“That’s a good point. I guess we have no-”
He heard a loud knock at the door. The three of them exchanged glances. Emma went to join Julie while Ehsan and Fatima sprinted toward the front. Was it friend? Foe? Ehsan wanted to be there in case of the former and knew they had to be there in case of the latter. They reached the front just as the doors finally opened.
The trenchcoat zombie stepped into the library, over a hundred zombies waiting behind it.
“You have done well to survive the fall of the school,” it stated as it marched inside. Behind it a wall of six intelligent zombies blocked the door as their more mindless kind squirmed behind them, eager to feast. Ehsan scanned the crowd for the Viking zombie, but didn’t see it. “We will see if that is enough.”
“Enough for what?” Fatima demanded, clutching her machete, her hands shaking.
“I must find others like me,” it answered, repeating the cryptic writing on the wall from the previous day. He turned to the line of intelligent zombies behind him. “Release.” They obeyed, changing their formation into two single file lines of three, allowing those behind them to move forward. They also raised their arms and assumed a fighting stance.
“Wh-what does that even mean?” Hector asked, sweat pouring down his face and looking like he might throw up. Ehsan felt the same way, and seeing Hector only made it worse. He hunched over, using Manuel’s shovel to prop him up.
“As you have seen, most of us are essentially cattle. A small number have somehow gained other abilities, as you have also seen, including intelligence. Those I make my officers. Yet even the most intelligent of the herd cannot speak or understand more than a few simple words. I must find if there are any more like me.” He looked over everyone in front of him. “Or, see if I can make more like me.”
“So you destroyed our homes and killed our people for this?!” Ken exclaimed, scowling and raising his gauntlets. As Ken spoke to it, Fatima commanded Manuel, Emma, and Julie to take the kids to the back of the library.
“If you examine the situation rationally, you will see no problem. Existing with no need for water, or most foods, or everything else required to keep your kind alive is far more efficient.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Sarah snarled, staring down the approaching zombie tide. “And you can’t expect-”
“Make no mistake, I did not come here for a debate,” the trenchcoat zombie interrupted, its grunts now walking past it. “It matters little if you cannot see the benefit of joining our ranks.”
The zombies continued their approach. Ehsan raised Manuel’s shovel, his palms sweating, feeling he could pass out at any moment, but battling against it with everything he had. He and Fatima each took a step forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ken and Sarah.
Just then, Ehsan heard a loud series of claps from outside. The trenchcoat zombie turned around with relaxed curiosity to find the source of the noise. More clapping. A familiar voice shouted at the zombies from the parking lot. Ehsan couldn’t make out what it said, but he recognized the source: Deon.
Mateo and the girls made it to the street containing the library. Mateo heard noise coming from its direction and feared the worst. He wanted to leave the girls behind while he explored, but realized anywhere he left them could have a zombie or two lurking around. They continued on the sidewalk toward the library. As they got closer, Mateo saw a swarm marching through the parking lot, all of them staring intently at the building. Mateo tried to figure out where to leave the girls before swooping in. Suddenly a hushed, familiar voice beckoned him over.
“Ayy, Mateo! Over here!” Deon’s voice. Mateo looked toward the shriveled, deadened bushes and withering trees along the sidewalk to see Deon hiding, observing the scene from behind the largest deadened shrub of the bunch. Mateo and the girls joined him. They all embraced Deon. Deon returned the gesture with more vigor than Mateo expected.
“It’s good to see you, man,” Mateo beamed.
“Same.” Deon’s bloodshot eyes looked at Ana and Estefanía. “And you too, girls.”
“So, how’d you end up in these bushes?”
“I got lost looking for the library and saw ‘em a little while ago, so I decided to scout,” Deon explained. “At first I was gonna run up on their group. After what happened last night I almost, well…” He looked at the ground and scowled, then shook his head and returned his eye contact to Mateo. “Well, I wanna fuck ‘em up bad. But, realistically, I figured they’d just kill me real quick and get back to what they were doing, and I woulda done nothing to help. So I decided to wait for the first few to go inside. I’m gonna run over there and distract the rest, that way whoever’s inside got way less to deal with.”
“Breaking up their forces just as they start to attack. Cecilia would be proud,” Mateo said. Deon nodded. Mateo knew Deon had seen her get bitten, but wondered if she’d confided anything in him before dying. He’d have to ask later. “Although, the library has a backdoor. What if you brought the kids over there, and helped our people inside, while I distract ‘em in the parking lot?”
Deon shook his head. “You gotta be the one who goes back there. Ain’t much room to run around inside that library. If our people wanna fight, we need you in there. I’ll keep the crowd out here distracted.”
“Good point.” Mateo looked at the swarm. “By the way, have you seen whoever’s leading this group? They gotta have someone controlling them.”
“Nah, I been back here the whole time. Though I did notice they got all their intelligent zombies on the outside of their group. Looks like that’s how they keep the normal ones corralled. The leader is probably in front, though I dunno how this shit hasn’t backfired on ‘em.”
“Guess we’ll find out soon, eh?” Mateo got up to leave, but Deon grabbed his shoulder.
“Mateo…” Deon looked at the ground, then back to Mateo. He spoke with the uncertain clumsiness of someone speaking a language they have no fluency in. “You already know I ain’t always, well, y’know…” He hesitated. “Anyways, I just wanna say that I appreciate you. I wish I had the chance to say that to Marcus. I told him at the very end, but… well, I dunno if he heard me.”
Mateo offered Deon a handshake, which he accepted. Mateo clasped his free hand over Deon’s and shook it with all his might. “I appreciate you too, Deon. And Marcus. I wouldn’t be here without him, so whatever I can do is also thanks to him. Same with Cecilia, too.”
Deon smiled. The smile bore the weight of his hurt, but it had such strength and resilience fueling it that it bore that weight without straining. “Thanks, Mateo. Let’s go show ‘em just how bad they fucked up.”
The zombies reached the library. Mateo heard a knock, followed by the doors opening. Deon ran to the parking lot. He started clapping and yelling to get the crowd’s attention. It worked. About half of them turned around and shambled toward him instead of the library. The number only grew as Deon continued. Mateo used the chance to take the girls in the direction of the library. He had to make whoever stood at the front of that horde pay.
Though Deon distracted most of the zombies outside, some still trickled in. A cluster of about a dozen led the way. Ken and Sarah sprang into action. Sarah distracted about half the group while Ken fought the others. Ehsan and Fatima advanced with caution, together, alternating between attacking and covering each other. Fatima told Hector to help protect the kids, just in case. The four of them easily dispatched of the initial wave, though another of equal size started to come in. The trenchcoat zombie remained in place, watching without movement or expression.
Ehsan counted the number of zombies inside. Twenty. Deon’s distraction had worked. Ehsan wondered if Cecilia had put Deon up to it. If that were true, then that only left Mateo to account for. Ehsan swung at another zombie, hoping Mateo had something up his sleeve as well. His sister finished the last zombie in front of her. They moved in to help Ken and Sarah take out the last seven with ease, with Ken taking out three of them. Within minutes, only
the trenchcoat zombie and its six sentient officers remained, the rest of the swarm distracted outside.
“All of you are quite strong,” the trenchcoat zombie stated. It looked at Ken in particular. “It is a hypothesis of mine that strength is a factor in creating recruits with special abilities. I believe those capable of sprinting, climbing, and thinking are those who possessed extraordinary mental strength before their transformations. If you are curious as to why I chipped away at your bases before my attack, it was to make sure you would not crumble easily. I am quite pleased with your responses. Surely, if my hypothesis is right, your transformations will bring promising results.”
“We’ve got you on the ropes, forget about any ‘transformations’ on our end,” Ken snarled. Its six officers stepped between Ken and their leader. Ken sneered. “You think six of those things are enough to stop us? We’ll get through them, too, and there’ll be nothing protecting you.”
“Aside from my lieutenant, these are my six best officers,” it revealed, its narrow eyes unflinching. It took a step forward. Ehsan instinctively took a step backward. “You might have the ability to eventually beat them, but you do not have time.”
Sarah spoke up before anyone else could. “You’re bluffing, and I’m tired of hearing you talk.” She took a step forward, her face tense. She held her machete straight out in front of her. The six officers formed a wall once more. Ehsan, Fatima, Sarah, and Ken did the same. The two forces stared each other down without a word. The only distinct sound Ehsan could hear was Deon clapping and shouting outside. The four of them started toward the six officers. The six officers started toward them in turn, their arms raised in a defensive position.
Just before they made contact, however, Ehsan heard screams from the back of the library.
The four of them halted their advance. Ken turned to Ehsan, Fatima, and Sarah. “Go help protect the kids! I’m good here!”
“Not by yourself,” Fatima argued.
“I don’t-”
“I’ll stay with Ken,” Sarah declared. “Go help the kids!”
Ehsan and Fatima rushed to the back of the library. They arrived to see Emma wrestling on the ground with a zombie while three more zombies sprinted past them, directly toward Julie and the kids, who ran to the nearest study room. Hector fought two sprinters by himself, only able to momentarily stun one with a quick jab while the other rushed him, unable to throw time-consuming power punches to do substantial damage. Toward the back door Manuel used his deceptive soccer movement to distract two other sprinters. Towering in front of the backdoor itself was the Viking zombie, its head only millimeters beneath the doorway. More zombies crammed in the doorway behind it. In their hurry they had clogged it up, though Ehsan could tell only a few seconds remained before the pressure of the crowd caused a break in the dam.
“Ehsan, go help Emma. I will help-”
The majority of the zombies outside, stuck behind the congested doorway, suddenly looked to their left at something outside. They charged. Only eight remained by the doorway. No longer stopped by the crowd that’d been there seconds before, five went straight for Ehsan and Fatima. The other three went for Manuel.
As soon as Mateo reached the side of the library, out of sight from the zombie herd, he switched from sneaking to powerwalking. A thick wall of dead bushes and trees covered the sides and back of the library, though a sidewalk clung to the side of the building that allowed Mateo and the girls to walk toward the back. He slowed down at the corner between the side and the back as he heard zombies. He paused. Before he could think of a plan, however, he heard a crash. Seconds later, he heard yelling.
“Wait here, girls,” Mateo commanded in a hushed tone. He jumped around the corner, eager to aid his friends. A couple yards in front of him stood a little over twenty zombies, most of them now looking his way. A daunting challenge, but not impossible. Mateo raised Nimbus. They charged.
All of them sprinted.
“Girls, run!” Mateo exclaimed without looking toward them. He stood his ground. He couldn’t run and risk them getting near Ana or Estefanía. He raised Nimbus to shoulder level. The first few zombies reached him. He dug his ax handle into the first one’s chest. He tried to push it backwards and let it lurch forward in response, but before he could push it, more of the charging zombies rushed into the lead one. The weight caused Mateo to fall backward, two of the zombies landing directly on top of him and the rest right dog-piling on top of them. Mateo immediately felt a sharp, burning pain in his right calf, followed by another on the outside of his left forearm, followed by yet another on the right side of his hip. He started to hyperventilate.
He had been bitten. This time, Marcus couldn’t save him.
Ehsan and Fatima stared at the five zombies charging toward them. No way they could take them out alone. Ehsan heard a door slam. Julie and the kids had made it to the study room. Everyone else barely hung on by a thread, however. He looked to his sister. She studied the area around them for a split second before turning to him.
“Ehsan, stand behind that bookshelf,” she instructed, pointing a few feet behind them. “When I tell you to, push it over.”
Ehsan obliged while his sister ran to the other side of the bookcase, inviting the five zombies to focus on her. Ehsan couldn’t see past all the books in the bookshelf, but his sister informed him they’d taken the bait. He lightly pressed his shoulder into the it, ready to drive with all the body weight and intensity he could muster when the moment came. He sat Manuel’s shovel down next to him.
“Now!” his sister commanded.
Ehsan thrust his shoulder into the bookshelf with everything he had. It toppled over and Ehsan fell with it, landing on top of it. Those zombies pinned underneath flailed around impotently. He looked up just in time to see two of the five sprinters hadn’t been buried. One jumped on top of him while the other hunched over to try to bite his right leg. The one on top of him grabbed his shoulders and tried to sink its teeth into him, but Ehsan put his hands around its moldy neck to keep it its mouth away. The slimy, soft, decayed skin of the zombie and smell of rotting meat made Ehsan think of the worst qualities of rotting fruit and rotting meat combined into one. He wanted to vomit, but he focused on thrashing his right leg around with as much force as he could muster to keep the second zombie away. Suddenly, he heard a sound like a butcher cutting up meat. Seconds later he heard it again, this time seeing the tip of a steel blade stick out through the mouth of the zombie on top of him. It stopped moving.
Fatima yanked her machete out of the zombie’s skull. Ehsan cast off its limp body and gasped for fresh air. He vomited. Fatima offered him a hand after he finished. He tried to catch his breath before accepting it, but he glanced over at Manuel after hearing him gasp a familiar name.
“Alejandro…” The name of his oldest son. Manuel froze, his eyes welling up with grief as he watched one of the three sprinters who ran at him from the door way. The two sprinters that he’d been distracting seconds before descended upon him.
Ehsan only had a few seconds to grieve before he saw four more sprinters saw him and his sister. He accepted her hand and stood up, though he stumbled back to the ground, still feeling overwhelming nausea from both the fear and repugnant sensory experience of having the zombie on top of him. He grabbed Manuel’s shovel. He looked at the study room Julie had taken the kids to. Of the three sprinters that’d chased them there, two currently pounded on the door. The other started toward Hector, who still battled the two he’d been fighting before. A few feet away Emma finally beat the zombie that’d jumped on her. It lay immobile a few feet away, her knife jutting from its neck. She also remained on the ground, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling.
The four zombies who’d seen Ehsan and Fatima barreled toward them. Ehsan exchanged glances with his sister. He didn’t have the energy to push down another bookshelf and fight off the survivors. Sensing his exhaustion and anxiety, she tried to think of a different plan, though the sprinters heading th
eir way gave her little time to think. Ehsan saw a wooden chair and, using what little strength he had left, picked it up and threw it in their path. Ehsan and Fatima turned to run toward the front of the library, but they saw Ken and Sarah backing up toward them. They’d been repelled from the front, inch by inch by the six officers. Each time Ken or Sarah went for an attack, the target zombie stepped backwards while the two on either side of it stepped forward to attempt to grab the attacker. As the person attacking stepped back all six would advance forward, gaining even more ground.
Ehsan and Fatima ran to a table. They went around it and looked toward those chasing them. Only two had tripped on the chair. The other two still chased them, now only a few table lengths behind them. When those sprinters got to the other side of the table they slammed into it and kept moving forward, unable to conceptualize walking around. Ehsan allowed himself a quick sigh of relief before he heard the trenchcoat zombie’s voice from across the library.
“I believe we have tested them sufficiently, lieutenant. You may now attack.”
The Viking zombie, who’d only idly stood by the backdoor up to that point, charged straight for Hector. It pushed the two sprinters fighting Hector away as if they were children, then threw a wild right haymaker. Hector ducked under. It followed up with a powerful left uppercut that Hector side-stepped. Hector switched into a defensive boxing stance, his hands up and his chin down.
The zombie running at Hector from the study room came near. The Viking zombie hit it with a haymaker so strong it crumpled to the ground and stopped moving. Hector hit the Viking zombie with a hard left hook to the body while it was distracted, but it didn’t react. It turned back around and threw another right haymaker, which Hector sidestepped to the left while throwing a right uppercut. Hector’s boxing ability impressed Ehsan, though he couldn’t help but notice the Viking zombie didn’t react to his hits.
The Human Spring Page 30