by T. L. Walker
I nodded to Virginia, who removed Bobby’s blindfold just in time for him to see a large group of zeds flatten a section of the school’s barriers, pouring over it and each other as random gunshots split the air.
But the kid only laughed at us."You think we haven’t had them inside our walls before? In the beginning –"
This time I was the one who laughed."This isn’t the beginning anymore,"I said, nodding toward the zeds that were rushing the school, many of them moving faster than some people could."And I told you about Luke. I wonder how many of the people inside are dead now too, thanks to him?"
When Bobby turned and spat in my face, I merely stared at him as I dug a scrap of cloth out of my pocket and wiped my cheek clean."Not very good aim," I sneered.
"Charlie," Virginia warned.
I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes."Two of us need to stay here with him, the other needs to do a perimeter check and hopefully find Mike before we make our move."
"You should go. You’re fastest." I knew that Virginia was right, but I shook my head.
"No. Daniel, you up for it? You’ve been here before too, and Mike will know more about Lauren." There was always the chance she hadn’t made it here, that any news like that would render Daniel useless, but I knew that Mike wouldn’t lie to him.
And I knew that I would.
He gave a quick nod."The zeds seem to be wandering in from the north; I’ll move around to the south first. Hopefully by the time I circle back around most of them will be on school grounds."
"Thank you,"I told him, reaching out and gripping his hand."Be fast. Be careful. Be safe."
He gave me that lopsided grin of his that reminded me of country upbringings."I’ll do my best," he drawled, squeezing my hand hard before letting it go and turning south, jogging along the curb until he reached the far end of the lot and disappeared through a row of trees.
Virginia glared at me; of course she’d wanted me to go. Because of Luke. Because of Mike. But mostly because of Bobby. But I moved around to stand in front of the kid as I tucked his blindfold between his lips and tied it around the back of his neck."Can’t have you making any noise." He stared up at me, his gaze disdainful. I turned my back on him, still holding the rope, its knot tight around the front of his waist where he had no chance of reaching it. When Virginia glanced at me again, I cocked my head and ran my fingers across my lips, zipping them shut, so to speak.
"How long?" Virginia asked, after we’d waited maybe a quarter of an hour.
"Not much, depending on if he finds Mike."I stayed focused on the zeds; a small horde had approached from the north, but most of them were inside the fences now, leaving only a few very slow ones trickling in. We were close enough that I could see a difference; some of them were newly changed, moving awkwardly, looking like they were following some sort of beacon and couldn’t quite keep up. But many weren’t new zeds – they had the determination to reach the place they were drawn to, but they were half-dragging themselves there."They’re rotting away,"I observed."Virginia, look at them. The slow ones. Some of them are...fresh. But..."
"By God,"she breathed."You’re right. You haven’t seen this before?"
"If I did, it was so rare that I didn’t really put two and two together. But now...so many of them...the ones we call ‘super zeds’...must already be inside. But these older ones...I think I’ve just never seen so many all at once."
"I imagine they’re easier to take down."
"Like slicing through months-old road kill," I agreed.
Virginia grimaced."Something like that."
Still we waited. Another ten minutes passed before anything happened; then suddenly there was a disgusting smack to my right, and I turned to see Daniel and Mike sprinting towards us. My stomach flipped, but they were bulldozing through the straggling zeds as they made their way through the trickle of zeds that was still heading for the school. A few of those stragglers turned their attention our way, but I knew that we could take care of them; as soon as our friends reached us, I relinquished Bobby’s rope to Daniel and Virginia and I rushed forward to cut the zeds down. When it was done, when we were certain we were safe – at least for the moment – I bent down to inspect one of them. I’d bashed its head in with my bat, and I’d swung much harder than I needed to. What was left was a mass of blood and pulp and bruised, rotting flesh. The zed was missing half an arm, too, and it hadn’t been torn off – I knew enough to understand that it had simply fallen away.
I heard Virginia gagging and turned to lead her back to our group, immediately taking the rope away from Daniel and then turning to Mike."Lauren?" I asked.
"She headed back to the zoo hours ago. Daniel told me you left there not long after dawn, but with all the noise from inside the school, we had a hard time staying in one place. I can’t imagine she had an easy trip back; we’d settled in just northwest of here. The zeds, Charlie...there were so many of them."
"He saw me and came down from a tree,"Daniel explained."There’s no way Lauren would have gotten back before we left, and they came a different way, so we wouldn’t have seen her." But even as he spoke these words, his expression was one of forced relief. He didn’t really believe that his wife was safe...and I didn’t have the time to reassure him.
"There are good people in that school. Let’s hope some of them survived."I nudged Bobby to his feet and handed Mike one of my guns. Daniel had already supplied him with the axe he’d carried all the way from the zoo, and after making sure we were all properly armed, I wrapped the rope around my fist and yanked my prisoner toward the broken fence."Be careful with the downed ones – they can still bite," I reminded my friends.
Bobby never even attempted to speak.
We rushed down the hill and headed straight for the break in the fence, me leading with Bobby in tow and the rest of my warriors – because that was what they are – trailing close behind. We stumbled over the pile of zeds that had been caught up at and in the fence, me slamming the head of my bat into some, hearing knives sink into the skulls of many more. Every one of us had boots, and pants tucked into those boots, but when I heard someone curse behind me I knew that we had a problem.
It was Virginia, and her shoe was caught in a pile of several zeds. I knew that if she of all people was cursing, it was a real problem...and in that moment, I had to make a choice: let go of Bobby and help her, or simply hope that she could help herself.
"Fuck,"I swore. Mike was the closest, so I tossed the rope in his direction."Don’t let him get away!" I shouted as I turned back to grab Virginia. I stomped down on the closest head; it smashed under my foot like a soft peach. Disgusted, I reached for the older woman; as soon as we’d grasped each other’s arms I pulled her toward me. Her boot slipped off, but we stumbled free of the zeds with everything else intact.
"Good thing I’m wearing socks," she joked, yanking off her second boot.
Just then Daniel cried out, and when I spun around it was like everything was in slow motion. I saw Daniel pointing, saw that Bobby was bent over Mike, and it was like something exploded inside of me. I rushed forward, tackling Bobby to the ground. Mike was gasping for breath – Bobby had been trying to choke him with his knees – but when I finally dragged our hostage to his feet, I understood that his decision to attack Mike was likely because he really didn’t have anything left to lose, that he must have stumbled into a zed at some point; there was a chunk of flesh missing from his left arm.
"Do whatever you want to me now,"he laughed maniacally."It doesn’t really matter, because we’re all screwed."
I saw where he was looking and realized that he was right.
Dozens of the zeds that had been focused on the noise inside the school were now focused on us.
"What do we do?" Mike asked as he scrambled to his feet, his voice hoarse from Bobby’s attempt to kill him.
"What we always do,"I growled, dropping Bobby’s rope and bending to pull a knife from my right boot."Leave the weak behind, and finish our
job."
I heard Daniel moan, heard Bobby laugh again, and then a roaring filled my ears. I couldn’t look at my friends, couldn’t be bothered with Bobby. He was already doomed and basically a stranger, anyway – and not a nice one. As so many of the zeds stumbled toward us, far too many of them the fast ones who had evolved but not yet started to rot away, I had to focus on my own survival.
Only then would I be able to save anyone else. If I even have the chance to do so. If they use their guns...
But no, my people were smarter than that. Even Virginia, who’d been holed up in that zoo from the very beginning, went after the zeds with a knife in one hand and her makeshift mace in the other. I glanced over my shoulder to see Bobby running off to the right, his gait awkward."Follow him!" I shouted as I swung at a zed with my bat, barely connecting with its shoulder as I spun and followed the kid. I heard footsteps pounding behind me and could only hope, as I whipped my knife up to stab a zed under its chin, that those footsteps belonged to my friends.
And then we got lucky. A flurry of gunshots sounded from inside the school, causing most of the undead to turn away from us. A few stragglers were still stumbling across my path, but after taking a moment to shove my knife back in my boot I charged forward with my bat in both hands, bashing them out of the way without any thought of actually finishing them, my only goal being to catch up with Bobby. How did you let him get a head start?
Suddenly Mike and Daniel were by my side, but I knew it had to be me who reached the kid first. I tackled him to the ground, dropping my bat as I once again pulled out my knife and stabbed it into Bobby’s thigh. I would have stabbed again and again and again, but the sounds of my friends staving off more zeds behind me brought me back to my senses.
Even with the bite on his arm and the stab wound in his leg, Bobby was petulant when I dragged him to his feet."Show us where you were going, or I’ll tie you up and let them have you,"I hissed."It won’t take more than a minute."
"You’re a cunt," he growled. I smirked at him.
"You’re not the first person who’s called me that, and I’m sure you won’t be the last. Thankfully, it’s just a word, no matter what it means. Now show me where you were going, or you die. Maybe in a few minutes, maybe in a few hours...just know that it will be painful."
"I don’t give a shit about pain, but if you want inside so bad, fine. We still have more people than you."
I looked toward the school, where the mob of zeds was already pressing against not just the walls but the doors and windows as well. The glass was thick, but not thick enough; I imagined that it was probably already cracking."Not for long."
Still, he shook his head, his jaw clenched. It was Virginia who changed the tide."You’re a little shit, kid,"she mused, wiping the blade of her knife on her loose khaki pants, staining them with the black ooze of zed blood."You may be done for, but there have to be some people in there who we could save. What’ll it be?"
Bobby looked at me, then at Virginia, then at me again."I’ll show you the way in,"he finally said."But you’ll still lose."
"Sure we will,"I replied, rolling my eyes, doing everything in my power to keep him from seeing how concerned I actually was."I guess I’ll have to console myself with the fact that you’re a goner no matter what happens."
"That’s enough, Charlie,"Virginia insisted. She reached out and took hold of the rope that was still bound around Bobby’s waist."He’s mine now. We lead the way."
"Dissension in the ranks!" Bobby cackled.
He was right, but I couldn’t let him know that."More like you’re close to being expendable and I need my hands free to make sure Virginia doesn’t get hurt."
Just then Daniel and Mike surrounded us."We have to move,"Daniel ordered."We lost most of them, but..."
I nodded."We’re moving. Bobby is going to show us the way in." I dogged the kid’s heels as he led us around a corner of the school building and past a blocky addition that had been attached partway down its north-facing side, turning toward the wall where a large, dark, solid door was located.
"If things are really bad, it’ll be unlocked. If they’ve got everything contained, though...good luck opening it." He shrugged.
I tested the door, pressing down on the heavy button at the top of the handle and pulling.
Nothing happened.
"Guess they’re doing better than you thought."
"Does everyone know about this door?" Mike suddenly asked.
"Of course not. Just the people who work guard shifts. In fact, we’ve only had to unlock it once before, and we survived that. Just like we’ll survive this."
"Just the people who work as guards, hmm?"I tapped my chin theatrically."I think Daniel and I met a couple of them. They didn’t seem too fond of Jia. Or of the people close to her."
Daniel groaned."Now is notthe time, Charlie. If we have to shoot that door open –"
I held up my hand."We don’t. It’s just a big, heavy, metal door that hasn’t been opened in a while. Daniel, Virginia, you’re on the kid. Mike, let’s try the door again. Together."
"I hope you’re right about this," Mike mumbled as we grasped the handle. I gave him a reassuring smile and pressed my thumbs down on the button.
"Pull,"I said. Our arms were touching and I could feel the strain of his muscles under his skin. I dug my feet into the ground, anchoring myself with my right heel so that I wouldn’t fly backward if the door swung open. It gave a rusty creak and I felt it grinding against its frame."It’s giving!" Not knowing what was waiting for us on the other side, I gestured for Mike to move off to the right. He remained close, weapons at the ready, as I braced myself for one more hard pull.
Even though it was no longer stuck, the door was still heavy, and the hinges seemed to cry out as I dragged it open.
Nothing greeted us except for blackness and the distant sounds of zeds and fighting."We stay together. Get inside. I’ll shut the door. We’ll leave it unlocked. Then we move. Mike, bring us to the nurse’s office. We can lock Bobby up in there. Maybe he’ll live and someone will be able to do something for him...though losing an arm nowadays is far worse than it would have been before."
"It’s just an arm," Bobby said, and even though this time I didn’t think his words matched his tone, I decided not to bother with a response.
"Let’s move."
I let Mike lead the way, positioning Bobby between myself and Virginia, Daniel following behind."We’ll take the long way around,"Mike whispered over his shoulder as he shuffled down the dark hallway to our right."It sounds like that may keep us away from most of...whatever’s happening."
"Just until we get rid of our little friend here," I responded insistently. We have to find Luke.
Or what’s left of him.
I pushed the thought from my mind as best I could and tried to focus on our surroundings. It wasn’t as dark as I’d first thought; there were classroom doors with narrow glass windows not far from where we’d entered, and light filtered through them, patches of it making the long, stark hallway more dim than dark.
"Never thought I’d see the inside of a high school again," I mused. Virginia snorted, but if anyone else heard me, they didn’t acknowledge my awful attempt at a joke.
Eventually we took a left, and while the gunshots had stopped, I hoped that this was only because the people with the guns were down for the count. Even if they’d merely realized how much attention they were drawing from outside, that still gave us the upper hand.
Hopefully we’re the enemy they don’t know about.
"Here we are," Mike said, turning and stopping in front of a door on the left.
"It’s gonna be locked," Bobby practically promised us.
"You wanna do the honors?" I asked Mike. He nodded and reached forward to twist the handle, which moved easily and allowed him to push the door in.
"Told you, kid. Not everyone wants Jia to win. There’s probably shit going on that we don’t even know about, and as you’ve seen by now, we k
new enough."
"You’ve just gotten lucky so far,"Bobby said as we shoved him into the office. The windows here were larger, looking out into the school’s inner courtyard."Mike, Daniel, grab some meds and supplies, whatever you can find that isn’t locked up. If any of it is. But be quick about it. Virginia, stay on him. I’m going to look for a way to shut him up in here. We’ve got a minute, maybe two. Make it count."
I watched Bobby out of the corner of my eye as I roved the office looking for something to keep the door shut. I peered at some of the knickknacks on the desk and then made my way around it, searching every drawer, knowing that unless we had a way to melt the lock – and we didn’t – then we would need the spare keys. I wasn’t sure how many there were to this room, but maybe, if Mrs. Downing had truly left that door unlocked on purpose...
Ha! And there it was, a single key, worn with use, scuffed from the effort it must have taken to remove it from its keychain...hiding under a stack of post-its in the smallest desk drawer. I pocketed it and moved to help Virginia tie Bobby to a metal chair; as soon as we were done I called out to Mike and Daniel. They returned to my side, both zipping up bags that now looked quite a bit more full than they had before.
"Most everything was locked, but we got plenty of bandages, gauze, tape, sanitary wipes, even some OTC stuff," Daniel told me.
"Perfect. But now we need to go. Virginia, Daniel, you first." They left the room, and I took Mike’s hand, both of us backing out the door slowly, our eyes on Bobby the entire time. I released Mike only when we were through the door and I slid it shut, pulling the key from my pocket to lock it.
I turned to my friends."Now comes the hard part."I knew that I didn’t have to tell them to avoid using guns unless it was completely necessary, and every other bit of advice just stuck in my throat."We need to take care of Luke,"I reminded them."But I’mthe one who will do it, understand? No matter where you are, no matter where I am, unless I’m completely incapacitated –" or dead–"leave him to me. All of you can whistle?"They nodded."Good. Do that, loud as you can, if you see him first."I paused, staring each of them down in turn."Promise me."
