“How...why did you just...kill her”?! He tottered over, wiping his mouth.
“I had no choice, but to”. I said coldly. “If I were to hesitate she could have eaten my insides”. He looked at me in anger. I grinned.
“I was taught to act this way towards zombies, if this situation were to ever happen”. There really is no helping it. You have to KILL them. There’s no other way, unless some crack pot quack doctor decides to make a vaccine, which looking at the progress of the infection in person...I doubt that they could create such a thing. It would take at least 4-7 years. I mean you have to study the virus, then experiment on people who were not yet infected. That’s just too much responsibility for one person.
“If you’re not willing to kill a couple of people to stay alive... then you’re pretty much done for. Well I wouldn’t technically call these things human anymore, so killing them shouldn’t bother anyone, right”? I picked up a couple of knitting needle sand placed them under my belt strap. I’ll find suitable weapons soon enough.
Hm I’ve forgotten this dude’s name. What was it again...Matt I think.
I looked back at him and smiled.
“Ya’ coming or not”? I leaned against the table. “Where”? He twitched.
“We are gonna run and most likely kill a couple of those things out there to escape”. I made a running motion with my legs and stabbed the air rapidly with a knitting needle. I puckered my lips when I did this. Bet I looked pretty funny.
“You’re sick”! He slammed his hand a top the table. He did it pretty hard, bet it hurt.
“Then I guess that makes “her” the same”. He gritted his teeth in disgust. “Course her personality is just as messed up, ya’ know”? Ah, I’m boasting... that’s the proper term right?
We both heard a thud at the door, it was soft. The pounding became louder. A hand flew right through the glass window. Clawing against the door, then two arms. Flailing in the air. It was almost funny, like foam pool noodles wobbling up and down, side to side. I giggled loudly. Before we knew it a hoard of them busted down the door, ripped it right off its hinges. They came pouring in it was horrifyingly exciting. Good thing they were slow zombies, I hate runners.
“Get on top of the table if you don’t wanna turn into a zombie meal”! I jumped up, and looked into the crowd, for an opening.
“Run on 3”. He looked at me worried, what does he not trust me or something?
I held up my hands for the countdown, obviously I couldn’t help myself from skipping 1 and 2.
“3”! I ran down to the table’s edge, jumping from the ledge I landed on one to soften the fall. Knitting needles in both hands I struck those around me, aiming for the head. Blood spurt from every direction. Some of it got on my clothes, I made sure to cover my mouth with cloth. I looked over head to see if that was of a man followed my instructions. Of course he didn’t, I found this jackass on the ground, crying in pain. Getting eaten alive by these undead mongrels.
“This is what you get for not listening to me”. I created a small gap that led into the hallway. I was running out of knitting needles. So I just immobilized the rest by taking out they’re legs. Kicking below the knee, the shin. One by one they fell to the ground. I pushed my way towards the open doorway. My body ran into the side wall of the hallway. Bumping my shoulder.
“Ugh, that’s gonna leave a big fat bruise”. The hallways were surprisingly desolate. I would have imagined countless zombies crawling around looking for fresh meat. They must have walked out of this area. They can tell by scent...or was it sound, I’m not really sure.
I peeked around the corner and found 2 of those things, walking aimlessly. One of them bumped into a wall and just kept hit- ting it. I wanted to laugh but apparently that would be too loud and it would make them notice me. I tip-toed across, I need to be sneaky.
“Like a shadow in the night”. I whispered under my breath. I’m treating this like it’s a video game. A zombie video game. Only, once you die...you stay dead. I found a couple of people they ran towards me. Their faces red, clothes bloodied, bodies trembling.
“Nika, you’re okay”! I don’t recognize this person’s face. Hm, I’m pretty well known around this school. “I’m glad to see a few people who are not... you know, dead”. I smiled pulling down the cloth from my mouth.
They nodded, and asked whether or not I’ve seen more people around. I told them that my section had already been taken out. I only saw a few of those things but, not too many to be of any threat. I then said to them that they should get out of the school and seek help. They’ve probably got the
S.W.A.T or military scattered in all of the areas that have been reported.
“Don’t you want to come with us”? They asked.
“I need to go find my sister at another school. It’s a high school, farther from here but. I’ll make it there somehow”. They looked worried but I shrugged them off and walked right back into the fight. There are exactly 7 exits in the whole school. Some of them have a security lock, which locks from the inside. I guess they don’t want anyone ditching school. Like a prison. It was all too quiet. An average person wouldn’t be able to keep it together in this type of situation. Somewhere in the distance I heard screaming.
“Everyone’s going bat crazy now”. I coughed, skimming the wall beside me with my hand. When I turned the corner, I spotted 4 of those things. Getting a closer look, I recognized the first 2. One was my history teacher and the other was science. I smirked, “Well, isn’t this awfully convenient”. I slowly raised my arm, knitting needle in both. I sprinted down the hall.
“This is for giving me a load of homework to do over spring break”! Jabbing the needle into his head, he collapsed to the ground. Groaning, his arms flailed around looking for me. I smashed his skull in with my foot. I remember seeing something like that in movies a lot.
I turned my attention to the other teacher and pounced for- ward, knocking her down. She struggled to get up, I didn’t have enough time to pin her with the needles so I smashed her head against the wall.
“And that’s for taking my cell phone away”!
‹It’s a distraction’. Once I got rid of the other two I continued walking. I got to the main gym. It was empty. I rushed over to the other side to lock the doors on the opposite side. As I was doing this. The ground beneath my feet began to shake. I wasn’t just imagining it. I quickly turned around and those things had already started for the door.
“Man”. Did they smell me or something? Was I the only one left alive? These doors wouldn’t hold forever. I knew that. They only lasted for 10 minutes. On both ends the doors were knocked down. They came rushing in like starved animals that were kept unfed for a long time. I ran with what little energy I had in me to the nearest supply closet. Locking the door behind me. I crouched down between a basket of soccer balls and some cones. I was in one heck of a situation. If I would have known they were gonna rush in like that I could have made it to the head office to unlock the doors.
“I’m so stupid”. My body began to tremble a bit. I told myself to calm down. I told myself to hold out, because I knew that my sister and Jade were gonna come and save me from this crazy mess. I’ll keep quiet and stay completely still. If I were to move and bump into something. Then for sure I’d be totally fudged.
Chapter 7
I rubbed my eyes furiously. Using my tank to wipe awayany lingering drops.
“Get it together” I slapped my hands against my cheeks. Closing the door behind me I walked into my room. I knelt down in front of the closet placing my head against the cool door.
“It’s important so, give me permission”. I opened the sliding door slowly. Turning on the light, I pushed away boxes that kept “That” away from my mom’s sight. There was a small hook in the wall, I pulled on it opening a small latch.
Inside the wall was a small opening. Kind of like a secret space. I just made this a year ago, just to keep all my important things away from mom. I took out a lon
g silver colored box which said: FRAGILE pasted all over it. I lifted the top off setting it on the floor.
I took out two katanas from the box. The first one had cherry blossoms printed on the sheath, with a small yarn voodoo doll that I had gotten from a coin machine tied around it. But my favorite was the other katana. It was my very first one that I had received from a friend from Osaka, Japan. I met him when I went there for vacation. It’s a long story.
The sheath was in black. I’ve never used it so it’s not chipped and the paints still clean. I’ve never used any of them so I’ve waited until the day I could actually use them. In the past my mom was opposed of the idea of me have owning these “dangerous” weapons. Soon I was able to convince her that comes only then will I use it. For a while they were only used as a decoration.
“This is one of those times...and you’re not here so I’ll be taking these”. I tied a support belt behind my back. Call it a place holder for the katanas. These weigh around 20 pounds each.
But enough about that. I placed the katanas in the holder. I walked around the room for a bit. I was gonna leave all of this behind, I knew that I was never coming back. The dust would pile beneath the bed, in the little crevasses, which I don’t clean so well says my mom. I sniffed back a tear and headed out the door. When I got to the living room a faint scent filled the air. It was rotten and musty. I poked my head out the only open window beside me, and was alarmed to find three of those things approaching from the left side. They must have loitered nearby they were coming from an alleyway. I rushed down the stairs heading towards the back of the building. I spotted Nika hiding behind a trash bin. She noticed me and signaled me to stay where I was. It was late in the afternoon, which casted shadows in the inner corners of the apartment, I leaned back against a dark wall and hid.
There were only three of them, both I and Nika knew that we could easily dispose of them without causing a ruckus. They got closer, they’re limbs detached from their original places. This scene would have frightened my mom to high heaven, she wasn’t used to gory things like I was. I would usually have to watch the movie with her since she was such a baby.
I slowly raised my arm and took out one of the katanas behind me. It made a slight clicking sound as I dislodged it from the sheath. Gripping it tightly in my hand, I looked to Nika for con- formation. She waved and thumbed up at me, grinning giddily. I nodded and rose from the darkness, walking slowly towards the Bodies. The one in the middle flinched as my foot made a noise against the dry grass. Without hesitation, I sliced through the things rotten flesh making a clean cut across the neck. I stepped back as the head fell to the ground, its body next to it, dark liquid began to spray out of where its head used to be. Leaving a puddle of blackness on the dry earth.
I sprinted forward cutting off the legs of the second Body. It didn’t feel fair for me to kill these things off by myself so I kicked up dirt towards Nika, who was still kneeling behind the trash bin. She giggled lightly, and got up, kitchen knife in her left hand. Although I gotta say, Nika’s method of “Finishing off” left the poor thing limbless. I sneered at her with both amusement and disgust. It wiggled on the ground, no arms nor legs. Only its head attached. It wasn’t a pretty sight I must confess. I was surprised to see Nika walking away from it. I guess she wanted it to stay like that, it kinda looked like a defenseless baby looking for its mother. I wiped the sweat forming at the top of my forehead, and struck its skull with the tip of my katana.
Nika and Elise were standing by a tree. Elise’s foot propped up behind leaning against it. Nika was fiddling with her hair, rety- ing the braid. I wiped the blade of the katana against my shorts, removing the blood before it would dry and never come off. Elise threw her hand in the air and waved me over. I looked around making sure that there were no more of those things nearby.
“So, Nika told me you guys ran into a little bit of trouble back there”. Her voice deep, serious but oddly excited.
“Yeah”. I placed the katana back behind me, Elise eying the two blades strapped against my back. She bobbed her head for- ward gesturing towards my new toys.
“You weren’t kiddin when you said you had real katanas in your apartment”. I smiled widely. Pretty sure that my dimples were now visible.
“I know I lie a lot but...” She grinned then snickered loudly. “Unfortunately, I have no guns or sniper rifles in my possession”. I placed my hand on my hip.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you did, but I’m happy you don’t”. Yeah, I’m not old enough to own a gun, and my mom’s too... goody-goody to have one either. Ever since they made that law about only the police and whatever-No one’s supposed to own any guns in this area. It makes sense though, at least it put to rest for some of those neighborhood shootings and stuff. I didn’t care much about stuff like that, so all of it disappeared into the back of my head, lost in the black hole of what I call my brain.
“If we stumbled upon an S.W.A.T car of police station, I’ll remember to look for one”. I placed my hand across my stomach and bowed. “Only the best for Mistress Elise”. I said in a soft British accent. Trying to copy a butler tending to his master’s needs. “I am most thankful to you, Sebastian”. A very stereotypical name for a butler. Elise said this in the same manner. I peeked up at Nika who was trying to hold in a laugh. And what she did was very smart because, that girl’s laugh could alert all of those things to our location. Like a siren.
When we were done joking around, we walked down the road towards Elise and Nika’s house. It was only two blocks away from my place. We often hung out together at their place. Well, perhaps ‘hang out’ wasn’t the best way to describe what we would do. Normally, Elise would sit on the couch and be on her phone, I would be on the opposite couch either drawing or watching T.V, and Nika would sit beside me. Sometimes lay down next to Elise. So, I guess that’s how we would normally hangout. It sounds boring, but it made me happy.
When we got to the house, everything seemed normal. It didn’t appear to be disturbed. The door was still securely locked like it always was. The windows weren’t broken. I felt a little angered by the fact that my apartment had been torn apart, while their home seems as if nothing bad has happened. Elise sighed in relief, and Nika was probably in her room looking for things. I walked over to the back door, and found it locked and in place as well. They must have not gotten to this place yet. Their parents were both busy so that was comforting. They were a ways from here, maybe they were taken in by the military before all this happened. I placed my hand against the wall, and sighed heavily.
“Calm down, they’re safe...they’re all safe. Their parents and my mom are somewhere safe”. A lump began to form in my throat. Again this feeling, washed over me. I wanted to cry. The worry swept over me like a dark cloud. I hated these feelings most of all. The anxiety, the stress. The very feeling that makes me tremble and want to curl up in a ball and forget it all for a while. This rarely happens...I force it out of me. Make it go away. I punched the wall in front of me, again and again. I might have punched the wall at least 20 times before I could finally clear my head. Elise popped up behind me, her facial expression dim. I cleared my throat making sure the lump was gone. And spun around to look at her.
“You okay, what was that thumping”? She was scratching the dried paint off the door way.
“Nothing really, just trying to...calm myself down”. She was silent then said,
“If punching a while is one of your calming exorcises then proceed with caution, don’t do it too much, to the point that you’re knuckles could bleed”. She pointed to my hand, I examined the spot. They had already started to turn purple. I bruised it a little I think.
“I brought some medical cloth I found in the nurse’s station at the school, I’ll just wrap it up and it’ll be as good as knew”. I fumbled around inside the back pack until I found the cloth. Slowly wrapping it around my left hand, securing it with one of those pins they put on the cloth. I flexed my fingers and wiggled them towards El
ise’s direction. She widened her eyes and tapped the wooden door way.
“If you say so”. She clicked her tongue and looked around. “I’ll be looking for things in my room, could you keep an eye out down here”? She looked down at my bandaged hand and up at me. I chuckled and walked past her, patting her head.
“Only the important things alright? I’ll holler if I see anything”. I took my place and every now and then peeked out between the window curtains. I only saw a few of them walking nearby, but too far for them to be a threat.
I glanced at the clock above the door way, “Already, 6:30 pm”? I scratched the back of my head. We were sitting in the living room. Nika on the floor eating a Nutrigrain bar she found in the food pantry. Elise was looking over our plan on the table. She used a small lamp to light the space around her, so as to not attract any unwanted attention. I played with my necklace. Which hung low around my neck against the top of my stomach. A silver cross, I dangled it in front of me. Swinging side- ways. I usually wore it to school or going somewhere that involved vehicles. I wasn’t one for churches or hyped up on that whole religious thing, but I felt safe with it. I made myself comfortable on a small chair which might have come from the early Victorian age. It was petite yet subtle to sit in, the floral designs caught my attention the first time I laid eyes on it. I found it adorably charming.
My katanas were placed against the chair on the floor. I wanted to nap a bit before continuing our journey back into “Madness”. I extended both my legs out, slumping in the chair crossing them every other couple of minutes. We sat in silence for a good 10 minutes until Elise slapped both her hands on the table, making the room shake a little. I twitched trying to get out of the chair as smoothly as possible, knowing that my joints had relaxed a little too much making them crack and pop with each movement into standing position. I bent down to touch my toes and up bending back cracking it. I twisted my body sideways before confirming that it was okay to move around freely. Nika finished her third Nutrigrain bar, and sat cross legged on the floor looking at Elise. “So, we rested here for a while. Now it’s time we move on to the next location”. She said this so formally I wanted to gag. She sounded like a freaking squad commander telling his team our next assignment.
Staying Alive: New Addition Page 5