezed her hand back. “And you’re welcome.”
Rachel stood from her crouch. “Let’s get them off the floor.”
“Diversion?”
“We can lead them down to the fourth floor, hop out the window to the fire escape and climb back up to the fifth floor to do a quick search for Cage. Does that sound like a good plan?”
Adam smiled. �
�It’s a whole lot better than ‘don’t get bitten.’ Stay close. Hopefully, there aren’t too many of the quick ones.”
“Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Adam pushed open the door. The growling and smell of decayed bodies hit him like a one-two punch.
It wasn’t until the door was all the way open that Adam saw the sheer number of zombies filling the hallway. Rachel and Adam stood side by side in the doorway. Rachel raised her bat and banged it against the metal frame. Adam did the same with his lead pipe.
“Come and get us!” Rachel screamed.
The zombies turned their heads. The floor was dark, but they didn’t need a light to know that the entire hallway of zombies were after them.
Chapter Five
Cage pressed against the wall as the zombies staggered into the kitchenette. The snarling was louder. Their bloodlust grew hungrier now that he was within reach. Cage clutched the kitchen knife. The blade was stained red from the security officer. What was he going to do? Should he do himself in with the kitchen knife? Could he do that? It would be better than being torn to shreds.
The zombies stomped over their fallen comrades — stepping on them as if they didn’t exist. Cage pointed the tip of the knife blade to his chest, directly over his heart. He said a silent prayer, asking his parents for forgiveness, and a prayer for Rachel, hoping she’d found Morgan and was somewhere safe. He exhaled, calming his nerves and shaky hand. He pulled the handle back to plunge it into his heart.
“Psst, hey! Don’t do that!”
Cage opened his eyes. Did someone just speak?
The first zombie lunged at him. Cage slid to the side and watched as the dumb creature slammed headfirst into the wall. He ducked and twirled, avoiding the grabbing hands from another two corpses.
“Hello? Is somewhere there?” Cage looked around the room like an idiot. He only saw zombies and kitchen appliances. Maybe he imagined the voice? Maybe he was losing it?
“Up here.”
The standard stucco was broken into rows of square paneled tiles. In the row closest to the window, a tiny gap of blackness appeared in the white ceiling.
