Zombie Attack! Rise of the Horde (17 page)

“That's an amazing story,” Benji said. “And you've been
close to your brother ever since?”

“Yep,” I said. “I trust him with my life. He's about the
only person left I can say that about.”

“I hope you can say that about me one day then,” Benji said
with a smile.

“I'm sure that day will come, little man,” I assured him.

“Can we pull over? I need to go to the bathroom.”

“One or two?” I asked.

“One,” he said tentatively. “I think . . .”

“I know what you mean,” I said. “We've been in the car a
long time. I'll tell you what. The sign said we are almost to the 101 split. We
can pull over when we get to the coast and go on the beach.”

“I'm not going to make it that far,” he warned me.

“Why didn't you say something before then?” I tried to hide
my annoyance but I was too tired.

“It just kinda crept up on me,” he said defensively.

“Fine,” I said. “We'll take this next exit. But you better
keep your eyes peeled. If you so much as think you see a zombie, we're flipping
around and you're holding all the way to Ventura.”

He nodded, holding his pants and squirming. I pulled the
battered truck down the off ramp and toward a side road that ran parallel with
the highway. In the distance, the first rays of sunlight were starting to come
up.

We drove down a small street that dead ended at a private
school. It had a huge field and a large parking lot full of cars.

“What is this place?” Benji asked in surprise.

“Looks like one of those fancy schools for kids whose
parents are extremely rich,” I blandly commented.

“Why are there so many cars?”

“I don't know,” I said. “It's a bad sign though.”

“It is?” Benji turned to me in surprise.

“Cars mean people,” I explained. “So where did they go?”

“Maybe they’re hiding in the school,” Benji suggested. “Like
a commune. Maybe they've stockpiled their resources and are surviving until
help comes.”

“Maybe,” I said. “And maybe they’re all zombies now. Maybe
the whole place is crawling with hungry, undead monsters just waiting for us to
walk through those doors so they can snack on us.”

Benji swallowed hard.

“Do you think so?”

“I don't know. We have to be careful.” I turned the truck
around and pointed it back toward the way we'd come. If things did go bad I was
planning on driving back up the off ramp rather than looking for the freeway
entrance. I put it in park, set the brake, rolled the window down, and got out.
Benji followed me. I could feel pins and needles shooting through the lower
half of my body. We'd been traveling for so long; I hadn't noticed that my legs
had fallen asleep. I grimaced as I forced myself to walk them back to normal.

“Are you just going to leave it running?” Benji asked.

“It's not like anyone is going to steal it,” I said,
immediately regretting my choice of words. Now if someone came running out of
the bushes and took off in the truck I would feel like a total moron. I shook
the feeling off. More than likely if we saw someone they'd already be dead.
Stealing the truck would be the last thing on their agenda, right after eating
us alive and picking their teeth with our tasty bones.

“Besides,” I continued, “I'm not so sure it will start up
again if we kill the engine.”

“It's barely hanging on,” Benji agreed.

“Right,” I said. “So this way if something happens we can
run back and jump in the truck and take off right away. Worst case scenario is
you lock yourself in and take off without me.”

The large American flag above us whipped freely in the wind,
drawing our attention.

“I'm scared,” Benji said.

“I'm here,” I said, drawing out my blade. “Let's just get
this over with as quickly as we can.”

We walked slowly up to the front of the school and opened
the doors. The hallways were empty upon first inspection. Part of me wanted to
walk around the school, do a full sweep of the grounds, but the urgency to go
to the bathroom overwhelmed me. Inside the hallway were doors clearly marked
Men
and
Women
. I walked cautiously to the end of the hall. Peering around
the corner I found both sides empty.

“Do you see anything?” Benji whispered. He was nearly
dancing around now and holding his pants at the crotch.

“Looks clear,” I said. I pushed open the bathroom door and
checked under the stalls. The place was deserted.

“Hurry,” Benji said, now literally hopping back and forth.

“Okay. Do your business but don't waste any time. I’ll keep
watch outside the door. If you hear me yell, you pull up your pants and get out
of there. Got it?”

“Got it,” Benji said, pushing past me and running into the
stall. I shut the door to give him some privacy. The hallways were eerily
quiet. I understood that we were basically in the middle of nowhere but it
didn't make sense to see all those cars just sitting out front.

Maybe there was a football game or something,
I
thought.
Maybe they parked their cars and took a bus to a sporting event.

Looking back toward the way we came in, I noticed a huge
cross hanging above the door.

It's a Christian school
, I thought.
Maybe they
were all raptured
.

A loud flush quickly pulled me back to reality. I heard the
water go on in the bathroom as Benji washed his hands. I propped the door open.

“Everything okay in there?”

“Better than ever,” Benji said.

I took my turn while Benji waited outside. It was nice to
have a moment's privacy even if I was too paranoid to really enjoy it. I
cleaned up and walked back out.

“I'm hungry,” Benji said when I came out.

“Well that didn't take long,” I countered.

“Can we search the school for food?”

“Feels kind of like we’re pushing our luck,” I said.

“Puh-leese?”

“Okay,” I said. “But at the first sign of trouble we’re high
tailing it back to the truck and getting out of here. Agreed?”

“Yeah,” Benji agreed.

“If I so much as see a dead body, I am out of here,” I
threatened.

We set off into the school at a snail's pace. It was just
too much to believe there was no one there. We searched all the classrooms but
all I found was a flask of whiskey in one of the teacher's desk drawers. We
ended up in the teacher's lounge. I opened the fridge but knew the minute the
door swung open there was nothing edible in there anymore. It smelled horrible,
like a pile of rotting tuna fish sandwiches.

“What about the cafeteria?” Benji asked as I gagged and shut
the door. “Or maybe some of the vending machines?”

“Good idea,” I agreed.

We popped a couple of the machines on our way and grabbed
handfuls of junk food. Both times I waited to see if the sound of breaking
glass would attract anyone, but there was nothing. So far as I could tell, we
truly were all alone.

The cafeteria had a bunch of frozen food that had gone bad.
There were tins of dried pasta and sauce but we'd have to cook them and I
wasn't comfortable sitting in one place that long, even if we could get a fire
going.

“What about these?” Benji pointed to two large tins that
read FRUIT COCKTAIL on the side.

“They’re better than nothing,” I said. We rummaged around
and found a can opener, then peeled the top off one. I grabbed a ladle and
Benji used a wooden spoon. We sat down and ate the sugary concoction of
peaches, pears, and cherries without conversation. When we were both too full
to take another bite I stood up and turned on the water. It was cold but clean.
I rinsed my face and gulped down several refreshing handfuls. Benji followed my
lead. I could feel the life returning to me.

“Did you ever think you'd be so happy to eat canned fruit?”
Benji asked. We both laughed. Then I heard something. I froze in place. Benji
saw the look on my face and turned his body toward the door. I motioned for him
to stay still. We sat there for a while, not making a sound.

“What is it?” he whispered.

“I don't know,” I said. “It sounds like a radio picking up
static.”

I took out my sword and held it in front of me as I walked
toward the sound of the noise. Behind the kitchen was a small hallway leading
to the gymnasium. The doors were closed. There was a smell in the air that
reminded me of an old campfire that had burned out. I held my hand out to
signal Benji to stop. He froze dead in his tracks. I leaned over and peeked
into the gym through a window in the closed doors. I lowered my sword when I
saw the bodies spread out on the floor.

“What is it?” Benji asked.

“I found the people,” I said cheerlessly. I tried the door
but it was locked. “Stand back.”

Benji stood against the wall and I kicked the doors several
times to try to get them open. They held fast together despite my best efforts.
Loud booming sounds echoed down the hallway with each kick.

If there are any zombies here they'll know right where to
find us now,
I thought.

I gave the door one last kick with everything I had in me.
The door popped open and the stench of the dead bodies hit me full in the face.
I fell over and threw up sticky peaches in syrupy nectar. Benji helped me back
to my feet.

“The smell doesn't bother you?”

“I'm used to it,” Benji said. “I mean, as much as anyone can
ever get used to it. What happened here?”

We walked into the room, stepping over the bodies of whole
families—parents and kids alike. Their faces were purple and swollen, and
their eyes bulged horribly out of their heads. I found the radio and shut it
off. In the middle of the room were the remains of a large fire and several
empty bags of charcoal. I knew what had killed these people.

“Carbon monoxide poisoning,” I reasoned. “That's what killed
them.”

“What?” Benji asked. “How did that happen?”

“They tried to light a fire in here,” I noted. “I don't know
if they were planning on cooking or just trying to stay warm. With no
ventilation, it didn't take long to kill them.”

“How is that possible? This place is huge!”

“It doesn't take much,” I said. “We used to do a lot of
camping. One time this old couple next to us in the campground put their
barbeque away under their trailer, thinking the coals were extinguished. They
went to bed with their windows closed because it was cold. The coals reignited
in the middle of the night. The fumes came up through the floor boards and
killed them in their sleep. They looked just like this when the paramedics
showed up to take them away the next day.”

“How'd they know to look for them?”

“Ranger found them,” I said. “Came around to collect the
campground fees and when they didn't answer he got nervous. I guess he could
smell something funny. Smelled just like this.”

“Is it safe to be in here?” Benji looked around nervously.

“Yeah,” I said. “It is now. They look like they've been dead
for a while. That's why there are so many cars in the parking lot. They
probably came here to wait out Z-Day together thinking there would be safety in
numbers. They were listening to the radio for updates. More than likely they just
got ready for bed and went to sleep but never woke up.”

I glanced around until I found a well dressed man. I bent
down and rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a set of car keys with an
alarm.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting us a new ride,” I said. “Thanks, buddy.”

We headed back outside toward the parking lot. There was
still no sign of life anywhere, but I was less worried now. If zombies had been
here they'd already discovered there was no food for them. It wasn't likely
they'd be drawn back by the smell of two random teenagers over the scent of two
hundred plus rotting corpses. I held the keys up in the air and pressed the
alarm over and over. Finally a dirty black Cadillac Escalade chirped.

“Let's hope the battery still has some juice left in it,” I
said as we hurried over to it in excitement. I hopped in to the plush leather
interior and shoved the key into the ignition. Instantly, it came to life. I
felt like fighting back tears as the air conditioning hit my face on full.
Benji climbed around in the back seat.

“Look at this,” he said, holding up cans of energy drinks.
Turning around I saw that there were cases of water, energy drinks, and diet
soda.

“Nice going,” I said. Benji smiled. “You leave anything in
the truck?”

“Just that
Metallica
tape,” Benji said.

“This thing has a six disc CD player in it,” I said. “It's
not going to do us any good.”

We drove back out the way we came and got back on the
highway. There were no signs of life along the way and I was grateful. Despite
being knocked-out tired it felt good to be in a luxury vehicle instead of that
broken down truck. Benji grabbed us both a couple of sugar free Red Bull's and
we knocked them back as fast as we could. I tried turning on the stereo but it
just kept telling me the GPS couldn't find the satellite so I shut it off. I
was definitely going to miss that
Metallica
tape.

In less than ten minutes we turned onto the 101 freeway and
made our way down to the sparkling ocean. I noticed we only had a half a tank
of gas. That bothered me. The Escalade was a real gas guzzler. There was no way
we were going to make it to Hueneme without stopping to refuel. I wasn't sure I
would make it much longer without sleep, Red Bull or no Red Bull.

“So what's the plan?” Benji asked.

“I'm thinking we should try to stop in Santa Barbara. Look
for gas and food.”

“Jackson is from Santa Barbara,” he said.

“Oh yeah?” I thought he was just making conversation.

“He's got a mansion on the beach,” Benji said. “I saw it in
People magazine. It's in an exclusive gated community. The whole neighborhood
is probably deserted.”