Have you ever walked down a street feeling like you’re the only person left on the planet? Watching the grass sway, the wind catch on leftover trash, listening to the silence of absence?
That’s what it felt like every day after the big Tragedy, the “end of the world as we knew it”. Only no one was singing. Not many people had been prepared for it to happen. Not many believed it would happen. After all, zombies were just a story, right? Something to scare the kids a bit.
Right?
The thought makes a lot of us chuckle even now. We knew it was coming. We were prepared. We had a plan.
We almost even followed it.
“WZDT, report!” The leader of the band paced in front of a small group, each person a designated team leader. One, a blond female, stepped forward. This was the second: Jaimie.
“Back rooms are clear,” she reported.
“Bathrooms, too,” stated a stocky male. He leaned heavily to one side, but this did not appear to hinder his movements too much. Peaches.
The last one, Jackson, stepped forward and cast his gaze downwards. He took a breath before speaking, “We…had a little accident in the showroom. We had to block it off.”
The leader looked mildly unhappy to hear this. “Can we reclaim it?”
“Uh…probably not for a while. There’s a lot of them in there.”
Stepping back, the leader rubbed her neck as she thought for a moment. “Any of ours?”
“No.”
Now there was silence. Jaimie stepped forward, “CS, the group from the upper floor hasn’t come back yet.” She paused. “Do we go look for them?”
There was some murmuring. A few people who had hung back to let their team leaders speak now stepped forth to put in their opinion on the matter. However, before anyone was able to pay their two cents, CS pointed. “Jaimie. Jackson. Brittany. You three come with me.” She turned and faced the entire band. “The rest of you…keep this area clear.” There was more murmuring, but she was obliged.
The four made their way to the stairs located in the rear of the building. CS looked over her shoulder. “Everyone ready?” Weapons were raised, teeth were grit, and grips tightened. Slowly, they crept up the stairs, listening hard. CS eased the door open and the group was greeted with silence. Two bodies lay on the ground—one with the skull bashed open and the other—
“Through the eye. Impressive,” Jackson noted as he kicked the corpse over. “They were here.”
“No dip, Sherlock,” CS snapped. Still, there were no sounds from the rest of the area. Slowly, the group moved forward, eyes and ears alert to any motion, any sound. There was none. Brittany crept up beside the second.
“Jaimie,” she whispered. “Do you think they’re…?”
“Shh,” CS shot back at them. She stood behind Jackson as he eased another door open. The sight that met their eyes was horrifying.
The grotesque creature barely had time to utter a weak moan before Jackson raised his shovel and hit. The thing went down, flailing, and Jackson continued to smash over and over and over until the skull split like a ripe melon. He wiped his brow and sighed. CS pushed past him and peered down to see the identity of their assailant. She paled slightly and bit her lip before speaking.
“That’s one of ours,” she murmured. “Jaimie, do you think that they all turned?”
“Dunno.” Jaimie walked forward. “Since he was just wandering around, I’d say it’s likely.”
“All right, be on your guard, everyone.”
As a group, they continued to creep forward as silently as possible, though they tried not to bunch too closely together. Brittany, despite the grim situation, broke into a grin. “A closet,” she said. She glanced at the rest of the team to see if it was okay for her to investigate. CS gave a nod of approval and Jaimie moved behind her. Without hesitating, Brittany reached for the handle, yanking it open and jumping back as the door swung open.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially the one in the closet. “I thought you guys were never coming. When John turned, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t do it…”
“Shut up, Tomo.”
“What? We didn’t do that bad. We got most of them, anyway.”
“Only most of them?”
“Well, the one that got John got away somewhere…” Tomo sniffed and looked at the body on the floor. He didn’t look well. Jackson turned around, crossing his arms.
“That…is not good.” He gave a sigh. “At times like this, I wish I had a chainsaw.” CS smacked the back of his head, frowning deeply.
“Brittany, you take up the rear. Jackson, you take point. Jaimie will stay with you—I’m going to bring Tomo downstairs to…recover.”
“Got it.” Jackson looked at his shovel. “And you’re sure I can’t have a chainsaw?”
“Positive.” CS and Tomo headed for the stairs. The three left behind took a deep breath and proceeded to search for the remaining corpse. Jackson squeezed the handle of his shovel, wishing profusely he could have the weight of the chainsaw in his hands. Though he knew it to be a terrible idea, he was determined to one day take down a moaning mob with his whirring metal monstrosity.
“Jackson, look out!”
“Huh?” Jackson blinked and jumped backwards. The girls moved forward to challenge the ugly brute before them. The beast was swiftly dealt with, its head now free of any messy extremities.
Straightening, Jaimie fell back in line. “We should have kept Tomo around up here,” she remarked. “He could tell us if this was the only one or not.”
“You know how CS is. Hates losing people,” Jackson shrugged, shouldering his shovel. “She’s got a stick up her butt all the time now—”
“Um,” Brittany began. The other two turned to see that she had a wriggling ghoul pinned with her pitchfork. “I think there was more than one.”
“Really?” Jaimie asked, quickly incapacitating it. “And, Jackson—CS is our leader. If you don’t like it, leave. Go die on your own.” She looked around and sighed. “All right. Let’s do a sweep through this floor.” Jackson, looking a tad bit more grim than he did earlier, obliged. It didn’t take long to investigate—there was nothing left to slay. Satisfied, the group headed back downstairs to report. It seemed everyone was settled to wait out the showroom siege. CS stood as she spotted the three coming from upstairs, sweating slightly.
“Cleared? No injuries?”
“Yes, it’s good upstairs,” Jaimie nodded. “None of us were hurt.”
“Good.”
Just then, a group of people filed in from an adjacent room. “Dinner’s ready, CS.” The leader grinned.
“Great!” Everyone slowly funneled into the rear, intent on getting their rations. It was absolutely delectable—Karen at the small portable stove, Amanda passing out flat metal dishes to hungry members, and enough food for all. CS locked the door after ensuring everyone was in and relief spread through the group. Mealtimes were bliss.
The team leaders all stood together, talking as they ate. “I never thought we’d be holding out in a vacuum store,” Jaimie said.
“Neither did I. It’s going to be tough to get to Nokesville with so many of these stupid corpses walking around,” CS nodded as she swallowed some refried beans. Indeed, the WZDT had encountered a lot more problems than they had expected.
“I still don’t get how those other groups got to our first choices before we did,” Jackson complained.
“Yeah, and after that it was just a rush to find any defensible place. We’re lucky we found this.”
Peaches leaned forward, jabbing his fork at them as he spoke. “Was tough getting Sadie here, too. How many people are we going to pick up, anyway?”
CS stopped chewing. She looked conflicted. “We’ve reached a max…but…” She sighed. “It’s going to be tough moving as one big group. We need to split up and meet again so we don’t attract too much attention.”
“What if we travelled at night?” Jackson suggested.
There was quiet as they weighed the pros and cons of the idea. Certainly it would protect them from other people, plus it was easier to stay quiet and close in the dark. The problem lay instead with the undead lurking just outside.
“I’d rather travel when I can see things coming, though,” Jaimie put her opinion in. “It’s also easier to navigate by day.”
“It’s also easier to be spotted,” growled Peaches. He licked his platter clean.
“Priorities are important. Would we rather get killed by people or zombies? Anyway, if we’re spotted by people, they could see we’re not zombies. At night, how would they tell?”
“But zombies aren’t the only things some people are hunting for. I’m willing to bet there are a few people either way who would be taking pot shots at us,” CS added.
“I’d still rather be killed by live people than zombies. Less reanimation involved afterwards.”
CS sighed and looked over their group. She could see Karen and Amanda laughing together as they tidied up, wiping plates clean and neatly stacking cans. There was Tomo, sitting in the corner, hunched over and hugging his own shovel, either asleep or thinking. Sadie and Brittany were speaking with other girls and the guys all lovingly maintained their weapons or chattered about the way things used to be. “Well, at this point…” CS poked at the little bit of food left on her plate. “At this point, I don’t think we can muster up enough energy to leave anyway. We all need rest.” There was muttered agreement at this; everyone was tired. “All right. But cleanup from dinner first!”
There was much rustling and clanking as everyone tidied up. Most huddled together to sleep. The moans outside the walls, though barely audible, got on everyone’s nerves. Everyone was nervous. But everyone slept.
The only ones left awake were the two sentries who exchanged whispered conversations occasionally to keep each other awake.
As morning arrived, people began to stir. CS unlocked the door as Camilla and Maya stretched. “Are you two ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Camilla broke into a grin. “If I’m in trouble, all I gotta do is outrun this one.” She gestured to Maya, who objected loudly.
“That only works once, though, ‘cause after that, you’re on your own,” Jaimie reminded her, despite the small laugh she gave.
“Stick together,” CS told them, the picture of seriousness. “I want both of you back. Now…go!” She opened the door just enough to let them through. As soon as they had gone, the door was shut and locked once more.
They waited hours for their return. As always, CS fidgeted and worried to herself as they played cards.
“King me,” she said.
“Go fish,” responded Karen. CS sighed and grabbed a handful from the pile.
Jaimie grinned. “I’ve got a seven to jack straight flush,” she announced. CS snatched her cards and handed them off to Peaches. “Hey!”
“If you’re not going to follow the rules, then don’t play.”
Peaches stared at his hand. “What are we playing?”
“Cards, dear,” Sadie cooed at him. Everyone groaned.
“What rules?” Jaimie asked, then paused. “Did you all hear that?”
CS stood, excited. “At the door?” The two grinned and Jaimie dashed to the door, knocking thrice. Two knocks replied. The door was opened and the two scouts walked in, glistening with sweat but all smiles. Jaimie made sure the door was firmly shut and looked again before she and CS brought the scouts back to the card game.
“Well, how was it?”
“Surprisingly clear.”
“Good. And neither of you were injured, right?”
“Not at all.”
“It’s safe?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
“We should all go as soon as we can. Who knows when it’ll start getting bad again.” Immediately, everyone was up, stretching out their muscles, ready to go. CS went out first and observed the team leaders bringing their respective groups out. She wasn’t sure where to go next: Nokesville was too far, but it felt almost ideal. Not only this, but their strategist, if still alive, lived there. But…
“Where are we headed?” Everyone was out and waiting for direction.
“Laser Quest,” CS announced. “The laser tag room.”
“Got it.” The groups set off, staying in close formation and keeping watchful eyes out for any movement. The entire area was still and deserted. Abandoned cars rusted where they stood, every window smashed by undead or looters. Many stores were emptied out and there was a shocking lack of bodies. Bodies that may have been present before but were now lurking around, just out of sight.
Most weren’t frightened of zombies. Most were frightened of…well, other people. Zombies didn’t think, didn’t consider hiding or attacking from a distance. They weren’t made jumpy by fear, and they weren’t too hard to fend off as long as there were only a few. You always knew what a zombie’s intentions were. No, live people were much more dangerous.
Luckily for the group, neither were around. There were only a few solitary undead, whose moans were quickly silenced. It wasn’t long until the group found themselves standing in front of Laser Quest. The place wasn’t destroyed, thankfully. There were only a few zombies inside, but they seemed suddenly intent as the group approached the glass doors. Closing in as one, they put up a hard fight…but not an entirely good one. The bodies were removed as everyone began to settle the building, ensuring that there were no other surprises standing around.
The team leaders observed their prize fondly as everyone worked hard to block off entrances. “I wonder why nobody else thought of coming here.”
“Lots of people just don’t think things through, that’s why.”
They laughed and inspected their new arrangements closely. Without the fog machines and black lights, the place was much more pleasant and inviting. The play arena was an ideal defense position. CS was already planning excitedly: “We can use this area for food prep and eating. This part we can use for sleeping in…” She beamed and turned.
“We’ll probably be here a long time.”
IBIS Master
Originally Posted by Zero
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