by Crisp, M. L.
“Allison, I’m sorry! It’s just been so long since I…you didn’t want to have sex, and she did, it was stupid I know!”
“So do you expect me to believe this is the first time?”
“No.” Scott said, lowering his head.
“You know why I was waiting!” Allison cried.
“Catch a clue Pumpkin Face, he’s my boyfriend now!” Marla stated defiantly.
“Little girl, if you know what’s good for you, you will shut the fuck up right now!” Allison said icily.
Marla started to respond, then thought better of it, and just smiled smugly at Allison.
“Miss Carpenter, take the students somewhere else for the time being!” Mr. Kane said, trying to regain control over the situation. “And for God’s sake, put your clothes on!” He sternly said to Scott.
Once the library had been cleared, he gathered Allison, Scott, Melvin, and Sheila. They sat on the couch, as Mr. Kane paced in front of them.
Mr. Kane stopped, and spoke. “I can’t have this! You understand? These kids are in my charge until this crisis is over!”
“Tyrone I…” Scott started, before Mr. Kane cut him off.
“I don’t want to hear word one from you! Do you realize that you could probably be arrested when this is all over?”
“She‘s almost eighteen.” He said, meekly, before Melvin elbowed him in the ribs.
“I don’t give a damn! This is unacceptable!” Mr. Kane bellowed.
“Look, I’m sure we can work this out among ourselves, we’ll stay in another part of the school or something.” Sheila said.
Mr. Kane shook his head no. “I’m sorry, but no. I want you all out immediately!”
Sheila spoke up. “Look, the fact is, we need the shelter you provide, and you need the weapons we provide. Eventually, you’re going to run out of food. We have an all terrain jeep, we have weapons, we bring something to the table here!”
Mr. Kane sighed, he knew she was right. “Fine, but we can’t have anymore incidents like this one!”
“Agreed.” Sheila said, as she glared at Scott.
CHAPTER 26
The students sat quietly as Miss Carpenter stood at the front of the classroom. Marla had her arms folded, with a serious pout on her face, Madison had her head on the desk. Tess raised her hand, Valerie called on her.
“Why did you bring us to this classroom by the gym, I’m scared with all those zombies in there.”
“It’s the farthest point away from all the drama, don’t worry, we’re safe in here.” Valerie said.
“Like, don’t worry about it Grossberger, they’re probably more afraid of you anyway.” Marla said.
Valerie approached Marla’s desk and stood in front of her. “I’ve had enough of you Marla Masters. Her name is Tess. Haven’t you caused enough trouble for one day?”
Marla stood up and met Valerie’s stern gaze. “I’ve had enough of you too miss plain jane, I’ll call that fat turd whatever I want! In case you haven’t noticed, the world has totally changed, you can’t tell me what to do anymore!”
Valerie was aghast at Marla’s defiance, but the truth was, she had a point. Her authority over the students was dependant on them recognizing it, if they didn’t, it’s not like she could have them expelled. “Marla, look, we don’t need this right now!” Valerie pleaded.
“Like, whatever, I’m going to go find my boyfriend.” Marla said, and started to walk away. Valerie grabbed her arm, Marla brushed her hand off and strode out of the room.
Valerie watched her leave, and sighed. Madison soon got up and followed her out. Rodney sat in the back of the classroom, by the wall, listening intently. Kyle sat by himself, he had been crying since Marla made it clear she wasn’t interested in him anymore. He had realized it a couple of weeks ago, when she started ignoring him, but hearing her say it made it real.
Rodney pulled his head back from the wall and frowned. He got up and waddled up to Miss Carpenter. “Ma’mm, could you come back here and listen at the wall, I think I hear someone on the other side.”
“That’s where the zombies are Rodney.”
“I know, but I think I can hear someone crying, I don’t think those things cry.”
Valerie followed Rodney to the back of the room, and put her ear to the spot he pointed at. “I’m sorry Rodney I don’t hear anyth…wait! I do hear it!” Valerie said. She pounded on the wall, and there was a pounding back.
CHAPTER 27
Scott sat at the teacher’s desk with his head in his hands. Allison had taken all of her things and moved to a different classroom. He couldn’t believe he had screwed up so badly. There was a soft knock at the door, and Marla opened it and came in.
Scott was speechless, she smiled at him. “Like, happy to see me?”
“Uh, Marla, maybe you shouldn’t be in here right now.”
“Like, I think this is totally where I should be!”
“I’m in enough hot water as it is, Allison left me!”
“Like, come on, you don’t need that thing when you’ve got me!”
“Marla, watch it, I care about her!”
“Like, I know you do, in like, a brotherly way.”
“No Marla, it’s more than that, it’s…”
Marla sat on the desk, her legs were open enough for Scott to be able to tell she wasn’t wearing any panties. “You told me she doesn’t even believe in God, I mean, there’s like, dead people walking around, what more proof does she want? You need a good Christian girl, not some nasty heathen. Like, do you think us being here is an accident? I think, like, God made all this happen so that we would meet and be together. It was, like, totally meant to be!”
Scott stared at her, bewildered. “Marla, that’s crazy.”
Marla stared back at him with her piercing blue eyes. “Is it? Like, maybe I am crazy…crazy in love!”
“Marla, Mr. Kane is threatening to have me arrested when all this is over.”
Marla rolled her eyes. “Like, I turn eighteen in a couple of months, you have nothing to worry about, besides, does this seem like something that’s going to end anytime soon?”
“No.” Scott admitted. “But Marla…”
Marla placed her index finger on his lips. “Shhh, enough talk.” She said, and she leaned in and kissed Scott.
Valerie entered Mr. Kane‘s office, with Rodney trailing behind her. “Mr. Kane, I need to talk to you!”
Mr. Kane looked up, he had nodded off, it had been a trying day. “What is it Miss Carpenter?”
“I took the students to the classroom adjacent to the gym, sir, we could hear someone on the other side! Faint crying at first, but when I pounded on the wall, someone pounded back. Sir, someone is inside the gym!”
“How is that possible, the blasted place is filled with zombies!”
Rodney interjected. “Not exactly, on the other side of the room is the coaches office inside the gym. If somebody got in there and closed and locked the door, they could have survived. But I don’t know how they haven’t starved to death by now though.”
Mr. Kane put his two index fingers to his chin, forming a steeple, and thought for a moment. “Some of those coaches practically lived in that gym office, they had a little refrigerator, if that had enough food in it, maybe they’ve been surviving off of that.”
“What should we do?” Valerie asked.
“Get Sheila, we need their guns!”
Allison slumped into a chair, and let out a sigh. “Thanks Sheila for letting me crash with you. I don’t want to be alone right now.”
“No problem Allison, you can sack out here as long as you like.”
The door swung open and they both turned to look, Valerie had burst in, out of breath. She quickly explained the situation to the two women.
“Of course we will help in anyway we can, hopefully this will show Mr. Kane that we intend to earn our keep.” Sheila said, as she gathered the duffle bag of weapons from the closet.
Sheila, Allison, and Melvin m
et Mr. Kane in the vestibule outside the gym. “Where is Miss Carpenter?” Tyrone inquired.
“She took Tess, Kyle and Rodney to the teacher’s lounge while we did this.” Sheila answered.
Tyrone smirked a bit. “I’m betting that didn’t sit well with Rodney!”
“It sure didn’t, but he listened, unlike Marla, we don’t know where she’s at, probably with Scott.”
“I don’t give a shit where that dumb ass is, after what he did!” Melvin spat, as he patted Allison on the shoulder. She silently acknowledged him with a curt smile, she really didn’t want to be reminded of it.
“We will sort all of that out later, for now we need to focus on the task at hand.” Tyrone said.
“How many are in there?” Sheila asked.
“Approximately ten or so.” Tyrone said.
“Shouldn’t be that difficult then. We will take up positions back here, you need to unlock the door, open it, and stay behind the door. If I tell you to shut it, push it shut, got it?” Sheila asked.
“Got it.” Tyrone said, as he braced himself, unlocked the double doors, and waited for Sheila’s go ahead.
“Now!” Sheila shouted.
Tyrone pulled the door open, and stood behind it, ready to shove it closed if need be. The others aimed their weapons, the creatures in the back that were massed in front of the gym office began advancing toward the open door.
Sheila kept her shotgun aimed steady at the opening, as one of the zombies shambled through, she fired. Its head exploded, showering the vestibule in bone and brain matter. The headless corpse stumbled around a few seconds, and then fell to the floor. The next one tripped over it, and Melvin put his .45 at its head, and blew a hole into it.
Suddenly the opening was bottlenecked with undead trying to squeeze past each other. Everyone opened fire at once, the small confined space was filled with echoes of gunfire. Tyrone wanted to cover his ears, but kept his hands firmly on the door handle.
Almost as quickly as it began, it was over, Sheila yelled for everyone to cease firing. Everyone lowered their weapons, except Sheila, she chambered another round, and walked forward. She stepped carefully over the twice dead bodies and entered the gym.
Keeping her shotgun at the ready, she inspected the area behind the bleachers. It was clear, as was the rest of the gym. “Secure!” She hollered.
Mr. Kane stepped from behind the door, and went into the gym, followed by the others. The office was at the back of the gym, they stood in front of an oak door, with a rectangular window in the middle of it, the glass long since broken out. Mr. Kane peered inside, there was a young girl of about eight or nine, with short, disheveled black hair cowering in the corner. “Are you ok miss?” Tyrone asked.
The little girl looked up, Tyrone had been around enough special needs children to know that this girl probably had down syndrome. He spoke in as soothing a voice as he could. “Please unlock the door and let us in, you’re safe now.”
The little girl tentatively got up and walked to the door, and stood there, as if unsure what to do. “My daddy said not to open the door for anybody.“ She said.
Allison motioned for Tyrone to step aside, she stuck her face in the window and smiled warmly at the little girl. “You‘re missing a tooth.” The little girl said.
“I sure am, what’s your name?” She asked.
“Darla.” The little girl said shyly.
“That’s a pretty name, my name is Allison.”
“That’s a pretty name too, and you’re a pretty lady.”
“Thank you Darla, now I know your name, and you know my name, we’re not strangers anymore are we?”
The little girl thought about it for a moment. “I guess not.”
“Then go ahead and unlock the door sweetie.”
“Are you sure all the funny people are gone?” She asked.
“All gone!” Allison said, nodding her head.
Darla hesitated for another few moments, and then reached up and unlocked the door. Allison opened it and scooped her up, Darla wrapped her arms around Allison’s neck. “I bet you’re hungry!” Allison said.
Darla nodded. “What have you been eating?” Tyrone asked.
“Candy bars and Shasta, it’s just as good as Coke my dad says, even better since they changed the recipe.”
Tyrone smiled at her and went inside and opened the small refrigerator, sure enough, there were a few of those items left, the floor was littered with candy wrappers and soda cans. He opened the bottom drawer of the desk and almost gagged. He quickly shut it, that was where Darla was apparently using the bathroom.
“Take her to the cafeteria, I’ll be along in a moment.” Tyrone said.
Darla shoveled spoonfuls of canned ravioli into her mouth, her chubby cheeks covered in bright red marinara sauce. Allison watched her chow down, she and Mike had discovered early on that she was infertile, but she often wondered that if she could get pregnant, would she keep the child if it wasn’t…normal. Looking at Darla, she knew the answer, she decided then and there that she would protect this little girl with her life if she had too.
Darla swallowed the last wad of food in her mouth and burped. “Want some more?” Allison asked.
“Yes please.” Darla said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
Allison opened another can and sat it in front of her. “Who’s this?” Came a voice from behind, it was Scott and Marla.
“This is Darla, she was in the gym when we cleared it out earlier.”
“I heard the gunshots, Valerie told me what was up.” Scott said.
“Like, why was she there?” Marla asked.
“Her father put her in the office and told her not to leave, she only knows him as ‘daddy’ so we don’t know who he is yet.”
“Coach Wilkens!” Valerie said, as she walked up, with Tess, Madison, Kyle, and Rodney behind her. Kyle also noticed that Scott and Marla were holding hands, and it was all he could do not to cry.
“What?” Allison said.
“That’s Coach Wilkens’ daughter, we went out a few times, I met her once. He must have put her in there and gone to get help or something.” Valerie observed.
Marla looked horrified, she had actually made out with Coach Wilkens, and he had a mongoloid kid and dated someone as average as Miss Carpenter, she felt nauseas.
Allison patted Darla’s shoulder. “Well, help finally did arrive for her, we’ll keep her safe now.”
Tyrone entered the cafeteria from the other side. “Good to see everybody has met our new addition. I guess we’ll need to figure out where she will sleep.”
“I know exactly where she will be sleeping, with me!” Allison stated.
“That’s fine, I want to make sure she’s comfortable, I’ll have the couch in my office moved to your room.”
Allison got up, and Darla held up her arms, Allison bent down and picked her up. “Let’s get you cleaned up Darla.” Allison left the cafeteria, and headed toward the bathroom.
“Kyle, Rodney, go get the couch out of my office and move it to Allison’s room. Madison, Tess, and Marla, go on back to the library.” Tyrone ordered.
“Like, I’m totally moving in with Scott!” Marla stated plainly.
Tyrone took a deep breath and exhaled. “No Miss Masters, you certainly are not.”
Marla defiantly folded her arms and scowled. “I totally am, you can’t tell me what to do anymore!”
“Hold on, let’s not get too upset here.” Scott pleaded, he felt like he had already caused enough trouble.
Tyrone was exasperated, he could tell he was losing control of the situation. If Marla stopped listening to him, it was only a matter of time before the other students followed suit. Before he could speak, Marla grabbed Scott’s hand and led him out of the cafeteria. Kyle forlornly watched them leave. Valerie nudged Mr. Kane. “Are you going to just let her do whatever she wants?” She asked, incredulously.
Tyrone stared at her for a moment, and then told Kyle and Rodney to get going o
n the task he had assigned them, and Tess and Madison to return to the library. They all left, and he turned his attention to Melvin. “I would like you to leave as well, I need to speak to Miss Carpenter alone.” Melvin nodded and walked out of the room.
“Now, Miss Carpenter, what exactly would you have me do, tie Marla up?” Tyrone asked.
Valerie was exasperated. “Mr. Kane, she can’t be allowed to just flout authority like that!”
“Miss Carpenter, I don’t like it anymore than you do, but the fact is, if she won’t recognize our authority, there’s not much I can do besides throw her out. Maybe you’re ok with doing that, but I am not!”
Valerie wanted to respond, but she knew he was right. She silently nodded, and left the cafeteria. Tyrone stood alone in there for a few moments, and then left.
Melvin walked with determined purpose to Scott’s room, and banged on the door. Marla opened the door, and Melvin looked over her shoulder at Scott. “I’d like to talk to Scott out here, alone!”
Scott came over and nodded to Marla that it was ok, and went out into the hallway. Melvin led him around the corner, and then shoved Scott against the lockers. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing boy?” He growled.
Scott knew Melvin was strong, he had seen him effortlessly carrying firefighter gear that sometimes even he needed help with. Still, the force the old guy was capable of took him a little by surprise. He tried to remain calm. “Melvin, I’m sorry, it just happened…”
“Just happened my ass! You’re a grown ass man, we got a good thing going here, and you’re fucking it up!”
Scott wriggled out of Melvin’s grasp, and the older man stood back. “Melvin, look at her! Are you telling me you wouldn’t if you had the opportunity?”
Melvin sneered. “Look boy, I ain’t no animal, I can control myself. You had a good thing going with Allison, I can’t believe you fucked that up too!”
“I feel bad about that, I do, I’d take it back if I could, but Melvin, she wouldn’t go all the way with me. I know why, but it had been so long, and…”
Melvin waived him off. “Forget it boy, she’s better off without you. I can see that now.” Melvin said with disgust, and left Scott standing there alone in the hallway, feeling ashamed.