The Last Days of Salton Academy

by Jennifer Brozek

  This zombie was an old woman and much more decayed with a large dog collar around her neck. She shuffled forward, half falling over the old man as she grasped for living flesh. Joe hit her in the jaw, then moved back. The woman fell forward and struggled to get at Joe from her prone position, reaching for his leg. Lee and Joe both pounded the woman’s head to mush.

  “This one’s still up!” Melissa moved back behind Lee and Joe, joining Nicholas who had taken up a guard position behind them. Joe got to his feet and moved in with Lee.

  The old man shifted into a sitting position and was rewarded with two baseball bats to the head. With a soft groan the zombie flopped to the floor, his head caved in, and did not move again.

  Lee turned to the last closed door and nodded to Joe. He opened up and Lee lunged forward to meet any new threats. After a moment of silence he called, “Clear.” He motioned them inside. “Kitchen.”

  “Jesus. Why do I always get the zombie room?” Joe cleaned off his bat with a kitchen towel emblazoned with butterflies and kittens. Melissa and Lee shrugged as they cleaned their weapons of zombie gore.

  “Not much here,” Nicholas said, his head in the pantry. “There’s two bags of unopened rice and one bag of flour. It looks like they cleaned things out.”

  “Better than nothing.” Lee took one of the bags of rice as Joe put the flour in his backpack and Nicholas put the other bag of rice in his backpack.

  “You realize that the old man didn’t die all that long ago. And the old woman had died…probably in the Outbreak.” Melissa looked at the refrigerator. There was a pair of heart magnet on it with the names “Angie” and “Cole” on it. “The pantry wasn’t cleaned out so much as the old man, Cole, was living off of what he had left. Must’ve been taking care of Angie.” The three teens looked at Melissa as if she’d sprouted another head. Melissa shrugged, pointing at the magnet. “Then Angie got loose and got Cole.”

  “Why the fuck…?” Joe looked green.

  Lee gave him a half-smile. “I guess ‘til death do you part’ meant a little more to Cole once the Outbreak happened. More like ‘til permanent death do you part.’”

  Nicholas shook his head, looking as ill as Joe. “I didn’t want to know their names. Never tell me their names. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know who they were in life. I don’t want to know who they were after we put them down. Don’t do it.”

  “I’m sorry.” Melissa ducked her head. “I didn’t mean…I won’t do it again.”

  Lee hugged her. “It’s okay. It’s just hard going through these houses.” He looked at the other two. “But we gotta. It’s better to work the fringes than try and move into a place that might have more zombies than we can handle.”

  “I know.” Nicholas sighed. “I wish we were back at the academy. Even with that asshole.”

  Joe shrugged. “I agree. I wonder what they’re doing now?”

  “Who knows?” Nicholas looked out the kitchen window, watching the clouds obscure the afternoon sky. “Definitely having a better time that we are.”

  “C’mon.” Lee let go of Melissa. “We still need to find another hundred and fifty pounds of staples before we can go home.”

  #

  As the students filed into the Commons their chatter stuttered to a halt as all of the adults on campus stood with solemn faces in front of dining room. All the adults except for Principal Swenson. Nancy Krenshaw stood in the middle of them with Shin on her left and Kimberly on her right. Michael lounged against one of the pillars nearest Shin.

  Nancy surveyed the students, counting them and coming up short by two…six if you counted the four students out scavenging for food and medical supplies. Counting the girls—Julie, Pria, Maya, Rose, Sophia, and Toni—told her who was missing. Melissa was gone and Athena wasn’t present. That gave her the name of the other missing student. Evan. She wondered if he had found out somehow and the two of them were together.

  Glancing left and right Nancy saw that both Kimberly and Shin had noticed the missing two. A longer look at Michael saw that he was staring at Sophia in open and undisguised anger. Sophia, for her part, was looking only at Kimberly. Nancy knew she had to help Kimberly with that situation and soon. Otherwise, Sophia might be in a lot of trouble.

  As soon as all of the students were settled Nancy cleared her throat. “Students, it is my sad duty to inform you that Principal Swenson is dead. He committed suicide last night.” She paused as the assembled erupted in a torrent of shocked whispers. Then she raised her voice. “We assembled you all here to tell you all at once so there are no rumors. Suicide is a terrible tragedy. The faculty is here to support you all. If you need help, let us know. If you want to talk to anyone, we are here for you.”

  Michael suddenly stood up straight. “Yes. We are here for your comfort and are willing to talk to any of you day or night.” While he addressed the students as a whole he put a particular stress on the word ‘comfort’ that everyone noticed…and noticed he looked at Sophia as he said it. Sophia paled but continued to look straight ahead at the dorm mistress.

  Kimberly nodded and cut off anything else Michael was going to say. “Ladies, we will be meeting in my suite immediately after this meeting to discuss things.”

  “Where is Evan?” Jeff’s voice rang out from the audience. “Is he okay?”

  The adults looked at each other and shook their heads. Nancy took a breath. “We suspect he is with Athena right now. His father may have left him a note or something. He may already know and is grieving in private. However, as soon as any of you find Athena or Evan, tell them that I would like to speak to both of them.”

  There was another moment of silence. Then Jeff stood. “Will we be having a service for Principal Swenson? If yes…when?”

  Nancy nodded. “We will. I need to consult with Shin on the burial and other such details.”

  Shin nodded to Nancy and then to Jeff. He kept his face impassive.

  “I’d like to help. If that’s okay.” Jeff’s voice sounded small, almost pleading.

  Michael nodded. “Of course. Of course. We can talk about back at Hadfield. I think Kim—Mrs. Hood has the right of it. Gentlemen, we’ll have a meeting in the common room to talk more about things after this meeting is done.”

  “I think this is a good time to do that,” Nancy said. “Once we have more answers, we’ll let you all know. Meeting adjourned.”

  Jeff smiled to himself all the way back to Hadfield Hall. His plan had worked perfectly. None of the faculty suspected anything. Not even ‘the Harridan’ as Leeds liked to call her. Watching them subtly jockey for the leadership was interesting but not unexpected. He looked at the back of Professor Leeds’ head and wondered just how easy he would be to manipulate until he and the boys decided to off him.

  Jeff gave a sidelong glance at Ron. The other boy offered a knowing smile. Jeff couldn’t help but smile back. Soon everything would be all right again. No one would starve. Everyone would survive the winter. Everyone he wanted to survive that is.

  Eight

  Melissa held up her hand in a fist, silently halting the group. She looked around the cul-de-sac they had targeted for savaging and sniffed the air. The boys looked at her and each other, then looked around, trying to catch whatever scent had caught Melissa’s attention. She sniffed more and turned to the left, and took three steps in that direction. The boys stayed put, looking all around them, nervous to be out in the open.

  Then Melissa pointed to the first house on the left. “Baby powder.”

  Lee came up beside her. “What?”

  “I smell baby powder. Fresh. And cleanser, like baby wipes. We used to use them for sponge baths when we were camping and didn’t care if the wildlife could scent you.” She continued to point at the first house. “And look. Windows boarded up. I think we have survivors.”

  Nicholas and Joe came up next to them. They looked around at the rest of the houses. “Not boarded up,” Joe murmured. “Now
what?”

  Lee shrugged. “We knock like civilized people.”

  “Knock?” Joe looked alarmed. “What if…?”

  “…they try to kill us?” Again, Lee shrugged. “Been there. Done that. Can’t smell the baby powder but I trust Mel’s nose. If they’re cleaning themselves with baby wipes they can’t be all bad. You know?”

  Joe shook his head. “No. I don’t know. When the hell do baby wipes equal civilized people?”

  “Makes a weird sort of sense to me.” Nicholas rubbed the back of his neck.

  Melissa tilted her head. “Can’t hurt…well, it can. But I don’t think it will.”

  She walked to the front door of the first house and knocked with the rest on her heel. She rapped three times and waited. They all heard the soft sound of movement, then silence. Melissa waited for a count of twenty, then knocked again. This time there was movement and the sounds of locks unlocking and furniture being moved.

  The door opened and two wide-eyed, familiar, girls stood there looking at them. No one moved for a long moment. One girl had long red hair and pale skin. The other girl was tall with short black hair and dark skin.

  “Heather?” Joe asked, not believing what he was seeing.

  “Rachel.” Nicholas whispered her name like a prayer.

  Rachel and Heather looked at each other and burst into tears.

  #

  Michael stood to one side of the Hadfield common room and looked at the group of boys as they arranged themselves before him. No one sat down. Most likely because he had not sat. Good cue. After a moment of silence and hesitation Michael cleared his throat. “Look. I’m not going to beat around the bush here. Swenson’s death is a damn shame but that doesn’t mean he has to take us with him. We’re strong enough to go on. As such, chores will go on, rotated by week with the exception of Jeff. He’s permanent cook. But his helpers will continue to rotate.”

  He paused and looked around the room at the sea of solemn faces. There seemed to be too many and too little of them at the same time. He hadn’t really cared too much about the upkeep of the dorm as long as it was done and he knew what he was doing. “Jeff…”

  “Yes, sir?”

  The boy’s voice was respectful but his eyes were wary. Michael knew he needed to make friend of the boy as soon as he could. “You keep on top of the chore rotation, right?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Keep doing that and get a helper.” He looked around the group of boys and picked out the two quietest and youngest that he knew Jeff could boss around. “Ken and John, why don’t you two help him out.” The two boys looked at each other, then at Jeff. No one said anything. Michael took that as assent. “Good. If there’s a problem, let me know. Otherwise I’m going to consider no news as good news.”

  Jeff nodded and shifted next to his newly assigned helpers. “Yes, sir.”

  Michael looked around again. “Anyone got any ideas on where Evan is?” He paused and gave them all a knowing smile. “Or where Evan would go with a girl?” There were some mutters and shaking of heads as well as some smirks. “Right. If you see him, let me know and let him know I want to talk to him. But no pressure. When he’s ready. If he’s grieving I’m happy to let him do it in the arms of his girl.” He looked around. “Anything else? No? Dismissed.”

  The boys filtered out and up to their rooms. Michael watched them go, feeling pleased with himself for the impromptu speech. He turned towards his suite and paused. Shin was standing a respectful distance away. “Something, Mr. Yoshida?”

  “May I walk you to your suite?” Shin kept his voice as respectful and as diffident as always.

  Michael looked at the small man and his guard uniform and nodded. “All right. What’s up?”

  Shin walked beside him the short way down the faculty hallway. “I think we should consider what it will take to turn the common room into a common sleep area for the winter.”

  “Why?” Michael frowned at the idea.

  “It will conserve on wood and, with the hanging of blankets, we can make sure we have one room that does not get cold. Cold students are sick students.”

  Michael opened his suite door and nodded. “Smart. Tell Jeff…” He paused as Shin shook his head. “What?”

  “I am not their leader. They must see that you are thinking of them.”

  The engineering professor gave a sigh. “You’re right and they’ll need my skills to help them. Okay. I’ll get on that. Anything else?”

  Shin shook his head. “No.”

  “You going patrolling?”

  “Yes.”

  Michael rubbed his chin. “Would you give the grounds an extra good search? Not just the perimeter? I don’t like to think of the kids out in the woods, hurt. Grieving kids do stupid things.”

  Shin nodded. “Of course. It will take me most of the day.”

  “Fine. Fine. Just come by when you’re done.” Michael ducked into his suite, pleased with himself. The guard would leave him alone for at least the day while he did his woods search.

  #

  Nancy and Kimberly watched the girls leave the suite in pairs: Toni and Rose, Julie and Sophia, Pria and Maya. No one looked happy. All of them knew this transition could lead to problems. The biggest problem in the women’s mind right now was Michael Leeds and his bold threat to Sophia in front of God and everyone.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have something that could kill a grown man, would you?” Kimberly hadn’t realized she was going to asked the question until it came out of her mouth.

  Nancy took the time to close the door before she answered. “You mean like morphine?”

  The black woman’s eyes went wide. “You have morphine?”

  The nurse nodded. “And other sedatives that could put a man to sleep first before injecting him with a lethal dose.” Nancy walked back to Kimberly and stood before her. “Are we really having this conversation?”

  Kimberly knew it for the challenge it was: are you really ready to kill a man? Yes, she was. “Yes.” The word echoing her thoughts. “Especially if that man is a clear danger to my girls.”

  Nancy gave her a long, penetrating look. Kimberly did not flinch or look away. Finally, the nurse nodded. “All right. Let’s figure this out.”

  #

  Melissa herded everyone inside to continue to the tearful reunion. Nicholas and Rachel held onto each other like they would never let go. Heather and Joe sat close enough together that it was clear something had been going on between them before the outbreak. As soon as everyone was seated Melissa asked whatever wanted to know. “Why happened? Why are you here?”

  Heather and Rachel looked at each other and Rachel nodded to Heather to speak. “Rae and Gina were over at my house for summer break. My parents were gone to Italy. When everything happened Gina didn’t wait. She told us we had to come here. That Todd and Sheena had a plan for this very thing. Sheena was on the field hockey team with us.”

  “I know Sheena but not Todd.” Melissa looked around the living room. It looked like a normal house except for the boarded up windows. There were knickknacks on the shelves and discarded books on the table.

  “He graduated last year.” Lee nodded. “Good guy. Little strange, but I guess not as strange as I thought. Where are they, Sheena and Todd? And Gina?”

  Heather shrugged a little. “I don’t know. They left us a note. We didn’t get here in time. I know they had an apocalypse plan. For all I know they’re in Montana. That’s where he’s from. But they didn’t say where they were going.”

  “Gina…didn’t come back from foraging. That was about a month ago.” Heather’s voice was quiet. Joe reached out and squeezed her hand.

  “We’re guessing she got bit.”

  “So, where is everyone else?” Lee shifted in the recliner. “I really expected a lot more zombies.”

  Heather smiled a bitter smile. “That’s because of the evac. The government evac’d everyone the day we headed he
re. Gina said that going with the crowd was a guaranteed death sentence. She was right. I think that’s why there was such a big fire. We think, but we don’t know for sure, that someone set fire to the protected area. We think that someone who was bit got through and into the safe zone. It was the mall. I think. They set up a chain link fence around it.”

  “But there have been zombies. We’ve just been…” Rachel paused and swallowed hard, “…dealing with them. You know? When we see one, we lure it, then we kill it.”

  “With what?”

  “Field hockey sticks.”

  Melissa looked down at her chosen weapon. “They are good for that.”

  Lee nodded. “Where are the bodies? We didn’t see—”

  “Behind the middle house of the cul-de-sac. We didn’t want to…you know…look at them.” Heather shook her head. “We’ve been foraging from house to house in this area. It’s been good but we’re a little worried. It’s getting cold. We think the pipes might freeze. We don’t have a lot of stored water.”

  “Come with us back to the school.” Joe looked around. “There’s plenty of room and we have a well. So no water concerns.”

  Nicholas shifted to put a protective arm around Rachel. “But what about Jeff? I thought you didn’t want to go back.”

  Joe glanced at Heather. “Things have changed.”

  Lee lifted his chin. “We’ll deal with Jeff when we get back. Whether or not his threat was real there will be a reckoning. We’ll announce what he did at the first assembly.”

  Heather and Rachel looked at each other. “Jeff who and what’d he do?”

  “Meadows. Mr. Eagle Scout said that he wouldn’t let us back into the academy walls unless we got at least all of the staples on the foraging lists.” Lee dug into his backpack next to his chair and came up with the list. “Stuff to get us all through the winter. He’s pretty damn sure that if we don’t those at the academy will starve.”

  “How many of you are left?” Heather and Rachel exchanged another glance.