Zombies flood into the closet. The first thing I do is take the bleach and start splashing it everywhere, being careful not to let it touch myself or Katie. It takes out a considerable amount of corpses, or at least blinds them. They fall to the floor, clawing at their burning eyes and skin. Once the bucket’s empty, I stab and slash with my knife. I leave the pistol in its place in my shorts, trying to reserve bullets. Katie’s beside me, mumbling to herself. Confused, I shout over the moaning groaning crowd of corpses.
“What, you’re talking to them?” The thought makes me chuckle. Excuse me, pardon me, sorry, oh- that’ll leave a mark...
“No! Kill streak! Eight… Nine… Ten! Eleven! Twelve…”
I shake my head. She’s crazy! My arms are starting to get tired. Most of these zombies are slow moving, but damn! They’re hard to kill! I manage to get through the crowd, though. I look back, seeing Katie struggling with quite a few of the monsters. I run back to help her. I stab one of them in the back of the head. I use my legs to sweep one of the zombies off their feet, then kneel down and give it three good stabs to the chest to be sure that it won’t be getting back up. I stand and see that Katie’s disabled the rest of the monsters on her own.
“Twenty seven,” she states, proudly. She’s bending over, her hands resting on her knees, almost out of breath.
“Congratulations,” I say.
We have no time. Another flood will be here soon. We take off down the stairs again. What we see makes my heart drop to my feet. This can’t be happening. We waited too long. We were too slow.
As we reach the last flight of stairs, a crowd of flesh eaters awaits us. They’re everywhere. There are too many to count. The crowd stretches as far as I can see. Katie shoves me backward and we both stumble back up the stairs to the second floor. We turn the corner and start sprinting down the hall which leads to the cafeteria. In the lobby by the auditorium, zombies are making their way up the stairs from the doors below. We run to the kitchen. Raiding the drawers, we gather as many knives as possible and store them in the waistbands of our shorts. Then, we run back to close the door and get into the cafeteria.
It’s slightly uncomfortable, running with knives in my waistband. I can feel the sharp edges cutting into my skin, but it doesn’t hurt too badly. All the adrenaline coursing through my veins numbs the pain.
Once we’re in, we close every door we possibly can. Once I reach the last door, I have to kick a zombie back. On the other side of the glass, the entire floor is covered with corpses. Crawling, walking, limping, and pounding on the glass. We’re lucky that they don’t know how to open doors, but this won’t hold up long before the glass shatters.
I run to the other side of the cafeteria while Katie searches the place for any unwelcome presence. Just as I’m about to open the door that leads down to the band and chorus rooms, which is also a door that leads outside, it bursts open. I pull my gun and aim, ready for another flood of carcasses.
Instead, it’s a familiar, non-zombie face staring into the barrel of my pistol. I lower it immediately.
“Hayley!” She looks terrified.
“Abby?” A look of relief floods her eyes.
“What… how did you…”
“Long story.” She looks back; making sure that door is closed.
“Are you being chased?” Stupid question. I already know the answer.
“I could hear them coming. I ran before they got to me.” On cue, we hear pounding on the door Hayley just came through. Perfect.
“Are you here alone?” She must hear Katie rummaging through the kitchen for snacks.
“No, but don’t worry. That’s just Katie.”
“Katie’s alive, too?” She asks, incredulously.
Before I can answer, Katie comes strolling out with a chicken fajita in one hand, and an energy drink in the other.
“Hayley! What’s up, man?” Hayley and I look at each other. Typical Katie.
“Ah, nothing. Just trying to survive.” Hayley says. I can’t tell if it’s sarcasm or not.
“Hey, us too!” Katie laughs.
“Are we going to stand around and catch up, or are we going to start planning our escape?” I demand.
“Sounds like someone’s grumpy. Does Abby need a little snack?” Katie heads back to the kitchen to get Hayley and I some grub. I turn to Hayley.
“Look through that window. How many of them are there?” She turns back and stretches her neck to try to see down the stairs.
“I’d say somewhere around sixty,” she estimates. “Is that…” She chokes on her words and snaps her head away from the window. I felt bad, but Katie and I had already gone through this. Recognizing a once-living friend in a crowd of recently deceased zombies is one of the most heartbreaking moments one can experience.
I feel a little bit of hope. Sixty zombies? We could take them. “Alright,” I say confidently, “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to get you a weapon, and we’re going to charge down those stairs and out that door that leads to the parking lot out back. Then, we make a beeline to the police station across the road and see if it’s safe.”
“What if it’s not?” Hayley asks, weakly.
“Even if there are no living people there, they’ll have guns and ammunition. We’re going to need those. We can’t rely on knives anymore. Hand-to-hand combat isn’t safe.” I’m trying to seem confident. I’m hoping she doesn’t see how horrified I really am.
Katie comes out of the kitchen with more fajitas and drinks. We sit down for a little bit to fuel up and let her know what my plan is, and she agrees that it’s the best chance we’ve got.
We hear the glass starting to crack on the doors behind us. We need to get out of here. Now. We get into the kitchen and grab Hayley some knives of her own. She doesn’t look comfortable using them, but she’s going to need to be brave now. We all stand in front of the door and get ready for battle. I look behind me and make sure Katie and Hayley are ready, too. They both nod, letting me know they’re ready. I muster up a weak smile, give them one last hopeful look, turn back toward the door, and kick it open.
