The sound was something he would never forget. It sounded like it was crying while it died and as if gasping for air, but he knew they didn’t breathe but were able to smell which was a mystery all on its own. Pulling the blade out, he heard the undead drop flat on the floor, and with one more look it appeared dead. Its eye was still open and looked just under the door at him. It was cold and bloodshot. It also had a look of sadness in it. Frank couldn’t feel sorry for it no matter if it used to be human or not. Getting up he grabbed the door and pulled it open. As it swung open and blur rushed at him from across the room of the office, Frank slammed the door just in time to feel the door buckle because of the impact from the other side.
Frank only saw one when they crossed the window up front, so where did the other one hide at? With its speed as it came at him, he knew it was a sprinter and he was in trouble if he thought he could overpower it. Using his first idea he came up with before he cut his finger, Frank began rubbing the door with the blade’s tip. The sprinter beat on the door at the sound with new enthusiasm. Having a good guess, Frank placed the tip of the blade at the back of the door and shoved it hard. The blade passed right through it and was stuck on whatever it hit on the other side.
A little scared Frank gave the handle of the machete a shake, and it was stuck well. Grabbing the doorknob he opened the door slowly. Frank kept his face close to the door’s opening to have a quick peek to see if anything else was going to rush at him when he opened it. As it opened a hand reached in and nearly ripped his face off. Frank fell backward, and the door swung open as he fell.
The undead he stabbed was stuck to the blade, and as the door opened the zombie was pulled along with it. It tried to dislodge itself from the metal and get to him, but it was unable to do so. Frank released a breath and stood up and watched it fight to get off. It was trying to look backward at him so to reach for him and grab a hold.
Frank looked around for a new weapon, because he knew it wouldn’t stay stuck for much longer. Moving at the open door, careful not to get grabbed by the zombie, there were loads he could use to kill it; but this was a sprinter and was fast. So Frank looked for something he could use at a distance and kill it in case it free itself when he closed in for the kill.
There were loads to use for up close kills. He could grab a computer screen and bash its head or even use a chair the children would sit in while waiting to kill it. Just one chair leg in the back of the head would end it. But what if he missed and it got free and turned on him and ate him?
Losing patience he began smacking stuff all over the place and on to the floor. A cup of pencils shot across the room and hit the wall. Frank watched the pencils hit and went all over the place. But the pencils were not what kept his attention. On the wall where they hit was a pole for a flag, and at the end of it was a bronze eagle. Walking over he ripped it off the wall and went to the main office’s door where the zombie was still stuck. Staying a good distance away, he raised the pole up high.
“God bless America,” said Frank as he slammed it into the back of its moving head.
The first hit looked to only stun it some, and so Frank kept slamming it over and over again. Even after it stopped moving, he kept hitting it some more to make sure. This was the first sprinter he had ever killed so far. Most people ran from them for they were too fast and moved too much to shoot sometimes.
With the door open now, the light from the outside that came through the glass windows in the office helped light up the nurse’s office. Going back inside he began to look around for something to use. There was a big bottle of alcohol, and Frank reached up and grabbed it. Walking over to Matt he lifted his head and poured it on the cut some.
Matt flinched in his arms as it was poured onto the cut on his head. It was still too dark to see what the cut looked like, so he continued to pour some more on it; and once it was half empty, he recapped it. Getting back up he looked into the cabinet and drawers for anything. He came across some cue tips, some slave to use on cuts, and some Band-Aids for cuts and scrapes. Each Band-Aid had a cartoon figure on them, but he didn’t care much. It wasn’t like others were going to laugh at one with it nowadays. Using one of the Band-Aids, Frank wrapped his finger with it and went to the bathroom close by. As he was going to it, a locked cabinet caught his eye. Frank stopped and went over to it and tried to pull it open, but it was indeed locked tight. Walking back to the door leading to the main office, Frank closed it some and grabbed the handle sticking out the door itself. Placing a foot on the door, Frank gave it a pull with all he had. But it was stuck in there good, and no matter what he did he couldn’t get it free.
Walking into the office, he picked up the pole, walked back into the cabinet, and used the bloody eagle figure on the end of the pole to smash the locked cabinet door.
The door was made of a thin sheet of wood, so it was smashed with one good hit. Tossing the pole Frank walked over and ripped the rest of the wood out of the way. It was too dark to see what was inside it. Grabbing his shirt he pulled it out with one hand and used his other hand to wipe at the shelf and pulled it to him. Everything on the shelf poured onto his shirt, and once done he pushed the shirt tight to his chest.
Making his way into the main office, Frank poured what’s on his shirt out on the front desk to have a look at them all. There were some asthma inhalers and some aspirin for adults and Motrin for the kids. There were also a lighter and heat or cold packs. Opening the bottle of pills, he poured some into his hand and went to Matt. Matt was still lying there doing nothing and looked to be sleeping. It was going to be too hard to have him take the pills this time, so Frank replaced them and grabbed the kids’ Motrin and opened it up.
Using one hand he opened his friend’s mouth and poured the bottle into it. Matt looked to be about to spit them out, so Frank closed his mouth and placed his hand over it and pinched his nose with the other hand.
Matt gasped for air and ended up swallowing the Motrin and choking some of it. Frank gave him some water to help him out and looked around for a pillow or something. He couldn’t find one, so he used the soft office chair that was knocked over. Using its back he placed it under Matt’s head and used a blanket he found in the corner of the room to cover him up.
Frank could do nothing but wait it out now and hope it would work. While he waited he looked in all the drawers of the desk for things to use. There wasn’t much in any of them. There was a toy bunny on the printer, and upon opening it up he found some batteries. Taking them out he placed them in his bag along with the pills and other things he found so far. Feeling a bit tired himself, he went to the other side of the front desk and grabbed a chair and wedged it up against the doors just in case.
As Frank placed the chair and was moving away, he saw movement. Frank ran behind the front desk and watched as it passed. It looked to be an undead child walking down the hall past the glass window up front. The child looked to be a young girl no more than maybe eight years old. She was missing an arm, and the bone stuck out the end of her meaty tissue. As she passed the glass, she reached out her bone nub and ran it down the glass window. It made a sound like nails on a chalkboard. Frank wanted to do nothing more than run out there and bash her head open just to stop the sound. But the undead girl passed and went around the corner and out of sight. Frank set back and rested his head on the front desk and closed his eyes. And before he knew it, he was off to dream land. But he didn’t dream or even sleep long for the school bell rang off again, and he woke up and looked around for Matt. When he saw he was still safe, he leaned back and fell asleep.
The sun was going down, and the sky turned amber in color. Its rays made the world look peaceful for a change. As they fell on the school through the windows, the walls inside had tiny rainbows on them. The fading light hid all the bloodstains for the most part, and the smell of mold and death stayed dormant with the absence of wind blowing.
Night would soon be across the land, and the undead would begin to get restless and move ar
ound more. It seemed they preferred the night more than the day. Could it be the heat dried them out and made their movement slower? Or was it just they found the night easier to sneak up on a meal? Whatever the case might be, night was a time for hiding and keeping quiet.
Inside a small office made of glass, Frank slept on the floor. He had dozed off sitting down and must have fell over to make himself more comfortable. Matt on the other hand was in the next room of the nurse’s office sleeping under a blanket sweating out a fever.
Matt soon awoke as the sun’s final rays were about to vanish for the night. One of the rays came in from the main front doors and bounced off some pictures on the walls and found its way into the glass wall of the main office, which led to the main hall. The ray came in the glass at a strange angle and was hitting him straight in the eye. Matt awoke and tried to push the light away from his face. With no luck there, he moved his head and looked around. The room was rather dark except for a spot of sunlight coming in which must have been what woke him up.
Matt pushed the blanket off him and got up groggy and staggered to his feet. Looking around he couldn’t see Frank anywhere, but what he did see was two dead zombies. One lay on the floor in the middle of a doorway, while the other was stuck to the door itself by a knife of some kind. Giving the bodies a push with his foot, they remained still, and he could see they were dead for good. Stepping over them he found himself in a huge room of some kind. There were computers and a printer. There were some desks and a counter. Looking over the counter, he could see out the glass wall into the hallway.
Upon seeing this everything clicked and it all came back to him. He was in a school, and this room he was in must be the main office. The only answer he didn’t know was where was Frank. Taking a step behind the front desk, he started walking and tripped on something and nearly fell down. Down by his feet lay the body of his friend, his friend who saved his life over and over again all his life not just these past couple days.
Dropping down as fast as he could, he felt for a heartbeat. There was one there. It gave him hope, and he relaxed a bit. His friend had risked so much to get him here half carrying him to places, fighting mountain lions, and even giving him a river bath. The least he could do was let him sleep some more and rest up some. Getting up he checked the doors to make sure all was still secure. The nurse’s office was still locked, and the glass doors leading to the hall were safe. He gave the chair a couple of good kicks to wedge it better to be on the safe side.
Standing there Matt looked out the glass. He watched the halls and saw the shadows make a moving picture like they were alive. Keeping still he could make out some of them like one was by a table in a room that must be on its side. It looked like a person playing Frankenstein. There were many more. Even one looked like it was moving around.
Turning around after watching the shadows, he stopped and looked back outside the glass. The shadow he saw that looked to be moving was actually moving. It looked like a lot were moving and coming closer. Hurrying Matt hid behind the front desk just over Frank’s sleeping body. Making sure Frank’s legs were not sticking out past the edge, Matt pulled a couple of fake plants together on the desk. Hiding behind them he watched the shadows come closer and closer.
The thing making the shadow showed itself finally and made Matt take in a deep breath of fear. He let it out while it was passing. The zombie children moved around in the hall fast. They moved so fast he couldn’t make out them all or count how many were there. All he knew was it was too many to fight solo, and if you did try, you would most likely be overrun.
As the zombie children ran past the glass, some turned left, while others went right down the halls. After about thirty seconds to a minute, the last of them passed by. But the one at the end slowed down and looked into the office. It looked as if it wanted to walk in and have a look around. It walked over the door and pressed its body against it to see if it would open. The chair holding the doors gave out a sound but didn’t budge. The zombie child tried couple more times and with no luck stuck its face to the crack in between the doors. To Matt it looked to smell the air within the room.
Looking over at the undead in the doorway next to him, he hoped its smell masked their scent. Looking back it looked like he was right. The undead zombie child looked around and saw it was alone and started down the hall and turned right and up the hall to the back of the building.
Matt released his breath and plopped down next to his friend. The sunlight was completely gone, and the temperature seemed to be dropping fast. Getting back up he went back in the nurse’s office and grabbed the blanket he had and went back to Frank and covered him up. Setting down next to him, he waited in the dark for a while till he soon fell back to sleep alongside his friend.
Ring! Ring!
The bell sounded off, and both boys awoke with a start. Frank jumped to his feet and looked around as if not sure where he was. Matt slowly got to his feet and stretched his limbs. Frank seemed to come back to reality and looked over at Matt.
“How do you feel?” asked Frank.
Matt gave a shrug. Frank thanked God for letting him find the Motrin and gathered up his bag and stuff. Matt did the same as well and even grabbed the blanket. Rolling it up he tied it to the top of his bag and saw his machete was gone.
“Where’s my weapon?” Matt asked, looking around in case it fell off.
Frank looked over and pointed to the door leading to the nurse’s office. “It’s there. It’s stuck, and I was unable to pull it out.”
Matt cursed him and walked over to the back of the door and gave it a pull himself. Holding his breath he gave it a mighty pull and nearly passed out. Releasing his breath all he could see was stars in his eyes popping all over.
“Oh my god, dude. It’s like Arthur pulling the sword from the stone,” said Matt, giving it one more try.
Frank nodded and walked over and picked up the pole with the eagle on the tip. Holding it out right, he slammed it on his knee and broke it. The sound made Matt jump and look over at him.
“What are you doing?” asked Matt.
“I’m making you a weapon, duh, because you’re not getting that thing out of there.”
Matt cursed him again and took the stick and walked to the chair holding the glass door. Before they exited out, Matt told Frank what he saw that night and told him it would be safe to maybe head right back the way they came in, toward the front doors.
Frank said sure and went to move the chair. As soon as his hand touched the chair, it fell down and bounced on the floor. Looking up he could read Matt’s face as well. If the zombie child had hit the door last night one more time, the chair would have fallen and allowed it to move in. Using his foot he pushed the chair out of their way, and they moved out into the hall.
Walking back toward the door through which they entered the school, they soon found out leaving the school was not going to be easy. Once there they could see out in the yard, and it was now crawling with the undead. It seemed the ones that followed them from out of the woods made it to the school and stopped out in the yard waiting for them to come out.
So going out the front wasn’t going to happen, so they turned around to go back. But they found it was a no go as well. There seemed to be a couple of undead children at the end of the hall looking all over. It seemed they were not spotted yet, and if they didn’t move soon, they would be.
There was a stairwell to their left. They would have to cross the hall and pass the front doors to get to it. But what choice did they have? Counting to three with their fingers, they took off and went up the stairs to the second floor. Once they were on the second flight of steps, they stopped. Frank walked up the rest and looked around, while Matt waited watching the bottom in case something followed them. The second floor looked clear for the most part, so they moved on up and out of the stairwell.
This floor looked like the one downstairs but not as bad. There were blood drops here and there but not as many smears. Most of the lo
ckers were closed up, but there were some that were opened to the world. Looking back there was a sign at the top of the ceiling above the last step saying “Second Floor Grades 2nd and 3rd.”
Matt figured kindergarten and first grade were downstairs, so the next floor must be fourth and fifth.
Keeping low and against the wall, they walked on to the end of the hall. Matt was trying to be careful but kept finding himself hitting some of the locks on the lockers as he passed them. They didn’t make too much sound and clang against their locker. But it was enough to freeze a second or two and try and hold them still in case they swung and hit again.
Most of the doors on this floor were closed off and locked. Frank made it a habit to check some of them as they passed. Matt wasn’t sure why he was doing so. He guessed in case they needed to hide out somewhere fast. They wrapped around the corner of the hall and was heading to the back of the building.
Stopping about midway down the hall, they both stood there listening for movement. They didn’t hear anything moving, but something was crying. They gave a “What is that?” look at each other and moved toward the sound. A couple of rooms down, they found a closed door, but it wasn’t locked. The crying was coming from within.
Frank reached up and turned the knob slowly and gave it a slight push. The door opened up to a crack, and the crying got a little louder. Looking in he didn’t see anything and gave Matt the go ahead, and they both slipped inside the door pulling it shut behind them. The crying was louder once inside the room and was coming from the back. There seemed to be a pile of desks stacked up in a semicircle in the back of the room. Frank looked over, and Matt was already on his way to have a look at what it was.
Z Notes | Book 1 | Z Notes Page 11
