by Kate L. Mary
Riley swings the bat, and when it makes contact with the dead man’s head a crack echoes through the hall. The thing goes down, but there are more behind him. Riley moves back, pushing me away as he swings. The bat hits another and another as blood so dark it looks black and bone and brain matter spray the once white walls. Riley grunts as he swings over and over again, his face tensing and turning red. The commotion draws the attention of the zombies down the hall, and they forget the door and head our way. Sweat breaks out on my forehead as I desperately look around, trying to find something I can use as a weapon so I can help him. If I don’t hurry up, we’re going to be in real trouble.
My gaze lands on the American flag mounted on a pole beside the door. Before I can register what I’m even doing I dash forward, my ballerina flats slipping across the wet floor as I go. It takes everything in me not to focus on the fact that I’m sliding through blood.
Riley glances my way, his eyes big and round with fear. When he sees what I’m doing he moves with me, swinging the bat to ward off the dead. The pole is more than six feet long, which will make it difficult for me to lift. There’s no way I’m going to be able to swing this thing, but if we don’t do something we’re not going to make it out of here.
“Here!” Riley shoves the bat toward me before going for the flag.
I take up where he left off, hitting zombies in the head. Only he was right, and after the first two I realize that my whacks aren’t making even half the impression his did, and I have to hit the zombies several times before I can make a dent in their skulls. Riley joins me, swinging the long pole as hard as he can with it’s awkward size as we move down the hall, further away from the exit and closer to the zombies who were just a few minutes ago clawing at the door.
They’re closing in on us from both sides, but we keep trying to fight them off. With each slam of my bat against a zombie’s skull, my heart beats harder. Faster. I can’t catch my breath and my whole body is covered in a layer of sweat. Riley is panting at my side, and the moans of the advancing zombies are so loud they echo in my ears.
“There are too many!” Riley yells, and his words have so much impact on me that it feels like I’ve been hit by sledge hammer.
He’s right, of course. There are two many of them and we aren’t properly armed. We’re running out of time.
My eyes fill with tears, making it impossible to see, and the next time I swing my bat I miss the zombie’s head by a mile. The thing lurches forward and I let out a scream as I stumble a few steps, my back slamming into the wall. Riley is next to me in the blink of an eye, and suddenly we find ourselves cornered as half a dozen zombies swarm us.
“Shit!” Riley yells, swinging the pole. But being this close to the wall has made it almost impossible for him to get any good momentum, and it doesn’t do much to keep the zombies back. “I’m sorry! Dammit, I’m so sorry, Kyra.”
My shoulders shake from the sobs that force their way out of me, and when I swing my bat the power behind it probably couldn’t kill a fly. The zombie I hit barely slows in his advance, and I know he only has to take a couple more steps before I’m his.
Suddenly, the door the zombies were just clawing at swings open, slamming against the wall. The sound is so loud it breaks through the moans of the dead, distracting a few from their assault. Two stumble that way a second later when Tori runs out, followed closely by Jim.
“Look!” I scream, pointing toward the other survivors.
Riley glances that way as the others pause, and the sight of them seems to give him a second wind. He slams his pole into the horde, then swings it to the left. The thing is so long it knocks them down, and they topple over in a way that reminds me of bowling pins. Only two are left standing. The two between us and our friends.
Jim is holding a bat, and when he sees the zombies around us fall he takes off toward the two that are blocking our way. The monsters at our feet are down, but not out, and before they can get up Riley grabs my hand and jerks me forward. We stumble as we run over the fallen creatures, their hands grabbing at our legs as they try to figure out how to get us and get up at the same time. Their dexterity is off though, and trying to perform two actions at once seems to slow them down even more than they already are.
Jim knocks down the first zombie in our way, his aluminum bat slamming into the thing so hard I can hear the bone crack. Behind him, Tori screams for us to run, and Riley pulls me harder. As we close in on the remaining zombie, Riley releases me and grips the pole in both his hands. He thrusts it forward, spearing the end through the monster’s stomach. The thing doesn’t go down until Riley jerks the pole to the right, slamming it against the wall.
“Let’s go!” Jim shouts, urging us to move as he turns to run, grabbing Tori’s hand on his way by.
Behind us feet scrape against the floor and my swiftly pounding heart almost stops. I look over my shoulder long enough to confirm that the things have made it up, then turn to focus on the hall ahead of me. Jim and Tori run, their ragged breathing audible even over the zombies at our backs, and at my side Riley jogs. His hands are empty now that he lost his pole, but his eyes are open, always moving.
“Left,” he calls when Jim reaches a hall.
The other couple turns and Riley grabs my elbow as if to guide me as we follow. Just as I turn the corner, I catch sight of the massive group of dead that is hot on our trail.
“Faster!” I scream, jerking my arm away from Riley and forcing my legs to pump harder. “There have to be thirty of them!”
Tori lets out a shriek as Jim yanks on her arm. She stumbles, but he stops her from falling. She’s shorter then him by about ten inches, and her legs don’t seem to be able to keep up with the man at her side.
At the end of the hall we make another left. None of us speak, and I’m breathing so hard that I know I couldn’t even if I wanted to. The zombies at our backs haven’t slowed, but we’re faster. Only I don’t know how much longer I can keep this pace. My calves burn and the ballerina flats I foolishly put on when Dad and I left the house to look for supplies weren’t made for running. I have to clench my toes to keep them from falling off, and it’s slowing me down. Riley keeps glancing my way with a worried expression on his face, and I can tell that he could run faster, only he’s waiting for me.
When he shouts for us to make yet another left, I realize what he’s doing. The school is a square, built with the halls circling the cafeteria, and if we keep going like this we’ll make it back to the front. With all the commotion we made, it should be clear. It seems like most of the zombies are right at our backs.
As we near the final turn Riley grabs my arm yet again. He jerks me so hard that this time I don’t have a chance to curl my toes and my right shoe slips off. Having only one shoe on makes my steps awkward and uneven, and I feel like I only have one option. I allow the other shoe to come off my foot, and keep running, making my way down the hall with nothing to protect my feet.
My bare feet slap against the tile floor as we turn one final time, and when I see the empty hall in front of us, I almost shout with joy. Jim and Tori are only in the lead by two feet, but the older man slows a tad until he’s even with Riley.
“That SUV?” he asks between pants, his gray eyes moving behind us as we run in a small bunch.
Riley nods. “Only option.”
Jim presses his thin lips together, but he doesn’t argue. I don’t even know if he disagrees.
We rush through the doors as a group and out into the dark night. The sun has set completely and the air is humid and tainted, and the foul stench of death is a sharp contrast to the sounds of nature. Like a graveyard built in the middle of a greenhouse.
Like the hall, the front lawn of the school is mostly clear of zombies. In the distance there are still a few, and as soon as they’re aware of us they head our way, but we’re mostly in the clear. Assuming the SUV has keys like Riley thought and the battery isn’t dead, we should be okay.
Our footsteps pound ag
ainst the grass as we rush forward, jumping over rotting mounds of flesh that used to be people as zombies pour out of the school behind us. In the distance, the SUV is just visible through the darkness. It’s big, just like Riley said, and if we can get it started we should be able to drive across the schoolyard with no problem.
We reach the SUV in less than a minute and I jump in the open door, climbing across to the passenger seat. Riley climbs in after me while Tori and Jim get in the back. Before the doors are even shut Riley has the key—which is right in the ignition where he thought it would be—turned. The engine roars to life and he slams the door shut.
When he throws it in gear I pump my fist in the air, letting out a scream of victory. “Woohoo!”
Riley grins my way as he turns the wheel to the right and slams his foot on the gas. The car lurches forward. None of us talk as Riley drives across the field, heading to the back of the school. In front, the roads are completely clogged with traffic, but maybe if we can get to another street we’ll be able to pull through.
The tires thump over the bodies that are spread across the yard. I squeeze my eyes shut as I bounce up and down in my seat, doing my best not to think about those bumps as people. People I might have known.
“Fence!” Jim shouts from the back seat.
My eyes open in time to see Riley tighten his grip on the steering wheel.
“I’m going through,” he says through clenched teeth.
It’s chain link, but I still curl my hands into fists. We should be able to get through pretty easily.
Riley presses his foot on the gas and the engine roars as the car speeds ahead. When the front of the SUV slams into the metal fence, Tori and I both scream. The whole truck jerks, but the metal links give and the thing breaks loose, allowing the vehicle to drive through.
Just past the school a road comes into view. Unlike the others, it isn’t clogged with cars. It runs through a residential area, which will require some extra travel time, but at least we’re on the road.
Jim leans forward and slaps Riley on the shoulder. “Nice job.”
Riley nods and lets out a deep breath. “Yeah. Now let’s see if we can find any emergency broadcasts on the radio.”
Chapter 5
“This is not a test. Emergency procedures are in place, and citizens are to travel to the nearest refugee center. Refugee centers located within this broadcast area are: North Charleston Coliseum, Beaufort High School, The Colleton Center, Saint George Fire Department—”
Riley turns the radio down. His Adam’s apple bobs as he slows the SUV, scanning the area. We’re in the middle of a neighborhood, but at the moment nothing’s moving.
“We need to talk about what we’re going to do,” he says after a few seconds of tense silence.
He puts the car in park and turns so he can face Tori and Jim. I do the same, twisting in my seat until I can see the others. Tori’s short hair is a mess and her eyes are almost as big as golf balls behind her dark frames. Jim looks composed, but I’d bet he always looks that way. He has a calming presence that seems authoritative at the same time.
“North Charleston isn’t that far,” Jim says, his voice soothing. Tori’s tense shoulders relax, almost like his quiet tone is able to penetrate the stiffness in her muscles.
“Seems like a pretty shitty place for a refugee center,” Riley says. “I mean, damn. You know what’s around there? All the businesses and restaurants, the outlets. Plus, it’s really close to the Boeing plant and the Air Force Base. If all the people in that area came back, you’re looking at a hell of a lot of zombies walking around.”
He’s right. Shit.
“What then?” Tori asks, her eyes somehow growing bigger. “The other centers they listed are a pretty good drive. Do we have enough gas for that? It’s not like we can just stop and refill.”
“We’re good on gas,” Riley says. “The real question is, do we want to go to a refugee center?”
“Where else can we go?” I say, hating how small my voice comes out.
Jim meets Riley’s gaze and shakes his head. “I know what you’re saying, but we have to see if there’s any kind of authority left.”
He doesn’t say it, but I can hear it in his tone. Jim doesn’t think there will be anyone left, which makes me think of every zombie movie and TV show and book and comic I’ve ever read or seen. We need a plan. A real plan.
“We need to get someplace less populated,” I say, sitting up straight. Everyone turns to look at me, and even though I have no idea why, my cheeks get warm. “We need a plan before we drive in there, just in case there isn’t anyone in the government left. If we’re on our own, we have to consider the best course of action. We need to get out of a populated area. I mean, I get what you’re saying about the government. We should check it out. But if that falls through our number one priority should be to get out of here. Fast.”
Riley and Jim nod, and even though Tori doesn’t, she also doesn’t argue. I guess that means she’s on board.
“So we check it out?” Riley says, craning his neck to look out the back window.
I follow his gaze and see a group of the dead moving our way. Ten of them, maybe. They’re still a good distance off, but the car’s engine must have attracted them. We have to move.
“Yeah.” I turn back around in my seat to indicate I’m done talking about it.
“Let’s move,” Jim says from behind me.
Riley turns back to face the front without responding, then puts the car in gear. We drive in silence for a few minutes. My mind spins, replaying the events. I can’t figure out what happened while Riley and I were upstairs, but the fact that the school’s front door was wide open bugs me.
“What happened?” I ask, turning back to face Tori and Jim. “We fell asleep upstairs, but when we woke up we spotted that crazy lady—”
“Patty,” Riley says.
I nod even though I don’t give a shit what her name was. “Yeah, Patty. We saw her dead body outside. What the hell happened?”
“She went nuts,” Tori says, shaking her head like none of it makes sense. “We were all in the cafeteria discussing our next course of action, and she was totally quiet. Didn’t say a word most of the time. Then out of nowhere she stands up and tells us God told her it would all be okay. That all we had to do was follow outside and we’d be safe. Only we couldn’t all go. The unrighteous had to stay.” Tori looks at me. “I can only assume she meant you.”
Of course she did.
“So she just went out there?” Riley asks, glancing in the rearview mirror at Tori as he drives.
“Yeah. We tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. Jim even tried to restrain her.”
Jim’s face turns red. “Had a good hold on her until she clipped me in the balls with her elbow. Took me by surprise. She seemed like such a nonviolent person.”
“Whatever,” Tori says, rolling her eyes. “That bitch ran the second Jim was down and threw the damn doors open. Let the bastards inside while she went out. All hell broke loose and since we were all standing in the hallway, it was a massacre. Jim grabbed me and we took off. We ended up in a closet. I don’t know if anyone else made it.”
“Shit,” Riley mutters.
“No kidding.” I turn around to face the front, my hands clenched into fists.
Thinking that we may have left people behind has me sick to my stomach. There were kids and elderly people in there. People who can’t fend for themselves.
We go back to driving in silence.
It takes us twenty minutes to reach North Charleston. The closer we get to the coliseum, the more clogged the roads are. Riley constantly has to maneuver around abandoned cars and corpses walking the street, which makes our progress slow. His hands are so tight on the steering wheel that his knuckles are white.
“I don’t know if we’re even going to be able to get close,” he says through his teeth.
“What then?” Tori’s voice is high.
Jim scoot
s up so he can lean between the seats and talk to Riley. “Even though we’re still a couple blocks away, I’d say this pretty much confirms my suspicions. If the National Guard or some other form of government were here, we’d see evidence by now.”
He’s right. There are no tanks or other military vehicles. No signs or roadblocks. No police cars or men in riot gear trying to lead us to safety. There’s nothing but the dead.
“We need to get out of here,” I say, leaning closer to Riley so I can look at the gas gauge.
More than half a tank, which will help, but we’re eventually going to need to think about gas. And supplies. We need food and water and flashlights and weapons. We need to think about defending ourselves, and not just from the dead. There could be other survivors, and if there’s anything post-apocalyptic fiction has taught us, it’s that people could end up being our worst enemy. Not the walking dead.
Riley nods and he doesn’t wait for the others to agree. Instead of turning onto the road that leads to the coliseum, he turns the other way, heading to the highway so we can get out of North Charleston.
“Where now? North or south?” Riley asks, taking his eyes off the road long enough to glance my way.
Good question.
His face and body are rigid, and it’s obvious he doesn’t want to be the one to make this decision. I don’t blame him. Where we go next could determine whether or not we make it out of this alive.
I turn to face the others. Tori’s mouth is scrunched up, and Jim’s eyebrows are furrowed in concentration. They don’t really look like they have a clue what to do.
Not that I feel any more confident when I say, “South?”
Jim nods slowly like he’s considering it. “Winter is coming, so going south would mean we wouldn’t have to combat weather. It would be warmer, and if we were near the ocean we’d have food as long as we could get some fishing gear.”
“What about an island?” Tori asks, scooting closer. “My family used to vacation in the Keys. Lots of islands down there.”