The Saga Of Tom Stinson (Book 1): Summer School Zombocalypse (15 page)

Gunfire erupted from Winston’s direction and he called for help. The adults crowded out of the cage, tearing the tapestry down. They picked up the hammers and charged the door, pushing Winston out of the way. One grabbed the gun from Winston’s hand, stepped out into the hall, and started firing at the lizardmen.

A high pitched whine pierced their ears, followed by a “bzzzt” and a flash of light. Several of the adults who charged out into the hall rushed back in like a children fleeing from a dark room. One lost an arm. There was no blood, but only a charred stump remained and he screamed in pain. Some adults moved to his aide. Others cowered back into the cage.

“
Someone shut the door!” one of them yelled from the back of the room.

“
They have lasers,” the man who took Winston’s gun panted. “You kids, I don’t know how you got here, but thank you for letting us out. We will take care of you.”

“
You need our help more,” Emmett corrected him.

“
Nonsense, I’m an adult,” the man replied.

Tom had heard this before and raised his gun to point it at the man’s head. “Give the gun back to Winston. You’re in no shape to fight.”

Shocked by Tom’s action, the man handed the gun back to Winston and ruefully said, “It’s not my fault. I’m just trying to. . .”

“
Yeah, be an adult,” Tom cut him off. “I got that. You don’t get to talk now. Quiet.” It was at this point Tom realized that he must take control of all the adults. Not like he tried in his class room, not out of fear, but with thought.

Adults like to argue about how they are going to handle problems, and they also like to know the details so they can understand situations. It helps to keep them calm. But they seem to act more like kids when faced with a crisis. And by the time they agree on anything, it often ends up being too little, too late.

“
Everyone! Listen up!” Tom yelled. He had to tell them what was happening to get them to calm down, but no one listened. The adults were kicking and smashing anything they could get their hands on to make into a weapon. He fired his gun in the air and was surprised when the shot ricocheted with an almighty shriek. It got everyone’s attention.

“
You almost shot me, kid!” a woman yelled angrily.

“
Sorry,” Tom apologized. “Okay listen up. My name is Tom. You have been abducted by aliens, and we are in space. Our plan is to take control of the ship, so we can fly back to Earth. We may be kids, but we already know a lot about the ship, and we’ve killed some of the aliens. So you need to work with us here. Does everyone understand?”

“
We’re their food,” a weeping voice sounded from the cage.

“
I thought we were dead,” piped up another, “until these kids came along.

“
I for one expected to be dead already. The way they dragged the others out of the cage and ate them.”

“
The screams were the worst,” another cried, “and just like you I begged to die rather than having my brains scooped out and eaten. At least now we have hope. Let’s take as many of them with us as we can.”

“
That’s right,” Tom emphasized. “That’s the plan.”

“
Yeah,” another adult joined in, “so either we stay here and die, or take our chances out there.”

They rallied. Taking the weapons they fashioned, plus some spare guns from Emmett and Winston’s stockpile, they charged out of the room. Those in the lead were disintegrated the instant they hit the passageway. The others shouted a cry of defiance and continued the charge.

The three aliens in the hall fell to a hail of gunfire, plus fists and feet. The adults took up the lizardmen’s weapons. The guns were shaped like little snowmen; a big round ball followed by two successively smaller ones. Grooves patterned across the middle that were shaped for reptilian claws. The adults who picked the weapons up examined them, turning them over and round in their hands.

“
I think I got it," one woman announced. The weapon was clumsy and awkward in her hands, she strained to hold it. “Looks like you can twist the end ball, it's kinda stiff but. . .”

Suddenly, the gun slipped from her hand, hit the floor, and went off, disintegrating the wall leaving a large hole in the wall next to Tom. He yelped and jumped back, almost hitting his head on the ceiling. “Don’t forget the low gravity,” Emmett reminded him.

“
Yup, that’s the kill setting,” she blushed and picked up the weapon. “Misfires happen Tom, sorry. Turn it to the right, big beam. To the left, small beam. Quite simple.”

That gave the adults ideas. Walls began to disappear until someone shouted that they could make a hole to the outside. That would spell instant death for everyone. No one wanted to be sucked out into space, and they immediately ceased firing. They also decided to only use the weapon to punch holes in the doors and gain access so they could burn the lizardmen.

“
Aren't there more aliens?” one of them asked Tom. “Why aren't they coming to defend their ship?”

“
The most I saw together were twenty and we killed half of those,” Tom replied.

“
What's that?” another adult cried out.

This was why there was no resistance from the lizardmen. Down the hall, skittering across the floor and walls and ceiling, spider crabs swarmed towards them. There were several thousand coming after them washing down a pipe like a metallic wave. The sight caused the adults to freeze in fear and stare in wonder, uncertain of what they were actually seeing.

Tom urged them to shoot. He kicked one adult to get him to snap him out of his daze. The adults didn’t know about the planting room. They hadn’t seen what he had, the horrors those spider-crabs were capable of doing with their cutting claws.

Tom was too busy rallying them to notice that there were lizardmen coming down the hall behind them until the adult who stood next to him was vaporized. Winston and Emmett reacted quickly, firing their pistols until they were empty.

Tom ducked to avoid a spider crab that sprung at him from the wall, blasting a hole in the wall and diving through it to get out of the way. He yelled for the twins to follow him in. It was obviously a living space; there was a bed of multicolored sand under a hot glowing lamp that shone down from the ceiling.

“
That’s how they make their beds,” Emmett laughed.

There was a fountain on the side of the wall like in the prison cell and next to it was some type of plant that was crawling with worms. “Snacks?” Winston said.

The smell reminded Tom of a pet store. All the comforts of a terrarium. He laughed at how much the lizardmen were like the lizards of Earth.

They stood ready and waiting to ambush any alien that passed by the hole.

Outside in the hall, the human screams, lizardmen screeches, and the clatter of the spider crabs ceased. It hadn’t taken long for the fight to be over. Out in the hall, the adults were fewer in number. They had stopped the advancing aliens and were busily collecting weapons and armor.

In the direction the spider crabs had come from, the hall was largely vaporized, leaving a gaping hole that spanned two decks down. The lizardmen didn’t seem to use the wide beam setting on their weapons that the adults had selected; they were intent on saving their ship, the humans weren’t.

“
For space traveling aliens they’re not too smart,” Tom smiled.

A cold breeze whipped down the hall and Winston exclaimed, “What’s that?”

“
A defense,” Emmett surmised. “Lizards hate the cold. They are treating us as if we are like them physically.”

Tom laughed. He found it quite refreshing compared to the hot and still air of the ship. “Our species practically evolved in the cold. They don’t know us very well, do they? Let’s finish this.”

They went on, doing things they never thought possible. In the fog of battle, memory is often clouded and exact events cannot be recounted. There was no thought of how, they just did. There was no need to know why the lizardmen had come to earth and taken so many. Now there was only revenge.

At a junction on the floor below the crew quarters Emmett grabbed Tom's arm. “Did you hear that? I think we are near to the room where Anidea was taken.”

Tom stopped to listen. Anidea's screams were barely audible over the shouts and clamor of the running battle, which had resumed above them. “I don't know how, but I do hear her.”

“
She must have annoyed them into not eating her,” Emmett said with a wry grin.

Winston handed him a spear that he found up along the way. “You can skewer one.”

Down the hall, black blood stains on the floor from where they had killed the lizardmen let them know they were in the right place. They moved quickly to the spot where Anidea had been taken.

They heard a click from behind them and knew what it was before they turned. A lizardman emerged from a door and charged them.

Emmett yelped, but they knew what to do. They turned and ran.

Winston threw a spear at the lizardman as he ran, but missed. They blundered into a dead end. There was no time to think, and like a cornered animal, he turned to leap forward, stabbing at the lizardman with his spear. The lizardman cooperated by opening its jaws to bite the weapon and Tom rammed the point of the spear right down its throat.

It gurgled in pain and shock that its life was about to end. It struggled, ripping the spear from Tom’s hands. The lizardman’s body flailed as it grabbed onto the spear shaft and tried to pull it out, but it couldn’t be dislodged because it had pierced the back of its neck.

In one last bid for survival, it bit down and snapped the spear, but collapsed dying to the floor. They stared at the twitching body for a second, but there was no time to stop searching. Tom tried the closest door. It opened and he looked cautiously into the room. “I’m going in. Be ready in case something comes up from behind us.”

The sounds of battle were still echoing from down the hall, making the twins nervous. They could also hear Tom grunting in the room. Emmett wanted to go in, but Winston made him stay and stand guard.

A long moment passed, then Tom emerged from the room dragging Anidea. “Help me. She’s heavy.”

The twins tension dissolved into jubilation, and they clapped each other on the back. Winston’s eyes welled up with tears, and Emmett held back a smile; his face turned bright red.

They put their arms around her, hugely relieved that she was still alive. Maybe it was only a small victory, but it made them feel more confident that they could pull it off. They were going to capture the ship and return to Earth.

“
I thought you were dead,” Winston blurted out, holding her tight.

Anidea half smiled and croaked, “It’d take more than a lizard bite to shut me up. I knew you guys wouldn’t let me down.” Then her body twitched and she passed out.

“
We have to get to the bridge and finish them off. You guys carry her,” Tom told the twins.

The spiral ramp to the bridge wasn’t far. They rushed down the charred and battered hall. As they neared the ramp, the strange odor that permeated the ship grew stronger. Lizardmen were nearby. From around a corner they heard the cry of what sounded like a wounded animal, this caused them to stop.

Tom zeroed in on the sound and poked his head cautiously round the corner. Two lizardmen stood there, teeth bared in an expression that Tom couldn’t understand. One was wounded and the other was using some device on its arm. In her unconscious state, Anidea groaned, alerting the lizardmen to their presence.

The lizardmen reacted with surprising speed, lowering their weapons and attacking. Tom pulled back. Winston fired at them as they withdrew down the hall. The shots didn’t seem to do any good. These were the first lizardmen that Tom had seen wearing full body armor inside the ship. This time they were in trouble. He saw how much larger these two lizardmen were than the others as they rushed after him. They had to be the security team. The lizardmen fired. He turned and took Anidea from Emmett. Emmett wasn’t strong enough to move with her by himself.

“
Tom!” Emmett yelped. Half turning, he glanced over his shoulder. The lizardmen were faster than Emmett and had caught him. Claws wrapped around his arms. Large gashes ran across his face and blood ran down his chest. He gasped for help as he fought to break free.

The other lizardman pointed his weapon directly at Tom. There was no choice but to fight. Tom dropped Anidea and she crumpled to the floor. Bobbing and weaving, he charged with his pistol held out at the one who held Emmett. Taking advantage of the reduced gravity he jumped, sailing through the air.

The second lizardman fired, missing Tom. He made it to his mark, jamming the gun into the lizardman’s neck between helmet and armor and firing. The lizardman let go of Emmett, and he staggered back before slumping to the floor.

Winston shot at the second lizardman, aiming for its head as Tom dove to cover Emmett for protection.

The shot ricocheted off its helmet, but the force made it stagger back and crash against a wall. Winston took advantage of this and moved in close, emptying his gun into the lizardman’s head.

Emmett sounded like he was choking and Tom rolled him over onto his back. His chest heaved and he gasped for breath, but he seemed unaware of it and smiled. The wounds across his face were deep and reddish purple with infection.

Anidea was now conscious and crawled to Emmett to cradle him in her arms. “We have to do something Tom, he’s bleeding really badly.”

“
He’s poisoned like you were,” Tom replied.

Emmett hawked and spit, “I can’t feel my tongue.”

“
Do something!” Winston yelled.

Coughing, Emmett said, “I guess I’m a commando now.” His body went limp, and his breathing stopped. His eyes sunk in and closed. “Mom!” he shouted and lay still.

Winston looked to the ceiling, screamed, then threw up. He crawled over to the lizardman that had killed Emmett and picked up its weapon. Standing, he fired and burned holes through the walls and ceiling. A lizardman fell through the hole in the ceiling with its feet disintegrated. It landed on the floor in front of Winston. It raised its arms and hissed in defense. Winston leveled his weapon at the lizardman, sobbing and yelling at the same time as he fired. “DIE! ALIEN SCUM! DIE! DIE!”

The lizardman melted, staining the rim of a newly formed hole in the floor.

Tom tackled Winston from behind. He yanked the gun from his hands to stop him. “You have to stop. You will destroy the whole ship.”

“
I don’t care,” Winston struggled. "I have no one left. Nothing.”

“
You never found your mom,” Tom said, “what if she’s still alive? When we get back to Earth we will find her. Together. Help me get Anidea to the adults, and then we will finish taking the ship.”

“
I’m going to kill all of them and you can’t stop me,” he said, and scrambled for the other lizardman’s gun.

Tom pounced on Winston, hooking an arm around his neck and dragging him to the ground. He strained, trying to hold Winston still, “I need your help. I need you to help me carry them to the adults. Then we can do it together. Right? You and me. We’ll go right to the bridge and we will finish what we started. We’re going to fry every last one of them.”

A muffled explosion sounded and the floor shook. A faint cry came from the direction of the explosion. “Run!” The cool air flowed through the corridors change direction. It now pulled in the direction of the explosion.

“
We have a bigger problem now,” Tom said, knowing what happened.

Winston knelt down at Emmett’s side to say goodbye to his brother, he bent over to kiss his forehead. Emmett gasped for breath and coughed violently, then settled down into unconsciousness breathing deeply.

“
He’s alive!” Winston shouted. “I knew he couldn’t be dead!”

“
What about the part where I had to stop you from going on a rampage to destroy everything?” Tom said.

Tom picked Emmett up and put him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Working together they dragged Anidea toward the center spiral of the ship to go to the bridge.