you…”
At that point I was getting fed up with him. He was just playing for time.
“What is it that you want?” I asked annoyed.
He could tell that I was being serious and getting fed up. If he had any skin on his face, I bet his facial expression would have perplexed.
“I want you to know,” He said seriously, “This is nothing personal. I tend on taking over this world of yours once and for all. Other slayers before you have tried to stop the apocalypse and defeated me momentarily. If you get in my way, I will kill everyone you love and make you watch. I will have my biggest zombie rape and eat the women in your group, as well as your gay friend and I will kill the rest myself. Do you understand what I am saying?”
15
How do you respond to an ancient dead thing that threatened to rape and eat your friends and family? I desperately wanted to chop his head off then and there, but knew as soon as his head fell to the ground his minions would tear me and the hospital apart. I stood there speechless for a moment and then nodded at his skinless face.
“Good.” Clairvius said, “I have work to do. I will leave you to tend to your injured friend; yes we can all smell his blood. I know you are a man of your word, I can see it in those mesmerizing purple eyes of yours, but to make sure you keep your word…”
There was a moment of silence and then he continued, “As soon as you enter that hospital again, I will release these corpses from my control and they will try eat you again. It should keep you occupied.”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, “I have innocent people in there that do not deserve to die.”
“Nobody deserved to die.” Clairvius shot back, “And yet half of the world is the walking dead. Do you think these zombies around you did not have families of their own?”
He nudged his head over to the hospital and said, “You’d better get back. Time is running out.”
Clairvius’s body exploded into a black vapour which slowly washed over the rest of the undead in the street. As the vapour touched them, their mind control subsided and their killing instinct kicked in. I ran back to the hospital and barricaded the doors once I was inside.
As more and more of the undead snapped out of their mind-controlled state, they slowly flocked towards the hospital doors. The first few slammed up against the glass panels and started pounding with their bloody hands. I hoped to God that the glass was indeed bullet proof as Alex joked earlier.
The barricade seemed to hold despite being only a couple of desks and chairs. The doors did not budge, but it would not hold forever. I would have to think of something else to keep the dead outside.
It was a terrifying and sad sight to see these undead creatures gathering outside the doors. They once had families who cared about them. They all were someone’s mother, father, son or daughter and now they were mindless killing machines with an unquenchable hunger for flesh of the living. In the horde outside I spotted a few faces I recognized – my English teacher was one of them. I loved that teacher. She always had a thought of the day scribbled on the corner of the blackboard which motivated some of us to better ourselves. She had the warmest smile and made everyone feel special in their own way. Now she was just another rotting face with human flesh stuck between her teeth.
Maggie was one of the undead outside as well. She was in Kingston High school and I always saw her in the hallway when I got books from my locker. I never really knew or talked to her, but when she passed me she would always greet me by saying ‘hi locker guy’. She had the most crooked, yellow teeth on earth, but it did not stop her from smiling at the world. She was still smiling as she stood in the horde outside; only because she had no lips anymore…
I stared at the throng of walking corpses a moment longer and then turned away. It took me a moment to remember that Michelle said she would try to transfuse the blood and I hurried down the corridor towards the cafeteria. I undid the barricade in front of the doors and went inside.
Mom was holding the bag of blood up in the air which allowed the blood to flow down the tube and into Alex’s arm as he still lay unconscious. It seemed like everything was in order. Michelle smiled at me as I walked over to her.
“He is regaining color in his face.” Michelle said, “I think he will make it.”
I let out a sigh of relief. Even though he used to be my bully, I still cared whether he lived or died. He was more like a friend to me – okay, a friend who tried to make out with me, but still a friend.
“Good.” I said relieved.
Fred smiled at me a little bit nervously and I nodded at him. I think he proved himself as trustworthy. Even though he was an enemy when we met, I now considered him an ally and part of our group.
“Thank you.” I said to Fred and he nodded.
“What’s going on outside, Zac?” Mom asked.
I turned to her, but did not know how to tell them that the entire world of the dead stood at our door.
“It’s pretty bad.” I said.
“How bad?” Michelle asked.
“Pretty bad.” I said, “I ran in to our friend Clairvius… the one from our kitchen.”
“Didn’t you kill that boy?” Mom asked confused.
“Apparently he cannot be killed.” I said with a sigh.
“What does he want?” Mom asked.
“He wants to take over our world.” I said.
“Well, you have to stop him.” Mom said.
If only it were as easy as that. I could not risk him hurting anyone I cared about. And besides, how do you kill something that does not die?
“It’s not that easy.” I said, “He just returns in another body. I’m not sure I can kill him.”
“Well, do you have a plan?” Michelle asked.
“At the moment,” I said, “No.”
A heavy silence hung in the air as they waited for a deliverance I could not give them.
“What happens now?” Fred asked.
“We have about a couple thousand of undead corpses at our door.” I said, “We fight them off and defend this building. We have to stay here as long as possible in order for Alex to recover.”
Fred nodded and said, “Right… how do we do that?”
If only I had all the answers. How do we fight off thousands of zombies without getting infected or killed?
“They walk slow, don’t they?” Mom asked.
“Not all of them.” I said, remembering the babies.
“The fresher the zombie is, the faster they can move.” Michelle said, “As soon as rigor mortis sets in, their limbs stiffen and they slow down, but it does not seem to stop them.”
“Igor what?” Fred asked baffled.
“Rigor mortis.” Michelle said, “We learned about it in Biology. The body stiffens about three hours after death… that is why some of the zombies move slow and contortedly.”
Fred nodded as if understanding, but I could tell he did not understand a word she said. A zombie was a zombie to him. He could not tell a difference between any of them.
“But the slow ones you can fight off?” Mom asked.
“Not without risking the fast ones to overpower me or overrun the building.” I said, “It’s too much of a risk.”
It was one of those desperate times during – any – apocalypse that you wished there was still some branch of government left and that the army would swoop in to save the day.
16
The watch against the cafeteria wall said it was just after ten PM; whether the time was accurate was a different story. Alex was still unconscious at that time, but regained all the color in his face which was a good thing. Mom checked the dressing on his wound and the wound itself. It seemed that he was clear of any infections.
I tried not to think about Alex’s reaction when he woke up. He was alive and that was all that mattered, though it might take some effort to convince him of that. He was one of the best athletes our school ever had and now he was a cripple.
I lingered next to Alex’s
side while mom and Michelle got a bit of shut eye at a table on the other side of the cafeteria. We decided to sleep in shifts just in case the front doors were breached.
Fred approached me and glanced over at mom and Michelle.
“I’m glad your friend will be alright.” Fred said.
“Thank you.” I said nodding.
“I know this is not the time to ask,” Fred said, “But when is the right time to ask when zombies have taken over the world? When and if we get out of this hospital, I was wondering if you could help me get my daughter back. She is only five years old and probably scared half to death.”
“Do you know where she is?” I asked.
Fred shook his head and said, “Not really, but I overheard Calvin mention something about a mausoleum once.”
“A mausoleum?” I asked baffled.
It was a macabre thing to put a girl in a mausoleum during a zombie apocalypse, but I would not put it past Calvin. He was one sadistic man. I knew that the cemetery had three of them.
“I know it is not much to go on, but it is all I have.” Fred pleaded, “Please, will you help me?”
I nodded and said, “Of course.”
“Thank you.” Fred said with a sigh of relief.
“But we need to figure out a way out of here.” I said.
I noticed that Alex shifted a bit and then he opened his eyes. I rushed over to his side and prevented him from trying to get up.
“What happened?” Alex asked.
“Just lay still.” I said to him.
“I can’t feel my leg.” Alex sobbed, “It’s gone, isn’t it? It really happened?”
I nodded at him empathetically. I could never begin to understand the feelings that were rushing through his mind at that moment.
“But at least you are alive.” I said, trying to cheer him up.
“I was going to become a stand-up comedian.” Alex sobbed, “Look at me; who’s gonna laugh at me now?”
“But you’re not funny.” I joked.
“Some of the best jokes are about cripples.” Fred joked.
Alex chuckled and started sobbing again, “I can’t even stand up. I am useless.”
No matter what I tried to say to him, it would not help. He was mourning the loss of his leg. He rolled over onto his side. He needed some time to accept what happened to him.
“I need to be alone.” He whimpered.
“Let me know if you need anything.” I said and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.
I nudged my head and motioned to Fred that we should give Alex some space. We sat down at a table a few tables over from Michelle and mom.
“Have you thought of anyway out?” Fred asked.
“I think we should get out of town.” I said, “Go to a farm or somewhere remote. It seems most of the undead are in town.”
Fred nodded and asked, “And how do we do that? We cannot simply walk out of here.”
“We cannot exactly fight our way out either.” I said, “Not with the state Alex is in.”
“We could drive out of here?” Fred said, “In an ambulance?”
It could work… if we could get to it.
“Maybe.” I said, “But the dispatch garage is on the other side of the lot. We would have to go outside.”
There was a moment of silence and then Fred spoke again.
“What if we could go outside without being detected?” Fred asked.
I was intrigued by his statement, but was also a bit concerned about what he was plotting.
17
“It’s too dangerous.” I told Fred.
“It’s worth a shot.” Fred said.
“And what if the plan does not work?” I asked, “There are at least a hundred things that could go wrong. What if the undead storm the building while we try to get out? Michelle, Alex and my mother would be vulnerable.”
“It will work.” Fred said.
“How do you know?” I asked sceptically, “Because you saw a similar thing in a movie?”
“Yes.” Fred said, “Actually it was a documentary. This mountain tracker camouflaged himself with bear urine and the bears could not detect him. I think we can do the same thing with the undead.”
“You want one of them to pee on