by Lanza, Marie
“Drop the knife, Mother-fucker!” A voice shouted from behind them.
Scott, holding the man around his neck turned to the sound of the voice. There stood another of Roy’s men with a rifle aimed. Scott couldn’t remember this guy’s name either, though he knew he was a little smarter than the guy he was holding onto. This guy with the rifle was always with Roy and never hung out much in the Village with the others. Scott figured he was a loner.
Scott stood there holding his human shield in front of him. Knowing what he did of these men, it would be just his luck that the guy with the rifle would just fire off his weapon killing them both; just to save his own ass.
“I suggest you put that gun down,” Emma’s rifle appeared first, then she stepped around the corner into the door with her weapon pointed at the guy’s head. “I’ll blow your brains out before your finger finds the trigger.”
The man holding the rifle didn’t take long to think over his options realizing quickly he was out of them. “We don’t want no trouble. Roy was the asshole. He’s dead now. Let us leave and you’ll never see our faces again.”
“How about I feed you to those little Carriers you created?” Emma responded.
Scott wasn’t going to let anyone decide the fate of these men but himself. Scott jammed his knife into the guy’s throat that he was holding, releasing a waterfall of blood. A gurgling of air left his body as he grabbed his neck in his last effort to fight the knife that had entered his throat.
It took a moment for his buddy holding the rifle to process what had happened. “Oh shit!”
Emma fired off one round into his back, silencing his scream. He dropped dead, face down to the floor. “Next time do us both a favor and give me some kind of warning.”
Scott didn’t say a word. He let go of the body, watching as it collapse to the floor.
“Hey, you with me?” Emma snapped.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m with you,” Scott muttered slowly looking up at her. “I just didn’t think it would feel that good.”
“Good. That’s good. Means you’ll get over it quicker.”
“We should get back.” Scott suggested.
“First we find where Roy stashed away all the supplies. Then we get back to the others.” Part of Emma still didn’t trust this group. Emma's first instinct was to make sure the food and weapons existed, then secure it. She had no intention to stay, but wanted to make sure she took her fair share for returning to this death trap.
Scott led Emma down another hall to the cafeteria.
Roy's paranoia was written all over the place. Every door was barricaded either by stacked chairs and various furniture, or tied shut with chains. The doors that were left open were very strategic in the paths which they allowed you to take. The course guided Emma and Scott through the halls, leading them directly to specific destinations.
Emma thought maybe Roy was actually a brilliant master planner who just went nuts, but then quickly took those thoughts back as to not give him so much credit.
The cafeteria was lined with high, narrow windows letting the sun spill in. It all seemed unfamiliar to Emma and out of place in this time; unlike most abandoned buildings, there was no trash scattered over the floors, or graffiti painted on the walls.
Scott walked behind the lunch lines to the back of the kitchen. There, the shelves were perfectly stocked with canned items and bags of rice and oats. Emma couldn't believe her eyes. She hadn't seen this much food in one place since long before the outbreak. Everything was organized on the shelves by types of food to the size of can. It was like a trophy room. Roy's prized room of goods. Emma figured that if she and Andy filled their travel bags, they'd be fine for at least a month.
"How did you know this was here?" Emma asked.
"That son-of-a-bitch had me stocking shelves from the first few days we got here." Scott made his way to the back of the kitchen where large refrigerator and freezer doors lined the wall. "At first I just figured it was just food back here. I didn't see much else. Lucky for me, those idiots didn't keep very good secrets," he opened a large fridge door, pulling at the lever causing the air to pop from breaking the seal.
Inside was a full armory of guns, bullets, knives, and various useful gear.
Scott didn't enter, instead he walked over to the next refrigerator and opened it. "Take your pick."
The second fridge held tools, everything from shovels, racks, to axes.
Emma entered the gun room and looked over the weapons. She took a large razor back style survivor knife and slide it into an empty sheath already attached to her thigh. It was bigger and much sharper than the knife she already had. Emma walked over to the guns and grabbed two semi-automatic hand guns, placing both in the back of her pants.
Scott picked up three boxes of bullets, "You'll need these too." Scott stuck them under his arm, "I'll carry 'em out for you."
"Thanks. We should head back."
Scott followed Emma out but not before grabbing a hand gun for himself.
When Emma and Scott returned to the glass doors that lead out to the Village, Andy was there waiting. Emma knew he'd never leave that watch until she returned.
"It’s all clear," Emma gave a small smile to her friend as she pulled out one of the hand guns she took with her." And they weren't exaggerating on the stockpile," she handed Andy the semi-automatic gun.
Pete and Alex had killed as many of the Carriers as they could through the fence. The Carrier's bodies collapsed on top of one another, creating a wall and making it difficult for the other Carriers to get close to the fence.
The remaining Carriers, still snarled and clawed at the men in their fiercest attempts to reach them. Their blank eyes staring; dead set on the living before them.
Peter and Alex stood, staring in a semi-shocked state at the children, once tiny healthy beings who filled this very playground with joy, now stuck to waste away until their second death. They turned around when Emma, Andy, and Scott approached.
"What happened? Everyone alright?" Pete was instantly focused on the blood Scott had poorly wiped off from his hand onto his jeans.
"We're both fine. We saw the last of Roy's men," Scott responded firmly.
Emma was puzzled, figuring no one survived these days without a little blood on their hands. Pete's face was giving her a different story, one of disappointment that Scott had blood on him. She wasn't going to speak out just yet. The group still had work to do in clearing out the remaining Carriers still roaming the grounds.
"Alex, go get the others. We need to get them out of the woods," Pete directed.
"We need to clear what's left in the Playground. We can't keep them in there." Scott walked over to the fence where the Carriers pushed against the piled bodies Pete and Alex were able to kill through the barrier.
"What do you suggest?" Pete asked.
Scott looked to Emma for unspoken advice.
"We go in and clean house. They're attention is stuck to this fence. A few stay here and keep them occupied while the rest of us go in and get the upper hand coming from behind."
"Us?" Andy spoke out, "This isn't your fight, Emma."
"No, it's our fight. Everyone here. The only way for us to continue living is helping each other, right?" Emma's new tone pleased Andy even if he didn't quite yet know where it was coming from.
The others made it back, coming through the same secret opening behind Pete's tent.
Beth held tight to Sarah's hand until she laid eyes on Scott, squealing to be released and run to her father.
Scott met her half way with open arms, lifting her from the ground and carrying her back to the group.
"So what's the plan?" Beth asked.
"We're still working that out. But we don't have to worry about any of Roy's men anymore."
"Well that's good news."
"Should we just burn it down? I mean, how many are left in there?"
"We'd just attract every Carrier in the area to this location,” reasoned Emma.
Going in with
guns blazing would also be a dinner bell. Patience will determine our success on this one.” Andy always held a calmness, but remained authoritative, with his words. "The corridors were swept. From the looks here, Pete and Alex have a good vantage along this fence. It looks like we have about twenty in this area. And we don't know what's left in the interior courtyard."
"We don't have to go in blind. I can get us pretty close to that area for a look," Scott said.
"Alright, so here's what we do, Pete and Alex continue creating distraction and killing what you can along this fence. John, you guard the Village. The rest of us will head inside and clean house." Emma directed.
"I'll get everyone to the temporary buildings for safety,” John said.
Scott handed Sarah to John. The little girl easily crawled in his arms.
John was an older man, years beyond his prime. Emma guessed he was only a few years older than Andy. Between the two, Andy definitely aged better. He was gentle, soft spoken compared to the others. A senior figure of the group that maybe the others looked up to for counsel, but never to help with anything physical. And Scott trusted his daughter’s life with him, which said everything to Emma.
The remaining group of women, a few teenage boys, and smaller children, locked themselves inside one of the temporary buildings just in case any Carriers were to slip through the barriers and enter the Village.
Emma couldn't help but notice the bonds that had developed here. There was a strong trust and loyalty between them, a soft touch to a brutal world. She hadn't seen anything like it since the outbreak. Emma wondered if it was possible for them to sustain this, and if so, for how long?
It was time.
Back inside, the dark halls was a little easier this time around. They walked through to the cafeteria with ease, still using Roy’s path.
The group only got what they needed for weapons – knifes, axes, baseball bats – the kind of weapons that don’t make a lot of noise.
It was a quick, straight to the point prep, grabbing one large weapon each and smaller knives for back up. They all knew it was crucial to clean house and lock the place down.
"We do one more sweep of the halls. Just a check up to make sure we covered everything. Then we get to the courtyard." Emma kept her rifle on her back in a sling and carried a modified wooden baseball bat; the handle had been roughly whittled into what appeared to be a sharp stake.
Andy gave the weapon a once over, chuckling under his breath. "Nice choice."
Emma nodded at the ax he was carrying, "Don't get that thing jammed in something and lose it."
They made their way back down the halls, anxiously probing the darkness for any movement - there was none.
With every room cleared, the door was shut behind them.
As the group entered the halls that led to the center courtyard, the soft buzzing moans of the children became audible. Sunlight from the courtyard peeked around the corners, lighting up the darkness, and giving more visibility.
Scott led the group, then Emma, followed by Beth, while Andy kept an eye on their backs. Each keeping a few steps between each other in order not to jam the other if they needed to move quickly or swing a weapon. They were almost to the end of one hallway, where they would have a view down the next hall that opened to the courtyard when the shuffles of tiny feet sounded as though they were moving towards them.
Scott stopped the line, they listened, and waited.
The silhouette of a tiny body appeared around the corner. Emma thought on any other day this would have just been a small child walking through their school. From the back light, the only sign of this child being a Carrier was its slight limp and raspy breath. The Carrier didn't see them standing in the shadowed hall, against the wall - so they just watched.
Patience will determine our success. Emma repeated Andy's words to herself. She noticed Scott seeming to get mildly antsy, and placed her hand on his shoulder as a sign not to move. Emma knew, if they did this wrong, the others would hear them and, in a matter of moments, they would be fighting blindly in the dark corridors.
The Carrier still had not seen them, aimlessly wandering in a small circle, stopping, swaying its body as it stood still, and wandering again. It turned towards the group, but still didn't see them, and made its way down the dark hall.
Scott slowly turned to Emma, giving her a small nod. He looked back to the Carrier, paused then took three lunging steps towards the Carrier, reaching it before it had a chance to respond, he landed his knife into its skull.
Not having far to drop, the body barely made a thud.
Scott peeked around the lit hallway that led to the courtyard. Emma, Beth, and Andy moved swiftly to join him.
To the group’s surprise, the large open courtyard in the front of the school, near the entrance, was luckily empty. It seemed the noise and distractions Peter and Alex were creating was working.
They entered the courtyard cautiously, pressed against the wall, moving in a way to not make any noise.
There was a small handful of Carriers pressing against the entrance glass doors that was jammed up by another body. The jam prevented them from getting out the front doors. Two others roamed aimlessly around, uninterested in the exit.
The group moved in fast. Two steps in and the Carrier's attention was captured, and in an instant they swarmed the group.
Emma took on the two Carriers that had been roaming around the courtyard while the rest of the group took the group at the door. There was an overwhelming sense of wrong as Emma lifted the baseball bat to swing down onto the Carriers head. Instincts urged to protect, and feel concern for what was once a small child. But they needed to stay focused, they needed to rid this place of these Carriers, and with that, Emma swung down hard.
It was only a matter of seconds before the little Carriers met their second deaths.
Outside would be a different fight as they were still uncertain just how many were left. If they needed to get out fast, they could retreat back inside and take cover in the school.
The body that jammed the glass doors was an easy fix for the living, but a perfect door stop for the dead. Andy pushed the door open, sliding the body off to the side and out of the way.
Exiting into the front school yard brought a tragic scene of death and mayhem that contrasted painfully against the playground that still showed the happier memories of children who played there. Ravenous creatures with beastly moans not 4 feet from the ground pressed against the piled bodies, still attempting to reach Peter and Alex who continued to cause commotion at the fence.
Emma always found herself distracted by these young lives gone before they even had a chance to ever get started. She counted about ten remaining Carriers at the fence and a few others throughout the playground that she didn't deem an instant threat.
The group spread out so the Carriers would separate and they would not be swarmed.
The group had the full attention of the Carriers now and the distraction caused by Peter and Alex was no longer useful. They continued to shout and rattle the fence in a desperate attempt to regain the attention of the Carriers.
The Carriers picked their prey and descended upon the group with an aggressive eagerness. Their bloodied faces barred their grimy, snapping teeth as they pushed against one another to reach the group.
Emma kicked the first one who made it close to her in the chest, causing it to fall back to the ground. With it out of the way for a moment, she used her baseball bat to smash in the head of the other. Emma then approached the fallen Carrier, who still struggled on its rotten limbs to get back up on its feet and jammed the spear-like end of the bat into its head.
Andy, Scott, and Beth also took on a couple of Carriers each. They were swift deaths. Emma went back to Roy's words, easier to control. He was certainly right. The smaller they were, the easier to kill, but still intimidating in large numbers.
Emma walked upon the last remaining Carrier. A pitiful creature, once someone's precious child, now stu
ck in a sand box with one of its arms gone, and both legs chewed away. Emma felt the same rage she did when she first entered this school, and every time she laid eyes on one of these children. She pulled her knife instead of using her bat, and sank the blade into its brain.
"It's finished."
* * *
The group piled the bodies along the main entrance gates hoping it would act as a deterrent to others.
Emma looked up to find Beth kneeling down at a playhouse. When she approached, Beth didn't look up from the tiny body she was focused on. It was a little girl with blonde hair draped over her face. Emma thought she looked so small in that playhouse. Then she realized, it was the body of Beth's daughter.
"She was bitten before we arrived here." Beth spoke up. "We had been locked away in our home for weeks, just down the street," she paused to catch her breath. "She was playing in the backyard when a Carrier approached. I took my eyes off her for a minute. It was the biggest failure of my life."
Emma tried to give some comfort, placing her hand on Beth's shoulder. It was the first time Emma witnessed a living connection between a parent and child Carrier. The emotions were still very raw for Beth. A woman who appeared hard and detached when Emma first met her, was now kneeling before her precious little girl barely able to speak between tears.
"I ran the streets like a crazy person screaming for help. Roy found me and took me in. There was nothing we could obviously do for her. John was going to help me kill her when she left this life. But then Roy took her from me as she was transitioning. He wanted to keep her, that crazy bastard. My angel was the start of his crazy idea he called his collection." Beth fidgeted with a pendant laced on a chain around her neck. "Thank you for killing him," she said as she stood up and faced Emma.
"We'll give her the burial you wanted," Emma didn't know what else to say.
Back in the Village everyone had congregated outside, expressing true feelings of relief to be rid of Roy and his goons. To them, they were just as bad as the Carriers. But, the celebration didn’t last long, knowing they needed to protect the property from Carriers and living alike.