Donna of the Not Undead (...of the Not Undead Book 1)

by Bryan Mosier

  “The internet” comes the causal, matter of fact response.

  Moving slowly through the room, careful to give it a thorough scan for any zombies that might be lurking in the darkened recesses of the room, they declare the space to be free of undead infestation.The room itself isn’t very big. A rectangular space, noticeably longer than it is wide, the classroom is filled with what seems to be old folding tables that, from the looks of them have had years of paint built up from student use that someone has repeatedly tried to cover up with an ugly, drab khaki colored paint. The teacher’s desk sits in the front of the room in the corner opposite the entrance. Not the typical metal desk that“normal” teachers would have, this is a large wooden drafting tablewith a top that could tilt upwards if it wasn’t so overburdened with an assortment of books and papers cluttering its surface. The front wall of the room is filled with two large green chalk boards as opposed to the typical white dry erase boards that most classrooms use nowadays. The far wall has two large windows that are covered by the same drab brown pull down shades that they saw from the street. The back of the room is covered in what looks like homemade shelves that are filled with all manner of paints in both metal and plastic containers. A closed door stands in the back corner on the near side wall being the only entrance into a second room attached to the one they are currently in.

  “Okay, so what are we looking for?” asks Darla.

  “Anything that might be used as a weapon or tool. Tape, string, rope, anything” replies Melody.

  Immediately the group starts scouring the myriad shelves and cabinets for anything useful. With military like efficiency Brandon and Melody start scanning the back cabinets but find nothing to their liking. Coming to the last cabinet they see that it has a large pad lock on it. “Hey, why is this cabinet locked and all the othersaren’t?” asks Brandon.

  “Because there’s probably something in there that the teacher didn’t want the students getting their hands on” is Melody’s logical response.

  “Can you pick this lock too” she asks.

  “Nah, no need. The lock is pretty tough but…” grabbing a short piece of metal pipe leaning in the corner next to the cabinet Brandon inserts it through the handles of the cabinet doors“these are some pretty cheap cabinets” and with a quick downward wrenching motion the particle board doors give way and the handles and lock fall to the floor in a clatter. Opening the cabinet Brandon and Melody both voice the same emotion“Jackpot!”

  “What are you two doing over there?” comes Alex’s voice out of the darkness. “Did you find something?”

  “Oh did we ever.”

  Coming over to the cabinet Alex and Darla see the treasure that has gotten the two younger members of the group so excited. Filling the shelves of the cabinet are plastic containers, bottles and boxes of all sizes, each filled with allmanner of implements and chemicals that any self-respecting educator would want to keep away from the mischievous minds of the typical high school aged miscreant. On one shelf containers of paint thinner and turpentine and linseed oil, all clearly marked“Flammable” in big red letters. On another shelf boxes of utility knives with razor sharp blades for cutting cardboard. And on yet another chisels and gouges for doing all sorts of carving and engraving.

  “I think we can work with this” says Brandon as he looks over at Melody who clearly shares his delight.

  “Oh yeah, we got this.”

  Grabbing the boxes of knives Brandon and Melody take them to a nearby table. “Did we find any tape?” asks Brandon.

  “Yeah, over here. We got both masking and duct tape. What are you making?”

  “You’ll see. Just give us aminute.”

  “Why don’t we check out the other room while they do…whatever it is they’re doing” suggests Darla.

  “Good idea” says Alex as he goes over to the closed door ofthe storage room. Putting his ear against the door he motions to Darla, indicating that he doesn’t hear anything on the other side. Taking hold of the doorknob he slowly starts to twist the knob and, thankfully, finds that it is unlocked. “That’s a good sign” he says turning towards Darla. Gently pushing the door open he shines his flashlight into the darkness and not seeing any movement he slowly begins to move into the room. Suddenly the weight of the door crashes hard against his chest. With a loud gasp as the air is forced from his lungs, Alex is suddenly overcome with fright as the horrible visage of a rotted corpse come to life starts thrashing against the door trying to force its way into the other room. Dropping his flashlight, the scene becomes one of darkened chaos and confusion. Alex, trying to pull the door closed again while simultaneously trying to push the crazed zombie back through the half-opened door all the while trying to not get bitten and at the same time trying to keep Darla out of harm’s way starts to panic as he feels himself losing the battle with his undead assailant. Feeling the doorknob begin to slip from his grasp Alex feels his heart start to race as panic starts to take over. With the overwhelming weight of fear filling his chest, Alex feels his mind drift as he wonders, what will happen to Darla and Melody and most of all his little brother? What about the others? Will they know what happened? Will they have to deal with us after we turn into zombies? With all of his might he pulls on the door to keep the zombie from getting any further and with the last of his strength starting to fail him, suddenly without warning the zombie stops. With the room falling into silence, save the sound of his beating heart drumming in his ears, unsure of what just happened and afraid to let go of the door Alex manages to mutter a simple“What?” but is answered when a beam of light suddenly illuminates the space. Mere inches from his own face, the zombies necrotic form is pressed through the gap of the door. Protruding from the space between its eyes is what looks to be a ninja throwing star. Upon closer inspection though it is in actuality a grouping of razor blades taped together to mimic the beloved martial arts weapon of teenage fan boys everywhere.

  “Holy shit!” yells Alex as he looks back to see his little brother standing atop one of the old folding tables with another makeshift throwing star in his hand ready to be unleashed at any more would be attackers.

  Pushing the rotten corpse out of the way, Alex picks up his flashlight and slowly creeps into the back room. From the looks of it this room was a catch all for the various items that the art teacher collected over his long career. Hanging on the wall is a menagerie of cow and deer skulls that were used in a multitude of still life drawings and crammed over in the far corner they see a tiny kiln for firing ceramics. A large table sits in the middle of the room, piled high with what looks like a year’s worth of student work. Behind the door sits a drafting table, not unlike the one that the teacher used, but this one is partitioned off by a short counter making a cubicle-esque work space.

  “That’s where the really good art students got to work” explains Alex.

  Checking the room out and confident that there are no more lurking dangers in the darkness, Alex and Darla start looking over the contents of the room trying to find anything that might be useful.

  “Hey, um can I ask you a question?” says Alex, trying not to let his voice quiver from the fear of their most recent encounter with the undead, as he rummages through the assorted litter filling the shelves and counters of the room.

  “Sure” replies Darla detecting the seriousness of his tone“What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing” comes the quick, defensive reply of a teenage boy not wanting to look weak in front of a girl but then he continues“When that zombie was trying to get at us, what were you thinking?”

  “What was I thinking? Nothing, I was scared to death”

  “Really!” says Alex, surprised by the honesty of her response.

  “Yeah, weren’t you? I mean we could have all bit it, ooh sorry, bad choice of words”

  “I have to admit I was scared but not so much about getting eaten by the zombie. All I could think about is what would happen to Brandon if something happened to me. And the others, what
would happen to them?”

  “I think about that stuff all the time. I mean, Carla may be older and tougherbut she just doesn’t have the…I don’t know…leadership? And Melody, she’s got spunk but she doesn’t think thingsthrough. I mean for all her toughness, she’s still just a kid.”

  “Exactly! I feel the same way about Brandon. He thinks he’s tough and can take on anything but he doesn’t understand the consequences if he gets into something he can’t handle.”

  “Speaking of the little turd, it’s been awful quiet in there. Let’sgo see what they’re up to.”

  As he returns to the larger space of the main room the panic that he felt before returns as his chest tightens and a knot forms in his stomach. Scanning the room with their flashlights, Brandon and Melody are nowhere to be found.

  “Oh crap! Where the hell are they?” asks Alex out loud.

  Panic starting to show in the slight tremble of her voice, Darla starts looking around the room saying“Melody?” as loud as she can without drawing any unwanted attention. Scouring the room with no sign of Melody or Brandon they quickly come to the same conclusion.

  “They left us”

  “Where would they have gone?” asks Darla.

  Looking at each other in the dim glow of the flashlights they both come to the same conclusion. “The Chemistry Lab!”

  Rushing out the door and making an immediate hard left they scramble down the hallway and stop two doors down from their previous location. Looking at the closed, windowless door, they stop for a moment to consider the situation.

  “You think they might have went back to the lobby to meet up with the others?” asks Darla.

  “That would be the sensible thing to do so…probably not.” Reaching out to grab the door knob Alex is thrown aback when the door flashes open and a bright light hits him in the face, temporarily blinding him.

  “Would you two be quiet?” comes the familiar voice of Melody. “You’re gonnabring a bunch of stumble bums down on us if you don’t shut up. Sheesh!”

  Darting into the chemistry lab Alex and Darla follow the glow of her light, shimmying around the various tables and counters with shiny black faux granite tops until they catch up to her at the back of the room where apparently Brandon is working diligently at the lock of a large metal cabinet.

  “What the hell do you think you twoare doing taking off like that?” starts Darla, “We thought you had…you could’ve been…” unable to voice the horrible thoughts that she was thinking, she lets the thought drop.

  “And….I….think….I….GOT IT! YES! The master does it again” says Brandon, congratulating himself for gaining access to yet another unauthorized area.

  “Why didn’t you just break it like you did the last one?” asks Alex.

  “Um, look at these cabinets. They’re metal. Theyain’t thatcheap ass crap that they put in the art room. These are heavy duty and you ain’t just breaking these locks off and besides, can you smell that?” Alex suddenly does notice a strange, ever so faint chemical odoremanating from the cabinet. “Not sure you want any stray sparks flying around what’s in here”.

  Looking over the cabinet and then the rest of the room it is clearly apparent that the science department got the better end of the deal when it comes to budgeting. Where the art room looked more like an abandoned storage area with clutter filling every corner the chemistry lab resembled something more like what you would find in a hospital with equipment and supplies clearly labeled and neatly arranged.

  Opening the cabinet doors, the faint smell of chemicals that had been barely noticeable before becomes much more prominent. Filled from top to bottom the cabinet contains an assortment of dark brown bottles of all sizes, metal canisters and plastic jugs, each labeled with all sorts of ominous warnings, but common among them all“Keep out of reach of children”.

  “Um, what are you looking for? This stuff is useless.”

  Turning to Alex, Brandon shines his flashlight under his chin giving his face an eerie shadow that casts his eyes into dark circular skeletal pits“You know nothing” he saysand then turns his attention back to the contents of the cabinet. “Okay, we can use some of this, and this, and ooh some of that and…” continues Brandon as he starts reaching bottles and containers to Melody who starts arranging them on the nearest table. Feeling a bit useless at this point Alex and Darla start looking around the room and, with neither of them having been fond of science in school, most of the things they find are totally foreign to them.

  “C’mon you guys, we need to get going. We’re supposed to be back in about five minutes.”

  “Hold your horses” comes the annoyed reply from Melody.

  “Yeah, this is some delicate stuff we’re doing here.”

  Suddenly, out of the darkness a loud crashing sound echoing through the empty hallways from somewhere deep within the recesses of the abandoned school building.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “I dunnobut it sounded like it was down the hall around the corner. Maybe downstairs even, by the cafeteria.”

  “Oh no, you don’t think Carla and Bryan are…” starts Darla but again the thought is too hard for her to put into words.

  “C’mon you two, we need to go, NOW!”

  “Go on without us. We’re safe in her. Go see what that was.”

  “No way we’re leaving…”

  “You’re wasting time. They might need your help. Just go. We’ll lock the door and you can come back for us.”

  “But…”

  “Just go.”

  “You don’t go anywhere else and you lock this door.”

  “Okay,now go see what’s going on.”

  Giving a quick look to Darla and seeing the affirmation in her eyes, he grabs her by the hand and says“Let’s go”

  Chapter 21

  “So, um, what do you think the others are gonnafind?” asks Bryan, trying to break the awkward silence. Since the two of them left the group to go check out the shop class they hadn’t spoken a word to one another and if the silence of the hallways wasn’t enough, the condition of the school seemed to get worse as they worked their way down the darkened corridors. Wires and tubing of all sorts hang from the ceiling through openings left by broken ceiling tiles.

  “I never understood that” he continues, trying to take his mind off of the potential danger they may be heading into.

  “What do you mean?” asks Carla

  “Well, look at the ceiling. It looks like someone, or something, must have been trying to get up there. All the cables and wires and stuff are all hanging like somebody was ripping them out.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “Well, every zombie movie I’ve ever seen, when the survivors go into an abandoned building, be it a school or hospital or whatever, the ceilings all look just like this.”

  “Not really getting where you’re going with this” says Carla, the confusion clearly evident on her face.

  “Well, I mean, what are they trying to get at? Why in the world would they want to get up into the ceiling? There’s no way anybody can hide up in there and it’snot like there’s food and stuff. Humans or zombies, there’s no reason to tear up the ceiling like that.”

  “You got a point I guess. Maybe they do it in the movies just to make it look scarierand stuff.”

  “Well it sure as hell works.”

  Giving a little chuckle, Carla nods her head in agreement.

  As they continue down the long hallway towards where the shop class is located its Carla who nowdecides to break the silence“Did you like going to school here?”

  Bobbing his head side to side Bryan gives an indication of his indifference to the whole high school experience. “I guess it was okaybut there was a lot about this school that I didn’t get.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, like for example, they put all sorts of emphasis on sports, especially football and basketball but never really seemed to care that much for academics and art and stuff.”
<
br />   “Most schools do that to some degree.”

  “But this school treated it like it was the most important thing in the world, well except for the cheerleaders.”

  “Cheerleaders? What about them.”

  “You mean you haven’t heard about our fifteentime national champion cheerleaders?” asks Bryan in a mockingly sarcastic tone.

  “Should I have?”

  “Oh they’re only the greatest thing to come out of Kentucky since Billy Ray and his Achey BreakyMullet!” adds Bryan with evermore sarcasm.“The only thing in this school that gets more attention than sports is cheerleading. They treat cheerleading like it’ssome kind of honor to be chosen to be on the squad. The girls start training for it when they’re in elementary school that’s how serious it is. One year, when they went to nationals and won like their tenth or twelfth or whatever championship, they had them driven back to the school in limos.”

  “Really?” asks Carla with genuine shock that any school would place that much importance on their cheerleaders.

  “Oh yeah. Police escorts and everything. Around here, being a cheerleader means you’re the shi…uh, um the bomb” says Bryan as he stumbles over his words trying to correct himself for almost using profanity in front of a girl.

  Seeing his awkwardness and embarrassment Carla gives him a smile and says“It’s okay, I’ve heard those words before. I’m not so fragile that I can’t take a curse word every now and then”

  “Really?” asks Bryan

  Seeing her give him a nod of approval, Bryan smiles and lets out a“Fuck yeah!” and immediately seeing the shock on Carla’s face adds“Too much?”

  “Just a little?”

  “Okay” and with that the awkward silence returns.

  Finally arriving outside the door to the shop class Bryan and Carla do a quick survey of the area and find the space, though heavily ransacked and disheveled, free of any zombie infestation. Testing the doorknob and finding it unlocked, Bryan slowly pulls the door open, making sure to keep himself between Carla and anything that might spring forth from the creepy darkness of the room. After waiting a few moments and listening intently, Bryan pokes his head into the room, rapidly shining his flashlight all around the space to try and get a glimpse of anything that might be hiding in the room. Satisfied with his initial survey having turned up nothing he nods to Carla and motions for her to follow him inside. “Let’slook around and see what we got, but, um stay close”.