ZOMBIE UNIVERSITY II

CHAPTER 1

THE TRIO OF FRIENDS hid beneath the trees at the park adjoined to the university property.

Eduardo peered around. "It seems we're safe here. The zombies seem to want to hang out near the people."

In the distance they could hear shattering glass, as the zombies figured out that the big university dorm room housed an entire refrigerator of food for them.

Lisa watched as some of the students strategically climbed out of their windows and onto the concrete windowsills. Those who were higher up were trying to build a ladder out of clothing or fabric. There were a few who simply sat up high, waiting for the zombies to stop banging at their doors.

Occasionally, a few students would go back inside, once they felt safe.

"There's no help at all," said Eduardo, sitting on the grass, whining.

Solomon, the quieter one in the friendship group, looked around. "I hear noise in the distance. I'll bet the police and military have their hands full."

Lisa sighed and removed her backpack from her shoulders. She peered inside. "Typical. Muffin has disappeared again."

Eduardo rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you named that zombie rat. You should have killed him."

She looked angrily at him. "It's not his fault."

Eduardo glared back at her. "Really? Because he may have been the start of the zombie plague."

Solomon shook his head. "It's probably something more complicated than that. I'll bet someone has been doing experiments that they shouldn't have been doing."

Lisa's eyes widened. "You mean here on campus?"

He shrugged. "It did seem to start here."

Eduardo looked back at the university. "But it spread so quickly from here to down the street where the city is."

"Well, people are mobile," Solomon replied. He looked at Lisa. "We have a temporary fix, at least for the moment. But how can we convince a bunch of young people to be willingly bit by a zombie, so we can cauterize the wound?"

She scrunched up her face. "Let me think. We do need to get back to the bio lab, assuming it's not overrun by zombies by now."

Solomon stood up. "We could leave notices around campus." He pulled his backpack off and dug around in the bag. "Here!" He pulled out some felt markers and a notebook.

Lisa nodded. "We could direct people towards the bio lab. If you can get the notices up, I'll head over there to get the equipment set up."

Eduardo piped in. "And I guess someone will need to lasso a zombie so that you have a plague carrier to bite all your friends?"

The other two looked at him and smiled.

He sighed. "And I suppose that is going to be me, am I correct?"

Solomon patted him on the back. "You got it dude!"

Lisa smiled. "Thank you for volunteering! But it will still be one of us three to bite the students. I have zero knowledge of what would happen if a zombie bit them, even though we could cauterize the wound quickly. I do not know if it would work the same way."

Eduardo looked at her. "I wonder why it's you who was immune? Because I thought that when someone got bit by a zombie, it was just too late?"

She thought for a bit. "Well, there is always that one person in the zombie flicks who has some immunity. It's even like that in the real world. People have been exposed to Ebola and gotten it, and quickly recovered, while hundreds of others have died in three days' time."

Solomon nodded. "We're not all the same then."

She smiled. "We each have different genes. Different immune systems. If we didn't, the world would be ruled by house cats by now."

Solomon laughed. "If only! Just imagine, a world without war, or corporations. Just a bunch of cats lazing about on a gigantic blanket, eating treats. Making kittens. Having the occasional cat fight, which is basically a lot of yowling, and the occasional swipe of the claw."

The other two laughed.

"Well, it's not too late," said Eduardo.

"Oh, if only!" said Lisa. "The jerk who created this zombie virus could have done so much more! For example, found a cure for cancer!"

"Okay, back to it," said Solomon.

Eduardo smirked, knowing that he had a difficult task ahead. One that neither Lisa nor Solomon would have been able to handle themselves. He'd have to do it all himself.

"Okay," Eduardo said, standing up. "We're going to have to agree to meet at the biology lab in about one hour's time."

Solomon had already started working on the notices. Then he had a thought and dug around in his bag again. "Maybe two hours? I want to get as many of these notices up as possible."

"Right," said Lisa. "I want to check my blood under the microscope again. And maybe Muffin will show up, as I have a second idea. Oh, and I need to collect my blood to inject into the victims, er, subjects, I mean, volunteers. That might be a better option than us biting them."

Solomon started laughing. "You're hilarious! But yes, a second two hours of time. Eduardo?"

He nodded. "Fine. Because I'm going to have to figure out how to get one of those darn zombies to cooperate. And I need some rope to secure him inside the lab."

The trio of friends checked their watches, then set a time two hours ahead to meet in the biology lab. Should anything go wrong, they had two other locations to meet at.

"And sadly," said Lisa, "there is no time."

Solomon peered curiously at her.

"I really wanted to go to the library to do some studies on viruses and vaccines."

But over near the picnic tables in the park, there were two zombies racing after one of the female students.

"Hey, Eduardo, maybe grab one of those boys?" said Solomon in a joking manner.

"My point taken," said Lisa, grabbing her backpack and heading in the direction of the bio lab.