Dead Outside (Book 1) (17 page)

He
was right, “Okay, lets get to it, we have the south side, and then we can get
working on the second floor of the main building.”

The
south side had fewer zombies in it than the north. There were probably two
dozen, maybe a few more then that. I was getting tired of counting them. We
reloaded at the truck again, took another five minute breather, and then headed
upstairs. There were a lot of bodies upstairs, but most of them were already
taken care of.

Every
room had at least one corpse on the floor, with multiple blood stains. Even
after we cleared this place, it was going to take a hell of a long time just to
clean it all up to be livable. It was all worth it though, the walls were
cinderblock, with steel doors built to withstand hurricane force winds. If we
were going to be safe anywhere, this was it.

We
finished clearing the second floor of the south side and took a breather. We brought
up the bag of ammo and some water with us this time. The last thing we needed
was for one of us to pass out from dehydration.

“There
were a lot more on just this side then the bottom floor,” I observed. “There
had to be almost fifty of those things on this side.”

“We
were downstairs, it was hard enough to get out from there,” Nick leaned over
the hand rails and looked over the side. “People probably got trapped up here.”
He gestured toward the ground, “Looks like some people tried to get down
another way.”

I
leaned over and saw a few bodies with legs bent in awkward directions, “Ouch.”
I gulped, “Not exactly the way I want to go out.”

The
rest of the second floor was just as congested. We took our time, kept our
distance, and placed our shots carefully.

One
classroom stood out, I pushed the door open and glanced inside. There weren’t
any bodies on the ground or walking around. Everyone followed me in and noticed
the same thing.

“There
aren’t even any blood stains on the carpet,” Sarah noticed, shining her flashlight
around the floor of the room.

“We’ll
stay here tonight, once we’ve cleared the rest of the school.” I checked the
door to the planning room between this classroom and the one facing the
courtyard. “At this rate we should be able to clear the rest of the school
before nightfall. Then we can bring up some blankets and anything else we
need.”

With
the main horseshoe building cleared of zombies, we went back downstairs to
clear out the other buildings. Even though I was wearing gloves my hands were killing
me, I must have broken at least a hundred of their skulls with my bat.

We
stopped at my truck to reload again and get ready for the final push. I leaned
my bat against the truck and grabbed my shotgun. I had about three dozen shells
tucked into a bandolier, which I threw over my shoulder.

“Which
building do we clear next?” Roxie asked, unfolding the map and setting it on
the hood of my truck. “The library and cafeteria are the biggest, the auto
garage and wood shop are smaller and off to the south here.”

Nick
looked at it for a second then pointed to the gymnasium, “We start here and
head south, first the gym, then the library, then the wood shop and Auto
garage, and then we end with the cafeteria.”

“Sounds
fine to me,” I looked up at the sky. “We still have a few hours of sunlight
left,” I pulled back the pump on my shotgun to check that a shell was loaded,
saw there was and slid it back shut again. “Let’s clear it out.”

The
gym was all locked up. When we opened the doors it was practically spotless inside,
which was odd, but it was one less area to clean up.

The
library was oddly just as locked up as the gym. I looked over at Nick, “Were
there not people in the other buildings?

“I
honestly didn’t notice,” Nick shrugged. “They put us in the main building,
maybe because it was all connected.”

The
auto garage and wood shop were empty, but not locked. The auto garage’s bay
doors were open. There was some blood in the auto garage, and a few bodies with
screwdrivers stabbed into the heads. “It looks like somebody made a decent
enough stand here.” I kicked over one of the corpses, it had a caved in skull
the shape of the head of a sledge hammer.

“It
looks like it was a last stand.” Roxie pointed at a body curled up in the
corner, there was a small revolver lying next to him.

I
picked it up and saw all the rounds were spent. “He saved the last round for
himself.”

I
stood back up and tucked the now empty gun in my pocket, no sense in letting it
go to waste. “Let’s get moving, no sense in wasting time.”

We
walked outside on the way to the cafeteria. Some zombies had already started
gathering at one of the buses we parked to block them out. I could see their
feet, and hear their hands banging on the side of the bus.

“What
are we going to do with the bodies?” Sarah asked me.

“Burn
them.” I remembered the large piles I saw outside Orlando, “The ones upstairs
we’ll throw outside the school, and the ones downstairs we pile up and burn.”

“I
meant of the people.” She walked in front of me and stopped, “Like that guy
back there.”

I
took a deep breath, “What about him?”

“Shouldn’t
he get a better burial then a pile of rotting corpses?” she was staring at me
with painful eyes. That guy reminded her of her dad.

“The
ones that weren’t infected we can make a separate pile for.” I knew it wasn’t
the answer she wanted.

She
shook her head, “He deserves more then that, he probably has family out there.”

“And
they were probably the ones trying to eat him!” I snapped, this wasn’t the way
things were supposed to go. I wanted to be with her, and then the world went to
shit. I waited too long, and now she wasn’t the person she used to be. She
barely smiled anymore, and when she did it was fake.

She
slapped me across the face so hard my hat turned to the side. I turned my head
back just in time to see the tears rolling down her cheeks as she turned around
and started walking toward the cafeteria. “Let’s just clear the damned
cafeteria and library and get this over with.”

She
stopped outside the cafeteria door and waited. She avoided eye contact with me
as I adjusted my hat then opened the door. Nick and Roxie were notably silent,
not wanting to get in the middle of it. The main eating area was empty, at
least of anything walking around.

There
were plenty of bodies, most of them picked clean of anything but blood and
clothes. Sarah and Roxie covered their mouths with their hands, more out of
shock then anything. These bodies were truly mutilated.

I
took the lead. I could hear something coming from the kitchen area in the back.
It sounded like a deep wind, like a window was open. As we got closer we
realized it wasn’t the wind. There had to be at least a hundred of them all
trying to get to the big walk in freezers. The doors were shut, but had big
blood stained dents all over them.

“You
don’t think?” Roxie asked, she didn’t say it loud, but for that matter she
didn’t whisper either. All of the sudden their moaning got louder and they all
turned around to face us.

“Oh
fuck me,” Nick blurted out, his face was full of fear.

My
heart was racing sure, but my head was clear, I wasn’t thinking about flight, I
was thinking about fight, “Take them down!”

I
aimed my shotgun at the closest one and fired. The slug went through the first
zombie’s head and then through the one behind him. Before I pulled the pump
back to load another shell Nick, Roxie, and even Sarah all fired into the
crowd.

We
started walking backward, firing, reloading, firing, and reloading. My ears
were ringing from how loud it was, gunshots echoing in the cafeteria. It felt
like we were in there for hours, but it couldn’t have been more then a few
minutes.

I
was out of shells and there were still so many, I frantically pulled out the
shells in my bandolier, but dropped a few in my haste. Sarah was out as well,
she ran against the wall behind us.

Nick
dropped his pistol and pulled out his machete, “We don’t have enough ammo,
we’re gonna have to take the rest out by hand!”

“There
are too many!” Sarah screeched from behind us.

Roxie
still had ammo, but after her .22’s tube ran out of rounds it had to be loaded
one round at a time. I dropped my shotgun after my last shell and following
Nick’s example and drew my machete. I counted the zombies that were still
stumbling toward us. There were still ten of them.

“Sarah,
Roxie get out of here!” I yelled. The zombies were closing fast, only a few
feet in front of us, but they were relatively spaced out. I glanced to Nick and
shrugged, asking him if he wanted to attempt it.

Nick
didn’t look too enthusiastic, but he nodded in agreement. My ears were ringing
too much for me to hear their moans, but I knew they were, their gaping mouths
dripping with blood and drool.

My
machete sliced the head off the first one I swung at, it’s head bounced on the
ground like a slightly deflated basketball, jaws still snapping.

I
was about to swing at the second one when it managed to grab my arm. I twisted
my arm, trying to keep its head from leaning down to take out a chunk.

My
heart was racing as I buried the machete into its skull, as its teeth were only
inches from my forearm. Its body collapsed, taking my machete with it. I had to
put my foot on its head to pull it out.

Nick
in a similar situation, but there were two of them between us closing on me
fast. I shoved one away and it tripped over a chair. My machete got stuck into
the head of the second one just like before. Before I could pull it free
another zombie grabbed me and knocked me to the ground.

I
grabbed its neck and one of its arms trying to keep it from getting me, but it
was strong, and I was tired from swinging the bat all day. It was about to take
a chunk out of my neck when I felt something spray across my face.

For
half a second I thought it spit on my, but it’s now lifeless body was limp on
mine, and its jaw was no longer snapping.

I
turned around and saw Roxie was still in the room, aiming her rifle at the one
that was still on top of me. I didn’t have time to think about it, the one I
had shoved earlier was now crawling my direction.

I
threw the heavy body on top of me to the side and grabbed my machete out of the
skull to my right just as I felt something grab my left ankle. I sat up and cut
off its left arm at the wrist, but he kept coming, grabbing me with its right.

It
snarled with wide cloudy eyes as it pulled in to bite my calf, but I buried the
machete so deep in its skull the handle stuck out between the eyes.

I
quickly looked around to see if any more were coming for me, but saw none. Nick
was on the ground about twenty feet to my right, also sprayed with blood. I got
to my feet and wiped the blood and brain matter off my face.

Sarah
was sitting by the door, hands around her knees rocking back and forth. I
walked over and helped her up. She was petrified, and staring at my like I
shouldn’t be alive.

We
all stood there silently, ears ringing, staring at the pile of corpses. I
reached over and grabbed the .22 rifle from Roxie, and looked at Nick. He
nodded.

I
took a step toward the kitchen, but Sarah grabbed my arm. I looked back into
her eyes, she was shaking her head.

“I
have to know,” I told her. She didn’t like it, but she let go of my arm. Nick
and I walked up to the walk in freezer doors. I grabbed the latch and pulled it
open. In the corner were five small bodies. They couldn’t have been more then
ten years old. From the looks of it they were huddled together for warmth, but
the freezer had long since shut down.

I
took my hat off and looked at Nick, he looked like he was about to throw up, I
patted him on the shoulder, and we walked back over to the girls. They both had
tears rolling down their cheeks.

I
looked at Sarah, “I’ll start digging graves in the courtyard tomorrow,” I said
with my voice choking up. “Then we can clean the rest of the school.”

Chapter Seventeen: Day in the Life

5:30
AM, December 8

It’s
odd how comfortable a person can get with a situation. Six months ago I was
walking down the halls of this school in a polo shirt and slacks on my way to
substitute teach. Now I was sitting in the same hallway in a lawn chair,
drinking a beer and looking at what I could only estimate as several thousand
walking corpses all clawing at the sides of the school trying to eat me alive.

I
took a sip of my beer. It was a bit warm, but I didn’t mind. I set it down next
to the binoculars and box of ammo on the table set up next to me.

The
first few months of living in the school were rough. First thing we did was
make sure there were no gaps in our defense. Every nook and cranny was filled
with desks, file cabinets, anything to keep those things from getting in.

It
took us a couple days just moving the bodies. It took me almost two days to dig
the graves we needed for all the uninfected people we found in closets,
freezers and bathrooms. I tried to keep it all impersonal, but it was hard. I
can still remember some of the faces, most of all the kids in the freezer.

I
glanced down at the photo in my hand. The smile on Sarah’s face hadn’t changed,
at least not in the face itself. It was the eyes. Her eyes were lit up in the
picture, full of life. Now when she smiled there wasn’t a light, there was a pain
behind them. I looked at the picture every day, reminding myself it was still
her, that she could still have that light behind her eyes again one day.

After
finishing the beer I tossed the bottle at the sea of people in front of me. We
were pretty thorough in our first go through. We only found two stuck in a
closet we missed the second time through the school, and we haven’t seen one
inside since.

I
rubbed my face and felt the stubble of a beard. It was too hot for me to let it
grow out much further. I’d hoped that with it being December now the weather
would cool off, but we’d had no such luck.

We
kept up with a buddy system for a while, nobody went anywhere alone. The next
few weeks we started cleaning everything. There was a lot of bleach in the science
department, and in the custodial closets. We used almost all of it cleaning up
the various blood stains.

After
that we spent almost a month collecting and cataloguing anything we could use
and brought it upstairs, from medical supplies, to food, to weapons, there was
plenty. The army had even left behind a few Military grade weapons like M4
carbines.

We
made our living space on the second floor. It started with just the clean
classroom we crashed in those first few weeks, and then expanded as we cleaned
the other rooms up.

The
first classroom became our living room with couches and chairs from the front
office surrounding a desk turned coffee table.

The
teacher planning areas in between the classrooms were our makeshift bedrooms,
Nick and Roxie had one, and Sarah and I had another.

We
made one into a kitchen/hospital room, with shelves and cabinets that used to
hold books now packed full with medical supplies and food. We even had a
propane stove for cooking from Nick’s uncle George’s house. We originally
estimated that we had over a year’s worth of food, but that was just wishful
thinking. We were halfway through it after four months.

Once
we were relatively settled in there wasn’t much work that needed to be done,
other then patrolling the perimeter which we took shifts in pairs to do. We all
found something to occupy our minds.

Sarah
took care of the food, keeping track of how much we ate, and how much we had
left. She took up cooking as her way of keeping herself busy. We all
appreciated it, because some of the food the army left wasn’t exactly
appetizing.

Roxie
took care of the medical supplies, looking after any of us if we got hurt, and
making sure we took vitamins that the food didn’t provide. She also took up
knitting and crocheting to pass the time, making hats, sweaters, and scarves
for all of us, though it was still too hot for us to use any of them.

Once
we had all the essential supplies upstairs, Nick convinced us to bring some of
the workout equipment from the gym upstairs as well. That was how he spent most
of his spare time, working out.

I
spent my time working on my truck. Even though we were relatively safe I still
felt we needed to have an escape vehicle. There were plenty of tools and spare
parts lying around in the auto garage, so I had plenty to work with.

I
reached down and grabbed another beer from the cooler on my side. It didn’t
have ice, but it helped me to pretend it was cold. I took a sip and set it down
on the table. The sun was finally coming up, which meant my shift would be over
soon.

That
was another thing, somebody was always awake at night. It didn’t matter how
safe we felt, anything could happen, and we weren’t going to take any chances.

I
finished my beer as the sun broke over the horizon. Now that the sun was up I
needed to walk the perimeter and make sure nothing broke through in the dark.

Even
though Nick and I had familiarized ourselves with the M4 carbines from manuals
we found in one of the crates dropped by the army, I preferred to use my .22
rifle. It was probably because I’d been using it since I was barely in middle
school.

I
grabbed a mirror on a pole we made from brooms and a piece of broken mirror we
found in one of the bathrooms. We used it to see the first floor windows and
doors to make sure they were still intact. Everything was fine, the window
shutters were intact, and so were the doors. The small panes of glass in the
doors broke a long time ago. They tried to reach through those same as they had
for months now. Luckily the windows on the doors were too small for any of them
to squeeze through.

The
stairwells were packed so full with desks that they looked like boxes of Legos.
I leaned over the railing and saw that nothing was trying to squirm its way
through the desks. The doors were still holding at the bottom of the
stairwells, so I moved on to check the rest of the perimeter.

It
wasn’t as hot as it had been during the summer, but it was still hot as hell.
Even though it was December now, I still tried to stay in the shade, and
enjoyed every breeze for as long as I could. We didn’t have the gas to run the
generators all the time for air conditioning.

The
buses were all holding strong. We pushed file cabinets under the buses to fill
the space under them. I used to worry about how long they’d hold, because they
began to sway as more and more undead began pushing and hitting them all hours
of the day, everyday.

I
hit the last bus three times with the butt of my rifle, taunting the undead,
“Come on you bastards, you gotta work harder than that if you wanna get fed.”

After
making sure the last bus was clear I started walking toward the inner north
stairwell. I needed to tell everyone else that the coast was clear and to wake
them up if they were still asleep.

I
took my time walking up the stairs. The days were longer now that we didn’t
have much to do. I glanced over at the graves in the courtyard, we had some
names to put on the graves, but six or seven of them didn’t have wallets, so we
didn’t have anything to write down. I shook it off, the ones that did have
names meant nothing to me. I never met them, so their names didn’t mean
anything either.

I
opened the door to our kitchen. Sarah was already cooking our breakfast.
“What’s for breakfast today, Babe?” I asked her as I set the rifle on our gun
rack next to the door.

“Powdered
eggs and beans” she made it sound more appetizing than it was. “Breakfast of
champions.”

My
mind groaned in resentment, we’d had the same breakfast for weeks, but my
stomach was thankful for a meal that wasn’t made up of maggots and dirt.
“Sounds good to me. Are Nick and Roxie awake?”

She
stirred the eggs in her pot, “Nick is up but I haven’t seen Roxie yet.”

I
let out a sigh, “Alright, I’ll be back.” I walked through mine and Sarah’s
bedroom, and opened the door to Roxie and Nick’s room.  Roxie was sprawled out
on their bed and snoring rather loudly.

“Wake
up Drowsy.” I threw a pillow at her. She rolled over and hugged the pillow next
to her.

“I’m
not Drowsy, I’m Sleeping Beauty.” She groaned, “Go away.”

“No,”
I kicked the bed, “Sleeping Beauty couldn’t wake up, Drowsy just slept all the
time for no reason,”

“Go
away,” she yelled with her face buried into her pillow. Her voice was muffled
but she yelled loud enough for me to clearly understand her.

“You
know,” I continued to kick the bed. “You’re the one who told us to keep a
regular sleep schedule to help alleviate stress.”

“Ugh”
she grunted into her pillow, then rolled over and stared at me with fiery eyes.
“I’m going to kill you in your face.”

 “You
can try,” I chuckled, then walked out of their bedroom. I stopped for a second
before I shut the door, “Get up and do something productive.”

I
didn’t stay long enough for her to respond, I went back out to the kitchen
table. Sarah had already put the food in a big bowl in the center of the table.

I
scooped my share of it onto a plate and didn’t waste any time eating it. Nick
walked in when I was about half done with my plate.

“I
thought you said you would let me know when you were done cooking,” he said
rather upset as he walked into the kitchen.

I
turned around as Sarah shot back, “Well if you were within earshot you would
have heard me.”

Nick
just shrugged and sat down to fill his plate. He took a bite of the eggs and
made a sour face. “How was the Perimeter today?”

“Fine,”
I answered, pouring hot sauce on my eggs. I glanced up and saw that Nick’s eyes
were red, with dark bags hanging under his eyes. He obviously didn’t get any
sleep last night, which would explain why Roxie was still tired. They were
probably up arguing again.

Sarah
finished eating before us. “I’m going to go water the garden, make sure there
is enough left for Roxie to eat too.”

“No
problem,” I swallowed the last bit of my eggs. “I’m going down to the garage to
work on my truck for a bit.”

Nick
and I stood up at the same time. He always went to run around the courtyard
after breakfast.

We
didn’t say anything walking out the door, down the hall, or even down the
stairs. I broke the silence, “So what’s up with you and Roxie man?”

“Just
another stupid fight,” he sighed. “She wants to talk about our future, I just…
I don’t know man.”

“What’s
that supposed to mean?” I stopped walking and grabbed his shoulder. “It’s not
like there are a lot of other fish in the sea.”

“So
I’m just supposed to marry her on principle?” he shook his head. “That’s not
fair, not for me and not for her.”

“Didn’t
say it was fair,” I stared him down. “I’m saying it’s right.”

He
smirked, shook his head, then turned and ran off, “Have fun working on your
truck.”

“This
isn’t over!” I yelled at him.

“Yes
it is!” I barely heard him as he continued running away. I rolled my eyes. He
was always avoiding issues, so I wasn’t surprised.

I
took my time walking to the auto garage. I had a lot of time on my hands during
the day. Nick and I had gone on about a dozen supply runs, mostly to get food
and ammo. We made one trip to the local Ford dealership and drove back two
newer Rangers for me to use as spare parts to fix my own Ranger up.

The
shop was a mess. My truck was in what seemed like a million pieces. My truck
itself was up on a lift, the engine was broken down on one table, and the
transmission was on another. One of the other Rangers was parked against the
wall with its hood popped open. The other was parked near the gate we used to
get in and out at the rear of the auto garage. We were using it for supply runs
until my truck was back in working order.

Today
I was planning on cleaning the engine compartment out, which was no small feat.
There was dirt and grime that had been stuck in the nooks and crannies since
the truck first rolled off the line back in ’94.

I
had rigged the lift to run off an old generator we’d found, so that I could get
the truck off the ground now that the power grid was gone. It was just high
enough for me to stand inside the engine compartment without having to crouch.

It
didn’t take long for me to hear somebody walking up. I thought it was Nick, but
I was surprised to hear Roxie, “Need any help?”

I
stood up on the tip of my toes to see her cross armed looking at the pile of
tools on the table. “Yeah, can you hand me that can of brake cleaner?”

She
held it under the truck for me. “I don’t understand why you need to fix this
thing up rather then just use one of the new ones you got from the dealership.”

“Same
reason Dad and I would spend every weekend working on it,” I squatted down and
walked out. “It’s more about pride. I’ve put my blood sweat and tears into this
thing, I’m not just going to kick it to the curb.”

“Someone
needs to tell that to Nick,” she picked up a rag and handed it to me. “He doesn’t
want to work at our relationship, he thinks it’s a joke.”

I
wiped the grease off my hands, “Is it just the commitment? I mean what does a
ring on the finger change now anyways?”

“I
know!” she sighed. “I just want to know that we’re going to be together the
rest of our lives, and given our current situation that may not be for much
longer.”

“What
do you want me to do?” I asked. “I don’t want to get caught in the middle of
all this.”