Zombie High

by Shawn Kass

  As Mr. Castle steps over to Mr. Ray, he asks, “Are these all yours?” referring to the students in the room.

  “No,” answers Mr. Ray with a shake of his head. “I had a full class but lost some when we had to barricade ourselves in here. These four joined us just a little bit ago.”

  Turning to face you and the band kids, Mr. Castle says, “I’m not going to ask you what happened out there. We’ve all seen some pretty bad stuff by now, I’m sure, but I need to know if any of you have been infected.”

  Looking to the others and then back to Mr. Castle, you say, “I’m clean, and I think they are, too, but I just hooked up with them a little bit ago.”

  Looking to Ryan, Chris, and Bagdonas in turn, Mr. Castle receives a “No” and a shake of the head for each of them. He gives them each a cursory look from head to toe, and then, as if satisfied, turns back to the other teacher.

  “I’ve got most of the stuff you asked for,” begins Mr. Ray, “but some things are just impossible given the supplies we have on hand here at the school.”

  “I’m sure it will be fine,” says Mr. Castle. “We just have to make it to the roof.”

  Stepping in, you ask, “I’m sorry, did you say we’re going to the roof? How are we supposed to get up there?”

  Addressing you, although clearly annoyed that you are questioning his plan, Mr. Castle says, “There is a hatch in the maintenance closet on the second floor.”

  Taking the hint, you let the two of them talk for a minute while you check out the other students who came in with him. There are a few of them like Abby and Logan who you recognize, but several of them are just students you’ve seen around the school and have never really talked to. You consider walking over to talk to Logan, but with the room this crowded, it seems kind of pointless to try and move around everyone.

  Standing up on one of the chairs, Mr. Castle surprises you and announces, “Okay, everyone. I know it’s been a rough day so far, but we need to keep moving. Our goal is to get up to the roof. I’ve already told most of you how to get there, so if we get ambushed by these creatures just turn around and find another way there. If someone goes down, the same rules apply as before. Keep moving, and don’t try to help them. These things are just looking for any excuse they can get to sink their teeth into you and once they have, there’s no helping you. When we get to the roof, we should only have to wait for a little while and then help will arrive.”

  Raising your hand, you ask, “What kind of help?”

  Smiling, he says, “Let’s just say I know a guy who owes me a favor or two. If we get up there, he’ll come rescue us.” Addressing everyone again, he says, “Mr. Ray will hand out what he has to those without any weapons. If you have something already, let one of the others choose first. All right, five minutes people, let’s go.”

  As everyone begins gearing up and heading around to the different workstations to assess which weapons suit them best, you overhear Mr. Ray talking to Mr. Castle say, “I can’t believe you want to arm a bunch of kids. Something just doesn’t seem right about this. I mean, if we go through with this, we’re not going to be the same afterwards, and these kids will never have a chance at a normal life.”

  Turning to face him, Mr. Castle says, “There is no more normal. Don’t you get that? If these kids want a chance at life at all then they’re going to have to step up and be ready to defend themselves against those who would take it from them.”

  “I hear you, but don’t you think by arming them, we’re going to turn them into monsters without souls just like those things out there?” asks Mr. Ray.

  “Honestly, no. That type of thinking is a myth born from idiots and bad logic. People who have never been to war and never seen what I have sit back in their comfortable armchairs making declarations like that all the time, never recognizing that it’s the ones who go out there and do something that give them that false sense of security to sit and do nothing. The use of violence in defense of yourself and others does not make you a bad person. The fact is, if the enemy or in this case the zombies, hadn’t started this, then we wouldn’t be doing what we are now. These kids would instead be thinking about their high school romances, the ways that they could skip class, and what’s supposed to be on today’s lunch menu that doesn’t include human flesh.” Pointing to Logan, he says, “That one would be thinking about what assignments are worth doing tonight,” and then pointing to another kid, he adds, “and that one would be doodling pictures of his favorite actresses wearing tight tshirts and Daisy Duke shorts. These things out there have already destroyed that. Heck, you want to talk about crossing a line, they ate a priest for Pete’s sake. I’m not trying to make us into heroes, but we most certainly are not monsters. We’re doing what it takes to save people.”

  Realizing that too many people are looking at him and listening, Mr. Castle stops talking and walks back to the door. When he gets there, he addresses the group and says, “This thing, this parasite or whatever it is, has turned the people we knew into monsters. Now, they want to turn us into one, too. Personally, I’m not going to let them. Stick to the plan and the rescue will be here,” and with that, he opens the door and steps back out into the hall.

  Almost all of the students who came in with him are following closely, and with them, Mr. Ray and his students. Picking up your two-by-four, you look around and find that as the band kids go, it’s just Logan and you left to follow. Giving him a nod, you ask, “Ready?”

  “As I’m gonna be,” comes his reply, and then the two of you leave together.

  Out in the hallway, you find that the students have aligned themselves on both sides of the hallway as they proceed towards the stairs. When they get to the intersection, the lead person on the right gives the all clear for the left hallway since they have the better view, and the lead person on the left gives the all clear for the right. Standing in the middle, Mr. Castle makes a few hand gestures and whispers to a couple of students and then heads around the corner and towards the stairs. It only takes a minute, and then the lines are moving once again, both sides making the turn and filing into the stairwell.

  A part of you thinks that maybe this is all going too easy, that you were expecting some bloody showdown with a huge horde of zombies that you would have to fight off to get to safety, but you have to admit that you’re glad it hasn’t come to that. That is, until you spot Nathan shambling up from the direction of the nurse’s office. Holding out a hand for Logan to stop, you point down the hall.

  With a sad disappointment in his voice, Logan says, “Nathan, oh, buddy, I thought you might have made it.” Then turning towards you, he says, “Get up the stairs, I’ll be right behind you.”

  If you go up the stairs, turn to page …….…………….. 267 If you stay and help, turn to page ……………………….. 272

  Go Upstairs

  You are desperate to help, but you also know that Logan and Nathan were best friends up till yesterday. Clearly Logan wanted to be able to say goodbye in his own way before easing Nathan out of this existence he’s now in. Nodding to Logan that you understand, you head up the stairs.

  When you get to the top, you find that there are several bodies on the ground, clearly ex-humans who had been roaming around up here eating whoever they could catch, now dispatched to wherever zombies go. Aside from them, you find several students armed with the various supplies from Mr. Ray’s lab standing guard at a couple points in the hall. Just as you’re about to ask the first one a question, Mr. Castle comes out of a small room a little bit up the hall and asks, “Are you the last one?”

  Looking over your shoulder and then back to him, you say, “No, uh, Logan’s still downstairs.”

  “What?” asks Mr. Castle in what would surely have come out like a Drill Sergeant screaming at a cadet if it weren’t for the fact that any loud noises would attract more zombies to them. Stomping across the floor, until the two of you are nose to nose, Mr. Castle asks, “Haven’t you ever heard of the phrase ‘Leav
e No Man Behind’? If you were in the military I would have you busted down to KP duty for the next month. Now turn around, we’re going back for him.”

  Defending your actions, you say, “Logan said to go. He said he would be right behind me.”

  Whirling around to face you, Mr. Castle asks, “And if your friend were cleaning a loaded weapon with the barrel pointed at his face, and he said don’t worry, I got this, would you still just walk away? Think about it, because that’s essentially what you did.” Seeing the distraught look on your face and the fact that your eyes keep flicking back to the maintenance closet where the hatch for the roof is, Mr. Castle leans in and whispers, “We have a student down there, someone who may need our help, and you want to be a yellow turd and save yourself. Well, I’m not going to let you. You take one step for that roof before I say so, and I will personally break one of those legs you’re so fond of running away with. Your only option at this point is to come with me.”

  You’re a little scared of Mr. Castle right now since he’s clearly reverted back to some kind of mental military man, and you find yourself worried enough that he might actually go through with his threat to break your leg that you begin to follow him. You know you’ve heard somewhere that in the military people used to get shot for things like abandoning their posts and disobeying orders, and right now, with the stress of an apocalypse and all, there’s a chance he might actually do it.

  As he begins to descend the stairs, he holds up a hand telling you to wait until he gets to the landing halfway down and then waves you forward. When you get there, he asks you in a low voice which almost sounds like Batman, “Where was he when you last saw him?”

  Answering in a whisper, you say, “Right outside the door.”

  After waiting a second, Mr. Castle says, “I don’t hear anything. Let’s go check it out.”

  Following the teacher down the steps, you almost run into his back when he stops next to the door. Carefully and precisely, he slices the pie, opening up his field of view ten to fifteen degrees at a time making sure everything is clear, and then he holds a finger to his lips in a classic ‘Be quiet’ signal and waves you ahead.

  Stepping around him, you are startled to find Nathan hunched over Logan’s body and already elbow deep into his abdomen. The blood around the body is a sickening pool of red, and the sounds of what used to be Nathan chewing on Logan’s innards is disgusting. Despite all the things you’ve seen and done today in the heat of battle, you find yourself ready to heave.

  Seeing your reaction, Mr. Castle claps a hand over your mouth and pulls you back into the stairwell. Once inside, he says, “That out there could have been avoided. You think about that when you wake up with a cold sweat running down your arms from nightmares of this day.” Then pointing up the stairs he says, “Now get your butt upstairs and up onto the roof.”

  Without looking back, you bolt up the stairs, surely making more noise than you ought to, but only caring about getting to the roof, to clean air and to safety. When you get to the maintenance closet on the second floor, you find a small ladder in the back of the room leading up to an open hatch and the blue sky above. Without hesitating, you begin your climb.

  When you get to the top and are just about ready to exit the school, a pair of dirty grimy hands comes reaching for you. For just a second you think that they might be those of one of the infected, visions of Nathan downstairs still fresh in your mind, and you almost lose your grip on the ladder. That’s when you hear the voices of the other students celebrating. Taking one of the offered hands, you climb the rest of the way out and find that everyone else is already up here including a new person you hadn’t seen with either group, Mrs. Gail, the school registrar.

  Smiling as you pass everyone, you step over to where she sits back smoking a cigarette, and ask, “How did you make it up here? I didn’t see you with the group.”

  With a smirk on her face and the sarcasm of an older woman who’s seen it all, Mrs. Gail says, “I’ve survived this zoo for the past thirty years, and this,” gesturing towards the zombies below on the ground, “isn’t even in my top five worst days.”

  Mr. Castle and the rest of the students make their way up out of the hatch soon thereafter, and while you can’t be certain, it looks as if there are fresh stains you hadn’t noticed before on Mr. Castle’s pants. You don’t bother asking about them. Instead, you just wait with everyone else, happy to be alive.

  Within about fifteen minutes, you hear the distinctive sound of a helicopter, and when you look up you spot one painted in military camouflage dipping down towards your location. It takes a while for everyone to get loaded on, and it’s probably not the safest setup to have this many people aboard without seats, but no one says a thing as the helicopter begins to take off and point its nose towards safety.

  Congratulations, you made it out of school alive, but the question is - at what cost?

  Stay and Help Logan

  Refusing Logan’s offer to go and head for the exit, you decide that you’ll let him do what he can for his friend, but if things look like they’re going south, you’ll at least be there to step in and give him a hand. Watching as Nathan approaches Logan, you realize that Nathan is much bigger than Logan is. This worries you a bit, but you figure that with Nathan being the infected one that Logan should be able to outwit him and outmaneuver him, not to mention Logan does have a weapon. That’s when Logan gets stupid and puts the weapon down. Not wanting to call attention to yourself, you quietly curse at Logan for the extra risk he’s taking.

  Talking to the thing which used to be his best friend, Logan says, “Nathan, buddy, I know you’re in there. I know you can hear me, and I just wanted to say, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you’re like this, man. It was supposed to be you and me fighting side by side when the zombies came. We talked about this, and now look, you had to go and get yourself bit.” Shaking his head, Logan says, “I’m going to have to put you down, man. I know that’s what you would have wanted, and it’s what you would have done for me.”

  You can’t swear by it, but when you look to the zombie that used to be Nathan, you think he might have actually smiled at this last thoughtful gesture, but if he did, it only lasted a second. His face contorts into a snarl, and he increases in speed towards Logan who is already racing in with fist held high. As Nathan steps in face first and goes for the bite, Logan meets him with a swift and devastating punch to the side of his face. The blow is powerful enough to knock Nathan to the ground. Stepping out into the hall to watch the two of them, you see Logan jump into the air and body slam the zombie just as it started to get up, slamming it back into the hard tile floor chin first which forces the creature’s jaw to slam shut with enough force to break at least one of Nathan’s teeth. As the fight continues, Logan manages to slip his arm around his ex-best friend’s neck, and begins pulling, attempting to snap the zombie’s neck. For several seconds you wait, expecting to hear the audible crack of its vertebrae, but nothing comes. Moving to get a better view, you see that while the thing’s neck is twisted uncomfortably, it’s not far enough to break bones. At the same time, while in this awkward position, it’s actually still working its mouth as Logan pulls, trying to bite on Logan’s face.

  Not willing to let this go on any longer, you lift your two-by-four and swing for the zombie’s head. As your board breaks, you realize that not only was there not enough force to break a skull open, but Logan must have gotten in the way somehow and taken part of the blow because he is now falling back away from Nathan holding his hands to his head. Taking a second to apologize out of habit, you almost get caught by one of Nathan’s sweeping arms as he attempts to grab you. Jumping back out of his reach, your left foot lands on the broken piece of wood from your two-by-four, and you slip to the ground. Seeing this, Nathan makes his move.

  Launching himself forward with more skill than you would have thought a zombie possessing, Nathan gets on top of you and pins you to the ground like a wrestler from the WWE. From there, he
attempts to bite into your arm, but you manage to pull it from his grasp just a second before his teeth clamp down. From there it becomes a mass of rolling, snarling, and vicious blows, but without a way to damage the thing’s brain, you know you’re going to lose.

  As Nathan come in for his tenth or maybe eleventh attempt to bite your neck, you find your arms unable to keep him at bay. Somehow knowing this, Nathan leans in, putting all of his weight on you, and you find he’s getting closer and closer to his goal. Somewhere in your head a memory from one of the Aliens movies plays where Sigourney Weaver is up against a wall, and the creature is leaning in with its mouth wide open ready to bite her. That’s when you feel the pressure almost double, and your arms give out. Luckily, the added weight is from Logan who just came to, and he is standing over the both of you, with one hand on Nathan’s chin and the other on the back of his friend’s skull. You hear him say the words, “Forgive me,” and then you feel a jerking sensation run through Nathan’s body just before it slumps down on top of you.

  A moment later, Logan helps you to roll the twice dead Nathan off of you, and you say, “Thanks.” When you catch him rubbing his head where your two-by-four struck him, you add, “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t worry,” Logan smiles. “My teachers always say I have a thick head. Now at least we know it was good for something.”

  As Logan helps you up, Mr. Castle comes down the stairs and asks, “You two all right?”