Dead Quarantine (12 page)

The tall one was close behind other. The
zombie fell forward. Ralph threw himself sideways and fell
facedown. He spat dirt as he crawled back to his feet. The zombie
got on its knees. This was his chance. Ralph rushed forward with
the timber held high. He smashed it down just as the zombie moved.
He missed its head and smashed its shoulder. The impact broke the
timber in two.

The zombie regained its footing, standing
two heads taller than Ralph. Ralph threw the broken piece of timber
at its head. No effect whatsoever. It didn't slow it at all. Its
arms swung in the air, searching for Ralph. One brushed hard
against him, sending him sprawling into the dirt. He lay on his
back, the zombie towering over him. This was it. As it was about to
descend on him, a sledgehammer shattered the zombie’s knee, making
it fall sideways. Ralph rolled away from its arms, still trying to
get a hold on him. Norm swung the sledgehammer again and crushed
its head.

The man had saved him again, but it also was
him who had put him in danger’s way.

“What the heck was that all about?”

“Bait. You had to distract them so I could
get the sledgehammer.”

“They could have killed me.”

“Yes, they could have, but they didn't.”

He was still alive. True. However, he didn't
like being bait in someone else’s plan. Well, at least they got to
the car.

“What now?”

Norm cast a thumb back at the office. “The
construction shack has the phone you need. Go call your momma.”

“What about the car?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Are we going to—?”

Norm laughed. Ralph quickly looked about to
make sure no zombies came, attracted to the sound.

“We? There is no we. You got your stuff to
deal with and I have mine. It's here our ways split.”

Ralph couldn’t believe Norm was just going
to leave him there. He almost died so Norm could get his truck
back.

Norm walked to his pickup; he threw the
sledgehammer in the cargo hold and got in, slamming the door
shut.

“Hey, man, don't worry. You can use one of
those parked over there. I'm certain the keys are somewhere in the
shack.”

“Come on. You can't leave me stranded like
this.”

“Yes I can. Though I'll do you one more
solid.” He turned his radio on to hard rock, AC/DC's
Thunderstruck
boomed out of his speakers. He cranked the
volume up. He slowly drove toward the road. He waved good-bye and
drove on.

A moan came from within the houses, followed
by two other ones. Ralph hid behind a wall. The zombies shambled in
the direction of Norm's pickup, which slowly led them away from the
housing project. He had them all following him. For about ten
minutes, Ralph heard the music until it faded away or Norm got
tired and turned it down. Whatever it was, he had shelter for the
night.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Sarah shuddered. It was cold. She grabbed for her blanket and
realized she was not at home in her bed or even in a bed. How long
had she been out? Her eyes fluttered open to darkness. They must
have turned the lights off after she had dozed off. Good thing too,
because a light on could have attracted unwanted attention. Some
outside light came in, casting the room in a dull gray. She could
see the whiteboard and the top of the walls, but where the light
did not reach was pitch black. She felt around her and hit someone
soft. Must be Lilly; she heard her snore lightly. The others must
have been sleeping as well.

Someone stirred in the classroom. She heard
a crunch and sloppy, slurping, eating sounds. One of them was
having a late night snack. Sarah smiled. Could it be that Tommy
finally woke up hungry and felt a need for a bite? She wouldn't
blame him. She felt hungry for the first time since being stranded
here. It must have been him; she never heard another person eat as
sloppily as he did. It normally would irritate her, but today that
tasty eating made her mouth water. God, she so wanted something to
eat.

Maybe Tommy had something to spare. That was
if he wanted to share. She crouched, not wanting to be seen from
the outside, and moved silently, not wanting to wake the others. A
tearing sound, crunching sound, and chomping. She saw a silhouette
where they had left Tommy on the floor.

“Tommy?” she whispered.

The chewing stopped. Someone slowly rose and
cocked his head. It wasn't Tommy; it was too thin to be Tommy. She
looked at his feet. Someone big lay at his feet. Her eyes widened
and she swallowed a scream. She backed away, not caring if someone
outside saw her. Her back touched the wall. She pressed against it
as if she could go through it. The thing in front of her moaned—a
sound so guttural it couldn't be human anymore.

Her throat tightened around her vocal cords.
She looked around for anything, anyone. The thing stepped forward
into a beam of light. Dead eyes stared at her. A blood-soaked mouth
made chewing motions, a piece of skin hung out the side of it. It
was George. George had woken up from death. It took another awkward
step, raising its arms, hands clawing for her.

Her heart raced, pushing her blood through
her body and sending a jolt of desperate energy through her that
broke her free from her paralysis. She started screaming. Lilly
jump up, looking around in a daze and joined her in screaming when
she saw George. The two geeks bolted for the door. Wooly hair
flipped the lights on, his friend opened the door, and without a
second look behind him, he disappeared out the door. The girl,
Emily, exited after him. The zombie closed in. Sarah could smell
its rotten flesh.

“Hurry,” wooly-haired guy yelled at
them.

Sarah grabbed Lilly's wrist and ran. She
ducked under the zombie’s arms. Its body slammed against her hand.
She had to let go of Lilly. The zombie stood between them.

“Run!” Sarah screamed.

The zombie turned toward a frozen Lilly.

“Run already.”

In terror, Lilly shook her head, uttering no
and backing herself in the corner. George zombie shuffled closer,
moaning franticly, as he descended on Lilly. Lilly's eyes were wide
in terror. Her face was placid. She must believe she woke up in a
nightmare.

Sarah, without thinking, pushed the zombie.
It staggered sideways but did not veer enough to give her space to
grab Lilly. It swung an arm to grab Lilly. She fell on her butt.
Sitting on the ground, she pulled her knees together and hugged
them. She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Leave her,” the wooly guy said from the
door. “Hurry, save yourself.”

Like hell she would let her only friend
down. A rage filled her. Not caring about her own safety, she
jumped, throwing her weight against the zombie. The zombie lost its
footing and fell atop Sarah. The Zombie turned around, now focused
on her, grabbing for her. She jumped up to get away from it. The
zombie grabbed her hair and pulled. She yelped in pain. She put all
her weight into getting away, while biting the pain away. Wooly ran
up to her with scissors in his right hand. Wooly, she really needed
to ask him his name, started cut her hair.

“Get Lilly out; I'll manage by myself.”

The zombie pulled itself up, pulling at her
hair. “Give me the scissors and get her out.”

He pressed it in her hand and rushed to
Lilly, grabbing her and almost lifting her to her feet while
dragging her out. The guy had more strength than she would have
guessed. She kicked the zombie's knee. It buckled, despite the fact
the zombie kept trying to pull her closer. She cut the remaining
hair it was holding. Damn her hairdo; it would grow again.

The zombie fell on its back still holding
strands of her hair. She ran for the door. Wooly urged her to run
faster. The zombie got up and chased after her, the growling
reaching her faster than it walked. She thanked God in a quick
prayer that they were slow. She ran into the safety of the hallway.
Wooly pulled the door closed. A second, later the zombie bashed and
thrashed against it. Sarah slid down the wall next to Lilly and put
an arm around the crying teen.

“Thank you, Wooly,” she said, “for staying
and saving us.”

“Wooly? My name is Zach.”

The other guy, thin and tall, approached
with his head down. “I'm so sorry. I was so scared; I didn't think.
I just ran.”

She couldn't blame him. She was not sure she
would've stayed if it had been him instead of Lilly the zombie had
been trying to eat. “What's your name?”

“Lester, you can call me Les.”

“I'm Sarah; this is Lilly.”

It was weird that they had spent a night in
the same classroom and never introduced themselves. Now that they
had almost gotten killed, they made room to do so. It must have
been because of the shock. The irony was, why now? There was no
bigger shock than a dead person rising from the dead and chewing on
one of them. Her eyes teared up. In the thick of their fight for
survival, she had forgotten about Tommy. Tommy was dead, killed in
his sleep; he had had no chance. She felt herself grow cold. Maybe
if she had bothered more with him, or maybe if she had covered him
up, he would still be alive. At the very least, she could have
moved the corpses to another room. Then, he would still be alive,
but instead she had just curled up to take a nap. She didn't know
him. She hadn’t ever been mean to him, but how could she allow this
to happen? She cried. Lilly held her tighter, while her shoulders
shuddered. Life as she knew it had ceased to be. She feared for her
mother and brother.

Wiping her tears, she gazed around.
Something was wrong.

“Where are Vic and Mel? They said they would
join us.”

“No one came after you went to sleep,” Zach
said.

“I heard noises come from one of the
classrooms when I fled,” Les said. “Could be them.”

Did something happen? Was there another
death on her because she asked them to leave their classroom? Her
heart ached with the thought. She liked them; they were not
friends, but with Jake out of the picture, she could not see why
she could not befriend them; she could befriend them all.

Her body ached because of all the pent up
stress she held inside. She forced herself to stand. How much more
could she take before she went running from the building screaming
and not caring if they ate her? She entered the classroom Vic and
Mel had stayed in. Empty. They had gone somewhere else, but
where?

Les waited for her outside the door. “I
heard some noises at the end of the hall, maybe it's them?”

“Are you going to show me?”

He shook his head.

“Figures. If you are not going to show me,
at least tell me where exactly.”

“It's at the end of the hall to the right, I
think.”

Not saying anything else, he sat down. Well,
they all had to deal with their own demons. Hers were her own, but
she still would have liked someone to come along and back her up.
The hallway was dark, the sun hours away. The noises could have
been anything. A couple talking, a radio left on, a phone going
off, a zombie shuffling down the hallways.

“Guys, maybe you better seek shelter in
another classroom. Who knows what may still be out there.”

Les jumped up and rushed inside, almost
knocking Sarah over.

Zach came over to her. “Don't be too hard on
him. He has some issues. He's a bit awkward and stuff.” Zach looked
awkward with his wild hair and wiry arms, but he had proven he was
willing to help. She nodded.

“Could you keep an eye on Lilly and Emily
for me?”

“You shouldn't go out alone. I'll come with
you.”

Great. She would love to, but she could not
leave Lilly behind with Les. Zach just told her about how he was.
She had seen it herself. Totally unreliable. What if some zombies
came knocking, the guy might open the door in his panic for
whatever stupid reason that may look like a good idea. They all
would be eaten.

“No, please just take care of Lilly and
Emily and your friend might need some watching too.”

“Okay if that's what you want. Just take
care. I hope you find your friends.”

They weren’t her friends, but right now, she
would love if they were. No, they were more like good
acquaintances. Today, it seemed like everything she did or had
happened to her hit home like a sledgehammer. How had she wasted
the last two years? What value was there in being popular if you
had nothing to show for?

She made sure the door was shut behind her.
There would be no more deaths on her, though somewhere deep inside
she knew that from now on she lived in a world where she had not
seen her last brutal death. Most likely the last one would be her
own.

At the end of the hallway, covered in
darkness, she could barely see the walls. There were no sounds,
only the silence of a dead high school. The walls were soundproof
so as to keep sound from going in and out the rooms. It was a
requirement to be able to use the classrooms for testing. Not even
light came in or out of the closed doors. For Les to have heard
anything he would have had to be standing close to a door or
somewhere a door had been left open. To the right, he had told her.
Touching the wall, she moved forward. It was just a little longer
and she would reach the area to the main stairs where the soldier
shot Sam.

She edged along the wall, pausing at every
doorway, but she heard nothing coming from the inside. Les must
have been hearing things. Nothing was going on here. One more door
to go and she would be in front of the landing leading to the
stairs. Near the stairs, she saw a fog of black, inviting here to
come in and disappear forever. The principal’s office was on the
opposite side. She was about to turn for the door and listen for a
sound when the light in the principal's office flipped on. A shade
was visible behind the blinders. Someone was in there? A zombie? It
couldn't be; zombies did not turn on lights. Although, how could
she know for sure? Fiction was fiction; what happened in movies, TV
series, books, or comics was not real. Zombies were not real
either, but they were now and they needed not be like depicted in
fiction. They were slow, yes, and dead, and walking, but the rest
shouldn't be necessarily the same. What if zombies could turn the
lights on? The shadow behind the blinds seemed like he was
rummaging through something. A while later, it looked as if it was
drinking from a bottle. Not a zombie, probably the principal
hiding. The light turned off.