Zombie High
Page 23
The End
Get Her Help from the Office
Realizing that not only is this girl sick looking, but that she doesn’t look like she should be up walking around, you say, “Just stay here, and I’ll get some help.”
The girl continues to take a few staggering steps towards you, but you quickly turn and run down to the office to ask for help. When you get there, you find the secretary behind her desk with the phone completely lit up with calls on hold even though she is speaking into the phone and taking notes already. Unsure if you should turn and head for the nurse’s office or not, the secretary holds up one finger and says, “Yes, Miss Gardner, I will have her ready for you when you arrive. Okay, then, goodbye,” before she finishes scribbling something down on a notepad. When she sets down her pen, she turns to you and asks, “And what can I do for you?’
Gesturing in the direction you came from, you say, “Um, there’s a girl in the bathroom, well, in the hall now, but it looks like she threw up in the bathroom, and she looks really sick.”
Nodding, the school secretary says, “Okay, thanks for telling me. I’ll send someone down to help her, but in the meantime, can you run an errand for me?”
Happy to be out of class for a bit longer, you agree saying, “Sure.”
“Okay, I need you to take this up to Mrs. Brown’s room and tell her that Jane needs to report to the office ready to go home. Her mother is coming to pick her up. Something about a family emergency or something.”
“No problem,” you say to the school secretary, as you take the slip of paper.
Seeing that you agreed a little too easily, she adds, “And then make sure you head directly back to class afterwards.”
“You got it,” you say as you head out of the office.
Turning right, you head back for the stairs and up to Mrs. Brown’s door which has yellow paper covering the window. When she answers, you give her the piece of paper and repeat what the school secretary told you about Jane getting packed up to go home. Looking back into the class, Mrs. Brown says, “Jane, you need to take your stuff with you and head down to the office,” before she turns back to you and thanks you for delivering the message.
The thought crosses your mind to walk around the school a bit more, figuring you could always explain your absence with the girl getting sick and the office asking you to run the message, but one look at the hall clock tells you that there is only about five minutes left before the bell rings for you to go to second period. Reluctantly, you decide to return to class so you can at least get your stuff before you have to go to history class.
When you enter the classroom, Miss Dikeo gives you a look which clearly conveys not only that you have been gone too long, but that she wishes she could burn holes in you with her eyes from thirty feet away. You could easily go to her and explain what happened, but you decide to just go to your seat instead. If she really wants to know, she just as easily can come to you and ask. Crossing the room, you slide back into your desk and pick up your book as if you’re about to resume working when the bell rings. Looks like you timed that pretty well, you’re thinking as you grab your stuff and head out.
Standing at your locker you remember that you still haven’t seen Steve yet today, but at the same time you know you need to get to history on time because Miss Millstone is also a real pain about being tardy. Looks like you have another choice to make.
If you look for Steve in the halls, turn to page …………. 22 If you go directly to history class, turn to page ..………. 335
Go Straight to History
Wishing you had time to talk to your friend, you know you really can’t afford anymore tardies from Miss Millstone. On the last one, she threatened to call home to your parents, and honestly, you just don’t want the extra aggravation that would cause at home. You know there is a chance you might see him, but since his first and second hour classes are close together, the chances are pretty slim. He usually just takes the books he needs for both classes to first hour so that he doesn’t have to travel through the crowded hallways.
As you shuffle your way through the hall, unable to take a full stride because two smaller kids, clearly freshman, are walking so slow while they talk to each other in front of you, you overhear a few people’s conversations. At one locker, a girl is telling her friends that Suzy broke up with her longtime boyfriend, Kyle, last night after he bit her. Suzy didn’t come in to school today because her parents said they would be taking her to the hospital last night to get the bite looked at. A little further up, you hear two guys talking about a party they plan to attend this weekend and how they think that they can get a few of the girls from another school to go with them. It’s clear from their gesturing that that they believe the girls from the other school will be a little more
cooperative with their desires. Shaking your head, you keep walking and make your way to the stairs where it’s all shoulders, hips, and books bumping against each other while some students walk up and others run down headed to class.
At the top of the stairs you turn right and head towards Miss Millstone’s. Along the way, you hear some kind of commotion behind you and a few more students than usual seem to be heading in the opposite direction, but you continue on your way, intent on making it to class to give a good impression. The odd thing is that when you get to class, you find that only two other students are in their seats. Everyone else is absent. Looking at the clock on the wall, you see that you are a little early. The bell has another minute before it rings, but still, usually there are more people here by now.
Dismissing the urge to turn around and leave so that you can come back when there are more students in the room, you go over to your desk to take a seat and wait. Most of the students come in before the bell talking excitedly in one large group, and you overhear snippets of conversation about Mr. Tibbs and a fight as they try to talk over one another to tell Miss Millstone about what they saw or heard happen downstairs. Before they can all sit down, however, the secretary’s voice comes over the PA system, and Miss Millstone has to quiet the whole class with her loud shrill voice. That’s when you hear the secretary repeat herself saying, “… not a drill. The school is in lockdown. Teachers, please make sure that your students remain in class, and we will let you know when the lockdown is over.”
Heading to the door, Miss Millstone checks the doorknob from the outside to make sure it’s locked, and then after a quick look up and down the hall to see if there are any straggling students, she swings the door closed. Using hand gestures only, Miss Millstone directs the class to remain quiet and to leave their seats to go sit up against the back wall. All of the students quickly and quietly abandon their belongings and begin to head to the back wall where she’s pointing. The ones who always sit in the back of her room are already taking a seat on the floor.
If you talk to Miss Millstone, turn to page ……………….. 33 If you talk to the students, turn to page ……………………. 341
Run Out of the Nurse’s Office
The nurse is down, most of the people in here are sick and probably have whatever Nathan has, minus the fistful of Nurse Jackie’s intestines. You figure, best intentions aside, there really is no way to save these people. The one thing you can do, however, is save yourself.
Turning back towards the door, you run over and escape out into the hallway. From there, you feel frantic. You know that you need to tell someone, but there isn’t anyone close by. Realizing that the principal should be the one you tell, you run down the hall, trying to scrub the image of the dead nurse from your mind as you go. When you get to where the office is, you turn to head to Mr. Jameson’s office, but instead run into the back of Mr. Beard. Apologizing profusely, you try to explain in short rapid fire sentences why you were running and what you just saw. That’s when Mr. Beard, who staggered when you hit him, turns around.
To say that he didn’t look right would be an understatement of the highest degree. His normally wellkept look now reminds y
ou of the homeless man you’ve seen hanging out under the bridge. The man under the bridge always appears to be sitting in a lawn chair which has more broken pieces than whole ones and a pile of empty beer cans haphazardly stacked up next to him. Despite his sign asking for money for food, you imagine that he sits there drinking whatever he could afford and only gets up to go back to the liquor store when he runs out. Although he is only in his late forties, it’s clear that a couple decades of booze combined with ten years of being out of work from either some old back injury or because he’s crazy, he appears to be looking a lot older. A scraggily beard tries to cover the old man’s sagging jowls, and his light brown eyes seemed perpetually glazed. On top of that, it doesn’t seem to matter what day of the week it is, or even what month of the year, he always has on the same pair of jeans wedged over his bony hips and slight potbelly, no shirt, just pale flabby chest and spindly arms. That’s what Mr. Beard most looks like now that he’s infected.
While you were assessing his appearance, however, Mr. Beard was apparently assessing yours as well, and the results must have registered somewhere in his brain that you looked tasty because the next thing you know Mr. Beard has grabbed hold of your shoulders and is pushing you backwards as he leans in to bite you. The two of you topple over into the attendance office, and you find that the lights in here are off for some reason. As you attempt to get up and try to run, you find that your air supply is being choked off, not by hands, but by teeth. Mr. Beard is leaning down and tearing into your throat.
The End
Talk to the Other Students
You quickly find one of the guys you used to hang out with back in middle school and lean over to ask, “Hey, Jeff, you know what’s really going on here?”
Looking over, Jeff’s face contorts for a second as if he forgot that you were in this class with him, and he says, “Oh, hey, I…uh…no. I heard Mr. Tibbs got attacked or something downstairs, but I was coming up from the gym, so I didn’t see anything.” Then looking around, he spots the girl he’s looking for and says, “You should ask Sarah. She said she was there.” Turning, Jeff whispers loudly, “Hey, Sarah, what happened down there?”
“Well, I was downstairs coming from Mr. Park’s geometry class, and a crowd was all around the front door. My friend Jessica and I tried to squeeze our way in, but that’s when the principal showed up and told everyone to go to class. From what I heard though, Mr. Tibbs went ape on some old guy after the geezer bit him or something.”
Inserting himself into the conversation, Ben says, “I was in Mr. Tibbs’ room first hour. That guy is awesome!”
“Well, if you were there, what did you see?” asks Jeff.
“Okay, so like, Mr. Tibbs went out to the hall like he always does when the bell rings, and we all got our books and stuff and started to head out, too. Anyway, some old guy came up to the doors and started knocking. From there, I’m not sure, I was in a hurry to get here on time, but I heard he opened the door, and the guy started trying to eat him or something. Mr. Tibbs defended himself, and …,” but the rest of Ben’s words are cut off by Miss Millstone.
“Excuse me,” says Miss Millstone loudly from her stool in the front of the room. “This is a lockdown. You all shouldn’t be talking back there,” completely ignoring the fact that for as much as they were having a whispered conversation if there was someone out there looking for them, she just announced herself to at least half the school.
Ducking down sheepishly, Ben says, “Sorry, Miss Millstone,” before he leans back and rests his head against the wall saying, “She has no idea what an ‘inside’ voice is.”
Realizing that none of them seem to know anything substantial, you figure that they aren’t about to make the connection you’ve been putting together. Why would they? Most of them probably don’t sit around watching as many horror movies as you. Unsure of who will believe you at this point, you keep your theory to yourself, the theory that these old people are zombies, and without anyone else around that actually saw them, there’s no way any of them will believe you. Just then, you hear a thud at the door.
Normally in a lockdown, no one is supposed to be in the hall, so this is more than a little unusual. Standing up from her stool, Miss Millstone walks over to the door and waits. A moment after she gets close to it, there are two more thumps on the door. To someone not listening for it, it might sound like someone knocking, but you could swear the thumps sound a little too squishy and a little too wet, almost as if someone bumped into the door with their face.
If you open the window and jump, turn to page ………. 37
If you crawl further back and hide, turn to page ………. 51
If you want to wait and sneak out, turn to page ………. 53
Turning Around and Head for the Shop Class
Hearing someone yelling is never a good sign. It usually means that either they have been hurt, which in this case means it will both take away from your mission and possibly put you at more risk, or it means that they are in the midst of violence, which in this case means that there are zombies that way. Neither of those options sounds very appealing to you, so since they haven’t seen you and you haven’t seen them, you might as well adopt the ‘live to fight another day’ mentality and change directions. Besides, it’s just as likely that there will be weapons you can either use or make in the shop class now that you really think about it.
Turning around, you quickly retrace your steps while your mind starts coming up with more reasons why this is the better strategy. Admittedly, you feel a little like a coward, but you’re alive, and being a living coward is better in your book than a dead hero. The shop class, as you recall, has more than just a few misplaced baseball bats and worn out hockey sticks. It has tools, wood, nails, and more things that can really do some serious damage.
At the next intersection you turn and quickly head for the other end of the school. On the way, you pass by the Registrar’s Office and see the closed blinds quickly slap against the glass window of the door. Stopping, you whisper, “Miss Gail, are you there?” You know that she’s been around the school for something like thirty years, and despite being almost retirement age, you know that she’s a survivor, someone you’d happily have with you in this mess. After a minute of receiving no answer, you return to your quest, heading for the shop class, hoping that if Miss Gail is in her office that she is okay in there, but unwilling to try to break your way in. Knowing her as you do, you figure she probably already has a plan and is just biding her time before she goes for safety.
Turning left at the end of the hall, you find the double doors leading into the shop class. The doors have crash bars on both sides and a double hinge allowing you to easily push your way through from either side in case you’re carrying supplies or a finished project and don’t have a free hand. Entering, you find every tool and machine you can think of for cutting, shaping, and finishing wood. Band saws, table saws, sanders, wood lathes, and more are positioned around the room at different work stations, and a workbench runs along the far wall with hammers, screwdrivers, and various power tools all hanging off a pegboard, each with their own outline drawn in black Sharpie.
On the side of the room closest to the door you came in, you see shelves of scrap wood ranging from twoby-fours to plywood. The only question is, what are you going to do with it all?
If you turn on the machines, turn to page ………………. 93 If you take two-by-fours and leave, turn to page ……. 96
Leave Immediately for the Teachers’ Lounge
Making your decision, you say, “Mr. Ray, I’m sorry, but I told some people that I’d be back. I think they’re counting on me to get them some supplies. I’m going to have to go.”
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” begins Mr. Ray. “By this point, my conservative estimates suggest that over eighty-seven percent of the school has been converted, and in case you haven’t looked outside recently, there seem to be more of them arriving every few minutes.”
“That could just be your stupid good luck,” begins Bagdonas. “Who’s to say that if you step out there right now there won’t be another dozen or so waiting?”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take. I told them I’d come back,” you say, and then add, “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. You can stay here with Mr. Ray.”
“Oh, trust me, I was planning on it. Mr. Ray has supplies here, and Mr. Castle is on his way. I’ll be a lot safer with the two of them than out there with you.”
Slightly hurt by this, considering you just helped save her life a little while ago, you say, “That’s all right,” and then turn to Chris and Ryan to ask, “How about you? You don’t have to, but…,” and leave the rest of your sentence unspoken.
Ryan and Chris both look at each other and then to you before Chris says, “We’re real grateful you helped us back there, but I think we have to stay here. Strength in numbers and all.” Then almost as an afterthought, he adds, “I’m sure when Mr. Castle comes, and we all leave, we can swing by and get those other people.”