by RWK Clark
“Don’t worry. I think it’s almost over.”
The only thing I could hear was a bit of grunting and a few wet sounds, but the noises had greatly diminished. After a few moments I heard shuffling, awkward steps. The door to the library opened and closed, and all was silent.
Jace peered over the edge of the study desk and scanned the area before saying, “I think it’s over. We should be okay to come out.”
Slowly we emerged from the safety we had found. The library was quite, and there was no movement anywhere. Jace looked me over, and I him. “So, what are you doing here? It doesn’t make much sense for either of us. I mean, do we really expect to finish our college educations at this point?” He gave a weak chuckle. “I’m just trying to keep my mind on anything sane. My studies are all I can find.”
“I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on here,” I replied.
His eyes widened. “Really? What are you doing, exactly?”
I took a deep breath, and casting one final look around the library, plopped into my chair. “I’m pretty sure it’s the water. I mean, the water is repulsive to me, but it seems we see these freaks slurping it down every chance they get. I don’t drink it or wash with it, and I’m still okay. Are you drinking it?”
“Ah, the common denominator!” Jace grabbed his things and moved to the chair across from mine. “I CAN’T drink it. Wouldn’t want to if I tried. I’m living on a diet of bottled pop and gallons of the distilled stuff from the store.” Now there was a solution. Why hadn’t I thought of that? “So, have you done any research or come up with any ideas?”
I swallowed the massive lump in my throat and put my hands beneath my thighs to steady their obvious tremor. “Actually, I gathered several water samples from a few different places, including the Los Angeles River, and I took them to the Bio lab and ran some tests. While I can’t specify what I found, I did find some pretty unsettling things. I came to the library to research my findings.”
“So, do you wanna tell me what you do know specifically? I mean, maybe I can help with research. That’s what I’ve been doing. I have no real idea what’s going on, so I have been trying to track down any historical circumstance which could give me answers. I must say, there are none, and I would like to narrow things down before I become a main course myself.” Jace smiled grimly, which prompted me to do the same.
“Well, what I found from my samples was an obvious bacteria, and it was attached to unknown molecules in each sample I tested. Had I had the materials I needed while I was at the lab I would have been able to identify the molecules; they looked fairly basic and generally harmless to me. But this bacteria was reproducing at a high rate of speed, and it appeared very volatile. In one sample it was obviously destroying all of the life it came into contact with. From what I saw, I can only conclude that not one of the people walking around us, eating and beating each other, is truly alive. I’m convinced they are dead…zombies.” I sucked in a breath and tore my eyes from his confused, overwhelmed face, settling them on a spot on the floor.
“Alicia, are you serious? Do you have any idea what you found?” He looked completely incredulous, but I could tell him nothing but what I had learned. I reached for my notebook and motioned for him to sit in the chair next to mine. He came around the desk and sat as I opened the spiral. I had both sketched and written out my observations, and I proceeded to break it all down for him. He listened intently to everything I had to say, and when I was finished he looked me in the eye:
“Do you watch any television? Have you heard anything about the water on the news?
I shook my head. “I don’t. I heard on the radio several times that the world is experiencing an urgent water shortage, but I didn’t take it to heart until today. I mean, is it a shortage, or are these monsters trying to keep it all for themselves? They appear to be seriously addicted to it.”
He thought for a moment. “Do you think the Wi-Fi here is active? We could go to YouTube and see if we can find any news releases that relate.”
This was a brilliant idea, one I more than welcomed. We gathered our things and made our way to the second floor cautiously. It was empty. Not a soul was there. We went to a table that gave us full site of the staircase, and I opened my bag and freed my laptop from its confines. In no time we were online, and we were about to learn more than we ever thought we could or would.
CHAPTER 5
Jace and I got settled into our new spot and got my laptop booted up and online. I really wasn’t sure where to begin, so I simply searched the term “tap water” for starters. It was a stretch, but maybe I could find something, anything, that would lead us to the next step. Of course, I realized that as far as I knew Jace and I were the only ones left unaffected by the recent situation, but maybe someone else out there was randomly attempting to share information in hopes of learning something as well.
We scrolled through the options which YouTube made available for us. The first thing I found which appeared even remotely related to our situation was a video of a newscast which discussed prescription drugs in the tap water virtually everywhere. The video was just a couple of minutes long, but it was very informative, and it set my mind off to the races with ideas.
When it ended I turned to Jace and stated, “I want to find a book which can give me some examples of the molecular structure of various pharmaceuticals.”
He gave me a smile. “I know just the book you are looking for. Wait here.” He jumped up and disappeared, but I could hear him just a few stacks away. When he returned he toted a massive volume entitled “Molecular Biopharmaceutics”. My eyes lit up as I reached out to take the volume from his hands.
“Perfect!” I exclaimed. “Just what I’m looking for.” I reached for my spiral notebook. I had sketched numerous things I had found in the water samples, the normal yet unidentified molecules I had pinpointed. For the next couple of hours we paged through the resource book and made comparisons, even identifying many of them. We finally reached a pretty solid conclusion. Just as the news bit on YouTube had said, the tap water was virtually filled with pharmaceutical drugs, and a massive variety at that.
∞
It was now 10:00pm, and while I kept expecting to be kicked out of the library, my mind was fully aware this was likely not going to happen. That didn’t stop both of us from keeping one eye on the door at all times and glancing nervously over our shoulders. We even spoke in hushed tones, even though we knew we were alone in the building.
I noted the name of each drug next to the drawing I had created, making for easy identification while we continued to investigate. The next step was to identify the bacteria which appeared to have adhered itself to the drug molecules in the water. It was my turn to fetch a book from the stacks.
Jace accompanied me on my search, adamant that I not be alone, regardless of the fact that we were obviously under no threat. I think both of us knew that we were better safe than sorry. Together we made our way to the stack of choice, and I ran my finger along the spines until I located the volume I was looking for, “The Bacteria: Their Origin, Structure, Function, and Antibiosis: First Edition”. To the best of my ability I had sketched the bacteria, though it hadn’t been easy. In my studies I had never seen one quite so complex or aggressive, but I was sure the mental picture of it in my mind was burned into it forever. It was a monstrosity, and very aggressive.
∞
By nearly midnight we were three-quarters of the way through the book, with no results. The closest we came was a rare bacteria originating in Zimbabwe which had proven to eat individuals from the inside out. Recorded cases always resulted in death, but not walking death, and from what we read it had been completely contained years ago. By 1am we had exhausted our search through the volume to no avail.
“I’m going to go out on a limb here,” I began. “The bacteria I found in the samples closely resembled the flesh eater here.” I had dog-eared the page previously, and now I flipped back to it to expand on m
y idea. “My theory is that the bacteria I saw is somehow related, or perhaps even a mutated version. We can ask ourselves how, and that would help us figure out what steps to take to turn this thing around.”
Jace’s face went grim. “Alicia, if these individuals are really roaming around dead, and functioning at the same time, I don’t see a way to reverse anything. I’m guessing we can only figure out how to clean the water and go on from here.”
I went into thought for a moment. “Let’s say you are right. If that’s the case then it is vital that we take steps to clean the water. Maybe without it these zombie creeps will eventually die for real. I just know that we can’t live without drinking water, and baby wipes and dry hair shampoo aren’t going to keep me clean forever.”
We began to discuss our idea. The news clip about the pharmaceuticals in the water had clearly stated that modern day filtration systems are simply not designed to eliminate the trace metals and drugs in the water supply. We needed to figure out the best method to do just that. The question is, were we going to do it for survival alone, or as an eradication attempt as well?
My eyes were getting scratchy and my back and neck ached. Jace was frequently stretching or pacing, giving away his discomfort level. I suggested we call it a night, but he did not want to separate.
“Your own dorm mate is in this state. I won’t let you go to your room and take any risks. Look, I’m perfectly harmless, really.” He smiled. “You are welcome to come to my apartment. It’s about six blocks from campus. Or, if you prefer, we can stay here and catch a few zees behind the main desk. My only issue with that is the zombie librarian will be here at 6:00 in the morning. Who knows how far this thing has progressed in the last several hours?”
We finally settled on the janitor’s closet. We barricaded the door with chairs from the library and, settling our heads on our backpacks, snuggled slightly for a bit of warmth. As we lay next to each other we talked about our tentative plans for the following day, finally drifting off to a restless sleep.
CHAPTER 6
My eyes fluttered open to see Jace quietly moving chairs from in front of the closet door. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, then continued watching him. He turned to place a chair out of the way and, noticing me sitting there, said a gentle ‘good morning’. I smiled and reciprocated the waking greeting.
We gathered our bags and Jace took me by the hand. He opened the door and looked around, making sure we had a clear, safe exit. The first thing he did was steer me into a chair at a study desk. “Take out a book or something. Look as normal as possible.” He sat across from me and dug through his bag, pulling out a notebook and pen.
I looked around the room. There were four gray-faces present. They appeared to be wandering aimlessly, with absolutely no purpose. Jace waved his hand in front of my face, snapping me back to reality.
“I did a lot of thinking last night, and here are some ideas. One, I turned over the temper tantrums the zombies have in my mind. It seems they are fine until they become agitated. That’s when it seems they start to get violent and start chowing down on one another.” He paused to give me time to think over what he said. I had to concur. The occasions of violence I had witnessed had all started with annoyance, or so it seemed. I nodded my head to him in agreement.
“I think if we stay calm and steer clear, sticking together, we have a good chance of avoiding trouble.” I nodded again.
“Secondly, we should head down to the grocery store and get four or five jugs of distilled water for ourselves. We will go today, when we leave here, and we will keep them at my place. We can also use my place for sanctuary. It’s not enough that we have water; we must eliminate the poison from the existing public water supply if we stand a chance at seeing anything normal again.”
I squinted in confusion. “How do you propose we do that, Jace? I have no idea what that is going to take! Do you?”
“Well, it may be far-fetched, but if we can get in to the water purification facility we can figure out how to drain the supply. This would end the drinking of the existing tap water. Hopefully, this would give us a leg up over these freaks. If nothing else we could see what happens when they have no access to the water. I am going to grab some books about water purification. Sit here. I’ll be back. If anyone starts to act flaky grab your bag and come to Stack 22.”
I nodded to him that I understood and watched as he headed toward the stacks. My eyes began to immediately scan the scene before me. One of the zombies was Claire Hunt, the head librarian. Man, did she look a mess. One of her ears was obviously dangling from the weight of her earring. She lurched violently as she tried and failed to shelve books, and she was rapidly losing her patience. I was careful to not look directly at her in case she had any awareness left in her dead mind that might let her see me back. I certainly didn’t want her taking a coffee break with my brains.
I continued to keep my head down, glancing up every few seconds out of the corners of my eyes. I suddenly heard a ruckus over at the stack which Claire Hunt was working at. My eyes snapped over to see two male gray-faces, each tugging on Ms. Hunt’s arms as though engaging in a macabre tug of war. She looked furiously angry, even in those dead, hollow eyes, and she was pulling back with all of her might. Gurgling noises and spit flew from the mouth of all three as the pulling war progressed. What had started this? Only seconds ago she was blindly shelving books. I had not witnessed her, or anyone of them for that matter, doing anything that would irritate even the most impatient of souls!
Suddenly, as the battle wore on, Hunt gave a good yank to her arm in an effort to regain control. A ripping, crunching sound emitting from her body and her arm completely detached from her body. A pile of white worms, which I can only assume were maggots, fell from the socket onto the floor, squirming and writhing in the place which they landed. My stomach wretched and I let out a scream that was fit to be tied. I instantly regretted it. The three zombie’s heads swung in my direction. They took notice of me, and letting go of both the remaining and disembodied arm, they began to make their way over to me. I froze with panic, the electric taste of bile filling my mouth. I couldn’t move, though in my head I was already out the door and down the road.
Suddenly Jace was there, out of nowhere. He grabbed my arm and flung me behind his body protectively. “Grab our things and get to the closet. Run!!” He shoved three large books into my arms, and picking up a chair he charged at the living corpses with an almost psychotic level of violence.
I did as I was told without thinking twice. Once in the closet I watched through the cracked door as he swung the chair erratically to and fro in an effort to hit any of them he could. When the chair connected with one of their bodies it did little to deter them from their mission. He managed to knock each of them down once before connecting the back of the seat with Claire Hunt’s face and neck. While I didn’t hear a sound except the strike I am sure there was one. Her head flew a good ten feet, the rotting flesh she sported unable to keep it attached. It hit one of the stacks with a dull ‘thud’ and fell to the floor; her body immediately did the same, lifeless and spent completely. The other two zombies looked more confused than ever and staggered back a step or two, obviously not understanding what had just taken place. It didn’t take long for them to put their focus back on Jace. He was ready, and he was suddenly aware of exactly what needed to be done to win the battle.
I speculated why this zombie had maggots and yet I didn’t witness others with maggots. This stirred the question are some rotting differently than others? Needless to say than it is just a matter of time till the zombies are eaten alive from the inside out, this thought alone gave me more hope.
CHAPTER 7
I remained in the closet, scared out of my mind, but much like watching a train wreck I could not look away from the crazy, gruesome scene before me. At first Jace used the chair much like a lion tamer would, keeping the two stinking maniacs at bay as best he could, but he was smart; he would not allow them to back him u
p at all. When the opportunity presented itself he swung hard at the zombie on his left, who I was inappropriately thinking looked a lot like Tommy Callahan from my anatomy class. The swing connected, ripping the flesh on his neck but doing little else. Jace quickly turned to Zombie #2 and did the same. The left side of its skull crumbled, but the head did not give way. Something sparked my thinking: Their brain was functioning, even though the rest of their body was biologically lifeless. We must detach the brain from the body! Obviously Jace had grasped this epiphany and was running with it.
Jace aimed the chair at his second target again; the other was still in a bit of shock, I think. He was struggling to get what little wits he had about him together. When the chair hit Zombie 2 in the head it did the trick. His head tore grotesquely from his neck, ripping sickly and severing his corroded, pest infested spine. The head hung limply down his back like a horrifying aviator’s scarf, but it wasn’t flying in the wind. The gray-face fell to his knees with a deafening ‘thump!’ His torso fell forward, and just like that he was no more. He didn’t even twitch.
Now for the last one. I found myself to be Jace’s morbid little cheerleading squad from the safety of that closet, offering up mock swings and words of encouragement which he couldn’t possibly hear. He took aim on the last zombie, a look of determination in his eyes like I had never seen. It took only one strike to finish the job; he had already caused enough damage to give him the advantage. The second strike not only sent the rotten head flying, it broke the skull completely open. It landed at the foot of the closet door, right where I stood watching. The brain had no maggots, no rot. It was pulsating with an energy it should not have possessed. It was alive, yet quickly dying.
I looked up and the body of #3 was already on the ground, twitching a bit in its struggle to live, but alas, hope for this zombie was as dead as it was. Jace let the chair fall from his hands onto the floor, where it clattered to rest. I ran sobbing from the closet into his arms. He was gasping for breath, and he looked to be in as much shock as I was.