“Nah, I got this. You make sure they stick to stealth.”
Sarah nodded. Deon left the house. The rest of the group walked upstairs to watch Deon through the second story window. When they got there, Ehsan saw that Deon had already started to lead the zombies back to where they had just come from. He would lead them to the end of the street, but then go left instead of right in order to move them away from the clinic. Ehsan watched carefully, his anxiety welling up on Deon’s behalf. Deon himself looked more focused than Ehsan had ever seen him as he led the zombies away. He walked backward at a brisk pace with the occasional look over his shoulder, periodically clapping his hands to keep their attention. As the horde continued to shamble toward Deon and Ehsan saw its full size, his anxiety only worsened. There were easily fifty of them, almost certainly more. Not as many as in the horde that brought down the Costco, but Ehsan couldn’t help but be reminded of it all the same. He couldn’t accept the thought of this horde coming toward the elementary school. All the screams and pleading he remembered from Costco’s fall crashed back into his thoughts. So did his sense of helplessness. He wanted to open the window and yell as loud as he could for Deon to run, though he knew better.
“This is hard to watch,” Fatima muttered. Her voice held the tension of a stretched rubber band just about to snap.
“It’s scary, but Deon can handle it,” Sarah reassured them with a confident smile. “Even though he hasn’t been here long, he’s already done this once before. The herd was smaller, but not by much.”
“I hope so,” Fatima replied, trying to sound like Sarah’s words had soothed her. Ehsan could tell from the edge in her voice that it hadn’t worked, and it hadn’t worked for him, either. Not after what they’d seen.
“Sarah’s right,” Mateo stated, staring intently at the street in front of them. “And now it looks like the last of the herd is passing through. We gotta get ready to move.”
The group walked down the stairs and to the door. Sarah went first, checking through the front door’s peephole for zombies they wouldn’t have been able to see from purview of the second story window. She saw nothing. She opened the door and they filed out of the house as quietly as they could manage, one by one. They crept slowly through the front yard. Ehsan looked in every direction he could to make sure no surprises awaited them. He scanned the house across the street with the missing walkway. Upon further inspection, he saw that even in the windowsills every bit of the walkway had been removed. It looked as if it had never been there at all. He still wondered what really happened, and whether or not there was a connection to the crayon map on the wall and the missing walkway. He wasn’t sure which idea he liked less: if the knocked down walkway and crayon map drawing were done by the same people, or by different ones. And who’d been watching them from the window? He tried to push away those thoughts as he shifted his focus to the street in front of him. Still clear.
When they got to the house that began the next set of walkways, they crept cautiously up the front steps. Sarah led the way. Ehsan had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. On a rational level he didn’t think that anyone would- or, for that matter, could- control a horde of zombies like the one outside. Still, on a gut level, he felt uneasy about how suddenly they had appeared. He clung to Dragon Hair as if his life depended on it- which, in a few seconds, it very well could. Ehsan glanced to his sister behind him and saw how tightly Fatima clenched her jaw from worry. He glanced at her kitchen knife, clutched firmly in her left hand. He suddenly regretted not reminding Mateo about getting her a new weapon before departing from the school.
Sarah carefully turned the knob and gently pushed the door open. Nothing. Sarah used her machete to tap lightly on the walls. Still nothing. She remained by the entrance while Ehsan and Fatima scouted the downstairs and Mateo the upstairs. Ehsan turned each corner with Dragon Hair at the ready. As he got through each new room, however, his nerves ebbed bit by bit. By the time he and Fatima cleared the first floor he no longer felt such a deep sense of dread.
“We are clear down here,” Fatima declared as Mateo came down the stairs. He informed them the same for the second story.
They decided to wait for Deon in the house. Ehsan, Fatima, and Sarah walked to the living room. A couch and a plush recliner adorned it, as well as dusty family portraits Ehsan avoided looking at. Ehsan and Fatima went to the couch while Sarah went to the recliner, all of them still holding their weapons. Mateo went outside to stand guard, hiding behind one of the pillars on the front porch to avoid detection.
“I hope Deon’s alright,” Fatima worried, turning her knife over in her hand.
“He definitely is,” Sarah assured her. “He’s fast and he’s clever. He’ll be fine.”
“True,” Ehsan agreed, more by reflex than conviction. He tried to remember something he knew about Sarah, grasping desperately for a different conversation topic. “So, Sarah, how was, uh, working for Big 5 before everything went down?”
“Not bad,” she answered with a shrug. “I didn’t love it, but it was a job. I never liked being manager ‘cause of all of the shit I had to deal with, but I liked most of my employees, and getting discounts on so much outdoors stuff was nice.”
“You ever get any awful customers?” Ehsan asked. “I got plenty when I worked at Gamestop.”
Sarah smiled and nodded. “All the time. I’d say the ratio was about ten person awful customers, ten percent super nice customers, eighty percent normal customers.” She chuckled. “One of the worst ones happened when I said just hi to some guy as he walked into the store. He looked at me, loudly muttered ‘I don’t need this’ to himself, pushed over all our bikes on display at the front of the store, and stormed out without another word.”
“Wow,” Ehsan commented. Fatima shook her head.
Sarah chuckled. “Yeah, it was pretty bad. Another time some guy came to return one of those large portable basketball stands. This was a big guy, mind you. So, he brought it to the entrance of the store and told me from the doorway he was gonna return it. I told him to bring it in so I could scan it, and he started yelling at my hundred and twenty eight pound self for ten minutes straight for not offering to carry it in for him.” Ehsan and Fatima both shook their heads. Before they could ask questions, however, the door opened. They raised their weapons as they looked over to see Deon and Mateo enter.
“S’all good now,” Deon declared. “They’re a couple streets away.”
“Cool.” Sarah lowered her weapon and turned to Ehsan. “Well, we can swamp more stories later. Time to head back.”
Fatima continued to cling to the guardrails as she moved across the walkways, and needed to stop more than once. Still, she seemed less scared than earlier in the day. She was getting used to the walkways, bit by bit. Ehsan felt a sense of pride for his sister, as well as relief. He relished the feeling; usually he only got to feel admiration or resentment toward her. With her being the one to take care of them so often, he rarely had the chance to feel proud of her.
“Good going, Sis,” he said to her as they crossed one of the walkways. “Up next: Mount Everest.”
“I think I’d rather face another horde of zombies,” she joked.
Little happened on their return back to the school. As they approached the front gate, Ehsan noticed that Ryan slept while Josue stood watch. The group waved silently to Josue, not wanting to wake up Ryan. Ehsan felt uneasy knowing Ryan wasn’t at full strength, though he assumed that as a marine Ryan was probably used to working under conditions that weren’t ideal, and Josue was probably used to working with someone not at a hundred percent.
Josue slid down the rope and greeted the group with a whisper. “Everything go alright?”
“Yep,” Mateo answered in a similarly hushed tone. “We ran into a big herd on the way, but Deon was able to lead ‘em away. Everything went smoothly, all things considered.”
“Good to hear,” Josue replied. “And you didn’t even need an alpha male like me with you, eithe
r.”
Mateo chuckled. “An alpha male? Keep telling yourself that, man,” Mateo replied with a pat on the shoulder. Josue grinned. “Anyway, I should go check in with Cecilia before it’s time to switch out for lookout duty.”
The group broke, with Josue returning to lookout duty while everyone else went inside the school. Sarah and Deon each went to their rooms. Ehsan and Fatima decided to wait at the lunch tables for Mateo to report to Cecilia. They walked up to see Julie working on some sort of project with construction paper, tape, scissors, and markers with Ana and Estefanía on the table closest to the blacktop. Ehsan and Fatima put their weapons down on one of the tables and walked toward the three of them.
“Hey Julie, hey girls,” Ehsan said as they walked up.
“Mister Ehsan, Miss Fatima!” Estefanía cried. She got up and waved. Ana waved while remaining seated.
“Hello there,” Julie greeted as they walked up. “How was taking back the clinic kids?”
“It went alright,” Fatima answered. “We ran into a zombie group on the way back, but we got out of it in one piece.”
“That sounds scary!” Estefanía exclaimed. Ana energetically nodded in agreement.
“It does sound scary,” Julie agreed. She smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay. I couldn’t imagine going through that. Honestly, I’ve only been outside the gate for holidays, and everyone else always clears a path for me to take the kids through.”
“It certainly was frightening,” Fatima admitted. “Even just watching Deon through the window as he led them away gave me some serious anxiety. But we made it through.”
“You don’t think they’d come here, do you Miss Fatima?” Ana asked.
“No, I think all of us are safe here,” Fatima answered. She smiled reassuringly. “Besides, you have a lot of tough grownups protecting this place.”
“Yeah, no one’s messing with Miss Torres or Mister Mateo,” Ehsan added.
The girls smiled and nodded. “That’s true,” Ana agreed.
“So what’re you working on?” Ehsan asked, glancing at all the craft materials in front of them.
Julie blushed. “We’re not supposed to-”
“We’re working on cards for you, and Mister Deon, and Mister Marcus!” Estefanía declared excitedly.
“Oh my God, Estefanía! You’re not supposed to tell them!” Ana exclaimed.
“Oops!” Estefanía yelped.
“Aww, I’m sorry for spoiling it,” Ehsan said. “I won’t ask about the details. But I really appreciate you making them for us.” He offered Estefanía a high five. She enthusiastically accepted it. The girls then returned to their work.
Ehsan heard footsteps from the direction of the library. He looked over to see Mateo approaching them. Ana and Estefanía ran over to greet him. After he gave them each a hug and asked them about their days, he joined Ehsan, Fatima, and Julie.
“Hey everyone, I just updated Cecilia. She has suspicions like Fatima, but said that there isn’t much we can do for now.” He looked toward the garden. “Anyways, I’m gonna go check to see if there are zombies by the chicken coop. Carry on, you three. I’ll be back for lookout duty when I’m done.”
“Want any help with that?” Ehsan offered.
“I’m good, thanks though.”
“Just be careful,” Fatima advised.
“Will do,” he said with a reassuring smile. He departed for the garden.
“Hey Miss Julie, let’s play!” Ana exclaimed, wanting to take a break from their project. “Let’s do hopscotch!”
Julie nodded, then turned to Ehsan and Fatima. “Wanna join us while you wait for Mateo?”
“Sounds good,” Ehsan replied. Fatima agreed.
The three of them walked to the blacktop to join Ana and Estefanía. Estefanía moved nimbly through the hopscotch squares while Ana waited for her turn, doing the occasional handstand to make the wait easier. Though Ehsan had already started to grow used to the tranquility of the school, something about that moment jarred him out of his growing sense of comfort and made him think about their situation. Two days ago he would’ve found it impossible to believe he’d be playing hop scotch with two second grade girls. He thought again of the zombie herd he had seen half an hour ago. He thought of the horde that took away the Costco he and Fatima had helped make into a home, into a community, into their own bourgeoning society. Everything was so fragile, so temporary, so finite. He couldn’t let this school, this sanctuary, fall like his Costco.
“We really got lucky with this place,” Ehsan said to no one in particular as they approached.
Fatima seemed to understand what he was thinking. “Yes, we did.”
“We’re lucky to have you, too,” Julie added with a timid but warm smile as they reached the girls.
“You can go after me, okay Miss Julie?” Ana suggested, gearing up for her turn.
“Alright,” replied Julie with a smile.
“Wanna play too?!” Estefanía asked Ehsan and Fatima after going through the last hopscotch path.
“I would love to,” Fatima replied. Ehsan nodded in agreement. “When I was a kid, I played it all the time.”
“Let’s have a contest!” Ana suggested.
“Alright, but I’m probably not as good as you,” Fatima replied with a smile.
The five of them started playing, taking turns going through all the hopscotch courses. After they started getting the hang of going through each course normally, the girls added different conditions to keep it challenging. After Fatima met every condition they asked of her, Ana told her to try the entire course while facing backwards. Halfway on her run through the first path, however, they heard a yell from the direction of the chicken coops. It sounded like Mateo.
“Was that Mateo?” Ehsan asked, his nerves immediately jolting back to where they’d been when he watched Deon through the window earlier. Was it the person he’d seen standing in the window? Had the horde already made its way to the school?
“We need to check on him,” Fatima declared. “Ehsan, go grab our weapons.” She turned to Julie and the girls. “Girls, go inside. Julie, come with us.”
“But I wanna help-” Estefanía began.
“I appreciate it, Estefanía, but we should listen to Miss Fatima,” Julie told her. Estefanía and Ana both looked disappointed, but they did as instructed. She turned to Fatima. “Okay, let’s go.”
Fatima and Julie started running toward the chicken coops while Ehsan sprinted to the lunch tables to grab their weapons. He saw Ryan and Josue looking over from the roof as he came closer.
“What the hell’s going on?” Josue asked Ehsan.
“Not sure, gonna check now.”
“Come right back when you know,” Josue demanded. “Call us if you need help.”
Ehsan nodded. He turned around and ran as fast as he could manage without wearing himself out entirely. Thoughts of the mob they’d encountered earlier flashed through his head. As he approached the garden he saw Fatima and Julie escorting Mateo to one of the brightly colored tree stumps. He clutched his arm tightly, wincing.
“What happened?” Ehsan gasped, slowing from a run to a walk as he reached the group. “Did another mob show up?”
“I got bit,” Mateo grunted as he sat down on a pink and green tree stump, the panic and frustration spilling out of his words. “But no, it wasn’t a mob, it wasn’t anything dangerous at all. Just a normal fucking group of three. I tried for an elbow to the face on one of ‘em and slipped on some fucking leaves. Landed right on top of one with my arm over its mouth. The bastard bit me before I had the chance to move.”
“Shit. How bad is it?” Mateo didn’t seem to hear him.
“I’ll go get Marcus,” Julie declared. “I’ll be right back.”
Julie sprinted in the direction of Room 11. Ehsan wanted to help, but he had no idea what he could do. He looked over to Fatima, who seemed to be thinking the same thing. Ehsan thought back to the fall of the Costco yet again, but pushed those thoughts fr
om his mind.
Mateo sighed, shivering slightly when he exhaled. “I can’t believe I made such a stupid, stupid fucking mistake. Not sure what I was thinking.”
“Everyone falls down sometimes, it happens,” Ehsan said. He took in a large breath to calm his nerves and exhaled. “You can’t beat yourself up over an accident like that.”
“I guess,” Mateo conceded, though he didn’t sound convinced. Ehsan could see him trembling. “It’s just that out here, the smallest mistake can lead to… well, this.” He looked at his arm and his jaw quivered ever so slightly. “Shit, I really hope Marcus can fix me up. I can’t go out on a stupid fucking mistake like this.”
“I’m sure everything will be alright,” Fatima reassured him, trying her best to sound soothing. She put her hand on his shoulder.
Mateo didn’t seem to hear her. His voice shook. “I shouldn’t have gone out there alone. I should’ve been more careful.”
“You had no way to know-” before Fatima could continue speaking, Marcus and Julie arrived. Marcus carried a cardboard box that had ZOMBIE BITE KIT written on it in black marker. He placed it on top of the stump to the left of the one Mateo sat on and began going through it.
“How are you doing, Mateo?” Julie asked with concern as Marcus brought out a wet towel to clean Mateo’s wound with. As Mateo moved his hand to let Marcus clean, Ehsan could see the bite. Blood had been drawn. Only a little bit, but Ehsan had seen similar bites turn fatal.
“I’m doing okay, I think,” he responded. He sighed again. His body trembled. “I can’t believe this happened. I can’t fucking believe it. I’ve never been bit before.”
“I’m sorry,” Julie replied. “I know you’ll be okay, though. I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“Okay, I’m gonna start applying the antibiotic ointment,” Marcus informed Mateo. “This’ll sting.”
Mateo cringed as Marcus spread some cream from a bright yellow tube onto a cotton ball and began spreading it over the bite on his arm. Afterward he dabbed some of the excess cream off with a different cotton ball, then bandaged up Mateo’s arm. He reached into the box and handed him two bottles of pills. The thicker bottle was orange, the smaller one white.
The Human Spring Page 11