We Are The Hunted (Book 1): We Are The Hunted

by Matlin, Perry T.

  "Did you just hear that?" Peyton asks, as we all look in the direction of the noise. It sounded like a horde of animals, or worse. It sounded like an army of the dead is marching upon us.

  "Yeah. I'll be right back. Stay here" Paul says, before running off in the direction of the back of the building. I look around nervously, and just wonder what's going on. After a few minutes of silence, I begin to pace the lobby.

  I notice that Brooke is silently crying, as she leans against the wall. I head right over to her, sliding down the wall to sit beside her.

  Peyton surveys me, before walking over to the snack machine. She pulls a dollar out of her pocket, and deposits it. I look back at where Paul disappeared. Where is he? He should've been back by now.

  “Brooke… what’s…” I begin, but are you okay? That sounds so lame in this situation. Of course, she isn’t okay.

  “I just feel like we’re never going to get home. I just want to see my boyfriend, oh my god, what if he’s dead?” she says, her face is pale, her breathing ragged.

  “Brooke, I’m sure… I bet he’s… I know” I end up saying, not wanting to give her false hope. She continues to cry.

  “You know, we were gonna get a place together. He’s two years older. He’s been working for the college maintenance department, and they were gonna let him live in a dorm for free. We were gonna be together on our own” she says, the tears running down her cheeks. Peyton bangs on the glass of the machine, as we talk.

  “That sounds like a lot of fun” I tell her, wrapping an arm around her. She leans into me.

  “All I wanna do is get home. I just wanna get home to tell him” she says, and I’m struck with curiosity.

  “Tell him what?” I ask her gently, not wanting to push her too far.

  “That I’m pregnant, right in time for the freaking zombie apocalypse” she says, the tears worsening now.

  “You’re pregnant? Congratulations” I say, even though I know how hard this will be for her.

  “Thanks, I just…” she begins, but Peyton cuts in, making us both jump in shock.

  "My stupid dollar got stuck, Auntie Brooke!" Peyton whines, and I look at the machine curiously. Brooke wipes the tears, our conversation from her face, before standing up. She walks over to Peyton, as I follow close behind. I look at the vending machine, my eyes find the pack of bugles behind the glass and I think of Emily. Why aren’t they here yet?

  I take my phone out of my pocket, and dial Emily's number. Pressing it to my ear, I wait for her to answer. It rings, and rings. After another few seconds, the voicemail begins. I hang up, just as Paul comes down the hallway. His eyes are full of worry, as he joins us. I can see that something is seriously wrong.

  "There's a ton of them back there" he says, and I follow him back. We walk down a long hallway and come to a stop just at the back doors. There at the edge of the woods is a huge collection of the dead.

  They are stumbling over each other, and some of them are being trampled, but they are getting closer to the building. Where will they go, when they reach the building? Will they go through? A scream echoes through the building, and Paul takes off toward the noise. I linger momentarily. Just looking at our imminent doom. I take off after him, but he's nowhere to be found, when I reach Brooke and Peyton. That's when the thought strikes me. I look around, and find an umbrella lying beside the machine. I run over to it and lift it above my head. Brooke walks over, her hand blocking my path.

  "The noise will attract them even more you know" she warns, but I go ahead anyway. We'll need the supplies if we have to stay in here anyway. We can't leave if we're surrounded. I hit the glass of the vending machine, but it glances off the first time. I then go at it again, and this time it shatters under the force of my strike. The noise is crippling.

  I jump back as glass rains down on the floor. Peyton wastes no time, in jumping in the midst of it, and grabbing all the snacks she can. I smile, as she fights for the snacks. Paul comes around the corner at that moment, and he takes a single look at the situation. His eyes roll angrily, before he flashes them at me unhappily.

  "What the hell are you trying to do?" he says, his voice hushed, but no less angry than if he had screamed it at me. I step back stung by his hostility. Tears sting the corners of my eyes, as he looks at me sternly.

  "Whatever. It doesn't even matter" I say, tossing the umbrella down, and running from the room. I can hear him following after me, but I don't stop. I open the first door I come across and slam the door behind me. I'm in an office with a desk. I sink into the chair and begin to cry. I cry into my hands. I hear the door open, but I don't look up.

  "Ben what is the matter with you?" he asks, crossing the room to sit on the desk. He looks down at me, but I look away. He snorts briefly, before leaning back to speak.

  "Are you really not going to speak to me?" he asks, and I just turn away from him. I'm not trying to be childish, but I really cannot look at him, and I sure as hell can't speak right now. I'd lose control, if I tried. I just shake my head and spin slowly in the chair.

  "You know you kinda have to speak to me at some point, right? We do have to talk about holding hands, don't we?" he asks, and I stop. I look at him for a second. Then I do something I didn't think was possible, I smile.

  "You can't just bring it up to cheer me up though. We actually have to talk about it" I tell him, and he reaches for my hand. That's when I see his pinky raised. We briefly do the pinky swear thing. It feels like the old days, like all the times we did this as friends, as partners.

  "I promise, but let's get the hell out of here first. Deal?" he asks me, his face lit up with happiness. For a moment, nothing is here. The dead aren't gathering, and we aren't on the verge of dying. He's just a boy, I’m just a boy and he's smiling at me. He's lighting up my whole entire world. He’s flooding me with sunlight.

  "Let's load up on snacks, and then we'll figure something out if the others aren't here yet" I tell him, and he nods in agreement. I jump up, and we head back out of the office. I follow him back to the wrecked vending machine, where Peyton has expectedly scooped up all the snacks. I keep thinking of Emily, of Riley, of Drew, of Ryan. I hope they’re okay.

  "Good job kiddo" he says, giving her a head scratch. She frowns but smiles right after. I laugh. At that moment a noise stops us all. A large noise. It sounds like the bustle of a town square, but then another noise fills our ears. The sound of a car horn honking. Who would be honking? Is it the others? I turn around and take off running toward the door.

  The others follow behind me. I have to know if they’re safe. The nerves within me begin to mount again. My happiness is set in stone for now, but the nerves are still there. I carry my body as fast as my feet will take me. I need to see them, I need to prove to myself that they are alive, that they are okay, untouched, unharmed.

  EIGHTEEN

  I run right up to the front doors and see that the other two cars are here. I exhale with relief, before seeing the onslaught of the dead. I pull the doors open, just as they all run in. There are dozens of the infected spilling onto the sidewalk out front. I turn around, as Peyton runs around the corner, and into Chase's arms. Paul runs up, the umbrella in his hand. I reach for it, before shoving it into the handle of the doors, so it can't open. I turn to face everyone.

  We are now blocked in by those monsters and have nowhere to go. What are we going to do now? I look at their faces, as they all mirror my thoughts. We are about to die. We've made it this far, and now it's all going to end. We are about to be extinguished as easily as a candle. Our lives fading into the darkness, never to light the world again.

  "What are we going to do?" Brooke asks, and I look to her. She is looking at me, a slight bewilderment in her eyes. She is scared. I don't blame her, now that I know the burden she carries, the fear she holds.

  "We have to figure something out. I did not come this far to die here" Chase says, stepping up to take the lead. I feel as if my voice is gone. My stomach is fluttering, and I
may or may not need to throw up.

  “What happened to your hand dear?” Lily asks suddenly, shifting the focus to Brooke’s injured hand.

  “I… when we were getting away from those people, they shot at us and one hit me in the hand” she says calmly, looking back to me. I know she’s panicking.

  “Let me look at that honey” her mother says, joining her in front of me. I watch as Lily inspects the wrapping.

  "We have to figure out a way of bypassing them, so we can get to our cars." Drew explains, coming to the rescue like always with a direct plan. I seem to come back to life in that moment. I have an idea.

  "What if we found a way out of the back of the building, and come around to our cars?" I suggest, and Chase snaps his fingers happily. Emily moves over to stand beside me at that moment. I wrap my arms around her immediately, thanking God that she’s okay. I breathe in her scent, feeling my body relax.

  "You guys okay?" I ask, looking over at her. She nods, a sad smile on her face, as she looks around. We’re interrupted at that moment by Chase, so I turn back to him. I need to give this my full attention. This is vital to our survival. We need to make it out.

  "Let's all split up and find a different way out besides the front door, okay?" he says, and I nod, before taking off down the hall. I hear someone following me, so I slow to turn and look. Paul decided to come with me, as did Emily and Thomas. I turn, as we reach the end of the hall. I look into each of their faces.

  two of you take the left, and I'll go the right, okay?" I ask, and Emily volunteers to take the other route with. I run down the right hall, as Thomas follows me down. I look, for any way out of the building. We eventually come to a stop at the end of the hall. I see a door that looks to lead outside, so I open it. We're in a garage type room.

  "What the hell is this?" I breathe, as the door closes behind us. Thomas moves to stand beside me. We're looking at a large empty room, with a garage door half open. There are no infected outside this area either.

  “Do you think this will work?” I ask him, my voice a whisper. It occurs to me how weird it is that we are partners. I remember when he was twelve, when I caught him in my room. I was always so rude to him. I have the urge to apologize.

  “It should, if none of them find their way here before we leave” he says.

  “I’m sorry Thomas” I say suddenly. He looks at me curiously.

  “For what?” he asks me, his lips tight with confusion.

  “For how I’ve always treated you” I explain, and he seems to realize the tone.

  “You don’t have to… Thanks” he says, changing course mid-sentence. “Why didn’t you ever like me though?” he asks after a second. I peer out at the trees, as we stand at the bottom of the steps.

  “I don’t know, I guess you were just a little much at times, and I always thought you’d be homophobic” I admit, coming to terms with my own judgments.

  “I never thought of you any less, when you came out. I actually… you actually were really… Ben you inspired me” he tells me, his voice sounding husky.

  “What do you mean?” I ask him, my head whipping to face him. He’s looking down at his hands, as the wring themselves.

  “I’m… I was… I’m bisexual and you coming out was so important to me” he admits, and I blanch. Did he just come out to me?

  “You’re… really?” I ask, my voice filled with shock. He laughs at that, dipping his chin.

  “That time you caught me in your room, I kinda already knew you were gay, before you ever came out. I guess I had this weird crush on you and was fascinated by the idea of you” he admits. This is the single most shocking conversation I’ve ever had.

  “You have a crush on… me?” I ask him, dumbfounded, as we stand there. The urgency is forgotten for the moment.

  “Had a crush. I haven’t in a while. I guess you were just the first gay guy I was ever around, and I was just so obsessed with everything you did” he explains.

  I’m just about to say something else, when I see a flicker of movement beside me.

  “Ben move" Thomas shouts, as he yanks me to the side. We tumble over each other, as I'm pulled away from two infected that seemed to have snuck up on us. How did that happen? I roll onto my side, springing back to my feet, as the two monsters approach us. Thomas is back on his feet, just as he grabs a crowbar. We back away from the things, as they stumble at us, blood spilling down their chins, as they ramble on incoherently. One of them makes a dart at me, but Thomas takes the chance, and brings the crowbar down upon the thing's head. It crumples to the floor.

  The other one dances sloppily, as it approaches us. It manages to trip over its friend, and we take the chance to run back the way we had come. We can't come this way. Just as I'm closing the door the first batch of infected find their way under the garage door. I slam the door behind us, before leaning against it.

  I look over at him, and he smiles breathlessly. Emily and Paul come running up at that moment. I look to Emily and see that something isn't right. She waves for us to follow, so we take off running. I look around, as we follow the hall right back to the very front of the building. I notice a few things as we skid to a stop. Everyone is back together and standing with their backs to me. I look to where they are staring and see with horror that we are running out of time. The dead are now upon the structure. They are banging against the glass doors, their ugly faces pressed right to the glass. I shudder as I see the greasy stains they leave with their obscene mouths. That's not even the worst of it. The glass is wavering each time they hit it.

  "We only have another minute or so, and that glass is going to give way, so we only have that long, until we all meet our makers. Does anyone have a plan yet?" Lily asks.

  "I have something that might work. It's going to be difficult, but it's better than standing here until they devour us. We have to get out of here quickly though" Chase pipes up, taking the lead again. I really like his leadership actually. It's very useful.

  "What is your plan?" Drew asks him, his voice firm, as another crack skirts across the glass door. He looks to it, then to Riley as well, before taking a step toward his her. Riley looks at me worriedly, as we wait with bated breath. Chase launches into his plan, but I'm not able to listen this time. This time I'm worried. I'm worried that our entire group will be killed. I’m worried that as soon as that glass gives way, we will all be dragged down, devoured, and killed by those monsters.

  "Then we can climb out of the windows, and we'll be free. It will work, if we do it soon." He finishes, and I look around again. He seems to sense the panic rising in the room. I vaguely hear Peyton crying, just before another fissure skates up the glass. That's when I become hyper aware of the weakening glass. We have to do this right now. We have to move right now, or the plan won’t work. If we don’t go now, we’ll all be dead within five minutes.

  "Okay, so let's get this done. We need to hurry, or we're not going to have time to do what we need to do" he says. I nod, before taking off. I skate through the offices, and all of the other rooms. Trying to find any supplies, while the others do the same. I come across a locked door and stop before it. Drew comes up behind me and kicks the door off its hinges. I avert my gaze, as he pulls me back. I look up into his eyes. We both saw that scene, and we have to live with that. There in the locked room was a mess of gore and blood. It looks as though a family died in the room. They locked themselves in, and one of them must've turned. It's a horrible scene, so I close my eyes, and walk away from the scene of carnage. Trying to push the smell from my mind.

  “Just picture a happy memory, just picture something good” Drew says in my ear, as he helps me steer away from the mess.

  “Do you remember when you and Riley got into a fight over ice-cream flavors?” I ask him dully. He laughs at the memory.

  “Yeah, and she bought both flavors, but still continued to argue” he says, completing the memory. I smile, feeling the nausea lessen a little. It’s working.

  “What about
when you worked at the restaurant with me for that month?” I ask him, referring to the time my dad was in the hospital after surgery. Drew helped me run the restaurant. We slept there, we ate there, we lived at that damn place for five weeks.

  “Yeah, I never want to eat pizza again” he says with a laugh. I hear his voice in my mind say the same thing. That was before he dates Riley. That was when I started developing feelings for him, when Paul and I weren’t together.

  “I miss those days” I tell him, remembering him hugging me, me feeling giddy. I remember him telling me about his brother dying. It was such a good time for our friendship, before he became wrapped up in my sister.

  "Are we ready now?" Chase asks, as we all file back into the lobby. We all nod silently, ever aware of the glass that now looks like a million shards held together by nothing more than children's glue. I shiver slightly, as the glass makes a slight screeching noise from another assault. I can't believe this is about to happen.

  "Okay, well someone has to stay behind to let them in, and then we can get out, as they flood the place. We need this to work perfectly, or we won't get to the cars" Chase says. I nod. Unable to help myself.

  "I'll stay behind to make sure they get in, and then I'll run into the bathroom right when the glass is done. I can do this" I say, feeling my stomach lock. I hear several people protest, but Chase looks at me with a look of pride. I can tell he is proud of me, and my bravery. I smile at him, ignoring the people trying to fight me.

  "I'll stay with you then" Paul offers, and I nod, knowing he is just as stubborn as me. The others agree, before reluctantly leaving us alone in the lobby. I look over at him, and he smiles at me, before reaching over to take my hand into his. I can tell he is scared. We stand there, as another groaning noise comes from the glass. I look into his eyes, as he stares out at the beasts before us. I can feel myself shaking, as he stands beside me. We stand there, serenely quiet, as we just wait for the inevitable. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the world to stop turning as we know it. We've been dealing with this new world for a few days, but now it feels real. It feels like we've finally opened our eyes to this new life, and now, now we have to face it. Now we have to open our eyes, and step into the light. We have to face this new world.