bushes he came from, but spotted nothing. I reached for the window and then Michelle laid her hand on my arm.
“Think about it.” Michelle said, “Is this the best for our group? What is he running from? What if he leads an entire pack of the undead to us? What then?”
I stared down at the running man who was about a block away. I could not turn my back on him. If it were my mother or anyone else in my group I would want someone to help him.
“We have to help him.” I said again.
Michelle let go of my arm and I opened the window. I leaned out.
“Hey!” I called out in a hushed voice.
The man searched around him for whoever called him.
“Up here.” I said quietly.
“Oh thank God!” The man gasped when he saw us.
“Keep your voice down.” I whispered.
“You have to help me.” The man pleaded, “They’re out there.”
“Fine.” I said, “Just keep your voice down.”
I unhooked and uncoiled the whip and dangled it out the window.
“Climb up.” I told the man.
The man looked around him and rushed over to the whip. He took a hold of it and started to pull himself up. He was a bit heavier than he appeared and I had to place my one foot against the wall to support his weight. It took him a moment to reach the window and then Michelle helped him inside. He collapsed to the floor.
“Thank you.” The man gasped, “Thank you.”
I pulled up the whip as I rolled it up and stared out into the dark waiting for the unknown. What was he afraid of?
“I’m glad I found you.” The man gasped.
“Are you injured?” Michelle asked him.
“No.” he said, “But I could have died out there if it wasn’t for you.”
“I don’t see anything.” I said and kept staring out into the dark.
“They’re out there.” The man insisted.
I kept staring out into the dark and then I saw someone step out from the bushes. The person walked slowly and without cause – it was definitely infected. It walked out into the street and lingered a moment and sniffed the air.
“I see one.” I said.
“There are more of them.” The man said.
A loud bang echoed through the night and the infected man collapsed. What just happened? My eyes searched the dark for the source of the sound. Two men stepped out from the bushes and one of them reloaded his shotgun. Two more stepped out behind them. I grabbed Michelle and we both ducked behind the wall.
“What are you doing?” Michelle said.
I shushed her and glanced around the corner of the wall. The men walked down the street as if searching for something. I glanced down at the man sitting at our feet.
“Who are they?” I asked him.
“Bandits.” He whimpered.
10
I stared out at the men in the street, but kept to the shadows. Two of the infected stepped out from behind some bushes and one of the men shot them both in the head. Their gunshots would definitely draw more of the infected. I cautiously reached for the window and quietly closed it. When I was assured the men in the street did not spot me, I returned to the shadows again. I grabbed the man on the floor by the collar and dragged him to his feet, keeping to the shadows and out of sight.
“Who are you?” I demanded, “Who are they? Start talking.”
“Okay.” The man begged, “My name is Petro. I was holding up in an abandoned house with my sister when this group of men stormed the house. The ransacked the house; took our food and water. And then they shot my sister… in the head.”
The man broke down and started crying. I let go of his collar and he slid down against the wall and collapsed onto the floor. The man was crying hysterically. I felt sorry for him, but he needed to shut up or the bandits would hear him.
“Keep quiet.” I insisted.
The man kept crying. Michelle crouched down and tried to comfort him. His cries died down into whimpers and sobs as I crept over to the window. I glanced down at the street. The group of men were still making their way towards the library as about six or more infected came from the surrounding buildings. One of the armed men took out the infected one shot at a time. This was bad. If they knew anything about zombies, they would know that noise attracts the undead.
‘Did they say what they want?” I asked Petro.
“They’re criminals.” Petro said sobbing, “They don’t need a reason to be bad and murder people.”
“What are we going to do?” Michelle asked.
That was a good question. How should we proceed without placing ourselves on a warpath with criminals? Were they even criminals? Could we trust Petro? I knew nothing about him, or even whether he told us the truth about his sister.
“Pedro!” I heard one of the men outside call out, “Come out! We just want to talk!”
I glanced down at Pedro who was shivering with fear. He shook his head at me as if pleading please do not let them find me. I stared out the window at the men down in the street. They were searching some of the lining buildings.
“Pedro!” One of them called out again, “Don’t make me look for you.”
“They are very bad people.” Pedro whimpered, “We have to get away while we still can.”
I looked back at my mother, Alex and Fluffy who all sat in silence and darkness at the table. They were waiting for leadership and I could not disappoint. I had to make a decision. Should we stay or run and hide? Either way our chances were slim. If the dead did not get us the bandits would.
“Zac?” Michelle asked again, “What are we going to do?”
“I’m not sure.” I said.
I grabbed a hold of the coiled-up whip that hung from my belt and waited for my fighter’s instinct to kick in… which it didn’t. Perhaps it only kicked in when the dead were near? Why could I not think of something to do? It would only be a matter of time before they got to the library. The sound of a door being kicked in echoed in the night. I glanced out the window and spotted one of the men had kicked in the door of a nearby house. He entered pointing his shotgun.
“Zac?” Mom asked.
I kept staring out the window at the men in the street below.
“Zac…” Mom insisted.
I looked around and saw she was staring at the main entrance on the ground floor. The desks that barricaded the door slowly shifted and a dead hand slithered in through the crack in the door. The infected person kept pushing until the desks shifted and the crack widened. The zombie wriggled until it fitted through the crack and then it climbed over the desks. One by one more of the undead crawled through the crack and over the desks. I counted at least nine of them that entered. It would be a great risk to fight them off. Their unworldly screeches would draw the attention of the bandits.
I motioned for mom and Alex to come over to the shadows by the window. Fluffy followed them without making a sound.
One of the zombies stumbled over a chair and it made scuffing sounds across the floor. I glanced out through the window at the men in the street down below. One of them noticed the noise and searched the night air for the source.
“I think it came from over there.” The man said and pointed in the direction of the building across the street from the library.
The other men followed him across the street and kicked in the door. I glanced over at the railing of the first floor and could barely see the zombies on the ground floor, though I could hear them move around between the bookshelves.
“What now?” Pedro whispered.
I had to think of something. Staying put would be a death sentence brought on by the dead or the bandits. We had to get out of the building. We could perhaps head to the roof?
“Follow me.” I whispered.
I led the group towards an emergency exit on the first floor. I jiggled the handle lightly as not to make too much noise and pushed it open. It had a fire escape that led down towards the alley behind the library as
well as up to the roof. I motioned for them to follow me down the fire escape. Three stairs down, I spotted five zombies making their way up to the halfway landing. They were blocking our way down, but did not spot us yet. I quickly gestured with my hand that everyone should go up to the roof and we all turned around. We all treaded lightly on the metal steps of the fire escape, trying to keep noise to a minimal as we made our way up towards the roof of the library.
Once we were on the roof, I scrutinized our surroundings. There was a building close enough for us to jump across to its roof if we had to, but I could not see whether it had a fire escape which could lead us down again.
Gunshots fired relatively close to us, making mom duck and search for the shooter.
“There are more of them over here.” I heard one of the men in the street say.
A constant firing of shotguns echoed and got closer to the library. I could tell from mom, Michelle and Alex’s faces that they were worried. I could hear the doors of the library being kicked in and desks being shoved out of the way. Gunshots went off inside the library.
“We should get out of here.” Pedro said, “While they are inside the building. It might be our only chance.”
I was hesitant. What then? What should we do after we get away from the library? I spotted more zombies approaching from the deserted streets below and gathering at the base of the library. The gunshots had attracted hundreds of flesh-hungry monsters. Perhaps Pedro was right. We should have left when we had the chance.
“Zac?” Mom asked worried, “Do you have a plan?”
A zombie came up the fire escape and scurried towards mom. Fluffy barked once before he pounced onto the zombie and both of them tumbled over the edge of the roof.
“No!” I called out.
Mom swerved around and we all saw zombies coming up the fire escape one by one. I calmly placed my hand on the coiled up whip that hung from my belt and assessed the area for any possible means of escape. The only escape we had was the next rooftop.
“Zac?” Michelle asked concerned.
I turned to her and tried not to laugh at the irony of it and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Why?” She asked.
I grabbed her by the arm, spun her around twice and chucked her over onto the next rooftop. She screamed all the way until she landed on the other rooftop.
“Stop throwing me around!” She yelled back.
I looked at Alex and was about to grab him when he motioned with his hands for me to stop.
“Nobody throws me.” Alex said.
Alex looked around and picked up a pipe that lay nearby.
“I’m staying.” Alex said.
I looked at mom and she said, “I’ll climb over on myself.”
Mom walked over to the edge of the roof and climbed over onto the next rooftop. I looked at Pedro who was still shaking in his boots.
“I’m staying too.” Pedro said.
I had to admire their courage. I don’t think I would have stayed if I did not have super strength to kill the dead with. I gripped the whip by its handle and it uncoiled. I assessed the zombies that were approaching us. There were about six of them. I slowly raised the handle of the whip. A shot echoed and one of the zombies collapsed on the rooftop. A few more shots went off and one by one the zombies collapsed after each receiving a headshot. Confused as to what was happening, we all stared at the fire escape and watched two men climb up to the rooftop. One had his smoking shotgun cocked at an angle and tipped his hat at us.
“Aren’t you glad we came along?” The man asked.
If they were bandits, why would they save us from the undead?
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I’m Calvin.” the man with the hat said.
He pointed to the shorter guy behind him while two more men came up the fire escape with shotguns.
“This is Derrick.” Calvin said, “And over there you have Fred and Garth. And it’s impolite not to say thank you after someone saved your sorry asses. And look, you have our friend Pedro with you.”
“Thank you.” I said, “But I could have handled it.”
“Doubt it.” Calvin said,
Zac Zombie 2: World of the Undead Page 6