Dead Quarantine (16 page)

“It's two hundred yards away, can't you get
closer?”

John glanced back. “No, I can't. Just get
the fuck out.”

Ralph contemplated pulling his gun on John
and making him drive the short distance. There was no way the crowd
behind them would be at the intersection to block their way back.
They would have enough time to make it out.

He opened the door. Before getting out, he
turned to Mary. “You take care.”

He slammed the door shut and trotted to the
school gates. Skidding tires behind him told him John drove of in a
hurry. He was pissed at John for not going the extra mile, but at
least he got him to the high school. He couldn't really blame the
guy. The horrible flu pandemic had turned out to be a nightmare
that challenged sanity itself.

Ralph hid behind a dumpster. The crowd
behind him went after the sound of the engine instead of him. He
doubted they could actually see, and if they could see through
those dead eyes, it would not be very well. The zombies turned at
the intersection, following the car. The engine’s sound was now
nothing more than a puff in the wind.

That left him the zombies near the gate to
deal with. He couldn't shoot them. Who knew what the sound would
attract, probably the big crowd he had just evaded. They would turn
back at the first shot. No, he had to find another way out and only
use the gun if absolutely necessary. First, he wanted to have a
better look. Crouched, he crossed the street. Lithely he ran,
keeping cover behind the parked cars, meanwhile watching out so as
not to bump into any zombies. Luckily the zombies were all
concentrated at the gates.

He maneuvered so he could see straight
through the gates. Ten lingered in the front, less in the yard.
Corpses were strewn all over the yard. It was in stark contrast to
the cleanness and wholesomeness the building exuded the day before.
Then, the only sign of what was to come had been the coughs, the
sneezes, and the two yellow buses parked in front of the
building.

This would turn out to be a tough one. He
had no idea what was inside the school. If only the healthy teens
and teachers had been kept inside, quarantined from the outside
world, then it would mean they were still alive and well and safe.
Tom would be all right. Wouldn't it then be wrong for him to
disturb the peace and risk their lives trying to get in?

The twin doors burst open. A wooly haired
guy rushed outside, followed by a tall, thin guy, and in their wake
came Lilly and a younger girl. They dodged the first pair of
zombies and ran for the gate. The ten that lingering outside
whirled around and advanced on them, blocking the way out.
This
will turn out bad
. Ralph pulled his gun. He slid over the hood
of the car and ran for the gate, which was now cleared of zombies.
They were now honing in on the small group of teens.

Two zombies grabbed the tall guy and dragged
him down. By the time he hit the ground, two others were on him,
clawing his belly open. His cries were cut short by a zombie
ripping his throat out. The wooly one tried to get to his friend
but was bitten on his calf by a zombie that had fallen down. The
zombie grabbed for his legs, tripping him. Before he could get up,
three zombies descended on him, digging their teeth into his neck
and shoulder.

Ralph pushed a zombie away that got too
close. He kicked one closing in on Lilly. Lilly was in a tug-of-war
with two zombies pulling the girl. A third one got to the girl's
neck and tore a piece off, cutting the carotid artery. Blood
spurted out. A fourth charged Lilly and bit her arm. She still
would not let go. Ralph bashed a fifth. He aimed and shot the one
biting Lilly. He grabbed Lilly and pulled.

“She's dead. Let go of her.

Lilly kept holding on, while more zombies
were closing in. Ralph aimed and shot the screaming girl right
between the eyes. Her lifeless body slumped down. Lilly, in shock,
let go. Her face turned pale. Ralph dragged her inside, shooting at
two zombies and missing both times. He rushed to the doors and
slammed it closed. The zombies kept walking into the door,
thrashing to get in, but luckily it held.

Behind him, Lilly sobbed and snickered. He
grabbed her by the hand, but she pulled back. Terrified, she looked
at the gun in his hand. “You killed her.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks and crested
at her jaw, dripping to the tile floor. There was no time for this.
Behind her, three more zombies shuffled toward them. One was
missing an arm. He raised his gun. Lilly flinched and dropped,
holding her head as she shrunk away from him. Ralph aimed carefully
and squeezed the trigger, correcting for recoil between shots. One
after the other fell.

More were incoming from beyond the main
hall. He pushed the gun in his belt. He looked around for anything
that might improve their survival chances. He pried a shotgun from
a nearby fallen soldier's dead fingers. The zombies were almost at
the entrance to the left wing of the building. He pulled up a
struggling Lilly and dragged her to a door. Painted on the door at
eye level was
janitor.
He pushed Lilly inside and followed
her. He locked the door, making as little sound as possible, not
wanting to attract the incoming zombies. Hopefully they would
hobble off and keep the way clear for them to escape later.

The room was filled with cleaning supplies
and a rather large cleaning cart. They had just enough room to sit
down next to each other. Lilly clamped a hand around her bite
wound, blood trickling out from beneath her hand.

“You are hurt.”

Cleaning rags were hanging on hooks against
the wall. He unhooked the cleanest one and tore it into stripes. He
struggled with Lilly to get her hand off and bandage her. She
whimpered when he applied the rags around her forearm. It was a
sloppy job, but good enough to keep it from bleeding more.

“I had no choice. I had to shoot her for you
to let go.”

“We could have saved her.”

He sighed. He wished he could believe that.
He might have tried if he did and that would've probably gotten
them killed, but he would have been spared having to kill a kid.
The tears were there, knocking to get out, to wash his soul clean.
However, no amount of crying would be able to do that. He stopped
his hands from shaking. He felt so cold.

“She was as good as dead. You saw the
blood.”

Lilly kept silent. He pulled his gun out and
pressed it into her hands. “Take it.”

She stared at the gun in disgust, but she
took it from him. They would have to move soon, and it was best she
wasn't defenseless.

“We can't stay here for long; I need to go
look for Tom.”

She shook her head. “Tommy, he—” His skin
crawled at what she was about to say. “—he's dead.”

He bit his tears back, adamant on keeping it
together. He couldn't give in. He had to keep going.

“George, the soldiers shot him dead. Scared
to leave, we went to sleep. I woke up to screams and saw Tommy dead
on the floor and George attacking Sarah.” She sobbed. “We escaped
the room and locked George inside.” She broke off crying.

Tommy was dead; he had no reason to stay
here anymore. He would explain to her the plan to leave, hopefully
get her in shape to use that gun, and then they would escape,
blasting their way out. Lilly put a tiny hand on his. He looked up.
She had a small smile on.

“Ralph, you were a good friend to Tommy. I
wish we could have known you better.”

“We?”

“Sarah and me. She has few friends and I
only have her.”

Sarah was surrounded by friends; she was
popular. Well, most of her friends were probably dead now, but she
was not shy of them. “She had her fair share of friends.”

“Not really, just me.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Could you do me a favor and look out for
her? She got cut off in our escape.”

“I don't know. I think it's safer for us to
run away together.”

“Please, there is no point for me to run.
I've been bitten. Get her out instead.”

For her to still be alive must mean she was
immune, the same as he was, or at least resistant. How could a bite
kill and turn her then? Unless it was another kind of infection,
but still, they couldn't possibly be sure about this.

“This is not a movie. We don't—”

“I don't want to become one of them.”

Lilly pushed the gun against her temple and
pulled the trigger. In front of Ralph, her head swung to the side
and her body slumped. The hand holding the gun fell lifeless to her
side. Her eyes were still open and she looked sadly back at him.
The light faded, and her eyes lost any luster they had.

His hands trembled, his throat felt dry, and
his stomach turned a windmill. He couldn't believe it; just a
second ago, they were talking. He planned to escape, take her with
him. He still fought his tears. He couldn't give in, although his
body and heart ached to do so.

The sound of the blast left his ears
ringing. All things dead would converge here and make his escape
impossible. He had no time to grieve or think about rescue. He had
to get to safety. He grabbed the shotgun, a Benelli M4 Super 90,
and checked if a slug was chambered. Ralph pushed the door open,
knocking down a zombie standing too close. He pressed on. The exit
was blocked by five zombies and outside stood many more. No way
could he get out from there. From the doorway to his right, zombies
walked in. One she recognized, Mrs. Evergreen. She gave him the
creeps in life and now in death she downright terrified him. He ran
to the stairs. The only safe way was up. Lucky, the distance
between him and the zombies was large enough, and they were
slow.

Ralph heard a noise from upstairs. He looked
up and saw Jake running, followed by Sarah at his heels.

“Get in the principal's office,” Jake yelled
at Sarah.

Without even giving Ralph a glance, Jake
fled up the other side and dashed for the principal’s office. Sarah
saw Ralph and slowed down. Her face lit up with a small smile.
Behind her, two zombies turned the corner. Those behind him were
also closing, their footfalls intensifying. The only way to go was
to follow Jake. She stopped to stare at him, a question on her
lips. Ralph grabbed her hand and ran up the stairs. Jake's face
soured, seeing the both of them. He slid inside the office and
closed the door. Ralph tried the knob. Locked.

“No, he didn't,” Sarah exclaimed. She banged
her fist on the door. “Open up.”

Jake answered her with screams of agony and
banging on the door followed by a loud thud and blood seeping from
beneath the door.

Ralph gawked at the two zombies tumbling
from the stairs and a small crowd slowly climbing from beneath.
“Sarah, we need to go.”

He heard her mutter. “He's dead, really
dead.” And then, she chuckled.

He looked behind him. She stood at the door
with a weird smile. What had happened here? Whatever it was, he
would have to ask later. The way down was blocked. The two zombies
that fell started climbing up now.

“Come.” He pulled Sarah with him to the
building's right wing. It had the same layout as the left wing, but
this one was only partially used for classes. Mostly it contained
administration offices and a small library.

They ran and turned left in the hallway.
Five zombies met them: two teachers, with their faces bitten off,
one soldier, and two hazmat men. They blocked the way. Ralph
stopped Sarah who was about to dash forward on a suicidal run.

“Let me go!”

He pushed her behind him, aimed the shotgun
to the middlemost zombie, the soldier, and blasted a slug his way.
It tore a fist-sized hole in his abdomen and threw him back a
little, but left him standing. He had believed he would have flown
back and toppled the other zombies. He might have to lay off the
games from now on, as if he had a choice in the matter. No more new
games would be made. He aimed at the head and shot, blasting it to
pieces. The zombie fell back, hitting a faceless teacher and taking
her down.

Sarah shot forward and jumped through the
hole he created. She screamed at him to follow her. He ran for it.
On his way, he bashed a hazmat zombie away with the stock of his
shotgun. He tripped, crawled away, and got back up. The zombies
were too slow. By the time they reached for him, he was already
gone, fleeing down the hallway, following Sarah. He had never seen
her active before.

He had not promised Lilly he would look out
for Sarah, but by chance, he had ran into her, and survival needed
him to stay with her. They would split ways after they got out. His
high school crush for her had vanished after the last kiss he gave
Lauryn. It was weird thinking about her while fleeing from dead
people.

Sarah pushed open the window and climbed
out. He followed her and saw her race up the ladder. He closed the
window behind him, not taking any chances with the possibility that
the zombies could climb out of windows and up ladders. He followed
Sarah up to the roof. She stood waiting for him.

He scanned the roof for any zombies that
might have found their way up. Unlikely, but one could never be
sure. It seemed safe. He looked back down. The backyard looked like
a busy zombie market day. No way out from there.

“Ralph, I'm glad you're alive.”

She fidgeted with her fingers. “I heard you
went on one of those buses, that you had the flu. Shouldn't you be
in quarantine?”

“I lied about the flu. The quarantine...more
like a massacre.”

She looked at him, confused, one eyebrow
slightly raised.

“There was no quarantine. They bused us by
the thousands to a big pit to burn us to a crisp, alive or dead it
did not matter to them.”

The color bled from her face.

“I got away, me and Lauryn, but she was ill.
She asked me to leave her.” He couldn't look at her. Now more than
ever, he felt the shame of leaving Lauryn alone to save himself. “I
came back for Tommy.”