Johnny took steps forward, making sure that he wasn’t going to slip before he put his full weight down and moved his other foot. Then he repeated the process until he was halfway to their destination. He tried to block out the noise from below, hearing screams and yells from people trying to escape. The back entrance they were trying to reach appeared to not be an exit or at least not that many people knew about it. As they moved toward that end of the roof, the noises seemed to be quieter.
“I don’t think people are coming out of this door, we might have gotten lucky.”
“I’d hardly call us lucky.” Sada’s voice was cold as she moved behind him. Glancing back, he watched as she carefully put her foot in the tracks made by his own. Her feet were so much smaller than his, you could see the entire outline of his footprint surrounding her boot.
“We’re getting out alive, some of them didn’t. I think that makes use lucky.”
Sada shrugged before he turned around and continued to keep moving. The others behind him were slipping here or there, but nothing major. Levi face planted in the snow, coming up shivering and cold. He had to turn his face away, not wanting Levi to see him laughing. Johnny waited until they all reached the edge. He studied the drop to the overhang. It seemed like a higher drop than Levi had estimated back in the classroom.
“How are we suppose to do this, smart boy?” Johnny asked, turning to Levi. The poor kid was still shivering, his lips a pale tint of blue.
“We have to lower one another down. You should try it with her first,” He pointed at Sada, “Her lower body weight will be easier for you to control. Then once you’ve figured it out you can lower each of us down.”
“That seems like a lot of work to put on one person.” Frankie said, about to offer his help Johnny was sure.
“Yes, but it makes the most sense to have one person repeat the process over and over, he will have the best idea of how to do it. If you opt to have a new person do it each time, then each time they lower someone is their first time. It creates much greater odds of something going wrong.”
“Whatever you say, super genius.” Johnny said before turning to Sada. His tone wasn’t mean or belittling, it was more in admiration. Levi seemed really smart and he thought through each detail of a scenario, something most people didn’t. Johnny liked that.
Sada put her hands in Johnny’s, looking at him with a fierceness in her eyes. It was a look of determination, a look of survival. If he was taking bets on any of them to survive this mess and make it back home, he would place his bet on her. But he wasn’t sure she’d have much to go home to.
“Don’t drop me,” she said, bending at her knees so that he could lower her over the edge.
“I wouldn’t dare.” He winked when he spoke, and she smiled. Sada had a beautiful smile, and in that moment he was glad to be the reason for it.
Johnny braced himself and Palen held onto his legs. Sada was hanging over the edge, holding tightly to his hands. His reach brought her three feet closer to the roof below her than it would have if she just jumped.
“Ready?”
“Let go.”
Sada fell to the ground, her feet went out from under her, and she landed in the snow. Johnny cursed under his breath for not being able to get her closer to the roof.
“Are you okay?” He yelled down and waited for her to respond.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Becky waited, along with the rest of the group, for Sada to stand up, to say something. Snow was mingled with her hair as it scattered around her head like a heavenly halo. For what seemed like the longest time, she didn’t move, causing Becky to think the worse had happened. While she hadn’t said it, she knew this plan was a terrible idea. Instead of yelling up at them or crying out in pain, Sada began to laugh.
Becky smiled, relaxing a little bit. Sada hadn’t been hurt and the plan was working. Maybe that kid Levi had gotten it right, maybe they could make it out of this hell hole alive.
“I’m good, I’m fine.” Sada said, standing up.
“Well who’s next?” Johnny asked, his arms still outstretch over the edge of the building.
Levi, surprisingly, offered to go next. He said something about Johnny needing to be sure he could accommodate more weight before they sent down their greatest assets, meaning Palen and Frankie. It was a self sacrificing move. Becky didn’t want to go next. If she was being completely honest with herself, she didn’t want to go at all. Heights weren’t her thing. While she considered herself relatively fearless, this was the thing that bothered her the most.
She stood on the roof as Johnny lowered Levi down, watching their grip, searching for something to go wrong, weighing her options. If she went before Johnny was comfortable with what he was doing, she could be dropped. But if she waited too long Johnny’s grip would get tired, lowering people down one by one, and she could be dropped. When it came down to it, there were several scenarios that could play out, all of which ended with her fingers slipping through his sending her plummeting to the ground. Only one scenario ended with her lightly landing on the snow covered roof, hopefully not taking a tumble like Sada did.
Levi made it to the other roof completely unscathed. His eyes never seemed to meet anyone’s, looking just above them or behind them, but he was looking up at them now, a grin etched on his face. Frankie opted to go next. While the group seemed completely untouchable, he noted that it would be good to have someone with a weapon down there.
Becky wondered if she was the only person working the odds, thinking about how tired Johnny must be getting. When he lowered someone down his face turned a little red. He was completely silent unless he needed to asked a question, concentrating on his job. Johnny seemed like a serious guy, a person who focused on a job and gave it his all until it was done. Becky wished it reassured her, but it didn’t. Nothing was going to make her feel better about being lowered from one roof to another, only to then have to jump the rest of the way down.
“You should go next.”
Becky had been so lost in thought she hadn’t realized it was just her, Palen, and Johnny left on the roof. Palen was helping to support Johnny as he was lowering them each down. The plan was working out exactly the way Levi said it would and that meant she was next. But something wasn’t adding up.
“How are you two going to get down there?”
Palen and Johnny looked at each other. They hadn’t discussed it, nor had Levi planned for the fact that Palen would need to help balance Johnny.
“I think were going to have to climb down.” Palen looked a little grim when he said it, but they were pretty short on options.
“You can’t, there is nothing to hold on to. There is no way to climb down. You’re only option would be to hold onto the edge of the roof, lower yourself completely down, and jump. That will more than likely lead to an injury.”
Palen nodded. Johnny shrugged.
“Johnny has to be tired. He’s lowered all of them down,” She said, gesturing towards the members of their group who had made it safely down to the other roof. “I think that you should lower him down and I’ll hold your legs. Then you and I can lower ourselves down.”
“It’s a good idea.” Levi called up, “Statistically, you two are among our strongest three in the group. It would be a bad idea to have both of you risk an injury. It would be much better if only one of you risked it with a girl.”
The group members on the second roof looked at Levi with a look of bewilderment. Clearly, he didn’t know how rude he just sounded. When he noticed the stares, he began to fidget, looking like he was thinking rapidly.
“No offense.” He said, looking up at Becky. She couldn’t help but laugh a little. This kid was a trip and really had no idea if he was offensive or not. That’s what kind of made it okay. He didn’t know that he was hurting anyone’s feelings, he was just being completely straightforward.
“Alright,” Palen said.
Johnny looked like he was going to need more convincing. His pride
was going to take a hit, going down there before a girl, Becky was sure. Sometimes guys could think they’re doing something nice, but really they’re kind of being an ass about it.
“Dude, just go. Nobody thinks you’re weak or thinks your doing anything wrong by going before I do. You did your share, now it’s our turn to finish it out. Plus, if it makes you feel better you can lower all of us to the ground down there. One by one.” She smiled at him as Johnny smiled back, “All by yourself.” Her voice put an emphasis on each world, creating a dramatic affect that hopefully would show Johnny how utterly silly he was being. Pride could be a useful thing, but not in this scenario.
Palen took Johnny’s place, his hands gripping Johnny’s, just as he had gripped Sada, Levi, and Frankie’s. Becky held onto Palen’s legs, balancing him out against Johnny’s weight. She didn’t want to think about the next part, that she some how volunteered for. While the idea of having her fate solely in her own hands was a little comforting, it didn’t make her feel any better about hanging off the side of a roof and jumping. What had she been thinking? Nothing at all, apparently.
Everyone watched as Palen lowered Johnny downward. His movements weren’t as smooth as Johnny’s had been. Instead of lowering Johnny down slowly over the building, Palen kind of dropped him over the side carelessly, but thankfully didn’t let go of his hands. Johnny’s body swung away from the wall at first, smashing into it when he came back. Johnny’s landing was rough, his cheek scrapping against the brick exterior of the school building. He made a low grunt when he hit the building, but stuck the landing despite the pain.
“Are you okay?” Sada yelled up. Becky couldn’t see her face from where she was, holding Palen’s legs, but from the sounds Johnny had made, the whole process wasn’t going that well.
“I’m fine. Palen, you ready?”
“Yeah, one, two,”
Instead of saying three, Palen let go of Johnny’s hands. Becky could tell the exact moment it happened. The pressure she felt in Palen’s body, the strain that tightened his legs, was gone instantly. Her hands and arms relaxed. She pulled herself up into a sitting position.
Suddenly the weight of what had to happen next was on her. Now it was her turn, with Palen, to hang from the edge twelve feet from the next roof, and drop herself down. Palen offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet.
“I can’t do it.”
“What?”
“I can’t do it. I’m afraid of heights. I can’t jump down from here.”
Palen looked confused, not quite registering what Becky was saying. “But it was your idea.”
“I know, I just wanted you guys to get down there safe.” She lied. Not that it really mattered, she barely knew these people. They weren’t really anyone to her. One could argue that in that moment they were the most important to her. The group could be her only chance for survival, but at this point, none of that mattered. Becky was going to stay grounded on that roof and they would leave her. They were nothing to her. If it came down to it, they were really only looking out for themselves. But thankfully for her, Palen and the others didn’t feel the same way she did.
“You have to go.”
“I can’t.”
“No, Becky, really, we have to jump. Now.” Palen pointed behind her and Becky turned around to see what he was staring at.
They had left the window open. Well, really, she had left the window open. Becky had been the last one to leave the classroom. Her hand was outstretched and took Frankie’s. He had lead her carefully, making sure that she didn’t slip or fall. He never let go of her hand and she never let go of his, not even to close the window behind them.
The force of the infected more than likely broke open the classroom door. Its not like the door was made for this kind of thing. It was to divide different classrooms from the hallway. These doors weren’t built to keep out the living dead. Now, the infected had made their way over to the window and were attempting to climb out.
“I can’t…” Becky’s eyes fell to the ground. She was so ashamed. Was this really who she was, the person who was going to give up so easily over one simple fear.
“I can distract them, so you guys can get down off the next roof.”
“Are you crazy? They’ll kill you. Are you really ready to die?” Palen’s voice rang through her ears, the question turning over in her mind. Was she ready to die?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Palen looked at Becky, trying to get it through her head that she didn’t have any other options. His voice wasn’t shaking, as he expected it to. Instead it was firm and calm. The scared boy he’d been when the day had started was gone and replaced with a young man confident in the mission he had.
“Look, I can’t let you stay here. I can’t let you get torn limb from limb by these creatures.”
“Zombies.” Levi’s voice echoed towards them.
“Whatever.” Palen shook his head, trying not to let Levi distract him. They didn’t have time for this. Not only did he have to get Becky off this roof, but then he and the others had to get off the next one before the zombies figured out that they could jump down too.
“Take my hand.”
“We can’t climb down holding hands.”
“Just do it.”
Becky took Palen’s hand in hers. He looked her directly in the eye, trying to ignore the ever present danger figuring out how to climb up and out of the window.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Palen couldn’t actually keep that promise. If Becky jumped down and twisted her ankle, there was nothing he could do to prevent that. But he had to hope that she wasn’t thinking like that. Palen was trying to appeal to her emotions and not her logical side. He wasn’t going to leave her behind. They were all in this together now.
“Yeah, okay.” Her voice was quiet and he barely heard it above the wind. Without pause, the duo climbed over the edge. The cold hurt his hands, hands that were already tired from lowering Johnny to the ground. That kid was a machine, already lowering Sada onto the ground below. He knew they didn’t have the time to wait. They had to keep moving, just steps ahead of the enemy that was quickly gaining ground. Palen was glad they didn’t wait. It wouldn’t have done them any good to watch and cheer them on, losing valuable time.
He looked at Becky, both of their arms outstretched above their heads. Palen knew he couldn’t jump until she did because once he let go, he wouldn’t be able to convince her she had to let go. With precarious balance, Palen took one hand off the roof and offered it again to Becky.
“What are you doing?! Are you crazy!?”
“Take my hand.”
“I can’t take your hand. If I take your hand, I’m going to fall and I’m not ready.”
“Becky,” his voice was calm, causing her to turn and look at him. “You’re never going to be ready. But that doesn’t mean you can stay until you feel like you are. Take my hand.”
Becky’s lip began to quiver. Palen could tell that she was doing her best to not cry. He didn’t blame her. Palen was trained for this kind of thing and he spent most of the day trying not to burst into tears. Her fingers pulled away from the roof and she grabbed his hand.
“Ready?” But he didn’t get and answer. Becky’s other hand gave out and she let go of the building. Instead of letting her full weight snap his arm down, Palen quickly placed his feet on the side of the building and pushed off. In the air, he did his best to pull Becky towards him, but he didn’t want to tangle up their legs. He didn’t know if she was going to land on her feet, but if she did and his feet were tangled with hers, she would definitely fall.
The impact of his fall jolted through his ankles and feet when he landed on the roof. Becky landed almost gracefully, first on her feet and then tumbling to her side. She didn’t cry out in pain, which Palen took as a good sign. His feet ached, but he stuck the landing and didn’t seem to do any damage. Without thinking, he reached a hand down and pulled Becky up. A quick look behind
him showed him that they still didn’t have much time. The zombies were crossing the roof, growling like hungry beasts.
“We have to go.”
Johnny was lowering Frankie to the ground. Levi and Sada were already down there. Sara had pulled over a trashcan and placed it under Frankie’s feet. It was a good idea and made the transition from the lower roof to the ground much easier. Once Frankie had his footing, he let go of Johnny’s hands and climbed down on his own.
“Let’s go man.” Johnny took Palen’s hands but Palen moved to lower him to the ground. Johnny nodded, understanding, and moved into place. Palen lowered him down much easier this time. Apparently second time was the charm and he knew how to balance Johnny’s weight so he didn’t have a repeat of the first time. Johnny’s cheek was covered in pink and red scratches and blood oozed from the open wounds. Palen was careful this time, moving him right above the garbage can and then lowering him down.
Because he was being so careful, Palen was using up too much of the precious time they had. Becky was saying something, her voice lost when he concentrated. He held his breath until Johnny’s feet made contact. Then reality rushed back to him and Becky was screaming beside him.
“They’re climbing down!”
Palen quickly turned to look. The zombies where trying to figure out how to scale from one roof to the next. Their heads twisted in confusion. It was as if they couldn’t logically figure out how to get down to the second roof. Everything they knew as a human was gone. The only instinct that it had was to hunt, kill, and eat. They were nothing more than animals, with no humanity left in them at all.
“Come on.” Palen took Becky’s hands and lowered her over the edge of the building. This time she didn’t have any misgivings. With one leap from the edge of a building, Palen had gained her trust. He was grateful the she picked this time to trust him, because they had to time to waste. He had to lower her to the garbage can and immediately try to lower himself down onto it.
A loud thud rang towards him. They were out of time. Zombies were running towards him. It was a horde, streaming out of the window and down the roof. Once one of them had figured out how to get down, the others had followed suit quickly. They could learn, presumably, which was a fact that he was sure they would all ponder over later. But right now, he had to get off the roof. The others were screaming at him to get down, but he didn’t have the time to lower himself carefully onto the garbage can as they had with the others. Its as just him and mere seconds before the horde reached him. He had to move, but for some reason he couldn’t. Just as Becky had frozen on the top roof, for some reason he was freezing now. Fear was pulsing through his veins and he could hear his heartbeat inside his ears.
Alive Page 10