by Shawn Kass
Shaking his head, Mr. Tibbs says, “Yeah, I think so, but the guy just came in and started biting me,” and pulls his sweater and longsleeve shirt up his arm to inspect the wound.
As he does so, Mr. Jameson notices you standing off to the side and says, “Hey, you. I told everyone to head to class, now come on, get going.”
Startled by the principal’s words you turn to head up the stairs, but not without taking one more quick look back to Mr. Tibbs who holds up his arm for Mr. Jameson to see. When he steps to the side, you spot the bloody wound of the old man’s bite, and cuss under your breath knowing if these are zombies, your favorite science teacher is now on borrowed time.
Taking the stairs up, you make your way to history class where you find everyone is talking over one another as they try to tell the curious teacher, Miss Millstone, what happened. Heading over to your desk, you hear the PA system come on, and Miss Millstone quiets the whole class simultaneously with her loud shrill voice as the secretary says, “The school is now in lockdown. This is not a drill, the school is in lockdown. Teachers please make sure that your students remain in class, and we will let you know when the lockdown is over.”
Heading to the door, Miss Millstone checks the doorknob from the outside to make sure it’s locked, and then after a quick look up and down the hall to see if there are any straggling students, she swings the door closed. Next, using hand gestures only, Miss Millstone directs the class to remain quiet and to leave their seats to go sit up against the back wall. All of the students quickly and quietly abandon their books and things and begin to head to the back wall where she’s pointing. The ones who always sit in the back of her room are already taking seats on the floor.
If you talk to Miss Millstone, turn to page …………….. 33 If you go to the back of the room, turn to page ……. 34
Talking to Miss Millstone
As the rest of the class gets up and begins walking to the rear of the classroom, you stand up and approach Miss Millstone. Stepping up next to the hefty woman, you whisper, “Miss Millstone, I was there with Mr. Tibbs when this happened. The old guy bit him.”
Not paying you much attention, Miss Millstone says, “That’s what the others said. We’ll just stay up here until we’re told the paramedics have dealt with things downstairs. Now how about you go sit with the others.”
Frustrated, you blurt out, “But Miss Millstone, he was a zombie.”
Unamused, she turns to face you raising an eyebrow and says, “Whatever medications you’re on at home, you might want increase the dosage, but for right now go sit down and stop bothering me with this nonsense.”
Feeling completely dejected, you go to the back of the room to join the rest of your class. On the way, however, you peek out the open window and see four more old people walking over from the church across the street, all of whom you think look like zombies. From here there is no way to tell for sure, and there is no way Miss Millstone is going to take your word for it. Taking your spot amongst the crowd, you have a choice.
If you talk with the other students, turn to page …….. 34 If you stay quiet and wait, turn to page …………………… 353
Talk to the Other Students
Unsure of who will believe you at this point, you quickly find one of the guys you used to hang out with back in middle school. Without any other options, you decide to test the waters and see what the others know before you let them in on any of your thoughts. Leaning over you ask, “Hey, Jeff, you know what’s really going on here?”
Looking over, Jeff’s face contorts for a second as if he forgot that you were in this class with him, and he says, “Oh, hey, I…uh…no. I heard Mr. Tibbs got attacked or something downstairs, but I was coming up from the gym, so I didn’t see anything.” Then looking around, he spots the girl he’s looking for and says, “You should ask Sarah, she said she was there.” Turning, Jeff whispers loudly, “Hey, Sarah, what happened down there?”
“Well, I was downstairs coming from Mr. Parks’ geometry class, and a crowd was all around the front door. My friend Jessica and I tried to squeeze our way in, but that’s when the principal showed up and told everyone to go to class. From what I heard, though, Mr. Tibbs went ape on some old guy after the geezer bit him or something.”
Inserting himself into the conversation, Ben says, “I was in Mr. Tibbs’ room first hour. That guy is awesome.”
“Well, if you were there, what did you see?” asks Jeff.
“Okay, so like, Mr. Tibbs went out to the hall like he always does when the bell rings, and we all got our books and stuff and started to head out, too. Anyway, some old guy came up to the doors and started knocking. From there, I’m not sure, I was in a hurry to get here on time, but I heard he opened the door and the guy started trying to eat him or something. Mr. Tibbs defended himself, and …,” but the rest of Ben’s words are cut off by Miss Millstone.
“Excuse me,” says Miss Millstone loudly from her stool in the front of the room. “This is a lockdown. You all shouldn’t be talking back there,” completely ignoring the fact that for as much as they were having a whispered conversation, if there was someone out there looking for them, she just announced herself to at least half the school.
Ducking down sheepishly, Ben says, “Sorry, Miss Millstone,” before he leans back and rests his head against the wall saying, “She has no idea what an ‘inside’ voice is.”
Realizing that none of them seem to know anything substantial, you figure that they aren’t about to make the connection you have that these old people are zombies, and without anyone else around that actually saw them, there’s no way any of them will believe you. Just then, you hear a thud at the door.
Normally in a lockdown, no one is supposed to be in the hall, so this is more than a little unusual. Standing up from her stool, Miss Millstone walks over to the door and waits. A moment after she gets close to it, there are two more thumps on the door. To someone not listening for it, it might sound like someone knocking, but you could swear the thumps sound a little too squishy and a little too wet, almost as if someone bumped into the door with their face.
If you open the window & jump, turn to page …….. 37
If you crawl further back & hide, turn to page …….. 51
If you wait & sneak out, turn to page ……………….. 53
Out the Window
Seeing that Miss Millstone is reaching for the doorknob, you decide that there’s no reason for you to continue sitting here along with the rest of your classmates like fresh deli meat waiting to become someone’s midday snack, so you break away from the pack and head for the window. Looking out the glass, you see that there is now only one or two of the undead creatures on the school’s lawn, and you figure you should be able to outrun them and get somewhere safer where teachers don’t just invite them into the building with you.
Turning the latch, you push open the large window and look down. The drop is at least twenty-five feet, maybe more, and you swallow the sudden dryness in your throat as you look down. As you quickly contemplate the safest way to go out the window and stick the landing without breaking your neck, your mind flashes back to the eighth grade when a ginger haired kid jumped off the roof of his house with a trash bag held overhead thinking he could parachute down. The guy ended up in the hospital with a broken clavicle and a spiral fracture up the right leg.
From behind you, you hear Miss Millstone say, “Yes?” as she opens the door and then screams as whoever, or whatever is in the hall makes its first lurching step towards her.
That was all the encouragement you needed as you push aside any lingering thoughts about that ginger kid and climb up so that you are sitting on the windowsill with your legs hanging out. You inhale once, so that you have breath with which to scream with on the way down, and then shove off the ledge. It’s right about the time that your entire body is weightless and floating for a half second in midair when you begin to think that maybe this wasn’t the best idea. It only lasts a seco
nd, however, as you begin to plummet towards the ground and then you find yourself too busy trying to remember how you’re supposed to land in a situation like this. Whichever way it was, you don’t do it, and you land on the soft moist ground with something bending the way it wasn’t meant to go. It’s now that you cry out the scream that never made it from your lips on the way down.
Realizing that the scream wasn’t a smart move, you try to control the pain, sucking air in through your teeth as you look down to see what happened. As it turns out, the rain from the previous night softened the ground and your ankle rolled as you hit the ground. It’s not broken, thankfully, but jogging is out of the question. For that matter, standing is excruciatingly painful.
If you set out for home, turn to page ………………... 39 If you go back in the school, turn to page ………………… 328
Setting Out for Home
Deciding that your first instinct this morning was the right one, and you should have never left your bed, you decide to head home. The drive to school takes twenty minutes, but without a car all you can do is try to walk it. The thought of hotwiring a car in the school parking lot crosses your mind, but realistically no amount of time playing GTA video games ever gives you the skills to actually pull off something like that. Besides, in order to get in the car, you would have to break the window, and while you could find a rock to do it with, once the window is broken you’ll have no real protection from zombies.
Turning towards the back of the school, you figure the fastest way home is to cut through the field and then make your way through the neighborhood.
Unfortunately, just walking from the window around to the side of the school already has you wincing with the pain in your leg, and you’re walking in your own shambling gate.
It takes you nearly ten minutes to hobble your way across the length of the football field, and as you reach the other team’s end zone on the far side, you are sorely tempted to sit down and take a rest. The only thing that keeps you from giving in to the pain is the fact that there’s no safety out here, and the walk home is already looking like it’s going to be two hours too long at this rate.
From a side street to your left, you hear a loud truck revving its engine, and then the squeal of tires as it peels out. Seconds later, you see the dented beat up looking old Ford racing its way through the intersection with a zombie pinned to its front grill.
If you try to flag down the truck, turn to page ……… 41 If you head for the house, turn to page …………..……. 43
Flagging Down the Truck
Stumbling out into the street on your bad leg, you attempt to wave down the truck in hopes that you can hitch a ride and get home faster. At first it doesn’t seem like the driver of the truck noticed you at all as it disappears down the side street out of view, but a moment later you hear the screeching sound of its brakes locking up as the driver stomps the pedal to the floorboard.
Waiting just a few feet into the street, you see the old pickup return to the intersection. But this time the driver is going in reverse. Clearly, the rules of the road don’t mean as much to this guy as they would to a normal driver. Oh well, at least he should be able to get you home a little faster if he is willing to bypass a few stop signs. Raising your arms once again, you begin to walk towards him, hoping to meet him halfway and tell him your story, but the driver turns the wheel and shifts the truck into drive, clearly intending to come to you.
From the back of the pickup you see another man who looks younger than the driver, probably just a few years out of high school himself, stand up in the bed of the truck. The driver says something to the younger one, and the guy in the back nods his agreement just as the truck begins to approach. The truck doesn’t accelerate with screeching tires like it did before. Instead, the driver just slowly adds on a little more pressure to the gas pedal while he keeps a look out at the surrounding homes.
Figuring that they must be in a hurry and worried about being overrun by a horde of zombies, you attempt to quicken your pace. The increase in speed does nothing to help your ankle, and you grunt several times as you put your weight on it. Perhaps it’s this which finally synchs the two guy’s decision, but you have a feeling they had their minds made up about this long before they ever spotted you because when the truck is just a couple dozen feet away from you, the driver yells something and floors the truck. Upon hearing the driver’s yell, the younger guy in the back of the truck pops up to a standing position, but this time you see he is holding something. It takes you a second to put it all together, but by that time the driver yells out, “Mind if we play through?” and lets out a maniacal laugh while the one in the back calls out “Fore!” and swings a metal golf club into your face.
Anything that may or may not have happened to you after that was never recorded.
The End
Head for the House Across the Street
Crossing the street quickly, in hopes of not being seen by the occupants of the truck or anyone else, you hobble your way across the front lawn headed for the front door. Along the way, you feel your injured foot squish into something soft, and you have a brief panic attack thinking it must be a fleshy zombie thing before you lift your foot and realize that it’s just the leftover excrement of some neighborhood dog. Cursing, you try to wipe off some of the offensive feces but between the pain in your ankle and the time it would take to do a thorough job, you end up only removing a fraction of it.
When you finally reach the front door, you press the button on the side to ring the doorbell mostly out of habit, before you try peering in the window set in the door. Not seeing anyone inside, you knock on the door and then begin trying the door handle, but no one answers and the door is locked.
Looking left and then right, you decide that there is no higher probability that one of the other home owners on this street will have left their front door unlocked, so you might as well try around the back of this house. Worst case, you reason, if you have to you can break a window or something just so that you can get inside and use the phone, then you can, at least, call someone to come get you. The back of the yard also looks to have the advantage of being fenced in with an eight foot high privacy fence, so if you do have to break a window, at least it won’t be visible from the street and the fence might do you some good at keeping the zombies or whatever they are away while you hole up inside.
You quickly edge your way around to the side of the house to where the walkway runs beneath the fence, and reach up to your full height. Even still, with your arm fully stretched, you can only barely reach the top of the fence, and you are forced to hop a little off your good foot before you get a grip on it. It feels like almost a full minute goes by as you try to pull yourself up while your feet slip repeatedly down the side of the smooth fence surface, and you end up cursing yourself for not participating more in gym class. Eventually as your cheeks flush and sweat beads up on your forehead, you finally scramble your way to the top and are able to see over the edge.
On the other side, you see a well-manicured lawn of soft green grass with a cute little toy house beneath a far tree where a little girl might play. There is also a large ball sitting in the yard, and a tool shed off to the far left. The best part is that there are no zombies as far as you can see. Deciding to go over, you throw your right leg over the top and roll your body over the fence. Unfortunately, you never looked straight down and you did not see the small tricycle sitting against the fence. When you come down, your foot lands on its seat and your leg goes out from under you and you collapse in pain.
It takes a couple of minutes before you are willing to try to move any part of what has now become your bad leg, and when you do, you almost cry out involuntarily despite knowing that you need to be quiet for fear of zombies finding you. There’s not going to be any running in your near future.
Looking to the house, you decide that even though you’re on this side of the privacy fence, it would still probably be smarter to get inside just in cas
e these zombies can find you by smell. Besides, you still want to get to the phone and call for someone to come pick you up.
If you hop on one foot to the house, turn to page …… 46 If you crawl to the house, turn to page …………………. 217
Hop to the House
Using the privacy fence for support, you manage to stand up on your one good leg without exacerbating your injuries much. You take a second to breathe before you head towards the house and hope that you can maintain your balance on the way.
When you’re ready, you take the first tentative hop. You wobble for a second on the landing, but you remain upright and try again. Four hops later, you reach the side of the house and are able to use it to help support yourself as you continue towards the corner where you expect to find a back door into the home. At one point, you have to hop away from house’s support as you make your way around a bush, but you eventually get to a corner and spot what you’re looking for, a way in.
Approaching quickly, you reach for the door handle and find that it’s locked just like the front door was. Determined to get in, you dismiss the moral dilemma of your next action and decide to simply break the window using a small potted plant next to the walkway. This is the apocalypse after all, so a broken window really isn’t all that bad, all things considered.
The windowpane set in the door breaks easily, and you are able to reach through and unlock the door. With this done, you hurriedly open it up and step inside hoping that the noise doesn’t attract any of the undead which may be in the area. Unfortunately, you didn’t consider the potential for the living, and as your foot steps down on the linoleum, you find a double barrel shotgun pressed into your cheekbone.
“Hold it right there,” begins the voice of the old man to your right. “I’m not sure what you think you’re doing, but if you know what’s good for you, you’ll back yourself out the way you came.”