Born In The Apocalypse (5 page)

Chapter 8

Trey just shook his head and moved down a very dark hallway.  It was dark enough that we stopped for a minute and pulled a candle out of his pack.  I had the lighter, so we lit the candle, throwing weak but welcome light into our area. 

As it turned out, we were standing next to a flight of stairs that would take us to the second floor.  Trey didn’t even ask before he started up the steps.  I had to follow since he was carrying the candle.

The second floor, as it turned out, wasn’t as scary as the first.  There was a lot of light coming in from the huge windows at the end of the hallways, and there were a few skylights that helped a great deal. 

Trey looked in the first room we came to and shook his head.  I walked over to the other side of the hallway and checked a room on that side.  It was cleared of anything useful as well.  I don’t know who we were kidding.  Unless it came up to us and told us what it would be useful for, we wouldn’t really know it.  I told Trey the same thing.

“You never know,” Trey said.  “That’s what my Daddy always says.  You never know.”

“You may be right about that,” I said as I ducked into a room.  Trey waited in the hallway, and I popped out quickly, showing him my prizes.

“I’ll be damned.  You looking to make points with your Mom, or what?”

I grinned.  I had pulled out a couple of history textbooks, but I couldn’t be sure of the grade level.  In any case, Trey and I had something other than the books my mom had scrounged up for teaching.  I think I may have helped our education by leaps and bounds, not to mention our attention spans.

The next rooms in the hallway didn’t have anything of worth, and I was thinking we were wasting hunting time when we crossed over to the other side.  Right away we could tell things were different.  There was a feel to the air that wasn’t there before, and the big windows on the end of the hallways were covered up with big drapes.  They almost looked like bedsheets.

“Something’s not right there, bro,”  Trey said.

I nodded my head in agreement.  Since I didn’t have to hold the candle, I kept both hands on my bow, ready to fire at a second’s notice.

“Let’s get that sheet off; see what we can see,” Trey whispered.

I personally thought that was not the greatest idea because I wasn’t sure I wanted to see what I could see.  But I walked carefully over to the sheet and gave it a yank.  The sudden brightness blinded us for a second, and when we could see, it wasn’t a good thing.

The Trippers had been here, no doubt about it.  There were a lot of dark stains all over the floor, and bloody handprints streaked the walls and doors.  There was a strange smell in the stale air, and the candle was burning slightly brighter for some reason.

“I don’t like the looks of this,” Trey said, walking slowly down the hall.

“Little late, don’t you think?” I said, bringing my bow forward and adjusting my fingers on the string.

“Let’s just check a couple rooms, and get out of here.” Trey said.

I personally thought that wasn’t a better idea than walking around this hallway, but what did I know?

Trey went to a room and tried the door.  The handle moved easily, and we took a look inside, gagging a little from the stench that greeted us at the door. The room was decently lit since the window was uncovered, and I really wished it hadn’t been. 

There were four people still in that room, and they looked terrible.  There was a young man in a curled up position near the door, and he almost looked like he was sleeping except for the huge dark stain under his head and shoulders.  If we pushed him over, I’d bet my bow his throat had been torn out.

Another body was on the ground, and this one was even more gruesome than the last.  Its stomach had been torn open, and the guts had been thrown all over.  Ropes of intestine hung from the desks and chairs, and something that looked like a liver was off to one side.

Two more small bodies were on the ground, and they looked like they hadn’t been torn open, but rather had their heads bashed in on one of the desks.

I couldn’t help myself.  “Gee, wonder what the next room is like?”

Trey backed away with me and didn’t say a word.  We had seen what Trippers could do when the rage was on them, and this was nothing new.  I’d never seen it so up close before, and it was weirdly fascinating.

“I think we’re done up here.  Even if there was something here, I don’t want to get it.  We’ll let our dads know after we finish hunting,” he said.

I wondered about that.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell my father about our little trip.  I don’t think he would have approved.

Trey led the way, and we backtracked the way we had come.  It was a relief to get back downstairs and get away from the smell and the feel of death all over the place.  Trey turned left when he exited the big double doors and headed down a long hallway which I thought took us east, but I was slightly turned around.

The hallway was nearly without doors or windows, but there was a single door to the north as we ventured further into the gloom.  Trey put a hand on it and looked back at me.

I shook my head, figuring there was nothing here worth keeping, so just leave it alone.  Trey silently agreed, and we moved on.

About one hundred yards down the hallway, we found another set of double doors.  By this time, I had figured out where we were and what it as we were standing in front of.

“It’s a side door to the gym,” I said.

“How do you know?”

“Because the name on the side says ‘GYM’.” I said, trying out my new sarcasm.

Trey wisely avoided the trap and pulled on the door handle.  It wasn’t very dark here since we were close to a side door, but since we didn’t know what was in the gym, we kept the candle lit.

I stood off to the side, drawing my string back.  If there was something on the other side of the door, I’d rather greet it with an arrow than my face.

Trey peeked around as the door slowly closed and stopped it with his hand before it shut. “Looks okay.  Let’s take a quick look inside.”

I followed and we stepped into the gloom.  The candle was not very bright, but it threw shadows and light all over the place. Trey held it high, and the light of the candle was barely able to get to the ceiling, and we could make out some dark opening at the other end of the room.  Right next to us was a small hallway with a sign that said ‘GIRLS LOCKER ROOM”.

Over by a tall wooden structure was a pile of clothing and supplies. When I stepped over that way, my foot struck something.  It felt soft and stiff at the same time, and I really didn’t want to look down.  As a matter of fact, I was doing everything I could, apart from closing my eyes, to
not
look down.

“Trey?”

“What?”

“What’s on the floor?”

“Hang on.”

I saw the light shift as Trey brought the candle to the floor.  My eyes had adjusted to the gloom, and I could see very clearly the body at my feet.  I could also see the bodies all over the floor.  They were everywhere, lying in various positions.  Some were on their backs; others were in little balls.  Some were face down and tucked in corners that were the made at the bottom of the wooden wall.  The floor was dark and heavily stained in dried blood.  The bodies were mostly dried-out husks with sunken cheeks and exposed bones.  Several seemed almost normal, and they looked weird to me.

“Holy crap,” Trey said.

“Yeah.”

“Wonder why those ones are in better shape than the rest?” Trey wondered out loud.

I didn’t answer because I didn’t have to.  Three of the corpses heads turned, and their eyes opened at the same time.  There was a hesitation as they figured out what we were, and then they were slowly trying to get to their feet.

Chapter 9

“Go. Now,” I said, turning and running for the door.  Trey was right behind me.  The candlelight was coming from behind and below, having been dropped by Trey.  We cast huge shadows onto the wall as we bolted for the exit.  Behind us, the Trippers we had awakened were remembering how to walk, and were gaining ground.

“Go, go!” Trey yelled as we hit the door.  Thankfully, they opened outward, so we could just bolt through without stopping.

“Which way?” I shouted as we made the hallway.

“Outside, just go!”  Trey yelled, bolting for the exit.

“Move, OW!” I stopped suddenly as pain exploded in my face.

“What the hell?” Trey yelled.

“Just go, go!” I said, rubbing my injured forehead.

We ran to the big exit doors and had to stop again. The doors were held together with some serious-looking chains, and we had no way of even trying to find the key to the big brass padlock that stopped us cold.

Behind us, the gym door banged as the Trippers ran into it, and it was only a matter of time before they found their way out.

I exhaled and adjusted my stance, angling my bow for a smooth draw.  I was reaching into my quiver for a second arrow when Trey stopped me.

“Come on!  We can get out!” he said excitedly as he pointed to the doors.

Trey pushed on the big doors, and there was enough slack in the chain to let a couple of skinny kids squeeze through the opening.  I nodded and set my bow aside as Trey put his crossbow down.  I pushed on the doors, holding them open while Trey wiggled through the narrow opening.  On the other side, he held the doors open as I passed.through the bows.

I was just about to start going through when Trey suddenly yelled. 

“Move your ass!  They’re right behind you!”

I didn’t bother to look, mostly because I didn’t want to.  If I looked, I would freeze.  If I froze, I was dead.  I threw myself at the opening as Trey held it, wiggling as fast as I could between this legs. 

“Hurry, hurry,
JESUS
!” Trey fell back as the doors began to close.  Dark hands slammed into the doors, opening them slightly again, just enough for a Tripper hand to slip through and grasp my pant leg.

“TREY!  It’s got my leg!” I shrieked, trying to crawl away from the nasty hand that gripped my pants.  My efforts pulled the arm of the Tripper through the opening, and the infected person raised its dark eyes to me and hissed loudly.

Trey grabbed me by my armpits and tried to move me backwards, but the Tripper held on. It started to pull me back, and the other two Trippers were pushing on the door now, too, adding their snarls and snaps to the jingling sound of the straining chains.

Trey held on to me but tried to reach his crossbow at the same time.  It was two feet out of reach, and useless as a daisy at the moment.

“Rush the door on this side!” I yelled in a moment of desperate inspiration.

“What?  Are you nuts?” Trey asked.

“
Just do it!
” I yelled.

Trey let go, and immediately I could feel myself being dragged back to the building.    If I came within biting range, it was all over.

“
Hurry!
”

Trey took a step back, then launched himself at the door, colliding with it and knocking back one of the Trippers.  The one on the ground, the one that had me, looked up and tried to reach through the glass to get at Trey.

“Again! I think she loosened her grip!” I yelled, as I tried to find something to hold on to as the Tripper dragged me closer and closer.

Trey stepped further back and flew at the metal part of the door, slamming into it with all of his strength.  The Tripper holding me suddenly released her grip, having had her arm broken in the door frame.  She never winced, she just stood up slowly and joined her brother and sister in staring out the window at the two of us.

They pushed on the doors, so the opening was still there, and we could easily kill all three if we had to.  I retrieved my bow when Trey stopped me.

“This just is not our day.”  He pointed to the east, and I nearly just ran away.

A lone Tripper was barreling down at us, and would be on top of us if Trey hadn’t pointed it out,

I didn’t even aim, I just brought my bow up and fired.  The arrow punched into the Tripper’s chest, and he slowed down to look at the stick coming out of his chest.  He looked up at us with his glazed eyes, and tried to run again, but he slowed and fell to his knees.  I had another arrow nocked and ready, and Trey was aiming his crossbow at the man, but even he hesitated.

The Tripper grabbed feebly at the arrow, but his face contorted, and he seemed to shrink in on himself as he fell to the side.  He closed his eyes and he just lay there.  After a minute, he slowly relaxed and straightened slightly.

“What the hell?”  Trey asked out loud.

I was thinking the same thing.  You weren’t supposed to be able to stop them by shooting them in the chest.  At least, none of the ones I’ve seen my father shoot like that ever did.  Weird.

“Do you think it’s really dead?” I asked, moving forward cautiously.

Trey shrugged.  “Never knew one to stop coming once it saw something it wanted to kill.”

“Is it dead or did I trigger a sleep?” I was genuinely curious, because I had never seen such a thing before.

“Feel free to give it a poke,” Trey said.  “I’ll cover you.”

I shrugged and reached out with my bow.  I tapped it on the arm and then the head. I finally poked it in the eye, and none of that provoked any kind of response.

“Guess it’s dead,” I said. “Definitely need to tell dad about this one.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Trey said.

“Fine, but just to be clear, this was your idea.”

“Thanks.”