They waited. There was nothing else for it. They’d been told to sit quietly and wait for the orders to get up and move. Caitlyn was beginning to wonder if this was all going to end anticlimactically. If they were just going to end up sitting there until the herd wandered on down the road. If that happened, they’d be separated again, and their chances of an escape would be diminished. As bad as she wanted to get them out of there Caitlyn knew if an opportunity didn’t present itself soon, they’d end up separated and sent back to their rooms. She was hoping by being obedient and sitting quietly throughout this event maybe they’d earn a little trust from the principal.
The principal, or warden as Myriah and Caitlyn were both starting to think of her as, was currently up at the front of the auditorium talking to a man dressed from head to boots in camouflage. The soldier was carrying an assault rifle and had other weapons strapped to various parts of his body. The grip of a samurai sword stuck up over the man’s shoulder adding a samurai vibe to his get up. The sword made a lot of sense. It was quiet and never ran out of ammunition. Caitlyn mentally added finding a martial arts supply store to loot to her ever growing to do list.
Myriah and Caitlyn had almost given up on getting an opportunity for escape when the muted sounds of automatic gunfire drifted into the hushed auditorium. The hush descended into a dead silence as all the conversations immediately stopped. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths. They all knew what it meant. The soldiers carried rifles with them but would never use them except as a last resort. Shooting the rifles meant Zombies would be converging on this spot from miles around. Shooting meant that everyone needed to clear this area as quickly as possible if they wanted to live. Shooting that rifle was the desperate act of a man with his back against the wall. That meant the situation outside the building must have turned into a total shit show.
The principal turned and calmly addressed the group in the auditorium.
“The situation outside has obviously gotten pretty bad. You all know with those shots fired we need to get out of here immediately. Follow me out to the south exit and we’ll get out of here. We have to hurry. Maintain noise discipline and follow orders and we’ll all get out of this alive.” Without speaking another word, the principal marched over to the door on the opposite side of the auditorium and disappeared through it.
Doreen yawned and climbed down off Caitlyn’s lap. She grabbed Ali’s hand and they started following Myriah towards the door leading to the hallway to the south exit with the rest of the group. Caitlyn was thinking fast. She knew they’d just be evacuated to another building similar to this one where they’d be separated once again. If she wanted to get them all out as a group, this might be the only opportunity they got. The swarm slamming into this building may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for them. Or, at least she was thinking they needed to bet on it being a good thing.
Caitlyn reached out and grabbed Ali’s hand. She called out quietly for Myriah to stop as well. When she had all their attention, she told them they were going to go the opposite direction. All of them looked like they were going to question her on it, so she just picked Doreen up and spun on her heel to leave. Doreen snuggled into her and Caitlyn told her to just go along with whatever she said if they got stopped. Myriah grabbed Ali’s hand and walked up beside Caitlyn. She looked like she wanted to say something but was holding her tongue.
“Hey. You girls need to follow the main group towards the south exit.” The guard who’d been with the principal had walked over to them.
“We just need to run back to the room really quick. Our little sister left her picture of our mom and dad on her bed. It’s all we have that shows them. It’ll only take a us a minute to get there and back. We’ll be fast.” Cailyn responded. She felt Myriah’s appraising eyes on her. The guard seemed to take it in stride.
“Ok. You have a few minutes before everyone makes it to the door anyway. Go now and hurry back. If you don’t see the picture as soon as you get there don’t waste any time looking for it.” The guard looked like he may be thinking of tagging along with them. More gunfire had him turning and running out of the room towards the source of the gunfire though.
Caitlyn led the girls out into the eerily lit hallway and set a fast pace towards the exit on the opposite side of the building from where the principal was headed.
“Are you sure about this Cait? We’re basically running towards a mob of Zombies. I want to get the hell out of this freakshow place too, but this may not be the best time to do it.” Myriah asked Caitlyn as they walked. The flashing red light given off by the emergency lighting system making this place look like a haunted house. The sounds of screaming and weapons fire was getting louder as they moved towards the north exit adding to the haunted house effect.
“We may not get another chance.” Caitlyn replied as they kept moving. Caitlyn’s insides were twisting all up. Now that she’d gotten her sisters to follow her out into the hallway, she was second guessing the whole idea. Why had she thought this would be a good idea? Now they’d never get another chance to all be together and make a break for it. She was sure the principal would find out they’d left. Maybe if they turned around right now, they could get back before they were missed too much and in the confusion it might all blow over.
It looked like Myriah was going to say something else when the door at the far end of the long hallway flew open. Sunlight suddenly bathed that end of the hall. The screams of the damned trying to get in and the sounds of the weapons of the defenders rose to a fever pitch. It was impossible to hear anything with those doors open. The silhouettes of men backing into the door were visible from where they stood. The men backing in were firing their weapons as fast as they could to try and hold back the onslaught of the swarming Zombies. In the few seconds Caitlyn stood still taking it in she saw one man get pulled into the mob and disappear. The other two turned and started sprinting in their direction.
A massive flash at the end of the hallway almost blinded her. Luckily, she’d been looking at the opposite wall as she started turning and yelling for Myriah and Ali to start running the other way. She ran along behind Myriah and Ali down the hall. Doreen bouncing on her shoulder. The noise in the hallway had reached a fevered pitch. She couldn’t hear anything except gunfire and Zombie screeches. More grenades went off behind them as Myriah began trying the first door to the auditorium. It was locked. Caitlyn hit her in the shoulder to tell her to follow her and ran to the other door that should open into the auditorium.
The second door swung open easily. They all rushed into the large empty room. Without breaking stride, they ran hard for the door that would take them to the south exit. They left the room just as two of the guards came rushing in and locked the second door. The two guards quickly turned and ran in the same direction as the girls towards the south exit. They were stopped when they got in the hallway by the need to turn and fire off some rounds at some Zombies who’d managed to work their way around the building into the south hallway.
Caitlyn and the girls ran out of the south exit right as the guard at the door was shutting it. It was the same guard who’d allowed them to go back to the room to grab the picture Caitlyn had lied about.
“What took you so long? Well. Let me get this shut and try to wedge something into it really quick then I’ll take you to the boat.” The guard said as he looked around for something to keep the door shut. He spotted a big trashcan and dragged that over to the door. He put it in front of the door then had the girls follow him through an open gate in the chain link fence up a small dirt pile into the brush on the other side of it. He’d taken a few seconds to secure the gate before leading them up the hill.
Caitlyn and the girls scampered up the hill after him. Briars and weeds catching at them and slowing them down. Their long hair was not a benefit when trying to move through weeds that reached easily over their heads. They ended up on a path that took them down to a small clearing. The principal and a few other people were standing arou
nd listening to the approaching screeches of the Zombies. A pontoon boat was pulling into the small dock at the edge of the clearing.
“There you guys are! I heard you wandered off and I was hoping you’d make it back ok.” The principal knelt down to give Ali and Doreen each a hug. Then she gave a wary looking Myriah a hug as well before pulling an asp out of her belt and facing a panting, sweaty Caitlyn. She flicked her wrist and the metal rod extended to its full length. Caitlyn saw what she was doing but was too slow to react as the principal swung the asp and connected with a solid blow to Caitlyn’s arm.
Caitlyn winced in pain and launched herself at the principal. She didn’t have any weapons but if she could get close enough, she was going to rip the bitches eyes out of her sockets. The principal swung the asp again and connected with the side of Caitlyn’s head. Caitlyn went to her knees in pain. Her ear split open and bleeding. She could feel the blood running down the side of her head.
Myriah jumped in to help her sister and was slammed to the ground by the guard. He kicked her in the stomach hard and she doubled up in pain. Caitlyn looked up as the principal pulled a pistol and aimed it at her head. Ignoring the pain in her head Caitlyn snarled out a challenge and threw herself at the principal.
Shots rang out. Myriah tried to sit up but the pain in her stomach was too much for her. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she gasped for breath. Tears of sorrow for her sister. Tears for herself now that she’d be alone in this world. A man in camouflage came over and picked her up. The man threw her across his shoulder then stooped down and grabbed Doreen. Myriah watched while the other guard flung Caitlyn across his shoulders and then started running into the weeds away from the pontoon boat.
Ali jogged along with the two men carrying her adopted sisters. She ignored the dead and bloody bodies lying all around them in the clearing. The principals dead eyes stared sightlessly into the sun peeking down through the foliage above her. The driver of the pontoon boat slumped lifelessly over the steering wheel. The brief firefight had attracted the attention of the Zombie mob swarming the base. A large group of the Zombies broke off and started heading that way along the outside of the fence.
Chapter 29: Trailer Trash
He couldn’t find a car that’d run. The numbness from his very last pain pill was wearing off. Every step he took it felt like someone was jamming hundreds of red-hot needles into his feet. He was dying of thirst, but his throat hurt so bad he could barely drink. He needed to find a place to crash. He needed help getting better. Kyler knew his best chance was to make it back to the base where trained medical personnel could take care of him. Assuming the base had survived the massive Zombie train he’d lured by it.
He was feverish. He thought he could see the asphalt coming up out of the road and buckling in little waves. He had enough of himself left in his head to understand that he needed help, or he was going to die. He stopped walking and looked around. There was nothing. He was in the middle of a road surrounded by a million trees. A small road through the backcountry like any of a thousand other small roads scattered across the state. The kind of road you drove mindlessly down in the old days with one hand fiddling with the radio dial as you searched for something to take your mind off how boring the drive was.
Kyler reflected on his situation as he trudged down the middle of the road. He decided he’d take boredom over excitement any day in this new normal. Excitement typically meant someone, or something was trying to kill you. Normal humans had been replaced at the top of the food chain by their infected brothers and sisters. The strap of his rifle was heavy. It rubbed on the red, blistered, angry looking skin on the back of his neck. If Kyler had bothered to look in a mirror, he’d have been shocked at just how bad he looked.
His skin was covered in little blisters everywhere that’d been exposed when he was in the woods by the fire. His clothes were hanging off of him. His feet were covered in the ridiculous flip flop sock covering he’d made for himself. This covering had now been augmented with all kinds of briars, leaves and dirt. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d shaved or brushed his teeth or put on deodorant. The rough beard that was growing in on his face was patchy due to the burns he was covered in.
He kept walking. Every step wracking his body with pain. He wanted to just lie down in the road and die but his pride wouldn’t let him. An hour later he spotted a turnoff coming up. Without giving it a ton of thought he took the small road that branched off into the woods when he got to it. The road led to the ‘Happy Springs Trailer Park’. Kyler wasn’t sure if the place was truly happy or not, but he figured the more trailers the more likely he’d be able to find one with supplies he could use. What he needed was rest, a few gallons of water and then to find a working car he could drive out of here. This walking crap had to go.
The first trailer door he opened hit him with a stench so putrid he fell off the stairs trying to back away from it. He lay on his back in a weed covered gravel driveway vomiting. He hadn’t eaten or drank anything in a while, so he was pretty surprised at how much he was able to puke up. He lay in the driveway for what seemed like forever. His own vomit slowly drying on his shirt. He heard some large rodents or cats or something shuffling around under the car in the driveway. He hadn’t even bothered trying to see if the car would run. It looked like it’d been out of commission before the apocalypse had ever even become a thing. A lime green Sentra sitting on four flat tires. It was the perfect complement to any trailers gravel driveway. He wondered why it wasn’t up on blocks sitting in the front yard yet.
He painfully got to his feet and limped around to the front yard then back out to the road that wound its way through the trailer park. Everything was overgrown and dilapidated looking. Some of the trailer homes had been tipped over by some storm at some point and now they just leaned precariously over or were actually laying on their sides. Whatever state mandated tornado wind straps or whatever they were supposed to have obviously not standing the test of time against mother nature. He limped past a couple of trailers that looked pretty beat down. Passing them up he headed towards a double wide that looked like it might actually have kept the rain on the outside of it.
He hobbled up the cobble stone path from the driveway to the front porch of the double-wide. The stairs leading up to the door were made of concrete blocks. They may have been neat and orderly at some point but now they were crooked and covered in weeds. It looked like there was a pretty decent gap between the top step and the door itself. He figured he would deal with that once he got to the top of the stairs. Slowly and carefully he walked up to the top of the stairs. He reached out and turned the knob, but the door was locked. Of course, he thought. He’d hate for anything to be easy.
He took out his knife and jammed it in the side of the door moving it down until he popped the lock and the door opened up a few inches. It stopped abruptly when he tried to push it farther and he realized it must be stuck on a chain lock on the inside. Most chain locks he’d found out didn’t stand up to a solid kick on the door. The screws that held them in were typically short little screws. They’d rip out as soon as a decent amount of pressure was placed on them. Balancing on the rickety top step he realized there was no way he was going to be able to actually kick the door given the state of his feet.
With the door kicking option out he settled for pummeling the door with his fists and cussing. The cussing wasn’t all that poetic sounding since his throat still hadn’t healed from sucking down all the smoke in the forest fire he’d barely survived. All he wanted to do was find a bottled water and a couch to crash on. He didn’t think that was too much to ask. After all he’d been through, he really felt the cosmos could give him that gift. Getting more and more pissed at the door he started hitting it harder and harder. He was thinking about putting a few rounds into it when the chain lock finally gave. He heard a zing noise as it pulled loose from the door jam.
Feeling like he’d finally gotten a win he took a step into the trailer to check it out. He�
�d made so much noise beating his way in that he knew any Zombies inside would’ve already made their presence known trying to get at him. All the physical exertion on top of his weakened state had also made him extremely dizzy. He knew he should clear the place better but settled for just stepping in and hoping for the best.
The baseball bat hit him right in the nose sending him stumbling painfully backwards out of the house. His foot got caught on the door jamb and he tumbled backwards down the hard-concrete stairs. His body exploded with new levels of pain. His face was covered in his own blood. His burnt skin was protesting painfully about being stretched so much again. He’d just fallen out of the last trailer less than twenty minutes ago. Looking up he saw a dark-skinned woman come out the door holding an aluminum baseball bat in her hands. Behind her another woman was staring down at him.
“Finish it off! Before it gets back up.” The woman in the shadows of the trailer was saying excitedly to the dark-skinned woman holding the baseball bat. The woman walked carefully down the stairs holding the bat over her head. She looked like she was ready to land the killing blow. What part of Kyler holding an M-16 did she not understand? He had a pistol belted right to his side as well. Fighting back the urge to puke he worked the M-16 around to aim at the woman.
Zombies! (Book 3): Violence Solves Everything Page 26