Hey! It's been a while since I've finished this online novel. If you're reading this, you may have accidentally stumbled onto the story at the end! To jump to the start of the story, try clicking here!
Advance the story by going to "newer post" at the bottom of each entry.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Epilogue 2
Whether they were students, janitors, tenured professors or postal workers before, now everybody shared the identity of survivor. Every day was a struggle as there were more mouths to feed and borders to watch, and those that didn't pitch in were cast out.
Information slowly leaked in, and survivors under France Córdova's protection started to fill in the details of the wide, zombie-filled world around them. Hiding in the airwaves, between the static, were ham radio reports of cities across the US besieged by armies of undeath. Closer to home, former friends and family members staggered around outside, grey skinned and moaning with hunger.
In the months following the zombie outbreak...
Rubble
As time passed, Brant honed his skills as a craftsman to help create a cache of weapons for the survivors. Isolated and unable to access modern production facilities, he utilizes his own medieval studies as well as the talents of a few surviving engineers to help design, test, and build. These devices are primitive but deadly, and this helps conserve the group's limited supply of bullets. He also acts as the group's historian, recording and preserving the stories of the survivors as more come to Córdova's group.
Angel Hair
Realizing the importance of morale, Steven quickly organized an informal theatre troupe to engage and entertain the survivors. Composed of whatever talent he can find, he runs practices and rehearsals for a variety of low-tech performances, including a cappella concerts, short plays, and of course, improv comedy. This helps break up the monotony of chores and constant patrols. The other Fools were quick to lend a hand, and once a week together they fight to bring laughter and joy to people- just as they did before the zombie outbreak.
Kamikaze
Renee and two other professors were all that was left of Purdue's psychology department. With an abundance of free time and test subjects they went to work trying to answer practical questions about their foe. Studies of zombie reaction speed, memory retention, and even the limits of endurance and perception are carried out in a carefully controlled environment - zombies chained up in a courtyard. In time they hope to answer bigger questions about the very nature of the undead threat.
Cowboy
Nobody worked harder than John trying to move up the command chain under Córdova's regime. Starting out as a shift supervisor for weekend night watch, he excelled and was steadily promoted, gaining responsibility and experience. As the number of survivors grew, he was eventually appointed one of her trusted Lieutenants - the only civilian to ever reach that rank. John also plays forward for the Gold Squad basketball team, currently in last place amongst the survivor squads.
Beard
As a biologist, Eric and the other handful of surviving scientists studied the zombie menace under a microscope, trying to answer a thousand questions as fast as possible- from the cause and spread to a possible cure. As a warrior, Eric practiced and trained for combat daily, so that the zeds that took his best friend would not cause more grief. He was the only member of the Fools that actively sought out combat missions, and his actions at the Battle of Wabash Bridge made him an instant legend amongst the survivors.
Peace
Andrew's remains were eventually recovered and laid to rest by the surviving Fools. Their next improv performance was dedicated to his memory.
T.Rex
Few people were happier than Ryan to have reached some measure of safety, after all that he and his friends had been through. Whatever the cost, he was content knowing they had food, water, and at least one floor of separation from the ground, at least for now. He'd had enough adventure for a while, and was content to spend time with Jenny trying to pretend they had a normal dating life.
Some time after the Fools settled in, search parties found a team of professors and graduate students holed up in one of the propulsion labs a few miles from campus. A good number of them were from the Aeronautics department, and Ryan quickly joined their ranks as a junior engineer. Córdova wasted no time assigning the group work on a top secret project.
Information slowly leaked in, and survivors under France Córdova's protection started to fill in the details of the wide, zombie-filled world around them. Hiding in the airwaves, between the static, were ham radio reports of cities across the US besieged by armies of undeath. Closer to home, former friends and family members staggered around outside, grey skinned and moaning with hunger.
In the months following the zombie outbreak...
Rubble
As time passed, Brant honed his skills as a craftsman to help create a cache of weapons for the survivors. Isolated and unable to access modern production facilities, he utilizes his own medieval studies as well as the talents of a few surviving engineers to help design, test, and build. These devices are primitive but deadly, and this helps conserve the group's limited supply of bullets. He also acts as the group's historian, recording and preserving the stories of the survivors as more come to Córdova's group.
Angel Hair
Realizing the importance of morale, Steven quickly organized an informal theatre troupe to engage and entertain the survivors. Composed of whatever talent he can find, he runs practices and rehearsals for a variety of low-tech performances, including a cappella concerts, short plays, and of course, improv comedy. This helps break up the monotony of chores and constant patrols. The other Fools were quick to lend a hand, and once a week together they fight to bring laughter and joy to people- just as they did before the zombie outbreak.
Kamikaze
Renee and two other professors were all that was left of Purdue's psychology department. With an abundance of free time and test subjects they went to work trying to answer practical questions about their foe. Studies of zombie reaction speed, memory retention, and even the limits of endurance and perception are carried out in a carefully controlled environment - zombies chained up in a courtyard. In time they hope to answer bigger questions about the very nature of the undead threat.
Cowboy
Nobody worked harder than John trying to move up the command chain under Córdova's regime. Starting out as a shift supervisor for weekend night watch, he excelled and was steadily promoted, gaining responsibility and experience. As the number of survivors grew, he was eventually appointed one of her trusted Lieutenants - the only civilian to ever reach that rank. John also plays forward for the Gold Squad basketball team, currently in last place amongst the survivor squads.
Beard
As a biologist, Eric and the other handful of surviving scientists studied the zombie menace under a microscope, trying to answer a thousand questions as fast as possible- from the cause and spread to a possible cure. As a warrior, Eric practiced and trained for combat daily, so that the zeds that took his best friend would not cause more grief. He was the only member of the Fools that actively sought out combat missions, and his actions at the Battle of Wabash Bridge made him an instant legend amongst the survivors.
Peace
Andrew's remains were eventually recovered and laid to rest by the surviving Fools. Their next improv performance was dedicated to his memory.
T.Rex
Few people were happier than Ryan to have reached some measure of safety, after all that he and his friends had been through. Whatever the cost, he was content knowing they had food, water, and at least one floor of separation from the ground, at least for now. He'd had enough adventure for a while, and was content to spend time with Jenny trying to pretend they had a normal dating life.
Some time after the Fools settled in, search parties found a team of professors and graduate students holed up in one of the propulsion labs a few miles from campus. A good number of them were from the Aeronautics department, and Ryan quickly joined their ranks as a junior engineer. Córdova wasted no time assigning the group work on a top secret project.
A project codenamed "DZ"...
Friday, April 10, 2009
Epilogue 1
June 15th, 2008
2:53 am
Mathematical Sciences Building - Room 314
T.Rex sat alone in a dark room and toyed with the handcuffs binding his wrists. Sheets of rain hammered the nearby window as he fumed at his current situation.
Just hours ago he'd been peacefully sleeping in some abandoned barn, dreaming of a world free of the living dead and full of the comforts of modern life. He was cruelly snatched from that paradise when the Fools alerted him that they had company just outside. Panic ensued as his mind had shifted to battle mode, planning a quiet and stealthy escape from however many zeds they faced.
It was only when he'd heard voices that it became clear they were not dealing with the usual foe. No, not hordes of undead, but honest to god living human beings. Survivors.
The hope and joy of being rescued vanished as soon as the police forces barged in, lights and guns drawn. The weary group of Fools, caught by surprise, mustered little in way of resistance. They were all summarily arrested, bound, and transported back to campus.
Confusion reigned. The Fools were tired, hurt, scared. The men that found them were armed and well trained, but refused to divulge any information about what was going on or why they were moving back to a populated area full of zeds.
The vans stopped moving, and the men demanded to know who was in charge. As soon as T.Rex stood, they whisked him away without explanation. He had hoped for a quick resolution, and maybe some answers.
Instead they locked him in this room. The former office for some graduate student of the mathematics department was now his prison cell. His only company were dense math textbooks, and he didn't have enough light to read them, so he settled back down in a chair and scowled.
---
As the sun began to rise there was a knock at the door. "Mr. Garwood?" a muffled voice asked.
T.Rex rose to his feet. "Yes?"
There was a jingle of keys, and the door slowly opened. A young man with short blond hair walked in, sporting the unmistakable blue uniform of campus ROTC. A small name tag on his breast identified him as MITCHELL. "Your presence is requested upstairs," he said. "Follow me."
Mitchell led T.Rex down a dark hallway in silence. As they reached the stairs T.Rex tried to pry some info from his military escort. "Hey Mitch, do you know anything about a group of college students brought here late last night?"
"I've been instructed not to divulge any information to pris- er, civilians, until after they've been processed," Mitchell said curtly as they climbed the stairs. After a full flight he added "...and don't call me Mitch."
Four flights of stairs later Mitchell and T.Rex arrived on the top floor of the Mathematics Building. As T.Rex was led down the hall he passed several nondescript offices. He heard faint voices behind some doors, but the only open one appeared empty and gave no clues as to what was going on.
Mitchell stopped abruptly in front of one of the offices. It was no different from the dozens T.Rex had already seen. A placard on the door identified it as room 816, the office of "R. Bañuelos."
The young ROTC cadet stood at attention by the door. "Go on in," he said. "She's waiting."
T.Rex slowly opened the door and stepped into the office. There was a petite woman standing at the far end of the room, facing the window with her hands clasped at the small of her back. She had short, curly, jet black hair and wore a red blazer with a plain black skirt. "Have a seat, Mr. Garwood," the mysterious woman said coldly.
"First, tell me where my friends are." T.Rex said defiantly.
The woman turned slowly. T.Rex's eyes widened as her face came into view. She was an older woman with distinctive wrinkles to her face, wearing tasteful earrings and red lipstick. She looked familiar, and Ryan vaguely remembered a series of news articles he'd read in the school paper...
The woman cleared her throat. "Your companions are fine. I've spent the early part of the morning reviewing their statements." She glanced down at an open folder on her desk. "John is receiving medical treatment, and they're all being held in a safe location. Things you failed to provide, I might add."
"I want to see them." said T.Rex. "Now."
The woman let out a small chuckle. "Perhaps, after we discuss a few things. Now please, have a seat."
T.Rex looked around the room. There were several maps hung on the wall, ranging from Purdue's campus all the way to the entire Midwest. Hundreds of thumbtacks marked different locations, and dozens of handwritten post-it notes stuck nearby. With a sigh, T.Rex sat in front of the desk and glared at the strangely familiar woman.
The woman sat down across from him. "Let me introduce myself, Mr. Garwood. My name is France Córdova and I was supposed to take over as the next President of this university this summer. That was, of course, before all of this happened," she said, nodding her head towards the window.
"Congratulations. What does that have to do with arresting me and my friends?" T.Rex said, holding up his shackled wrists. I knew she looked familiar, he thought.
"I apologize," France said. "We've come across a number of hostile survivors. Paranoia and hunger sets in, and it makes them harder to bring back here. Back to where I am trying to provide safety, shelter, and civilization for these people. Of course some fear authority since many of them resorted to looting and rioting when society started breaking down."
"Can you blame them?" T.Rex asked. "The zombie threat seems to have left many of these people to their own devices."
France Córdova slammed her fists onto the desk. "Unacceptable! Lawlessness and chaos simply bring us closer to these creatures we seek to avoid. No, people must be punished so that they understand we will not sit idly by and let them tear apart the world when people like myself are trying to put it back together. Which brings me to my next point..."
With those words, T.Rex felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. France Córdova pulled a notebook from one of the drawers and flipped through it before finding a particular page.
France cleared her throat. "Breaking and entering private property. Dismantlement and destruction of said private property. Petty theft. Grand theft. Arson. Countless broken locks, doors, windows, and furniture. Do any of these sound familiar, Mister Garwood?"
I can't believe this, T.Rex thought. "Now hold on a minute. There was no rescue, no police, no signs of help. We were acting in self defense, and - wait, arson?"
"You burned down my machine shop, damnit!"
In his mind, T.Rex flashed back to the machine shop battle. There were crowds of zeds, it was dark and chaotic... what was in those barrels?
"The machine shop was an accident, but you can't be serious," T.Rex protested. "Surely you have more important things to take care of, like, oh I don't know, a campus riddled with zombies!?"
France narrowed her eyes. "I know all too well how much there is to do. While you were hiding away in your apartment, I've put together a team of survivors that cleared this building and two others. We've reestablished a primitive power system and jury rigged a communication suite through which I've contacted authorities. I've sent armored convoys to some of our outlying agricultural research facilities to collect food and supplies for the people here." T.Rex's mouth hung open in surprise and awe.
She continued. "So yes, to answer your question, I have plenty of other things to worry about. And if you're looking for sympathy, you may want to try down the hall. When I arrived home two weeks ago and found my husband ripping my daughter's brain matter out, I had to put them both down with a shovel."
Several minutes passed before T.Rex spoke. "So what are you planning on doing with us?"
France Córdova gently wiped her misty eyes. "I have several dangerous jobs perfect for troublemakers such as yourselves. However, Governor Daniels has taken a keen interest in your stories and has offered a deal through which you may be pardoned."
T.Rex cast a wary glance. "What kind of...deal?"
A wide grin broke out on Córdova's face as she leaned back in her chair. "You sign over the rights to you and your friends' stories. You would become part of a PR campaign to boost morale and bring prestige back to the university as we struggle through all of this. This is of course in addition to assigned chores, as well as academic positions based on your majors."
Nodding along thoughtfully, T.Rex tried to digest the implications of her words. Morale campaigns? Research? The zombie menace must be getting pretty bad...
France continued. "More than anything Mr. Garwood, I'm offering you safety. I truly believe that there is strength and stability in a coordinated effort to survive. Where else do you expect to find food and water? Electricity? When darkness falls, do you want to find yourself huddling in some abandoned barn, praying for the creatures to go away?"
T.Rex's mind hung on the word "safety", thinking his girlfriend. He'd risked his life, and lost one of his friends, trying to make sure she was safe. Whatever misgivings he had about signing his life away to this intense woman, they took a backseat to the hope of securing safety for her and the Fools. He considered it his duty.
"Alright, we'll do it," he said with faked conviction.
Just then, an aide walked in. She took one look at T.Rex in handcuffs, dropped a stack of papers on the desk, then addressed France Córdova. "We just got a report relayed in. They've just made contact in Denver."
The smile on France Córdova's face vanished. "Thank you, that will be all," she said to the departing aide as she stood and produced a key from a desk drawer. "Mr. Garwood, I'm afraid I have important matters to attend to." She unlocked the handcuffs from his wrists. "Please report to room 722 for your first project."
As T.Rex left he caught a glimpse of the report the aide had delivered. It was titled "Confirmed Infected Report - updated 06.15.08" and had thousands of names in tiny print.
It appeared things were going to get worse, before they were going to get better.
Word Count: 59,119
2:53 am
Mathematical Sciences Building - Room 314
T.Rex sat alone in a dark room and toyed with the handcuffs binding his wrists. Sheets of rain hammered the nearby window as he fumed at his current situation.
Just hours ago he'd been peacefully sleeping in some abandoned barn, dreaming of a world free of the living dead and full of the comforts of modern life. He was cruelly snatched from that paradise when the Fools alerted him that they had company just outside. Panic ensued as his mind had shifted to battle mode, planning a quiet and stealthy escape from however many zeds they faced.
It was only when he'd heard voices that it became clear they were not dealing with the usual foe. No, not hordes of undead, but honest to god living human beings. Survivors.
The hope and joy of being rescued vanished as soon as the police forces barged in, lights and guns drawn. The weary group of Fools, caught by surprise, mustered little in way of resistance. They were all summarily arrested, bound, and transported back to campus.
Confusion reigned. The Fools were tired, hurt, scared. The men that found them were armed and well trained, but refused to divulge any information about what was going on or why they were moving back to a populated area full of zeds.
The vans stopped moving, and the men demanded to know who was in charge. As soon as T.Rex stood, they whisked him away without explanation. He had hoped for a quick resolution, and maybe some answers.
Instead they locked him in this room. The former office for some graduate student of the mathematics department was now his prison cell. His only company were dense math textbooks, and he didn't have enough light to read them, so he settled back down in a chair and scowled.
---
As the sun began to rise there was a knock at the door. "Mr. Garwood?" a muffled voice asked.
T.Rex rose to his feet. "Yes?"
There was a jingle of keys, and the door slowly opened. A young man with short blond hair walked in, sporting the unmistakable blue uniform of campus ROTC. A small name tag on his breast identified him as MITCHELL. "Your presence is requested upstairs," he said. "Follow me."
Mitchell led T.Rex down a dark hallway in silence. As they reached the stairs T.Rex tried to pry some info from his military escort. "Hey Mitch, do you know anything about a group of college students brought here late last night?"
"I've been instructed not to divulge any information to pris- er, civilians, until after they've been processed," Mitchell said curtly as they climbed the stairs. After a full flight he added "...and don't call me Mitch."
Four flights of stairs later Mitchell and T.Rex arrived on the top floor of the Mathematics Building. As T.Rex was led down the hall he passed several nondescript offices. He heard faint voices behind some doors, but the only open one appeared empty and gave no clues as to what was going on.
Mitchell stopped abruptly in front of one of the offices. It was no different from the dozens T.Rex had already seen. A placard on the door identified it as room 816, the office of "R. Bañuelos."
The young ROTC cadet stood at attention by the door. "Go on in," he said. "She's waiting."
T.Rex slowly opened the door and stepped into the office. There was a petite woman standing at the far end of the room, facing the window with her hands clasped at the small of her back. She had short, curly, jet black hair and wore a red blazer with a plain black skirt. "Have a seat, Mr. Garwood," the mysterious woman said coldly.
"First, tell me where my friends are." T.Rex said defiantly.
The woman turned slowly. T.Rex's eyes widened as her face came into view. She was an older woman with distinctive wrinkles to her face, wearing tasteful earrings and red lipstick. She looked familiar, and Ryan vaguely remembered a series of news articles he'd read in the school paper...
The woman cleared her throat. "Your companions are fine. I've spent the early part of the morning reviewing their statements." She glanced down at an open folder on her desk. "John is receiving medical treatment, and they're all being held in a safe location. Things you failed to provide, I might add."
"I want to see them." said T.Rex. "Now."
The woman let out a small chuckle. "Perhaps, after we discuss a few things. Now please, have a seat."
T.Rex looked around the room. There were several maps hung on the wall, ranging from Purdue's campus all the way to the entire Midwest. Hundreds of thumbtacks marked different locations, and dozens of handwritten post-it notes stuck nearby. With a sigh, T.Rex sat in front of the desk and glared at the strangely familiar woman.
The woman sat down across from him. "Let me introduce myself, Mr. Garwood. My name is France Córdova and I was supposed to take over as the next President of this university this summer. That was, of course, before all of this happened," she said, nodding her head towards the window.
"Congratulations. What does that have to do with arresting me and my friends?" T.Rex said, holding up his shackled wrists. I knew she looked familiar, he thought.
"I apologize," France said. "We've come across a number of hostile survivors. Paranoia and hunger sets in, and it makes them harder to bring back here. Back to where I am trying to provide safety, shelter, and civilization for these people. Of course some fear authority since many of them resorted to looting and rioting when society started breaking down."
"Can you blame them?" T.Rex asked. "The zombie threat seems to have left many of these people to their own devices."
France Córdova slammed her fists onto the desk. "Unacceptable! Lawlessness and chaos simply bring us closer to these creatures we seek to avoid. No, people must be punished so that they understand we will not sit idly by and let them tear apart the world when people like myself are trying to put it back together. Which brings me to my next point..."
With those words, T.Rex felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. France Córdova pulled a notebook from one of the drawers and flipped through it before finding a particular page.
France cleared her throat. "Breaking and entering private property. Dismantlement and destruction of said private property. Petty theft. Grand theft. Arson. Countless broken locks, doors, windows, and furniture. Do any of these sound familiar, Mister Garwood?"
I can't believe this, T.Rex thought. "Now hold on a minute. There was no rescue, no police, no signs of help. We were acting in self defense, and - wait, arson?"
"You burned down my machine shop, damnit!"
In his mind, T.Rex flashed back to the machine shop battle. There were crowds of zeds, it was dark and chaotic... what was in those barrels?
"The machine shop was an accident, but you can't be serious," T.Rex protested. "Surely you have more important things to take care of, like, oh I don't know, a campus riddled with zombies!?"
France narrowed her eyes. "I know all too well how much there is to do. While you were hiding away in your apartment, I've put together a team of survivors that cleared this building and two others. We've reestablished a primitive power system and jury rigged a communication suite through which I've contacted authorities. I've sent armored convoys to some of our outlying agricultural research facilities to collect food and supplies for the people here." T.Rex's mouth hung open in surprise and awe.
She continued. "So yes, to answer your question, I have plenty of other things to worry about. And if you're looking for sympathy, you may want to try down the hall. When I arrived home two weeks ago and found my husband ripping my daughter's brain matter out, I had to put them both down with a shovel."
Several minutes passed before T.Rex spoke. "So what are you planning on doing with us?"
France Córdova gently wiped her misty eyes. "I have several dangerous jobs perfect for troublemakers such as yourselves. However, Governor Daniels has taken a keen interest in your stories and has offered a deal through which you may be pardoned."
T.Rex cast a wary glance. "What kind of...deal?"
A wide grin broke out on Córdova's face as she leaned back in her chair. "You sign over the rights to you and your friends' stories. You would become part of a PR campaign to boost morale and bring prestige back to the university as we struggle through all of this. This is of course in addition to assigned chores, as well as academic positions based on your majors."
Nodding along thoughtfully, T.Rex tried to digest the implications of her words. Morale campaigns? Research? The zombie menace must be getting pretty bad...
France continued. "More than anything Mr. Garwood, I'm offering you safety. I truly believe that there is strength and stability in a coordinated effort to survive. Where else do you expect to find food and water? Electricity? When darkness falls, do you want to find yourself huddling in some abandoned barn, praying for the creatures to go away?"
T.Rex's mind hung on the word "safety", thinking his girlfriend. He'd risked his life, and lost one of his friends, trying to make sure she was safe. Whatever misgivings he had about signing his life away to this intense woman, they took a backseat to the hope of securing safety for her and the Fools. He considered it his duty.
"Alright, we'll do it," he said with faked conviction.
Just then, an aide walked in. She took one look at T.Rex in handcuffs, dropped a stack of papers on the desk, then addressed France Córdova. "We just got a report relayed in. They've just made contact in Denver."
The smile on France Córdova's face vanished. "Thank you, that will be all," she said to the departing aide as she stood and produced a key from a desk drawer. "Mr. Garwood, I'm afraid I have important matters to attend to." She unlocked the handcuffs from his wrists. "Please report to room 722 for your first project."
As T.Rex left he caught a glimpse of the report the aide had delivered. It was titled "Confirmed Infected Report - updated 06.15.08" and had thousands of names in tiny print.
It appeared things were going to get worse, before they were going to get better.
Word Count: 59,119
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Chapter 39 - Beyond the Realms of Death
June 14th, 2008
9:45 am
Hillenbrand Kitchen
T.Rex almost felt sorry for any zed they came across trying to escape Hillenbrand. Beard, having just shot his childhood friend being ripped apart by zombies, was a man on the edge just looking for a target for his anger.
It was Cowboy T.Rex was worried about. Nursing a head wound and clutching his wrist, the weaponless Fool was trying to keep up with the others but was constantly wincing in pain.
"Just hang in there, buddy," Ryan said quietly, scanning the area for threats. "We're almost out of here."
The trio of Fools backtracked through the kitchen area and back into the lobby area to find a small mob of zeds waiting for them.
T.Rex narrowed his eyes. Not in the mood, he thought, and joined Beard in attacking the shambling creatures. In under a minute they'd taken care of nearly a dozen zombies with no incident. Beard no longer screamed with rage, but once he started moving he didn't stop until every zombie head in sight was separated from its body.
"Great work, Beard," T.Rex said, hesitantly. Beard just stood over the fallen corpses, breathing heavily and staring off into the distance.
Is he gonna be like this the whole time? T.Rex thought. "Move out!" he said, taking the lead as they headed towards the elevators and the bright daylight.
Fresh corpses littered the ground outside, amongst the fallen enemies from before. Arrows and bullet holes were the telltale signs, but fortunately no zeds were waiting for them as they exited the residence hall. T.Rex raced for the stairwell of the parking garage and held the door open, ushering Beard and Cowboy inside. "Second floor!" he whispered, following them up the stairs.
The three Fools burst from the stairs and out into the second level of the parking garage. T.Rex glanced around quickly - some cars at the far end, and a loose collection of bodies where he last saw Rubble, Angel Hair, Kamikaze, and Jenny.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," T.Rex said to nobody, throwing his crowbar to the ground in frustration. Beard jogged forward and knelt by the bodies, poking them with the blunt edge of his hatchet.
"Nobody we know here, Captain," Beard said curtly. "They're all grey and ragged."
Cowboy let out a sigh of relief. "Well thank god for that," he said quietly. Maybe they got overrun and had to leave? Ryan wondered. He was pondering their next move when a quiet voice called to them: "T.Rex?"
There was a pause. "Did anybody else hear that?" T.Rex asked, looking around for the source of the voice. Cowboy shrugged, and Beard stopped checking bodies to listen.
"T.Rex? Is that you guys down there?" said the quiet voice again, from someplace nearby. It had a slightly nasal twinge to it.
A broad grin broke out on T.Rex's face. "Angel Hair? Is that you? Where are you?" he said at a volume he hoped would carry just far enough for the voice to hear, but not attract any zeds to their position.
"We're up on the fourth floor!" said Angel Hair.
T.Rex felt a wave of relief. "Be right up!" he said, and motioned his team back to the stairwell. They climbed two more flights of stairs and joined the rest of the group.
As they exited the stairwell, T.Rex ran to Jenny. Nothing else mattered at the moment- he was simply happy to have reunited with his friends. A wave of exhaustion hit him as he collapsed into her arms.
His happy reunion was interrupted when Kamikaze spoke. "Where the heck is Peace?"
Everybody looked at T.Rex.
He rubbed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Peace didn't make it. There was an accident and..." T.Rex's lip quivered as his voice trailed off, searching for words. "He's dead. Not a zombie, thanks to Beard."
Cowboy bowed his head and Beard balled his fists in anger. Rubble and Angel Hair looked at each other in shock, while Kamikaze just shook her head. Jenny threw her arms around T.Rex and started crying into his shirt. For a few moments nobody spoke as the news set in.
"It was a freak accident," Cowboy said, clearing his throat.
Kamikaze folded her arms. "I don't think you should have gone in there in the first place."
"We were trying to find more food," Cowboy replied.
Rubble stepped between them. "Guys, look, I know they were trying to help but-"
"but WHAT?" Beard said, suddenly. "Look. Peace is dead and it's my fault so let's fucking drop it, okay?"
Angel Hair stared off into the distance. "Nobody blames you," he said softly.
"Well maybe you guys should've waited for T.Rex!" Kamikaze.
Cowboy stepped towards her, only to be blocked by Rubble. "Then maybe YOU can think of a way to feed all of us once our Pop Tarts run out!" Kamikaze lunged at Cowboy, and Rubble held them both at arm's length.
"ENOUGH!" Ryan yelled, startling Jenny and the rest of the group into stunned silence. "I've had enough of this. Zombies converging on our position and we're all yelling at each other? Everybody shut up, gear up, and get ready to move. Beard, you're on point."
T.Rex fumbled through his equipment and found some aspirin. He tossed the bottle to Cowboy, who quickly devoured a pair of tablets. T.Rex packed the rest of his belongings and tried to will away his fatigue.
Jenny knew him all too well. "Sweetie, do you want me to carry some of your stuff?" she offered.
A weak smile crossed T.Rex's face at the concern. "Thanks, honey, but I'm fine. Besides, you have your own backpack to carry! Just stay close to me, stay quiet, and help keep an eye out for zeds."
Despite their bickering, the group was drilled in survival by now and wasted no time. With the group assembled and ready to move, Beard laid out their plan. "We'll escape out the North West stairwell to avoid the bulk of the zeds in the parking garage - the stairs are more than they can handle. From there we backtrack through Purdue West more or less along 26 until we make it to the woods.
"We move fast and light, avoiding combat until we're hidden in the trees. Once we have concealment we can slow to a brisk walk, and hopefully put some distance between us and them. Don't get too cocky, though. Just because they can't see us doesn't mean they can't smell us."
T.Rex nodded and pulled a map from his pack. "It's about 10am, sun will set a little past 9, which gives us approximately 11 hours of travel time. Average human travel speed is about 4 miles per hour, so we can make it about 45 miles with no stops or problems. We're heading West, so that'll put us over the Indiana border and into Illinois. If we stick near 26 for navigation, we'll pass Green Meadows, Pine Village, and eventually hit Hoopleston. Somewhere along that path we'll be looking for a place that's deserted and easy to defend, and scrounge as we go. Move."
On his command the Fools plus Jenny set out, following Beard's lead. As Beard led them to the woods, the bulk of the zed combat was handled by himself and Rubble, although nearly everybody had some work to do as they pushed through dense zed crowds. T.Rex was fiercely protective of Jenny, aggressively attacking any zed that came remotely close to her.
When they passed Purdue West they crossed open field at full sprint, drawing the attention of hundreds of nearby zombies. Seeing Angel Hair struggling to keep up, Rubble slung him over his shoulder and carried him the last third of the way at a full run.
They reached the trees without incident, panting and wheezing, with a trail of destruction in their wake. The group paused only to catch their breath, and after a short while Beard ordered them to keep moving.
Marching in silence, the Fools met sporadic resistance. They stayed hidden in the forest as much as possible, sticking close to the road and seeing signs of destruction all around. Homes burned to the ground, cars wrecked or abandoned in droves. The sun rose and the temperature soared, and even in the thinning forest shade the Fools could not escape the humidity.
As they reached a clearing, Beard held out his fist, signaling for the group to hold. Jenny, who was not familiar with such signals, kept walking until T.Rex grabbed her bookbag and stopped her.
The edge of the forest gave way to a large cornfield. A small sign near the stalks featured an ear of corn saying "We proudly grow Beck's Hybrid corn here!" T.Rex looked around and saw nothing of interest.
"Beard, what gives?" T.Rex whispered. "Why did we stop here?"
"Binoculars," Beard called out. T.Rex and Angel Hair both fished out the only binoculars the group had. T.Rex couldn't see over the stalks, so he stood on a rock until he could see over the corn stalks.
Far in the distance a nondescript brown barn stood alone in the middle of several acres of crops. "I don't see any signs of life anywhere nearby," Angel Hair said. He shared his binoculars with the other Fools who took turns observing. Kamikaze broke off a few ears of corn and inspected them before tossing them to the ground in frustration.
Beard shrugged as a bead of sweat ran down his temple. "Thought it might be a decent place to explore, maybe rest a little bit," he said, looking around at the ragged group.
Once more, all eyes fell on T.Rex. His mind raced as he worried about zeds hiding in the tall golden corn stalks. "Do it," he said, led more by his body's exhaustion than anything else.
They crept through the corn field in a two column formation, stopping every time a breeze rustled the stalks. A single moan kept following them, and the sound seemed to always come from just a few feet away. Ryan constantly turned every direction, paranoid that a pair of grey arms were going to drag him away from Jenny, from his friends. Just past midday, the sun poured almost directly down onto the Fools between the walls of corn.
Between the heat and the tension, T.Rex was sweating profusely and starting to feel a little woozy. "Are we almost out of this?" he said quietly, trying to hide his panic.
"Hang in there little buddy," Rubble said from the rear of the group. The Fools kept marching until at long last they reached a clearing. In front of them loomed a massive wooden barn.
"Seemed so much smaller from back there," T.Rex said to nobody in particular.
Beard sauntered up to the door as the rest of the Fools formed a loose perimeter. "Looks like there's an old lock guarding this one, T.Rex."
The lock made Ryan immediately think of Peace, and it felt like a punch to the gut. He tossed Beard his crowbar. "Break it," he said, resting his hands on his knees, shaking.
Beard popped the latch holding the lock from the door and gently slid it aside. Everybody waited for a few moments, listening. Nothing sounded, so Beard motioned three of the Fools in to check things out.
Kamikaze, Angel Hair, and Rubble ducked into the barn. A minute later they sounded "All clear!" and everybody went inside.
Angel Hair led the Fools up a ladder to the loft as they looked around in disappointment. The barn was almost entirely empty. A few rusty and broken farm tools hung on the wall, and a few piles of straw dotted the floor. Still, the barn had shade and was somewhat cooler than outside.
T.Rex set his pack down on the loft floor and curled up on a small patch of hay. "Just tell the guys...I just need to rest just a little bit," he said to Jenny and let out a large yawn.
Within moments he was fast asleep.
---
"T.Rex!" a quiet voice called out to him. "T.Rex wake up!"
In a sleepy daze T.Rex ignored the voice. It was only when Cowboy placed his good hand on Ryan's shoulder that suddenly everything seemed real. T.Rex sat up and looked around - everything was dark.
A flashlight shined into his face and T.Rex blinked his eyes furiously, swatting at the beam of light. "Ack, what's going on? Why is it so dark?"
"You were out of it all day, man," said Angel Hair, "and now we have a problem."
T.Rex felt a shiver travel up his spine. "What's wrong?"
"We're surrounded."
Word Count: 57,394
9:45 am
Hillenbrand Kitchen
T.Rex almost felt sorry for any zed they came across trying to escape Hillenbrand. Beard, having just shot his childhood friend being ripped apart by zombies, was a man on the edge just looking for a target for his anger.
It was Cowboy T.Rex was worried about. Nursing a head wound and clutching his wrist, the weaponless Fool was trying to keep up with the others but was constantly wincing in pain.
"Just hang in there, buddy," Ryan said quietly, scanning the area for threats. "We're almost out of here."
The trio of Fools backtracked through the kitchen area and back into the lobby area to find a small mob of zeds waiting for them.
T.Rex narrowed his eyes. Not in the mood, he thought, and joined Beard in attacking the shambling creatures. In under a minute they'd taken care of nearly a dozen zombies with no incident. Beard no longer screamed with rage, but once he started moving he didn't stop until every zombie head in sight was separated from its body.
"Great work, Beard," T.Rex said, hesitantly. Beard just stood over the fallen corpses, breathing heavily and staring off into the distance.
Is he gonna be like this the whole time? T.Rex thought. "Move out!" he said, taking the lead as they headed towards the elevators and the bright daylight.
Fresh corpses littered the ground outside, amongst the fallen enemies from before. Arrows and bullet holes were the telltale signs, but fortunately no zeds were waiting for them as they exited the residence hall. T.Rex raced for the stairwell of the parking garage and held the door open, ushering Beard and Cowboy inside. "Second floor!" he whispered, following them up the stairs.
The three Fools burst from the stairs and out into the second level of the parking garage. T.Rex glanced around quickly - some cars at the far end, and a loose collection of bodies where he last saw Rubble, Angel Hair, Kamikaze, and Jenny.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," T.Rex said to nobody, throwing his crowbar to the ground in frustration. Beard jogged forward and knelt by the bodies, poking them with the blunt edge of his hatchet.
"Nobody we know here, Captain," Beard said curtly. "They're all grey and ragged."
Cowboy let out a sigh of relief. "Well thank god for that," he said quietly. Maybe they got overrun and had to leave? Ryan wondered. He was pondering their next move when a quiet voice called to them: "T.Rex?"
There was a pause. "Did anybody else hear that?" T.Rex asked, looking around for the source of the voice. Cowboy shrugged, and Beard stopped checking bodies to listen.
"T.Rex? Is that you guys down there?" said the quiet voice again, from someplace nearby. It had a slightly nasal twinge to it.
A broad grin broke out on T.Rex's face. "Angel Hair? Is that you? Where are you?" he said at a volume he hoped would carry just far enough for the voice to hear, but not attract any zeds to their position.
"We're up on the fourth floor!" said Angel Hair.
T.Rex felt a wave of relief. "Be right up!" he said, and motioned his team back to the stairwell. They climbed two more flights of stairs and joined the rest of the group.
As they exited the stairwell, T.Rex ran to Jenny. Nothing else mattered at the moment- he was simply happy to have reunited with his friends. A wave of exhaustion hit him as he collapsed into her arms.
His happy reunion was interrupted when Kamikaze spoke. "Where the heck is Peace?"
Everybody looked at T.Rex.
He rubbed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Peace didn't make it. There was an accident and..." T.Rex's lip quivered as his voice trailed off, searching for words. "He's dead. Not a zombie, thanks to Beard."
Cowboy bowed his head and Beard balled his fists in anger. Rubble and Angel Hair looked at each other in shock, while Kamikaze just shook her head. Jenny threw her arms around T.Rex and started crying into his shirt. For a few moments nobody spoke as the news set in.
"It was a freak accident," Cowboy said, clearing his throat.
Kamikaze folded her arms. "I don't think you should have gone in there in the first place."
"We were trying to find more food," Cowboy replied.
Rubble stepped between them. "Guys, look, I know they were trying to help but-"
"but WHAT?" Beard said, suddenly. "Look. Peace is dead and it's my fault so let's fucking drop it, okay?"
Angel Hair stared off into the distance. "Nobody blames you," he said softly.
"Well maybe you guys should've waited for T.Rex!" Kamikaze.
Cowboy stepped towards her, only to be blocked by Rubble. "Then maybe YOU can think of a way to feed all of us once our Pop Tarts run out!" Kamikaze lunged at Cowboy, and Rubble held them both at arm's length.
"ENOUGH!" Ryan yelled, startling Jenny and the rest of the group into stunned silence. "I've had enough of this. Zombies converging on our position and we're all yelling at each other? Everybody shut up, gear up, and get ready to move. Beard, you're on point."
T.Rex fumbled through his equipment and found some aspirin. He tossed the bottle to Cowboy, who quickly devoured a pair of tablets. T.Rex packed the rest of his belongings and tried to will away his fatigue.
Jenny knew him all too well. "Sweetie, do you want me to carry some of your stuff?" she offered.
A weak smile crossed T.Rex's face at the concern. "Thanks, honey, but I'm fine. Besides, you have your own backpack to carry! Just stay close to me, stay quiet, and help keep an eye out for zeds."
Despite their bickering, the group was drilled in survival by now and wasted no time. With the group assembled and ready to move, Beard laid out their plan. "We'll escape out the North West stairwell to avoid the bulk of the zeds in the parking garage - the stairs are more than they can handle. From there we backtrack through Purdue West more or less along 26 until we make it to the woods.
"We move fast and light, avoiding combat until we're hidden in the trees. Once we have concealment we can slow to a brisk walk, and hopefully put some distance between us and them. Don't get too cocky, though. Just because they can't see us doesn't mean they can't smell us."
T.Rex nodded and pulled a map from his pack. "It's about 10am, sun will set a little past 9, which gives us approximately 11 hours of travel time. Average human travel speed is about 4 miles per hour, so we can make it about 45 miles with no stops or problems. We're heading West, so that'll put us over the Indiana border and into Illinois. If we stick near 26 for navigation, we'll pass Green Meadows, Pine Village, and eventually hit Hoopleston. Somewhere along that path we'll be looking for a place that's deserted and easy to defend, and scrounge as we go. Move."
On his command the Fools plus Jenny set out, following Beard's lead. As Beard led them to the woods, the bulk of the zed combat was handled by himself and Rubble, although nearly everybody had some work to do as they pushed through dense zed crowds. T.Rex was fiercely protective of Jenny, aggressively attacking any zed that came remotely close to her.
When they passed Purdue West they crossed open field at full sprint, drawing the attention of hundreds of nearby zombies. Seeing Angel Hair struggling to keep up, Rubble slung him over his shoulder and carried him the last third of the way at a full run.
They reached the trees without incident, panting and wheezing, with a trail of destruction in their wake. The group paused only to catch their breath, and after a short while Beard ordered them to keep moving.
Marching in silence, the Fools met sporadic resistance. They stayed hidden in the forest as much as possible, sticking close to the road and seeing signs of destruction all around. Homes burned to the ground, cars wrecked or abandoned in droves. The sun rose and the temperature soared, and even in the thinning forest shade the Fools could not escape the humidity.
As they reached a clearing, Beard held out his fist, signaling for the group to hold. Jenny, who was not familiar with such signals, kept walking until T.Rex grabbed her bookbag and stopped her.
The edge of the forest gave way to a large cornfield. A small sign near the stalks featured an ear of corn saying "We proudly grow Beck's Hybrid corn here!" T.Rex looked around and saw nothing of interest.
"Beard, what gives?" T.Rex whispered. "Why did we stop here?"
"Binoculars," Beard called out. T.Rex and Angel Hair both fished out the only binoculars the group had. T.Rex couldn't see over the stalks, so he stood on a rock until he could see over the corn stalks.
Far in the distance a nondescript brown barn stood alone in the middle of several acres of crops. "I don't see any signs of life anywhere nearby," Angel Hair said. He shared his binoculars with the other Fools who took turns observing. Kamikaze broke off a few ears of corn and inspected them before tossing them to the ground in frustration.
Beard shrugged as a bead of sweat ran down his temple. "Thought it might be a decent place to explore, maybe rest a little bit," he said, looking around at the ragged group.
Once more, all eyes fell on T.Rex. His mind raced as he worried about zeds hiding in the tall golden corn stalks. "Do it," he said, led more by his body's exhaustion than anything else.
They crept through the corn field in a two column formation, stopping every time a breeze rustled the stalks. A single moan kept following them, and the sound seemed to always come from just a few feet away. Ryan constantly turned every direction, paranoid that a pair of grey arms were going to drag him away from Jenny, from his friends. Just past midday, the sun poured almost directly down onto the Fools between the walls of corn.
Between the heat and the tension, T.Rex was sweating profusely and starting to feel a little woozy. "Are we almost out of this?" he said quietly, trying to hide his panic.
"Hang in there little buddy," Rubble said from the rear of the group. The Fools kept marching until at long last they reached a clearing. In front of them loomed a massive wooden barn.
"Seemed so much smaller from back there," T.Rex said to nobody in particular.
Beard sauntered up to the door as the rest of the Fools formed a loose perimeter. "Looks like there's an old lock guarding this one, T.Rex."
The lock made Ryan immediately think of Peace, and it felt like a punch to the gut. He tossed Beard his crowbar. "Break it," he said, resting his hands on his knees, shaking.
Beard popped the latch holding the lock from the door and gently slid it aside. Everybody waited for a few moments, listening. Nothing sounded, so Beard motioned three of the Fools in to check things out.
Kamikaze, Angel Hair, and Rubble ducked into the barn. A minute later they sounded "All clear!" and everybody went inside.
Angel Hair led the Fools up a ladder to the loft as they looked around in disappointment. The barn was almost entirely empty. A few rusty and broken farm tools hung on the wall, and a few piles of straw dotted the floor. Still, the barn had shade and was somewhat cooler than outside.
T.Rex set his pack down on the loft floor and curled up on a small patch of hay. "Just tell the guys...I just need to rest just a little bit," he said to Jenny and let out a large yawn.
Within moments he was fast asleep.
---
"T.Rex!" a quiet voice called out to him. "T.Rex wake up!"
In a sleepy daze T.Rex ignored the voice. It was only when Cowboy placed his good hand on Ryan's shoulder that suddenly everything seemed real. T.Rex sat up and looked around - everything was dark.
A flashlight shined into his face and T.Rex blinked his eyes furiously, swatting at the beam of light. "Ack, what's going on? Why is it so dark?"
"You were out of it all day, man," said Angel Hair, "and now we have a problem."
T.Rex felt a shiver travel up his spine. "What's wrong?"
"We're surrounded."
Word Count: 57,394
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Chapter 38 - Exit Strategy
June 14th, 2008
9:12 am
Hillenbrand Parking Garage
Wearily, T.Rex glanced around the parking garage stairwell exit for threats. The only zeds he saw nearby were laying motionless on the grass, having been dispatched by a combination of efforts by the Fools above him and his own.
Those were once students, not so different than me, he thought momentarily. A complex series of emotions was brewing within - a sense of loss at all destruction and horror around him, worry about how far the threat had spread, pride that he'd rescued girlfriend and kept his friends safe (so far), and even a bit of horror that he'd actually put down a few zeds with his own two hands - and how good it felt.
With classes and homework, hopes and dreams, families and relationships...
T.Rex shook his head violently. No time for this - I've got to find Peace, Beard, and Cowboy.
He eased the door open and jogged back into Hillenbrand the same way he'd entered just a few hours ago. T.Rex stood in the lobby and waited for his eyes to adjust to the reduced amount of light, a task made easier as the sun was beginning to rise over campus. Waiting for him was the familiar stench of death and decay.
The corpses on the floor near the entrance to the dining court were not there when Ryan had first arrived. Some were without heads, others with misshapen lumps where the heads should have been. Also new was all the shattered glass leading to the dining court, and T.Rex assumed that was also courtesy of his friends. He hoped they would be this easy to track elsewhere.
On a hunch, he picked over the glass shards and went right. This led him away from the seating area, now a twisted jumble of overturned chairs and tables (and possible hiding places for zeds), and towards the serving area, full of buffet-style serving counters.
It was eerily quiet. When the dining hall was open, this area was packed (especially just before opening and closing) with impatient students all desperate to grab a tray and devour their food before staggering off. Now, it was dark and stuffy, with an additional stench of rotting food. Bits of food, silverware, and even a few bodies littered the floor.
Ryan felt his stomach lurch when he neared a tray of what appeared to be meatloaf, covered in mold, with a swarm of flies buzzing excitedly around it. Beyond it, however, was the kitchen and a stairwell that led to the basement. Gritting his teeth, he vaulted the counter and landed directly on top of a puddle of grease.
Maintaining his balance was impossible - T.Rex's feet flew out and connected with a stack of pans underneath a nearby table. They clattered to the floor as he landed awkwardly on his side, grunting from the impact and wincing at the sound the pans made.
T.Rex stood nervously. He feared the noise would attract zeds to his position, so he carefully swept his flashlight beam across the kitchen area. Everything around him was a mess, with plates and bowls, knives and utensils scattered about, with food left unprepared seemingly in mid recipe. There was a rustling sound nearby, but no signs of movement in the kitchen.
There were no signs of Cowboy, Peace, and Beard, nor were there any useful foodstuffs or supplies in sight, so Ryan cautiously picked his way past a dormant freight elevator towards the rear of the kitchen.
Sweeping his flashlight beam across the room, T.Rex scanned for signs of danger. He saw plenty of hiding spots for zeds between and under large stainless steel tables, man-sized mixers, and enormous stove units. A trio of corpses were splayed out on the tile, laying in a pool of brown fluid. T.Rex approached them slowly, partially out of caution and partly out of deference to the odor. He shuddered to think what the walk in freezer must smell like, having been unpowered for several days.
The fluid near the zeds reflected the light from his flashlight, leading him to believe it was fresh and the kills were recent. Very carefully he snuck past the bodies until he reached a single door at the rear of the room. He eased it open and was greeted with nothing but darkness and a pair of growls.
His flashlight revealed a pair of zeds stuck at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Both zeds, dressed in stained white chef's clothing, stared at him with intense desire and clawed up into the air at him. T.Rex watched with amusement as they stumbled forward to get him, tripped onto the stairs, fell down, and repeated the process.
Standing at the top of the stairs, Ryan debated descending into the basement. The risk of running into more zeds than he could handle was a real possibility, and he had no idea if this was leading him closer to his friends, or farther away.
There was a loud bang from below, and the zeds at the bottom of the stairs turned away in search of something beyond T.Rex's sight. Here's hoping that's them, T.Rex thought as he descended down the stairs quickly.
Distracted by the noise, the chef zeds fell quickly to the blunt end of T.Rex's crowbar. He paused at the base of the stairs to scan the area. Over a dozen corpses littered the floor, along with some random appendages and limbs. They all looked grotesque, unrecognizable. Debris was scattered around, and T.Rex's flashlight beam froze on a smooth piece of wood underneath a decaying leg.
He poked the leg aside with his crowbar and the top half of a wooden baseball bat rolled towards him, covered in brain matter.
Shit! T.Rex thought. That's gotta be Cowboy. Another noise, louder than before, sounded to his right. Without hesitation he took off towards the sound, hoping they were still alive. He passed through a few doors, jogged down a maintenance corridor and rounded the corner to find himself looking down a hallway of several unmarked doors. A trio of zeds turned and started shuffling towards him, stepping over and onto dozens more bodies.
With little room to maneuver, T.Rex gritted his teeth and planted his feet. They were spaced far enough apart that they could only attack one at at time, so he waited for them to come closer before springing his attack. He waited for them to lunge with their arms outstretched before ducking back, trapping their arms against the wall with his crowbar and bringing the thick end of his flashlight crashing down on their skulls with all of his might. One, two, three they fell in succession.
Surging with adrenaline, T.Rex picked the door he thought sounded the loudest and tried to open it. He was surprised when it gave way, and even more surprised to a trio of renegade Fools inside looked back at him.
"T.Rex!" they shouted in unison, just as he shouted out "guys!" to them.
They were in a storeroom filled with ceiling-high shelving units. The shelves were mostly bare, save a few cardboard boxes and plastic bins. A door at the far end of the room was broken off its hinges but barricaded by a few shelf units. Beard was reloading his pistol and Peace was crouched on the ground, loading cans into a sack held open by Cowboy.
"We have to get out of here, now!" T.Rex said, waving his crowbar to the door. He noticed a trickle of blood dripping down Cowboy's temple. "Wait, are you okay?" T.Rex asked, wondering immediately if he'd been bitten.
Cowboy nodded. "Got into a fight with a pair of zombies, they knocked me against a cabinet. I'm fine."
"Did you guys find anything?" T.Rex asked.
Beard grimaced, like usual. "We ran up and down these halls trying to find supplies - mostly we just got chased and harassed by zeds. Barricaded one door, but I know there's more of them out there." As if on cue, they heard a groan from nearby - reminding them they were still being hunted.
"We don't have time to look around anymore," T.Rex said, impatiently. He clenched his fists in anger, furious that his friends had left the parking garage in the first place. Looking around, hearing faint moans, he decided there were more important things to worry about right now.
Peace stood up and dusted off his hands. "Cowboy's bat broke fighting our way down here, so he'll carry what we did find, and the rest of us can protect him."
"Good," T.Rex nodded. "Beard, you go first, then me, then Cowboy, and Peace brings up the rear. Let's go."
Together the four Fools backtracked to the stairwell. The hallways were mostly clear with only a handful of stragglers that Beard easily dispatched, but not as silently as T.Rex would've liked.
When they finally reached the stairs, the area was flooded with agitated zombies. With one ferocious charge Beard led the entire group straight into the fray, the tired Fools chopping and bashing any heads within reach.
They managed to reach the stairs intact, much to T.Rex's relief. "Go! Up! Move!" he shouted, encouraging the group to escape the mob of zeds forming behind them at the base of the stairs.
As they climbed the stairs, T.Rex looked back to make sure the Cowboy was managing the heavy load of supplies, when the slightest bit of movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention.
A single zed appeared at the top of the stairs and lunged at Beard, driven solely by hunger.
Ryan felt like time slowed as he watched the creature attack his friend. As Beard grappled with the creature they tumbled towards him, but it was too close, too fast. T.Rex was knocked back and fell backwards against Cowboy. The sack of cans Cowboy was carrying spilled open and showered onto Peace who lost his balance and fell.
Peace cried out as he tumbled down the stairs directly into the arms of the waiting zed army. Without hesitation the creatures attacked, biting and clawing, ripping his clothes and flesh.
Beard struggled with his assailant, trying desperately to keep the creature's teeth from breaking his skin. Cowboy whimpered in pain, laying awkwardly on top of his arm, as T.Rex struggled to his feet.
Screaming and cursing, Peace desperately flailed his arms and kicked his legs against the crowd to no avail. Multiple zombies sunk their teeth into his skin, biting through his clothing in a hungered frenzy.
With a mighty roar, Beard grabbed the attacking zed's skull and wrenched it to the side violently. With a wet snap the creature's neck broke and the body went limp. Beard kicked the entire corpse off the stairs and stood, drawing his pistol.
Peace was losing blood, rapidly. He fought on, freeing one hand and punching anything within reach. The zeds ignored his attacks and continued ripping away chunks of his body, gnashing and clawing without pause.
Cowboy gingerly held his wrist as T.Rex helped him to his feet, only to have Beard push them both aside. Without pausing, he aimed and fired his pistol down into the crowd.
A single bullet flew out and impacted directly into Peace's temple, instantly ending his torment.
T.Rex looked down into the crowd of zeds who seemed acutely aware that their formerly struggling meal had gone limp. They unceremoniously dumped the body on the ground and began struggling up the stairs once more.
T.Rex looked over at Cowboy and saw a blank look, a mixture of shock and fear that mirrored his own feelings.
T.Rex looked at Beard. He reholstered his pistol and stared directly at the crowd of zeds with a hellish anger in his eyes, gripping his hatchet with white knuckles.
"Uh...Beard?" Cowboy finally asked, snapping T.Rex from his daze.
Beard just growled. His face twitched, and a single tear rolled down his cheek.
T.Rex put his hand on Beard's shoulder and spoke softly. "Beard, we need to get going. You did what you had to-" he stopped as Beard coldly brushed his hand away.
Beard roared to life without warning, emitting a terrifying yell that overpowered every sound in the immediate area. With surprising speed he rushed down the stairs and began hacking away at everything in sight - zed hands, arms, and skulls, screaming all the while.
"YOU BASTARDS!" Beard yelled as he waded into the fray. "YOU ROTTING UNDEAD BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL EVERY DAMN ONE OF YOU AND WEAR YOUR INTESTINES AS A FESTIVE HAT!" His face was beet red and his eyes went wide, filled with rage. He swung his hatchet with incredible speed and power, almost every swipe killing a new zombie.
One particularly large zombie turned to face him, covered in fresh blood. Beard hooked it in the shoulder blade with his hatchet and pulled it directly to the ground before decapitating it in one brutal strike.
Cowboy and T.Rex yelled from the stairs, trying in vain to get Beard to listen. Dodging hatchet swings, the two of them finally managed to drag him back to the stairs. Barely able to contain Beard's fury, the three of them headed upstairs to get out of Hillenbrand.
Word Count: 55,336
9:12 am
Hillenbrand Parking Garage
Wearily, T.Rex glanced around the parking garage stairwell exit for threats. The only zeds he saw nearby were laying motionless on the grass, having been dispatched by a combination of efforts by the Fools above him and his own.
Those were once students, not so different than me, he thought momentarily. A complex series of emotions was brewing within - a sense of loss at all destruction and horror around him, worry about how far the threat had spread, pride that he'd rescued girlfriend and kept his friends safe (so far), and even a bit of horror that he'd actually put down a few zeds with his own two hands - and how good it felt.
With classes and homework, hopes and dreams, families and relationships...
T.Rex shook his head violently. No time for this - I've got to find Peace, Beard, and Cowboy.
He eased the door open and jogged back into Hillenbrand the same way he'd entered just a few hours ago. T.Rex stood in the lobby and waited for his eyes to adjust to the reduced amount of light, a task made easier as the sun was beginning to rise over campus. Waiting for him was the familiar stench of death and decay.
The corpses on the floor near the entrance to the dining court were not there when Ryan had first arrived. Some were without heads, others with misshapen lumps where the heads should have been. Also new was all the shattered glass leading to the dining court, and T.Rex assumed that was also courtesy of his friends. He hoped they would be this easy to track elsewhere.
On a hunch, he picked over the glass shards and went right. This led him away from the seating area, now a twisted jumble of overturned chairs and tables (and possible hiding places for zeds), and towards the serving area, full of buffet-style serving counters.
It was eerily quiet. When the dining hall was open, this area was packed (especially just before opening and closing) with impatient students all desperate to grab a tray and devour their food before staggering off. Now, it was dark and stuffy, with an additional stench of rotting food. Bits of food, silverware, and even a few bodies littered the floor.
Ryan felt his stomach lurch when he neared a tray of what appeared to be meatloaf, covered in mold, with a swarm of flies buzzing excitedly around it. Beyond it, however, was the kitchen and a stairwell that led to the basement. Gritting his teeth, he vaulted the counter and landed directly on top of a puddle of grease.
Maintaining his balance was impossible - T.Rex's feet flew out and connected with a stack of pans underneath a nearby table. They clattered to the floor as he landed awkwardly on his side, grunting from the impact and wincing at the sound the pans made.
T.Rex stood nervously. He feared the noise would attract zeds to his position, so he carefully swept his flashlight beam across the kitchen area. Everything around him was a mess, with plates and bowls, knives and utensils scattered about, with food left unprepared seemingly in mid recipe. There was a rustling sound nearby, but no signs of movement in the kitchen.
There were no signs of Cowboy, Peace, and Beard, nor were there any useful foodstuffs or supplies in sight, so Ryan cautiously picked his way past a dormant freight elevator towards the rear of the kitchen.
Sweeping his flashlight beam across the room, T.Rex scanned for signs of danger. He saw plenty of hiding spots for zeds between and under large stainless steel tables, man-sized mixers, and enormous stove units. A trio of corpses were splayed out on the tile, laying in a pool of brown fluid. T.Rex approached them slowly, partially out of caution and partly out of deference to the odor. He shuddered to think what the walk in freezer must smell like, having been unpowered for several days.
The fluid near the zeds reflected the light from his flashlight, leading him to believe it was fresh and the kills were recent. Very carefully he snuck past the bodies until he reached a single door at the rear of the room. He eased it open and was greeted with nothing but darkness and a pair of growls.
His flashlight revealed a pair of zeds stuck at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Both zeds, dressed in stained white chef's clothing, stared at him with intense desire and clawed up into the air at him. T.Rex watched with amusement as they stumbled forward to get him, tripped onto the stairs, fell down, and repeated the process.
Standing at the top of the stairs, Ryan debated descending into the basement. The risk of running into more zeds than he could handle was a real possibility, and he had no idea if this was leading him closer to his friends, or farther away.
There was a loud bang from below, and the zeds at the bottom of the stairs turned away in search of something beyond T.Rex's sight. Here's hoping that's them, T.Rex thought as he descended down the stairs quickly.
Distracted by the noise, the chef zeds fell quickly to the blunt end of T.Rex's crowbar. He paused at the base of the stairs to scan the area. Over a dozen corpses littered the floor, along with some random appendages and limbs. They all looked grotesque, unrecognizable. Debris was scattered around, and T.Rex's flashlight beam froze on a smooth piece of wood underneath a decaying leg.
He poked the leg aside with his crowbar and the top half of a wooden baseball bat rolled towards him, covered in brain matter.
Shit! T.Rex thought. That's gotta be Cowboy. Another noise, louder than before, sounded to his right. Without hesitation he took off towards the sound, hoping they were still alive. He passed through a few doors, jogged down a maintenance corridor and rounded the corner to find himself looking down a hallway of several unmarked doors. A trio of zeds turned and started shuffling towards him, stepping over and onto dozens more bodies.
With little room to maneuver, T.Rex gritted his teeth and planted his feet. They were spaced far enough apart that they could only attack one at at time, so he waited for them to come closer before springing his attack. He waited for them to lunge with their arms outstretched before ducking back, trapping their arms against the wall with his crowbar and bringing the thick end of his flashlight crashing down on their skulls with all of his might. One, two, three they fell in succession.
Surging with adrenaline, T.Rex picked the door he thought sounded the loudest and tried to open it. He was surprised when it gave way, and even more surprised to a trio of renegade Fools inside looked back at him.
"T.Rex!" they shouted in unison, just as he shouted out "guys!" to them.
They were in a storeroom filled with ceiling-high shelving units. The shelves were mostly bare, save a few cardboard boxes and plastic bins. A door at the far end of the room was broken off its hinges but barricaded by a few shelf units. Beard was reloading his pistol and Peace was crouched on the ground, loading cans into a sack held open by Cowboy.
"We have to get out of here, now!" T.Rex said, waving his crowbar to the door. He noticed a trickle of blood dripping down Cowboy's temple. "Wait, are you okay?" T.Rex asked, wondering immediately if he'd been bitten.
Cowboy nodded. "Got into a fight with a pair of zombies, they knocked me against a cabinet. I'm fine."
"Did you guys find anything?" T.Rex asked.
Beard grimaced, like usual. "We ran up and down these halls trying to find supplies - mostly we just got chased and harassed by zeds. Barricaded one door, but I know there's more of them out there." As if on cue, they heard a groan from nearby - reminding them they were still being hunted.
"We don't have time to look around anymore," T.Rex said, impatiently. He clenched his fists in anger, furious that his friends had left the parking garage in the first place. Looking around, hearing faint moans, he decided there were more important things to worry about right now.
Peace stood up and dusted off his hands. "Cowboy's bat broke fighting our way down here, so he'll carry what we did find, and the rest of us can protect him."
"Good," T.Rex nodded. "Beard, you go first, then me, then Cowboy, and Peace brings up the rear. Let's go."
Together the four Fools backtracked to the stairwell. The hallways were mostly clear with only a handful of stragglers that Beard easily dispatched, but not as silently as T.Rex would've liked.
When they finally reached the stairs, the area was flooded with agitated zombies. With one ferocious charge Beard led the entire group straight into the fray, the tired Fools chopping and bashing any heads within reach.
They managed to reach the stairs intact, much to T.Rex's relief. "Go! Up! Move!" he shouted, encouraging the group to escape the mob of zeds forming behind them at the base of the stairs.
As they climbed the stairs, T.Rex looked back to make sure the Cowboy was managing the heavy load of supplies, when the slightest bit of movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention.
A single zed appeared at the top of the stairs and lunged at Beard, driven solely by hunger.
Ryan felt like time slowed as he watched the creature attack his friend. As Beard grappled with the creature they tumbled towards him, but it was too close, too fast. T.Rex was knocked back and fell backwards against Cowboy. The sack of cans Cowboy was carrying spilled open and showered onto Peace who lost his balance and fell.
Peace cried out as he tumbled down the stairs directly into the arms of the waiting zed army. Without hesitation the creatures attacked, biting and clawing, ripping his clothes and flesh.
Beard struggled with his assailant, trying desperately to keep the creature's teeth from breaking his skin. Cowboy whimpered in pain, laying awkwardly on top of his arm, as T.Rex struggled to his feet.
Screaming and cursing, Peace desperately flailed his arms and kicked his legs against the crowd to no avail. Multiple zombies sunk their teeth into his skin, biting through his clothing in a hungered frenzy.
With a mighty roar, Beard grabbed the attacking zed's skull and wrenched it to the side violently. With a wet snap the creature's neck broke and the body went limp. Beard kicked the entire corpse off the stairs and stood, drawing his pistol.
Peace was losing blood, rapidly. He fought on, freeing one hand and punching anything within reach. The zeds ignored his attacks and continued ripping away chunks of his body, gnashing and clawing without pause.
Cowboy gingerly held his wrist as T.Rex helped him to his feet, only to have Beard push them both aside. Without pausing, he aimed and fired his pistol down into the crowd.
A single bullet flew out and impacted directly into Peace's temple, instantly ending his torment.
T.Rex looked down into the crowd of zeds who seemed acutely aware that their formerly struggling meal had gone limp. They unceremoniously dumped the body on the ground and began struggling up the stairs once more.
T.Rex looked over at Cowboy and saw a blank look, a mixture of shock and fear that mirrored his own feelings.
T.Rex looked at Beard. He reholstered his pistol and stared directly at the crowd of zeds with a hellish anger in his eyes, gripping his hatchet with white knuckles.
"Uh...Beard?" Cowboy finally asked, snapping T.Rex from his daze.
Beard just growled. His face twitched, and a single tear rolled down his cheek.
T.Rex put his hand on Beard's shoulder and spoke softly. "Beard, we need to get going. You did what you had to-" he stopped as Beard coldly brushed his hand away.
Beard roared to life without warning, emitting a terrifying yell that overpowered every sound in the immediate area. With surprising speed he rushed down the stairs and began hacking away at everything in sight - zed hands, arms, and skulls, screaming all the while.
"YOU BASTARDS!" Beard yelled as he waded into the fray. "YOU ROTTING UNDEAD BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL EVERY DAMN ONE OF YOU AND WEAR YOUR INTESTINES AS A FESTIVE HAT!" His face was beet red and his eyes went wide, filled with rage. He swung his hatchet with incredible speed and power, almost every swipe killing a new zombie.
One particularly large zombie turned to face him, covered in fresh blood. Beard hooked it in the shoulder blade with his hatchet and pulled it directly to the ground before decapitating it in one brutal strike.
Cowboy and T.Rex yelled from the stairs, trying in vain to get Beard to listen. Dodging hatchet swings, the two of them finally managed to drag him back to the stairs. Barely able to contain Beard's fury, the three of them headed upstairs to get out of Hillenbrand.
Word Count: 55,336
Friday, December 5, 2008
Victory! (Finally!)
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.
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.
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
Monday, November 17, 2008
Reference Photo
If you are unfamiliar with Hillenbrand Hall, this might help you visualize this very important part of the story:
The parking garage is located in the very bottom left (you can see the lines on the roof). The East tower is on the right and has a darker roof. The front entrance is in the center at the top (green roof). Photo courtesy of Hinshaw Roofing.
I'm not sure if this sort of media would make the final cut of any serious edit of my novel, but here it is anyway - I make such an effort to physically describe the setting that I wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page.
The parking garage is located in the very bottom left (you can see the lines on the roof). The East tower is on the right and has a darker roof. The front entrance is in the center at the top (green roof). Photo courtesy of Hinshaw Roofing.I'm not sure if this sort of media would make the final cut of any serious edit of my novel, but here it is anyway - I make such an effort to physically describe the setting that I wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Chapter 34 - Elevation
June 14th, 2008
7:44am
Hillenbrand Hall - East Wing Elevator 1
Shaking, T.Rex stood and tried to calm his mind to study the situation at hand. He was trapped in a cramped elevator compartment with a reeking corpse, one that had nearly made him lunch. Irregular groans and muffled thumping sounds penetrated the thick elevator doors as an unknown number of zeds outside tried to claw and bash their way in. Without power the lights and the air circulation system were inactive, rendering the hot, stagnant air almost as suffocating as the darkness.
Ryan stomped his foot around in the darkness until he was positive his shoe was firmly pressed against the temple of the dead zed on the floor beside him - he wasn't about to take any chances retrieving his weapon. With a grunt he worked to dislodge his trusted crowbar from the mangled zombie skull, twisting and wriggling the metal until it was free. Best rescue ever, he thought as he wiped the gore from the weapon with his shirt.
Trying to fight through an unknown horde of agitated zombies just outside the elevator not only sounded suicidal to T.Rex, he knew it would bring him no closer to Jenny. There was only one direction to go - up.
There was a thick handrail that lined the interior walls of the elevator compartment at waist height. With great care, T.Rex climbed onto the railing in the corner and balanced each foot against a different wall for stability. He used his crowbar to help rip away the thin metal grating that spanned the ceiling. After tossing it to the floor, he began to feel the bare ceiling for any sort of door to get on top of the elevator.
It was only with the added height of the railing he had the reach to find the maintenance hatch centered above the back wall of the elevator. When he pushed against the panel, it resisted just slightly, so he jammed his crowbar into the seam to pop the lock and pulled. It was difficult trying to find leverage with the tool and still maintaining his balance on the small rail, but he wasn't about to give up.
Man this this thing is useful, he said to himself as the lock gave way. As the door flew open a cool draft poured into the elevator and the smallest bit of light lit T.Rex's face. He took a deep calming breath and tossed his weapon through the hatch. After a pause he heard it clatter reassuringly on the roof.
Arms fully outstretched, his fingertips barely cleared the lip of the hatch. Frustrated, he pushed off the railing with his ankles and hopped upward, enough to grip the lip fully with his hands. He struggled to pull himself up, kicking against the smooth wall of the elevator and finding no purchase. When his head cleared the roof he saw a cable not far away, so he flung his right arm out and grabbed it, and from there he had the leverage to pull the rest of his body up.
T.Rex made it through the hatch and flopped onto the roof, face first into a thick mat of dust. Panting, he inhaled a large breath of soot and particles and began to cough and sputter, desperately trying to brush the dust from his mouth and nose. He flailed about in the darkness, fighting back a panic.
When the dust settled T.Rex noticed he was inches from the edge of the elevator. He instinctively scooted back towards the center of the elevator roof, nearly falling though the hatch in the process. "Damnit!" he said aloud in frustration, and the words echoed slightly throughout the entire elevator shaft.
With his eyes adjusting to the darkness, T.Rex took stock of his surroundings. The three elevators for each tower were divided, with the larger freight elevator alone, and the two smaller passenger elevators next to each other on the other side of the lobby. He was standing on the left passenger elevator, and by his best guess the roof was about 8 feet wide, and 12 feet long.
Looking up, small streams of light appeared at regular intervals along most of the elevator shaft. It wasn't enough light to read by, but it was enough that he could see the basic structure around him. T.Rex theorized that was the morning sunlight pouring into the glass-paneled elevator lobbies of floors three through eight (with the first two and basement obscured by the rest of the building). Some of the light could have manged to peek through the cracks to help illuminate his journey- something that might not have happened if they had gotten to Hillenbrand much sooner. In a way, it was fortunate that we detoured through the tunnels and stopped to find Franklin's journal, T.Rex thought.
He thought he could see the bottom of the other elevator at or near the top of the other side of the elevator shaft. That's good, he thought. Maybe they got the other elevator locked up there before things went to hell.
"Alright," he said aloud to nobody in particular, "one down, three floors to go." He sized up the thickest cable that extended upward and tried to prepare himself to climb. Oh, I've totally got this.
He leaped onto the wire, gripping the tight braided steel with both hands and clamping his legs together. He hung there for a few seconds, uncomfortably, before trying to shuffle upwards. The cable was smooth and featureless, leaving him little to work with in terms of friction. After a few feet it was clear he had the arm strength to pull his body, but the cable was nearly impossible to negotiate.
Ryan let go of the cable, dropping back onto the elevator car. It shook uncomfortably, and he held out his arms to steady himself against the movement. He was running out of options, and he rested his tired arms on his head for a moment trying to think of another solution.
In the quiet of the elevator shaft, he heard rustling. There was a quiet murmur, echoing slightly around him, and T.Rex sensed a blanket of movement coming from nearby. He looked over, and saw the cables for the other elevator shaking slightly.
Grabbing a nearby cable for balance, Ryan looked out into the shaft for a clue. Below, in the darkness, he could see movement in the shadows. Squinting, he thought he could make out a limb here, a skull there. Crouching, he saw numerous pairs of eyes looking back up at him. Crammed into the bottom of the elevator shaft an army of zeds, reaching up for him. They grabbed at cables and clawed at the walls, trying in vain to get closer to him.
T.Rex's eyes widened, realizing that Hillenbrand was far from secure. For some reason, the basement was a pool of undead, and he had no way of knowing if they had access to the stairwells. It was only because of their poor motor skills that they hadn't gotten any closer to him already. Looking at the sea of teeth he was glad for a moment that Jenny's room was above, and not below him.
He looked around for something to throw down at them, a loose part or perhaps a fire extinguisher. As he searched the top of the roof of the elevator he discovered there was a small set of rungs built into the wall, between the two elevators on the side with the doors.
"Yes!" he said, finally feeling like something was going his way. He tucked the curved part of his crowbar into a beltloop and very carefully positioned himself on the edge of the elevator roof near the rungs. He took a cautious step out and planted his foot on the closest rung before reaching out and gripping a chest height rung tightly with both hands. He stepped completely off the elevator and took a deep breath. Don't look down, he said to himself over and over, and began to climb.
Word Count: 48,638
7:44am
Hillenbrand Hall - East Wing Elevator 1
Shaking, T.Rex stood and tried to calm his mind to study the situation at hand. He was trapped in a cramped elevator compartment with a reeking corpse, one that had nearly made him lunch. Irregular groans and muffled thumping sounds penetrated the thick elevator doors as an unknown number of zeds outside tried to claw and bash their way in. Without power the lights and the air circulation system were inactive, rendering the hot, stagnant air almost as suffocating as the darkness.
Ryan stomped his foot around in the darkness until he was positive his shoe was firmly pressed against the temple of the dead zed on the floor beside him - he wasn't about to take any chances retrieving his weapon. With a grunt he worked to dislodge his trusted crowbar from the mangled zombie skull, twisting and wriggling the metal until it was free. Best rescue ever, he thought as he wiped the gore from the weapon with his shirt.
Trying to fight through an unknown horde of agitated zombies just outside the elevator not only sounded suicidal to T.Rex, he knew it would bring him no closer to Jenny. There was only one direction to go - up.
There was a thick handrail that lined the interior walls of the elevator compartment at waist height. With great care, T.Rex climbed onto the railing in the corner and balanced each foot against a different wall for stability. He used his crowbar to help rip away the thin metal grating that spanned the ceiling. After tossing it to the floor, he began to feel the bare ceiling for any sort of door to get on top of the elevator.
It was only with the added height of the railing he had the reach to find the maintenance hatch centered above the back wall of the elevator. When he pushed against the panel, it resisted just slightly, so he jammed his crowbar into the seam to pop the lock and pulled. It was difficult trying to find leverage with the tool and still maintaining his balance on the small rail, but he wasn't about to give up.
Man this this thing is useful, he said to himself as the lock gave way. As the door flew open a cool draft poured into the elevator and the smallest bit of light lit T.Rex's face. He took a deep calming breath and tossed his weapon through the hatch. After a pause he heard it clatter reassuringly on the roof.
Arms fully outstretched, his fingertips barely cleared the lip of the hatch. Frustrated, he pushed off the railing with his ankles and hopped upward, enough to grip the lip fully with his hands. He struggled to pull himself up, kicking against the smooth wall of the elevator and finding no purchase. When his head cleared the roof he saw a cable not far away, so he flung his right arm out and grabbed it, and from there he had the leverage to pull the rest of his body up.
T.Rex made it through the hatch and flopped onto the roof, face first into a thick mat of dust. Panting, he inhaled a large breath of soot and particles and began to cough and sputter, desperately trying to brush the dust from his mouth and nose. He flailed about in the darkness, fighting back a panic.
When the dust settled T.Rex noticed he was inches from the edge of the elevator. He instinctively scooted back towards the center of the elevator roof, nearly falling though the hatch in the process. "Damnit!" he said aloud in frustration, and the words echoed slightly throughout the entire elevator shaft.
With his eyes adjusting to the darkness, T.Rex took stock of his surroundings. The three elevators for each tower were divided, with the larger freight elevator alone, and the two smaller passenger elevators next to each other on the other side of the lobby. He was standing on the left passenger elevator, and by his best guess the roof was about 8 feet wide, and 12 feet long.
Looking up, small streams of light appeared at regular intervals along most of the elevator shaft. It wasn't enough light to read by, but it was enough that he could see the basic structure around him. T.Rex theorized that was the morning sunlight pouring into the glass-paneled elevator lobbies of floors three through eight (with the first two and basement obscured by the rest of the building). Some of the light could have manged to peek through the cracks to help illuminate his journey- something that might not have happened if they had gotten to Hillenbrand much sooner. In a way, it was fortunate that we detoured through the tunnels and stopped to find Franklin's journal, T.Rex thought.
He thought he could see the bottom of the other elevator at or near the top of the other side of the elevator shaft. That's good, he thought. Maybe they got the other elevator locked up there before things went to hell.
"Alright," he said aloud to nobody in particular, "one down, three floors to go." He sized up the thickest cable that extended upward and tried to prepare himself to climb. Oh, I've totally got this.
He leaped onto the wire, gripping the tight braided steel with both hands and clamping his legs together. He hung there for a few seconds, uncomfortably, before trying to shuffle upwards. The cable was smooth and featureless, leaving him little to work with in terms of friction. After a few feet it was clear he had the arm strength to pull his body, but the cable was nearly impossible to negotiate.
Ryan let go of the cable, dropping back onto the elevator car. It shook uncomfortably, and he held out his arms to steady himself against the movement. He was running out of options, and he rested his tired arms on his head for a moment trying to think of another solution.
In the quiet of the elevator shaft, he heard rustling. There was a quiet murmur, echoing slightly around him, and T.Rex sensed a blanket of movement coming from nearby. He looked over, and saw the cables for the other elevator shaking slightly.
Grabbing a nearby cable for balance, Ryan looked out into the shaft for a clue. Below, in the darkness, he could see movement in the shadows. Squinting, he thought he could make out a limb here, a skull there. Crouching, he saw numerous pairs of eyes looking back up at him. Crammed into the bottom of the elevator shaft an army of zeds, reaching up for him. They grabbed at cables and clawed at the walls, trying in vain to get closer to him.
T.Rex's eyes widened, realizing that Hillenbrand was far from secure. For some reason, the basement was a pool of undead, and he had no way of knowing if they had access to the stairwells. It was only because of their poor motor skills that they hadn't gotten any closer to him already. Looking at the sea of teeth he was glad for a moment that Jenny's room was above, and not below him.
He looked around for something to throw down at them, a loose part or perhaps a fire extinguisher. As he searched the top of the roof of the elevator he discovered there was a small set of rungs built into the wall, between the two elevators on the side with the doors.
"Yes!" he said, finally feeling like something was going his way. He tucked the curved part of his crowbar into a beltloop and very carefully positioned himself on the edge of the elevator roof near the rungs. He took a cautious step out and planted his foot on the closest rung before reaching out and gripping a chest height rung tightly with both hands. He stepped completely off the elevator and took a deep breath. Don't look down, he said to himself over and over, and began to climb.
Word Count: 48,638
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Chapter 33 - A Shot in the Dark
June 14th, 2008
7:25am
Hillenbrand Parking Garage
T.Rex knew the layout of Hillenbrand Hall inside and out, having lived or worked there in some capacity for six semesters and two summers over the past four years. The residence hall was composed of two large towers that held the students' rooms - both had eight floors each containing 50 two-person suites and a trio of elevators in the center. The suites were arranged in pairs, so that four students shared a common bathroom. Every floor also had a kitchenette, an ironing room, several utility closets, and a large study room in the center. As an upperclassmen hall, the rooms were larger (and more expensive) than most of the other University housing options.
Viewed from the top, the towers were shaped like a pair of "v"s connected at their vertices by a large green-roofed rectangular complex that held Hillenbrand's dining hall and kitchen, main office, computer lab, laundry facilities, and more study lounges. Deep in the basement was a complex maze of storage cells, utilities, and the campus offices for the University Residences Human Resources department.
Armed with a mental blueprint and an abundance of adrenaline, T.Rex took the parking garage stairs two at a time and paused just at the bottom of the stairwell. He stood on his tiptoes and peeked through the window in the door, scanning for zeds.
With no zombies in sight, T.Rex planned to sprint directly to the closest entrance - the rear dining hall doors, right next to the West tower elevators. He was only carrying his crowbar, by now a trusty companion. The rest of his equipment he'd left with the Fools to lighten his load, but it left him feeling naked and unprepared to handle any emergencies.
He took a few calming breaths and gently eased the stairwell door open, peeking around the corner. A single zed stood to a few yards to his right, staring blankly at the sky and wearing nothing but a tattered pair of shorts and a pair of Crocs. T.Rex crept forward, hoping to sneak past the zed before it could utter any warning to other zombies that might be in the area.
The zed sniffed loudly and jerked its body, turning to face T.Rex. When they made eye contact, the creature's jaw dropped in anticipation just before an arrow pierced its skull from above. The zed froze and flopped onto the ground, motionless.
T.Rex threw a quick salute to the Fools on the second story of the parking garage before dashing to his entry point. The glass panels of the doors were gone, replaced by a few jagged shards sticking to the frame. A carpet of broken glass blanketed the surrounding sidewalk, and Ryan did his best to circumvent the obstacle by traipsing through the nearby flowerbed and gingerly stepping through the doorway.
Do I even want to know what made that hole? T.Rex pondered as he entered the building. At least I don't have to worry about my Purdue ID not working in the electronic swipe locks. With the power out I'm pretty sure the doors default to locked and wouldn't open.
The elevator lobby was completely silent. The only light on the ground floor came leaking in from the broken door, and T.Rex took a moment to try and let his eyes adjust. He was used to the comforting glow of fluorescent lights providing bland but functional illumination.
Fighting back a yawn, T.Rex poked the Up button for the elevator. Nothing happened. Of course, he said to himself. Fucking useless. He noted the irony of increased building security against zeds as modern conveniences began to shut down.
During the school year the towers were split by gender, with the farther East tower being the female side. This typically carried over during the summer, when the buildings were used as housing for various programs- run in part by Operations Assistants like Jenny and himself in years past. Last he knew, she was stationed on the fourth floor, so he would begin his ascent from the first floor after crossing the central portion of Hillenbrand. He could only hope that she was still there- it was an awfully large building to have to search room by room.
Glancing to his right he saw the dining hall entrance, quiet and bathed in near-darkness. The lobby in front was normally packed with a line of hungry students, waiting for their allotted meals. Currently, it was devoid of any presence and what little light spilled in quickly faded, creating numerous shadows. Moving slowly, T.Rex listened intently for any noise that might indicate another person or zed nearby. Now cloaked in almost complete darkness, Ryan wished desperately he'd taken a flashlight. Fortunately, he knew his way around quite well.
He moved to the East elevator lobby without incident, and the outside doors on that side were boarded up. Ryan moved through the short hallway beside the elevators, which led him to the first floor rooms. There was a crack of light dead ahead, where the curtains of the study lounge didn't quite overlap. Using that as a guidepost, T.Rex took the left hallway. Gripping his crowbar in his dominant right hand, he kept close to the side of the hall to let his left hand very gently follow the wall. This way, he could count the number of door handles he passed and steady his path in the darkness.
Clunk. The crowbar in T.Rex's hand found the door at the end of the hall with a loud noise, and he immediately froze, heart pounding in his chest. Way to go, slick! The West half of campus probably heard that one! he chided himself. He waited for what felt like an eternity before moving again, hoping above all else nothing was lurking in the hallway.
Reaching out, T.Rex gently tried the handle. The wooden door was supposed to lead to a small anteroom that connected the outside with the stairwell and the first floor, but the handle would not not turn more than a quarter of the way. Damnit, where's my lock picker? T.Rex muttered under his breath. He was just about to turn around when a thought struck him.
When the crowbar struck the door, it sounded a lot denser than I would've guessed. Plus, the handle itself moves, but not all the way. He decided to risk a bit of noise to try and confirm his theory. He stepped back and knocked on a similar door, one that led to a student room. It made a light rap against his knuckle. Knocking on the first door resulted in a much deeper thud. T.Rex crouched down and attempted to slide the thinnest portion of his crowbar under the door.
Just partway in there was a click, and the crowbar would move no more. Yup, he thought, somebody has barricaded the room ahead, I'm guessing with some of the furniture from the nearby rooms. Not a bad idea, as it would keep zeds out of the building, plus keep the ones inside stuck on the ground floors. Unfortunately, that means keeping me out, as well - there's no way I could break through-
A nearby growl caught him by surprise enough to make him jump into the air. T.Rex spun and faced the darkness, terrified but ready to fight for his life. His eyes darted left and right, trying to discern any shapes in the hallway. After several moments he felt a sharp jab to his abdomen as the noise repeated.
T.Rex looked down at his midsection, and then rolled his eyes. His stomach was growling and a normal inconvenience became a condition that could draw unwanted attention to himself. It was the first time he'd consciously thought about food in several hours, and he wondered for a moment how the other Fools were holding up. If they were beginning to feel slowed by hunger or lack of sleep. If they were safe, or perhaps under attack.
Shaking his head, he quietly retraced his path to the middle of the first floor and went to the right side of the hallway. Halfway down the corridor he heard a noise that was much different from his stomach - a low moan that came from behind. Speeding up, T.Rex fumbled in the darkness and found the handle for the door at the end of the hall.
The handle moved even less than the left side handle did. A quick check of his crowbar under the door confirmed both sides were likely barricaded. Frustrating, he thought, but that means there's a better chance Jenny is alive. It gave him hope that somebody, perhaps the Hillenbrand Staff together, had attempted to secure the building before being overrun. T.Rex grinned, knowing Jenny would enjoy his optimism.
He had one last shot at getting to the higher floors, and it meant heading towards the noises he heard. Gritting his teeth, T.Rex sneaked back towards the East side elevator lobby. The noise increased as he got closer- by the time he reached the study lounge in the center of the hallway, a pair of groans and a steady wheeze had joined in.
Ryan tiptoed to the corner of the hallway just outside the elevators and paused, listening intently. Another trio of distinct "voices" had joined the nearby cacophony. T.Rex peeked around and saw the empty dining hall lobby, and the dim light at the far end from the broken doors. Somewhat confident the coast was clear, he turned the corner and moved in front of one of the elevators.
Very gingerly, as to not make any noise, he slipped his fingers between the elevator doors and pulled, trying to force them apart. When they didn't budge, he slipped his crowbar into place and strained. The inner door mechanisms clicked backward loudly, and the nearby sounds of undead stopped momentarily.
"Shit!" T.Rex hissed. He heaved, and the outer doors groaned open, nearly drowning out the nearby moans. The elevator doors were just inches apart when the first few zeds staggered into the dining hall lobby, looking for food. They appeared as stark silhouettes in the dimly lit hall, jerking and shuffling towards Ryan.
Desperate, T.Rex placed his foot on the frame of the elevator entrance and used his entire body for leverage. The doors protested at first, but as T.Rex extended his legs they relented. More than a dozen zombies came closing in, mouths open in anticipation.
The doors opened wide enough that the crowbar lost purchase and clattered to the ground, spinning, twisting, threatening to fall through the crack on the floor. T.Rex, with his leg on the wall, fell with it, and he quickly snatched the crowbar and rolled into the elevator. The closest zed managed to stagger in as well, the rest not far behind.
Without electricity or a crowbar holding them open, the elevator doors defaulted to internal springs and began to close slowly and inexorably.
Now confined in the elevator with a single zed, Ryan frantically crawled backwards on his hands and feet to the back corner. The lead zed plodded forward, arms outstretched and eyes wide with hunger.
"Come and get me, you undead piece of shit!" T.Rex yelled, gripping his crowbar with the hook cradled upside down in his palm. The zombie took the challenge and lunged, reaching down for T.Rex's skull.
T.Rex would have none of it. He extended his short arms fully and kept a firm grip on the crowbar as he thrust it upward, screaming with fury. The bottom of the weapon pierced the zed's jaw just behind the chin and hammered upward, splitting undead skin and muscle until it burst through the top of the zombie's skull with a wet crack.
The zed immediately went limp. T.Rex shoved the corpse aside just as the elevator doors shut, plunging the area into complete darkness.
Word Count: 47,286
7:25am
Hillenbrand Parking Garage
T.Rex knew the layout of Hillenbrand Hall inside and out, having lived or worked there in some capacity for six semesters and two summers over the past four years. The residence hall was composed of two large towers that held the students' rooms - both had eight floors each containing 50 two-person suites and a trio of elevators in the center. The suites were arranged in pairs, so that four students shared a common bathroom. Every floor also had a kitchenette, an ironing room, several utility closets, and a large study room in the center. As an upperclassmen hall, the rooms were larger (and more expensive) than most of the other University housing options.
Viewed from the top, the towers were shaped like a pair of "v"s connected at their vertices by a large green-roofed rectangular complex that held Hillenbrand's dining hall and kitchen, main office, computer lab, laundry facilities, and more study lounges. Deep in the basement was a complex maze of storage cells, utilities, and the campus offices for the University Residences Human Resources department.
Armed with a mental blueprint and an abundance of adrenaline, T.Rex took the parking garage stairs two at a time and paused just at the bottom of the stairwell. He stood on his tiptoes and peeked through the window in the door, scanning for zeds.
With no zombies in sight, T.Rex planned to sprint directly to the closest entrance - the rear dining hall doors, right next to the West tower elevators. He was only carrying his crowbar, by now a trusty companion. The rest of his equipment he'd left with the Fools to lighten his load, but it left him feeling naked and unprepared to handle any emergencies.
He took a few calming breaths and gently eased the stairwell door open, peeking around the corner. A single zed stood to a few yards to his right, staring blankly at the sky and wearing nothing but a tattered pair of shorts and a pair of Crocs. T.Rex crept forward, hoping to sneak past the zed before it could utter any warning to other zombies that might be in the area.
The zed sniffed loudly and jerked its body, turning to face T.Rex. When they made eye contact, the creature's jaw dropped in anticipation just before an arrow pierced its skull from above. The zed froze and flopped onto the ground, motionless.
T.Rex threw a quick salute to the Fools on the second story of the parking garage before dashing to his entry point. The glass panels of the doors were gone, replaced by a few jagged shards sticking to the frame. A carpet of broken glass blanketed the surrounding sidewalk, and Ryan did his best to circumvent the obstacle by traipsing through the nearby flowerbed and gingerly stepping through the doorway.
Do I even want to know what made that hole? T.Rex pondered as he entered the building. At least I don't have to worry about my Purdue ID not working in the electronic swipe locks. With the power out I'm pretty sure the doors default to locked and wouldn't open.
The elevator lobby was completely silent. The only light on the ground floor came leaking in from the broken door, and T.Rex took a moment to try and let his eyes adjust. He was used to the comforting glow of fluorescent lights providing bland but functional illumination.
Fighting back a yawn, T.Rex poked the Up button for the elevator. Nothing happened. Of course, he said to himself. Fucking useless. He noted the irony of increased building security against zeds as modern conveniences began to shut down.
During the school year the towers were split by gender, with the farther East tower being the female side. This typically carried over during the summer, when the buildings were used as housing for various programs- run in part by Operations Assistants like Jenny and himself in years past. Last he knew, she was stationed on the fourth floor, so he would begin his ascent from the first floor after crossing the central portion of Hillenbrand. He could only hope that she was still there- it was an awfully large building to have to search room by room.
Glancing to his right he saw the dining hall entrance, quiet and bathed in near-darkness. The lobby in front was normally packed with a line of hungry students, waiting for their allotted meals. Currently, it was devoid of any presence and what little light spilled in quickly faded, creating numerous shadows. Moving slowly, T.Rex listened intently for any noise that might indicate another person or zed nearby. Now cloaked in almost complete darkness, Ryan wished desperately he'd taken a flashlight. Fortunately, he knew his way around quite well.
He moved to the East elevator lobby without incident, and the outside doors on that side were boarded up. Ryan moved through the short hallway beside the elevators, which led him to the first floor rooms. There was a crack of light dead ahead, where the curtains of the study lounge didn't quite overlap. Using that as a guidepost, T.Rex took the left hallway. Gripping his crowbar in his dominant right hand, he kept close to the side of the hall to let his left hand very gently follow the wall. This way, he could count the number of door handles he passed and steady his path in the darkness.
Clunk. The crowbar in T.Rex's hand found the door at the end of the hall with a loud noise, and he immediately froze, heart pounding in his chest. Way to go, slick! The West half of campus probably heard that one! he chided himself. He waited for what felt like an eternity before moving again, hoping above all else nothing was lurking in the hallway.
Reaching out, T.Rex gently tried the handle. The wooden door was supposed to lead to a small anteroom that connected the outside with the stairwell and the first floor, but the handle would not not turn more than a quarter of the way. Damnit, where's my lock picker? T.Rex muttered under his breath. He was just about to turn around when a thought struck him.
When the crowbar struck the door, it sounded a lot denser than I would've guessed. Plus, the handle itself moves, but not all the way. He decided to risk a bit of noise to try and confirm his theory. He stepped back and knocked on a similar door, one that led to a student room. It made a light rap against his knuckle. Knocking on the first door resulted in a much deeper thud. T.Rex crouched down and attempted to slide the thinnest portion of his crowbar under the door.
Just partway in there was a click, and the crowbar would move no more. Yup, he thought, somebody has barricaded the room ahead, I'm guessing with some of the furniture from the nearby rooms. Not a bad idea, as it would keep zeds out of the building, plus keep the ones inside stuck on the ground floors. Unfortunately, that means keeping me out, as well - there's no way I could break through-
A nearby growl caught him by surprise enough to make him jump into the air. T.Rex spun and faced the darkness, terrified but ready to fight for his life. His eyes darted left and right, trying to discern any shapes in the hallway. After several moments he felt a sharp jab to his abdomen as the noise repeated.
T.Rex looked down at his midsection, and then rolled his eyes. His stomach was growling and a normal inconvenience became a condition that could draw unwanted attention to himself. It was the first time he'd consciously thought about food in several hours, and he wondered for a moment how the other Fools were holding up. If they were beginning to feel slowed by hunger or lack of sleep. If they were safe, or perhaps under attack.
Shaking his head, he quietly retraced his path to the middle of the first floor and went to the right side of the hallway. Halfway down the corridor he heard a noise that was much different from his stomach - a low moan that came from behind. Speeding up, T.Rex fumbled in the darkness and found the handle for the door at the end of the hall.
The handle moved even less than the left side handle did. A quick check of his crowbar under the door confirmed both sides were likely barricaded. Frustrating, he thought, but that means there's a better chance Jenny is alive. It gave him hope that somebody, perhaps the Hillenbrand Staff together, had attempted to secure the building before being overrun. T.Rex grinned, knowing Jenny would enjoy his optimism.
He had one last shot at getting to the higher floors, and it meant heading towards the noises he heard. Gritting his teeth, T.Rex sneaked back towards the East side elevator lobby. The noise increased as he got closer- by the time he reached the study lounge in the center of the hallway, a pair of groans and a steady wheeze had joined in.
Ryan tiptoed to the corner of the hallway just outside the elevators and paused, listening intently. Another trio of distinct "voices" had joined the nearby cacophony. T.Rex peeked around and saw the empty dining hall lobby, and the dim light at the far end from the broken doors. Somewhat confident the coast was clear, he turned the corner and moved in front of one of the elevators.
Very gingerly, as to not make any noise, he slipped his fingers between the elevator doors and pulled, trying to force them apart. When they didn't budge, he slipped his crowbar into place and strained. The inner door mechanisms clicked backward loudly, and the nearby sounds of undead stopped momentarily.
"Shit!" T.Rex hissed. He heaved, and the outer doors groaned open, nearly drowning out the nearby moans. The elevator doors were just inches apart when the first few zeds staggered into the dining hall lobby, looking for food. They appeared as stark silhouettes in the dimly lit hall, jerking and shuffling towards Ryan.
Desperate, T.Rex placed his foot on the frame of the elevator entrance and used his entire body for leverage. The doors protested at first, but as T.Rex extended his legs they relented. More than a dozen zombies came closing in, mouths open in anticipation.
The doors opened wide enough that the crowbar lost purchase and clattered to the ground, spinning, twisting, threatening to fall through the crack on the floor. T.Rex, with his leg on the wall, fell with it, and he quickly snatched the crowbar and rolled into the elevator. The closest zed managed to stagger in as well, the rest not far behind.
Without electricity or a crowbar holding them open, the elevator doors defaulted to internal springs and began to close slowly and inexorably.
Now confined in the elevator with a single zed, Ryan frantically crawled backwards on his hands and feet to the back corner. The lead zed plodded forward, arms outstretched and eyes wide with hunger.
"Come and get me, you undead piece of shit!" T.Rex yelled, gripping his crowbar with the hook cradled upside down in his palm. The zombie took the challenge and lunged, reaching down for T.Rex's skull.
T.Rex would have none of it. He extended his short arms fully and kept a firm grip on the crowbar as he thrust it upward, screaming with fury. The bottom of the weapon pierced the zed's jaw just behind the chin and hammered upward, splitting undead skin and muscle until it burst through the top of the zombie's skull with a wet crack.
The zed immediately went limp. T.Rex shoved the corpse aside just as the elevator doors shut, plunging the area into complete darkness.
Word Count: 47,286
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Chapter 32 - Fracture
June 14th, 2008
6:56am
Aviation Drive
Beard glanced around the corner of the control tower, surveying the situation. The rest of the Fools waited anxiously, lined up against the back of the building with weapons drawn.
T.Rex tried to keep his focus on the task at hand - helping guide the Fools through the hostile airport area, en route to Hillenbrand Hall. However, the closer they got to their destination, the harder he found it to concentrate on anything but worrying about Jenny. He wondered if she was hurt, or even still alive. Or worse, a zombie.
"Let's do this," Rubble said, clapping his hands on T.Rex's shoulder. Ryan looked around and saw that he'd been a bit too involved in his thoughts - the rest of the Fools were following Beard at a brisk jog across the airport taxiway. Together, he and Rubble joined them until the entire group paused behind another airport building.
"Two more buildings," Beard warned the group, "and then we're gonna make a mad dash for the treeline. Got it?" Beard looked back at the Fools, who all nodded in succession.
T.Rex nervously adjusted the grip on his crowbar and glanced around. The Fools were holding their ground in an alley between the control tower building and the featureless backside of a large hangar. The group shifted nervously, like a pack of animals expecting an ambush. Ryan knew their path would take them through the main taxiways of the airport before they'd reach the relative safety of the treeline.
Beard crept to the edge of the hangar and peeked around. He quickly turned back and grimaced, before motioning the Fools onward with a violent motion. "Just keep moving!" he hissed as each Fool turned the corner to the previously unseen airport grounds.
T.Rex followed his friends into a haunting scene. The mixed fleet of aircraft owned and operated by the University - normally secured and stored in neat rows by the checklist minded pilots - were gone. In their place was a graveyard of fuel spills and tie-down straps blowing in the wind. Just shy of the entrance ramp to the runway were a pair of high wing aircraft in a mangled heap.
Most likely two pilots tried to jockey for takeoff once the zed invasion was apparent, T.Rex surmised. Power outages at the control tower probably didn't help with communication, either. He could see other signs of ill-conceived departures: broken hangar doors, seats and other non-essential gear tossed aside. One aircraft at the far end of the runway had run out of room before reaching takeoff speed; personal effects strewn about the wreckage indicated the pilot tried unsuccessfully to escape with more than his life.
"C'mon!" Peace whispered, and T.Rex shook his head clear of the CSI-analysis of the airport grounds. They were halfway to the trees when a single zombie flopped out of a nearby airplane and lurched for them. It moaned softly as it plodded forward, still about 15 yards from the group. In a split second Ryan weighed the idea of stopping to silence the lone straggler to cover their exit versus the threat of being caught up in an energy-draining fight with more.
Twang! Rubble's bow sounded as a single arrow flew out and sunk deep into the zed's face. The monster fell over backwards onto the concrete, its face contorted into the closest approximation of a look of surprise it could manage. Most of the Fools glanced over to admire the marksmanship before continuing on, arranged in a loose line formation.
The group paused once more at the edge of an outbuilding to regroup. All were panting to some degree except Beard, who gave a quick glance ahead before signaling to move again. The Fools continued on, crossing over the railroad tracks that marked the Northern airport boundary. They were a soccer field's length from the treeline when Angel Hair's ankle gave out.
"Ack!" Angel Hair cried out in mid-stride, flopping onto the ground. His weapon slid away in the grass but his pack stayed on. Without hesitation Rubble and Kamikaze handed off their weapons before scooping up Angel Hair and continuing to make for the trees. Like a well-oiled machine, Peace grabbed the errant pool cue and did a quick spin, checking for threats. Together, the entire group of Fools managed to hobble to the edge of the forest before stopping to catch their breath.
Gently Rubble and Kamikaze lowered Angel Hair to the ground before joining the rest of the group in a protective circle around him. They all were turned to face the forest around them. "Are you okay?" T.Rex asked over his shoulder between breaths.
"That's the first time I really put a lot of strain on my ankle since I fell on the rooftop," Angel Hair said with a wince, "but I think it might be okay if I can give it some rest." The Fools looked at each other, worried.
We all could use some rest, T.Rex thought, but we don't have time to sit and wait for Angel Hair to get better, nor do we have much in the way of treatment. Sitting around is just going to make us vulnerable, anyway.
Rubble shrugged and placed his equipment on the ground. "C'mon, little buddy," he said, and effortlessly hoisted his friend on his back. Rubble spoke calmly: "If somebody can carry our stuff and we stay out of trouble, I can carry him for a bit."
T.Rex made an executive decision to distribute some of the medicine they'd taken with them from the apartment fortress. He gave a pair of aspirin tablets to Angel Hair and ordered everyone to take a hydration break before setting out into to the woods.
Cautiously the Fools picked their way through the trees, staying close enough to maintain a course parallel to the edge of the woods but far enough in to stay obscured - or so they hoped. They were arrayed in a loose diamond formation, with Beard on point and Peace just behind, Angel Hair piggybacked with Rubble between Kamikaze and Cowboy, with T.Rex bringing up the rear. They traveled in relative silence, only whispering when necessary.
Without thinking about it, the Fools had begun to truly move and act like a single entity as they trekked through the woods. They were reaching a sort of group mind consciousness that was the hallmark of their best performances on stage, and T.Rex noticed. Like in the tunnels, they'd periodically pause to listen for the sounds of danger, to make sure the sounds of their walking wasn't concealing a stalking zed.
The Fools came across a small red sedan that had careened into the forest, flattened some shrubbery, and came to rest embedded at an angle in the trunk of a large oak. T.Rex was incredibly confused for a moment until he realized that St. Route 26 ran through this portion of the woods. With concentration he could make out the paved asphalt a few yards ahead through the trees. They were all so used to the sounds of cars and civilization that the road had simply snuck up on them.
Crossing the road and avoiding the car meant heading deeper into the woods, so the Fools very cautiously followed Beard's lead and backtracked a bit into the trees. Once they reached the edge of the forest farther in, they ran as a group across the road and waited on the other side for any response to the flight. There was none, so they continued on and moved back towards the edge of the forest, closer to Purdue's campus.
On the way T.Rex could see across the road to the wrecked sedan- from the different angle he could see the entire passenger side window was shattered, and a bloody smear coated the entire door. A Papa John's delivery sign lay on the ground near the vehicle, jarred loose from the impact. T.Rex wondered if the delivery person had tried to flee an overrun store, or perhaps swerved to avoid a shadow in the night en route to a delivery, or something worse.
The other side of SR 26 was much more active, and the Fools heard moaning and shuffling in nearly all directions. Still, they reached the Eastern edge of the woods without any encounters. They paused, and T.Rex strode to the front to address the Fools.
"I don't think I have to tell you that this next part is crucial," he began, "but we're very close to Hillenbrand. We have to cover a lot of open ground to get past Purdue West, and then we'll make for the parking garage just behind the residence hall. Questions?"
The Fools were tense, alert, and ready to go. Nobody objected, and T.Rex signaled for the group to move. They burst from the woods and jogged across McCormick Road, heading for the parking lot behind the Purdue West Shopping Center.
Most of the cars were missing from the parking lot, so Beard motioned for them to continue on rather than try and pause behind the sparse cover. They reached the complex and paused, resting against the front of a for-rent office space. T.Rex saw a handful of shapes nearby beginning to stir, no doubt zeds looking for their next meal.
Just then the pane of glass the Fools were resting on wobbled with a loud bang and the group spun, nearly losing Angel Hair in the process. A trio of zombies pressed themselves against the glass trying to get to the Fools, dragging their fingers against the glass with such force that their decaying skin began to slough off. The screams of the zeds were muffled by the glass and the surprised screams of the Fools in response.
"MOVE!" Beard said, and the Fools took off after him. They rounded the corner and sprinted through the shopping complex, the sounds of glass shattering in the distance. They ran faster, striking down a pair of skinny zeds in track jackets in their way. With the path clear they ran out into the early daybreak and across McCutcheon Drive. They didn't stop until they were in the shadows of the ground floor of the parking garage.
Panting, T.Rex began to walk up the ramp to the second floor, determined to finish the job they'd started. The rest of the Fools followed him, exhausted from their sprint from the woods. Angel Hair had to duck to fit under the parking garage pipes. It was only when they reached the second floor overlooking the rear entrance to Hillenbrand that T.Rex stopped and dropped his equipment on the floor.
"I'm going in there," he said, pointing to the residence hall, "and I need you guys to wait here for me while I go rescue Jenny." He paused to catch his breath, and the entire group objected.
"What about the buddy system!?" Rubble said.
"What if you get lost?" Cowboy asked.
"Or surrounded by zeds?" Beard snorted.
T.Rex waved his hand and cut them off. "No. I'm doing this alone. I know the building better than anybody, and I've worked there and lived there longer than most of you have been Fools. Another person is just going to slow me down and make too much noise if I have to change plans on the fly, and I may need to squeeze through some pretty small spaces. I'm going to run in, break or kill anything in my way, grab my girlfriend, and then meet you back here. I need you all to cover me and make sure I- we have a safe exit. Got it?"
Ryan expected the group to object, possibly to the point where he would have to stay and they would go rescue Jenny. Instead, they slowly nodded and one by one raised their hands in salute.
He slowly picked up his crowbar and returned the gesture with his free hand. He took off, jogging for the garage stairwell. He looked back and saw Rubble counting his remaining arrows. Kamikaze grimly picked up Ryan's rifle and glanced through the scope. They would cover his assault on Hillenbrand while the rest of the Fools armed up, ready to defend their garage spot from any and all threats.
As T.Rex reached the door to the stairwell his mind was racing.
How the hell am I gonna pull this one off?
Word Count: 45,300
6:56am
Aviation Drive
Beard glanced around the corner of the control tower, surveying the situation. The rest of the Fools waited anxiously, lined up against the back of the building with weapons drawn.
T.Rex tried to keep his focus on the task at hand - helping guide the Fools through the hostile airport area, en route to Hillenbrand Hall. However, the closer they got to their destination, the harder he found it to concentrate on anything but worrying about Jenny. He wondered if she was hurt, or even still alive. Or worse, a zombie.
"Let's do this," Rubble said, clapping his hands on T.Rex's shoulder. Ryan looked around and saw that he'd been a bit too involved in his thoughts - the rest of the Fools were following Beard at a brisk jog across the airport taxiway. Together, he and Rubble joined them until the entire group paused behind another airport building.
"Two more buildings," Beard warned the group, "and then we're gonna make a mad dash for the treeline. Got it?" Beard looked back at the Fools, who all nodded in succession.
T.Rex nervously adjusted the grip on his crowbar and glanced around. The Fools were holding their ground in an alley between the control tower building and the featureless backside of a large hangar. The group shifted nervously, like a pack of animals expecting an ambush. Ryan knew their path would take them through the main taxiways of the airport before they'd reach the relative safety of the treeline.
Beard crept to the edge of the hangar and peeked around. He quickly turned back and grimaced, before motioning the Fools onward with a violent motion. "Just keep moving!" he hissed as each Fool turned the corner to the previously unseen airport grounds.
T.Rex followed his friends into a haunting scene. The mixed fleet of aircraft owned and operated by the University - normally secured and stored in neat rows by the checklist minded pilots - were gone. In their place was a graveyard of fuel spills and tie-down straps blowing in the wind. Just shy of the entrance ramp to the runway were a pair of high wing aircraft in a mangled heap.
Most likely two pilots tried to jockey for takeoff once the zed invasion was apparent, T.Rex surmised. Power outages at the control tower probably didn't help with communication, either. He could see other signs of ill-conceived departures: broken hangar doors, seats and other non-essential gear tossed aside. One aircraft at the far end of the runway had run out of room before reaching takeoff speed; personal effects strewn about the wreckage indicated the pilot tried unsuccessfully to escape with more than his life.
"C'mon!" Peace whispered, and T.Rex shook his head clear of the CSI-analysis of the airport grounds. They were halfway to the trees when a single zombie flopped out of a nearby airplane and lurched for them. It moaned softly as it plodded forward, still about 15 yards from the group. In a split second Ryan weighed the idea of stopping to silence the lone straggler to cover their exit versus the threat of being caught up in an energy-draining fight with more.
Twang! Rubble's bow sounded as a single arrow flew out and sunk deep into the zed's face. The monster fell over backwards onto the concrete, its face contorted into the closest approximation of a look of surprise it could manage. Most of the Fools glanced over to admire the marksmanship before continuing on, arranged in a loose line formation.
The group paused once more at the edge of an outbuilding to regroup. All were panting to some degree except Beard, who gave a quick glance ahead before signaling to move again. The Fools continued on, crossing over the railroad tracks that marked the Northern airport boundary. They were a soccer field's length from the treeline when Angel Hair's ankle gave out.
"Ack!" Angel Hair cried out in mid-stride, flopping onto the ground. His weapon slid away in the grass but his pack stayed on. Without hesitation Rubble and Kamikaze handed off their weapons before scooping up Angel Hair and continuing to make for the trees. Like a well-oiled machine, Peace grabbed the errant pool cue and did a quick spin, checking for threats. Together, the entire group of Fools managed to hobble to the edge of the forest before stopping to catch their breath.
Gently Rubble and Kamikaze lowered Angel Hair to the ground before joining the rest of the group in a protective circle around him. They all were turned to face the forest around them. "Are you okay?" T.Rex asked over his shoulder between breaths.
"That's the first time I really put a lot of strain on my ankle since I fell on the rooftop," Angel Hair said with a wince, "but I think it might be okay if I can give it some rest." The Fools looked at each other, worried.
We all could use some rest, T.Rex thought, but we don't have time to sit and wait for Angel Hair to get better, nor do we have much in the way of treatment. Sitting around is just going to make us vulnerable, anyway.
Rubble shrugged and placed his equipment on the ground. "C'mon, little buddy," he said, and effortlessly hoisted his friend on his back. Rubble spoke calmly: "If somebody can carry our stuff and we stay out of trouble, I can carry him for a bit."
T.Rex made an executive decision to distribute some of the medicine they'd taken with them from the apartment fortress. He gave a pair of aspirin tablets to Angel Hair and ordered everyone to take a hydration break before setting out into to the woods.
Cautiously the Fools picked their way through the trees, staying close enough to maintain a course parallel to the edge of the woods but far enough in to stay obscured - or so they hoped. They were arrayed in a loose diamond formation, with Beard on point and Peace just behind, Angel Hair piggybacked with Rubble between Kamikaze and Cowboy, with T.Rex bringing up the rear. They traveled in relative silence, only whispering when necessary.
Without thinking about it, the Fools had begun to truly move and act like a single entity as they trekked through the woods. They were reaching a sort of group mind consciousness that was the hallmark of their best performances on stage, and T.Rex noticed. Like in the tunnels, they'd periodically pause to listen for the sounds of danger, to make sure the sounds of their walking wasn't concealing a stalking zed.
The Fools came across a small red sedan that had careened into the forest, flattened some shrubbery, and came to rest embedded at an angle in the trunk of a large oak. T.Rex was incredibly confused for a moment until he realized that St. Route 26 ran through this portion of the woods. With concentration he could make out the paved asphalt a few yards ahead through the trees. They were all so used to the sounds of cars and civilization that the road had simply snuck up on them.
Crossing the road and avoiding the car meant heading deeper into the woods, so the Fools very cautiously followed Beard's lead and backtracked a bit into the trees. Once they reached the edge of the forest farther in, they ran as a group across the road and waited on the other side for any response to the flight. There was none, so they continued on and moved back towards the edge of the forest, closer to Purdue's campus.
On the way T.Rex could see across the road to the wrecked sedan- from the different angle he could see the entire passenger side window was shattered, and a bloody smear coated the entire door. A Papa John's delivery sign lay on the ground near the vehicle, jarred loose from the impact. T.Rex wondered if the delivery person had tried to flee an overrun store, or perhaps swerved to avoid a shadow in the night en route to a delivery, or something worse.
The other side of SR 26 was much more active, and the Fools heard moaning and shuffling in nearly all directions. Still, they reached the Eastern edge of the woods without any encounters. They paused, and T.Rex strode to the front to address the Fools.
"I don't think I have to tell you that this next part is crucial," he began, "but we're very close to Hillenbrand. We have to cover a lot of open ground to get past Purdue West, and then we'll make for the parking garage just behind the residence hall. Questions?"
The Fools were tense, alert, and ready to go. Nobody objected, and T.Rex signaled for the group to move. They burst from the woods and jogged across McCormick Road, heading for the parking lot behind the Purdue West Shopping Center.
Most of the cars were missing from the parking lot, so Beard motioned for them to continue on rather than try and pause behind the sparse cover. They reached the complex and paused, resting against the front of a for-rent office space. T.Rex saw a handful of shapes nearby beginning to stir, no doubt zeds looking for their next meal.
Just then the pane of glass the Fools were resting on wobbled with a loud bang and the group spun, nearly losing Angel Hair in the process. A trio of zombies pressed themselves against the glass trying to get to the Fools, dragging their fingers against the glass with such force that their decaying skin began to slough off. The screams of the zeds were muffled by the glass and the surprised screams of the Fools in response.
"MOVE!" Beard said, and the Fools took off after him. They rounded the corner and sprinted through the shopping complex, the sounds of glass shattering in the distance. They ran faster, striking down a pair of skinny zeds in track jackets in their way. With the path clear they ran out into the early daybreak and across McCutcheon Drive. They didn't stop until they were in the shadows of the ground floor of the parking garage.
Panting, T.Rex began to walk up the ramp to the second floor, determined to finish the job they'd started. The rest of the Fools followed him, exhausted from their sprint from the woods. Angel Hair had to duck to fit under the parking garage pipes. It was only when they reached the second floor overlooking the rear entrance to Hillenbrand that T.Rex stopped and dropped his equipment on the floor.
"I'm going in there," he said, pointing to the residence hall, "and I need you guys to wait here for me while I go rescue Jenny." He paused to catch his breath, and the entire group objected.
"What about the buddy system!?" Rubble said.
"What if you get lost?" Cowboy asked.
"Or surrounded by zeds?" Beard snorted.
T.Rex waved his hand and cut them off. "No. I'm doing this alone. I know the building better than anybody, and I've worked there and lived there longer than most of you have been Fools. Another person is just going to slow me down and make too much noise if I have to change plans on the fly, and I may need to squeeze through some pretty small spaces. I'm going to run in, break or kill anything in my way, grab my girlfriend, and then meet you back here. I need you all to cover me and make sure I- we have a safe exit. Got it?"
Ryan expected the group to object, possibly to the point where he would have to stay and they would go rescue Jenny. Instead, they slowly nodded and one by one raised their hands in salute.
He slowly picked up his crowbar and returned the gesture with his free hand. He took off, jogging for the garage stairwell. He looked back and saw Rubble counting his remaining arrows. Kamikaze grimly picked up Ryan's rifle and glanced through the scope. They would cover his assault on Hillenbrand while the rest of the Fools armed up, ready to defend their garage spot from any and all threats.
As T.Rex reached the door to the stairwell his mind was racing.
How the hell am I gonna pull this one off?
Word Count: 45,300
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