“What’s your name?”
“Henry Daniels.” He pointed to the others. “This Nick Cooper, my fiancée’s brother, and this is Thomas Anderson. He’s a family friend.” There was a long pause. “We can help you all. Please come out. We want to take you back to your mum, Rosa. We don’t want to hurt you in any way.”
“I don’t know any British guys.”
“I know you don’t know me.” Henry was flustered. “Shit,” he said under his breath, and ran his fingers through his hair. Nick watched him carefully, hoping his temper would stay in check.
Nick began pulling out bottles of water and more Power Bars. He set them down at the door. The little girl snatched them up.
“Hey,” Nick scolded in a gentle manner. “Those are for them. I know you’re thirsty and hungry, but they are, as well.” She set them back down where Nick had put them. A pair of hands came out near the bottom of the door and grabbed the waters and bars. They heard wrappers crinkling and the sounds of water being guzzled down.
“Rosa, please, come on out. We haven’t harmed this little lass here.” Henry was pleading with her.
Then the door opened an inch at a time, until they saw there were three teens crammed in the tiny storage room. One by one, they exited the room into the hallway. Henry smiled.
“Thank you. Can we sit and chat?” Rosa nodded. Everyone sat down on the dirty tiled floors, leaning up against a bank of metal lockers. Rosa glared at the three of them. “It’s going to be difficult getting all of us out of here. We’re parked out front.”
“I know. We saw you pull up,” Rosa mumbled.
“There are hundreds of undeads roaming down there. You all are pretty brilliant, I must say. Piling up the true deads on the stairs, serving as a barricade.” The kids all smiled at Henry’s complement. “Now, if this is a high school, I’m curious to know…”
“My mom was a teacher. I was helping her in class on that day,” the youngest girl said, while picking at the holes in her worn cotton pants.
“What’s your name, little love?” Henry’s voice was dripping in sweetness. She looked up at him with worry, fear, and some relief on her face.
“Julianna.” Henry smiled at her. Then he looked at the boy next to Rosa.
“I’m Justin, and this is my sister, Shay.”
“I’m glad to meet all of you. Obviously, the circumstances aren’t quite ideal. Quick question: Why was Julianna out by herself, when the three of you were tucked away in the storage room?”
“We cleared out this floor several weeks ago. She tends to want to be by herself, and when we heard the glass breaking in the doors, we scrambled into there. Julianna was nowhere near us. Where were you, anyway?” Justin looked at Julianna, waiting for a response. She blushed and seemed to be embarrassed.
“I was sitting in Mrs. Hanely’s room, imagining what it would be like to be in school again.” Rosa put her arm around Julianna in a loving manner.
Shay seemed to be much like Thomas. She was in the background, and watched what was happening in front of her. Henry cleared his throat. All the kids looked to him for some instruction.
“Alright. I say we go back the way we came in. Do you all know the school quite well?” They nodded. “If we run into trouble, I’m going to rely on you…” Naturally, he looked at Justin, “to help navigate.” Everyone was looking at one another, their fear saturating the air.
“What kind of weapons did you have?” Justin got up and went into the storage room. He came out wielding a couple baseball bats and a few metal bars that could have been chair or desk legs.
“Aren’t they zombies? You called them undeads,” Justin said.
“Well, yes, I guess you could call them zombies. We just…”
Nick interrupted, “I think we should get moving.” Thomas nodded with a grunt.
“Is there anything else you have stored up here that you want to get? We won’t be coming back.” Henry looked at the kids, and they all looked at one another.
“We have some food and juice left.” Rosa went into the storage room for a few moments. They could hear her rummaging around. She struggled with a large backpack, stuffed full of supplies, as she came out of the room.
“Ready?” Henry asked.
“I would like to get Julianna to her mom’s classroom.” Rosa stood strong, much like her mother, even though the backpack seemed to weigh more than she did. Justin grabbed it off of her back and put it on himself.
“Where’s it?” Henry asked, as he rolled his neck and rubbed it. Nick and Thomas noticed his issue, and looked at one another.
“The second floor,” Rosa said with fear.
“Have you cleared that floor?” Henry asked, and Rosa shook her head.
“We just tied the door handles together. All the bodies on the stairs came from up here and on the landings.”
Henry looked at Thomas and Nick, then pulled them aside. The kids stood there, watching them intently, while the three of them whispered back and forth. They walked back over.
“Here’s the plan. We’re all going to go at once. I don’t want to have to backtrack, unless we absolutely have no choice in the matter. I have a few rules, though.” Justin rolled his eyes. “You may not like that but, I can assure you, I’m well equipped for this.”
“What are you? Some sort of comic book freak zombie fighter?” Justin’s words were dripping with sarcasm.
“You would get along well with my fiancée,” Henry added, smiling.
“Whatever, dude. I just want to get the fuck out of here.” Everyone looked at Justin. “What?”
“Anyway…” Henry piped up, “we’ll be going in this order, and we do not break our order unless I instruct otherwise. Nick is second-in-command. I will be first. Rosa will follow me, then Julianna, Shay, Justin, Thomas, and Nick. Are we clear?” Justin and Rosa looked at one another and nodded.
“Yes.” Justin passed out the weapons that they had been using.
“We’ll stick together. We mustn’t separate. Oh, and one more thing…” He grabbed his torn shirt from his pack and tore off sections for each of the kids to put around their mouth and nose. “It doesn’t help much, but it’s better than nothing at all.”
They began their slow descent down the stairs to the second floor. It was exhausting, climbing over the rotting, sludge-oozing corpses. They stopped once for Shay to throw up. Rosa ended up carrying Julianna so she could hide her face from the gore.
They made it to the second floor landing. Rosa set Julianna down and kept her face pressed into her abdomen. Henry pressed his ear up to the doors, then looked at Nick. “Thomas, hop up on my shoulders.” Henry squatted down and lifted Thomas up. Henry grimaced, even though he was a lightweight. His body aches were getting worse.
“Holy shit,” Thomas said quietly, a slight edge of panic in his voice. That was all Henry needed to hear. He lowered him back down.
“Have your guns ready. On three, people. Be ready because they won’t hesitate.” Fear hung heavier than the smell of death in the stairwell. Henry rolled his neck again.
“You okay?” Nick asked with concern.
“I’m fine!” he snapped, but then realized that the venom in his words frightened the kids. “Sorry. Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for asking,” he corrected and turned back around.
Henry took a couple deep breaths. He pulled the chain that held the door shut off of the handles. When he placed his left hand on the handle, he gripped his Sig in his right. A sharp pain ran up his arm. Thinking he must have injured his hand further, he switched his gun to his left.
Henry knew that he had been trained to shoot with his left as well as he did with his right, but he had some doubt of his abilities. It was not the time to let a flicker of self-doubt enter his mind. He closed his eyes briefly, then reopened them. He forced himself into program mode. Instinctive behavior is a survivalist’s best friend, and Henry was in form.
He counted, “One, two…” He paused momentarily, worrying that he was
putting these kids in jeopardy. Stop thinking, he thought to himself, pulling himself back into program mode. “Three!” he yelled. Henry whipped open the door and forced his way in. There were several undeads staggering toward him. Julianna and Shay screamed, as he shot all of them. They dropped to the floor in awkward piles of gore and grimy fabrics.
“Stab their heads!” Thomas yelled at Shay and handed her his machete. He started shooting the undeads that were rounding the corner. She stood paralyzed with fear, holding it in midair. Justin snatched the machete, and stabbed every one of their heads. He stood over them, bat in one hand and sludge-covered machete in the other, with his chest pumping with adrenaline. Henry had already moved forward.
Nick yelled, “Henry! Three o’clock!” Henry spun and shot the two undeads. They fell into a crumpled mess. Again, Justin jammed the machete through their soft rotting flesh. Julianna was pressed right up against Rosa, who was protecting her the entire time. They battled for what seemed like hours. Henry had run out of bullets so he grabbed the bat from Justin. Every undead he hit exploded. He kept hearing retching behind him as they went.
Then Nick yelled again, “Six o’clock, six o’clock, six o’clock!” Henry turned around, and there was another herd narrowing in on Nick. He pulled the rifle out of his pack. All five went down with close range shots.
“Julianna!” Henry yelled. “Which one was your mother’s room?!” He waited a split second for her response. “Julianna!” He turned around, only to see her standing in front of a classroom door.
An undead woman was clawing and biting at the window in the door. She was working hard trying to open the door, but undeads have a serious lack of coordination. Henry ran up to Julianna.
“Is that her?” She stood staring, tears flowing down her filthy face.
“Momma,” she whispered.
Henry knelt down in front on Julianna and grabbed her shoulders. “Sweetheart, I need you to listen to me carefully. That may be your mum’s body, but that is not her. Your mum’s soul left when the virus took over. That is not her. Your mum is already in heaven, little love.” Julianna kept shaking her head. “Julianna, did you hear what I said?”
“Yes,” she choked out.
“I’m going to help her. Let’s go back to Rosa.” She grabbed Julianna and dragged her away from the door. “Thomas! Do you have anything left in your Sig?” Thomas handed him his gun.
“Jus’ a couple, I think.” Henry nodded. He looked back at Julianna. She was pushing her face into Rosa’s body. Rosa nodded at Henry. He grabbed the handle and swiftly pushed the door open, which trapped Julianna’s mother between the door and the classroom wall. He reached around the door, jammed the muzzle of the Sig to her temple and pulled the trigger.
Julianna screamed. “Momma!” She struggled against Rosa while Rosa tried to comfort her.
Henry let the door swing back just enough to allow Julianna’s mother to fall to the floor in a grotesque pile of blood and rotten flesh. He paused. His heart ached for Julianna, as he understood how she was feeling.
He swallowed hard, and his body filled with rage. Henry was working hard to keep the demon at bay. He walked his aching body into the classroom and cleared it. He grabbed a sweater that was hanging around Julianna’s mom’s chair.
Rosa brought her inside the classroom, shielding her from her mother’s rotting corpse. Henry handed Julianna the sweater, and helped wrap it around her slight body. She went to her mother’s desk and opened all the drawers.
Julianna looked back at Henry. He walked over to the desk again, and saw a large stash of snacks and candy. He pulled off his pack and unzipped it. Julianna loaded his bag up with all of the food stash. Then she grabbed the picture of her and her family off of the desk, and held it close to her body.
“Is there anything else you would like to take?” Henry softly asked her. Julianna went to the closet in the back of the classroom. “Wait. Let me open it.” He swung open the door in haste, but it was more like a pantry closet. There were cases of water on the floor. Henry looked around and saw a couple backpacks still in the room.
“Thomas, give me a hand and empty those packs.” He filled the backpacks with the bottles as Henry handed them over.
He looked around the closet for anything else that would be useful. Henry grabbed a few more items, such as paper products and some jackets that were left there by the students.
They gathered their goods and headed back to the hall to make their way back down the stairs. Julianna stopped just short of the door and turned around, giving one last look at the classroom.
“Come on. We have to go.” Rosa gently tugged Julianna away from the doorway. She resisted, but it was time to move on.
Before they made their way to the first floor, Justin stopped them. “Which way did you come in?” he asked Henry.
“Off to the side, behind the cafeteria. The front entrance was loaded with undeads.”
Justin nodded. “I know another way we can go, if we can’t get through that way.” Henry began the slow climb down the stairs again, careful not to slip on the sludge of decay that was oozing all around the true deads. They made it to the bottom without incident.
Henry led them into the corridor. His muscles and joints were really starting to ache. He shook it off for the time being. The hallway seemed to be clear so he signaled everyone to advance. The bat was ready for action, resting on Henry’s shoulder.
He stole a glance around the corner. Holding up his hand, he held up three fingers indicating there were three undeads. Nick walked up to Henry. They nodded at each other, and Nick jumped out and shot all three of them. The outside door was at the end of the hall. Knowing it was a straight shot to the door, Henry said just above a whisper, “Let’s haul ass.”
All of them sprinted toward the door. Henry pushed it open and pulled the shirt from his nose and mouth. He bent over, catching his breath, grabbing his ribs. He dropped to his knees because the pain had become unbearable.
“Henry?” Nick knelt down in front of him and saw that his eyes were graying. He whispered, “I’ll drive. Let’s go. We need to get you back now.” Nick dug around in Henry’s pockets and pulled his keys out.
“Is he okay?” Justin looked stunned.
“He will be,” Nick said. “He just needs to rest. He’s been injured for a while and is still in the process of healing.” Supporting Henry, Nick led the crew back toward the truck.
“Broken ribs?” Rosa asked.
“Not one hundred percent sure. But it was a nasty injury, and it’s been a difficult recovery since we always seem to be fighting or running.” Nick unlocked the truck and helped Henry into the passenger seat. Rosa, Julianna, and Shay sat in the back seat. Thomas and Justin jumped into the very back.
“I can’t believe this,” Rosa whispered. “I never thought we would get out of there.” Justin put his hand on her shoulder, and she reached up to his hand and held it. She was in awe that she was really going home.
“Hurry, Nick,” Henry grumbled. He laid his head up against the window, hugging his ribs. Nick started the truck and threw it into drive. He floored it, and they left that school parking lot like a bat out of hell. Nick had to get Henry back before he was in real danger of turning. Then he realized his neck and spine were aching, as well. He pushed the truck harder, hoping that they would make it.
Chapter 36
O
nce again, I put my big girl panties on and forced myself off the couch, only to continually pace the floor. It seemed like hours since they had left. That was the moment I wished I had a working watch. Not that counting the seconds would’ve been helpful, either.
Addie was crocheting like a wild woman. I wasn’t sure what she was making, but she surely was making good use of her time. Unlike me, who was wearing a path in her floor.
Claire had gone up to lay down in bed, her fatigue catching up to her. I had a feeling she was just feeling guilty for the way she had been acting, too. I decided that I should go
and check on her.
I knocked on the door. “Come in,” Claire said, barely audible. I opened the door with some hesitation.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Can we talk?”
“Yeah.” Claire sat up in bed. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks were tear-stained. I could see the remorse just pouring off of her. I sat down on the end of the bed, not saying anything for several minutes. I sat there and tried to form my thoughts together into logical, sarcasm-free sentences.
“I just want to say that I understand you’re worried and full of fear, but don’t push us all away. We all love you, and we want to help you. We don’t think you will be a burden. I’m not saying it won’t be difficult because it’s going to be like going into hell with an iced beverage and expecting it to remain chilled.” I sighed. “My point is, we want to be here for you, and we want to help you. You are my best friend, and I can’t live without you...” My last words faded as I said them. I continued to look at the door of the bedroom, hoping Henry would burst through at any moment. Claire got up and wrapped her arms around me.
“What if the baby is like him?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. Henry said it doesn’t work that way. It has to be a blood/saliva mix from them,” I whispered. We heard a vehicle pull into Addie’s driveway. I jumped up and yelled, “Henry!”
Claire and I ran out into the living room, as Addie swung open the door and we all sprinted out. She screamed with joy when she saw a girl, who must have been Rosa, open the door and jump out. They embraced each other, sobbing and collapsing to the ground. I looked back at the truck, and Nick jumped out of the driver’s side.
“Oh no. No!” I ran to the passenger side. “Henry!”
“He needs you now! Let’s go!” Nick took on the task of pulling Henry out of the truck. I grabbed his right side, and Nick was on his left. “Claire, we’re taking him to the bedroom.” His eyes were slits of gray, and we were practically dragging him into the house. He was grimacing in pain the entire way. I was so focused on saving Henry that I was oblivious to everything else.
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