The Last Infection: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller (13 page)

“There’s no key.”

She spun around in the seat as if getting the bus to start never occurred to her. Jake jumped into the first row behind her and focused on the occupied bus. He stood up on the seat and tried to look past the thrashing driver.

“I don’t see any keys hanging from the slot.”

“Unless he still has them,” she said.

J
ake shot her a sideways glance.

“You want to check his pockets?”

Jenn considered their options. “The office,” she said. “The keys would be in the main office.”

Jake’s eyes l
urched back to the school’s main doors.

“We have to go in there?”

They were off the bus in a hurry and behind the gym soon after.

“We shouldn’t all go in,”
Jenn said, her eyes on Alicen.

“Oh no you don’t-”
the little girl started, but Jenn cut her off.

“We can’t all get trapped in there. A lot could go wrong.”

She scanned her meager group and Sarah stated the obvious.

“You’ll need Michael with you. I’ll stay out here with the kids.”

Michael appeared game, but Jenn wasn’t so sure Sarah wanted him to go. Jenn got down on one knee and looked Jake in the eyes.

“Listen to me, if this goes
wrong, you head for the woods.” Jenn scanned the tree line beyond the football field. “Don’t go in any further than you have to. Head west and follow the highway.” She turned to Alicen. “Listen to your brother.” The comment reminded Jenn so much of something she would have said to her kids. The memory flash nearly brought tears to her eyes.

Sarah hugged Michael
, but didn’t say anything. Jenn started for the main double doors and was a few feet away when Michael caught up with her. He was holding a screwdriver in one hand and a pocketknife in the other. He focused his frightened stare on the door’s broken panels.

“Ladies first.”

He offered a hand to help her.

“What a gentlemen.
”

She
stepped through the broken glass and into a dark interior. The long, central corridor was littered with debris. There was a fair share of blood splattered across the floor and lockers lining the walls. Jenn’s eyes went to the leg of a broken chair. She picked it up and took a firm grip. Its jagged end promised a good stabbing weapon if it came to a close quarter fight. Michael’s feet crunched across broken glass as he followed her in. A number of doors lined each side of the hall evenly spaced between the lockers.

“
The office is right there at the end of the hall,” Michael said.

Jenn didn’t want to open any doors
if she didn’t have to and hoped Michael knew his way around. She focused her sights on the end of the hall and started off. There were stacks of chairs and desks in places with some of them smashed to pieces. There was little to tell the outcome of whatever fight had taken place.

The doors along the hall were closed, most with small viewing windows covered with drapes. A few of the doors showed signs of small arms fire while others were hacked in places. Very few of the glass inserts remained with most shards
of glass tainted with blood and bits of only God knows what. Jenn walked with hesitant steps and only her labored breaths and Michael’s careful strides could be heard.

They were midway between the double doors and the end of the hall when a new sound echoed toward them. Jenn looked up and found Michael’s eyes on
the inside of a classroom. He approached the door and waved her over. She peered through at a rush of movement outside a long bank of windows on the opposite classroom wall. Several men leapt out of the back of trucks, pouring into the parking lot.

“Oh hell,” she said.

There was panic in Michael’s response.

“We have to get out of here.”

Jenn looked down the remaining length of the hall and found the outline of the office door.

“No,” she said. “We can do this.”

“My mom’s going to run for it. She’ll get spooked and run for the trees.”

“Listen to me,” she took hold of his arm and
dragged his attention away from the window view. “We need that bus. We need to be on the move and inside a vehicle before it gets dark.”

“You don’t even know if the keys are in the office.”

He was right. She nodded.

“Alright then,
” she said as she pieced together a plan. “We’ll do a quick check and if we don’t find them, we’ll head for the gym,” she explained and Michael stared at her unconvinced. “We’ll catch your mom before she makes a run for it.” Jenn wasn’t sure she believed it herself.

Jake and
Alicen had survived a great deal on their own. If they got anxious, they’d run for it. Jenn started walking, not willing to debate with Michael. She didn’t think the kids would wait, and more so, she wasn’t sure she wanted them to.

An echo
of conversation carried through the classroom windows into the main hall. Jenn guessed they had a few minutes at best. The closer they got to the office door the less the light from the distant entrance revealed. Standing in thick darkness, the fear of what was coming ate at her gut.

Jenn grabbed hold of the
office door handle. She gave Michael a nod, then turned and pushed. The interior was a black as a moonless night, and it was only then that she realized the error of her plan. “Hold the door,” she said. “I’m going to need the light.” She found a haunting look on Michael’s face as he stared into the darkness.

Jenn heard
a shifting sound. The sudden noise hadn’t carried down the hall; it came from within the office. Movement pulled her eyes to the corner of the room. She surprised herself with an excited utterance.

“Come and get some!”

Silhouetted in the doorway, Jenn couldn’t see more than the outline of two figures. A low rumble from the room erupted into something she didn’t expect. It started as a single giggle, followed by full laughter. What she heard next was just as unanticipated.

“I bet you’re looking for some keys?”

14.

Chris stepped out from behind the counter and lowered his weapon. He was smiling
, but he could tell by the look on Jenn’s face that she wasn’t amused. Her shoulders didn’t relax until Chris and Jafar were in full view from the light in the hall. Jenn’s face softened and Chris thought she might start laughing, until she hauled back and punched him in the stomach.

“Damn you.”

He tried to stop smiling as he clutched his gut and sucked in air. Chris peeked past her and found Michael nervously waiting in the hallway.

“Where’s Jake and
Alicen?” he asked when his breath came back to him.

“They’re out be
hind the gym with Sarah, near the football field, but we have more immediate problems,” Jenn explained as Chris managed to stand upright. “…two truckloads of problems to be specific.” He pushed past her and she mumbled. “It’s good to see you too.”

Michael spoke up as Chris met him in t
he hall.

“What about the bus?”

Chris held up his free hand revealing a set of keys around his middle finger.

“Imagine that, we had the same idea.”

“You were going to leave us?”

Jenn’s question stung more than Chris thought it should. He fired back at her. “And you came here because you knew we’d be waiting?” He was backing down the
hall, waiting for a response. Jenn’s stare hardened on him, but she didn’t offer a reply.

“We can’t get out that way,” Michael said.

Chris stopped where he was and looked at the open office door. Jafar side stepped Jenn and focused his attention on a hall running perpendicular to the entryway. His eyes settled on the way leading towards the gym, then started to walk. Chris reached Michael and pushed him before Jenn finally responded.

“I wouldn’t have left
you if I knew you were alive.”

Her statement froze him in his tracks. He couldn’t say the same and he wasn’t about to lie to her. She started after
Jafar before he had to come up with something to say. Chris was angry with himself for letting the comment bother him as much as it did.

The corridor was marred with long stretches of darkness broken by regular intervals
of window light. The illumination was subdued by tinted lining and offered a limited view beyond a few feet in any direction. The way split twice more before they reached a dead end. Jafar looked to Chris with his pistol at the ready.

They
expected the hall to end at the gym. Chris was trying to calculate their next move when the sounds of men pushing their way into the main hall echoed up behind them. Chris did a quick inventory of their defenses. He knew Jafar’s pistol only had five rounds remaining and his rifle had six. That left them with Michael’s pocketknife and the screwdriver he’d given to Jenn. He was willing to bet their pursuers had plenty of rounds to spare and a direct fight would be less than fair.

He motioned Jafar towards the front side of the school and a set of double doors at the end of another long hallway. He hoped the direction would
lead them out to the section of the gym where Sarah and the kids were waiting. His hopes were quickly dashed after a few paces when several figures appeared on the other side of the glass doors.

“They’re guarding the exit,” Jafar said in a hushed voice.

“We can get in the gym back there,” Michael said pointing the way they had come. “We can get out on the field through the fire exits.”

Jafar started moving before the group had time to think about it. He was leading
the way with Michael close by. They were midway down the corridor when Michael pointed out the gymnasium sign posted on the far wall. The double doors were partially open, each side showing signs of abuse. The blood-soiled panels offered a foreboding warning.

“It’s dark in there.”

Jafar’s statement wasn’t relaying confidence, but Chris’ attention was on the growing sounds echoing in the halls. He guessed the gunmen had reached the main office. “We can’t go back,” he said, whispering more to himself than anyone else.

“You’re sure
we can get out of there?” Jenn asked Michael.

He nodded. “Yea sure, I’ve been in there hundreds of times. The doors on the other side open up to the football field.”

Jafar pulled at one side of the doors and the screech it gave rang out an alarm. The sudden lack of chatter from the gunmen told Chris their time was up. If the group hadn’t been sure of their location before, they were now. He gave up on surprise and helped Jafar pull the door the rest of the way open. The silence that followed only increased the growing anxiety.

Chris plunged into the
darkness, calling Jenn to follow him. Michael went next with Jafar taking up the rear. He tried in vain to close the door as he went and the opening made an easy target. Chris hoped they’d be out on the football field before their pursuers found them.

The pitch darkness was more complete than any of them
had anticipated. Once out of the light from the doorway, Chris couldn’t see Jenn only a foot away. He focused on the sound of her breathing and realized there was something else in the darkness with them. Slow but steady, a constant sound rose and fell away at an impossibly perfect rhythm. Chris slowed then stopped as an all consuming fear abruptly gripped his mind. He held out his hand and found Jenn’s in the dark.

Jenn
stopped and her hand shook with his. Chris knew at once that whatever the sound was, she could hear it too. Jafar bumped in to them from behind, but did not call out. They were all deathly still and the rhythmic wave washed over them in the darkness.

Chris held his breath and let go of Jenn. He slid his hand into his pocket and fished out
his lighter. He pulled it up and tried to keep his hand steady as he flicked the wheel. The spark lit up twice before the flame caught.

Chris saw Jenn’s face first. She was close to him, leaning in over the flame. He tu
rned to find Michael and Jafar a foot behind. Chris raised the lighter up over his head and turned in the direction of the rear wall. The light broke the darkness immediately around them and produced a hopeless beacon, revealing the dirty basketball court beneath their feet. He took a step away from the others, and then froze mid stride.

The light revealed a shape at its
edge that Chris could not piece together. A moment of clarity told him it was an arm and a shoulder. There was no sound above the wave of rolling breath. Chris watched the limb move in unison with the sound and he knew at once, what it was. He moved the light ever so slightly to expose a standing figure, its head tucked down toward the floor. Its heaving breaths were only one small part of the chorus.

The dark
lines on the figure’s skin and bloodstained clothes marked it as one of the infected. The light wavered as Chris felt terror grip his heart. He continued his turn and the glow found one figure after another, more than he cared to count. Each one stood in a frozen stance similar to the first.

Chris finished his turn
and found Jenn, Michael, and Jafar staring at him under the faint light. The look on their faces told him they’d seen what the light revealed and knew what waited in the darkness. A single tear ran down Michael’s cheek as the weight of the moment crashed down upon him. Chris nodded as he tried to gather his courage. He released the tab on the lighter and the flame went out. He reached for the others and pulled everyone into a tight circle.

“We have to
go forward,” he whispered. He wasn’t sure he believed his own advice, but he knew the gunmen would find the gym at any moment. “Michael, I need you to guide me,” he paused, waiting for a response that didn’t come. “Can you do that?” The silence continued for a several seconds before the reply.

“I think so.”

They spoke no more. Michael maneuvered around until he was in front of the group. Chris slid his rifle over his shoulder and grabbed hold of Michael’s shirt. He raised the lighter up as Jenn and Jafar got in line behind him, all grabbing hold of one another. Chris flicked the lighter and the petty light returned. He had to shove Michael to get him to move.

They walked like a human centipede at a
slow, deliberate pace. Chris felt Michael’s resistance with every step. The first of the infected came into the light and Michael froze. They waited for several agonizing seconds for him to gather the strength to continue. Each step revealed the growing size of the entranced figures. A sea of bodies littered the gym, each marred in stains marking their plight.

Michael navigated with his eyes
focused on the floor, the fear too strong for him to look at his surroundings. The view of the ground offered little relief. Bits of rubbish were mixed with a share of teeth, bones, and smears of unidentifiable remains. The sight of it all highlighted the growing stench among the infected. The excruciating walk came to an abrupt and terrifying end.

Michael led them to
an emergency door and the light shown on a lock and chain wrapped around the handles. Four faces stared at the lock in disbelief. Michael looked back for guidance, but Chris had no directions to give. The flame from the lighter was burning his thumb, but he wasn’t willing to let the light go out. Chris stepped around Michael and approached the door alone. Closer inspection confirmed what they saw; the door was locked up tight.

A
distinct screeching sound pulled their attention to the gymnasium door. Chris let the lighter go out and suddenly found himself standing in complete darkness surrounded by a horde of infected he could no longer see. A lone light pierced the dark from across the gym. The entrance door was forced completely open and the illumination flooded the floor in a rectangular pattern.

A silhouette filled the doorway and
the rhythmic breaths of the infected hastened. Chris knew their time would soon be up. He felt along the emergency exit, sliding his hands over the chain until he reached the lock. He slammed the lighter in his pocket and slipped the rifle off his shoulder. He pressed the end of the barrel against the lock and waited.

The scenario that followed played out
with a wave of sounds exploding in a series of violent shifts. The rhythmic breathing was pierced by a howling scream. The volume rose as others joined in with the first. A gunshot rang out from the entrance and the infected erupted in a horrific clamor.

Chris fired his gun, sure the infected would swarm on him at any moment. He felt for the lock
then pulled at the chain. A constant wave of howling and gunfire drowned out everything else. Chris frantically yanked at the chain until the coil unraveled and fell to the floor. One good kick forced the door open and a flood of light exploded in through the opening, setting off a frenzied shrill.

Chris didn’t look back until he was outside. One by
one, Michael, Jenn, and Jafar spilled out of the emergency door, but the infected did not follow them into the light. A rash of gunfire continued from somewhere inside. The turmoil sounded as if the entire building was coming down around them. The horrific howls were only interrupted by the screams of the men trapped inside.

Chris reached the middle of the football field before turning for another look. Jenn was close
to him and Michael had his eyes on the edge of the gym. There was no sign of Sarah or the kids. Jafar kept his pistol aimed on the emergency door waiting for something to show itself in the light. He called out, his accent thicker in the heat of the moment.

“We n
eed to keep moving.”

“Mom
,” Michael’s yell was a shock to everyone’s system. “Mom.”

“Shut up,” Chris ordered.

“Chris…” Jenn pulled at him, “she has Jake and Alicen.”

Chris
silently considered if the kids were enough reason for him to go back and look. A moment later and he didn’t have to choose. Sarah’s scream came from somewhere behind them. They all spun around, but there was no clear sign of anyone moving within the trees.

Michael started running before anyone could stop him. He reached the other side of the field
as the dead stepped out into the open. The large shambling pack pushed their way out from under the tree coverage. They moved in various stages of decay focused on the fresh meat of Sarah and the kids running out ahead of them. Sarah screamed at the top of her lungs as she pulled Alicen with one hand and Jake with the other.

Chris aimed his
rifle, then thought better of it. He ran towards Sarah and waved Jenn back as she started sprinting after him. In one awkward turn, he threw the bus keys at her, then continued around and kept going.

“Get to the bus.”

Michael reached his mother before Chris got across the field. Chris stopped where he was and steadied himself, taking aim. Michael urged his mother ahead of him and started back as Chris fired. The first round hit a zombie in the leg and the blow ripped through the putrid flesh and blew chunks of muscle out the back. The second shot caught a female in the face, which exploded like a blood-filled balloon.

Sarah and the kids rushed past Chris and he slid his gun
over his shoulder. He was moving again when Michael caught up to him. They were sprinting full speed, neither bothering to look back at the dead. Zombies didn’t stand a chance of catching up in the open and Chris knew all they had to do was stay ahead of them. He was more concerned with what might come popping out of the gym.