Dead America - Ground Zero

CHAPTER NINE

The group of six stood at the doors to the courtyard, staring through the glass with somber trepidation.

"Okay," Brandon said in a low voice. "I see one set of doors about sixty yards away. If they're locked, do we have any other options? Windows we can break out? Another set of doors? Anything?"

Candace shook her head. "That's it, on this side of the building, anyway."

"What's to the right?" He pressed his face against the glass to try to see, but the angle was impossible.

"It's the main walkway through campus," the blonde explained. "I can only imagine the shitshow that is at the moment, so I would recommend we avoid that at all costs."

Brandon took a deep breath and stepped back from the glass. "So, if we can't get in through that set of doors, the only other option is to run to the left and to the parking lot?"

"Yep," she confirmed, "pretty much."

He sighed. "Fantastic."

He checked his weapons, prompting to two armed students to do the same. Gwen gripped the spear, not having wanted to not have a weapon for this journey.

"Okay, listen up," Brandon said, straightening his shoulders. "We're gonna bust out of this door quick. Matt, I want you to run as hard and fast as you can do those doors. Candace and I are going to cover you, and our flanks as you get up there." He gave each of the gun-toting students a hard look. "Shoot only if necessary. As soon as that first shot goes off, we're gonna be made, and we don't have much of a window to begin with." He waited for their nods of understanding, and then glanced at the other three. "Okay, everybody ready?" There was a round of more nods, and he put his hand on the door. "Here we go."

He waited for Matt to lower into a springing position, and then threw open the door. The young man ran hard, not paying attention to anything on his left or right side, just focusing on the door. His only mission was the door.

Brandon and Candace trotted after him, staying at a jog so that the others could keep up. Gwen kept her spear pointed away from her face, suddenly wondering if it was a good idea to be running with such a sharp object. The door slammed behind Kenny and Phoebe, and a chorus of groans and shrieks rose.

"Hurry!" Brandon urged, keeping his eyes on Matt to make sure they were covering him from potential threats.

"Kenny!" Phoebe squealed, and there was a thud as she fell to the ground. He turned and dove into the throng of zombies about to overwhelm his girlfriend. The motion caused them to stumble back into their brethren, tripping up a few, but enough of them were hungry enough that one managed to bite into his arm as he tried to help Phoebe up.

He screamed in pain as his girlfriend screamed in horror, gripping his wrist for dear life and struggling to get to her feet. The remaining horde crashed into him, toppling the whole tableau down on top of the young woman.

"They're lost, keep going!" Brandon cried, tugging on Gwen's arm to get her legs to move. They caught up to Candace, the blonde wincing as the sounds of the young couple's screams grew muffled under the rapidly growing dogpile of rotting flesh.

Matt finally reached the door and yanked, his heart leaping into the heavens as the latch clicked and the handle turned. He headed in, handgun first, sweeping back and forth to be ready for anything coming his way.

The blast of sudden sunlight hit a bloodied corpse in the face, and it opened its mouth into a gurgling scream before tearing towards him. Matt fired, hitting it in the chest, and let out a frustrated yell before emptying three more rounds into the monster before finally catching it in the forehead.