by Thomas Baker
Through his clouded vision he could see his arm laid out on the floor before him. He could see it from the elbow down to the hand. His skin was grey and had the cracked, dried out look that belonged on a Hollywood mummy. Like the skin he had seen before on the countless zombies he had killed. His field of vision swayed and the chain link fencing came into view again. He seemed to be in a standing position now. He didn't feel his muscles move. He didn’t feel in control any of it. It was all involuntary. It was like watching a cut scene in a first person shooter game, like Call of Duty.
He knew he should have felt a wave of nausea coming up from his stomach, but there was nothing. The only things he still seemed to have control of were his thoughts and his emotions. Panic flooded him his brain. If his heart was still beating, he couldn’t tell.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Jelly was right. Oh fuck. Jelly was right. How. How could he be? How could he know? I'm in hell. I'm in hell. Someone kill me. SOMEONE KILL ME!
Dark shapes passed in front of his eyes. The light grew dimmer, as he guessed Albright and Hannah were leaving. Hannah. How could she do this to him?
NO! NO! Don't leave me! You can't leave me! Not like this! Not like this! This is hell! No, you can't.
Like the sound was amplified Tyrone heard the boom of the closing door. He felt like he wanted to drop to his knees and cry or find some way to break out of this shell entrapping him. He felt like he was stuck inside some sound proof room, able to see his rescuers but with no way to call out for their help. Without wanting to his vision pitched back and forth as he shuffled around.
JT had spent the day shuffling between buildings and houses throughout Gateway City. He still hadn't given up his hope of finding Tyrone. He wasn't sure if Tyrone had been captured or got away so he would keep looking until he was convinced one way or the other. If Tyrone had left to go home, what a sad note to leave on. We’ll probably never see him again or know if he got back to his mom okay.
As afternoon turned into evening, JT thought to try his luck up at the college. If he was captured, maybe they stuck him in there. He’d have to wait for it to get dark before getting so close to the church again. He stuck to the darkest areas possible as he made his way across the campus grounds. Luck was on his side so far because the thick cloud cover and heavy foliage growing close to the building helped conceal his movements. He flattened himself against the cool red brick wall. He came across an unlocked window on his second try. He propped himself up and inside. He found himself in what appeared to be a former study type room, lined with tables and charging outlets. He crossed the room slowly, letting his eyes adjust to the near blackness.
As he crept out into the main hallway, he heard someone coming. He melted back into the shadows, watching them pass. It was Albright and some of his cronies. Jackpot, there's Tyrone. He looks okay. I'll just follow them and bust him out of wherever they lock him up. He did a double take when it hit him that Hannah was of the Albright’s cronies. Where the hell could she be going with them?
Maybe it was a sign things would continue to go his way. Maybe he would get a chance to get her back along with Tyrone. Then they wouldn't have to go through with attacking the church. He had been thinking about it during his long search and was coming around to maybe Tyrone was right. Maybe this time, he should forget about vengeance. Sometimes, he still had dreams about the little girl, falling out the window. Her death was his fault.
Albright and his minions passed, their light was a dim glow ahead when he came out of hiding to follow them. The light disappeared. JT waited agonizing minutes. As stealthily as he could, he followed down the hallway, looking both ways at the T branch. He spotted the last of their lights far ahead. Again the light disappeared. He went forward and came to a pair of doors. He pulled on one but it barely budged. It rattled loudly as well. He thought he had better find another way in.
First he put his ear against the door. He stood there for several minutes, hearing nothing but the sound of his own breath. When he was fairly certain a search wasn't being conducted on his noisy exploration of the door, he went to go find another way to reach Hannah and Tyrone.
He backtracked the way he had come. He thought if he got outside the school, maybe he would see their lights through a window. He crept through the hallways, one hand gliding along the wall. He stopped at every intersection, listening more than looking, for any sign of another person.
He made it through the study room and out the window with no problem. Again he went as fast as he dared around the building, peeking into windows along the way. The last thing he need was to be caught and locked up again. He would be up shit creek with no paddle in sight.
He rounded a corner and there at the end of the wall he saw weak light streaming out a high window. If he thought he was being cautious before, he doubled his efforts now. JT felt as if time had stopped as he flattened himself against the wall and inched towards the light. It seemed to take so long he was afraid they would leave before he got there. He made it, internally breathing a sigh of relief. It was just above him out of reach. He didn’t know if he could make it up. Jumping and climbing were never his strong suit, even before his bum knee. It did help there was a ledge outside the window. It took a few tries and he could only hope he wasn’t too loud but he eventually scrambled his way up onto it. As he did he heard strange squeals coming through the glass. Trying to keep his huffing and puffing down as knelt down on the ledge, he looked inside.
What he saw horrified him. It was a gym. In the middle of it was a swimming pool. There was some kind of cage in the middle of the pool. Inside the cage he could see people milling around. He had the suspicion they were zombies by the way they moved. The squeak he heard must have been the turning of the wheels of some kind of pulley device. From it feed a rope up into the ceiling and it dropped down to vanish into the cage. Hannah was standing up on a diving board with Albright behind her. His hands were on her. He heard muffled screams and the squeaky wheels. Tyrone came into view out of the pool, dangling by the rope, strapped into a harness, blood dripping down his back. Charlie pulled him over to the side of the pool with the pole and undid Tyrone's restraints. Then he gave Tyrone a shove. Tyrone fell back into the cage, screaming the whole way down.
JT blinked in shock. Did he just see them kill Tyrone? Not only kill him but feed him to the fucking zombies?! It took all of JT's willpower not to break through the window, jump down, and beat Albright and Charlie to death with his bare hands. If only JT had a weapon. He would have went out there, guns blazing and to hell with the consequences.
You will all pay for this. I vow it.
He listened to the tortured screams of Tyrone as JT assumed the zombies tore into him. JT had closed his eyes, and covered his ears, but the terrible, muffled sounds of Tyrone's final moments couldn't be blocked out all the way. The screams stopped abruptly like a switch had been flipped to off. Hannah stood there with Albright. JT wondered why Albright was torturing her like this if he wanted her to stay with him. He could hear the heartbreaking sobs of Hannah now that Tyrone was silent. They were muffled as were the words Albright was saying. They all left the room.
JT tried the window but it wouldn’t budge. He made himself count to sixty and then to sixty one more time. Taking his shirt off and wadding it up, he punched through the glass and reached up to unlock the door. He slipped the shirt back on and climbed down inside. He didn’t have to drop far as there were bleachers right below him.
When he got down to the gym floor, He could hear the shuffling of feet and the rattle of the chain link fence. He groped around in the dark, careful to stay clear of the cage, and found a flashlight one of them must have left behind. He turned it on. Its light cut through the darkness. JT stepped to the end of the pool and pointed his light down into it. Unblinking, clouded white eyes stared back at him. He panned the light around the crowd of zombies. He stopped on one and his breath caught in his chest. Looking back at him lifelessly was Tyrone. Bile ran hot at the back of his throat.
Son of a bitch, they didn't kill him after all. It is so much worse. They turned him into a zombie. Tyrone, why didn’t you stay with me? Albright you motherfucker. You and all your flock are gonna pay.
After telling Randall, Gus, and Linda what he found, JT felt like if he was on one of those old Saturday morning cartoons, steam would be coming out of his ears right now. He didn't know he had this level of rage inside of him. The story was choppy, as he had to stop several times to get himself under control. Even telling it he still found disbelief in what he had witnessed. How some one come up with such an evil idea?
Gus stared at him slack faced. Linda pulled him close to her and guided his head onto her shoulder. He didn't resist at all.
"I wouldn't have imagined in a million years.” Contempt oozed out of Sheriff Randall. "Those people...and they did it in my town, under my nose. Sick..."
"Are you going to help us now?" JT asked, visibly shaking. There would be no sleep for him tonight.
"I'm not going up there in a blaze of glory if that's what you mean" Randall said wearily. "Albright is a manipulator, I see that now. Clearly he has duped everyone in town. He belongs locked in a cell, rotting to death. I know he’s killed your friend son but you need to think."
"Fine," JT spit out. "I have a plan now. Albright doesn’t know it but he’s a dead man walking.”
Gus spoke up for the first time since hearing the news. "You’re going to go up there, by yourself?"
"At this point Gus, I don't have a choice."
"What's this plan of yours?" Randall asked. "I can tell by your face there is no talking you out of this."
"I'm going to set all those zombies in the cage free and lead them to the church. If there are any more wandering around, maybe they will get drawn in too. They will be my distraction. While the church members are busy outside, I'm going to see if I can get in through these tunnels, kill Albright and Charlie, and get Hannah. If some of those cult fucks get hurt in the process, I'm not going to shed any tears over them."
"Sounds too dangerous," said Gus.
"Sounds like a fool hearty death wish," said Randall.
"I’m saddened by the loss of your friend. Truly I am. How horrible to have to see it. I still have to ask. Is it worth your life? Your lust for revenge?" Linda did look genuinely concerned for him. JT looked at her and watched her flinch at the mask of fury he was wearing.
"Now that we know what’s what let’s get this started. Randall, all I want from you is some bolt cutters, a lantern and some weapons," JT demanded more than asked. "And for you to look after Gus."
It was a long moment before Randall answered. JT was about to tear the house down to find what he wanted if Randall didn’t want to help.
"You will find what you need in the garage and I will make you a deal. I’ll come to the church with you. I will keep a lookout for you, but fighting anyone is off the table."
"Suit yourself Sheriff. Just don't get in my way." JT snarled his words out.
JT wasted no time collecting what he wanted from the garage. He tore off, back to the school, without another word. Without much in the way of caution, JT rushed through the college using the bolt cutters on the pool doors and he was in. He watched the zombies mill around aimlessly, almost hypnotized by there random movements. Ironically it calmed him down enough so he could think a little bit more on exactly how he was going to proceed.
The bolt cutters were long. He was able to reach through the fence and cut open the lock on the inside gate. The rattling attracted some attention. He held up the small lantern he brought. In the faint light, he could see one of the faces pressed again the chain link was Tyrone's. JT cut the outside lock and threw open the gate.
He dropped the bolt cutters. The clang echoed across the gym. Now all of the zombies were focused in his direction. The press of there bodies opened the outside gate and they funneled through and out the second gate like cattle down a chute.
At this point JT was already across the gym and at the door. He banged it with the bat he had brought. Soon as he was sure they were following him, he backed out and down the hallway, banging on lockers as he went.
"Stop right there," a voice shouted from behind him.
JT spun around. It was Daryll. His leg was still bandaged up but he didn’t seem to have much trouble walking. Shame Randall didn’t shoot him in the head. Daryll’s gun was trained on JT, a red dot in the middle of his chest. Guy has a laser sight?
"Look at this," Daryll said, stabbing his gun towards JT. "I came down for a routine check and looky what I find. Albright will be....JESUS CHRIST."
JT figured he must have seen the zombie parade. Using the distraction, JT dove for the next hallway. Daryll took two shots at him. JT raced down the hall as fast as he could, lantern clanging in hand. He had to admit he was begrudgingly impressed. He didn't think Daryll would have the stones to worry about JT in the face of the zombies. JT heard more shots echo down the hallway. He stopped. I'm going to have to stop him before he shoots all of my decoys.
"Hey! Ass wipe!" JT's voice echoed down the empty hallways. "They put you on simpleton duty after getting shot by Randall? Now what, you're going to let me get away? What will your bosses say when they find out? Will you be demoted even further? Maybe Charlie won't even let you wipe the sweat from his balls anymore?"
There was a guttural roar when Daryll charged around the corner, firing wildly. JT turned this way and that, flying past classrooms, blindly running away, having no idea of the layout of the school.
Here I go again. I rushed off to the school in anger. Not planning things out if something went wrong. Now look at the mess I'm in. I don’t even have a gun.
He must have doubled back somehow, as he turned a corner and smacked full steam into two zombies. He stumbled, hands full, trying to keep upright. His shoulder banged off the concrete wall but he stayed upright. Both of the zombies fell flat on there back. They wriggled around like turtles trying to get right side up.
JT lifted his lantern up and out, squinting down the hallway. He could see the rest of the group of zombies coming towards him. Behind him he heard. "Where are you, you son of a whore?"
Shit
JT looked around. Across the hall was a door. It had a window on it. JT could see written on it were the words Assistant Dean's Office . He tried the knob, but it was locked. With his bat he broke the window, carefully reached inside, and got it open. A glance behind him showed him the two zombies he had run over had regained there feet.
A popping sound echo through the enclosed halls. Warm goo sprayed the side of JT's face. He ducked through the door and shut it behind him, wiping as he went. In front of him was a counter across the length of the room. A door was on the left and another on the right. He opened the door to the right and clumsily making his way over the counter. He ducked down beside a desk as he heard the office door bang open. He wished Daryll to take the bait.
"You're trapped now," Daryll huffed. "And don't think I'm so stupid as to think you would leave the door open behind you."
JT peeked over the top of the desk. Daryll had gone through the left door. Still wrong dipshit. As quietly as he could, JT climbed up on the desk and crouched. He held his bat at his shoulder.
"Damn you," Daryll said, coming back through the doorway, his focus fully ahead.
JT swung down as he passed. He slipped on the desk as his weight shifted. Instead of clocking him on the head, the bat grazed down the side of it instead and bounced off of his shoulder. Daryll's gun clattered to the ground.
JT jump down was less than graceful. He gripped the bat at both ends and raised it over Daryll's head and pulled back at his neck, trying to strangle him. Daryll grabbed at the bat. They scuffled back and forth. Daryll turned slightly and rammed his body backward. JT's back hit the counter hard. JT winced and his grip slipped. Daryll had apparently closed the office door behind him. JT could hear the scraping and scratching of zombies on the other side.
Pushing off of the counter, J
T put a lock on Daryll, like the ones he had to put on drunks back in his bouncer days. He hitched closer to the door, dragging the struggling Daryll with him.
"Enjoy being a zombie, you prick."
JT let go, grabbed Daryll's deadened arm, and shoved it through the hole in the window.
Daryll screamed and convulse before falling back. He dropped, slumping against the counter. He clutched his arm to his chest, which now looked like it had been a victim of a terrible industrial accident. JT thought he could see bone.
Knowing he only had moments before Daryll turned, JT scooped up his bat and his lantern. He also took Daryll’s gun and shoved it in his waistband. He went into the room on the right, closing the door behind him. He could make out a few tables and a fridge. It must have been a teacher's lounge. At the other end of the room was what JT was hoping for, a window. He busted it out and into the night he went. Goosebumps formed on his arms in the fall air. It wasn't until then he realized he was covered in sweat.
Man what a close one. I sure hope Daryll enjoys sharing Tyrone’s fate. Next stop, Albright.
Now that he was outside, he wasn't sure how he was going to keep up his crazy pied piper routine. JT went around to the front door of the college. He was pleasantly surprised to see zombies shuffling and stumbling out the opening. JT continued to back up, holding the lantern at his side with one hand and the bat with the other.
He smacked the bat on the concrete, satisfied with the hollow echo it produced, which carried through the empty night. When he was convinced the zombies were more or less going in the direction of the church grounds, JT popped back into the college through the front door. Remember the rough sketch of Randall’s; JT went down the main staircase and through a door down into the basement. There in the boiler room, he would find the entrance to the tunnels.
Gus was beside himself nervous as he watched Randall pack up a bag of what looked to be tactical gear. Both he and Linda couldn’t help but stare when the Sheriff retrieved a large aluminum looking briefcase from another room. He popped it open, displaying an obviously well kept unassembled sniper rifle. Linda and Gus both swapped awe shocked looks as Randall made quick work of locking together all the pieces in seconds. Gus felt like a kid who had been caught spying on their parents wrapping presents when he turned in their direction.