Last Dawn of a Horde

Chapter Ten: The Showdown ~1 John

~John~

“James? Where’s Jules?” was all I can ask among the noise. Everyone was a nuisance, and it nearly broke our plan. No, let’s rephrase it—the plan wasn’t working at all.

I turned to Mr. Riggins, but he was quiet as he fought and slew zombies. He was the one who said we should take this way, but for barely two minutes, we had less progress than planned. The pounding of alarm didn’t seem to work as effectively as we have planned, and everyone was outrun by panic that they can’t put too much distance among themselves and the control room where we had been.

James ran beside me, carrying a short metal pole. “Where’s Jules?”

A zombie was about to take me on behind, but he swatted it away. “I was asking you that,” I tell him.

He sighed. “No worries, I know he can follow. Mr. Riggins said no one left behind will be rescued. One rule of survival, I think.”

I grit my teeth, and instead of waging my building anger to my best friend, I broke some security alarms to start with. I don’t know why Mr. Riggins had that policy when he had told us in class that unity is essential in everything. So hypocritical.

More zombies come, and they were unpredictable. Some were unbelievably fast that they looked like rabid dogs desperate to take a bite on your flesh; some were so slow you just can’t have a good time fighting it; and some were deceiving—Noe and June encountered a dead young kid of nine, and it was just baring his teeth, giving the girls a conclusion this one’s easy as pie. But it wasn’t—he almost bit Noe by her arm if it wasn’t for Jet who swiftly skewered the small kid’s head to the wall.

“Have you all watching TV shows or read some interesting comics?” Jet said. “Get them by the head, and they’ll sure to stop.”

Okay, he left, and I remembered a scene contradicting him. If you remembered the guard at school, Roger, he had his head off but he still got the opportunity to kill a poor student. Well, not of much use remembering one gory moment of my life, right?

All fifteen of us—yes, Jules wasn’t around—found the exit.

So there was good news in it: The doors are easy to open with key cards we have. But the bad, bad news was the alley was crowded with zombies—literally crowded like they want to eat the door. They were a hundred, at least?

Fifteen against one hundred.

“Spartaaaaaa!” Stanley yelled, and even though reluctant, even the girls held on to their puny weapons as the zombies finally realized there were fresh meats across them.

I didn’t want to take at least two, because one is a headache (and muscle pain, too,) and some of them were Mutated ones. The stupid mutants had sharp, jagged rocks to throw, but they hadn’t thought of it yet. They were just using it against the unyielding door—not knowing they’re only denting it.

To my surprise, Bridge blurted out, “God! June got bitten!”

I decapitated my zombies first, then I turned to Noe and June. June had a deep gash on her forearm, and it’s bleeding like her body was to empty of blood by the minute. She got pale, and Noe started to cry.

“No, no, You’ll get fine, I promise,” Noe said.

June tapped her friend. “Don’t—worry. I’ll catch up.”

I wouldn’t do it myself, but Bridge said, “You’ll not.”

Noe glared at him, and before a running zombie can jump and pounce at Bridge, James chainsawed its head off. “Be careful, people!” he said, and went away, obviously he didn’t see June. She was lying on the floor helplessly, and Noe just cried.

“Mr. Carson it right, best,” June started to sob, too. “I’ll be one of these scary zombies, so I don’t want to end up eating your intestines.” She coughed, and all Bridge could do was to convince Noe that this wasn’t something to recover from. This was a terminal and dangerous disease.

“You’ll be alright.” Noe wiped her tears, and gestured like she’s about to carry her best friend by the arm. “You’ll never eat us. You’ll never eat me because I’m vegetarian. You wouldn’t take our brains away because you care for us. You do.”

June sobbed harder, and she hugged Noe one last time. “Go. I wouldn’t want you all to risk yourselves. Go—“ she paused and her face twitched like she was about to sneeze “—I-I can feel it, it’s getting stronger,” she stopped, and she was grimacing. Her voice was changing.

“She’s just resisting the virus,” Bridge told Noe in her ears as he tried to pull her up.

I was about to walk away, but a dark figure darted past me.

The next thing I heard was a girl screaming.

I turn, and I found Noe got bitten by something, and I instantly knew it when Bridge was stepping on someone—its head bleeding gallons.

“Shit, Bridge, let’s go!” I called.

I knelt beside the two girls. “Stop crying, you two,” I said. June’s eyes were getting bloodshot, and her gaze at me turns animalistic. “I’m sure you wouldn’t end up like this. I’m sorry.”

Noe formed a smile by her lips, but it looked twisted like she had her face cemented. They held hands and their heads were leaning over each other as Bridge and I lost ourselves in the bloodshed.