by A. Rosaria
“Norm.” The older man, he must be in his thirties, looked at him. It was an awkward question. He did not know him well enough to ask, but he felt he needed to know. “Have you killed before?”
Norm's eyes glazed over. He drew back from Ralph. “I'm not your brother, never served with you, so never ask me that again.”
Norm crouched to the side of one of the houses. Ralph followed him as well as he could.
“Punk, you listen to me; follow close, don't say shit, and leave them to me. You'll only get in my way.”
Ralph held his lips together, so as not to say anything stupid and lose the only person around who could possibly help him. They crept along the wall. Norm checked around the corner and signaled when the coast was clear, and they moved to the next house. They went from house to house until they reached the construction shack. It wasn't what Ralph expected. When he thought about a shack, he thought of a wooden structure, haphazardly put together, but it was the container office he had already seen on his way up. He guessed the construction workers used it as a break room. Norm's car, a green 2005 model Jeep Gladiator, was parked next to it.
“Fuck, two of them.”
Ralph saw them. One was hard to miss—a big fellow—and the other was a man who was dwarfed next to his companion.
“What do we do now?”
“We wait until they pass.”
But they did not pass by. Instead, they shuffled in their general direction. Ralph felt panic growing. He looked wildly about for anything. A distance away, he saw a sledge hammer. He would have to cross into the open to grab it, and the zombies would certainly see or hear him. And what if he managed to grab it? He wasn't even sure he could lift that thing; he had never handled one before. Closer by, behind him on the ground, lay a five-foot piece of timber. He grabbed it.
“Goof thinking,” Norm said.
How could Norm stay so calm with those two bearing down on them? Ralph felt the shakes become less controllable the closer they got. He had no idea how they were going handle the big one. They closed in— now twenty feet away. The zombies shuffled in their direction with more intent now, as if they had gotten a whiff of fresh human flesh.
“Are you ready?” Norm asked.
Ralph nodded despite not being ready; he would never be ready for this kind of work. He had no choice but go with the blows dealt to him. Norm pushed him out from their cover. Ralph staggered forward in the zombies’ direction.
“Go get them, champ.”
Norm slunk back into hiding behind the buildings. The zombies caught Ralph's scent and were honing in on him. He had no time to think. The smaller one was almost upon him. Its hands stretched out to grab him; its teeth were bared ready to sink into his flesh. Their eyes, dead fish eyes, looked right through him. There was nothing, no rage, no hate, no love, only emptiness. The soul was long gone in these husks of men. Ralph raised the timber and crashed it against the zombie’s head, bashing it in. Congealed blood dripped from its ears and it dropped.
The tall one was close behind other. The zombie fell forward. Ralph threw himself sideways and fell facedown. He spat dirt as he crawled back to his feet. The zombie got on its knees. This was his chance. Ralph rushed forward with the timber held high. He smashed it down just as the zombie moved. He missed its head and smashed its shoulder. The impact broke the timber in two.
The zombie regained its footing, standing two heads taller than Ralph. Ralph threw the broken piece of timber at its head. No effect whatsoever. It didn't slow it at all. Its arms swung in the air, searching for Ralph. One brushed hard against him, sending him sprawling into the dirt. He lay on his back, the zombie towering over him. This was it. As it was about to descend on him, a sledgehammer shattered the zombie’s knee, making it fall sideways. Ralph rolled away from its arms, still trying to get a hold on him. Norm swung the sledgehammer again and crushed its head.
The man had saved him again, but it also was him who had put him in danger’s way.
“What the heck was that all about?”
“Bait. You had to distract them so I could get the sledgehammer.”
“They could have killed me.”
“Yes, they could have, but they didn't.”
He was still alive. True. However, he didn't like being bait in someone else’s plan. Well, at least they got to the car.
“What now?”
Norm cast a thumb back at the office. “The construction shack has the phone you need. Go call your momma.”
“What about the car?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Are we going to—?”
Norm laughed. Ralph quickly looked about to make sure no zombies came, attracted to the sound.
“We? There is no we. You got your stuff to deal with and I have mine. It's here our ways split.”
Ralph couldn’t believe Norm was just going to leave him there. He almost died so Norm could get his truck back.
Norm walked to his pickup; he threw the sledgehammer in the cargo hold and got in, slamming the door shut.
“Hey, man, don't worry. You can use one of those parked over there. I'm certain the keys are somewhere in the shack.”
“Come on. You can't leave me stranded like this.”
“Yes I can. Though I'll do you one more solid.” He turned his radio on to hard rock, AC/DC's Thunderstruck boomed out of his speakers. He cranked the volume up. He slowly drove toward the road. He waved good-bye and drove on.
A moan came from within the houses, followed by two other ones. Ralph hid behind a wall. The zombies shambled in the direction of Norm's pickup, which slowly led them away from the housing project. He had them all following him. For about ten minutes, Ralph heard the music until it faded away or Norm got tired and turned it down. Whatever it was, he had shelter for the night.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sarah shuddered. It was cold. She grabbed for her blanket and realized she was not at home in her bed or even in a bed. How long had she been out? Her eyes fluttered open to darkness. They must have turned the lights off after she had dozed off. Good thing too, because a light on could have attracted unwanted attention. Some outside light came in, casting the room in a dull gray. She could see the whiteboard and the top of the walls, but where the light did not reach was pitch black. She felt around her and hit someone soft. Must be Lilly; she heard her snore lightly. The others must have been sleeping as well.
Someone stirred in the classroom. She heard a crunch and sloppy, slurping, eating sounds. One of them was having a late night snack. Sarah smiled. Could it be that Tommy finally woke up hungry and felt a need for a bite? She wouldn't blame him. She felt hungry for the first time since being stranded here. It must have been him; she never heard another person eat as sloppily as he did. It normally would irritate her, but today that tasty eating made her mouth water. God, she so wanted something to eat.
Maybe Tommy had something to spare. That was if he wanted to share. She crouched, not wanting to be seen from the outside, and moved silently, not wanting to wake the others. A tearing sound, crunching sound, and chomping. She saw a silhouette where they had left Tommy on the floor.
“Tommy?” she whispered.
The chewing stopped. Someone slowly rose and cocked his head. It wasn't Tommy; it was too thin to be Tommy. She looked at his feet. Someone big lay at his feet. Her eyes widened and she swallowed a scream. She backed away, not caring if someone outside saw her. Her back touched the wall. She pressed against it as if she could go through it. The thing in front of her moaned—a sound so guttural it couldn't be human anymore.
Her throat tightened around her vocal cords. She looked around for anything, anyone. The thing stepped forward into a beam of light. Dead eyes stared at her. A blood-soaked mouth made chewing motions, a piece of skin hung out the side of it. It was George. George had woken up from death. It took another awkward step, raising its arms, hands clawing for her.
Her heart raced, pushing her blood through her body and sending a jolt o
f desperate energy through her that broke her free from her paralysis. She started screaming. Lilly jump up, looking around in a daze and joined her in screaming when she saw George. The two geeks bolted for the door. Wooly hair flipped the lights on, his friend opened the door, and without a second look behind him, he disappeared out the door. The girl, Emily, exited after him. The zombie closed in. Sarah could smell its rotten flesh.
“Hurry,” wooly-haired guy yelled at them.
Sarah grabbed Lilly's wrist and ran. She ducked under the zombie’s arms. Its body slammed against her hand. She had to let go of Lilly. The zombie stood between them.
“Run!” Sarah screamed.
The zombie turned toward a frozen Lilly.
“Run already.”
In terror, Lilly shook her head, uttering no and backing herself in the corner. George zombie shuffled closer, moaning franticly, as he descended on Lilly. Lilly's eyes were wide in terror. Her face was placid. She must believe she woke up in a nightmare.
Sarah, without thinking, pushed the zombie. It staggered sideways but did not veer enough to give her space to grab Lilly. It swung an arm to grab Lilly. She fell on her butt. Sitting on the ground, she pulled her knees together and hugged them. She squeezed her eyes shut.
“Leave her,” the wooly guy said from the door. “Hurry, save yourself.”
Like hell she would let her only friend down. A rage filled her. Not caring about her own safety, she jumped, throwing her weight against the zombie. The zombie lost its footing and fell atop Sarah. The Zombie turned around, now focused on her, grabbing for her. She jumped up to get away from it. The zombie grabbed her hair and pulled. She yelped in pain. She put all her weight into getting away, while biting the pain away. Wooly ran up to her with scissors in his right hand. Wooly, she really needed to ask him his name, started cut her hair.
“Get Lilly out; I'll manage by myself.”
The zombie pulled itself up, pulling at her hair. “Give me the scissors and get her out.”
He pressed it in her hand and rushed to Lilly, grabbing her and almost lifting her to her feet while dragging her out. The guy had more strength than she would have guessed. She kicked the zombie's knee. It buckled, despite the fact the zombie kept trying to pull her closer. She cut the remaining hair it was holding. Damn her hairdo; it would grow again.
The zombie fell on its back still holding strands of her hair. She ran for the door. Wooly urged her to run faster. The zombie got up and chased after her, the growling reaching her faster than it walked. She thanked God in a quick prayer that they were slow. She ran into the safety of the hallway. Wooly pulled the door closed. A second, later the zombie bashed and thrashed against it. Sarah slid down the wall next to Lilly and put an arm around the crying teen.
“Thank you, Wooly,” she said, “for staying and saving us.”
“Wooly? My name is Zach.”
The other guy, thin and tall, approached with his head down. “I'm so sorry. I was so scared; I didn't think. I just ran.”
She couldn't blame him. She was not sure she would've stayed if it had been him instead of Lilly the zombie had been trying to eat. “What's your name?”
“Lester, you can call me Les.”
“I'm Sarah; this is Lilly.”
It was weird that they had spent a night in the same classroom and never introduced themselves. Now that they had almost gotten killed, they made room to do so. It must have been because of the shock. The irony was, why now? There was no bigger shock than a dead person rising from the dead and chewing on one of them. Her eyes teared up. In the thick of their fight for survival, she had forgotten about Tommy. Tommy was dead, killed in his sleep; he had had no chance. She felt herself grow cold. Maybe if she had bothered more with him, or maybe if she had covered him up, he would still be alive. At the very least, she could have moved the corpses to another room. Then, he would still be alive, but instead she had just curled up to take a nap. She didn't know him. She hadn’t ever been mean to him, but how could she allow this to happen? She cried. Lilly held her tighter, while her shoulders shuddered. Life as she knew it had ceased to be. She feared for her mother and brother.
Wiping her tears, she gazed around. Something was wrong.
“Where are Vic and Mel? They said they would join us.”
“No one came after you went to sleep,” Zach said.
“I heard noises come from one of the classrooms when I fled,” Les said. “Could be them.”
Did something happen? Was there another death on her because she asked them to leave their classroom? Her heart ached with the thought. She liked them; they were not friends, but with Jake out of the picture, she could not see why she could not befriend them; she could befriend them all.
Her body ached because of all the pent up stress she held inside. She forced herself to stand. How much more could she take before she went running from the building screaming and not caring if they ate her? She entered the classroom Vic and Mel had stayed in. Empty. They had gone somewhere else, but where?
Les waited for her outside the door. “I heard some noises at the end of the hall, maybe it's them?”
“Are you going to show me?”
He shook his head.
“Figures. If you are not going to show me, at least tell me where exactly.”
“It's at the end of the hall to the right, I think.”
Not saying anything else, he sat down. Well, they all had to deal with their own demons. Hers were her own, but she still would have liked someone to come along and back her up. The hallway was dark, the sun hours away. The noises could have been anything. A couple talking, a radio left on, a phone going off, a zombie shuffling down the hallways.
“Guys, maybe you better seek shelter in another classroom. Who knows what may still be out there.”
Les jumped up and rushed inside, almost knocking Sarah over.
Zach came over to her. “Don't be too hard on him. He has some issues. He's a bit awkward and stuff.” Zach looked awkward with his wild hair and wiry arms, but he had proven he was willing to help. She nodded.
“Could you keep an eye on Lilly and Emily for me?”
“You shouldn't go out alone. I'll come with you.”
Great. She would love to, but she could not leave Lilly behind with Les. Zach just told her about how he was. She had seen it herself. Totally unreliable. What if some zombies came knocking, the guy might open the door in his panic for whatever stupid reason that may look like a good idea. They all would be eaten.
“No, please just take care of Lilly and Emily and your friend might need some watching too.”
“Okay if that's what you want. Just take care. I hope you find your friends.”
They weren’t her friends, but right now, she would love if they were. No, they were more like good acquaintances. Today, it seemed like everything she did or had happened to her hit home like a sledgehammer. How had she wasted the last two years? What value was there in being popular if you had nothing to show for?
She made sure the door was shut behind her. There would be no more deaths on her, though somewhere deep inside she knew that from now on she lived in a world where she had not seen her last brutal death. Most likely the last one would be her own.
At the end of the hallway, covered in darkness, she could barely see the walls. There were no sounds, only the silence of a dead high school. The walls were soundproof so as to keep sound from going in and out the rooms. It was a requirement to be able to use the classrooms for testing. Not even light came in or out of the closed doors. For Les to have heard anything he would have had to be standing close to a door or somewhere a door had been left open. To the right, he had told her. Touching the wall, she moved forward. It was just a little longer and she would reach the area to the main stairs where the soldier shot Sam.
She edged along the wall, pausing at every doorway, but she heard nothing coming from the inside. Les must have been hearing things. Nothing was going on here. One more door to go
and she would be in front of the landing leading to the stairs. Near the stairs, she saw a fog of black, inviting here to come in and disappear forever. The principal’s office was on the opposite side. She was about to turn for the door and listen for a sound when the light in the principal's office flipped on. A shade was visible behind the blinders. Someone was in there? A zombie? It couldn't be; zombies did not turn on lights. Although, how could she know for sure? Fiction was fiction; what happened in movies, TV series, books, or comics was not real. Zombies were not real either, but they were now and they needed not be like depicted in fiction. They were slow, yes, and dead, and walking, but the rest shouldn't be necessarily the same. What if zombies could turn the lights on? The shadow behind the blinds seemed like he was rummaging through something. A while later, it looked as if it was drinking from a bottle. Not a zombie, probably the principal hiding. The light turned off.
She had been so transfixed with what had just happened that she had forgotten why she was here to begin with. She quickly pressed her ear against the door. She heard the creaking of furniture, grunts, moans, and a shrill scream. Someone was being attacked. She pushed the door open. Blinded by the light, she blinked until her sight returned. The ruckus stopped upon her entrance. Anna lay naked on the teacher's desk, her legs wrapped around Jake. Their bodies were sweating. Her large breasts swayed under her heavy breathing. Sarah's mouth must have fallen open; she could not utter a word. It felt like a thousand nails pricked her body at the same time. She wanted to scream, yell, make a scene, but she knew it was pointless. In fact, she was glad her astonishment gave her a second to think before she had let loose. She had no idea how to react to this.
Jake broke the silence. “It's not what you think.”
She didn't know what to think; she didn't want to be with him anymore after he attacked Tommy and her, though she still felt hurt over the fact that he could dismiss her so easily. Just minutes ago, she was almost eaten and he was fucking a girl down the hall. No, she shouldn't be thinking like that anymore; their relationship was in the past now, and she would not give anyone, especially not him, the satisfaction.
