I just posted chapters 35, 36, and 37 which combine for 4,454 words. This brings my total word count to 53,092 words, officially completing my first goal of finishing a 50k novel for NaNoWriMo.
So I failed pretty miserably on the "month" part, having finished [my word count goal] about a year after I started. That said, I still have a few more chapters until I truly finish [the story]. So, loyal readers, thank you for sticking with me this far.
Hang on for the last bit...it's gonna be a wild ride.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Chapter 37 - Return to Sender
June 14th, 2008
8:44am
Hillenbrand Hall - Room 380
"Take that, motherf-" T.Rex said, catching himself as he looked back at Jenny. She stood at the end of the hallway, staring at the carnage with wide eyes. She shook ever so slightly, hands covering her mouth.
T.Rex stood and wiped the crowbar clean on the zed's shirt. "Jenny?" he said, approaching her cautiously. "Are you okay?"
Jenny remained silent, still staring at the zombie on the floor. T.Rex gently placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her face to look at him. She gasped, and recoiled slightly at his touch.
"Sweetie? We have to keep moving, okay?" he pleaded.
"I...I've never s-seen you be so - you just..." her voice trailed off.
T.Rex grimaced. "Look, I only do it because I have to. They will never stop unless you make them, ok?"
"No, I get it, I just wasn't expecting it. I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"Promise."
"Good. Gimme your master keys, then."
Jenny took the keyring out of her pocket and handed them to T.Rex. He flipped to the East Wing dormitory master and started to key into the nearest room.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"We gotta get something," T.Rex said with a grin as he unlocked the door. He handed the keys back and listened intently for any noise. Hearing none, he readied his crowbar and opened the door. As he entered, he noticed Jenny was just a step behind him.
"Wait," he said curtly, afraid that there were zeds waiting to ambush them on the other side of the door. He slid into the room and checked the closets and under the beds, finding nothing. He quickly entered the bathroom and pulled back the shower curtain with his crowbar. Just to be safe, he entered the adjacent suite and checked it for zombies.
There were none, and T.Rex let out a sigh. "Follow me," he said, loud enough for Jenny to hear. She joined him in the dorm room and looked around, confused.
"What do we need in here?" she asked.
"I want you to tear down that curtain and use it to clean up the broken glass in the hallway," T.Rex said as he patted the nearby mattress with his hand. "I'll be right behind you with this, and then I want you to come back and grab the other one, okay?"
"Where are we going?"
"The elevator lobby."
"What?!"
"The elevator lobby."
"What, are we gonna jump out the window or something?"
"Actually, yes."
"You can't be serious."
"Of course I'm serious."
"Ryan, we're not jumping three stories, even with a pair of mattresses."
"We're not going to jump three stories. We're going to jump one."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's less than a one-story drop from the North side of the East 3rd floor elevator lobby onto the roof of the central part of the building. We'll land on top of the front of the dining hall. From there we dash across the roof to the loading docks, and then we're about 100 feet from the parking garage. Voilà."
She shot him a skeptical look. "What?" he said. "The whole bottom floor is filled with zombies! I ran into a pack of them trying to get here in the first place. This route takes us above it all, straight over and out of here."
Jenny sighed and set to work. T.Rex hefted the mattress onto its side and slid it all the way to the elevator lobby, still listening carefully for zeds. As he waited for Jenny to bring the second mattress, T.Rex set about clearing the glass that separated them from the nearby roof. With several vicious swings of his crowbar, he shattered the pane of glass and cleared the glass bits from the rim.
When Jenny arrived with the other mattress they worked together to stuff the bulky bedding through the impromptu exit.
"Ladies first," T.Rex said, gesturing outside.
"Uh, I think I'd rather let you go first?" Jenny said hesitantly.
"Don't have to tell me twice," T.Rex said. He climbed up onto the rim and hopped over, landing squarely on the mattresses without incident. "Now toss down your bookbag and I'll catch it!" he said, trying to project his voice without yelling to attract attention. He already regretted the noise of breaking an exterior window, but they were committed at this point.
"Here you go!" Jenny said, and launched her bookbag out the window. T.Rex caught it, but it was unexpectedly heavy and it collapsed him to the ground. He recovered, and motioned for Jenny to follow. He glanced quickly to the parking garage, but didn't see any Fools.
Cautiously, she climbed onto the rim of the window and jumped out, landing comfortably onto the mattresses. "That was kinda fun!" she said, brushing the hair out of her eyes.
"C'mon, babe, almost there," T.Rex urged. He helped her to her feet and they jogged across the gravel roof of Hillenbrand Hall to the rear loading docks. T.Rex ignored the nearby zeds and quickly scanned the sides of the building.
"There!" he pointed to a large bin against the side of the building. "We hop onto that container, down onto the ground, and I want you to run as fast as you can to the second story of the parking garage, okay?"
Jenny nodded and followed him down from the roof to concrete. By now a half a dozen zeds loitering close by had taken notice of the duo and had come to feast. They staggered from multiple directions, eyes wide and mouths agape.
T.Rex growled and sprinted out to face the closest one, an older overweight female zed with tattered clothes. He ran just past the zed, ducking under its outstretched arms. With one fluid motion he turned and rammed his crowbar through the back of its skull until it exited through the zed's face face. T.Rex planted his foot on its back and ripped his crowbar out, ready for his next target.
A pair of Asian zeds had decided that the fleeing Jenny was a more tantalizing target. They staggered for her, ignoring all else.
Fine with me, T.Rex thought as he raced after them. He caught up quickly, and shoved them violently forward from behind. Without the motor skills to compensate, the zombies face planted into the grass, and T.Rex dispatched them both with his crowbar before they could get up.
He stood and turned, panting heavily. Another zed was laying in the grass, an arrow planted firmly in its ear. Grinning, he sprinted towards the next zombie, a muscular black zed. As he closed the distance there was a loud crack of a rifle, and T.Rex's target turned to look up at the noise.
Seizing the opportunity, T.Rex ran straight past the zed and swung his crowbar, hooking the zed in the temple and pulling it to the ground, head wrenched nearly backwards.
When T.Rex stood again there were no zombies in the immediate area standing. Worried about the noise of the rifle, he jogged to the stairwell and headed to the second floor of the parking garage. He threw open the door and saw some of the Fools huddling near the edge of the building.
Rubble and Angel Hair were waiting with weapons drawn as T.Rex ran to them. Jenny sat nearby, crying, as Kamikaze tried to comfort her.
T.Rex strained to catch his breath. "Where...the hell...are Peace and Beard...and Cowboy?"
Kamikaze spoke first. "They went into Hillenbrand. Together. They said they were going to try and look for some food in the dining hall while you were rescuing Jenny. They said they would be back before you got here, but that was a while ago."
No! No no no no no! T.Rex screamed in his head. "Are you kidding?!" he said, not bothering to keep his voice down. "Why did you let them - never mind. Just... fuck. This is bad." He dropped to the ground and fumbled through his pack.
"What do we do now?" Angel Hair asked, looking nervously around the parking garage.
T.Rex grabbed his Mag-Lite flashlight from his bag. He looked at the remaining Fools with a mixture of frustration, fear, and anger. "You three: stay here and guard this area. If I'm not back soon, head towards West State Street, and get Jenny to safety."
"Are you sure?" Rubble said. "Maybe we could help you if you-"
"No," T.Rex cut him off. "Nobody knows this building like I do, and I already know it's a mess in there. If you start to get overrun, fall back. I don't want to lose more today than we have to."
He moved over to Jenny. "And you," he said, kissing her on her forehead. "Stay with them. I know I just got you back, but now I have to go help them, okay?"
She looked back at him through teary eyes and nodded. "I love you," she said. "Be safe."
T.Rex took his flashlight and crowbar and ran for the parking garage stairwell.
Word Count: 53,092
8:44am
Hillenbrand Hall - Room 380
"Take that, motherf-" T.Rex said, catching himself as he looked back at Jenny. She stood at the end of the hallway, staring at the carnage with wide eyes. She shook ever so slightly, hands covering her mouth.
T.Rex stood and wiped the crowbar clean on the zed's shirt. "Jenny?" he said, approaching her cautiously. "Are you okay?"
Jenny remained silent, still staring at the zombie on the floor. T.Rex gently placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her face to look at him. She gasped, and recoiled slightly at his touch.
"Sweetie? We have to keep moving, okay?" he pleaded.
"I...I've never s-seen you be so - you just..." her voice trailed off.
T.Rex grimaced. "Look, I only do it because I have to. They will never stop unless you make them, ok?"
"No, I get it, I just wasn't expecting it. I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"Promise."
"Good. Gimme your master keys, then."
Jenny took the keyring out of her pocket and handed them to T.Rex. He flipped to the East Wing dormitory master and started to key into the nearest room.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"We gotta get something," T.Rex said with a grin as he unlocked the door. He handed the keys back and listened intently for any noise. Hearing none, he readied his crowbar and opened the door. As he entered, he noticed Jenny was just a step behind him.
"Wait," he said curtly, afraid that there were zeds waiting to ambush them on the other side of the door. He slid into the room and checked the closets and under the beds, finding nothing. He quickly entered the bathroom and pulled back the shower curtain with his crowbar. Just to be safe, he entered the adjacent suite and checked it for zombies.
There were none, and T.Rex let out a sigh. "Follow me," he said, loud enough for Jenny to hear. She joined him in the dorm room and looked around, confused.
"What do we need in here?" she asked.
"I want you to tear down that curtain and use it to clean up the broken glass in the hallway," T.Rex said as he patted the nearby mattress with his hand. "I'll be right behind you with this, and then I want you to come back and grab the other one, okay?"
"Where are we going?"
"The elevator lobby."
"What?!"
"The elevator lobby."
"What, are we gonna jump out the window or something?"
"Actually, yes."
"You can't be serious."
"Of course I'm serious."
"Ryan, we're not jumping three stories, even with a pair of mattresses."
"We're not going to jump three stories. We're going to jump one."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's less than a one-story drop from the North side of the East 3rd floor elevator lobby onto the roof of the central part of the building. We'll land on top of the front of the dining hall. From there we dash across the roof to the loading docks, and then we're about 100 feet from the parking garage. Voilà."
She shot him a skeptical look. "What?" he said. "The whole bottom floor is filled with zombies! I ran into a pack of them trying to get here in the first place. This route takes us above it all, straight over and out of here."
Jenny sighed and set to work. T.Rex hefted the mattress onto its side and slid it all the way to the elevator lobby, still listening carefully for zeds. As he waited for Jenny to bring the second mattress, T.Rex set about clearing the glass that separated them from the nearby roof. With several vicious swings of his crowbar, he shattered the pane of glass and cleared the glass bits from the rim.
When Jenny arrived with the other mattress they worked together to stuff the bulky bedding through the impromptu exit.
"Ladies first," T.Rex said, gesturing outside.
"Uh, I think I'd rather let you go first?" Jenny said hesitantly.
"Don't have to tell me twice," T.Rex said. He climbed up onto the rim and hopped over, landing squarely on the mattresses without incident. "Now toss down your bookbag and I'll catch it!" he said, trying to project his voice without yelling to attract attention. He already regretted the noise of breaking an exterior window, but they were committed at this point.
"Here you go!" Jenny said, and launched her bookbag out the window. T.Rex caught it, but it was unexpectedly heavy and it collapsed him to the ground. He recovered, and motioned for Jenny to follow. He glanced quickly to the parking garage, but didn't see any Fools.
Cautiously, she climbed onto the rim of the window and jumped out, landing comfortably onto the mattresses. "That was kinda fun!" she said, brushing the hair out of her eyes.
"C'mon, babe, almost there," T.Rex urged. He helped her to her feet and they jogged across the gravel roof of Hillenbrand Hall to the rear loading docks. T.Rex ignored the nearby zeds and quickly scanned the sides of the building.
"There!" he pointed to a large bin against the side of the building. "We hop onto that container, down onto the ground, and I want you to run as fast as you can to the second story of the parking garage, okay?"
Jenny nodded and followed him down from the roof to concrete. By now a half a dozen zeds loitering close by had taken notice of the duo and had come to feast. They staggered from multiple directions, eyes wide and mouths agape.
T.Rex growled and sprinted out to face the closest one, an older overweight female zed with tattered clothes. He ran just past the zed, ducking under its outstretched arms. With one fluid motion he turned and rammed his crowbar through the back of its skull until it exited through the zed's face face. T.Rex planted his foot on its back and ripped his crowbar out, ready for his next target.
A pair of Asian zeds had decided that the fleeing Jenny was a more tantalizing target. They staggered for her, ignoring all else.
Fine with me, T.Rex thought as he raced after them. He caught up quickly, and shoved them violently forward from behind. Without the motor skills to compensate, the zombies face planted into the grass, and T.Rex dispatched them both with his crowbar before they could get up.
He stood and turned, panting heavily. Another zed was laying in the grass, an arrow planted firmly in its ear. Grinning, he sprinted towards the next zombie, a muscular black zed. As he closed the distance there was a loud crack of a rifle, and T.Rex's target turned to look up at the noise.
Seizing the opportunity, T.Rex ran straight past the zed and swung his crowbar, hooking the zed in the temple and pulling it to the ground, head wrenched nearly backwards.
When T.Rex stood again there were no zombies in the immediate area standing. Worried about the noise of the rifle, he jogged to the stairwell and headed to the second floor of the parking garage. He threw open the door and saw some of the Fools huddling near the edge of the building.
Rubble and Angel Hair were waiting with weapons drawn as T.Rex ran to them. Jenny sat nearby, crying, as Kamikaze tried to comfort her.
T.Rex strained to catch his breath. "Where...the hell...are Peace and Beard...and Cowboy?"
Kamikaze spoke first. "They went into Hillenbrand. Together. They said they were going to try and look for some food in the dining hall while you were rescuing Jenny. They said they would be back before you got here, but that was a while ago."
No! No no no no no! T.Rex screamed in his head. "Are you kidding?!" he said, not bothering to keep his voice down. "Why did you let them - never mind. Just... fuck. This is bad." He dropped to the ground and fumbled through his pack.
"What do we do now?" Angel Hair asked, looking nervously around the parking garage.
T.Rex grabbed his Mag-Lite flashlight from his bag. He looked at the remaining Fools with a mixture of frustration, fear, and anger. "You three: stay here and guard this area. If I'm not back soon, head towards West State Street, and get Jenny to safety."
"Are you sure?" Rubble said. "Maybe we could help you if you-"
"No," T.Rex cut him off. "Nobody knows this building like I do, and I already know it's a mess in there. If you start to get overrun, fall back. I don't want to lose more today than we have to."
He moved over to Jenny. "And you," he said, kissing her on her forehead. "Stay with them. I know I just got you back, but now I have to go help them, okay?"
She looked back at him through teary eyes and nodded. "I love you," she said. "Be safe."
T.Rex took his flashlight and crowbar and ran for the parking garage stairwell.
Word Count: 53,092
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Chapter 36 - Jenny
June 14th, 2008
8:13am
Hillenbrand Hall - Room 462
With nothing to lose, T.Rex reached for the door handle. Just as he touched it there was a lengthy rumble from the other side of the door, and Ryan took a step back instinctively. The locks clicked, and the door opened just a fraction.
Jenny's eyes appeared in the gap, and they widened when she recognized who had been knocking. "Oh my god!" she said, nudging the door open and leaping out to hug him.
For several moments neither spoke, holding each other tightly in the darkness. T.Rex looked down the hallway with a nervous glance, then ushered his girlfriend back into the relative safety of the dorm room.
"I was so worried about you! What happened to your arm?" Jenny said as she relocked the door, tears forming in her eyes.
T.Rex gently wrapped his arms around her. "Just a little scratch," he said in a calming voice. "It's okay, I'm here to rescue you."
"I was afraid you w-wouldn't come," Jenny said, now sobbing in his arms. "That something had happened to you, that those awful monsters had hurt you, and when I couldn't get ahold of you on your phone I-"
"Shhhh," T.Rex said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Doesn't matter now. I'm here, you're here, and I'm going to take you far away from all of this mess. I need to know what happened, though. Are you okay? Is there anybody else in the building?"
Jenny squeezed her boyfriend tightly. "I'm okay," she said quietly. "Days ago we got a call from Liz that there was some sort of police action on the Eastern portion of campus, and that we weren't allowed to leave the building. I heard some rumors that there was a mob or something, so I ran down to the RA kitchenette and grabbed all of my snacks, just in case. When I got back there was an official Purdue email about some sort of 'civil disturbance', and that we had been asked to stay in our rooms.
"So I waited in my room, like they made us, and every time I looked out the window there more of them. At first there were just a few, coming from over by Meredith, and as they days went on they kept coming. Then the power went out, and I got so scared I went to find Mike. He decided that as supervisor he would gather up all the OAs and we stayed together in his room. Then... then..."her voice trailed off as she looked away.
"Hey," T.Rex said, "look at me," as he guided her face back to meet his gaze. "I've got you now, I just need to know what's going on before we get going."
"They never came back!" she blurted out. "Abe and Brett left to go get some supplies and to block up some of the exits, but we never heard back from them. Then we waited even longer, trying to keep up our spirits telling stories about the awful conferences we've had. Kate just sat in the corner and wouldn't talk.
"Then one day they broke through the window. Mike told us to run, and so I did. I ran in the dark back to my room and I don't know what happened to any of them!" Jenny said, crying into Ryan's shirt.
T.Rex kissed her forehead. "You did the best you could. The most important thing right now, though, is for you to get your things so I get you out of here. Away from campus, away to the country. Can you do that for me?"
Sniffling, Jenny nodded. As she scurried about the room, T.Rex went to the window and peeked around the curtains. The view from Jenny's room covered most of the exit route he had planned, and there looked to be just a handful of zeds in the way.
I might actually pull this off, T.Rex said to himself, lost in thought as he imagined their escape.
"You look very different," Jenny said offhand as she stuffed her bookbag with clothes.
T.Rex snapped back to focus. "What was that?"
"You look different. I mean, I haven't seen you in almost two weeks..."
"Oh, well, I did cut my hair," T.Rex said as he moved towards the bathroom. In the dim light he could see his reflection, and it startled him. His hair was shorter, and he had a light beard, but beyond that he looked ragged and worn. His shirt was a canvas of gore, sweat, and dust, and his eyes looked as bad as he felt.
"Sorry I'm so gross," Ryan apologized. "It was...an...interesting trip over here. I would've been here sooner but-" he stopped as Jenny crossed the room and put a finger over his lips.
"Don't worry about it," she whispered. "You're still my knight in sort-of-shining armor. I'm just happy to see you." She pulled his shirt so their lips met, and they kissed for a long while before T.Rex broke it off.
He grinned. "We need to get going, hon. The Fools are waiting."
Her eyes widened. "The Fools?" Jenny had been with Ryan longer than some of them had been in the improv troupe.
"The ones on campus when the zeds hit: Peace, Beard, Kamikaze, Cowboy, Angel Hair, and Rubble."
"Where are they?"
"Holding down the fort in the Hillenbrand Parking garage." T.Rex left out his other thought: I hope.
Jenny smiled. "I think I'm ready to go, then," she said. Ryan took a quick glance through her bookbag to double check what supplies she had. It wasn't much, but it did include a laptop, camera, and more medicine that the group could use. Nothing in the room even remotely resembled a weapon, however.
It will have to be enough, T.Rex thought. He had no problem convincing Jenny to cut her hair to lessen the chances of falling into the clutches of the zeds. At T.Rex's insistence they also left a note of the time and date they were leaving, directions of where the group was planning on going, and contact numbers of the lifeless phones they carried.
"Do you have your master keys?" T.Rex asked, trying to remember everything they might need.
Jenny looked puzzled. "What for?"
"We'll need them to get out of Hillenbrand," he said.
She ran to the closet and retrieved the keyring given to all OAs for the summer that granted access to almost every room in the building. "Anything else?" she asked.
T.Rex glanced at the locked door the separated them from the outside world before turning to his girlfriend. "When we go out there, I need you to stay close and do exactly what I say, okay? Stay quiet unless you see something, and let me handle the zeds."
"Are you kidding me? I'm not going to let you out of my sight," she said with a weak smile that seemed to mask a worried expression.
Together they quietly slipped into the dark hallway. A quiet moan drifted through the hallway, and T.Rex looked around with an intent stare, daring anything to challenge his protective stance. After several moments, they continued cautiously. Picking their way over and around the debris, they reached the stairwell at the end of the hall without incident.
T.Rex looked back at Jenny and pointed to the stairwell door, then pointed downward, then flashed three fingers. She nodded back, and he eased the door open. A small amount of sunlight leaked through the windows, illuminating their path. The door was halfway open before the hinge squeaked, echoing in the vertical expanse of the stairwell.
"Fuck!" he hissed. T.Rex grabbed Jenny's wrist and took off down the stairs, wondering if their echoing footsteps masked any nearby zeds. When they reached the third floor he flung the door open and dashed inside, crowbar ready to dispatch any threat.
He scanned the darkness. Nothing. "Jenny?" he said quietly over his shoulder.
"Yeah?" she said back, gently tapping his shoulder.
T.Rex released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Just checking." He moved forward slowly, extra conscious with Jenny in tow.
A quiet crunching sound caught their attention, and they both froze. T.Rex squinted into the dim corridor and saw a single zed stumble into the hallway from the study lounge area.
"Get back," Ryan said without hesitation, and took a few steps forward. The zombie lurched closer, and every time it placed a foot on the ground there was an odd clicking noise. T.Rex watched in puzzlement as the creature drew near.
"Ohhhhh," he said aloud, when he suddenly realized the zed most likely had broken glass embedded in its foot, probably from the study lounge. It was a slender zed, wearing a pair of broken glasses and sporting a pair of plaid pajamas.
The creature showed no signs of pain as it walked, but the glass gave it a distinctive gait. T.Rex waited, studying the motion for an opening. When the zed was just a few feet away T.Rex moved, stepping into a soccer-style kick that connected with the inside of the zed's leg, just as it shifted its weight to the other side.
Off balance, the zed toppled onto the floor. T.Rex spun and drove the tip of his crowbar directly into the back of the zed's skull, piercing the decaying flesh and weakened bone violently. There was a twitch of the zombie's feet, then all was still.
Word Count: 51,573
8:13am
Hillenbrand Hall - Room 462
With nothing to lose, T.Rex reached for the door handle. Just as he touched it there was a lengthy rumble from the other side of the door, and Ryan took a step back instinctively. The locks clicked, and the door opened just a fraction.
Jenny's eyes appeared in the gap, and they widened when she recognized who had been knocking. "Oh my god!" she said, nudging the door open and leaping out to hug him.
For several moments neither spoke, holding each other tightly in the darkness. T.Rex looked down the hallway with a nervous glance, then ushered his girlfriend back into the relative safety of the dorm room.
"I was so worried about you! What happened to your arm?" Jenny said as she relocked the door, tears forming in her eyes.
T.Rex gently wrapped his arms around her. "Just a little scratch," he said in a calming voice. "It's okay, I'm here to rescue you."
"I was afraid you w-wouldn't come," Jenny said, now sobbing in his arms. "That something had happened to you, that those awful monsters had hurt you, and when I couldn't get ahold of you on your phone I-"
"Shhhh," T.Rex said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Doesn't matter now. I'm here, you're here, and I'm going to take you far away from all of this mess. I need to know what happened, though. Are you okay? Is there anybody else in the building?"
Jenny squeezed her boyfriend tightly. "I'm okay," she said quietly. "Days ago we got a call from Liz that there was some sort of police action on the Eastern portion of campus, and that we weren't allowed to leave the building. I heard some rumors that there was a mob or something, so I ran down to the RA kitchenette and grabbed all of my snacks, just in case. When I got back there was an official Purdue email about some sort of 'civil disturbance', and that we had been asked to stay in our rooms.
"So I waited in my room, like they made us, and every time I looked out the window there more of them. At first there were just a few, coming from over by Meredith, and as they days went on they kept coming. Then the power went out, and I got so scared I went to find Mike. He decided that as supervisor he would gather up all the OAs and we stayed together in his room. Then... then..."her voice trailed off as she looked away.
"Hey," T.Rex said, "look at me," as he guided her face back to meet his gaze. "I've got you now, I just need to know what's going on before we get going."
"They never came back!" she blurted out. "Abe and Brett left to go get some supplies and to block up some of the exits, but we never heard back from them. Then we waited even longer, trying to keep up our spirits telling stories about the awful conferences we've had. Kate just sat in the corner and wouldn't talk.
"Then one day they broke through the window. Mike told us to run, and so I did. I ran in the dark back to my room and I don't know what happened to any of them!" Jenny said, crying into Ryan's shirt.
T.Rex kissed her forehead. "You did the best you could. The most important thing right now, though, is for you to get your things so I get you out of here. Away from campus, away to the country. Can you do that for me?"
Sniffling, Jenny nodded. As she scurried about the room, T.Rex went to the window and peeked around the curtains. The view from Jenny's room covered most of the exit route he had planned, and there looked to be just a handful of zeds in the way.
I might actually pull this off, T.Rex said to himself, lost in thought as he imagined their escape.
"You look very different," Jenny said offhand as she stuffed her bookbag with clothes.
T.Rex snapped back to focus. "What was that?"
"You look different. I mean, I haven't seen you in almost two weeks..."
"Oh, well, I did cut my hair," T.Rex said as he moved towards the bathroom. In the dim light he could see his reflection, and it startled him. His hair was shorter, and he had a light beard, but beyond that he looked ragged and worn. His shirt was a canvas of gore, sweat, and dust, and his eyes looked as bad as he felt.
"Sorry I'm so gross," Ryan apologized. "It was...an...interesting trip over here. I would've been here sooner but-" he stopped as Jenny crossed the room and put a finger over his lips.
"Don't worry about it," she whispered. "You're still my knight in sort-of-shining armor. I'm just happy to see you." She pulled his shirt so their lips met, and they kissed for a long while before T.Rex broke it off.
He grinned. "We need to get going, hon. The Fools are waiting."
Her eyes widened. "The Fools?" Jenny had been with Ryan longer than some of them had been in the improv troupe.
"The ones on campus when the zeds hit: Peace, Beard, Kamikaze, Cowboy, Angel Hair, and Rubble."
"Where are they?"
"Holding down the fort in the Hillenbrand Parking garage." T.Rex left out his other thought: I hope.
Jenny smiled. "I think I'm ready to go, then," she said. Ryan took a quick glance through her bookbag to double check what supplies she had. It wasn't much, but it did include a laptop, camera, and more medicine that the group could use. Nothing in the room even remotely resembled a weapon, however.
It will have to be enough, T.Rex thought. He had no problem convincing Jenny to cut her hair to lessen the chances of falling into the clutches of the zeds. At T.Rex's insistence they also left a note of the time and date they were leaving, directions of where the group was planning on going, and contact numbers of the lifeless phones they carried.
"Do you have your master keys?" T.Rex asked, trying to remember everything they might need.
Jenny looked puzzled. "What for?"
"We'll need them to get out of Hillenbrand," he said.
She ran to the closet and retrieved the keyring given to all OAs for the summer that granted access to almost every room in the building. "Anything else?" she asked.
T.Rex glanced at the locked door the separated them from the outside world before turning to his girlfriend. "When we go out there, I need you to stay close and do exactly what I say, okay? Stay quiet unless you see something, and let me handle the zeds."
"Are you kidding me? I'm not going to let you out of my sight," she said with a weak smile that seemed to mask a worried expression.
Together they quietly slipped into the dark hallway. A quiet moan drifted through the hallway, and T.Rex looked around with an intent stare, daring anything to challenge his protective stance. After several moments, they continued cautiously. Picking their way over and around the debris, they reached the stairwell at the end of the hall without incident.
T.Rex looked back at Jenny and pointed to the stairwell door, then pointed downward, then flashed three fingers. She nodded back, and he eased the door open. A small amount of sunlight leaked through the windows, illuminating their path. The door was halfway open before the hinge squeaked, echoing in the vertical expanse of the stairwell.
"Fuck!" he hissed. T.Rex grabbed Jenny's wrist and took off down the stairs, wondering if their echoing footsteps masked any nearby zeds. When they reached the third floor he flung the door open and dashed inside, crowbar ready to dispatch any threat.
He scanned the darkness. Nothing. "Jenny?" he said quietly over his shoulder.
"Yeah?" she said back, gently tapping his shoulder.
T.Rex released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Just checking." He moved forward slowly, extra conscious with Jenny in tow.
A quiet crunching sound caught their attention, and they both froze. T.Rex squinted into the dim corridor and saw a single zed stumble into the hallway from the study lounge area.
"Get back," Ryan said without hesitation, and took a few steps forward. The zombie lurched closer, and every time it placed a foot on the ground there was an odd clicking noise. T.Rex watched in puzzlement as the creature drew near.
"Ohhhhh," he said aloud, when he suddenly realized the zed most likely had broken glass embedded in its foot, probably from the study lounge. It was a slender zed, wearing a pair of broken glasses and sporting a pair of plaid pajamas.
The creature showed no signs of pain as it walked, but the glass gave it a distinctive gait. T.Rex waited, studying the motion for an opening. When the zed was just a few feet away T.Rex moved, stepping into a soccer-style kick that connected with the inside of the zed's leg, just as it shifted its weight to the other side.
Off balance, the zed toppled onto the floor. T.Rex spun and drove the tip of his crowbar directly into the back of the zed's skull, piercing the decaying flesh and weakened bone violently. There was a twitch of the zombie's feet, then all was still.
Word Count: 51,573
Chapter 35 - Friend or Foe
June 14th, 2008
7:55am
Hillenbrand Hall - East Wing Elevator Shaft
It was only now, clinging desperately to a few thin bars of metal over a horde of agitated and ravenous zombies, that T.Rex began to question the wisdom of leaving his entire group of friends behind.
He stubbornly refused to look down and tried to ignore the sounds of gnashing teeth below. One shaking hand at a time he climbed the rungs, heading for the fourth floor. I wonder how they're doing out there, T.Rex wondered to himself. Are they under attack? Are they slaughtering zeds by the dozen, their only real problem trying to keep up with Beard? Or maybe they're desperately trying to stem the tide, hoping I will show up soon before they get overwhelmed.
Ryan started climbing faster at the last thought. Hopefully they're hidden out of sight, conserving ammo and energy, wishing they weren't so bored. Then I can rescue Jenny, come back the hero, and tell them all about how I masterminded this rescue.
A minuscule amount of light emanated from the second floor elevator doors as T.Rex climbed past. The zeds below continued to bang on the walls and rattle anything they could reach, including the elevator cables all around.
Why do I always go for the action hero bullshit? T.Rex argued with himself. First, the red barrel fiasco in the Machine Shop, and then I seriously thought climbing the cable was going to work? Let's pretend that I actually made it all the way to the fourth floor - then what? I'm going to leap from the center of the elevator shaft onto the ledge in front of the doors? A ledge a few inches wide?
T.Rex continued to close the distance, climbing past the third floor doors. He winced every time the crowbar swinging from his belt loop knocked against the wall, preventing any sort of stealth. Too curious, he broke his mental discipline and looked down past his shoes. The shadows concealed the zombies below, but they could still be heard clawing for food. I can still tell the Fools I went all Die Hard on these motherfuckers, he thought with a grin. He knew Cowboy in particular would enjoy if he bent the truth describing how things really happened.
The air was slightly warmer as T.Rex neared the fourth floor. After so much fighting and climbing he was beginning to sweat profusely, so he wiped his brow with his sleeve to try and keep his hands dry. His grip was starting to feel weak, and his legs were tired. T.Rex fought back another yawn, feeling the exhaustion wash over his body.
He'd known tired before. He was an engineering student (or used to be, depending on how bad the zed threat was), and many nights sleep was a lower priority than debugging code or finishing one more set of problems. T.Rex shook his head vigorously and looked for some way move from the elevator shaft and back out into the hall.
A pair of small silver boxes were mounted on the wall nearby, both marked "4" in bold font. T.Rex folded his left arm around a rung for stability and reached out with his free arm to investigate. He expected to have to use his crowbar yet again to break something, and was pleasantly surprised when the first metal case clicked open with little resistance, exposing a series of fuses and wires.
Ryan moved onto the second larger box, closer to the doors. Inside was a series of worn mechanical gears and levers. T.Rex leaned in and squinted in the dim light to read a warning label, trying to discern the purpose of the device. It said: Warning - Do Not Disengage Door Springs While Elevators Are Active.
Success! T.Rex reached in and cycled the lever, and there was a corresponding clanking sound inside the nearby door. Very carefully he climbed the rungs until he was level with the fourth floor doors. Then he unhooked his crowbar and held it out, until the tip of the weapon caught the edge of the closest door. With the springs disengaged, he pulled the crowbar toward him and the door slid open easily.
The rungs were less than two feet from the door, but it seemed like an enormous chasm with the elevator shaft extending below. T.Rex just barely managed to get one foot onto the ledge while still maintaining his position on the rungs. He took a deep breath and shifted his weight, frantically clutching the smooth elevator door rim until he found something to hold on to.
With a series of clumsy and rushed motions Ryan planted both feet on solid ground and held tightly onto the elevator door frame. He panted, nervously excited that he had managed not to plummet to his death.
Just as he found his balance, T.Rex crouched down and crawled under the nearby lobby window. He was afraid that in the daylight any movement, even four stories up, might attract zeds. He wasn't about to draw any more attention to Hillenbrand if he could help it, not when he was this close to his goal.
The orientation of the building kept the parking garage from T.Rex's view, so he crawled from the lobby to the hallway leading to the fourth floor rooms. He would check on the Fools later, when he had Jenny in tow. Convinced he was out of sight from the outside world, T.Rex stood and clutched his crowbar, resting it on his shoulder in a ready position.
Where the first floor was desolate, the fourth floor was chaos. Furniture littered the hallways, forming an obstacle course that blocked line of sight to either end of the floor. Papers, broken glass, even bits of blood were scattered about. The fading light from the elevator lobby made it difficult to even see, much less navigate, and more than once T.Rex had to catch himself from tripping or slipping as he made his way to the room he hoped Jenny was in.
As an Operations Assistant, Jenny was given the Resident Assistant's room for the summer - a room that was larger, nicer, and specifically made for one person. It was located near the center of the v-shaped hallway, just to the right of the center study lounge. T.Rex picked his way over the debris and froze when he felt his hand touch flesh.
His hand recoiled on instinct, and he stopped just short of bludgeoning the errant limb when he recognized the body it was attached to. Despite the gray decaying flesh and missing eye, he could recognize the face of Kevin Schroer - an OA at Hillenbrand and one of his former coworkers. The corpse was sprawled out on the ground, with a large dent in the side of the skull and several bite marks on the right side of the body. A sickly brown fluid pooled on the ground under Kevin's body.
T.Rex grimaced and nodded solemnly, hoping his friend had not suffered much - but knowing that was unlikely. Just to be safe he quickly drove his crowbar though Kevin's eye socket, compacting what brain matter remained with a squick sound. The corpse remained motionless, and so Ryan moved on.
A large desk blocked the way to Jenny's room. T.Rex cleared a space beside it before simply shouldering it aside, unable to think of a way to muffle the noise. He stood awkwardly in front of room 462, unsure of the best way to go about things. He didn't want to make a lot of noise, and he was afraid of how he would handle most of the possible outcomes.
Like a delivery man he knocked on the door, taking special care to try and sound as rhythmic and lively as possible. He waited for several moments before knocking again, still staccato but a different pattern. T.Rex looked around, nervously, and straightened his shirt out of habit.
"Jenny?" he said at a normal volume, running his hand through his hair. "Please answer," he whispered.
Word Count: 49,988
7:55am
Hillenbrand Hall - East Wing Elevator Shaft
It was only now, clinging desperately to a few thin bars of metal over a horde of agitated and ravenous zombies, that T.Rex began to question the wisdom of leaving his entire group of friends behind.
He stubbornly refused to look down and tried to ignore the sounds of gnashing teeth below. One shaking hand at a time he climbed the rungs, heading for the fourth floor. I wonder how they're doing out there, T.Rex wondered to himself. Are they under attack? Are they slaughtering zeds by the dozen, their only real problem trying to keep up with Beard? Or maybe they're desperately trying to stem the tide, hoping I will show up soon before they get overwhelmed.
Ryan started climbing faster at the last thought. Hopefully they're hidden out of sight, conserving ammo and energy, wishing they weren't so bored. Then I can rescue Jenny, come back the hero, and tell them all about how I masterminded this rescue.
A minuscule amount of light emanated from the second floor elevator doors as T.Rex climbed past. The zeds below continued to bang on the walls and rattle anything they could reach, including the elevator cables all around.
Why do I always go for the action hero bullshit? T.Rex argued with himself. First, the red barrel fiasco in the Machine Shop, and then I seriously thought climbing the cable was going to work? Let's pretend that I actually made it all the way to the fourth floor - then what? I'm going to leap from the center of the elevator shaft onto the ledge in front of the doors? A ledge a few inches wide?
T.Rex continued to close the distance, climbing past the third floor doors. He winced every time the crowbar swinging from his belt loop knocked against the wall, preventing any sort of stealth. Too curious, he broke his mental discipline and looked down past his shoes. The shadows concealed the zombies below, but they could still be heard clawing for food. I can still tell the Fools I went all Die Hard on these motherfuckers, he thought with a grin. He knew Cowboy in particular would enjoy if he bent the truth describing how things really happened.
The air was slightly warmer as T.Rex neared the fourth floor. After so much fighting and climbing he was beginning to sweat profusely, so he wiped his brow with his sleeve to try and keep his hands dry. His grip was starting to feel weak, and his legs were tired. T.Rex fought back another yawn, feeling the exhaustion wash over his body.
He'd known tired before. He was an engineering student (or used to be, depending on how bad the zed threat was), and many nights sleep was a lower priority than debugging code or finishing one more set of problems. T.Rex shook his head vigorously and looked for some way move from the elevator shaft and back out into the hall.
A pair of small silver boxes were mounted on the wall nearby, both marked "4" in bold font. T.Rex folded his left arm around a rung for stability and reached out with his free arm to investigate. He expected to have to use his crowbar yet again to break something, and was pleasantly surprised when the first metal case clicked open with little resistance, exposing a series of fuses and wires.
Ryan moved onto the second larger box, closer to the doors. Inside was a series of worn mechanical gears and levers. T.Rex leaned in and squinted in the dim light to read a warning label, trying to discern the purpose of the device. It said: Warning - Do Not Disengage Door Springs While Elevators Are Active.
Success! T.Rex reached in and cycled the lever, and there was a corresponding clanking sound inside the nearby door. Very carefully he climbed the rungs until he was level with the fourth floor doors. Then he unhooked his crowbar and held it out, until the tip of the weapon caught the edge of the closest door. With the springs disengaged, he pulled the crowbar toward him and the door slid open easily.
The rungs were less than two feet from the door, but it seemed like an enormous chasm with the elevator shaft extending below. T.Rex just barely managed to get one foot onto the ledge while still maintaining his position on the rungs. He took a deep breath and shifted his weight, frantically clutching the smooth elevator door rim until he found something to hold on to.
With a series of clumsy and rushed motions Ryan planted both feet on solid ground and held tightly onto the elevator door frame. He panted, nervously excited that he had managed not to plummet to his death.
Just as he found his balance, T.Rex crouched down and crawled under the nearby lobby window. He was afraid that in the daylight any movement, even four stories up, might attract zeds. He wasn't about to draw any more attention to Hillenbrand if he could help it, not when he was this close to his goal.
The orientation of the building kept the parking garage from T.Rex's view, so he crawled from the lobby to the hallway leading to the fourth floor rooms. He would check on the Fools later, when he had Jenny in tow. Convinced he was out of sight from the outside world, T.Rex stood and clutched his crowbar, resting it on his shoulder in a ready position.
Where the first floor was desolate, the fourth floor was chaos. Furniture littered the hallways, forming an obstacle course that blocked line of sight to either end of the floor. Papers, broken glass, even bits of blood were scattered about. The fading light from the elevator lobby made it difficult to even see, much less navigate, and more than once T.Rex had to catch himself from tripping or slipping as he made his way to the room he hoped Jenny was in.
As an Operations Assistant, Jenny was given the Resident Assistant's room for the summer - a room that was larger, nicer, and specifically made for one person. It was located near the center of the v-shaped hallway, just to the right of the center study lounge. T.Rex picked his way over the debris and froze when he felt his hand touch flesh.
His hand recoiled on instinct, and he stopped just short of bludgeoning the errant limb when he recognized the body it was attached to. Despite the gray decaying flesh and missing eye, he could recognize the face of Kevin Schroer - an OA at Hillenbrand and one of his former coworkers. The corpse was sprawled out on the ground, with a large dent in the side of the skull and several bite marks on the right side of the body. A sickly brown fluid pooled on the ground under Kevin's body.
T.Rex grimaced and nodded solemnly, hoping his friend had not suffered much - but knowing that was unlikely. Just to be safe he quickly drove his crowbar though Kevin's eye socket, compacting what brain matter remained with a squick sound. The corpse remained motionless, and so Ryan moved on.
A large desk blocked the way to Jenny's room. T.Rex cleared a space beside it before simply shouldering it aside, unable to think of a way to muffle the noise. He stood awkwardly in front of room 462, unsure of the best way to go about things. He didn't want to make a lot of noise, and he was afraid of how he would handle most of the possible outcomes.
Like a delivery man he knocked on the door, taking special care to try and sound as rhythmic and lively as possible. He waited for several moments before knocking again, still staccato but a different pattern. T.Rex looked around, nervously, and straightened his shirt out of habit.
"Jenny?" he said at a normal volume, running his hand through his hair. "Please answer," he whispered.
Word Count: 49,988
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