Dead Evolution

by Tim Moon

  Both backpacks were filled by the time they reached fourth grade, so they had to search for another backpack. Ben found an old JanSport on the floor of a coat closet in a sixth-grade classroom.

  Passing through each grade was like reliving his elementary school days all over again. Memories came back to Ben in quick flashes, and he figured the same held true for Anuhea and Charlotte. The smell, the classroom layouts, posters and essays on the wall. Hell, even the dead goldfish took him back through time. Back to when things were simple.

  “This place is depressing,” Anuhea said.

  “Why?” Ben asked.

  “Each one of these empty seats is a student that will never come back here,” she said.

  Charlotte walked over and put an arm around her shoulders.

  Ben nodded, unsure what to say. He wandered over to a table and found a book about dinosaurs. He lifted it up.

  “This one’s coming with me,” he said.

  “We should probably hurry. It feels like we’ve been gone a long time,” Charlotte said, looking outside.

  They still had plenty of daylight, a few hours at least. Charlotte made a good point and they still had stuff to do back in the neighborhood.

  “You’re right.” Ben put the dinosaur book in his backpack and zipped it up. “I want to swing by the gym before we leave though.”

  “What for?” Charlotte asked.

  “Baseball gloves so I can play catch with Oliver. Or you, if you’re up for it.” Ben grinned at her. “We need a football too.”

  “I want a bat,” Anuhea said.

  Charlotte and Ben looked at her.

  “For zombies,” she said, swinging an imaginary baseball bat. She clucked her tongue to simulate hitting a zombie in the head.

  “Smart. We definitely need some baseball bats,” Ben said. “They’re much better than toothbrushes.”

  Charlotte made a tsk-tsk sound.

  “I still can’t believe you did that,” Anuhea said with a wry laugh.

  Charlotte led the way out into the hall. They still needed fifth and sixth grade books before they went to the gym. The mood was relaxed and more cheerful than it’d been since they met on the beach, all those weeks ago.

  Once they had filled Ben’s backpack with books, they made a beeline back to the gym. As they passed by the cafeteria, Ben slowed.

  “Hey, should we check in there?” he asked, jerking his thumb at the cafeteria sign.

  “For what? A mixing bowl?” Anuhea asked.

  “They should have dry or canned food sitting around,” Charlotte said. “Have you ever seen an industrial kitchen? They use giant cans of food.” She held her hands up to demonstrate.

  “Exactly.” Ben grinned. “Let’s do that last though, so we can drive the truck around and transfer stuff from their loading dock.”

  They walked casually down the hall. The gym loomed ahead, and they grew quieter, hands gripping rifles, steps growing cautious. All that was visible from the hall was the basketball court. It was impossible to see into the office or locker rooms. That required a physical search.

  A set of pull-out bleachers lined one wall. In the corner, two long ropes came down from the ceiling with blue pads underneath. The back corner held the office, its door propped open. Darkness beckoned to them. Ben eyed it wearily. Anuhea tried the door knob on the supply closet and shook her head. He didn’t want to go inside the office, but they needed the key to open the supply closet for the equipment.

  “Anyone have a flashlight?” he asked in a whisper. Stopping ten feet from the door, Ben aimed his rifle at the darkness.

  “No,” Anuhea and Charlotte said in unison.

  Ben cursed himself for not bringing one. He could easily have fit a small Maglite in his jacket. Predicting what might happen outside the relative safety of the neighborhood was impossible. He knew that and should have come prepared.

  “Charlotte, cover the window, please,” Anuhea said. Then with a nod to Ben she said, “I’ll follow you in.”

  Licking his lips, Ben started forward without a word. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dim light as he stared into the dark office. Shoes squeaked against the laminated hardwood floor as they crept forwards. Their tense breath puffing rhythmically. It was cold inside and Ben could see faint wisps of his breath in the air.

  He hesitated at the door for half a beat and then walked in. Tall filing cabinets lined the right wall, so he swung his rifle to the left as he entered. Sweeping back across the room, he made out the form of a desk near the back wall. Two folding chairs sat in front of the desk – very spartan.

  Anuhea whispered, “Clear.”

  “Clear,” Ben responded. Then he raised his voice a little for Charlotte. “Clear.”

  “Thank God,” Charlotte said with a heavy sigh.

  Finding the keys in the dark wasn’t as time-consuming as he’d assumed. Anuhea found a key locker hanging on the wall beside a calendar. It was locked. While she tried to pry it open, Ben followed his instinct. The locker would probably be for important keys while the supply closet would be a daily use item. Opening and closing the key locker would get annoying.

  A few minutes later, Ben found a set of keys in a desk drawer, along with paper clips, a few old protein bars, pens, and an absurdly large stash of colorful sticky notes.

  “Found them,” he said triumphantly.

  “Here,” Anuhea said with her hands out.

  He tossed the keychain and she caught it with ease. Since his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he could see fine and decided to root around in the desk drawers for anything useful. Disappointment was all he found in the PE teacher’s office.

  Anuhea knocked on the window, startling Ben. She grinned at him as she held up a baseball bat.

  “Don’t do that shit,” he snapped.

  “You should have seen the look on your face.”

  “Asshole,” Ben said with a smirk. He brushed past her, intentionally bumping into her shoulder.

  She pushed him back. “Punk.”

  “So, what did you find?”

  Anuhea swung her bat a few times through the air, testing the weight.

  “I think I’ll name it Hulk,” she said as she tipped the bat onto her shoulder. “Because it likes to smash.”

  “Great.” He dragged the word out sarcastically even though he did find it amusing.

  Charlotte scanned the hallway through the windows but paused to glance back at them. “Stop making so much noise.”

  “The place is clear, we’re fine,” Anuhea said.

  “She’s probably right,” Ben added.

  “It’s fine. You kids shop while I keep an eye out,” Charlotte said.

  Anuhea had left the double doors to the storage room open. Inside were large rolling carts of basketballs, red balls for dodgeball or kickball, and various other pieces of sporting equipment. Anuhea found a plastic bucket full of baseballs and grabbed a couple. Ben riffled through the various boxes and buckets until he found some baseball gloves.

  He tried to slide one of the gloves on, but it was too tight. It could work for Oliver in a year or two. A moment later, he found one that fit. He slid it on and punched the fake leather a few times.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about,” he said.

  “Hey,” Anuhea said. “Look at these.”

  Ben saw her strap a bright red shin guard on her forearm. There was a whole box of shin guards of various sizes and colors. A cheap substitute for body armor.

  “Whoa, nice find,” he took the glove off and tucked it under his arm. She handed him a yellow shin guard and he adjusted the straps to hold it on. He rapped his knuckles on the hardened plastic. It would keep teeth out of his flesh. Big win. “These are perfect.”

  “Keep looking, there might be more we can use,” Anuhea said.

  Eventually, Ben had to dump a duffel bag full of badminton racquets to carry the shin guards—two for each forearm and one for each leg—for everyone, plus the baseballs, a football, se
veral catchers masks, a tug-of-war rope and a dozen jump ropes. Nothing else looked relevant or was too big to carry easily.

  “We may have to come back for more stuff,” Ben said.

  “I was thinking the same thing.” Anuhea tapped the side of her head and pointed at him.

  “Someone’s here,” Charlotte hissed at them as she ran over from the window.

  “What?” Ben frowned.

  “I heard a door shut and saw a shadow pass by down the hall.”

  “Did you see who it was?” Anuhea asked. “Were they armed?”

  “I didn’t see them,” Charlotte said with a shake of her head. “Shadow… Remember?”

  “Damn it,” Ben muttered.

  He zipped the duffel bag and left it on the floor. Following Charlotte, Ben went to the window to investigate the hallway. Anuhea crept over to the door, which they’d left open and took a knee. If anyone approached, they’d be met by a loud crack and hard tap.

  The view through the window allowed them to see fifty feet down the hallway to the left, where it opened to the main entrance foyer. To the right, the hall ran the length of the gym and ended in three sets of double doors, the same as at the main entrance. They could only see one set of the doors from where they stood inside the gym. Directly across the hall were a multi-purpose room with a stage and a music room, to the left. The doors to those were closed.

  Several long minutes passed. All was quiet.

  Anuhea stood and leaned into the hallway. Her head swiveled both directions. When she leaned back in, she shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “I swear, I saw something,” Charlotte said.

  “I believe you.” Ben put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I’ll grab the duffel. Let’s roll out, we can always come back another day.”

  Doubt crept over Charlotte’s face, but she nodded.

  “I’ll check the front doors,” Anuhea said. “Catch up.”

  “Okay.” Ben strode to the duffel and picked it up. It wasn’t as heavy as his backpack full of books, but it was awkward. He slipped his arm through the handles and hitched it onto his shoulder. The narrow handles dug painfully into his joint. Better than not being able to use his gun if he needed to.

  They rushed to catch up with Anuhea.

  Ben stopped behind her, dropped the bag and peered around the corner. Although the building was quiet, uneasiness twisted his gut. He could see part of the passenger side of the truck, through the main entrance doors. Just the front corner. Not enough to tell if they had a clear path. The front doors were locked from the outside, but they might be able to open them from inside.

  “I’ll check the doors,” Anuhea said, stepping away from the wall. “Watch my back.”

  “We gotcha,” Ben said softly.

  Charlotte watched the hall behind them and the one that branched off towards the library.

  “All clear.” Anuhea waved them over.

  With a grin, Ben let the sling hold his rifle while he lifted the duffel with one hand and drew his pistol, a recent acquisition from the neighborhood.

  Anuhea held the door open for him. Frigid air rushed in, watering his eyes. Squinting against the sudden blast, Ben rushed outside, scanning for any threats — human or zombie.

  They climbed into the truck and took off. If they wanted the food or more supplies, they would have to return another day.

  10

  Nancy opened the door. Her eyes were as hard as the cast-iron pan she held in one hand.

  “Where the hell have you been?” she asked in a tone only mothers could produce.

  “We took the second load to a school and picked up some gear.” Ben lifted the duffel and then turned to show the backpack.

  “Benjamin Chase! I can’t believe you left bodies at a school,” she snapped.

  “No one goes there anymore, Mom.”

  “We told him the same thing, Nancy,” Charlotte said, smirking at Ben.

  “Wow, anyone want to pull the knife out of my back?” Ben said with feigned attitude.

  “Get in here,” his mom said.

  Oliver stuck his head into the hallway. When he saw Ben and the others come in, he strolled in and followed them into the front room.

  “What did you find?” he asked.

  Anuhea grinned and took off the backpack. “Take a look.”

  Oliver unzipped the bag and looked inside. Most of the excitement drained from his face, which made them laugh. He groaned and flopped onto his back to play dead.

  “What is it?” Nancy asked.

  “School books,” Charlotte said, beaming.

  “That’s great.”

  “I’m glad someone thinks so,” Ben said. “The duffel has stuff we can all use. Have a look while I get Chadwick.”

  “No need.” His voice boomed from the top of the staircase. He slowly hopped down each stair. “All is well outside. No sign of trouble. What did you get?”

  Pulling the zipper tab, Ben opened the duffle and held it open for everyone to see. He held up a shin guard. Chadwick tipped his head to the side and blinked.

  “They can protect our shins and our forearms. Extra protection for when we go on raids or whatever,” Ben said.

  Chadwick picked up a catcher’s mask. “Brilliant, mate. I’ll wear this for sure. Can’t have those bastards chewing off my beautiful face.”

  The girls snickered at that.

  “I figure we can use the jump ropes as trip wires and the big rope has a ton of potential uses,” Ben said.

  “We got spooked off,” Anuhea said, clearing her throat. “At some point we need to go back to check the cafeteria.”

  “There’s more sporting gear too,” Ben added. He stood up and looked around. “Where’d Oliver go?”

  “Hiding from those books no doubt,” Nancy said. “He’s okay.”

  “What do you mean by spooked off?” Chadwick asked.

  “Charlotte heard someone inside the school, while we were packing the sports gear. So, we decided to leave and go back later for the rest,” Ben said. “It was more unsettling than when we took out the first load of bodies and that car drove by.”

  Nancy gasped. Chadwick already knew and had obviously heeded Ben’s advice not to tell his mom. He gave his friend a small nod of appreciation.

  “It’s fine.” Ben continued. “We’re certain they didn’t see us. It was weird though. Our drive back was long and convoluted to make sure no one followed us. Anyway, that’s why we went somewhere else for the second load. We didn’t want to risk running into them again.”

  “Smart,” Chadwick said. “It’s a little exciting though, right?”

  Nancy scoffed. “How do you figure that, young man?”

  “We knew there would be other survivors,” Ben said, backing up his friend. His mom was startled and was overreacting to the news. “It was inevitable we’d run into someone eventually.”

  “That doesn’t mean they’re good people to know,” Nancy scolded.

  Ben frowned. No one had said anything about getting to know the strangers.

  “Does it change anything for us?” Chadwick asked.

  Ben shrugged. “Just another problem to deal with. Not only do we have humans to keep an eye out for, but the zombie runners too. Don’t forget about them, and don’t assume it’s a human just because it’s moving quickly.”

  Chadwick groaned in remembrance.

  “Almost forgot about them.” Nancy’s brow furrowed.

  “We need to stay vigilant,” Anuhea said. “Our setup here is nice, maybe nicer than other folks and that might not sit right with them. I’d rather head to the hills, but if we have to stay in town, we need to get serious about our defenses.”

  “Our wall worked well the other day. What else can we do?” Charlotte asked.

  “Board up the windows, reinforce the doors, set up traps and barriers outside, start the vehicle barrier on the road behind us,” Chadwick said with a wave of his hand. “That’s off the top of my head.”

  “All
of that and then some. I like how you’re thinking, man,” Ben said, holding his fist out. Chadwick bumped it. “Let’s get started tomorrow morning. First, we need supplies. Mostly food but we’ll look for other stuff too. Now that we know for sure that others are out there, we need to collect as much food as we can before they do.”

  “Or scavenge what’s left over,” Anuhea muttered.

  “Exactly. Supply and demand. In times like these competition breeds conflict, so the more we collect now, the better off we’ll be in the long run.” Ben rubbed the back of his neck. “For now, let’s get someone on the rifle upstairs, keeping an eye out. Charlotte, would you mind?”

  She nodded. “No problem.”

  “Anuhea and I will go over the map and plan out a raid for tomorrow,” Ben said, unfolding a map on the coffee table. “Then I’ll take over guard duty upstairs.”

  “What about me?” Chadwick asked.

  “Take a load off. I’m sure you’re tired of staring outside. Tomorrow, you, Charlotte and my mom can rotate guard duty while we go out,” Ben said. “And during your breaks, it’d be awesome if you put together a plan for the defenses you mentioned.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Mom, do you think you could spend time going through the books with Oliver?”

  She looked up at him with a faint smile. “I think that’s doable.”

  “And perhaps a garden plan?” he added.

  “I’d love to, honey.”

  “Thanks, mom.” Ben turned to face Anuhea and gestured at the map. “Shall we?”

  11

  State College, PA

  Vanessa sat alone on the couch, hunched over with her elbows on her knees, staring at a map she had spread out on the coffee table. The map was from the store she had run too after losing April to the infected. Her eyes lost focus as they had so many times since she had sat down, blurring the colors together into an amorphous blob.

  What am I doing?

  Vanessa’s mind raced in a hundred different directions that somehow managed to tangle and crash into each other. She wanted to sleep. She had to get some rest. Yet every time she had managed to doze off the night before, she had jolted awake from night terrors. In real life, the attack had been quick. In her dreams, the worst moments dragged on for ages.