My Zombie Girlfriend

Chapter 26

Computers had been unplugged and moved from the desks to the floor, the monitors like sleeping eyes. Two sturdy tables were stacked directly on top of one another, and a chair served as a stepping stool. Hunter, being the tallest, stood on the table tower and poked upward with his baseball bat.

"Just knock it out completely. Who cares, now?" Wilson said.

Hunter thrust the bat up, and the white rectangle lifted up, then twisted and fell sideways, jamming itself between the metal ledges. Hunter hit it again, and when it seemed to want to stay stuck, he whacked at it less carefully, breaking it in half. He ducked his head as white powder rained down and the broken tile pieces fell around him.

"Okay," said Wilson. "Now Rebecka, you go first."

"Why me?" she asked.

"You're the lightest. If the ceiling doesn't hold your weight, it won't hold the rest of us."

"Great. Love being the guinea pig." Rebecka nevertheless stepped up onto the chair and clambered up onto the tables without hesitation. She put her weapons down and stood in front of Hunter.

As they had practiced, Hunter laced his fingers together and Rebecka placed her foot in his, with her hands on his shoulders.

"One, two..." On three, Rebecka pushed upward and Hunter lifted her. Zane had nearly forgotten that Rebecka was a cheerleader. She held herself stiff and straight as Hunter propelled her upward, until she was eye level with the ceiling and could grab onto the metal struts. That was when Zane noticed Rebecka's bandaged hand, but Hunter was tall enough that he could push Rebecka up to waist-level into the ceiling, and then she climbed in easily.

Her muffled voice whined, "Ew, it's so gross in here. Do we have a flashlight?"

"No," Mike Snow said, but Wilson said, "Wait." He darted into the librarian's office and rooted around. Moments later, he emerged triumphant with a flashlight.

"How did you know that was there?" Zane asked.

"I volunteered in the library freshman year. Plus, if you read your school safety manual, you'd know that each classroom is equipped with a flashlight. Also with overhead chemical foam sprinklers, panic buttons, and fire exits at the front and rear of each classroom."

"You're brilliant, Wilson, but we don't need a lecture. We need a flashlight," Rebecka called down.

Wilson passed the flashlight.

It took considerably more effort to get Wilson up in the ceiling, since he was naturally awkward and shorter than Rebecka. Zane had to go up and spot him so he didn't fall off the table and break his neck. Mike went next, then Ross, and finally Zane. Hunter began passing up the weapons.

Zane and Mike lay down in the ceiling and hung their arms through the hole. This was going to be the hardest part.

Hunter grabbed the chair and stood on it. Here Zane could grab one arm, though Mike was just a few inches shorter, so Hunter had to stand on his tiptoes to reach him. The chair wobbled.

"You got me, guys?" Hunter grunted.

"Pull," Zane said.

Zane was decent at lifting weights, but the awkward position and Hunter's 200-pound linebacker frame was a bit more than he was used to. He tried to dig his knees in to pull, and felt the ceiling tiles give way beneath him.