by Bryan Mosier
Feeling an overwhelming sense of loneliness rush over him, the realization of the situation falls over Justin. Alone in the dark about to be overpowered by four flesh eating zombies with no way of defending himself, he realizes that his chances of survival are slim at best. Even inthis final, desperate moment the inquisitive, logical nature of his mind can’t help but think“I wonder if I’ll come back?” Lost in the brief respite of intellectual endeavor, Justin fails to notice the familiar squeaking sound accompanied by a low rumbling seemingly getting louder and louder. Looking towards the direction of the sound a light suddenly hits him in the face, getting brighter and brighter as the sound gets louder and louder. Out of the darkness comes the most angelic sound Justin has ever heard he thinks, but what is it saying?
“Drag!”
What does that mean he thinks, again letting his mind drift into an intellectual abyss.
“Drag! Drag!” comes the voice, getting louder with every moment.
With a quick“Oh, I get it. Huh?”
Justin, feeling the rumble of rubber wheels on the faux granite tile floor, his eyes widening in the realization of what was about to happen, leaps forward into the darkness just as the large metal box containing crates of spoiled milk come careening into the space he had just occupied. With a loud clang of metal on metal the rolling freezer box crashes hard into the door of the freezer with such a force that the body of the former lunch lady, now softened with the decay of several days inside a hot, metal box is pinched in two, severing her remains across her upper torso allowing her head, shoulder and arm to fall to the floor as the freezer door slams shut. Giving the caster wheels a quick kick, Helga fastens the wheel locks to prevent the cart from moving any further. Getting to his feet and retrieving his light, Justin walks over to where Helga is standing. Looking into her eyes, without saying a word his face conveys every thought and emotion he is feeling at the moment. Leaning forward he puts his arms around her waist and pulls her close, gently kissing her on the lips. Looking into her eyes, adrenaline rushing, Justin can feel his heart beating in his ears but at this point he isn’t sure if it’s the result of his recent near death experience or if it’s the fact twice today he has kissed a girl and neither time did she throw up. Looking down at the severed upper torso of the former lunch lady, writhing on the floor, its one arm scratching and clawing to get at the couple Justin feels a sense of pity for the poor creature. Looking back at Helga, allowing himself to get lost in deep blue sea of her eyes, all rational thought is absent in the moment, so much so that Justin fails to notice that the faint green pallor on Helga’s face has become more apparent. Having exhausted all of his reflex saves for the day he is unable to move before being covered in the remnants of whatever Helga had for lunch that day.
Chapter 23
Pulling the door closed behind them, making sure to check if the lock was set and finding it so, Alex and Darla start heading down the long hallway, their flashlights penetrating the darkness ahead. Moving as fast as they dare in the darkness of the corridor, they nervously continue, half expecting a zombie to jump out at them from every door they pass. Making it about to the halfway point of the hallway they come to the intersection where a second hallway joins the first. Turning down this new corridor Darla starts to feel disoriented in the darkness, unsure of which way they are going.“Wait, are you sure you know where you’re going? What about Brandon and Mel? How will they…?” she asks, concerned about the safety of the two younger members of the group.
“They’ll be fine as long as they do as they’re told and stay in the room” says Alex, trying as much to convince himself as Darla, momentarily pausing to consider the futility of that statement, seeing the same understanding expression on Darla’s face.“We’ll come right back for them, I promise”
Making their way to the end of the short hallway they slowly creep down the darkened staircase leading back to the first floor. “C’mon, this way” starts Alex but out of the darkness comes a familiar voice.
“What are you guys doing? Did you all hear that noise?” comes Bryan’s voice out of the darkness of the corridor.
“Yeah, itsounded like it came from the cafeteria”
“That’s where Justin and Helga were going. You don’t think?”
“That’s what we were about to go check on. C’mon let’sgo.”
Rushing through the large double doors into the canopy covered courtyard and, without stopping to assess the safety of the area, the group slams through the double door entrance into the cafeteria stopping to pause for a moment to survey the room. Not seeing anything that would have caused the racket that they heard they move toward the familiar entrance of the serving line where they see the faint glow of a light coming from the back part of the kitchen.
“Hold up guys, we don’t know what’s going on back there. Be ready”
Steeling their nerve each member of the group readies themselves for battle.
“Okay, ready, on three. One, two, three” commands Alex.
At the count, the group rushes towards the light and stop abruptly as they see Justin and Helga standing alone in the dark, arms around each other, oblivious to their arrival.
“Um, are we interrupting something?” asks Bryan
Shocked back into reality by the sound of Bryan’s voice, Justin, face covered in what might be half digested Oreos and milk, finally acknowledges the presence of the group. With a giggle it’s Bryan who breaks the awkwardness of the moment with“Oh, the old hobo surprise. Haven’t seen that one in a while.”
With a defeated“Horrible…horrible people” Justin looks at Helga, whose embarrassment of the situation is obvious to the point that she is almost in tears. Trying to make her feel better, Justin smiles, shrugs his shoulders and says“It could happen to anyone”. Taking her by the hand he leads her past the group back towards the cafeteria. “C’mon, let’sgo”.
Exiting the cafeteria, the group begins to make their way back down the darkened corridors of the high school. Coming to the intersection where the current shorter hallway meets the longer one that runs the length of the school, Alex is the first to notice something peculiar. Making the turn to go back towards the office he looks down the hallway in the opposite direction towards where the gymnasium would be. With the evening light coming in through two large banks of glass doors the lobby of the gym glows in the distance like a beacon of light at the end of a long dark tunnel.“Did you guys hear something?” he asks the group.
“Nope” says Bryan. “Why, did you?” he asks.
“Don’t know. Thought I might have heard something down that way” as he points in the direction of the gym.
“You’re just nervous. There ain’t nothing down there”
“Well maybe we should check it out” suggests Darla. “I mean if we have to stay here tonight wouldn’t you want to know the place is completely empty?”
“C’mon” says Alex.“Let’s just give it a quick look”
“I’m telling you this is a waste of time” argues Bryan. “This entire place is totally empty.”
“The kitchen was definitely notempty” adds Justin with a contradicting tone.
“Oh alright, let’s go then”
Making their way down the hallway, ever cautious, they make sure to check each door as they proceed to ensure that no zombies are ready to pounce on them from the dark recesses of the abandoned classrooms. Coming to the end of the hall they give this stairwell a quick survey to ensure that the coast is clear before they continue through the large double doors that mark the entrance into the gymnasium. Walking down the short set of stairs and moving through a second set of double doors the group arrive at the dimly lit lobby of the gym. Walking over to the large bank of glass doors to their left, Carla looks outside and says“It’s starting to get dark.” Do you think Suzie-Steve and Larry are okay?”
“Oh I’m sure they’re fine” says Alex.
“Yeah, it’ll take more than a freakin brainless, undead, flesh eating, cor
pse to take down Suzie-Steve” adds Bryan.
“Got a few more adjectives you want to throw in there?” asks Alex.
“Rotten, stinking...” starts Bryan
“Maggot laden” adds Justin
“Putrid” continues Bryan
“Necrotic” says Justin
“Ooh, good one. I should have thought of that one” says Bryan.
Turning back towards the gymnasium, looking at the two sets of large metal doors separated by a large wood and glass display case loaded with all manner of trophies and basketballs draped in nets, the plunder taken from defeated teams from years gone by and footballs painted in the familiar maroon and white colors of the school with dates and scores of passed victories. Looking at the doors, with tall, thin windows like the arrow slits you see in old medieval castles it’s Darla who points out something peculiar. “Why are all of these doors chained shut?” she asks.
“That’s odd” says Carla. Why would anybody do that?”
“Maybe to keep someone…or something from getting in?” suggests Bryan
“In that case would you notlock it from the inside?” says Justin.
“Pressing his face up against the glassof the windows Alex tries to see inside but can’t make anything out in the darkness. “I can’t see anything in there. It’s too dark”
“Hold up, I think I can get this door open.” With the rattling and clinging of the metal against metal, Bryan starts tugging and pulling at the chains that, rather than being locked like the others is simply tied in a cumbersome knot of entangled metal links.
“Hey!” says Justin. “Does the gym not have its own power supply or something?”
Pausing from his bunkhouse death match with the chained door, Bryan, mumbling to himself“JYD himself couldn’t whip this thing” looks up and answers“Yeah, it does. Remember, they put it in, what, maybe four or five years ago when that tornado came through and knocked out the power for the entire county. It was right during basketball season and the girls team was looking at going to the state championships for like the bazillionth timebut they had to cancel the last part of the season because the gym didn’t have any power.”
“Yeah”, continues Alex, his face stilled plastered to the glass trying to see inside the darkened gymnasium. “They took all the money they got from FEMA to repair the school and instead installed a big ass generator so that they would never have to miss another game. Tells you where the priorities lie around here, huh.”
“Well, how do you turn the power on then?” asks Carla
“I got this” says Bryan, letting the ends of the chain drop and rattle against the metal and glass of the door. Walking over to the far end of the gymnasium lobby towards a big metal roll down window cover he points and declares“The breaker box is in there. I saw it one time when Mr. Parsonsmade us come down and raid the ice machine for one of his crazy science projects.”
“What kind of science project was he doing that needed that much ice?” asks Darla.
“The kind that scorches his eyebrows off and gives himsecond degree burns all over his face and hands” chuckles Bryan. “Man, I loved that class. I sure hope Mr. P. made it through all of this craziness.”
Grabbing the metal handle at the bottom Bryan gives a quick jerk and the door rolls up with a screeching of metal against metal that echoes in the empty space of the lobby and reverberates down the long hollowsof the school. With the door now out of the way the space beyond is revealed to be a small concession area where refreshments would have been sold during any of the well-attended basketball games. “Let’ssee, we can just hop over this and…” starts Bryan as he assesses the height of the counter in preparation to leap up and over into the concession stand. Confident in his ability he galvanizes himself by grabbing the faux black granite counter with both hands and jumps up, locking his elbows so that his arms form a pivot underneath his body supporting all of his weight at a perfectly placed point. Suspended for a moment, balancing precariously on the counter, Bryan slowly starts to tilt forward. Confidence now turning to startled realization that he probably will not be able to halt his forward momentum, Bryan lets out a quiet“Uh-oh” before tumbling head first over the counter and landing hard on the bare concrete floor of the concession stand.
After a moment of silence, with the rest of the group looking at the now empty window, not sure if he is alright, comes a groaning, pained filled“OW!...I’m good!...I’m good, I got this…yuck…sticky” says Bryan as he stumbles to his feet using the counter of the concession stand to support himself as he tries to regain his composure. “Okay, where the flip is that breaker box? Oh yeah, over there.” Walking to the end of the small narrow space, his sneakers sticking to the concrete floor as he moves, Bryan pulls open the distinctive gray metal door of an electrical panel and starts to assess his findings. “Alrighty now, so which one is the breaker to the backup generator?” he says to no one in particular. Scanning up and down both sides of the breaker box he finally gives a
“Ah hah!...really?”
“What is it?” asks Alex, face still pressed hard against the glass trying to see into the gymnasium.
“I found the breaker for the backupgenerator”
“And?”
“They labeled it…get this…Greyskull”
“Really? That’s both kind of awesome and a little pathetic given the circumstances” says Alex.
“I don’t get it” says Darla looking at Carla, a similar look of confusion on her face.
“Greyskull? He-Man? C’mon you gotta know He-Man? The Masters of the Universe? You gotta at least know Sheera, right? I mean she was the Barbie of the He-Man world.”
Seeing the frown on her face as he realizes the male chauvinist tone of his last comment and wanting to change the subject Bryan throws one hand to the sky and looking upward as if he were holding a majestic magical sword he belts out“BY THE POWER OF GREYSKYULL, I HAVE THE POWER!” Looking back at the girls he is somewhat surprised at the confused look on their face.“Seriously, you girls never heard…” he starts again but lets it drop, realizing the utter futility in trying to explain the glory that was He-Man to the uninitiated female mind.
“Whatever” says Bryan as he reaches over to the electrical panel and flips the breaker labeled Greyskull.
Immediately the hum of electricity can be heard and the lights of the gym flash on. Alex, face still firmly placed against the glass of the gym door is greeted with a site that nearly stops his heart. Letting out a scream that, in retrospect he will regret for being distinctly feminine in its pitch and tone he jumps back as he sees pressed against the other side of the eighth inch safety glass, the terrifying undead face of a zombie, its rotting teeth gnashing at the glass trying to get at what it sees as a tasty meal of warm flesh.
“HOLY FUCK!” yells Alex forgetting his gentlemanly manners as the profanity escapes his lips.
“What is it?” asks Bryan as he runs back to the window of the concession stand and tries to climb up on the counter to see what the commotion is all about.
“Oh crap” says Darla as she looks at the doors of the gym.”
“Ohno” whispers Carla as she looks and discovers the same thing that has her sister’s face tense with concern.
Looking through the glass, passed the zombie that nearly made Alex go Jackson Pollock in his pants, the girls see that the gymnasium is populated with not one zombie but several.
“How many do you think there are?” asks Carla.
“Not sure. Around twenty? Maybe twenty-five” estimates Darla.
Scanning the motley crew of rotting formsambling around the gymnasium, a thought comes to Carla. “Do they all look the same to you?”
“You mean all nasty and rotten?”
“No, I mean, they’re all dressed the same. Look. They all have the same clothes on.”
Getting back to his feet and regaining his composure Alex walks over to the doors and looks at what the girls are talking about.
“They are
all dressed the same. They’re all wearing…what is that…they’re all wearing the same jackets.” Recognizing the familiar maroon wool jacketswith bold white numbers on the back, Alex comes to the startled realization“HOLY CRAP! It’s the freakinjocks”
Hearing a loud thud from behind them the trio looks back to see Bryan stumbling back to his feet saying“I’m good, I got this…. ow!” Limping over to where Alex and the girls are standing Bryan looks at the face of the zombie in the window and his face turns a startling shade of white as a look of abject fear falls over it. Seeing the reaction that the presence of the zombie has had on his friend, Alex tries to allay his fears,“Hey, its locked on the other side. It can’t get to you.”
Shaking his head as if trying to force the fear out of his head, he stammers for a moment and then“That’s…um…that’s Marshall Henderson”. Looking closer at the decrepit face on the other side of the glass, recognition takes hold as Alex sees the face that has tormented him and the other boys for the last four years of their high school lives.