Eighteen

Trees lined the sides of the road, their barren canopy creating a creepy tunnel.  No one spoke over the rumble of the engine as we stood in the back, watching the roadsides.  Ready for anything, each man had his gun aimed outward through narrow windows in the steel grates.

Nervous energy made me feel twitchy.  Yes, I had volunteered for this.  The people at Whiteman needed food.  And, I didn’t want Ryan to go without me, not when I could see how exhausted he and most of the other men were.  But, knowing I needed to help didn’t make me feel any better about leaving the security of the fence.  Drav would be furious with me.

The truck rocked as we hit a pot-hole.

“Is this the safest route?” I whispered to Ryan.

“Nothing is really safe anymore, Sis.  You should know that.”

Yeah, I did know.  Ryan nudged me playfully with his shoulder.

“So you and the big gray dude, huh?”

“Shut up,” I whispered, almost smiling.  Only Ryan would bring up my love life at a time like this.

“Debris in the road,” Tom said, keeping his voice low.  “Watch the trees.”

The truck slowed, and I glanced at Ryan.

“We’ll probably be able to drive over whatever it is.”

A series of pops went off from the lead truck.

“One from the trees,” Mark, who watched the front, said.  “He’s down now.”

The rest of us kept our eyes on the trees as the first truck went through whatever the infected had tried to put in our way.  Branches based on the sounds.  Our truck rolled over the debris next without another infected sighting.

I glanced back at the trunks of the two large trees laying in the road, and anxiety coiled in my belly as we drove on.  It didn’t feel right that only one infected had been out on its own.  Not with that kind of trap laid.  The thought that the infected were getting smart enough to not attempt an attack because we didn’t stop made me shiver.  Hopefully, there was a different route home.

It didn’t take as long as I had expected to reach Warrensburg.  Other than the trees, we didn’t run into any more obstacles.

“Is this the first run to this place?”

“Nah, we’ve hit Warrensburg before.  We went to a preschool the first time.  General store another time.  We try to pick locations on the outskirts.  It’s too dangerous to go further in because of the noise of the vehicles,” Ryan explained.

It took a few more minutes before I spotted the high school.  The large building dominated the surrounding acreage while the parking lot sat barren and ghostly.

How long had it been since students walked Warrensburg High’s halls?  Around a month now, I figured.  School felt like a lifetime ago.  Ryan had been a senior.  Would he ever graduate, now?  I glanced over at him and doubted it.  He wasn’t that kid anymore, and our new lives didn’t require diplomas.

The trucks cruised through the parking lot straight toward the side entrance where they stopped and cut the engines.

“In and out guys and girl,” Tom said quietly.  “If you see an infected, try to avoid it.  If you have to shoot, shoot to kill and get out before more come.  Truck one has the cafeteria.  We’re here for the routine things.  Sanitary items.  Let’s move.”

Two of the men quietly opened and lowered the back gate.  The first man jumped out of the truck and headed toward the doors, which opened without a sound.

A crackle of static came from the cab as I waited my turn to climb out the back.  I glanced at the cab as the driver picked up the radio and spoke quietly.  He turned to look back at me through the window.

Tom went around to the driver, and Ryan nudged me so I would get moving.  Mark remained, closing the gate and guarding the truck.

I checked the safety on my gun and started toward the side door with Ryan when a hand came down on my shoulder.

“You weren’t supposed to come, little lady,” Tom said.

It felt like a rock settled in my stomach.  A radio call from the base meant that Kerr knew I was missing.

“We need help, right?” Ryan said before I could speak for myself.  “We all pitch in to stay alive.”

“Just keep an eye on her,” Tom said, before moving past us into the building.

Ryan nodded his head for me to follow.

Inside, the lights didn’t work.  The hall we stood in wasn’t completely dark, but several of the men held penlights and shined them up and down the hall’s length.  The school looked normal, just empty.

“Look for supply closets near the bathrooms.  Grab what you can and get back to the truck,” Tom said.

The eleven of us split into two groups.  Ryan and I went to the right with three others.  If we hurried and got what we needed, I’d be back before Kerr could really freak out.  Hopefully.

My group walked down the hallway, one of the men’s penlights helping to illuminate the way.  Light filtered into the hall from closed classroom doors.  We came to a set of stairs.

“We’ll go up and start a sweep of the second floor.  You two finish up down here.  There has to be a bathroom somewhere.”

Ryan nodded.  I hesitated.  I wanted to get back to base quickly.  Splitting up would be the fastest way to make that happen.  But, it didn’t feel like the safest.  I looked up and down the hallway.  There were no blockades or other signs of infected traps.

“You good?” the guy asked me.

I nodded and watched them slowly make their way up the stairs.  Ryan motioned for me to follow, and we started down the hall again.  Near the end, where the hall branched off to the left, we found bathrooms and a supply closet.  Ryan tried the nob.  It didn’t budge.

“Shit,” he said softly.

A brush of noise came from behind us.  I looked down the hall but saw nothing.  Neither Ryan nor I moved as we waited to see if the sound would repeat itself.

The sudden pop that echoed through the halls made us both jump.

“Come on.”  I tugged on Ryan’s arm, ready to lead him away from the gunfire.

“It’s okay, Mya.  In a town this size, there is bound to be an infected roaming in here.  Hopefully, it was the guy with the keys to the supply closet.”

Several more shots rang through the hallway, followed by a scream that bounced down the halls.  Ryan’s wide eyes met mine.

“Time to go,” he said.

He clicked off his light and held his gun between his hands.

“Which way?” I asked.

Ryan paused, looking down both hallways.  At the very end of the one we’d already walked, a person staggered forward, stopped, and turned in our direction.

Ryan switched his grip on his gun and grabbed my hand, pulling me down the opposite hall. A groan echoed after us.  I didn’t dare look back as we ran side by side.

A door opened just as we passed.  An infected lunged out and grabbed for Ryan, the momentum taking them both to the floor.  I stopped and aimed at the infected, watching its jaws snap at Ryan as my brother held it back with a forearm to the throat.

I exhaled and pulled the trigger.  The boom of the shot rang in my ears as the infected fell to the side.  Rushing forward, I hauled Ryan to his feet.  He picked up his gun.

“Come on.”  I grabbed Ryan’s arm and pulled him down the hallway.

The sound of staggering footsteps reverberated off the lockers from all directions.  More infected.

My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I searched for an exit.  Something moved in the shadows ahead.

Ryan tugged me into a classroom then quietly shut the door behind us.  We were silent as we backed further into the classroom.  Unfortunately, the room only had small windows up near the ceiling.  No exit that way.  Unless…I looked at the desks, wondering if Ryan would have enough upper body strength to—

The doorknob rattled.  We both lifted our guns, ready.

The door quickly opened and a head poked in.  I recognized the face.  The driver of our truck.  His pained blue eyes swept over us before he limped inside and closed the door.  Panting and sweating, he slowly slid down the wall beside the door and sat on the floor.

“Greg?” Ryan said.  “Were you bitten?”

The guy looked like hell, but I couldn’t see blood anywhere.

“Fuck, I don’t know.  I don’t know.”  He closed his eyes, wincing.

Ryan kept his gun trained on his friend, but his hand shook.

“It’s okay, Greg,” I said in a calm tone, keeping my gun steady on the man.

“It ain’t.  I knew there wasn’t somethin’ right about just one infected on the road.  Shoulda turned around.  Fucking shoulda turned around.”  Greg groaned and wrapped his arms around his stomach before puking.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Fuckers followed us here.”

He retched again then looked up at me with bloodshot eyes.

“I can see it in your eyes.  Fuckers bit me, didn’t they.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Then kill me now.  End it.”

I exhaled slowly.

“Kill me!”

A bang rang out, and I flinched.  Red exploded onto the wall behind Greg’s head, and a dot dripped down his forehead.  Slowly, he fell to the side.

I looked at Ryan, who held his gun pointed at the spot where Greg’s head had been a moment before.

“Start making a barrier with the desks,” I said, touching Ryan’s arm to get him to lower his weapon.  “Don’t drag the desks.  I’ll check for a radio on Greg.  Maybe we can call for help.”

Ryan nodded and lowered his gun.  I rushed forward to start patting the pockets in Greg’s jacket first.  Metal scraped over the tile behind me.  I flinched at the sound but didn’t scold Ryan.  Our position had been compromised when Ryan fired.

Finding nothing in Greg’s jacket pockets, I tried his cargo pants pockets.  My hand hit hard plastic, and I withdrew the radio.

A low moan came from the other side of the door just as Ryan wedged the first desk against it.  Pocketing the radio, I rushed to help him, both of us lifting and stacking desks as the moans increased in volume.

The heavy metal desk that belonged to the teacher still sat over in the furthest corner from the door.  I motioned to Ryan to help me move it under the windows.  We’d just positioned it there, and he’d stepped on the surface when something hit the door.  His eyes went to mine, then the window still just over his head.  He lifted his gun and hit the glass.  It spidered but didn’t break out.

“Shit.”  He hit it again and again.  The mesh in the glass wouldn’t give.

He jumped from the desk.

“Tip it over,” he said.

We hunkered down behind it, and Ryan glanced at the radio in my back pocket.  A fleeting look of hope flashed over his face.

I pulled out the radio and pressed down on the button.

“This is Mya and Ryan.  We’re trapped in a classroom at Warrensburg High School.  We need help.  Is anyone there?”

I released the button.  Static crackled back.  I pressed the button again.

“Is anyone there?”

More static.

“Hello?”

No one responded.

Cold fear coiled in my belly and tears stung in my eyes.  Help wouldn’t be coming.

I turned to Ryan and wrapped my arms around him, holding him tight.

“I’m sorry, Sis.”

“The end of the world isn’t your fault.”

Ryan leaned his head on my shoulder, and I stroked his hair.  It felt like we were kids again, riding out a tornado.

More footsteps shuffled outside the door.  Something hit it again.  This time hard enough to nudge the desks.

I hugged my brother closer.

“Love you, Ryan.”

“Love you, too, Mya.”

The moaning and groaning in the hall became deafening as the door opened a bit.  A hand reached in, the thick, pale blood-stained fingers gripping the door.  I pulled back from Ryan so I could aim my gun.  Ryan did the same.  Together, we waited for the infected to push through.

We watched the pile of desks slide backward an inch at a time until the barrier fell with a loud crash.  Three infected shoved through the door, semi-milky eyes locking on us as we fired.  As their bodies fell, more came, tripping over the fallen and making it harder to aim for a headshot.  Sweat coated my forehead.  I kept aiming and firing.

“I have only one more clip in my back pocket.  After that, I’ll be out,” Ryan yelled.

How many shots did I have left?  The implication of the few moments we had remaining hit me hard.

The moans grew frenzied in the hall, and scuffling footsteps escalated as more infected pushed through.  Ryan stopped shooting briefly to reload.

I kept firing until my gun clicked.  Numb to the reality of what would happen next, I tucked myself behind the desk and listened to the mixture of Ryan’s shots and the infected moans.  Ryan would turn.  I wouldn’t.  The infected would eat me alive.

The shooting stopped, and Ryan crouched down next to me.

“That’s it,” he said.

I took in a deep breath and held his hand.

“It hurts,” I whispered.  “But not for long.”

He frowned at me.  I didn’t know how else to comfort him, though.

“Someone’s calling your name,” he said.

“That’s not funny, Ryan.”

“No, seriously.  Someone is calling your name, listen.”

I heard it.  A voice echoing down the hall as it called out my name.  Then, another voice joined in, calling my name, too.

“Mya!”

Hope coursed through me.  The fey were here, searching for me.  I looked over at Ryan.  He nodded.

I stood, drawing the attention of the infected, who’d paused in the doorway at the sound of the voices in the hall.

“Drav,” I yelled.

Two of the infected lunged toward us.  Unable to think of anything else, I threw my gun as hard as I could.  It hit the first one in the head, and he jerked to a stop.

Ryan pulled out a desk drawer and hit the second one with it again and again.  Infected blood spattered me at the same moment a roar shook the room.

It was the best sound ever.

Heads flew off of the infected crowding the doorway as Drav tore into the room like a storm.  The infected who’d entered because of my yell turned toward Drav.  He took their heads in a fury, moving so fast that the first head hadn’t hit the floor before the next head parted from its body.  Blood coated most of the room by the time the last body fell.

Drav stood in the middle of the mess, dripping with infected blood and looking like an avenging angel of death.

“Mya,” he said, looking at me for the first time.

I climbed out from behind the desk and threw myself at him, half-crying, half-laughing, and fully shaking.

He caught me in his arms and held me.

“My Mya,” he said again and again as he stroked my hair and kissed my head.

I heard Ryan behind me.

“Thank you, Drav.”

Drav growled loudly and released me.

“You should not have let her leave,” he roared at Ryan.

I stepped in front of Ryan, ready to defend my brother.

“It’s not his fault.  I had to come, Drav.  I can’t selfishly hide behind the fence while other humans go out to get food and supplies that I’ll use, too.  We all have a responsibility to pitch in if we want to not just survive, but live.”

“No, Mya.   Matt Davis gave his word that he would keep you safe.  That promise was broken.  We are leaving.  Now.”

He picked me up and stalked through the door.  I looked back at Ryan, who followed behind us, along with several other fey.

Outside the school, Drav stopped to speak to Molev, who studied me with a frown.

“The school is clear,” Drav said.  “I will take Mya back while you gather the supplies they were willing to risk Mya for.”