Z Notes | Book 1 | Z Notes

by Lilly,Shawn L.

  The desk looked like a barricade you would find in a battlefield. They got closer, but they still couldn’t see what was behind it. Once they were a couple of feet away, they could start to see whiteness just behind it. Matt was in a hurry and was the first to make it just around the side of it. Setting there with its back to them was a small girl in a white dress. Matt’s mouth dropped open, and he fell to his knees. This girl must have been up here for a while now and was hungry and crying from the pain and of being alone. Inching closer Matt took off his pack.

  “It’s OK, little girl. We’re here to help you,” said Matt.

  The little girl seemed to be holding something and dropped it when he spoke. She turned her head at the sound of his voice. Matt saw what he feared the most of all, a jumper. His good heart had gotten him in trouble.

  The little girl’s bloodshot eyes fell upon him, and like some kind of undead ninja, she was on her feet and looking at him. Her lower jaw was completely gone, and her tongue was wagging in the air. The crying seemed to be coming from a baby doll she was holding that she dropped as soon as he spoke. Matt did what he could do to get away, but he couldn’t get up fast.

  Trying to get up and get away at the same time, he ended up falling backward and crab crawling away. The little girl was already taking a starting run to leap on him. As the girl jumped into the air, it was as if she flew at him and then away from him all in one jump.

  Frank saw the little girl jump to her feet and bum-rush. Matt had no way of getting away from her attack. As the little zombie girl jumped at Matt, Frank caught her in midair. Using her own momentum against her, he spun her around and launched her out the nearby window.

  The window shattered as the little girl went out of it. She fell two stories to the ground and landed with a thud on the grass below. Rushing to the window Frank took a look out and down. The little girl was already getting back to her feet, and she looked up at him. She had grass stain on her pretty white dress and pure hate in her eyes now. She started for the front of the building when an air horn sounded off in the distance. The little zombie girl stopped and looked up, as did Frank. It sounded like it came from the back of the school somewhere. Looking back down the little zombie girl was gone, and there was no trace of her anywhere.

  The air horn was loud enough to echo off every wall in the school and some surrounding buildings. The undead from all over stopped at the sound and looked up from whatever they were doing. The ones closer to the school began to move toward the rear of the building. The other stayed put till they saw the closer ones moved. It became a change reaction among them, and before long they were coming from blocks away. The ones who couldn’t walk and could only crawl dragged their useless lower halves behind them.

  As they approached they grouped around a double door near the back of the school. With so many trying to get in at the same time, they soon got jammed up and were unable to fit in. Fighting with each other to get in past one another, they soon made a huge wall of undead zombies, and it was getting bigger and bigger.

  Frank looking out the window could see across the yard and saw that he wasn’t the only one who heard the air horn. It looked as if the whole city heard it. The undead were traveling from all over toward them now. Looking behind him he could see Matt looking at him for the answer they both needed to know.

  “What was that noise and where did it come from?”

  Matt got to his feet and walked to the window and had himself a look and turned white with fear. How could their luck be so bad these past couple of days? It all started with coming into a town looking for food and finding that damn house with the arrow leading to a note. Now they were trapped in a school with hundreds of the undead ascending toward them.

  With no time to lose, they hurried and opened the door to the hall and looked out. The hall was still clear. Moving out they moved down the lockers and toward the back of the building still. They could see the undead were moving toward the front of the school and the doors were open. So going back downstairs was not an option for them. They both knew it was most likely packed. Matt figured they best move fast and took the lead. It was only a matter of time before the undead gathered down below and started migrating upstairs to them.

  Frank stood still while Matt moved by and smiled. Frank liked being in charge when he had to, but he wasn’t much of a leader. Following Matt’s lead they passed locked doors of classrooms without even taking a look inside. With the ones open they would slow but not stop and keep moving. Every so often he would see Matt look behind them as if expecting something to show up. It soon dawned on him why he was looking behind them and knew what he was watching for. Picking up the pace they decided to not creep and lean over. They were now standing up and almost running down the hall.

  The floors in the hall covered in blood smears and paper made it hard to keep their footing sometimes. Each uncontrolled step made them slip and almost fall to the hard cold marble floor. Their footsteps echoed off the walls on each side and radiated all over. They both knew they needed to hurry and get out of the school, or they would be trapped and overrun by them. Finally at the back of the hall, they turned the corner and found it empty as well, but to the right were more steps. They made their way to the steps and stopped when they heard loud steps coming toward them. Looking around Matt found a couple of open lockers, and he and Frank jumped into them and closed the doors as best they could.

  Crouched down, they pulled the doors closed enough to hardly let in the light and held them in place with the tips of their fingers. Through the slits of the lockers’ vent at the top, they watched the steps directly in front of where they were. From the third floor came some sprinters taking the steps as if being late for their next class.

  They looked much older than most of the others Matt had seen last night. He wondered if they were some of the fourth or fifth graders from upstairs or just some that made it in from outside and roamed up to the top floor. Either way they were intent on making it to the first floor as quickly as they could. The second one landed on the marble floor and skidded onto the locker Matt was hiding in. Matt felt the impact and nearly screamed out in pain from the crushing blow. The shelf in the locker was pushed into the back of his neck. It was like the car crash he was in with his mother when he was little. The car slammed into the rear of his mother’s car, and his neck was in a brace for a while afterward.

  The zombie regained his footing and went to the stairs to head down. Matt released his breath and moved himself a little to get the shelf out of his neck. The locker door made a squeaking sound as he lightly pushed it open to make that move.

  The zombie that hit the locker stopped and looked back at the lockers. It just stood there huffing and puffing and waiting to hear it again. Matt watched it through the slits and prayed for some good luck to come his way. As if answered by the heavens, an air horn sounded off again from below but much louder now. The zombie looked back down to the first floor and gave one more look back to the lockers and took off down the stairs again and out of sight.

  Both Matt and Frank pushed open the lockers they were in and stepped out. Matt instantly grabbed the back of his neck and rolled his head in circles. Frank repositioned his pack on his back and gave Matt a slap on the shoulder to acknowledge his good idea with the hiding spot.

  “It makes you feel like high school again, doesn’t it?” asked Frank.

  “Huh?” replied Matt, looking at him funny while he rubbed his neck.

  “You know being stuffed into a locker too small for you.”

  Matt stopped fussing over his neck and looked up at him and watched him to see if he cracked a smile to show it was a joke. When nothing came Matt had to just ask the question.

  “You were bullied in high school and shoved in lockers?”

  Frank realized he had said too much and didn’t answer and walked over to the steps leading down. Matt could tell he didn’t want to talk about it right now. Besides, it wasn’t a good time anyway with the crap they foun
d themselves in right now. Matt walked over to Frank and over the side of the rail to the bottom to see down. They couldn’t see much, but they could hear the commotion from down there. Then they heard something that didn’t sound right at all.

  “Frank, listen closely and tell me what you hear.”

  Frank had the best hearing of them both, so what was it Matt had heard that he had not yet? Listening, Frank heard the sound of stepping, running, and the moans from more than they like to ever meet face-to-face. Just as he was about to lean back, there was a break in all the noise below. It was maybe a fraction of a second, but it was all he needed. He could hear someone’s voice yelling out numbers. Now that he heard it at a split-second, Frank was able to hear it over all the other noises.

  Frank leaned back and gave a nod that he heard it. But going downstairs was out of the question, so how were they getting down there and out of here? Matt pointed up; Frank knew he was right. It was the only other way to go. Climbing the stairs, they found this floor not as bad as the other two. But it had more broken glass from the classroom doors. Matt took off looking at each door as they passed till he found what he wanted. It was the janitor’s closet. Grabbing the knob he turned it and pulled the door open. Matt jumped backward into Frank who nearly fell down. Inside the room seemed to be the janitor hanging there by a rope. It seemed he must have closed himself in the room and knew he wasn’t getting out of it without being eaten. He just made himself a rope and chose the easy way out.

  Frank looked away and shut his eyes from the sight. He could stand seeing zombies and half-decayed people. But a person who took his own life was the biggest sin no one could take back. He would go straight to hell and maybe have to fight the undead down there for eternity.

  Frank couldn’t take it no more and walked inside and reached around the dead janitor and untied him. Matt came into the room quick and caught him before the body fell to the floor. As Matt was holding him, Frank came over and pulled up his legs. With each holding one half of the body, they carried him out into the hall and laid him down. Frank reached down and closed the man’s eyes and stayed there in a squat looking up at Matt. Matt gave him an “I know” look and went back into the janitor’s room. Frank went to stand up, and something grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down.

  The janitor must have been playing possum or just hadn’t turned yet. But with all the movement they did to him, they must have woken him up. Frank let out a shriek and went to beat him in the head with the stick from the pole he broke. Then it dawned on him that he had to set it down when he untied the rope to let the janitor down. Using his free hand, Frank used it to shove the zombie janitor’s head away from his arm. The zombie had a tight grip and wasn’t letting go. With the grip it had, it was trying to raise its head and take a chunk out of Frank’s arm.

  Matt heard Frank let out his girly cry and turned around and saw what was happening. With a stick in hand, he ran over and kicked the zombie in the head hard. It seemed to had stunned it a second, which was all Matt needed. Using the stick Matt stabbed it in the eye socket and left it there. The undead janitor stopped fighting and lay still. Reaching down Matt grabbed a handful of Frank’s shirt and pulled him up.

  Frank looked shaken for the most part, and if times were different, he would have let him alone to his own thoughts. But it was time to go in case any undead heard what just happened.

  Frank got up and focused on moving his legs and followed Matt into the room. Matt snapped his fingers and cursed. Turning around he ran into the hall. Over at the body Matt did a quick search of the janitor and came up with his findings and ran back.

  “Almost forgot the keys,” said Matt when he returned.

  In the tight little room was a ladder that led up to the roof. Matt went first, climbed up to the top, and unlocked the door and pushed it open. Frank waited till Matt was out, and the light from outside shining in the little hatch leading to the roof came in. Frank pulled the door shut and locked it so nothing could follow them out.

  Matt was already across the roof near the edge when Frank made it up to the top. Closing the door behind him, he followed and stood next to him. They were looking down at the back of the schoolyard. From the roof it looked rather empty, but they could see pretty far away down the streets. There were the undead a good ways out there moving around but nothing they needed to worry about right now.

  Matt looked around and back to Frank.

  “We need to find the ladder down to the yard,” said Matt.

  Frank took off looking for it as well; there was not much on the roof. There were vents and AC units. The main thing up on the roof was the sun bearing down on them. Frank knew he needed to find the ladder before the sun got to Matt and brought the fever back.

  Making his way back to the hatch they were from, he heard Matt yell that he found it. Frank spun around and ran over to him. There was a ladder just over the edge with half circles around it in case one fell. Matt took to it and climbed down fast and reached the bottom. At the ground Matt turned around and looked around him. There was nothing there, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t hiding. Matt reached into his pocket and fished out the janitor’s keys. Reaching through the bars, Matt unlocked the school gate and pushed it open.

  Frank was down and closed the gate and just hooked the lock on it but didn’t close it. Frank was ready to leave the school and take off, but Matt had other plans.

  “I want to see what was making that noise,” said Matt, looking for a window at the back of the building.

  Frank tried to argue but Matt just took off, and he didn’t want to leave his longtime friend, so he followed. Matt couldn’t find a window to look through but soon came to a couple of doors. Sneaking up he looked through the window of one of the doors, and his mouth dropped open. Frank came up next to him.

  In the doors was the school’s gym. There was a basketball court with a full assembly of the undead. The place was full of the undead, so many that they couldn’t see past them a few feet. Matt dropped down and looked over his friend.

  “Now, can we go?” asked Frank.

  Matt went to answer yeah when he heard a scream and a laugh. Standing up again he looked through the window, and just a second he caught a glimpse past all the undead to the middle of the room. What he saw was a single guy standing there doling some kind of weapon swinging it back and forth. It seemed it was doing its job because he was still alive, and was he smiling?

  “There. Someone’s in there,” said Matt, setting back down.

  Frank smacked his head with his hand and knew they couldn’t leave him to fight them all alone. Frank looked around but didn’t see anything they could use as a weapon. Matt came up with an idea and told it to Frank. He smiled, and they set in action in the rescue mission of the school.

  The doors of the gym busted open, and the undead inside closest to it turned around and looked at it. Two guys holding a bicycle came running at them. With the force of them both and the heaviness of the bike dropped them in their path, the two guys plowed their way past the zombies near the door toward the middle. The bike wouldn’t kill them, but it would knock the zombies and give them time to get by. Some tried to roll over and grab their legs, but they just kept moving and not looking back.

  Finally at the middle they came face-to-face with the young man. No time for small talk, they turned around and tossed the bike at the one that got up and was following their path. Matt had a chain wrapped around him as did Frank. Pulling the chains off them, they wrapped them around their fists and used them as whips. They smashed them into the heads and legs of all that came in close. The other guy had a huge sword. It was like looking at a weapon they never saw before. He could swing it with such force that it cut through them with little effort.

  They fought for ten minutes before the room started to clear. About five more minutes and the gym was empty. The man ran over to the door and closed them so no more would come through from the school. The man came back and stood in front looking at the
m. He was around 5'9" and looked well built. He had dirty blond hair and strong deadly aura coming off him. It could be just his big sword he wielded or that he hung in there so long.

  “That was a close one, huh?” asked Matt, holding his hand.

  The man just kept looking at them both wondering what to make of them Matt guessed. He’d feel the same way he figured if someone came in welding a bike and a couple of swing chains.

  The man stopped death gazing at them and looked past them to the back of the room.

  “My count was eighty-eight,” said the man.

  Matt thought he was crazy for a second till he heard a voice behind him cough. Spinning around he saw for the first time another guy sitting in a chair in the back of the room.

  “I counted sixty-nine,” said the man in the chair.

  “You’re tripping. They killed a couple themselves,” said the man in front of them gesturing toward them.

  The man in the chair got up and walked over to them as well. In his hand he carried a staff-looking thing with a long blade on the end covered in blood. It looked just as bad ass as the other blade the other guy had. The closer the other man got, they could make him out better. The man in the chair was 5'10" and had brown eyes and hair. He had a little gut on him but had a crazy look on his face.

  “No, no, that’s cheating. You can’t count those kills,” said the man from the chair.

  “Bullshit, I can’t. You never said that outside help couldn’t count,” said the closer man.

  Matt felt like a rock in a hard place in the middle of them. Both men seemed like hardcore warriors, and him and Frank coming into help just messed up their whole style.

  “Excuse me, but we are sorry and will be leaving.”

  “Shut up!” said the man from the chair to Matt’s interruption. “I’ll speak with you in due time.”

  Matt felt lower than he ever felt before. He had his parents yell at him and even total strangers, but nothing put fear into him like this guy did right now. It could be he looked crazy enough to just go off and kill Frank and him without a blink like the zombies he just wiped out.