by Oliver, Nick
My adrenaline pumping as I scrambled to my feet. I ran to the door facing the road in front of the school, but I didn’t see anything that appeared to be damaged. I ran back through our room and onto the balcony overlooking the courtyard.
I could see a large orange fireball pluming from where the two buses were blocking the walkway between the cafeteria and the main building. If the explosion blew away the buses it would leave a gaping hole for the thousands of undead outside to walk right in.
Nick and Roxie were in the middle of the courtyard on the ground, the explosion must have knocked them off their feet.
“Where’s Sarah!?” I yelled as loud as I could to them when I couldn’t see her from the balcony.
I didn’t wait for a reply, I grabbed my rifle that was by the door and started running for the stairwell. Just when I stepped out of the bottom of the stairwell another explosion knocked me from my feet. It must have been close because my ears were ringing.
“Oh god…” A chill ran down my spine, I could see fire and debris coming from the north side of the school where we had a bus parked. I got back up and kept running.
Nick and Roxie ran up to me, Nick had blood coming from his scalp, but it wasn’t bad.
“Sam we don’t have the ammo to kill them all, what do we do?” Roxie asked frantically, aiming her rifle at the flaming hoard approaching us.
“I have to find Sarah, where is she?” I ignored Roxie’s question. All I cared about was finding Sarah.
“She was on the north side by the bus picking up debris,” Nick said solemnly. “She was there when the first explosion went off.”
I turned around without saying anything and started walking toward the bus that was now fully engulfed in flame.
I felt a hand grab my arm from behind. I didn’t have to look to know it was Nick, but I did. I looked him in the eyes, He saw the determination and fear in my eyes, and I saw the sympathy and grief in his. The moment we locked eyes couldn’t have lasted more then a few seconds, but he knew from the look on my face that I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Sam she’s gone,” Roxie cried. “They’re coming in we have to get out of here!”
“No!” I yelled so loud my voice went hoarse. “She can’t be gone!” I kept walking toward the burning bus.
“Sam come on, we have to get to the truck in the garage!” Roxie followed me as I continued to walk toward the flaming bus. “It still has food in it, we can make it, but we have to go now!”
I had to squint to see something moving on the other side of the bus through the windows. It wasn’t the undead, it was a dump truck, and it was driving north on the dirt road leading away from the school. My heart started racing. Someone blew up the buses on purpose, someone must have taken Sarah. My mind started racing even faster then my heart, thinking of who it could be, and then it hit me. I never saw Rodger die.
“Get to the truck in the garage.” I turned and said to Roxie and Nick. “I’ll take my truck and meet you.”
“Where!?” Roxie asked frantically as Nick grabbed her and pulled her toward the garage.
“Our old house,” I yelled. “I have something I need to do first.”
“What!?” Roxie pulled her arm from Nick’s grip. “No, you’re coming with us!”
“Nick,” I looked at my best friend, for as far as I knew was the last time. “Take my sister and get the hell out of here.”
He looked at me for a moment, awestruck at what was happening, but didn’t hesitate another moment longer, he picked up Roxie and threw her over his shoulder.
I turned and ran toward the stairwell. I could hear Roxie’s cries, yelling for me to go with them, but I didn’t look back. That dump truck only had one place to go, the dirt road they were on lead to the highway, and it wasn’t built for off-roading like my truck was, so their head start wouldn’t matter.
I grabbed all the guns and ammo I could and threw them in one of the empty duffel bags, along with my bow and all my remaining arrows. There was a ton of food still on the shelves, but I had no time. I dumped as much as I could into another bag and zipped it up.
By the time I opened the door and stepped out, the hordes of undead from both sides of the school filled up almost half the courtyard. The ones that had been engulfed in flames from the explosions were now on the ground, littering the ground with corpse candles. I ran for the stairwell as fast as I could.
My truck was still parked near the stairwell, but the zombies from the north had already reached it. I dropped the bags and pulled out the .357 magnum I got from Jerry months ago. I blew holes in the heads of the closest few, but there were so many. I picked up the bags and threw them into the bed of the truck. I opened the passenger door to get it, but one of them managed to stick its arms in before I could shut the door.
I kicked it a few times, but it wouldn’t give up. I aimed the .357 and blew a whole through its left eye. I kicked it again to push its body out, but it was a lost cause, two more were reaching in the passenger door.
I hopped over to the driver’s side of the cab and fired up the engine. One of them grabbed my right arm as I shifted it into drive.
“Better hang on assholes!” I yelled as I slammed on the gas pedal.
The truck peeled out, but the one holding onto my arm wouldn’t give up. I punched it in the face, but it didn’t do anything. The .357 was on the floor out of reach. Its jaws were close to biting my bicep.
I reached for the seat belt and buckled myself in, and then slammed on the brakes. Its body lurched forward, slamming into the dashboard. I lifted my foot up and put the heel of my boot on its shoulder and kicked him out of the door.
I hit the gas pedal again and the inertia swung the passenger door shut. There had to be hundreds of them in the courtyard now, I couldn’t even drive around them they were so dense. I drove through the still burning wreckage of the bus on the north side of the school.
Whether it was Rodger or some other asshole didn’t matter. Whoever did this was going to pay.
Chapter Twenty-Four: Payback
6:00 PM, December 13
The dirt road was more like a river of mud after the storm. I felt my truck hydroplane a couple times, but I wouldn’t let off the gas, not until I caught up. There was a set of tire tracks left by the dump truck I was following, it wasn’t too far ahead. It only had a few minutes head start on me.
Sarah was in that dump truck. Whoever it was, they took her. My heart was still racing, I was breathing so hard it was almost to the point of hyperventilation. My ribs still hurt, but I was ignoring it. Sarah was probably in worse shape than me now. I had no idea how close she was to that second explosion, for all I knew she was dying.
The sun was setting. Light was fading fast. I didn’t turn on my headlights though. I didn’t want them to see me coming. There were a few bodies, but except for this trail the terrain was basically swamp, the undead wouldn’t get far without getting stuck.
I saw a flash of red in the distance. It had to be break lights. They must have slowed down to avoid something in the road. It disappeared behind some trees.
I pulled up to the spot where they turned. A fallen tree was blocking the main path. The tire tracks followed a worn down trail, most likely an old four wheeler path to avoid the tree. The tail lights were a hundred yards ahead of me. I could see their headlights were on now.
The dump truck made another turn. When I got there I saw that the dump truck was now driving through a field.
“Where are you going Rodger?” I thought out loud, following it slowly through the tall grass of the field.
It made another turn once it reached the tree line on the other side of the field. I followed slowly so I wouldn’t be seen, but it was getting dark, and hard to see without my lights on. Luckily my eyes were adjusting to the gradual loss of light about as fast as it was getting darker.
When I reached the tree line I made the same turn as the dump truck. When I turned the corner I saw the dump truck pull
ing into a gated fence.
I hit my breaks as soon as I saw the dump truck go through the gate. It stopped once the gate closed, and then the tail lights went out. I opened the bag filled with guns and ammo.
I had a hunting rifle, my shotgun, two 9mm handguns, a .45 handgun, and my bow. Somebody had to close that gate when the truck pulled in, that meant there were at least two people behind that fence. Knowing Rodger, there would be a few more people inside.
“I got him with the bow last time,” I thought out loud, “might as well use it again, only this time with better aim.”
I put the 9mm handgun in a holster on my belt. I still had five arrows left for my compound bow. I clipped the quiver of arrows to the other side of my belt and grabbed the bow, whoever was outside wouldn’t hear me coming, they were about to get an arrow through the neck.
The sun was completely below the horizon now. I could barely see the ground beneath my feet. The only reason I knew I was on the trail was because I was walking through the tire tracks left by the dump truck.
Every once in a while I saw a light about the spot where I saw the dump truck go through the gate. Someone must have been patrolling with a flashlight.
I was about thirty yards from the gate when I stopped. I could see the man patrolling, he seemed to be walking around the entirety of the building. I couldn’t see the whole building. It was some kind of warehouse or large barn.
His flashlight made me worry. I scooped some mud up from the ground and wiped it on my face and hands, covering anything that might reflect light. It couldn’t help but remind me of a scene from the movie Predator.
I waited for the man to walk behind the building before I moved again. I got to the edge of the tree line, which was about ten yards from the fence, and waited. The guard came from the other side of the building like clockwork. I drew my bow as he walked in front of me.
He was walking past me, and I had him in my sights when I thought back to the many hunting trips I’d made over the years. Whenever a deer was moving too fast to get a shot I’d make a noise to get it to stop and look. I made a quick whistle, which got the patrolling man’s attention almost instantly.
I fired.
The arrow went through the man’s throat. He collapsed, clutching the wound, unable to call out because of the blood pouring into his windpipe. I sprinted to the gate which only had a chain wrapped around it with no lock. I pulled the chain and snuck inside.
I grabbed the body of the patrolling man and dragged him back into the forest. When I walked back through the gate I put the chain back on.
The dump truck was parked close to the building, near a door. I got close to check inside the truck. There was a little blood on the arm rest of the passenger seat. I closed the door quietly then walked over to the door of the building.
I pulled a second arrow from my quiver and walked up to the door. I didn’t see any light coming from inside, so I turned the handle.
It was some kind of lobby. I could see some light coming from under a set of double doors on the other side of the room. There wasn’t anybody inside this particular room that I could tell, but I still walked as quietly as I could.
I could hear voices on the other side of the double doors. There were some frosted windows in the doors, but I couldn’t make out any details on the other side.
The voices on the other side got quiet and I could hear approaching footsteps. I took a few more steps back and drew my arrow back, aiming at the double doors.
A man walked through the door holding a rifle. He was looking my direction, but hadn’t noticed me yet, most likely because the room was so dark compared to the one he just came from.
I waited for the double doors to close again before I fired the arrow. I hit him in the chest, close to the heart. He dropped his rifle before he fell, which made a lot more noise then I wanted to make.
Whoever else was on the other side of the doors must have heard because he burst through. I drew another arrow as fast as I could, but I didn’t have time to aim as well as I should have. I fired an arrow, but it hit him in the shoulder.
He fired his handgun up at the ceiling as he fell over screaming from the pain of the arrow hitting him. The guy was making a lot of noise screaming in agony so I ran up and kicked his head as hard as I could to knock him out.
After drawing another arrow I ran into a corner waiting for someone else to come through the double doors. I waited for almost ten minutes, but I didn’t hear any voices or footsteps.
I carefully walked toward the doors and pushed them in slowly. It was a large room with a couple of chairs. I noticed another chair with someone sitting in it. Before I could get a better look I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head.
Everything went black.
?:?? December 13
My head was throbbing, my ears were ringing, and my eyelids were heavy. When I opened them it took me a while to realize where I was. I tried to look around, but it was too dark to make anything out. The events of the last few hours flashed before my eyes. I remembered the explosions, Sarah disappearing, the dump truck, killing the men outside the building, and then finally getting knocked out as I walked through the doors.
I saw a silhouette approach from the darkness, but before I could make out any details a fist clocked me on the right side of my head, knocking my hat clean off.
Blood trickled down my forehead. I moved my arm to wipe it, but both my hands were bound together behind my back. I took a couple of deep breaths and looked up, “How’d you live Rodger? I figured you’d bleed out before we made it out your front door.” I barely felt my jaw moving as I spoke, he must have hit me a few times while I was unconscious.
Before I could get a good look at him he walked around behind me. I took the opportunity to get a better look at my surroundings. It was definitely the room I was knocked out in. I was missing something, there was something I was focusing on before I was knocked out, but I couldn’t remember.
He walked back around from behind me slowly. I turned my head to look at him and saw he was wearing a ski mask. I looked down at his hands, he wasn’t holding anything. I started to glance back up when he stopped directly in front of me.
“What’s the matter Rodger?” I groaned from the pain in my jaw. “Too busy chewing on a dick to talk?”
He kicked the chair, knocking me backwards. My head hit the floor, filling my vision with stars.
“Who is this Rodger you won’t shut up about?” he taunted. “Boyfriend?”
The stars were fading slowly. I tried to focus on his face but he was still wearing a ski mask. “Sorry,” I groaned, it wasn’t Rodger’s voice, but I couldn’t place it, “thought you were someone else.”
“Oh,” he let out a slight chuckle. “Forgot I was wearing this.” He pulled off the ski mask, revealing a familiar face. It took me a minute to place it, but a long scar running diagonally across his face gave it away. “And I have to admit, using the bow was pretty fucking clever. I expected you to come in guns blazing.”
It wasn’t Rodger. It was the guy from the warehouse, the leader of those assholes. I couldn’t for the life of me remember his name, but I knew his face. “Sorry again,” I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain my body was in. “Having a little trouble putting a name to the scar, I mean face.”
He grimaced at my sarcasm and grabbed me by my shoulders to pull the chair back up onto its legs. “Wade Tab. You left me to die a few months ago.”
“No shit? Well Tabby, long time no see.” I taunted him, “I see that cut healed nicely, really accents the hideousness that is the rest of your…” He punched me in the gut so hard I almost threw up. I spit on what I hoped were his shoes and smiled, “You still hit like a little girl.”
He hit me again in the face, “You still can’t see when you’re in a hopeless situation.”
I felt blood trickling down my face where he hit me. “If I remember correctly, I got out of the last one easily enough.”
“You t
hought you were so clever leaving me in that burning warehouse surrounded by the ghouls.” He started to monologue, “But you didn’t know that I saw your little map you had in your backpack with the star on it that said, Sarah.”
He did have my backpack for a while before I got back up to his office to take it back, the asshole must have remembered where it was. “So you came all this way to say hello? That was sweet of you.”
He grew an irritating smirk across his face, “Well I figured, you burned my home down, I should burn yours. I’ve been watching your little school for almost a month now, waiting for the perfect opportunity.”
I could feel my heart facing in anger, but I wouldn’t give in to his taunts. “You should have come rang the doorbell,” I said a little more angrily then I wanted to, “and we could have had this out like men.”
He was clearly frustrated that I wasn’t breaking down, but I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. In the corner of my right eye I saw another figure seated in a chair across the room and it hit me. That was what I saw right before I was knocked out. I squinted to try to make out any other details, but Wade hit me, throwing my head in the other direction.
“I brought something that belongs to you.” He walked away for a moment to get something off of a table to my left. I took the opportunity to kick my legs, but they were bound to the front chair legs. “You left your machete behind when you left me to die. You cut me with it, so I think I’ll return the favor.”
I looked over at the figure in the chair while Wade wasn’t looking. Her long curly hair was draped over her shoulders. Her head was lying on her right shoulder. Her chest was moving up and down weakly. I sighed in relief, at least she was still alive. Wade came back from the table wielding my old machete. I kicked my feet again, not wanting to give up.
The sound of ripping duct tape echoed through the room, and Wade’s eyes widened with surprise, stalling him enough for me to kick him hard in the shins.