My Zombie Girlfriend

Chapter 16

It only took until two a.m., but they finally made it. The school rose up from beyond the football field, alive with floodlights run on industrial generators. Barbed wire had been strung across the top of the chain link fence that ran around the property, and a sandbag barrier with more barbed wire formed a secondary obstacle.

Wilson ran to the fence and stared in. "It's so close, yet so far," he whined.

"It looks like there are buses and ambulances up front," Zane said. "Let's just get there."

He and Ethan had traded off Ricky's dead weight for a time, but after Hunter and Dylan or Tyler carried Ricky for two hours, Zane and Ethan were back at it. "You should've left me back at the house," Ricky would moan every now and then. For the past forty-five minutes, however, Ricky hadn't said anything, and hadn't responded. Frankly, they were all too exhausted to worry about keeping their friend awake. It was enough to know he had a pulse.

"To the front, then," Wilson said.

As they neared, he turned and said, "Look, guys, we should probably put our weapons away. I don't want them to just shoot us on sight because we're armed, you know?"

"Good idea," Zane said.

They all paused and tucked guns into waistbands, or in the case of Hunter's rifle, slung it to his back. The baseball bat couldn't be helped, but Dylan or Tyler managed to get his machete through a belt loop.

At the front, military personnel formed a line, and beyond that, a line of people had formed at the school's front doors.

"Halt," came a voice over a loudspeaker. "Drop your weapons. Hands in the air."

Everyone but Ricky raised their arms. Zane and Ethan each raised one arm.

Several soldiers approached with their guns out. "What's wrong with him?" asked the one with the full beard. "Is he infected?"

"No," Zane answered. "He's got some broken ribs."

"Put him down and step away."

Zane and Ethan lowered Ricky to the ground and stepped away.

"Form a line. Arms down. Have any of you had contact with the infected?" the bearded soldier asked. He walked down the row of teenagers, shining a flashlight in each face. Zane winced at the sudden bright light.

"No, sir," Wilson answered.

"How did this one break his ribs?"

"Everybody panicked, sir," Wilson said. "There were absolutely no zombies involved."

"Zombies?" The soldier walked up to Wilson and looked down at him. "Who said anything about zombies?"

"No one, sir. I was just... uh... joking, sir."

"Whose blood is that on your pants?"

Wilson looked down. "I don't know, sir."

"You kids show up here, half of you injured and covered in blood, and you want me to believe there's no chance that you're infected?"

"Well, sir, I—"

The soldier turned on Wilson and barked, "Shut up!"

Wilson did.

The soldier gestured to the others, who surrounded them. "Take them to the decontamination unit."