by Shawn Kass
If you try to take the weapon, turn to page ………… 48 If you beg to use the phone, turn to page …………… 49
Take the Weapon
Figuring the man to be too old to pose much of a problem, you decide to grab for his gun. What you fail to recognize, however, is that the wall closest to you is decorated with several military awards and medals. Therefore, when you attempt to attempt to pivot and snatch the gun from the man, he doesn’t hesitate to shoot you just like one of the many Communists he was forced to shoot back in the war.
The last thing you hear before death is the old man saying, “I survived the Commies, I sure ain’t going down by the hands of some stupid kid.”
The End
Beg for the Phone
Trying to explain your way through this, you say, “I’m sorry, Sir. I tried the bell, and knocked on the front door, but no one answered.”
“So you decide you should just break in and raid the place then just because I didn’t answer the door? What kind of kid are you? I ought to shoot you right now.”
“No, Sir,” you say, stumbling over the words as you speak. “I…I just wanted to use the phone to call my parents for a ride. There are zombies out there.”
“What do you think, I’m blind? I know there are zombies out there. That’s why I have this shotgun, and I’m not answering the door. Those damn Commies probably cooked them up and sent them over here to wipe us out.”
“I don’t think the Communists made them, Sir.” Pushing the dangerous end of the shotgun into your cheek, the old man asks, “Are you sassing me? I won’t take no lip from a snot nose kid. When I was your age, I was already serving this country in the Army, and little know-it-alls like you were the first to get shot.”
“No, Sir. I’m sorry,” you begin, “I just wanted to use the phone, please.”
Squinting his eyes at you suspiciously, the old man tilts his head a bit and says, “I don’t think I trust you. Why don’t you go to the Andersons next door and use their phone?”
“Please, Sir. It will only take a minute. I hurt my ankle coming over here, and I’m afraid one of the zombies will get me.”
“Well, I guess you shouldn’t have climbed my fence then. Now go!”
If you fight the man for his gun, turn to page …………. 48 If you back away & head next door, turn to page ……. 297
Hiding
The worst part about hiding was the screaming, the screaming and dying of everyone around you mixed with the desperate moans of the zombie and all those who quickly reanimated. One by one, the students in the back of the room with you have been plucked from the group like fruit picked from a tree, and with each victim, you feel a range of emotions from gratefulness that it wasn’t you to crippling guilt that someone else just died while you sit here cowering.
Zombie outbreaks in the movies always move quickly through a population, and now you realize why. With each new victim the zombie takes, its desperate hunger seems to grow rather than be abated. Its swollen abdomen, filled with the pieces of flesh it ripped off your friends and teacher, continues to expand as it greedily consumes yet another person. This latest person was Debbie, a new transfer student from somewhere in Texas or someplace south like that. The girl had always been one of those attention seeking girls who presented their assets to everyone in hopes it would get them further in life, but like in all horror movies, she was almost guaranteed to die as soon as the zombie stepped in the room.
Shutting your eyes, you pray for salvation and for those already taken, but you also can’t stand to watch any more as the zombie digs its hands into Debbie’s abdomen and pulls out long ropy looking organs. Her screams echo through your brain, and you know somewhere inside you that they will stay with you for the rest of your life, no matter how short it may turn out to be.
With your prayers over, you hardly have the courage to peek out and see if the zombie has finished with Debbie. All you want to do is make it through the day in one piece, preferably without soiling yourself. From somewhere outside the room, you hear even more unpleasant sounds, but your biggest concern is that the sick, wet slurping sound the zombie was making has just stopped. Before you can find the mental and moral strength to open your eyes you hear the shuffling sound of the zombie and its unmistakable groan of
unquenchable hunger.
You curl yourself up in the fetal position in the corner of the room, hoping for a rescue that will never come, and waiting for the inevitable. Your wait, however, doesn’t last long as you suddenly feel the thick fat fingers of Miss Millstone wrap around your exposed arm and her teeth sinking into your flesh.
The End
Sneak Past the Zombie
Your stomach turns as you look to the front of the room where Miss Millstone is currently providing an allyou-can-eat buffet to the disgusting zombie who attacked her after she opened the door, and you figure now might be your only chance. Sure, you feel bad for Miss Millstone, but honestly she’s a goner by now, and you might as well use these precious moments while the zombie is busy to escape before it turns its nasty yellow teeth on you. This means abandoning the rest of the kids who are huddled up in the back corner of the classroom, but with zombies on the loose, it’s all about survival.
Averting your eyes from the growing puddle of blood which is spreading out from your teacher’s body across the tile floor, you begin to inch your way forward while keeping your back pressed firmly to the wall, as you proceed with both eyes fixed on the zombie, just in case it decides she isn’t enough to satisfy his hunger. It takes what seems like an hour to make it to the door, but eventually your foot crosses the threshold out into the corridor. Looking left and right, it appears the hallway is clear so you decide to close the classroom door behind you to put at least something between you and the zombie.
At first, the zombie is far too busy eating to take note of you, but when you close the door and the latch clicks into place, you see the zombie’s head snap up and look for the source of the sound. Transfixed with horror, you get your first really good look at the zombie’s face, and as its mouth opens to emit the moan of never-ending hunger pains, you spot the pieces of gristle and sinew hanging from its teeth, the sight of which makes you want to purge your hastily eaten breakfast from earlier that morning.
As the zombie gets up and makes its way to the door, you realize that you have no proof that it can’t somehow open the door for itself and come after you despite what all of the comic books and movies say. Quickly, you decide you have to do something.
If you want to fight the zombie, turn to page ……….. 55
If you stay & taunt the zombie, turn to page ..……… 57
If you run and look for help, turn to page ……….…….. 59
Fight the Zombie
Deciding that the two years your parents had you take karate back in elementary school along with the multitude of fight scenes you’ve watched on TV shows like Walker, Texas Ranger somehow make you the next Chuck Norris, you decide to fight the zombie mano-a-mano, or man-to-undead walking corpse, whatever.
Watching the zombie advance, you time your move precisely and open the door just in time to deliver a devastating punch directly to the zombie’s nose. As your fist makes contact, you register that your knuckles are sinking into the zombie’s greying flesh, and the cartilage beneath your fist is more pliable than it should be. Even so, the zombie’s head rocks back on its neck, and you are filled with a righteous feeling of victory. That’s when everything goes wrong.
With what seems like lightning quick speed, the zombie rights itself as if your punch was no more effective than a fly farting in its face, and it counterattacks, sinking its teeth into your still outreaching fist. The pain is worse than it should be and is accompanied by a fiery sensation which feels like it’s crawling up your arm, and you scream as you pull free, leaving pieces of your own flesh in the zombie’s mouth.
Behind you, another door bursts open and three more zombies come rushing out, all drawn
to the sound of your scream and stumbling over one another to be the first to reach you.
Hugging your bitten hand to your chest, you attempt to flee but the pain and fear are clouding your thoughts, and you have no idea where to go. By the time you turn around, they are already too close, and you only make it a few steps before they’re on you, dragging you to the ground like a pack of lions bringing down a wild antelope, each one clawing and biting at whatever part of you they can reach.
It only takes a few moments before you are consumed by their frenzied hungry mouths, and the last thoughts you have are, ‘Never fight a zombie without a weapon.’
The End
Taunt the Zombie
With the door closed, you watch through the small wire mesh lined glass window of the door as the zombie slams its body against it repeatedly trying to get to you. After the third time, you see that the zombie has no idea how to use the handle, and are emboldened by the idea that it can’t reach you. Tentatively at first, you stretch your hand out towards the glass and watch as the zombie scrabbles its hands across the glass pane trying to grab you, too stupid to just turn the handle.
Knowing now that the zombies must be the dumb variety as described in Mark Tufo’s first book, Zombie Fallout, you decide to use this moment to tease the undead monster, something you wish you saw more of in movies, books, and TV shows. Cockily, you step right up to the door and press the flat of your palm against the glass, and watch as the zombie insanely attempts to bite you by thrusting its face into the door. Black blood oozes out of several open breaks in its skin from this, and two of its front teeth break against the metal frame around the window.
Confident beyond reason, you decide to go further with your taunting and do something no one has ever done before in any zombie situation. Turning around, you unhook your belt buckle, drop your pants, and bend over to moon the zombie. Whether he understands what you’re doing and is offended by it or if it is simply the sight of more of your flesh exposed, it drives him over the edge and his previous attempts to get at you become pale in comparison with his current exertions which have grown to a new frantic desperation.
As you look back over your shoulder laughing at the zombie, you fail to notice the door across the hall slowly creak open. The zombie stuck in the classroom continues to make more noise as he watches his meal, you, being closed in upon by a pack of three other zombies who have literally caught you with your pants down. By the time you look forward and notice that you’re being
surrounded, it’s too late and as you scramble to get away, you trip over your own clothes landing face first into the floor allowing the closest zombie to sink its teeth into your exposed behind while your last thoughts are, ‘Never take time out to moon a zombie.’
The End
Run and Look for Help
Leaving the zombie safely behind the closed door, you turn left and begin heading up the hall quickly and quietly, searching for signs of life from someone who might be able to help. Along the way, you pass by student murals and display cases with student projects from earlier in the year, but nothing notable catches your eye as useful. Looking into several classrooms though the window in their doors, you find that the carnage you just witnessed is everywhere. Thinking for a moment you might be able to call someone for help, you pass by the school library only to find that most of the books lay scattered on the floor and the computers look like they were thrown at zombies. There are several bodies on the ground, but since you can’t tell if they are alive, dead, or something in between, you decide to leave the library doors closed and continue on.
Further up the hall, as you pass a door, you notice a slight flutter in the curtain covering the small door window. Stopping, you realize that this is the teachers’ lounge. The curtain, obviously meant to give teachers a place of privacy away from students during their lunches and planning periods, now seems like it might hold a place of refuge for you, too. The curtain definitely won’t hold back a zombie, but somewhere in your memory you think you remember hearing from another student that there was a phone in the room, and you figure if it’s working you might be able to call for help. After a quick look left and right to make sure no zombies are nearby, you approach the door cautiously and try to look inside along the edges of the window in hopes of being able to see if the coast is clear or not. It’s at this point that you hear a whispered voice from inside.
Figuring that where there are voices there must be living people, you reach out and try to turn the doorknob to enter, but find that it’s locked. In a whispered voice you speak into the frame of the door, “Hey, let me in.”
From within the room, two voices softly murmur to each other and while one seems sympathetic in its tone, the other, a male voice, sounds harsh and threatening. Trying again, you turn the doorknob back and forth a few times and say, “Come on, let me in. Clearly I’m not a zombie. I’m talking to you and working the doorknob.”
After a moment, the door opens a crack, and you find yourself looking down into eyes of a freshman girl. You’ve seen her around but can’t remember her name off the top of your head. The bigger concern to you, however, is that the door is only open about an inch, leaving no way for you to get inside. In a whispered voice, the girl asks, “You get bit?”
“No, I’m clean,” you say as you gesture down at yourself for her to look. “Now let me in.”
“What do you got?” asks the girl.
“What do you mean, what do I got?” you ask. “I just escaped from Miss Millstone’s class as a zombie attacked her.”
“Sorry, I can’t let you in if you ain’t got anything useful. We only have enough supplies for ourselves,” says the girl.
If you want to force your way in, turn to page ………. 62 If you want to negotiate, turn to page ………….……… 64
Force Your Way In
Pissed off that safety and a phone call are so close and yet this little girl won’t let you in, you say, “Screw this,” and step forward, putting your body weight into the door to force your way in. As you move, however, the girl seems to realize what you’re doing and what your intent is and steps back just before your shoulder makes contact with the wood.
You barely register her scream before your eyes lock onto the gleaming metal surface of a softball bat being swung at your head from the left. You feebly attempt to raise your hands out of an instinctual need to protect yourself, but it’s too late and the bat smashes into your cheek, shattering the bone beneath and dislodging more than one tooth. Lucky for you, you are unconscious before the real pain sets in, and you drop backwards into the hall.
An unknown amount of time passes before you come to, and when you do, you find that you are laying on the cold floor of the school hallway just outside the teachers’ lounge. It takes you a second to remember what just happened, and in that time an overwhelming pain spikes through your head as the nerves around left side of your face spark in protest to being crushed by a bat.
Somewhere beneath the pain of injury, you also feel your heart sink as you realize that you’ve clearly blown the one place that might have proven safe and that there is no way the girl is going to open back up for you now. Squeezing your eyes shut tight against the throbbing in your skull, you try to figure out where to go next, but the fates seem to have decided for you. To your right, you hear the tell-tale sound of shambling feet dragging their way across the floor followed by an all too close groan of unspeakable hunger.
You grit your teeth preparing to swear as you sit up, only to find the pain renewed tenfold and your head goes woozy. As agony sets in, you try desperately to roll over and crawl away from the approaching monster, but you get no further than a few inches before you feel its hands grip tightly to your calf.
It won’t be long now.
The End
Negotiating
Realizing that she’s not going to budge on the issue and that you have nothing on you to bribe the girl with, you ask, “What do you want? What do I need to get for you
to let me in?”
Looking at something or someone else positioned up against the wall where you can’t see them, she takes a moment before nodding and saying, “Weapons, food, a first aid kit, and any other supplies which might be helpful.”
Sarcastically, you respond, “Sure, just hold on a moment, and I’ll run down to the store for you.”
Noticing that your voice has risen above that of a whisper, the girl shushes you and puts a finger to her lips to tell you to be quiet, and then says, “Don’t be an idiot. We just need you to run to the gym and get a few bats. The nurse’s office should have a first aid kit, and the cafeteria probably has tons of food.”
If you refuse and force your way in, turn to page ………. 62 If you comply with her, turn to page ……….………….. 65
Comply With Her Demands
Nodding, you say, “Okay, I’ll go get you what I can, but if those things are in the way, I’m bringing back whatever I have and you’re going to let me in.”
The girl in the room looks to her partner and then back to you before she agrees, saying, “Fine, but you better not come back empty handed,” and then almost as an afterthought, she adds, “Good luck,” before she closes and locks the door.
Thinking it over for just a second, you realize that all three locations the girl mentioned are downstairs. You do have other options as well, but no matter what, you have to decide what to go after first.
If you go for a weapon first, turn to page ………………… 66 If you go after a first aid kit first, turn to page ……… 100 If you go for food first, turn to page …………….….. 299