Undead School

Chapter Two: Fight or Flight

 When Drake had announced that zombies were coming, at first, we were complete blustering idiots. No one knew what to do, until Drake took matters into his own hands and went into the gym storage. We had no idea what he was doing until he pulled out a cart full of heavy, metal baseball bats.

"Take these, and get armed." He said, and it was hard for me to believe that it was the same Drake Hendricks I had once known. He was always quiet and reserved in class, now I was seeing him take charge of something.

Rae tried to convince Will that he shouldn't fight and should let his wound heal, but Will refused to be useless and took a bat alongside Rae, Carmen, Jason, Drake, and I. My heart pounded as we stood at the gym entrance.

Drake may had done the arming, but Will came up with the idea that we should stand at the entrance to the gym and hit them before they have the chance to spread and surround. That way we could control what happened and see exactly how many were coming.

It was a good plan, and everyone quickly agreed to the idea. I kept making notes of things that would have to be done. Mats could be used as beds, and the other gym entrances would have to be blocked off.

I was almost so zoned out when the horde of undead creatures started entering the gym, that I was hardly aware of their presence. With Drake at the head, we all took turns closing our eyes and bashing in the heads of the zombies.

That is, until they broke through. My idea to block of the other gym exits was completely justified when the doors burst opened from the pressure of another twenty zombies, all scattered the way that Will's plan had helped us avoid.

That was another thing that I tried to keep note of, even in the middle of a crisis. The zombies are smarter than we have given them credit for. It was a startling note for sure, and we all charged forwards at various speeds and various levels of enthusiasm. Carmen and Will on the back end, while Drake and I moved first, ready to take on the horde.

I swung my bat straight into a zombie's head and he it dropped to the ground quick. I smiled at the dead zombie at my feet, and then shivered. Being happy with my kill had scared me. I turned and watched Drake take out two zombies, one by sweeping his legs out from under him and stomping on his head, the other with a perfect baseball swing to the side of the head.

All around me my friends and Jason were fighting the zombies and I snapped back into it, fighting for my life. Fighting for survival. Fighting for Evan, who I still vowed to find.

How did we adjust so fast?

For me it felt like my old karate classes that I took before Mom died, and even then I knew that the zombies meant freedom for me. Freedom from my dad, my job, and all of the stress I have been bearing these past months.

Soon enough we cleared the zombies and worked with Drake to remove them from the gym, which was going to soon be our living space. After we finished the job, the five of us sat in a circle in the middle of the gym and made a plan.

Jason was, apparently, kind enough to show up. Not kind enough to actually listen to anybody. Eventually he just propped up a mat against a wall and called it a tent. We all ignored him.

"How are we going to deal with the other gym entrances?" Carmen asked, "We obviously need to do something about it, other wise we could have the same problem again."

"You are right." Drake said. "You and I can work on barricading the doors." The two of them left to get tables and gym equipment that could be used to barricade the first two doors. The one closest to the back exit and farthest from the school is the one we chose to keep.