Tom exhaled slowly. “You can’t threaten me, Tahoe. If you pull that trigger, you’ll never know where I hid them.”
“But what about our tracker? You can’t hide the bag if we can trace where it’s—”
Just then, as if on cue, Lucas walked over with the black bag and turned it upside down. “Gone, man. Just…gone.”
“It’s empty,” I said, dumbfounded, and a cold shudder shot through me.
“Yep. Tracker won’t help us now. This jerk had to have hidden those vials somewhere around here, and I intend to find them,” Lucas said, obviously ticked off.
“But we could be looking forever,” I said. We needed Tom to tell us where those precious vials were, but it didn’t seem like he was going to cooperate anytime soon.
“An empty bag, Tom? Really!” yelled Tahoe. “I’ll shoot you dead.”
“Go ahead! I dare you. Without my wife and daughters, I’m dead anyway.”
“I was one of them once,” Val said quietly. “Being a zombie is one thing, but those are real, living people in there. We can’t just desert them, Nick…Dean. We’ve gotta do something. They’re just kids, for goodness’ sake!”
Nick nodded. “Maybe we could put some drops from one of the vials into the ventilation system. Of course, I have no idea if that will work or not, but it’s worth a try.”
“I like it,” Tahoe said, “but which one of you is crazy enough to go inside that school?”
“I am,” Val said, “and you should be, too, considering you want a vial yourself. The quicker we heal these people, the quicker we can get our hands on the vials.”
“I’m in,” I said.
Nick bit his lip as he pondered. “Can’t let you two have all the fun.”
“Count me in,” Lucas said.
Tom and his friends joined our happy little zombie-killing throng as well, albeit reluctantly, and we all split up into teams. Tom pulled out the vial from his pocket, and we carefully placed a few drops of the precious cure inside an empty water bottle for each team. Tom wanted to make sure we didn’t run off if we were given an entire vial, so he hurriedly hid the remainder of the vial away. I just hoped we’d make it in and out of there in one piece, as I had no plans on dying in those school hallways. Each team chose a different location to break in, and Tom agreed to turn on the ventilation system, so all we had to do was get the formula into the ducts. Sounds easy enough, I thought, looking up at the school building. Boy, I’d tell myself anything, wouldn’t I?
Chapter 2
Nick selected me for his team, of course, and I knew it was because he wanted to keep me safe. While my big brother was totally absorbed in his plans with the other guys, my rebellious side convinced me to call Val and Jackie over to be on my team, and then I left.
Holding my gun in position, I pointed ahead. I exhaled slowly as I followed the sidewalk up the main doors of the school. It was pitch black inside the building, as the generators we’d been promised weren’t working. Droplets of sweat rolled down my face as I came face to face with the unknown. I knew anything could be running around in those halls. All we’ve gotta do is get to the ventilation ducts and place a few drops of the precious life-saving serum in there, I told myself, as if it was going to be easy. Just get in, get out, I thought. Simple.
Glass crunched under my feet, and I motioned toward Jackie and Val. I shined the flashlight through the glass in the door, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Slowly, I opened the door and crept in, past the school office and water fountain. I held my flashlight in my weak hand, crossed it under my gun hand, then pressed the back of my weak hand against the back of my stronger one. The Harries Technique, as Nick had called it when he’d taught me, was the best way to carry a gun and flashlight at the same time. It provided a more stable shooting platform and increased accuracy.
Distant, garbled hisses made me shudder. My flashlight flickered, but I didn’t see anything. All I could picture in my head was one of those scenes from Children of the Corn, all those demonic-looking, possessed little kids. Wandering around in the dark to explore zombie-infested buildings was not my idea of a good time, and I had the eerie feeling we were being watched. I moved silently and cringed every time glass crackled under my boots.
I took a deep breath every now and again, but other than that, we walked in complete silence. Eerie shadows danced on the walls from my flashlight beam. I motioned left, down a long, wide hallway. I couldn’t help but notice the crayon drawings on the walls, childish depictions of much happier times, before the undead ruled the earth. The glittery rainbows, sunshine, smiley faces, and blue skies seemed like ancient hieroglyphics, representations of a world long lost, a distant memory. My feet crunched over debris and crumbled paper with each step I took. At the sound of another ominous moan, I swept my light across the hallway, darting my eyes around in every direction. My stomach twisted into knots, but I couldn’t see anything in the unkempt, empty hallway, littered with papers and trash.
My heart pounded fiercely in my chest when I heard the telltale guttural moans coming from nearby zombies. I swung my flashlight again, and this time the beam landed on those horrible white, lifeless eyes, the glazed-over orbs I’d seen so many times in my nightmares and far too often in my waking hours. As one zombie lumbered toward us, I feared his moaning would attract a horde of others, and I was right; a few seconds later, I could only gasp at the sight of several more sets of eyes. They were so short, those children-turned-monster, with white eyes and green skin. I pulled out my gun, but I didn’t know if I’d really have the nerve to shoot end their young lives—again—just to save ours.
Val pulled my arm. “Don’t, Dean!”
“I-I’m not. I just…can’t.”
“Let’s try the other way!” whispered Jackie.
I spun and turned in the other direction, cringing at the ghoulish moans and heavy footsteps behind us. Val took a sharp left into a huge classroom, and we bounced our flashlight beams into every corner of it. A red banner of musical notes wrapped around all of the walls, and music stands, tubas, drums, and violins were everywhere.
“How do we get up to the vents?” I asked, frantically looking for a table or shelf to climb.
“There’s no door!” Jackie said in a panic. She’d hoped to shut it to stave off our mini-monster pursuers, but it had been ripped right off its hinges. Dried blood was smeared on the walls and floor in the corner. I bet people had hid out in this room previously when zombies broke in and devoured them. The thought made me shudder. I knew the fear of zombies breaking through the door up-close and personal. I had lived it not too long ago myself.
Before any of us could answer or offer a better solution, zombies flooded through the doorway. Garbled moaning and muffled footsteps made my heart race all the more.
“The piano!” Val said, shining her light in that direction.
We all hopped on top of the baby grand, kicking down the childlike undead who kept snapping at us and trying to climb up after us. Droplets of sweat rolled down my face as I kicked at them with my boot, hoping to keep them at bay. I didn’t want to hurt them, but I couldn’t have them getting on top of the piano with us either.
“What are we gonna do?” Jackie screamed. “We might have to shoot them, whether we like it or not!”
“What about the window?” I asked, pointing. “If we can kick the glass out, we can escape.”
Jackie kicked at the little jaws beneath her, snapping like a school of hungry piranha. “I hope one of the other teams has had better luck.”
I shined my bright beam around again. “I’ve got an idea!” I shouted over the loud snarls. “You two can create some kind of diversion. If I can make it to the fire extinguisher, we can spray them.”
“That oughtta cool them down,” Val said. “I like it!”
In an instant, Val reached for the drums next to us and started pounding on them while Jackie strummed a guitar. I’d never heard such beautiful music in all my life, considering that i
t could possibly be an off-key, inharmonious symphony that would save our lives. The zombies seemed distracted by the duet, so I rushed to the fire extinguisher. A gut-wrenching shriek came from one of the little monsters when he curled his fingers around my leg. I shoved the little boy away just as he was trying to sink his teeth into my legs. Another boy sank his tiny incisors into my shirt and pulled like a rabid dog, though he didn’t manage to tear through the fabric and graze my skin. A little girl in brown curls, dressed in a filthy dress that billowed around her, stared at me and growled. I grabbed the fire extinguisher, pulled the pin at the top, and squeezed the lever, covering the whole horde with a thick coating of white foam. If any got close to me, I sprayed them in the face, and their hissing stopped momentarily when they glanced around, as if disoriented.
My sister and Jackie jumped off the piano and carefully made their way over to me.
“It worked!” Jackie said, running toward the door.
Val motioned us into the hallway. “This way, guys.”
We ran down a hall and took a turn to the right, trying desperately to outrun the much shorter predators who wanted to make a meal out of us. We were in desperate search of a room with access to the ventilation unit, but we weren’t sure which one to enter.
“Let’s try this one,” I suggested. I peeked in to make sure it was clear, illuminating every dark, menacing corner with my flashlight. It was a typical classroom, with the wooden desks still in neat rows, a chalkboard in front, and a teacher’s desk. “Math,” I muttered as I noticed a smudged chalk problem on the board and saw the times tables poster on the wall. Best of all, there were shelves that would make for a perfect ladder for us.
“It looks safe,” Jackie said.
“C’mon.” I grabbed her hand and rushed in, shutting the door behind us, but I was mortified when I tried to lock it. “No lock!” I yelled, holding it shut. “Now what?”
A choir of gurgling moans echoed outside the door. I had no idea how the sickening student body had managed to track us down so fast; I was sure we’d outrun them, considering our legs were twice as long and that we were alive enough to have some common sense and a whole lot more coordination, yet there they were, clawing at the glass with their little greenish hands that reminded me of some awful leprechaun horror film I’d once seen. Even if they broke the glass in the door, I knew they couldn’t squeeze through, but they were gathering, hoping to get inside, and there was no way to lock it.
“They can’t open doors,” Jackie said, as if trying to ease our nerves.
“Lackluster doorknob skills aside, Jackie, they’ll just bust through the hinges like before,” Val said. “We’ve gotta find those ventilation ducts and haul our butts out of this hellementary nightmare.”
Val was right because I’d seen zombies burst through the door I’d personally boarded up back at that country store. I was convinced that once they heard a dinner bell ringing, nothing could stop them, and those zombified kids didn’t seem like they’d have a problem with the cafeteria special of the day—us! I pointed up to the grate on the other side of the room. “There!”
Val pulled out a revolver. “Watch out! I’m gonna shoot it.” As soon as we were out of the way, she pulled the trigger and let off a few shots that caused the grate to drop to the ground with a crashing thud.
“Good shooting,” Jackie said.
“I’ll go up there,” I said. “Empty the bottle.”
Val nodded. “Hurry!”
Floor-to-ceiling metal shelves lined the wall. I began to climb them, holding on to the rods that held them together. On the smooth surface, someone had arranged large art projects, covered in glue, markers, and glitter. I stepped on one of the rickety bottom shelves and pulled myself up to the next horizontal surface. I placed a foot on the hard surface and, after testing the shelf with my leg, I realized it was strong enough to support my weight. I carefully moved up to the next level and used the shelf as a ladder to help me reach the top. Beneath me, zombies were pounding on the oak door. I just prayed they wouldn’t figure out how to turn the knob and come bursting in there in a feeding frenzy. I wish I could sentence every single one of those zombie brats to detention just long enough for us to get out of there.
Bang! Crash!
Suddenly, a rain of bullets rang out in the room.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Val’s shooting out the window!” Jackie shouted. “So we can get out of here.”
I glanced through the hole in the grate; it looked ominously dark and cold. I hoped the ventilation area cold hold my weight. As I wiggled through the square opening, my nostrils were suddenly assaulted with the sulfuric stench of musk and urine. The cramped space felt slippery, and there was grime plastered along every surface, as if it had been untouched for years.
A loud thud echoed through the air, and I gasped when I looked down and saw a screaming Val and Jackie desperately trying to break through the bullet-riddled glass with the small desk chairs. We were simply out of time. I gasped as zombies burst through the door.
“Quick! Get up here!” I shouted as zombies oozed into the room, filling every square inch of space. As Val and Jackie clambered up, the relentless juvenile undead shook the metal shelves back and forth, but finally, the girls were close enough for me to help them squeeze through the hole. “Let’s go!” I said.
“Wait!” Jackie said. “Knock the shelves over!”
I wasn’t sure they could even climb up them, but there was no sense in taking the chance.
Val reached down for only a moment before there was a loud crash. “Mission accomplished!” she said. “Hand me the bottle. Since I’m last in line, I’ll pour it out behind me.”
“Sounds like a plan!” My voice echoed over the moaning below us, and I passed the bottle back to Jackie, who then passed it to Val.
A few seconds later, the deed was done. “It’s all poured out,” Val said.
Jackie let out a sigh. “Thank God! Now let’s get out of here and find an empty room so we can make it out a window.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I repeated again, then led the way with Jackie and Val moving along carefully behind me.
A current of cool air blew across my face as we inched along, as if we were caught in a dust storm. I continued forward, crawling on my hands and knees through the narrow aluminum airshaft. As I moved away from my point of entry, everything grew dark.
We crawled around like rodents, trying to find our way out. It was a labyrinth of a ventilation system, and I feared we might be forever lost. We turned left, then right, then left again, and suddenly I heard the distinct hissing of a brain-sucker up ahead. I gasped, unable to believe that thing had found its way up there. Though we couldn’t see it, we could hear it, and it was far too close for comfort. I kicked it with all my might as it snapped at my leather boot. “Zombie!” I yelled back to my troops to warn them. “Go back and turn right!”
“They’re up here?” Val gasped.
“Hurry!” I yelled when something grabbed my ankle and pulled. I was so glad I was wearing pants, as the last thing I wanted was for one of those things to take a chunk out of my ankle. With every burst of adrenaline, I kicked again. I knew it was one of the school kids, and that freaked me out even more; never in my life had I been forced to kick a second-grader, even when I was one.
We scrambled and squeezed backward through the ducts as fast as we could. When a creak echoed in the air, we didn’t even have time to panic before the ventilation tubing gave way and sent us tumbling to the floor below. Pain shot through my back, and the wind was knocked out of me, but I knew I wasn’t dead because I was able to flutter my eyes open. From my place on the ugly tiled floor, rows upon rows of tables flanked with gaudy orange plastic chairs came into view. I recognized instantly that we’d landed smack dab in the cafeteria.
I jumped to my feet as elementary kids stumbled in our direction surrounding us. We all pulled out our guns, even though we had no desire to kill any of th
e children. Unfortunately, it was kill or be killed. My eyes teared up at the thought, and I swore then that I had to do something to change what the world had become.
As the zombies approached, I cocked my gun. I was sure I couldn’t take them all on. Just as I was about to shoot, one of the kids fell to the ground, followed by another and then another. One by one, the little ones fell into the same stunned trance I’d seen Val, Jackie, and Claire fall into when I thought I had killed them on the football field. “The cure! It’s… It’s working!” I shouted. “We did it, you guys!”
“We saved them!” Val said, her trembling with pride and relief. She picked up a little boy in her arms and touched his face. “It’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. Don’t you worry,” she said, moving a strand of hair out of his face as his eyes slowly returned to their normal color.
Jackie snatched up a little girl with straggly blonde hair and a dirty white shirt.
The girl nuzzled into Jackie’s shoulder. “I want my mommy,” she cried, sniffling.
“Honey, we’re going to try to find her for you,” Jackie said.
Another unkempt little boy with grungy feet and tangled hair wrapped his arms around my leg, and a little girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes smiled at me. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life, particularly recently. All those young lives would have been lost forever had we left them to their fate, but we’d saved them. Nothing could have possibly felt better, and I was happy to embrace every little one who came up to me.
It was at that moment that Jackie grabbed my hand. “I’m ready.”
“For what?” I asked, confused.
“To really join the fight,” she said sternly.
“What? I mean, are you serious?” I asked.
Her eyes grew big. “Dean, we just saved these people, and there are people all around the world who can use our help right now. I finally feel some sense of purpose. I feel like this is my calling, my mission in life, as if fate or some other thing much bigger than me brought you into my life for a reason.”
The Zombie Chronicles - Book 4 - Poisonous Serum (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Page 2
