Water Bottles and Brains

Chapter 3

With her heart pounding against her ribs, Valerie listened to her team as they described their way of surviving. She listened with a newfound pride as each member listed their job at securing survival for all of them. Even Shauna who went overboard on everything, quieted to give the other people a chance to explain their part. But she did bounce up and down with the excitement of a five year old.

It was as if this were a game to them. While, she was happy to know they were taking approaching danger with such good nature, Valerie wondered if this lack of fear would lead to the death of all of them. Was it possible that they all would die, because they were confident about their survival plan?

She shook her head, trying to dislodge the uncertainty that was flooding her senses, and focused on the girls.Shauna had them circled around her, going over their plan.

"And you, Briley, will make sure that Kody and Brendan secure the back. You know how the boys can be," Shauna laughed, prying a few giggles from the others. "And you, Era, will carry the packs of water. Who knows what the world is like out there, we may be stranded feet from our dorms without chance of making it to them." Again the group laughed. But Valerie couldn't find the humor in the words.

"Come on, Val, don't worry so much," Shauna commented.

She hadn't realized that the team had all turned to look at her. She pulled her shoulders back and attempted to look confident in everything, but she knew that her look was unconvincing. No matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't be able to feel anything but afraid. Her friends needed her to be confident, so they could rely on her like they always had. They needed her to be herself, witty and fun, easy to work with.

But she couldn't find her old self through her mask of fright. What if they died? What if she never kissed a boy? What if... She never even had the chance to go to a concert, like all other teenagers had the opportunity to.

Valerie had always loved Water Bottle Basketball. It was her life and her passion. But with the apocalypse happening and the threat of zombies eating her before the night was over, she couldn't help but wonder if she had given up her adolesence for something less rewarding.

That was when she vowed to live like she were dying. Because the truth was, she was dying. Soon. Soon, she wouldn't be able to do everything she had dreamt of doing. She would kiss a boy before she died, even if it was someone on her team and she had told herself that that would never happen. She would go to a concert, even if she had to beg the girls on the team to sing opera, knowing they would just screw it up.

She would find a way to call her mom and her dad, and maybe even her brother. She would call her grandparents and her aunts and uncles. She would call her whole family and tell them she was sorry she couldn't be a part of their life. Sorry that she had replaced their spot in her life with water bottles.

"Hey! Earth to Valerie!" Briley waved a hand in her face. Shaking her head, Valerie came back to the present, seeing everyone staring. A steady blush rushed up her neck, crashing into her cheeks.

"Sorry guys," she murmured. But if they were upset that she was ignoring them, they didn't seem to show it. They went right back to conversing around her, appearing to just want her attention for her to know what was going on.

"And this is how we shall survive," Jeremy finished. The group nodded around him.

"For Camelot!" Kody shouted, causing everyone to erupt into laughter. They had never heard of Camelot, nor had they had the gracious opportunity to watch the documentaries about the place. But they still found amusement when Kody shouted the words. It was like a team motivator.The team was down by twenty points? Win for Camelot! The team was sick of running sprints? Run for Camelot!

It made no sense to Valerie that a smile came to her face when he said those words. She was still scared witless, her heart still crashed against her chest. But she was slowly becoming at ease. She was okay with riding in the back with someone else taking control. She didn't like the idea and yet she was finding it easy to follow Jeremy's and Shauna's plan.

They hadn't left the gym yet. The plan hadn't officially been set in motion. But she did as she was told. Collected full water bottles from the cafeteria, grabbed clean towels from the storage closet, and even pulled swiped some knives from the kitchen. She didn't want to need any of the utensils. She wanted to make it to the dorms without a stitch, but something told her that that would be an impossible feat.

The team met back in the gym after collecting all their supplies. Each supply was added to a pile, that went into a bag. The Carriers, as Shauna called them, would then carry the bags when the team made their "Run for Camelot", as the mission had begun to be called.

Valerie thought giving it a name was a little dramatic. They didn't need to call it anything but survival, but she wouldn't take away anyone's fun. Even if they shouldn't be having fun when they were getting ready to run for their lives.

She worried about the slower ones on the team. The ones that had trouble doing the sprints, the ones that couldn't keep up. They would stay together as a team, but wouldn't that just endanger everyone? She felt horrible for considering leaving someone behind, but was it worth her life to try and stay together? Surely they couldn't survive if they all moved at a slower pace.

Jeremy had assured the whole team that zombies were slow. "They're dead, guys. The don't move that fast." He had seemed exasperated that anyone would even question a zombie catching up to them. But since he made that comment, the team seemed cocky.

They had a plan but was the plan good enough to keep hungry zombies from eating their brains?