by Evans, Mike
Ellie who was fine not getting a concussion from falling off of the bus walked around to the side of the Humvee grabbing a rope out of the back and threw it up to him. Ellie said, “Sounds like a hard no to me, Yassa.”
Nobody moved an inch and Yassa’s shoulders slumped a little thinking this is going to take a minute. He said, “Just give me a minute I'll get it tied off.”
Joey leaned over, whispering to Ellie, “I think he's nuts. He didn't know if there was anything up there that was going to kill him and he just jumped right up there. I think it's crazy.”
Kya said, “I don't know if he's crazy, but he's definitely agile. You definitely would not have caught me jumping up there doing that.”
A moment later, Yassa said from the other side of the buses, “Give that a shot. I have it tied around some bulldog statue, and I don't think it's going anywhere.”
Joey, who probably weighed the most out of the entire group, including Joe and Yassa, gave it a good tug and like Yassa walked over using the wheel to start off his climb. He was smart and wanted to get as high as possible to take as much distance out of the equation as possible. Everyone watched, and he might have been the heaviest, but he was also the strongest, and he effortlessly pulled himself up one pull at a time until he made it up to the top of the bus. Ellie was getting ready to start her climb as well and when she did was thrown off balance as Joey began pulling her up, making the time go in half. He repeated the process for Kya and everyone else went one by one until the entire crew was standing on top of the bus.
Ellie patted Joey’s shoulder, winking, impressed he was barely out of breath. They all looked at the courtyard to the college, trying to decide where in the hell they should start. Jon said, “I've never been here before, but I think it might be smart if we get out of the open. This many of us standing here and sweating is going to start drawing some attention that we probably don't want or need.”
Nobody needed to be told that a second time. Everything he was saying was deadly true and he would not want anyone else to be lost on this trip. They walked along the line of buses sticking out like a sore thumb against their brightly painted colors to match the schools which they had traveled from. When they got to the main door, Ellie saw a visitor’s map section and happily grabbed a handful of them, giving one to everyone in their group. Joey had his finger running down the middle of it and Ellie said, “I swear to God, Joey, I love you like a brother, like a brother who isn’t even annoying, but if your finger doesn’t get off of the cafeteria right now I’m going to make you go back and wait in the Humvee.”
“You wouldn’t do that to me, Ellie. You are way too nice for that.”
“You feeling lucky punk? Well...are ya?”
Joey had never seen Dirty Harry before, and she hadn’t either, but alas she’d seen thousands of memes and that one had led her down a YouTube binge like none before it. By the end of it, she realized before he was an old dude that made you cry in movies or slept with married women, who had a farm and liked bridges, that he was one bad dude and he seemed to like revolvers. Joey’s shoulders slumped and he said, “Okay, so let’s get to it and we can go from there. They have three different science floors. We can take them one at a time and watch out for Turned.”
Henry asked, “Is there a reason we are doing it the slow way, I’d rather get in and get out, you know. I still have guard duty to get back to.”
“You won’t have any guard duty to do ever again if we kill all of them. You could just kick your feet up and...and do whatever in the hell that you want to do,” Brett said.
Kya was a little cynical about the idea of every single thing in life could be fixed with one formula, one shot, and everything would go back to normal, or at least what the current normal was, given there was a zombie apocalypse. She didn’t even know if there would be a day that she could imagine that she wouldn’t constantly be having nightmares about them coming for her, always looking over her shoulder. It didn’t matter how long they went without something trying to kill her or eat her. Kya studied the map and said, “If we split up, everyone needs to make sure their radios are on. I think we need two groups though, any issues with that?”
Joe said, “I like the idea of two, three is too thin. Anyone got a preference? I know no one but I could probably use a break from any smart asses.”
Ellie said, “Sounds like I’m with Yassa.”
Joey put his arm around her saying, “I’m not letting you out of my sight. I don’t wanna be the one to have to tell Shaun that you got eaten by a zombie. After as long as you waited for him, I won’t let that happen.”
Kya, who didn’t want to think about a happy couple just right now, said, “I’ll roll with Joe. I’m fine with it being quiet for a minute. Besides, if we stick both girls on one team there won’t be enough brains to go around.”
It took them a minute and Joe smiled lightly saying, “I hope that you can keep lite on smart ass comments to a minimum.”
“You might have to settle for me keeping you alive,” Kya replied.
Brett and Henry were looking at each other, and Jon didn’t need directions. He went to Ellie’s side, knowing that she’d survived some serious shit, and being next to her couldn’t be a bad thing. Of course, he didn’t know about the people with her who had never made it back. He wanted to hope that there had been many who had made it back. He couldn’t guarantee no smartass comments, so figured it still was a good idea to go with Yassa’s group.
Yassa took a good look at his young crew and then at the map. He said, “We need to cut through this building and then we are good to go. Who wants to take the top floor?”
Joe knew the top floor sucked. He said, “Well, why don’t you take that top floor. It might be up your alley.”
Yassa had no clue what he was talking about and how that could be up his alley. Yassa nodded his head slowlyconfused by what he was saying, and asked, “What about the second floor seems to be up my alley, Joe?”
“Because, Yassa, I don't do second stories if I don't have to. You were jumping up there like a damn spider monkey, so I figure if you need to get out of that window then you're probably better suited for it than I am.”
“It's not just the fact that you don't want to go up there and feel trapped?”
“No, that’s exactly it. But in all honesty, I do think you probably can be a little more spider monkey than I can. So, you watch those kid’s back and be careful at the same time?”
Joey raised his hand and Joe nodded, feeling like a school teacher. Joey asked, “How is your eyesight, Joe?”
“As good as can be expected, Joey. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I don't know I just wasn't sure if you saw Ellie, Jon, oh yeah and me trying to climb up the rope not jumping like Yassa but climbing, climbing slowly, and again not jumping. You realize if we get into trouble up there, Mr. Joe, that it's going to happen to us all, right?”
Joe looked at the boy, realizing anyone that didn't give this kid the credit for being smart and in no way coming off as handicapped was an idiot themselves. Joe said, “Do you want to switch out with one of my guys?”
Henry and Brett both looked perturbed instantaneously. Brett said, “Hey, don't offer me up on a platter. It is what it is.”
Joey said, “Well, at least if there's zombies when we go in there, they are probably lazy zombies. Probably ones that want to hang out on the first floor. Good luck, you guys. We will see you soon, okay?”
Joe was starting to think about that and wondering if what he said had any weight to it. When they pulled on the door, there were chains locking it shut. He figured at some point there had been college students still alive, obviously, given the school bus wall, and they must have done that as well. It definitely did make sense to lockdown as many things as you could. Although he knew if the Turned were in there and they really wanted to enter, it was probably going to happen.
Yassa looked at the size of the window, thinking even if he sucked it in, he wasn't g
oing to make it through. Ellie and Kya might have a chance, or even Jon, but the rest of them weren't making the trip through this slim rectangular window. Yassa asked, “So, now that we know where we are going, how in the hell did everyone expect to get inside of this place?”
Joey said, “I thought you were like a thief. You don't know how to pick that lock?”
Yassa replied, “Why does everyone think I was a thief?”
Joey, who probably shouldn't have answered, started listing the reasons, “Well, you have long hair, no offense, you're not in a rock band so you probably didn't need long hair, you walk around dressed in really weird outfits, you hang out in tree stands hunting, it just seems like that thief kind of thing to you.”
“I think you just explained what a redneck is. I wasn't a thief. But I do come prepared,” Yassa smiled.
Yassa turned around, going through his pockets, not stopping, of course, until he found exactly what he had been looking for. Two grungy looking wrenches appeared out of nowhere, making everyone question what else he had hiding in his pocket besides the wrenches.
Jon asked, “Wow, those are some really nice wrenches, Yassa. Here I was thinking maybe you might be pulling out like something that could open the padlock. Preferably something quiet.”
Yassa didn't respond. He already knew what he needed to do. He placed the open end of each wrench on either side of the padlock's bolt that kept it secure and when he was ready, slowly and perfectly brought them together making everyone watch in awe as the heavy-duty padlock popped open.
Joey said, “He's not a thief, he's a magician. He's like Houdini and stuff.”
Yassa took the padlock off the chain, catching it, trying to be quiet about it as well. When he got everything off, he prayed the next door was unlocked and luckily for him and them it was. They entered slowly, looking around, shining flashlights hoping that they were alone.
When Ellie's light illuminated the far end of the halls, she felt like her throat had closed up on her. She stared, not blinking or moving, but trying to anticipate what the next best move would be. She could only think of it like taking a picture with the flash on when there is an animal around and how its eyes would glow as if it was some sort of monster. Always forgetting that it was just the way that God had created them.
Yassa whispered, “I think maybe we need to try a different door.”
“What are we going to do with this door to keep those there? We can put the padlock back on it, right Yassa?” Joe asked
“Now the whole idea of doing that padlock Houdini trick as Joey put it is that you do it knowing you want to go in there. Now if you do it and decide that you don't want to go in there then that is a really horrible mistake which you've just made.”
“You aren't making me feel very much better,” Joe said.
“I wasn't trying to. Back out slowly everyone. Be quiet!”
No one could ever tell how long one of the Turned had been that way, with the exception of their clothes. Normal people would still try to change every so often. The Turned by now had clothes that were frayed around the edges or had torn through them well chasing prey, or like some of them she had seen were practically completely naked since they had walked through fire, uncaring and unknowing what would happen to them if they did. That was when they had learned that the Turned could heal, oh, it was not a day that the Orphan Brigade had marked down as a day of victory. It seemed like each time there was an obstacle presented to them they were able to overcome, the Turned just found some new ways to be the biggest pain in the ass as well as that much more terrifying.
When Joey pushed the door open, the clouds, which had made their trip overcast and without the sun, seemed to have moved on and were now nowhere to be found. The bright light seemed to illuminate the entire hall, and when the Turned saw the group of them, the horde of them raced, blood hungry and ready to kill.
Ellie had zero issues about firing on the Turned. The thing which she did have an issue with, a very large issue with, was the fact that these guns were not silenced. In all actuality, they were loud as fuck, and the very second she squeezed that trigger was going to be the moment that any of the Turned who did not know they were in that building would act like a dinner bell had gone off.
Everyone knew that this is what had to be done. When they started racing in her direction, she just kept her gun aimed on the very quickly moving ghostly eyes coming her way. Yassa and Joe also stepped up, the three of them firing off one after another, the clothes disappearing, thankfully, with each gentle calculated squeeze of the trigger. It felt like everything was in slow motion, even though the entire act had taken less than a few seconds.
When the shooting was over, nobody dared make a sound. They listened, trying to see if they were now truly alone. Their answer came quickly as whatever items were in the path of the Turned seemed to be being destroyed just as quickly as possible so they could make their way down two steps.
Brett said, “Ya'll, I got to go to the bathroom!”
Yassa replied, “Knock yourself out buddy. But we need to go straight ahead and get the fuck out of Dodge.”
The boy knew this was an absolute fact. They raced down the hall, each of them taking care to jump over the fallen Turned. The idea of them being somewhat put out of their misery but still able to be alive did not pass the thinking of the group. They knew a standing zombie or a lying down zombie made no difference to the outcome if they were bitten. It would only potentially be a difference on how long that turn would take.
When they got to the edge of the other hallway they had sprinted to, Joey used all his force, slamming into the doors, attempting to open them so everyone could run and they could get the doors to click shut, hopefully fooling their pursuers.
When Joey slammed into the door, he let out a humph as they did not budge but more than an inch. Daylight cracked through the small opening and Joey could hear and see the rattling of the thick chain. A chain which unfortunately was on the other side much the same as was the padlock.
The rattle which had been growing louder by the second as the Turned seemed to be realizing what they wanted was downstairs became a real life visual. They were fighting amongst themselves to be the first ones to make it to the bottom floor.
Joey kept fighting pushing at the door, getting frustrated beyond all belief, which he felt was validated at the moment. Joey screamed, “I can't get the door open, Ellie, I can't get the stupid door open.”
Ellie gently pushed him over to the side saying, “It's okay, Joey.”
She raised her rifle, pushing it through the small sliver of doorway that was available and let off an entire magazine without letting off of the rifle which she switched from semi to fully automatic. It only took a few lucky hits to snap through the chain and give them the freedom that they so desperately wanted and needed.
Brett was doing the best that he could, firing shot after shot. Ellie watched him, seeing he probably did not have the number of bullets under his belt needed to be shot to be qualified to come out on a mission like this. She wished that she now had not suggested they go after the ingredients by themselves. Even having Joe and Yassa did little for her self-esteem and optimism about making it back alive. When she realized you would need a grenade to hit something, especially something moving, she screamed, “Get out everybody now, get out!”
Ellie almost went into defense mode when two hands grabbed her. She was in the zone and was only thinking of survival which meant killing the Turned. It was Joey, she would be the last one to leave but only if he allowed it. That wasn't what he was there for, he was there to make sure she didn't die. Joey yelled, “We're getting out of here, Ellie. You come with me now.”
Joe got her other arm and they both lifted her up, pulling her out of the building. No one else needed to be told what to do. Yassa held the broken chain, wrapping it around the handles again and into the best knot that he could with the bulky chain. Everyone got to the side of the building, trying to hide and sta
y out of view of the Turned. They knew they could still smell them, but sometimes out-of-sight did nothing to hurt anything.
The doors buckled forward, making everyone jump. It took a second or two before a hand shot out from between the doors. It gripped onto the chain that he’d tried to keep the door shut with. Yassa whispered, “They aren’t that strong. That chain is strong as…”
Yassa shut up when the hand took hold of the chain. It clasped around it pulling it back in between the doors. When it grew tight, the handles began to bend before the chain didn’t snap but both of the handles began to bend. Ellie knew she should have been looking at the handles but was focused on the building across from her. She thought for sure her eyes were playing tricks on her. She leaned over not wanting to point to it. Ellie said, “Do you see that window over there, Joey?”
“Yeah, there are a couple hundred of them.”