by Bryan Mosier
The sound of decayed bone crunching under the force of the swing could be heard throughout the gym. Blood and blackened, acrid brain matter splatters onto the yellow pine basketball court as Marcus, now a motionless corpse crashes to floor of the gymnasium. Before the body can come to a complete rest Alex has drawn the bat back and again swings with all his might. Over and over he raises the bat high over his head only to bring it back down again. With every swing blood and hair and flesh arc through the air a spectacle made ever more gruesome by the howls of anger mixed with despair coming from Alex. Yelling at the top of his lungs, Alex is lost in a desperaterage. A fury born from resentment, hatred, and regret. With a final, explosive swing, Alex brings the bat down hard into the pile of mush that was once Marcus Middleton’s head, burying the metal spikes deep into the wooden floor. Exhausted, panting, and gasping for air, Alex is spent, completely lost in the emotional release. It’s not until he hears a familiar voice that he comes back to reality.
“Dude, what the hell are you doing!?!”
At first unable to take his eyes from the gory mess he created, Alex looks toward the voice and sees Bryan and Justin fighting their way through a mass of undead who seem to all be looking at him. Shocked back into reality by the imminent threat of a horde of zombies coming at him, Alex grabs the handle of the bat, still stuck in the wooden floor. Confidently he grips the handle and giving it a firm tug is surprised when it doesn’t bend to his will. Confused, he takes the handle with both hands and gives the bat another jerk, this time with more force. Again it doesn’t budge. Looking back at the approaching zombies, now much too close for comforthe gives the bat another yank and again it stays firmly planted in the floor.“Um…guys. Gottalittle problem here.”
Chapter 28
“Hold on dude, we’re almost there” yells Bryan as he brings his razor edged floor scraper around to relieve another animated cadaver of its head. Looking back and forth from the bat, pulling with what little strength he has left after his assault on the undead Marcus Middleton, Alex feels the space around him closing in as more and more stumbling undead bodies creep towards him. Suddenly, as he tries one more time to pull the bat free from its wooden prison, a hand latches on to his shoulder and starts to pull him backwards. Turning, Alex finds his personal space being invaded by a raging, flesh craved zombie. Trying to pull himself away Alex stumbles backward over Marcus’ recently dispatched corpse. Hitting the ground hard on his hip sending pain shootingup through Alex’s spine causing a jolt of electricity to shoot through his arms, draining them of what little strength they had left. Falling on top of him the corpse claws and scratches at Alex, gripping his clothing in a mindless, instinctual attempt to subdue its prey. Fighting as hard as he can but unable to find the strength, the creature brings it mouth closer to the exposed flesh of Alex’s neck. His stomach, only moments ago knotted with despair and anger now feels heavy as panic takes hold. Smelling the sour stench of rotten fleshAlex can only close his eyes and think about his little brother and who will take care of him. Suddenly, with two loud“THUNK…THUNKs” the body of the zombie suddenly jerks up and then goes limp, its full weight collapsing onto Alex’s chest. Opening his eyes, he looks up and sees Justin standing over him, his trusty nail gunsin hand. Looking at the rotten body lying across his chest he sees the glimmer of two shiny nails sticking out of the back of the zombie’s skull. “You okay?” asks Justin as he turns and puts two more nails into the forehead of another approaching zombie.
“You just gonna lay there making out with your boyfriend or you gonna help us get rid of these things?” asks Bryan as he backs himself up to take a position to defend Justin’s blind side.
Shoving the corpse off to one side, Alex manages to make it to his feet. “Okay, let’s do this.” With new found confidence he reaches down to his side to retrieve his claw hammer from the cloth loop on his jeans that he had slung it in. When he doesn’t immediately feel the cold steel of the hammer in his hand he looks down to find onlythe torn fragments of the loop dangling from his pants leg.“Shit!” he exclaims. Suddenly the situation becomes even more dire as the familiar“THUNK…THUNK” of Justin’s nail gun suddenly becomes a“THUNK…CHNK….CHNK” “Oh shit.” comes Justin’s acknowledgment that his nail gun is empty and with the zombies closing in he has no time to reload. “Um…Dude”
“What?” says Bryan,“I’m a little busy here.”
“Um…we got a problem.”
“What?” says Bryan as he turns to see that both Justin and Alex are without any defense against the oncoming mass of undead. “Shit!”
Realizing that he is their last line of defense, Bryan steels himself and with every ounce of determination begins to swing his floor scraper scythe in a wild arching manner. Slicing through the nearest zombie’s head, cleaving the top portion of the skull off just below the eye sockets, Bryan gets a rush of adrenaline as he starts to think that he might just get them out of this mess. Seeing himself as their would be savior, he starts swinging the scraper as hard as he can but is suddenly thrown back and is stunned as he finds himself lying on his back looking up at Justin and Alex. Looking down at his hand all he sees is the familiar black rubber grip that used to cap the end of the long metal handle of the floor scraper. Looking across the room he sees the scraper has skidded on the slick, polished pine floor of the gymnasium, lost amid a seemingly ever encroachingmass of undead bodies.“SHIT FUCK SHIT FUCK” are the only words he can get out. Dragging Bryan to his feet the three boys start backing away from the zombies, desperately trying to find somewhere to regroup and take stock of the situation. Weaponless and still facing a dozen or more undead and cut off from any means of escape, they look at each other, each face showing the same realization that their prospects for survival are getting less favorable with every stumbling step of the approaching zombies.
“Can you see them? What’s going on in there?” asks Darla.
“Don’t know? Looks like they’re off in the back somewhere?” replies Carla. “I think I saw them take out a few stumble bums, but I don’t know what they’re doing now?”
“Hey, what’s going on” comes the voice from down the hall. Looking back Carla and Darla see Melody and Brandon walking down the short set of stairs that separates the gymnasium complex from the rest of the school.
“Where are the guys?” asks Brandon, a look of concern starting to grow in his eyes.
Not wanting to have to explain the absurdity of the situation Carla and Darla give each other a quick look and, as if sharing the same thought, just point at the bay of large metal doors leading into the gymnasium.
“What, they suddenly felt the need for a quick pick up game?”
“No, they had some business to take care of.”
“What kind of business?” comesBrandon’s nervous reply as he sets his bag down and walks over to the doors, putting his face up against the thin glass window to try and get a view inside. Looking through the window Brandon is startled to see several zombies whose attention seems to be directed at something on the far end of the gym.
“They went in there? Why?”
“We’re not really sure” explainsDarla. “They said it was something they had to do.”
“That’s it? That’s all they said?”
“Well that and something about some guy, I think.”
“What guy?”
“Leroy Jenkins?”
Eyes widening Brandon looks over at Melody who apparently is the only one of the girls who is familiar with the infamous name immortalized as an internet icon famous for his reckless abandon resulting in one of the worst massacres ever seen in online gaming. “Shi…oot” says Brandon, catching himself before letting the profanity escape his lips. Looking at the girls, Brandon calms himself and says“I gottaget in there.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea” says Darla. “You might get…” but before she can complete her thought Brandon grabs his bag and bolts through the one door not chained shut. Trying to run after him
the girls stop at the door, conflicted with the desire to help the boys and the need to protect Melody and Helga. “What should we do?” asks Carla? We gottahelp them.”
“Don’t worry” saysMelody. “Brandon’s got this.”
“What were you two doing anyway?” asks Darla.
Melody, with a Cheshire grin on her face simply responds,“Just watch”.
Running through the door Brandon reaches with one hand over his shoulder and unsheathes his trusted katana blade. Still running towards the mass of zombies that appear to be too distracted to hear his approach, he reaches into his bag with his other hand and pulls out two metal pipes, their ends seal shut with similar metal caps screwed on tight. Rushing forward, Brandon eyes a small gap in the mass of dead bodies and takes aim, hoping to force his way through. Coming up to the first zombie, a short stocky framed figure with bright orange hair cropped close to his scalp, the straggler is dragging a seemingly useless, broken leg behind it, causing it to move even more awkwardly than normal for the uncoordinated undead. Bringing the katana blade down in a low sweeping motion, Brandon relieves the struggling zombie of its one useful limb, sending it careening backwards and slamming its head hard against the floor with a sickening crunch of bone against the pine floor boards of the basketball court. Without missing a step Brandon quickly spins to his left, bringing the blade of his sword high this time to relieve another zombie of roughly eight pounds of useless, rotten weight. Seeing the gap before him widen a bit, Brandon runs forward and, tucking his sword so as not to accidently impale himself, does a rolling leap between the two foremost zombies. Coming to a rest in a kneeling position a few feet from the mass of oncoming bodies whose attention has now turned to him, Brandon looks back to see Bryan, Alex and Justin huddled together, their eyes wide in both fear of their impending doom and the totally awesome entrance that they just witnessed. Turning his attention back to the zombies, Brandon lays his sword on the floor in front of him, takes one of the two metal pipes in each hand and, in one sweeping downward motion slams them hard against the wooden floor.
Seeing the two pieces of metal slam to the floor, Bryan, Alex and Justin all notice the distinct sound of glass breaking. Smiling at the sound, Brandon jumps to his feet and, looking at the three boys with the solitary understanding of what is about to happen, he simply tells them“You might want to take cover”. Looking around the boys see three large rolls of what looks like thick, cushioned floor mats standing in the corner of the gym. “They cheerleaders’ gym mats!” yells Alex. Realizing his intention, the foursome head for cover behind the large cylindrical forms of the floor mats that the cheerleaders used every day during practice. Crouching behind the mats, Justin, Alex and Bryan are startled when suddenly in quick succession, two very loud explosions rock the gym. Feeling the shock wave of the two explosions, so strong the heavy rolled up mats lurch forward, almost toppling over on the cowering boys, Alex and the others are momentarily dazed by the concussion of the blast. Unsure of what just happened, Alex just looks at Bryan and Justin looking for some kind of understanding. With a look of satisfaction on his face, Brandon sticks his head out to survey the scene and feeling confident that the coast is clear, he stands up and walks out to check his handy work. Following his lead, Alex, Justin and Bryan one by one creep out into the open, reluctant to give up the safety and comfort of their hiding place. When they come out into the open of the gymnasium, they are stunned at what they see.
Scattered about the gym is a mixture of body parts with blood and gore covering the entire area. Looking at the mats that had been their protection, Alex studies several sharp pieces of jagged metal along with dozens of tiny copper bb’s that have been imbedded deep into the soft cushion of the padding.
Outside in the lobby of the gymnasium the girls are jolted to the sound of two loud explosions at the far end of the gymnasium. “What in the world was that?” asked Darla. “Crap!” comes the concerned reply from Melody. “Brandon must have had to use the nuclear option. We better get in there.” Pulling her own katana blade from its sheathe Melody bounces through the unlocked door of the gymnasium, her two sisters and Helga in tow. When they get into the gym the scene is one of utter gore and destruction. The remnants of maroon and white letterman jackets are scattered all over the gym, stained with the blood and gore of their former owners. Off to one side the upper half of a torso struggles to pull itself forward towards the girls in a feeble attempt to get at it’s would be meal.
Looking at the far end of the gymnasium the girls find the boys in what, from a distance looks like a very heated, very animated discussion with Alex being particularly perturbed.
“Um…fellas, is everything okay?” asks Darla.
“What happened in here?” asks Carla to no one in particular?
“Chemistry! Ain’tit beautiful!” comes the whimsical reply from Melody, a satisfied smile filling her tiny freckled face.
Among the dozens of questions,he finds running through his head Alex finally manages,“Um, what the hell was that?”
“Pipe bombs…don’tcha love em” comes Brandon’s response, a sentiment made somewhat discomforting when expressed with such youthful glee.
“Pipe bombs…WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET PIPE BOMBS?” yells Alex.
“I made them, well me and Melody did.”
“WHEN? WHERE?”
“In the chemistry lab. That’s what we were doing when you left to go check on…whatever it was you went to check on.”
“HOW?”
“It’s easy. You just put some water in the pipe, put something that has a volatile reaction when mixed with water, like say sodium…and you put that in a test tube and seal it up good and tight. Put the test tube and in the pipewith a hand full of bb’s thenseal that up good and tight. When you break the test tube the reaction starts, pressure builds until…kaboom”
“How in the hell did you learn that?” asks an exasperated Bryan.
“The internet” says Brandon with a smile as he calmly plants the end of his blade into the back of the zombie on the floor, still pulling its severed torso towards the group.
Chapter 29
Looking around at the horrific chaos created by Brandon and Melody’s internet inspired chemistry experiment, the boys begin to regroup and collect up their dispatched weapons. Bryan walks to the far side of the gym to retrieve his floor scraper that had come to a clattering rest near the door to the boy’s locker room. Picking the scraper up from the floor he hears a faint sound that raises his attention. “Hey guys. I think there’s something over here.”
Walking over to the door of the locker room Bryan puts his ear to the large maroon painted metal door. “What’s going on?” asks Alex as he and the rest of the group come to see what has captured Bryan’s curiosity. “Don’t know but it kindasounds like someone’s…” he starts but is suddenly slammed backwards as the metal door comes crashing open. Stunned by the door slamming hard into the side of his head, Bryan hits the floor hard and finds himself unable to breathe as his breath is takenfrom him by the combined force of the fall and the weight of a rotting figure slamming hard onto his chest. Confused and disoriented and caught in a whirlwind of matted blond curls, it’s all Bryan can do to get his hands up in time to hold off the teeth gnashing attack of this undead assailant. Grabbing onto to whatever he can Bryan grips hard on the first thing his hands make purchase with, which to his surprise is particularly soft. In an embarrassingly awkward happenstance, the first thing that Bryan is able to latch onto is a particularlyample pair of undead breasts. Gripping firmly he shoves the figure upward with as much force as he can muster, sending the female zombie backwards towards his feet. Trying to scramble away Bryan’s foot slips on the blood splattered floor and again he feels the weight of the zombie come down on him as she manages to grab his legs and pull herself back onto him for a second attack. Looking down Bryan feels the blood drain from his face as he realizes that the zombie, mouth agape is moving in for the killing blow. Blood stained rotte
n teeth and blackened tongue are the last things he sees as the face of the zombie smashes hard into his groin. Fear shooting through him like a knife, all Bryan can do is scream in horror in expectation of the pain that he is about to feel. Expecting the worst, Bryan is surprised when the pain doesn’t come. Hearing the teeth of the female zombie crunching on hard plastic over and over but not feeling any pain, Bryan starts to chuckle as he remembers that he in fact is wearing protective gear for just such an occasion.“He he he, ha ha…look at that boys…whose laughing now?” he says as he spreads his feet wide into the air and points with both hands at the flailing zombie and its failed assault on his protected genitalia.
“What the…” starts Darla but her question is interrupted with more laughter.
“You said I was stupid. Well HA!…whose looking stupid now? Huh? Huh?”
Wiggling from one butt cheek to the other, laughing and pointing Bryan’s revelry comes to an abrupt halt when suddenly the end of a katana blade comes down hard, piercing the female zombie through the back of the skull and exiting through the opened mouth, perilously close to Bryan’s most sensitivearea.“HOLY SHIT!” comes his astonished response as he looks up to see the diminutive frame of Melody standing over him, a disapproving look on her face. Scrambling to his feet, hands firmly covering his groin in a protective posture, Bryan cowers behind Alex and Justin to inspect for any damage.
Unable to contain their amusement Alex and Justin start in on Bryan. “Hey, did you just get to second base with a dead chick?” comes the opening salvo from Alex. “First set of melons you get your hands on and they arealready past their expiration date” comes Justin, giggling at his own witty jab. “Oh, oh, and he finally gets a knob job and the stiffest part of it was the chick.” says Alex, now shaking with laughter at the verbal assault being heaped on Bryan. “C’mon dude admit it, you got a little chub there didn’t you?” says Alex, trying to get in one last jab.