“What you talking about?” Said Hunter with a puzzled look on his face.
“A carrot, to lead the donkey? You said something loud they would follow but we don’t have anywhere to send them. You don’t think they would follow us all the way out of town? And then we could lose them?” Asked Sebastian.
Hunter gestured at the crowd. “They are too many. How could we even get them to follow down the road? The road… It’s not even big enough.”
Sebastian knew he was right and wondered what Hunter’s plan was. “So, we want them to stay here?”
Hunter stared at the mass of people pushing on the school. “I guess so. I just want to get the kids out.”
“So we need to go over them.” Sebastian grinned. “Or wait! Better yet! We could go under.”
“Well how tarnation…” And Hunter paused. “It’s how you’ve been skipping school, isn’t it?”
Sebastian burst out laughing. “Don’t tell my mom. Do you want me to bring anything? Are we going in… Just like this? Do we need supplies?”
“I don’t even know what we should bring. Guns are gonna be useless against the mob this size. I don’t have a plan. I guess the plan is… To be really quiet so they don’t hear us. How do you get in and out?” Asked Hunter.
“Well, you know how they built a basement, but it kept flooding because it was way too close to lake?” Sebastian said with a grin.
“Yeah, they turned it into some sort of elevated storage now? Where everything has to be way off the floor in case of flooding?” Hunter questioned.
“Yeah, exactly. So, they didn’t want to add a super expensive sump pump system… Not unless it got really deep. Because it was flooding so often, and so easily. So they just built these massive pipes to drain to the lake.”
“Are we going to have to crawl?” Hunter questioned, which was greeted by a grin from Sebastian.
“Just for a bit.” Sebastian replied
Hunter grinned. “Okay, let me text Karen.”
Hunter: hey honey, at the school now. Got a plan to get inside.
Karen: okay, still doing great. Me and Hank are playing chess. It sucks.
Hunter: Language!
Karen: okay-dokay. Your father is a fat bag of stale snickerdoodles.
Hunter: that’s my girl. Try to outsmart him!
Karen: Can do. Be safe.
Hunter: love you.
Karen: love you.
Hunter back the car up, by some keys. “I’m gonna leave it here, with the keys on the seat. In case… Well whoever gets here next gets to drive it.”
They skirted together around the school, as far from it as they dared to walk, terrified that the huge herd of crazy sick people would turn on them at any moment. They walked in silence, Sebastian leading the way with his Gothic look. It took about fifteen minutes to get to the other side of the school, the beachside. There were no infected loitering near the tunnel that Sebastian was heading for, and Hunter was grateful.
As soon as they got there though, Sebastian stripped off his pants, chains and his T-shirt. Stuffing them into his backpack.
Hunter looked at him in wondered and whispered. “What are you doing?”
“Strip down unless you want to get soaked.” Hissed Sebastian. He pointed at the pipe that had water flowing out of it.
“Are you saying every time you break out of school, you have to crawl through the water?” Said Hunter, completely mortified.
Sebastian just grinned. And then he pushed on the grate at the end of the tunnel. It swung open smoothly, not even a creak. “I oiled it.” Whispered Sebastian. “And no, it’s not usually this wet, just when it rains.”
Hunter copied Sebastian and stripped-down, keeping only his holster, his hat and his skivvies. Then stuffed his outfit in Sebastian’s backpack.
Sebastian went first crawling through the water. It had to be about a foot deep.
He tried not to stare at the brightly colored boxer shorts in front of him. “I’m more disgusted with you than you can even imagine Sebastian.”
“Well, at least you know I wasn’t joking when I said I hate school.” Quipped Sebastian.
“Yeah.” Said Hunter.
The two of them proceeded awkwardly in silence.
Sebastian coughed, “Uh, got any jokes?”
Hunter slugged forward in the water a little further and then said, “Well, okay, I’ve got one. ‘why shouldn’t you play poker with a plumber?”
Sebastian let out a snort. “A plumber joke, appropriate, I dig. Okay, why?”
“Cause a strong flush beats a full house!” Hunter said with a laugh.
Sebastian giggled, “that one isn’t even funny.”
“Well, it’s all I’ve got. How much further?” Asked Hunter.
“Not much.” Sebastian said, and he started moving through the water even faster. “There is it!” He said.
Not a minute later, the two of them burst into a storage room under the school. There was a steady ten inches of water on the floor being drained into the massive pipe they had just crawled through.
“Is it always this wet?” Hunter asked.
“Oh, no. Usually it’s pretty dry, but I guess that rain from last week made it all pretty soggy.” Sebastian said while quickly dressing himself.
Hunter started to pull on his own clothes. “I dunno, I think that would have been dried up by now…”
After they were both decent again, they opened the door to the hallway. Water flowed from the hallway into the storage room. “Uh, well this is new.” Said Sebastian.
“A pipe must be broken.” Hunter said, shaking his head. “That’s not a great sign.”
The two of them went up the stairs from the basement. Water was trickling down the stairs in a glossy trickle. At the top of the stairs Hunter paused, peeking carefully into the hall. He didn’t see anyone.
He stepped forward quickly and asked Sebastian. “How far is the kindergarten classroom from here?”
“Oh, it’s really close, lemme show you.” Sebastian said confidently. He moved quickly down the hallway, his feet making tiny little splashes as they walked.
Sebastian turned the corner, and something immediately seemed off. He grabbed the handle of the door and rattled it. It was locked.
Hunter frowned, as Sebastian knocked.
Nobody answered his knock.
Hunter was slowly glancing down the hallway, trying to figure out what felt so wrong about this situation. Sebastian knocked again, when it struck Hunter. “There is no signs, or kid artwork. Hand prints, or… alphabets.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “It’s the first day of school, they probably didn’t have time to put it up yet.”
Hunter frowned and looked at the door Sebastian was rattling. It was labeled Art 110.
“This is the wrong hallway, you must have got turned around.” Hunter said, more confident now. He pointed at the sign, “This is art.”
Sebastian frowned. “Well… this used to be the kindergarten room, they just must have moved things around a little bit. It’s gotta be close.” Sebastian started to head down the hallway to start searching.
“Wait!” Hunter said, and he whipped out his phone.
It rang quickly. “Hey Francis. Were which classroom are you in? We’re here, but we’re turned around.”
Sebastian disappeared down the end of the hallway.
Francis said, “Hey dad, it’s Ms. Graham’s room. 215, it’s upstairs.”
“Okay, great…” Hunter’s eyes went wide as Sebastian suddenly came back down the hallway. He was waving his arms and shouting “Run!”
“I gotta go!” Hunter said, and shoved his phone in his pocket. He turned in the water and started to run. Sebastian quickly overtook him.
“Go! Go! We gotta get out of here!” Sebastian was panting and grabbed Hunter’s arm to help him run.
Hunter glanced back and saw a herd of about twenty infected people following quickly behind them, their mouths moving open and shut in
soft clicking noises as they followed quickly.
Hunter and Sebastian turned down a hallway. They found a set of stairs and were climbing them two at a time. Hunter’s chest was pounding so hard he thought he was gonna die. The group behind them followed along easily, hunting them.
By the time they got to the second floor Hunter’s chest was on fire. “We have to sit.” He gasped.
“Not yet, old man.” Hissed Sebastian, and he dragged them down the hall.
Suddenly Hunter yanked hard on Sebastian. He pointed down a hallway with a sign for 200+ rooms.
They ran down the hallway.
201.
Hunter glanced at the sign, relief washing over him. He suddenly found the energy to run harder.
208.
The doors were flying past him, as his excitement grew.
210.
The end of the hallway was just a few doors down, it had to be the last door.
By the time they got to the last door, the herd had filled the other end of the hallway, they were trapped. But Hunter was so relieved he grabbed the handle and pounded on the door. “Francis!” He shouted. “Let us in quick!”
He didn’t hear her respond.
“Francis!” He pounded again, staring at the door number underneath his knuckles.
214.
He turned around, but there was no door behind him, just a sign.
Looking for Kindergarten in 215? It is in Auxillary building A. We apologize for any confusion. The room should be renumbered next year.
Hunter turned and stared at the herd at the end of the hallway. They were closing in fast. He frantically glanced at Sebastian. They were moving slowly, shuffling together as one.
“Any ideas?” Said Hunter, sweat trickling down his back. He wondered if he would die here, disappointing his wife, and not saving his kids. There were at least thirty of the sick herd moving towards them.
“Let’s kill them.” Said Sebastian, with a particular twinkle in his eye. The kid was cocky, and overconfident.
Hunter looked at the people swarming down the hallway and shook his head. “Too many.”
“I can take ‘em.” Said Sebastian, and he raised his fists into the air as though he was just going to punch his way through them.
They were getting too close. Hunter turned around, they were pinned at the end of the hallway. He shook the classroom doors again, locked.
He turned back to the end of the hallway in a panic, and then realized the window was a fire exit. Bright red letters on the bottom of the frame. Hunter had never been so relieved. He turned his back to Sebastian, and shoved the window. After some yanking it pulled out of the way, and he grabbed Sebastian’s hand, “come on!”
They slipped through the window onto the small metal platform. The herd was coming, but they got stuck at the window, just like they did in the firehouse. All of them trying to shove through a tiny space at once. At least, they were stupid.
Hunter and Sebastian trampled down the metal stairs quickly, at some point herd would get free. When Hunter looked down, there was a sea of them still pressed against the building. They couldn’t go to the ground, not here. As soon as they got to the next window, Hunter slammed his body against it.
He glanced up, and this time suddenly each sick person was coming through the window, in an orderly fashion. One after another. Hunter blinked. He had expected them to still be stuck.
But it seemed like they were learning. Just like when they didn’t all fall in the pit, now they were not stuck in a window. His heart quickened at the thought. How smart could they get? What else would they learn?
They shoved into an empty classroom. All of the chairs were still on the desks. Sebastian saw a fire ax hanging in a glass box on the wall. “Look what I found!” He shoved his elbow through the glass, grabbing the ax twirling it in his hand.
“Don’t play with that! It’s dangerous.” Said Hunter, nervously.
Sebastian didn’t listen, instead slamming the blade into a desk. “So are the crazy people outside!” Said Sebastian with a grin. Then he put his foot on the desk, holding it steady so he could yank it back out. The chains on his black pants rattled when he yanked it back.
Hunter shook his head. “Stop that.”
Sebastian swung it again into the desk, this time chopping it clean in half. “Woo! This baby is gonna work great.”
“Knock it off.” Hunter shouted. He put his fingertips to his head. The boy was giving him a headache. He seemed to think this was a live video game, and not a dangerous situation.
They could hear metal stairs rattling behind them as the herd was slowly coming down it. They stepped into the hallway, nervously. “Sebastian, shut the door. They can’t open doors.”
Sebastian nodded and clicked the door shut behind them. The hallway was empty, for the moment. “I think we should go to the Gym. That’s the other side of the building… I think… I think the herd was thinner on that side.”
“Okay.” Said Hunter, hoping that Sebastian was right. “I’m so tired of running.”
“I’ve run more now than I ever did in gym class.” Sebastian said. He had the ax lifted to his shoulder like a logger.
“You ready?” Hunter said. Sebastian nodded quickly.
They started to run, racing down the hallway. They could hear the sick, pounding on doors on each side of them. Hunter’s heart was racing into his ears. “They might figure out how to break one of those doors down soon.” Said Hunter. “Thank god they can’t open them.”
“Let ‘em.” Said Sebastian with a smile. He raised his ax playfully into the air. “There it is!”
The two metal gymnasium doors stood in front of them. Hunter peered in the window. “Seems empty enough.”
Before they opened the doors, they heard a subtle sounds of silence herd. The scuffling of feet, the odd sound of fabric rustling. Sebastian shouted, “Go!”
Hunter turned and saw the hallway next to them was filled with a long stream of people. Like a hungry snake, they moved together, looking for prey.
They stepped into the gym easily, since it wasn’t locked. The big room was empty, except for a single janitor. He shuffled toward them, while Hunter barred the door with a mop. Hunter hadn’t seen the janitor, or he might have dealt with him first.
He heard the thunk of the ax though.
Sebastian was fist pumping the air, the blade and gone straight into the skull of the downed man. The janitor had stopped moving, slumped onto the floor.
“What are you doing!” Hunter shouted. “You could have been killed!”
Sebastian turned and looked at him. “You’re kidding me, right? It’s self defense, the dude wants to eat us or whatever.”
“You’ve played too many video games, they’ve messed you all up. That is Harold. You see him? He’s a nice man. He goes to our church.” Hunter could feel irrational anger bubbling up inside him. “He’s not… you don’t just… hit him with an ax.”
“He is going to kill us. They are all going to kill us.” Sebastian said hotly. He yanked the ax back out of Harold. “See him? He’s sick, they’re all sick.”
Hunter shouted back, “Of course they are sick, that’s why we can’t just go around killing them. They can get better. They will get better if we just give them time.”
Sebastian turn and glared and Hunter, then he dropped the ax and shoved him. “You think I don’t know that is Harold?”
“Well you kill him like it’s nothing.” Hunter said shoving him back.
“I’m not stupid, like you. These sick people are going to kill us.” Sebastian shouted, shoving him harder. This time Hunter slipped backward and landed on his backside. His hat toppled off his head. “You don’t know if they are gonna get better. You don’t know that.”
Hunter looked old and tired on the gym floor. He reached over and grabbed his hat. “You’re right.”
Sebastian leaned forward and gave his uncle a hand, helping him off the floor.
“Let’s go get t
he car, maybe I can draw them away with the sirens, while you get the Francis and Jack.” Sebastian said.
“It’s not…” Hunter paused, before he said safe. “Be careful.”
“Let’s go.” He swung open the door and the herd was thinner at this corner. The ax knocked down three, and Hunter shot two in the head.
Then they started running for the cop car.
They race to the cop car. “I hope nobody took it.” Sebastian muttered as they ran. Both men were huffing and puffing, their chests burning. The herd was enough slower that they managed to get inside the cop car.
Hunter fumbled, grabbing the keys off the seat. He started up the car easily, and glanced at the tank. They’d have plenty of gas.
He looked over at Sebastian with his bloody ax. “Sebastian, I know you think you’re ready for all of this. But… I’ve seen war do some brutal things to people.” Hunter sighed.
“What do you think we need to do to save Francis and Jack?” Sebastian asked. Hunter was slowly pulling the cop car away from the school.
“I’m not even sure they are still alive.” Hunter sniffed, hopeless tears starting to roll down his face. Just then his phone rang. He glanced down. “Hello?”
“Dad? I can see your cop car.” Francis said. She sounded tired. “There are a lot of people.”
“Yeah.” Hunter said, relief washing over him. “There are a lot. I’m gonna…” But he was at a loss. He didn’t know how to save them. He stared at the massive herd pressed against the school.
Sebastian rolled his eyes and grabbed the phone. “I’m gonna draw them away, he’s gonna get to you guys, okay Francis?”
“Okay.” Francis’s voice sounded small and scared.
“Hey, have I ever let you down? Has your dad ever let you down?” Sebastian grinned. “I’ve got an ax and I’ll chop my way to you if I have to. Okay, now I gotta get going, keep your eyes peeled.”
He handed Hunter back his phone after he hung up. “Pull it together, your kid is scared in there.”
Hunter nodded, took a deep breath and straightened his hat. “They’ll follow the siren.”
“Okay.” Sebastian seemed completely unphased.
“Drive slow, but not too slow. Don’t let them catch you. And take them towards the country. Then you’ll have to figure out a way to lose ‘em. Sometimes you can just drive fast enough to get away, but if they swarm you…” Hunter paused. “Just be careful. You aren’t invincible.”
They Are Zillions (Book 2): Zurrounded Page 5
