Crowded Yet Desolate: A Zombie Novel (9 page)

Ryan waited for help, scared that if he moved it would manage to bite him before he could move away. Finally, Joe came to his aid, shooting the zombie in the head. Ryan exhaled, relaxing his burning muscles, and rolled off the zombie and onto his back. For a moment he lay there, looking at the sky. Joe extended his hand, and Ryan took it, standing to his feet. Ryan had been right. The darkness made this battle quite different. There were only a handful of zombies on the ground, but the group had barely survived: traveling at night was no longer a good idea, Ryan noted. The cover of darkness seemed to favor the undead. He had always heard that when one sense couldn’t be used, the others would compensate, but he wasn’t finding this to be true. Humans rely too much on their eyesight.

This was no time to make excuses, though. The gunshots had attracted more zombies. Ryan could hear the approach of the relentless beasts, coming from any direction. The absence of light was once again their worst enemy.

Ryan suddenly froze, attentive. Through the darkness came an unfamiliar voice. “Hello! Is anyone out there? We can help. Hello? Is there anybody out there?”

Chapter 10

The voice called out again, and the group made their way towards it. As they ran, guided by the few lights that the city provided, Ryan was uncertain whether they would find the source of the voice or a group of zombies in the dark distance.

Panicky and out of breath, Ryan yelled, “Where are you?”

The voice returned, “Over this way! Look for a preschool. Hurry!”

Ahead of Ryan, Roe turned, moving backwards, and said, “I know it. Follow me.”

Roe took a right at the next intersection, and the orange glow of the street lamps planted in the median revealed along the street a large group of zombies staring dumbfounded at the sky. Ryan wondered where these things were coming from, as there seemed to be far too many for this small town. Opening fire could attract more, but Ryan, not seeing that they had a choice, clumsily swung his rifle from his shoulder and opened fire. Many of the others followed suit, but the twins ran on without firing, making Ryan believe they would have chosen the discretion of the blades over the firearms. Ryan noted this and moved on. The group successfully picked off the zombies in their path, and their speed allowed them to outpace the monsters that chased after. When Ryan ran out of bullets, he un-holstered his pistol–no time for reloading–aware that he was going to be a lousy shot while running in the dark.

Before Ryan’s first clip was empty, Roe had led them to the school’s property. Ryan could clearly make out the rectangular school from which the voice had beckoned, could hear the voice still calling from inside, but he could not make out the man who owned the voice. A small road encircled the building, presumably where parents had picked up their kids only a few days earlier–Ryan doubted it would be used again–and the lush green at the front of the school led to a parking lot on the right. A floodlight revealed not only the
Huntwood Preschool
sign, but also the multiple zombies that still pursued behind them, and a few that loomed between them and the entrance. The twins chose now to open fire, making quick work of the zombies that blocked their path. Joe and Roe ran through the double glass doors of the building, where an old man stood beckoning them to safety. Ryan reached the door next, but instead of entering, he turned to aid his comrades.

Cam, Kyle, then Albert were on the verge of reaching the building, but Tavaris and Kayla trailed behind, the baby now in the Tavaris’s protective arms. A zombie was closing in on them. That he had an equal chance of shooting them as the zombie never registered through the adrenaline. Ryan opened fire, the gun’s powerful recoil lurching his hands back. The bullets whizzed by Kayla and hit the zombie’s thigh. It tripped momentarily as the muscle of the leg shredded, and his companions pulled ahead.

When all were safely inside, the glass doors were shut and moments later, the undead slammed against it with no concern for their well being, sandwiching one another and beating their fists against the glass. Their bloodied claws scraping against the glass reminded Ryan of how Deborah dragged herself across their apartment floor. Ryan looked away. Great, he thought, they had blindly decided to trust this man, and now they were cornered in a building with glass windows and doors. Were they actually any safer?

Their breathing sounded heavy under the low ceilings and rebounding of the tile floors.

Joe, through his breathing, said, “You’re either the most generous man I’ve ever seen, or the dumbest.”

The old man’s smile was small and firm, but his eyes were full of kindness. He turned and walked with a limp down the hall, his gray hair thinning at the top of his head. He spoke in a steady voice. “Don’t worry. It will hold. Come this way.” He limped down the hallway, and Ryan, with a final glance behind him, decided to follow. The hallway ended at a set of double doors that led to an outdoor playground. On each side of the doors was a flight of stairs, one of which was barricaded with school desks and tables. The group followed the man up the open staircase.

On the second floor, the old man pointed out the candles that lined the hallways, telling them that though some of the town still had electricity, they had lost theirs earlier that day. He led them through a set of double doors on their left into a modestly lit cafeteria. Tables were folded up and pushed against the wall to create a large opening in the middle. A group sat in this space, a small boy, two women, and an older couple, all gathered around a small lamp. The old man invited them to take a seat.

“The name’s Bill,” he said. “I’m the principal of this school. And this here is my grandson, Jaden,” He patted Jaden on the back, who looked up at his grandfather with a large smile.

“Hi.” Jaden beamed at the newcomers, then returned to his toys. It was obvious that Jaden was being kept in the dark about the atrocities outside these walls. Although he knew it was silly, Ryan felt a smidge of jealousy.

Bill continued: “Let me introduce you to two of Jaden’s favorite teachers: Miss Jackson and Miss Thomas.” Jaden gave an approving nod, and the two smiled and waved cheerfully. Ryan would have to work on his acting skills to match these two. “And you may recognize our governor and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.”

Mr. Bennet, a handsome man in his late forties with obviously dyed brown hair, exerted the effort to stand, wearing his full suit and tie, and walked over to shake each of their hands. When he reached Ryan, Ryan had the urge to slap him in the face and tell him that this wasn’t a damn election. But he followed the governor’s example, mimicking a fake greeting.

As the governor returned to his wife, who was littered in an outrageous amount of jewelry, Bill turned to the newcomers with an ironic grin. “It’s our town’s little secret that the Bennets spend much of the year here. And now they’ve graciously offered to join in on the slumber party.” He looked down at Jaden, who cheered without looking up from his stack of blocks and army men.

Mr. Bennet said, “I believe we should bring our welcomed guests up to par with the way things work around here.”

“Of course, of course.” returned Bill, rubbing the palm of his hands down his shirt. “Ms. Jackson, Ms. Thomas, would you mind taking Jaden to his room? To play.”

“Not at all,” Mrs. Jackson said.

“Oh. Could you please take Sammy?” Kayla asked hesitantly, pointing at her baby.

“We would love to. Come along dear,” Miss Jackson said, walking past Kayla and taking Jaden by the hand. Miss Thomas took the fussy baby with her, and they all left the cafeteria.

With them gone, Bill’s countenance changed and he spoke sternly, the principal coming out in him. “The first rule is no one is ever alone. We uphold the buddy system. Protection is key. We stay quiet, and we preserve our candles. There are three staircases. All but one has been blockaded with desks and tables.”

The sternness suddenly faded to exhaustion as he sighed and blinked furiously. The bags under his eyes were visible against the dim power of the lamp. He placed his palms against his stomach where they remained. “We don’t have any weapons or any form of protection at all. We’re sitting ducks here. Our only choice has been to stay hidden.” He furrowed his brow, and Ryan realized that, unlike Joe suggested, he was neither dumb, nor generous; he was desperate. “You don’t need to worry about them breaking in, though. The glass is bulletproof. We had it installed after a custody incident a fear years back.” Bill became silent, apparently finished.

Ryan asked, “Is this all that’s left of the town?”

There was silence as Bill appeared to prepare himself. “As far as we know . . . yes.” He swallowed. “School was about to start when I first saw those creatures. I could see it all from my office . . . frozen, I–I didn’t know what to do. At first I was taken back, and I didn’t understand what was really happening until it was too late, that is if I ever really came to understand. Anyhow, I called the police. But–but they said there were dozens of other similar incidents occurring and that they couldn’t help. I should’ve known then . . . ” He took a deep breath as tears began to stream down his face. He dabbed his cheek with his sleeve. “Some students were already here, so we called their parents. I should’ve made them stay. As each one left, it got worse and worse outside . . . I saw a child beaten to death by her parents . . . these monsters were coming from every building, from every corner, like some horrible movie.” He tightened his fists and stared at them. “I should’ve done something, should’ve helped in some way. But what could an old, handicapped man like me do? Well, I did the only thing I could. I gathered everyone who would listen to me, but only the Bennets had the sense, and I locked down the school. In all of my years, I’ve never seen anything so, so . . . ”

“Fucked up” Cam said. This description appeared to appease Bill well enough.

Joe and Roe then took turns relaying what they knew of the outbreak and everything they had seen in Atlanta. Ryan noted that the three didn’t even blink when the twins identified the infected as zombies.

“It’s worse than I imagined,” Bill said when they finished. “The TV made it seem like everything was under control.”

“I assume the television is out,” Kyle said, half statement, half question.

“Yes, along with the power. It’s probably for the best. Apparently it’s been full of lies.” The others looked at Bill, gloom anticipation on their faces. “You really want to know what the TV said? Fine. But you’ll be sorry.” He morphed into a principal again. “After we locked down, we were glued to the television. For the longest time, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. The local news was trying its best, but it was dangerous out there. But there was nothing in the national news. No breaking news, no alarms. They had to know what was going on, surely the world can’t be this blind to pain. But nothing ever appeared. It feels like the government put a hush on this whole thing.”

“Outrageous,” said Mrs. Bennet, shaking her head. “Why would the government do such a thing?”

“Really, woman?” Cam asked. “Ever take a history class?”

“Woman, eh!”Mrs. Bennet said.

“Everyone, please. Use your inside voices,” Bill said. “In high stress situations such as these, in which we’re all confused and scared, emotions will run high and our tempers will trigger easily. Let’s please stay calm.” He paused a moment, as if to let his lesson sink in, then he began again. “My sincere apologies, Mrs. Bennet. Maybe I jumped to a conclusion.” She stared into the air, hesitant to forgive the remark. Ryan wanted to smirk but couldn’t find the will in the heavy atmosphere. “Anyways, at first there was no mention of anything abnormal. Then sometime in the evening, the talking heads announced riots in Atlanta: no footage, it wasn’t even a full-length piece. It was just mentioned in passing. And that’s far from the end of it.”

Everyone leaned in unknowingly. “Some time later they announced that the riots were fundamentally inspirational and that they had spread to Charlotte.” Everyone was on edge now, waiting to hear more. “That was all we saw before we lost power.”

Sitting back, Ryan tried to make sense of this new information. How could the rest of the nation not know what was happening? Was the government really trying to keep this quiet, and if not, where was the help, the rescue? Were they on the verge of another Katrina?
The virus had spread all the way to Charlotte. That’s three states infected in forty-eight hours . . . Is Joe right? Is this really the end of civilization?

“Is there a generator?” Albert asked, unsatisfied.

“Yes, but we have to go outside to turn it on, and it’s too noisy to be safe.” Albert looked disappointed, but the wrinkles on his forehead persisted as he thought.

“There’s nothing we can do about any of that,” Ryan said. “What’s our plan now? Where do we go from here?”

Silence. Averted eyes.

“We don’t have a plan,” Bill said. “We’re simply surviving. That’s all any of us can for the time being.”

“So we just sit here and rot?” Cam asked.

“No, my dear boy. You’re mistaken,” Mrs. Bennet said instructively. She moved her hands as if giving a lecture. “We’re not rotting here. We’re waiting.”

“Waiting for what?” Cam asked, his growing contempt for her barely hidden.

“The police, the Government, the military. Some sort of action. It’s only a matter time before they find a solution and come to our aid.” Mrs. Bennet nodded, a confident smile across her lips.

Ridiculous
, Ryan thought. Maybe she was not willing to admit that the government had possibly suppressed the news, but surely she was not deluded enough to think that government would run along any minute now with magic de-zombie guns. Ryan kept his thoughts to himself. What good could come from disturbing the little peace they had inside the school? The eminent danger need remain outside.

After the woman finished her speech, the twins could not hold back their laughter, which echoed throughout the cafeteria, strangely macabre in the dim cone of light cast by the lamp. “Lady, you’re nuts,” Joe snorted out. Mrs. Bennet snarled. “I’m still waiting on my first bail-out. Don’t hold your breath for a second one.”

“I will not have anyone speak to my wife in this manner!” said Mr. Bennet.

“Ah, there’s the governor we all know and love,” Roe said, smirking.

So much for keeping the peace
. Ryan knew he had to intercede before a fight broke out. He stood up and whistled, wondering where this assertiveness was coming from. “Guys, come on, get your shit together. Now’s not the time to be quarreling over stupid political differences.” The four looked ashamed and apologized. Ryan sat, crossed his legs.