Operation PHOENIX

Escape Plan

I could not see anything. It was totally dark. But the stench was unbearable. Suddenly, a light emerged in the distance. It was faint, but it illuminated enough of my surroundings. I was in a long, narrow tunnel. There were rotten corpses covering every inch of the floor. I started walking towards the source of the light. I figured it would be the end of the tunnel. But the light never grew any bigger. It felt that the more I moved towards it, the more it moved away from me. The walls seemed to be moving closer to me as I moved forward. Suddenly, the light in front of me turned into a face, my mothers face. I felt something brush my arm and I jumped up in reflex.

I woke up with a start and realized that it was a nightmare, a horrendous one. Its all too much confusing when reality is as scary as a nightmare. Waking up from my nightmare, I had startled Serena. She asked me if I was okay. I nodded and looked around the room. I had crashed on the living room couch since Kiara and Serena had occupied the only bedroom in her house. I finally looked at Serena while she walked to the kitchen. She was wearing blue shorts with a yellow top. The tight shorts, her toned legs I couldn't get my eyes off her. I was practically ogling at her with my mouth open.

Stop staring, perv! I turned around to find Kiara walking out from the bedroom. She had a playful smirk on her face. My face went red. I shrugged off her comments and ushered to the washroom.

After eating our breakfast in silence, we gathered in the living room and discussed what to do next. We realized that the only way we could leave the city was to divert the zombies away from the road. Kiara came up with a plan. We need to create a diversion. They were attracted towards the road by the fuel truck explosion. The best explanation for this is that they must be attracted to sound.

Serena jumped up from the couch, startling both of us. I have an idea! I have an idea! she cried in excitement. I looked at her dazzled by her untainted exhilaration. There was a spark in her eyes, those blue, almond-shaped eyes. In that moment, she didn't look like someone who had lost her everything just two days back. Go on! I urged her to continue. We can use the church bell, she chimed.

I thought about it for a second and realized that it was indeed a great idea. The church bell is audible throughout the city and it is about a mile from the road. Now the only thing we needed was a silent vehicle to get away from the church after ringing the bell. I suggested we use bicycles for that purpose and the girls agreed.

After we planned our ingenious escape, we finally set out from Serena's place. The first stop was Pablo bikes, the nearest bicycle store. The bike store raid was quite uneventful. We each took a bike and set out for the next part of the plan.

The church bell was operated from inside the bell tower. Unlike everything else in the city, the door to the bell tower was locked. In contrast to what television shows and movies will have you believe, breaking down a locked door is not easy. I was racking my brain to figure out a way to enter the tower, when Kiara stepped forward and opened the door with her hair-pin. I stared at her dumb-struck. I never knew she could do that. Kiara was always the simple, hard-working type. She looked at my stunned expression and explained, You-tube teaches many things. I was still surprised but I dismissed it for the moment.

We entered the tower. It was a small round space with just a single pulley arrangement in the center. There was a lever which I figured would be to operate the bell. I turned the lever to the other side and the pulley and rope arrangement creaked, followed by the familiar sound of the church bell. For a moment, it felt like I was home with my parents and listening to it.

We spurred towards our bikes and sped towards the road. When we reached the site of the explosion, it was empty. We relaxed and sped out of the city on our bikes. Our plan worked, we finally escaped!