by Steve Wands
He raised the gun and aimed it at her but before he could squeeze the trigger she ran to the edge of the roof and jumped off. Ben ran to the edge as well and watched her land just past the rows of dead folk. She twisted her ankle as she hit the ground, but kept moving.
Ben aimed at her again and fired. The bullet grazed her arm, but she kept running, letting out only the mildest of whimpers. Ben fired again but only wasted the bullet. She disappeared into the night.
As Ben turned around Frankie appeared behind him and cracked him in the face with the butt of his shotgun. Ben was knocked out cold, falling to the ground hard. Eddie, Damian, and Chung-Hee rolled him over and searched him for any other weapons, but found none. A few others made their way to the roof to see what all the commotion was about.
"I knew something was off with him the moment I saw him," Chung-Hee said.
"What the fuck do we do with him now?" Damian asked.
"Fucked if I know," Eddie replied.
"I got an idea," Chung-Hee said, looking hesitant to share his thoughts, but thinking it might just give them the chance to get out of the school while they still had the chance to.
CHAPTER 11: The dead come slowly, but steady as the morning sun
After Jeff and Walter told their loved ones what they saw, and what had happened with Sheriff Davis' friend Alan, it was as if they had been stricken numb with silence. The daylight lit the inside of the house a hazy orange. The skies outside grew grey, not like the grey of a storm coming, but more like the blue in the sky died kind of grey.
The kids were kept comfortably in the dark on the topic of citywide destruction. They knew of the walking dead but their exposure to it was minimal. They usually only grew scared come night: during the day it was just difficult to keep them inside. They played in the house, kids on parade, with little metal cars and plastic men.
Their adventures were grand, and their imaginations ran wild. They turned their room into one giant fort, and were in the midst of creating more around the house. The adults just sat staring at the walls, as if they would burst into flames and be nothing more than dust. They wished they could be kids, where the biggest worry would be how to make the next fort.
Walter wondered what kind of bomb it could have been. Nuclear was on the top of his list. Considering the explosion and cloud appearance he was guessing it could've been an atomic bomb, or hydrogen bomb. Though Walter wasn't familiar with biological or chemical warfare, he also thought those were possibilities as well. And with modern warfare going the way it was couldn't they devise a weapon capable of doing both?
Walter's mind swirled out of control and he was no better off for trying to figure out what type of bomb he had witnessed exploding. There was also the possibility of it being an entirely new type of bomb. After all, man loved finding new ways to kill.
Jeff pulled himself off the couch, which was no easy task, and sat closer to the kids. He watched them play, wishing he could do the same. He felt it coming and tried as hard as he could to keep it down: but once the first tear forced its way out of his eye the rest came running. No matter how much he tried to fight each tear he had rivers running down the sides of his tired face. All those buried feelings had finally crawled their way to the top.
"What's wrong daddy?" asked his little princess, Sandra.
"Nothing baby," he lied. "Daddy's just sad."
Everyone turned to look as they heard Jeff's quavering voice. His eyes red and wet, he couldn't look at them. His sons, Wally and Tommy came over to him, and Maria went to join him as well. It wasn't long after that, when everyone began to cry.
"I...just want you to know that daddy loves you kids so much, okay. No matter what happens, I love you. I love all of you, Dad, Ma, Barb." He wrapped his arm around his wife. "I love you babe." Then he broke down and sobbed in Maria's arms.
His kids told him how much they loved him too, wrapping their arms around his legs. His parents and sister also expressed their love as they tried to fight back their own tears. Walter didn't cry though. he couldn't allow it---he had to remain strong. His throat dried up and his eyes itched. He wanted to let himself go, but he gripped his nerves and refused to give in to them.
***
On the other side of town, in Susie's apartment, which he affectionately called the Kemp Estate, Dane washed vigorously. He had blood and bits of gore all over his body, even chunks of it stuck in his hair. He took a rag to his nails, and scrubbed them till they nearly bled.
Susan sat on the lid of the toilet, as pale as the porcelain below her, staring at Dane's blood covered uniform.
"What are we going to do?" She cried.
"We're going to do nothing," Dane replied in a voice as monotone as a robot.
"What? But why? We have to do something don't we?" she pleaded.
"I've done all I can right now. I haven't slept in days. When I'm done washing this shit off I'm going to lie down on the bed and hold you till I fall asleep. And when I wake up this nightmare will be over and I'll be back to handing out speeding tickets and breaking up parties under the tressle."
"Yeah, so I should just go open the deli and turn on the grill right?" Susan quipped. "Cause when you wake up the world is gonna be right back to fucking normal." She shook her head and walked out of the bathroom.
Dane had a funny comeback but decided to keep it to himself. He only had a few hours before he had to report back to the roadblock and didn't want to waste them fighting and then apologizing.
He turned off the water and grabbed his towel off the rack. He gave himself a once over with it and walked out of the room and into the bedroom where Susan was holding her face in her hands and crying on the bed. Dane wrapped the towel around his waist and sat by her side.
Shortly after, Cher, their old mutt of a dog trotted in and jumped on the bed next to them, nuzzling her way in between them. Susan rustled Cher's head and ears while wiping away her own tears.
Dane smiled at her and asked, "do you want to lie down for a while?"
"Sure, but don't expect me to fall asleep or do anything else," she said.
"Fair enough," Dane said as he put his head on his pillow and close his eyes. "I'm too tired to do anything anyway---it would just be embarrassing."
"Isn't it always," she joked, giving him a sly smile.
The three of them lay on the bed, spooning one another. Dane fell asleep almost instantly, and despite her declaration otherwise Susan joined him shortly after that. Cher slept with one eye open, ever the watchful guard dog.
Sal and Jones finished their shift, having only fired a few rounds. There had been a dozen or so lurkers approaching town and despite the events of late it had been an easy few hours. Their replacements them were Keith, a fellow officer, and Henry, an avid hunter and probably better with a rifle than the rest of them.
Keith reeked of whiskey, but no one said anything. And who could blame him. He had a drinking problem years ago but went cold-sober of his own accord and never faltered. They exchanged hand shakes with one another and parted ways.
Immediately they took to surveying the area with the scopes of their rifles. There were plenty of targets, slow and spread out. They cleared the area in a few minutes, and Keith went over to his truck to fetch himself another drink. He had a little more than half a bottle of Jack Daniels. He took a swig and offered some to Henry who wasn't foolish enough to turn it down even if he did hate Jack.
Sheriff Bruce Davis was patrolling the town, driving through the areas of town that were blind spots to the roadblocks. He'd dispatched a few of the dead things he came across by his lonesome. He also went around at random, checking on the townspeople, making sure those who stuck around were doing as well as they could. He did his best to avoid lengthy conversations, but he wanted people to be at ease. So if getting his ear chewed off was what he had to do, he'd do it for them.
During his drive he came across a dead thing that had made it half way through town. It made him wish he could build a fence around the wh
ole town: barbed wire, spotlights, and guard decks. And the works, and why not, it was his wish.
He drove past Alan's house and since he was in the mood for wishing, he wished his friend didn't just off himself. Alan hadn't been taking anything well lately. His mother died last summer, who was the only family he had. And a few months ago his cat died, which he loved just as much. He hadn't had a steady woman in over two years, and the last time he tried talking to one, the woman's husband punched him in the mouth.
He was also in debt up to his ears. Which was no big thing if you asked around, but he made it a big thing. Then he nearly lost his mind when the dead started trying to eat people, as did everybody else. But he really took it badly, from the moment he heard word of it. He thought God was mad. And if he was, he had every right to be. Bruce wished his friend was riding along with him right now. But wishing never seemed to work, so he kept on driving.
***
Walter continued to play out all the scenarios in his head, and it was quickly getting clustered. He eventually decided that if it was a nuclear attack, then surely there would be nuclear fallout to follow. He remembered reading up on what to do in case of fallout years ago, and only now did what little information he could recall seem useful.
The first priorities were food and water. Food they had plenty, water they had some. But he remembered reading that any empty container should be filled, and used before any bottled water. He rose to his feet, quite excitedly, and began giving out duties for everyone. He instructed everyone to find any bottles or jars and fill them with water, any pots or pans as well. He ran to the bathroom, and turned on the faucet to the sink and tub, to fill them.
Walter instructed Jeff to go around and seal up all the windows so that no fallout dust could get inside. Walter then ran down to the basement, fetching a plastic tarp and a roll of duct tape, with it he sealed up the fireplace. Once all of th empty containers were filled with water they were brought to the basement.
After that everybody helped to move the seating furniture directly in the center of the room as best as possible. Walter remembered that the more distance there was between you and the radiation outside the better off you were. He recalled that with every passing hour the radiation weakened. He didn't, however, recall how long it took for the radiation to be harmless. He knew it could take years and remembered something called half life, but didn't remember much about it. They were far enough away that the larger quantities of dust wouldn't be an issue, but if the wind blew it in the direction of New Haven they'd have to worry all the same. It might not ever come to New Haven but Walter wasn't about to bet on it, nor anyone else in the family. They agreed to stay indoors for a few days, and only go out if they had to leave for an emergency, or to ward off the random dead.
Thinking of the dead gave Walter a horrible thought. The kind of thought that took the wind right from his sails---the dead would be perfect carriers of radiation. His mind spun out of control and hit a telephone pole. He sat back down, again at a loss for words. His family could tell something bothered him, and they could tell that he was keeping it to himself, like a hungry dog chewing on a bone.
Barbara looked out the window and gasped. Three dead things were coming toward the house, and they didn't look like they wanted to borrow a cup of sugar. She continued to watch, and was happy to see the Sheriff show up. He pulled his car to the side of them, got out with his handgun drawn. He walked up to them and put two bullets in each of their heads at point blank range. It was enough to keep them down till he could send someone out to burn them up.
Barbara didn't smile, she was relieved he did what he did. But she was disgusted by the brutal manner in which he did it.
CHAPTER 12: School's out forever
Chung-Hee searched through the school for rope or something strong enough to bind Ben. He had discussed his plan with those on the roof who witnessed his actions as well as Shorty who wasn't there at the time. He objected to Chung-Hee's plan but didn't have a better one. And, anyway, the majority sided with Chung-Hee, and during the end of the world the majority rules.
Uncertain of when to carry out this plan, they held an impromptu meeting in the gymnasium. Everyone was gathered, and no one was left to keep watch, though they did quickly check and make sure the place wasn't being infiltrated.
Eddie spoke loudly. "Everybody listen up, please. We have some terrible news and a tough decision to make."
"What do you mean? What's wrong?" a number of people asked in the crowd.
"If you'll let me talk, you'll know everything," Eddie replied to them. He paused, waiting for a silent confirmation. When he got it he continued. "Boone, and his friend Milah, were murdered by this man." He pointed to Ben, who was lying bound on the ground under Chung-Hee's foot.
Everyone gasped. Some of them began to cry while others proclaimed their newly found hatred for Ben. Shorty, though, just felt shame, and took a step back.
"We have a suitable punishment in mind for this bastard. But it's going to depend on us leaving. Which is the reason why we're having this meeting. We need to decide whether to stay or to go. As most of you probably know, we are surrounded. We can still access our vehicles. But if we wait much longer we may have to leave them behind." He paused, letting that sink in, before continuing. "And if we wait too long we may never be able to leave this place."
"How many are there?" Ricker asked.
"Maybe a hundred," Frankie answered.
"There are more and more by the hour. Most of our weapons are outside in the vehicles. Maybe, if we had them, staying wouldn't be a bad idea," Eddie postulated. "There's plenty of food and space, and the building is ideal. But we can't punch these things to death. I think its best if we leave now. What do you all want to do?" Eddie asked.
The majority ruled once again. It was time to leave and head back to the road. Not everybody was happy with the decision, but no one knew what else to do. It would be too dangerous to try getting to the cars and back: that was a one way street.
Chung-Hee and Eddie explained the plan. While some would've said Ben's punishment was cruel, this was a cruel world, and always had been. The façade of pleasantries and complacency died when the dead rose, and the animal side of man that lay dormant for so long now stepped in without hesitation.
Ben was a killer, and if he remained free then he would kill again. There was nothing left for him to do on this world but die a slow painful death like all the ones he'd bestowed onto others. With his punishment, he would finally be able to give back and not just take. His death would let others live.
Eddie regretted the leadership position thrust upon him by the untimely demise of Boone, but just as Boone fell into it so did Eddie. After the meeting people came to him, wanting answers for which he had none. And they wanted something to do, which he was more than happy to give them.
Damian, Jon-Jon, and Joseph gathered the others by the front doors. Scott and Judy stayed near the door where they had initially broken in, waiting for a signal from Julio and the tall man, Corey. Julio and Corey were waiting for the signal from Chung-Hee, Eddie and Shorty, who were tying Ben to the fence outside.
Their intention was to use him as bait once they opened the fence to let the dead things in. Ben tried to struggle and break free. But every time he did, one of them would hit him hard to take the fight out of him just long enough to finish tying him up. Once he was tied up they ran to the fence opening closest to the building and started to make some noise.
They readied themselves as Eddie opened the fence, still hollering and yelling at the dead. "Dinner's ready motherfuckers!" Chung-Hee ran to the cafeteria and Eddie followed behind just as the dead things began to creep inside the area.
But Shorty hesitated.
"They're just going to chase us. They won't even know Ben is out there!" Shorty yelled. "I'm going to lead them to him. Go!"
"Wait! What about you?" Eddie asked.
"I'll get there. Just wait for me," he yelled over the moans of the onco
ming dead.
Shorty back stepped toward Ben, yelling at the dead things in order to pull them further into the fenced in field. In one hand he held his crowbar, and in the other his handgun. He raised his gun to fire and took aim to the head of the dead thing closest to him. It was a gruesome looking thing, full of tear marks and gouged flesh. Its eyes were bulged and nose nearly gone. He would've been naked if it weren't for his underwear and lonesome sock. Shorty fired, and the thing dropped. The noise shattered the night, an owl cooed, and a familiar voice whispered something into Shorty's ear as a knife plunged into the lower right side of his back. Shorty turned around to see Ben and his bloodied face smiling.
"That's what you get for letting the gook tie me up. I thought we were friends, man," Ben smiled, his face swollen.
"H...how...," Shorty grunted.
"Fuckin' magic is how. I've been hiding knives since I could hold one."
Shorty dropped to his knees clutching at his back. Ben stepped closer and snatched his gun and crowbar. Then he kicked Shorty onto his back, driving the blade deeper. Shorty screamed. The dead things swarmed over him. Ben stepped back to watch for a bit, amazed at how fierce the dead things were. And how hungry.
"Looks like your plan is still going to work, eh?" Ben laughed. "Wish things could've been different, you were all right in my book," Ben shook his head.
The front doors of the school burst open. It was like the last day of class as everyone ran for their vehicles. Eddie, Frankie, Jon-Jon, and Joseph made sure everyone got out of the building and safely into a vehicle. Cars and trucks started at random, and some prematurely drove away with no destination other than the road. A safe zone was a pipe dream and they'd settle for a mall if they came across one.
