by Noah Porter
Before anyone could do anything, the injured man grabbed Rob or Bob. She turned to yell at him for touching her and began to push him. He grabbed hold of her arm and bit into her bicep. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, her husband standing there stunned. The injured man moved up her arm like a piece of corn, and there was an audible sound of pleasure when he reached her neck. A look of bliss crossed his dead face as he sunk his teeth in.
Karen was looking at the man, unable to comprehend what was happening in her drunken haze. “Sir, you need medical attention. She can’t help you, but I can, I’m-” Dylan had been in enough danger that he reacted automatically. He picked Karen up and ran in the opposite direction. “Move it,” Dylan shouted over his shoulder as he whisked Karen off of the ground.
Karen was giggling in his arms, “Silly, there is time for that later. Right now those people need me. Look at them. They look awful.”
Dylan glanced over his shoulder to see the husband falling under a group of the things. The guy had never even tried to move, frozen to the spot, a spectator in his own demise. Dylan saw more of the things heading their way.
“Everybody get inside!” he yelled.
Most of the guests laughed. The military man was drunk and showing off. They moved toward the commotion, trying to see what kind of show had been lined up for the evening. And they had thought it was just going to be drinking and chatting.
“NO! Don’t go over there! Get inside!” His commanding tone, tinged with warning, got some of the groups’ attention, “Get inside NOW!” He yelled.
Paige and several of her friends came toward him. “What’s going on, Clark?” Paige asked.
Karen looked at this woman, “Who’s Clark? Boy, honey, are you drunk. This is Dylan.” She giggled into his chest.
Paige looked at Karen, then at Dylan. Dylan was completely ignoring the state of his date. “Quick, get inside. Do it now, Paige. I don’t know what is going on, but it looks like Dawn of the Dead here.”
Paige gave him a look and her friends sniggered. “And just how drunk are you two?” the one with pink hair asked.
“I have had two drinks this evening.” He held up his glass, “I’ve been nursing this one since we,” he pointed at Paige, “talked because I have to drive tonight. Now GET INSIDE!”
Paige began pushing her friends to the door. Dylan did not strike her as the kind of guy who would be this forceful without good reason.
She heard Dylan mutter under his breath, “Human reactions in movies are always so stupid. So disappointing how accurate they are.” Paige turned to look at him, catching his eye as she slowed down her pace to reach the doors. “Sorry, it’s just unbelievable how -”
Fortunately, they had reached the doors at that point because screams erupted from the area drawing the crowd, and the partygoers were beginning their rush to the building. Dylan placed Karen on the ground. She giggled and tried to hold on to him.
“Paige, can you take her farther into the building? I’m going to help get people inside.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Paige took Karen’s arm and began trying to guide her away from the door. Karen resisted and tried to take hold of Dylan, tossing a pouty look at Paige. The guy wearing pants and a necklace stepped forward, gently taking her arm. “Come this way if you want to see a good show. Dylan needs to prepare and he can’t do that if you’re clinging to him.”
Karen looked at Dylan. He stared at this half-dressed man, then looked down at his date. “That’s right, Karen. You go with them and I’ll get ready to give you a real show.”
“Ok. But don’t take long because I’m going to miss you.” She threw her arms around the guy holding her arm, she was so far gone he doubted she was aware that she was clinging to someone else. But Dylan didn’t have time to consider Karen’s current state because attention was soon diverted to the influx of people pressing to get inside.
“Everyone, stop pushing. You are blocking the doors. If you are hurt, move to the atrium. It’s open there and we can see about treating you. Several people entered with broken bones from the crush of people as they fled the panic outside. Soon after the crowd began flowing into the building, Dylan could see more things shambling forward. After a minute or two, those who had been closer to the attackers arrived at the door, blood soaking those who had not gotten out of reach in time. Several people remained outside, trying to slow the progress of the creatures. From his place at the door Dylan could see Conner striking several with full bottles. They went down, some sufficiently damaged that they could not stand. The wave of people pouring into the building was soon too great, and Dylan was swept in with the rest of the group.
“Watch the doors!” He tried to shout over the panicking crowd. “Make sure to get them closed once everyone is inside.”
“Where is Martha?” “Tom! Tom!” Shouts began to fill the inside as the former revelers realized that not everyone was inside yet. Several started trying to rush back outside, causing confusion on both sides of the door. One person tripped and fell under the stampede at the door.
Dylan was unable to do anything. The confusion and chaos had been too sudden, and people had lost their ability to reason. For a moment, he was frozen under the escalators staring at the doors. He saw Conner make it through, arms covered in blood. Conner caught sight of Dylan, grabbed one of his coworkers by the arm, and made a line straight for Dylan.
“What is this?” His coworker was freaking out. “They didn’t tell us that they were going to do something like this. I had better be well-compensated, because that was way too freaky and realistic.”
Conner smacked him on the back of the head, “Sorry, Dylan. This is Chuck. He’s a little...”
“Stoned,” Dylan finished.
“Yeah. I figured it would be best to keep an eye on him because he is not functional.”
Dylan turned and started toward his group. They were pressed against a set of doors leading to the Bodies’ exhibit. He began to hail them when a commotion from behind made him turn. The doors had been left wide open. Traffic was flowing in all directions, and worse, the creatures were now entering unhindered.
“Get inside the exhibit!” Dylan turned to see the group gaping at the chaos. “Don’t just stare! MOVE!”
Paige grabbed the doors and tried to open them as Dylan, Conner, and Chuck arrived. “Dude, you can’t go in there. It’s after hours.” Chuck was clearly in his own world.
“Hey Chuck, you know how you wanted to get in there earlier and they wouldn’t allow you because you were supposed to be working? Now is your chance, bud. We can go in and you can make fun of all the naked bodies with their parts exposed.”
Chuck snorted, “Ha! I hardly need to get in there to see it now. Look at the show right over there.”
Paige had stopped to stare at this guy, completely shocked by his cavalier attitude. Dylan moved passed her and began working on the doors. “Don’t pay him any attention, he’s high.”
“You bring the most interesting, self-medicated people,” Paige stood back as Dylan worked on the doors.
Dylan wanted to scream at them. Someone, anyone, could help him with the door, but instead they were transfixed by what was unfolding. Suddenly he realized that he and Conner were the only two who had a clue what was happening. Everyone else had been too far back or was too far gone to realize the severity of their situation. People were running in all directions. Some were heading upstairs, others were breaking the glass into the gift shop or tearing around the atrium to get to the other side of the building. Very few had taken the same route as Dylan and his team. At least this provided them some cover if they could get inside without being spotted.
“Conner, grab something to keep them away if they start heading toward us,” Dylan shouted over his shoulder.
Conner nodded and picked up one of the aisle posts. Chuck picked one up, too, “Lightsaber fight!” he cried, stumbling around trying to wield it. This attracted the attention of some of the creatures
just entering, and they began to head toward Conner.
Conner knocked Chuck on the back of the head. Chuck went down, spread eagle on the ground. By now the rest of the group could see what they were facing. Paige and her two shirtless friends picked up chairs and aisle posts and stepped forward. Chuck began to stand up and head toward the shambling things.
“You guys look great. Seriously. Very nicely done.” The girl with the ponytail grabbed the back of his shirt while Conner stepped in front of Chuck.
“Damn you, Chuck. Why didn’t you stay down? You shouldn’t have been able to get up so quickly. Any harder and your brains will be more scrambled than they are now,” Running a hand over his face, Conner decided to use a different tactic, “Look, there’s the cafeteria, maybe you can get some food.”
Chuck turned around and looked. The glass doors were locked. Taking unsteady steps he headed to the door and began pressing his face against it. A small trickle of blood ran down his face and immediately got smeared on the window. “This is the worst,” Chuck wailed, “You know the food is there, but you can’t get to it.”
“Got it!” Dylan said, ramming the doors open. A large cracking noise echoed through the atrium, making the same announcement in a different language. Unfortunately, the doors were now broken and would not serve as protection if they were followed. At that point, two zombies reached the front lines. Paige and the pink-haired guy took on the first, while Conner and the guy with the necklace took the next one. The first, in an advanced stage of decay, was quickly dispatched. Conner and necklace guy had a much harder time taking down the second one, a large woman who was obviously new to the undead.
“Damn,” the guy with the necklace said, “The human head is a hell of a lot sturdier than you think.”
“Yeah, it always looks so easy in movies,” Conner replied.
“Well, they usually have guns and stuff. They aren’t trying to take on a horde with museum equipment,” considered necklace guy.
Dylan rushed forward with two markers, taking on a third and fourth.
“Get inside,” he yelled.
The woman with the ponytail grabbed Chuck and tried to guide him into the room. Necklace guy lifted Karen off her feet and took her through the doors, his impromptu weapon slung over his shoulder. The rest backed into the exhibit, knocking down as many shamblers as they could. The guy with pink hair tied a couple of posts together.
“Dylan, out of the way,” Paige said. Dylan ducked as a chain of several markers flew into the remaining creatures. “ Oh damn, it’s a split.” He raised both of his arms, “Still, it’s clear enough for now. Everybody inside!” the pink-haired guy said.
As the last of the group made it into the exhibit, they shut the doors. They wouldn’t do any good if anyone pressed on them, but at least it would muffle the sounds the survivors made.
They were standing in a darkened room and could faintly see a way out to the right. Dark curtains hung from the ceiling, making the room look eerie and uninviting. What looked like a human head in a glass case was staring at them unseeing from one of the corners. The lights were dim, but not dim enough to hide this hideous site.
“We need to regroup,” said one of Paige’s friends.
Speaking a little louder than was comfortable under the conditions, Dylan said, “We need to get further from the door and then take a head count. We have to keep track of everyone in our group.”
Chuck giggled, “Head count. Because we aim for their heads. That’s how you take a zombie DOWN.”
There was a clunk and a thud. They watched Chuck’s figure fall to the group. Standing behind him was the woman with the ponytail. “Sorry. He’s going to keep going on and on, and that’s only going to bring more of those things in. Can someone help me drag him?”
“Sure,” one of Paige’s friends stepped forward to help get Chuck out of the exhibit entry.
The group made their winding way through the first part of the exhibit. Each room was a new scene out of a horror movie, but without the blood.
“People pay to see this?” someone said passing between a pair of people with their muscles exposed, both posed in positions that showed their muscles stretching.
Someone else stopped to examine a couple of sitting figures, “Are theses real people?”
Karen was staggering around, and bumped into one of the figures, “Pardon me sir. I didn’t see you there.” She reached down to help the figure up. The guy in the necklace picked her up again, “Looks like you don’t have your big girl legs yet.”
When they had passed through a few rooms, the group decided to stop, it had been like a labyrinth, fortunately the flow of the rooms was easy to remember. They stopped at the bottom of a ramp. It was time to decide what their goal was and how far they needed to go.
“Paige, are all of your friends here?” Dylan was looking for the one person who might be able to help. “We need a head count and I don’t know who all is with you.”
Paige stepped forward. “There’s Candice and Ben, and it looks like they have Chuck.” The ponytailed girl and the pink-haired guy each had an arm and were propping up the now limping Chuck.
Candice looked up, “Sorry, I think I hurt his ankle when I was trying to shut him up.”
Conner went over and took her place under his coworker, “It’s alright, he won’t know any better for a while and he won’t remember once he’s sober.”
Paige looked around, “Kyle? Kyle where are you?”
“Shhh,” the guy with the necklace stepped out of the shadows carrying Karen. “Here you go. Your date is all yours now. Good luck with her.” Karen was trying to twist her fingers in his hair, but was having a hard time because of the gel holding his black hair in large spikes.
“Oh, thank you. Kyle, right?” Dylan took Karen out of his arms. “Where is the rest of your group?” He asked looking from Kyle to Paige.
“They have kids so they went home a while ago,” Paige answered.
Kyle looked in the direction they had just come, “I’m going to head back toward the door to give us an early warning if anything’s coming.”
He had not even rounded the corner when they heard the doors burst open.
“Seriously? Can’t we get a break?” Conner said as he looked around. “We need to find weapons.”
Kyle looked at him, “That would be easy if they were doing a Viking exhibit. Unfortunately for us, OMSI didn’t plan for the apocalypse, so we are stuck with these things.”
“Everyone, grab something for protection. We have no idea what we are going to find,” Dylan said as he ripped the sign off a display. It was about the size and sturdiness of a 2x4. “If you can’t find anything, stay back.” Paige, Conner, and Ben joined them, each carrying a makeshift weapon.
“Candice, could you please take care of those two while we go check it out?” Dylan asked. She nodded. “Alright then, let’s go.”
From the entryway they could hear a lot of commotion, but without any screams they had no idea what to expect. Although the words were indiscernible, coherent voices assured them that at least some of the newcomers were alive. The five cautiously made their way toward the noise. From the sounds of breaking glass and ever-louder groans, it was clear that the new people were approaching. The group tensed and quickened their pace, preparing for another fight.
They were two exhibit rooms from the entrance when Dylan put an arm out, stopping them.
“Wait a minute. It is darker here and it is obvious that they are close now,” he was trying to peer around the corner, but his vision had not yet adjusted to the darker lighting at this end.
Conner scowled, “We can’t just leave them out there. They are so close, we have to get in and help.”
Dylan’s head whipped around, “The worst thing we could do right now it to rush in without any idea of the situation. That is the best way to get yourself killed for no good reason. Give your eyes a minute to adjust and we will make our way around as quickly and quietly as possible. We
will do more good by being ready than by being rash.”
Dylan crouched and walked with deliberation around the corner. He tried to will his eyes to adjust faster, but the lighting behind them was making it very difficult to see the other side. Signaling for the others to wait a minute, he moved forward a little bit at a time. As his vision resolved, he discovered he was unprepared for the scene that met his eyes.
Several people were in the middle of the room, trying to stand their ground against an unknown number of zombies. Dylan allowed his senses to slip into fight mode, giving him better assessment and reaction time. He gave a loud whistle, startling humans and zombies alike. The living fell back, stumbling on one or two of the upset displays. Most of the zombies looked up, not recognizing the food source responsible for that sound.
