Salem's Civil War (Book Five of The Silver Society)

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

"Where the hell is everyone?" Randy demanded, seeing no one but Melissa and the zombies nearby. His breathing was coming too quickly as a panic attack built. There were so many zombies he couldn't even count them, and now nearly all of his friends were missing.

"They grabbed a bunch of the others," Melissa said as calmly as she could manage while setting more zombies on fire. "Arnie and Evan got knocked down a hill... I saw the zombies grab Cassandra and Beth, and I'm pretty sure they got Jade, too... I lost track of Jesse, Alex, and Cierra... Dylan ran off to try to help Aideen, but I don't even see them now. I think we're in trouble, Randy."

"Trouble? I think we're screwed," Randy replied. "They're going to kill everyone... Including us."

"Randy, calm down. We can do this. The others need us to be strong."

"I hate zombies. I really, really do." Randy was normally incredibly tough, but now he felt like crying. Hysteria was overwhelming him.

Melissa looked deep into his eyes and said, "I know, Randy... Listen, it's going to be okay, but we won't last if we don't run the hell out of here, like, now. We can't win this alone. We have to go get help, or everyone else is dead. We can do this, Randy, but I need your help. I can't get out of here alone, and neither can you. There's too many of them."

Slowly, Randy calmed his breathing down and nodded. "Let's do this," he said.

The battle resumed. Melissa and Randy fought back to back, covering each other and torching their way through the army of zombies. The exit was in sight.

"One," Melissa said.

"Two," Randy replied.

"Three!" They shouted in unison, running for the exit.

Melissa and Randy slammed the gate shut once they were out of the cemetery. "It won't do much," Melissa said, "but it will slow them down."

"They're going to take over the entire town, aren't they?" Randy asked.

"We won't let them," Melissa replied. "We'll get to the Unit, and they'll help us stop this."

"It's too late for that," Susie said, racing toward them. "Zombies from one of the other cemeteries already got into town and took over the Unit. Skip got me out of there in the hopes that I could find help. Where is everyone else?"

"Oh God, oh God, we're dead, we're screwed," Randy rambled in a blind panic. His breaths were coming rapidly, but he couldn't seem to get any air into his lungs. His entire body was trembling violently.

Melissa sighed. "Sorry, Randy," she said softly before slapping him hard across his face. "Calm the hell down, Mr. Big, Tough Slayer Jock Boy!" She shouted. "Susie isn't a Slayer, and I've only had a little bit of training. You're the one with years of experience, and we need you to focus and get us out of this mess."

Randy stared at her in disbelief. "You... slapped me," he managed.

"Very good! You get a gold star for your wonderful talent for stating the obvious," Melissa replied. "If you get us out of this, I'll even give you a cookie."

"But... You... I... Ouch." He rubbed his cheek to emphasize his point.

Melissa started laughing. "And if you don't want to get hit again, I suggest you calm down. Look, I'm sorry, but you went all hysterical on me, and in the movies, when someone is hysterical, you slap them. And it worked. You're not babbling about how we're all doomed anymore."