June 14th, 2008
6:33am
KLAF Maintenance Terminal
"I don't expect any trouble topside," T.Rex cautioned the Fools around him, "but just in case, let's pair off, with one person carrying double bags and the other ready to clear any threat. That said, grab your gear and climb up when you're ready, and once we're all up we'll evaluate the situation from there."
Ryan stayed at the bottom of the maintenance room, checking each pair and helping Fools shoulder extra equipment before sending them up the rungs. Peace carried Beard's bags and Angel Hair chivalrously offered to carry Kamikaze's equipment. That left just Cowboy and T.Rex standing at the bottom of the ladder.
Cowboy shifted his feet impatiently, glancing up at the outlet in the ceiling. "I take it you wanna go first?" T.Rex asked preemptively.
"Please?" Cowboy said with a wide grin, bouncing up and down.
T.Rex motioned towards the ladder and Cowboy sprung into action, grabbing his bat and racing up the rungs. Chuckling, T.Rex took one last look around the room, taking advantage of the faint light to look around for items they might have missed. Satisfied, he grabbed his own pack before slinging Cowboy's supplies over his shoulder.
It was a short climb up the rungs, and the increasing sunlight felt comforting to T.Rex as he neared the exit. Near the top he held on with his right hand and readjusted the packs with his left, to better fit through the narrow hole. Finally, with the help of the Fools already out, he exited Purdue's tunnel system.
Rubble, Beard, Cowboy and Kamikaze stood around the exit with weapons drawn, scanning the immediate area for any threat. Angel Hair was combing over the equipment, checking the bags in the early sunlight. When T.Rex emerged, they looked at him with a mixture of expressions, most of which looked less than impressed.
T.Rex looked around, confused. They were standing just a few feet from where he had predicted they would exit, and he was pretty proud of that. "What?" he said, defensively.
Peace spoke first. "I thought we'd get out somewhere closer than the airport."
The Fools were standing near the center of the Purdue University Airport, the first university owned airport in the US. It occupied a large piece of land covered almost entirely by concrete, located to the immediate Southwest of campus. The land was dominated by the two medium sized asphalt runways at the Southern end. The primary runway ran approximately East-West, while the smaller secondary runway was oriented Northeast to Southwest. Closer to campus was a series of hangars and buildings that housed classrooms, workshops, and other related buildings.
"Look," T.Rex began, "There aren't many tunnels that run directly under residence halls, and those that do are pretty well sealed up. I studied the maintenance maps, and this was the closest exit I could find that didn't put us smack dab in the middle of a building full of people. I didn't want us to have to fight our way out, okay?"
The Fools grumbled, clearly unhappy with the result, and T.Rex was slightly annoyed. He tried to ignore that feeling and concentrate on his next idea, the one that made the airport an especially attractive destination.
Kamikaze was never one to suffer petty squabbles when there was a more important goal. "Where next, T.Rex?" she asked above the chattering of the Fools.
Ryan swung around and pointed to the tan colored building closer to campus. "Next, we head to the control tower."
Rubble and Angel Hair dragged the tunnel cover back, sealing away their exit, as the rest of the group gathered up their equipment. The Fools jogged together across the barren airport grounds unopposed, reaching the tower in moments.
Just outside the squat building, they paused as T.Rex tried the rear entrance. It was locked, just like most of the doors they'd come across. It was not, however, as heavily secured. Frustrated, T.Rex jammed his crowbar into the door frame and wrenched it backwards, ripping apart the locking mechanism inside.
The door swung open, revealing an eerily quiet interior. Several cubicles defined the ground floor in front of the Fools, arrayed in a standard grid pattern. Identical computers graced each workspace, with a Xerox machine visible at the end of the hallway formed by the cubicle walls.
"I don't like this," Beard growled from the rear. "Plenty of crevices for zeds to hide in."
T.Rex scanned the walls, looking intently for access to the tower. "I'm not asking you to like it," he said over his shoulder, "but I am asking you guys to hold down the fort while I take a look around upstairs." He started to walk the perimeter of the room, neck craned as he searched for a way up.
"I think somebody should go with you," Rubble pointed out as the rest of the Fools slowly began to canvass the room.
T.Rex stopped, remembering his own rules about the buddy system. "Good point," he conceded. "Cowboy, you're with me," he said, waving his friend over.
Cowboy ran over as T.Rex found the elevator. T.Rex clicked the up button several times, but nothing happened. "Figures," T.Rex muttered. Together, T.Rex and Cowboy followed the edge of the room until they came across a nook in the back wall that contained the stairwell.
"We'll be back in just a few minutes," T.Rex shouted to the other Fools before easing the stairwell door open.
T.Rex leaned over the railing and saw that the staircase extended several flights upward before ending. He led the way up the stairs, in his head cursing the lack of power in the building as they passed the sixth floor. Finally, after ten flights, they entered the control room, slightly winded.
The control room featured a 360 degree view of the landscape around them. Rows of specialized computer terminals lined the walls, and a massive center console featured hundreds of switches and dials. The room was silent.
Cowboy turned to T.Rex. "You're a pilot, right?" he said. "Can you call for help on all of this stuff?"
T.Rex slumped his shoulders as he ran his fingers lightly over the dormant consoles. He thought back to his flight lessons and a wistful and nostalgic feeling washed over him. "I wish, man. Maybe if we had power I could sit down and figure some of this stuff out, but I'm used to tiny little airplane radio controls, not this massive center. And technically I never got my license."
"What if we found a plane?" Cowboy asked, rooting through a drawer of terminal charts.
Ryan searched his bag. "That's a tricky problem. A tiny Cessna or even a low wing Piper I'm pretty sure I could handle. But anything I had a chance at figuring out on such short notice would be far too small for the seven- no, eight of us. Then, at this airport specifically, the next smallest plane is a huge jet, and I have no experience with those things. I maybe could land one in an emergency, but that's probably pushing it.
"That's assuming, of course, we found a plane that didn't have a prop lock. Or a throttle lock. And we found fuel, and it was the right kind, and I could work out the weight balance, and there was a place we could go that had a clear place to land, and... and... well, there's a lot of stuff. Let's just say don't count on us flying into the sunset to safety, okay?"
Cowboy flicked a few dead switches on the wall nearby. "Weaksauce, man."
T.Rex found his binoculars in his pack and gingerly removed them from the case. He stood and began to survey the campus around him, soaking in a view most students could only dream of.
To the East, the sun was just beginning to clear over the far end of campus. A thin column of smoke rose in the distance, illuminated by the sun's rays. To the South, a large thicket of trees and construction preceded the Wabash River. To the West was the bulk of the airport runway, and it gently faded into fields of corn.
Adjusting the focus on the lens, T.Rex looked North and tried to concentrate on the very end of campus. He could see several buildings of Purdue Village, the housing district for married students. Around those houses were many zeds, including a few that were quite small.
Most likely little kids, he thought with a shudder. Poor little guys probably never had a chance.
Shifting his gaze slightly, T.Rex followed Airport Road past the Village and found McCutcheon Hall. He took a few steps to his left and just a bit of Hillenbrand Hall came into view. He frantically scanned his girlfriend's building, looking for any sort of sign of survivors or distress. Every window was covered with curtains or was dark, holding no answers. The sidewalks around Hillenbrand were empty, except for a single silhouette lurching aimlessly. The roof was emtpy.
What were you expecting? T.Rex mocked himself. That Jenny would be standing in one of the windows waving back? She's probably hiding in one of the rooms trying not to draw attention to herself. Now quit fucking around and go get her!
Placing the binoculars back in the case, T.Rex looked at Cowboy. "We're done here," he said with a steely gaze.
T.Rex and Cowboy quickly descended to the ground floor. Ryan shoved open the stairwell door and headed for the exit. Without breaking stride he called out to the Fools, "Recon complete, let's get going."
The improv team gathered outside the control tower, waiting for further instructions.
"Beard," T.Rex called out. "I want you up front now. Plot us a course to the Western edge of campus, just skirting the edge of the forest that holds the high ropes course, the one near the soccer fields. You know what I'm talking about?"
Beard just nodded.
"We follow that course to the Northern edge of Purdue West. We'll cut in, straight through the parking garages, and that'll put us right behind Hillenbrand. Got it?"
Beard nodded again and peeked around the corner of the control tower, surveying the airport buildings. He began looking for zeds and potential cover. The rest of the Fools geared up, ready to move at a moment's notice.
"Are you sure we should go into the woods?" Rubble whispered to T.Rex, sounding very unsure of the plans.
T.Rex shouldered his pack. "It's getting light out, and if we just make a mad dash for Hillenbrand, every zombie in Purdue Village is going to come after us. If we stay inside the trees, that will hopefully obscure our movement enough to make it to Jenny without alerting all those zeds."
I'm getting sick of all of these plans ending up someplace not Hillenbrand, T.Rex thought.
Current Word Count: 43,236
Monday, August 4, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Chapter 30 - Silence
June 14th, 2008
5:51am
Maintenance Tunnels
The Fools were once again attempting to navigate through the tunnels beneath Purdue's campus. Scribbled notes and maintenance orders left by a dying man gave them clues to some sort of exit.
"Are you sure we trust this guy's journal to lead us out of here?" Beard asked from the rear, as the group gathered outside of the maintenance room they'd found Marshall Franklin-turned-zed in.
T.Rex studied the diagrams of water mains and steam valves with a flashlight, aware that they did not have many more batteries. After several moments he turned the pages ninety degrees and suddenly things made much more sense. "If I'm reading this right- and I'd like to think that I am - these pipes converge in certain locations before being split to individual building utilities," he told the group. He traced the overlapping lines with his finger, trying to superimpose a mental map of Purdue's buildings above ground to match the facilities underground.
The Fools waited expectantly. Ryan looked up from the pages and saw six tired faces, and he wondered how much more they would have to endure before another break.
"Straight ahead, and stay quiet unless you notice something," he commanded, and the group set off again into the dark maze of tunnels.
Peace led the way with his flashlight, the other lights used up or turned off to conserve power. The group walked single file, pausing at each intersection. The group would wait as T.Rex studied the diagrams for a moment before pointing in some direction.
Straight. Left, straight, right left left.
They were walking along when all of the sudden the light at the front of the column spun, accompanied by a yelp as Peace tripped over an unknown object. The flashlight fell from his hands and rolled away, causing a frenetic light show on the wall of the tunnel.
"Somebody get another flashlight!" T.Rex hissed, and both Beard and Rubble responded with a beam of refreshing light pointed towards the front of the group.
Peace scrambled to his feet, backing away from the obstacle. As the flashlights played over the ground, the Fools saw a corpse laying in the middle of the tunnel, completely still. A dark liquid had spilled from multiple torso wounds and had collected on the ground some distance away
Beard wasted no time pondering the situation. "Cut off its head," he suggested.
For the briefest of moments, T.Rex considered objecting. He wanted to examine the body, to show respect for the dead, and encourage his friends to consider their actions before committing to desecrating another random body. Then he remembered the horrible creatures they'd already fought, all of which had previously been a lifeless body at some point before attacking.
He politely stepped aside as Kamikaze strode forward and crouched next to the body at arm's length. She swung her machete, decapitating the corpse unceremoniously. As they examined the body, it did not appear to have the now-familiar gray coloring of decaying zed flesh.
"Keep moving," T.Rex ordered, desperate to keep the minds of the group away from the grisly scene. He wanted them to focus on the task at hand - escaping the tunnels. The Fools returned to their line formation and pressed on, collecting Peace's flashlight at the bottom of the sloped tunnel.
Shallow left, straight, through a passage made of utility pipes that was so narrow, most of the Fools had to turn sideways and fit their bags of equipment through behind them. They continued on, ducking underneath another set of pipes a little further down the hallway.
"Are you sure this is the right way out of here?" Cowboy whispered to T.Rex.
T.Rex sighed. "No, I'm not. I'm just doing the best that I can."
Another right, and the tunnel they were in suddenly stopped. The Fools crowded around an unmarked door, looking expectantly at Ryan. "Somebody else wanna try this one?" T.Rex joked, reaching for the handle. He winced, turned the handle, and the door opened smoothly. T.Rex held the door and waved everyone by before stepping through himself.
They were now in a much larger tunnel that extended left and right until blackness took over, with linoleum flooring and tiles on the walls. The shape of the tunnel was a large gentle arch, and the flashlight revealed yellow lines painted on the floor. Looking back, the Fools saw the door they'd exited was marked "526 E - Authorized Personnel Only."
"What is this place?" Peace asked, his voice echoing around them.
"Keep your voice down," T.Rex reminded at a whisper. "If I've read this utility map right, it should take us to a safe exit point. A place where we can regroup and then head for Hillenbrand to get Jenny." He pointed down the tunnel. "We should have a long walk that way, so let's get a move on."
The group re-formed. Angel Hair and Rubble led the way more or less side by side, alternating responsibility for the flashlight. Following them was T.Rex, flanked by Cowboy on his left and Kamikaze on the right. Peace and Beard followed, glancing regularly over their shoulders to check for stragglers.
As they walked, their footsteps and equipment made loud echoes, and it made T.Rex nervous. He signaled for the Fools to pause, to make sure the echoes were not obscuring some other noise. The group froze, and the noise of their movement quickly faded. A slight moan drifted to their ears, and T.Rex motioned for the group to spread out in a defensive posture.
If the flashlights are on, T.Rex thought, that might draw them to us. But we sure as hell don't want to fight in complete darkness, and getting caught off guard by a zed in this confined space is gonna be mayhem. "Psst!" he hissed. "Flashlights, both ends - search pattern, go!"
Peace clicked on his flashlight at the back of the group and began sweeping the beam of light to the end of the tunnel, complementing Angel Hair's similar movements at the front end of the group. The rest of the Fools stood nervously, equipment on the ground and weapons at the ready. They all watched the beams of light play down the tunnel, scanning for any threat. After a few minutes, a slow growl reached them.
"That one sounds farther away," Kamikaze whispered, holding her machete tightly.
T.Rex did not want to leave the threat ignored, but was eager to continue. "Rear light out," he whispered, "and everybody grab your things. We continue on, but everybody keep your eyes and ears open. Watch for my signal - we'll stop at intervals to listen for trouble."
Continuing on, the Fools walked even further down the tunnel, pausing occasionally to listen. No other noise reached them. As they continued, T.Rex was estimating their distance in his head, anticipating their next obstacle.
Finally, T.Rex signaled for another hold. The group froze and assumed a defensive stance, but Ryan had other plans. "Alright, now we switch things up," he told the Fools. "I want every available flashlight to search the walls left and right - if my calculations are correct we should be very close to a door just like the one we got into this tunnel with. The tunnel lights are out, otherwise it would be very obvious." The Fools murmured agreement, and then continued on combing the walls with every remaining light.
They moved slower, meticulously covering every inch of the wall. Kamikaze's flashlight died, and T.Rex urged them to speed things up without compromising their thorough sweep.
Finally, Cowboy called out. "I see something! There's a door back here in a little nook!" He pointed his flashlight to the wall, excitedly, and the Fools crowded around. Hidden in a small recess was another large door marked "KLAF - Authorized Personnel Only."
"Yes!" T.Rex shouted, then looked around nervously, regretting his outburst. Then, in a quieter voice he said, "Guys- this is it. This is exactly what I was looking for." He whirled around and clapped Peace on the shoulders. "I need you to get us through that door. I'm not going to sugar coat this for you...we really need that door open."
"What if I can't get it?" Peace asked as he knelt down, digging through is pack for his lock picking equipment.
"Well," T.Rex sighed, "then I'll have to come up with some other brilliant solution, but I can pretty much promise you all it won't be nearly as good as this one. Fools! Let's set up a perimeter and let the man do his work, okay?"
Shuffling around, the Fools stood with weapons drawn, protecting the small doorway. Peace balanced a flashlight on the ground so that it pointed directly upwards, illuminating his target. T.Rex kept looking back nervously as Peace set to work, gently sliding the tiny tools into the lock and twisting.
Peace leaned closer to the lock and squinted, moving his hands very slowly and deliberately. His tongue slipped out of his pursed lips as he concentrated, and the very faint metallic clicking of his tools was the only sound in the entire tunnel.
"Yeah!" Peace suddenly shouted, standing up and pumping his fists in the air. "Ladies and gentleman, you may proceed," he said, as he bowed and gestured towards the door.
T.Rex turned and walked over to his friend. "Thank you, Peace. You've done a great job," he said as he opened the door. "Fools, if you would, please, join me on the other side of this door?"
The Fools, filled with excitement, moved their equipment into the small room on the other side of the door. The only feature of the room besides pipes were a series of metal rungs on the wall. Above the rungs, the only feature of the ceiling, was a metal disk with a few holes letting in a faint light.
"Rubble," T.Rex said with a grin, "do you think you could climb up there and move that cover?"
Angel Hair shut the door to the room as Rubble ascended the rungs about 15 feet into the air. He wrapped his left arm around one of the highest rungs and reached out with his right, pushing against the cover. It didn't move. Rubble grunted, teeth clenched as he pushed again, and T.Rex's smile faded.
Determined, Rubble stopped pushing for a moment and moved one rung higher, ducking to avoid hitting his head. He bent his legs to climb one more step and braced both of his hands on the rungs. He placed his shoulder against the cover and extended his legs, letting loose a primal grunt.
The cover gave way and popped upwards, while soft light spilled in and flooded the room full of Fools. "Time out!" T.Rex said in a quiet voice.
"Huzzah!" the Fools on the ground responded, softly enough as to not draw attention from above ground. Rubble slid the metal cover aside and motioned down at Angel Hair. "Time in," Rubble said softly.
Without another word spoken, Angel Hair scampered up the rungs with both pieces of Rubble's pool cue weapon. "I'll clear the area up here long enough for you guys to bring our equipment up," Rubble said down to the Fools below, and then climbed back into the world.
Current Word Count: 41,424
5:51am
Maintenance Tunnels
The Fools were once again attempting to navigate through the tunnels beneath Purdue's campus. Scribbled notes and maintenance orders left by a dying man gave them clues to some sort of exit.
"Are you sure we trust this guy's journal to lead us out of here?" Beard asked from the rear, as the group gathered outside of the maintenance room they'd found Marshall Franklin-turned-zed in.
T.Rex studied the diagrams of water mains and steam valves with a flashlight, aware that they did not have many more batteries. After several moments he turned the pages ninety degrees and suddenly things made much more sense. "If I'm reading this right- and I'd like to think that I am - these pipes converge in certain locations before being split to individual building utilities," he told the group. He traced the overlapping lines with his finger, trying to superimpose a mental map of Purdue's buildings above ground to match the facilities underground.
The Fools waited expectantly. Ryan looked up from the pages and saw six tired faces, and he wondered how much more they would have to endure before another break.
"Straight ahead, and stay quiet unless you notice something," he commanded, and the group set off again into the dark maze of tunnels.
Peace led the way with his flashlight, the other lights used up or turned off to conserve power. The group walked single file, pausing at each intersection. The group would wait as T.Rex studied the diagrams for a moment before pointing in some direction.
Straight. Left, straight, right left left.
They were walking along when all of the sudden the light at the front of the column spun, accompanied by a yelp as Peace tripped over an unknown object. The flashlight fell from his hands and rolled away, causing a frenetic light show on the wall of the tunnel.
"Somebody get another flashlight!" T.Rex hissed, and both Beard and Rubble responded with a beam of refreshing light pointed towards the front of the group.
Peace scrambled to his feet, backing away from the obstacle. As the flashlights played over the ground, the Fools saw a corpse laying in the middle of the tunnel, completely still. A dark liquid had spilled from multiple torso wounds and had collected on the ground some distance away
Beard wasted no time pondering the situation. "Cut off its head," he suggested.
For the briefest of moments, T.Rex considered objecting. He wanted to examine the body, to show respect for the dead, and encourage his friends to consider their actions before committing to desecrating another random body. Then he remembered the horrible creatures they'd already fought, all of which had previously been a lifeless body at some point before attacking.
He politely stepped aside as Kamikaze strode forward and crouched next to the body at arm's length. She swung her machete, decapitating the corpse unceremoniously. As they examined the body, it did not appear to have the now-familiar gray coloring of decaying zed flesh.
"Keep moving," T.Rex ordered, desperate to keep the minds of the group away from the grisly scene. He wanted them to focus on the task at hand - escaping the tunnels. The Fools returned to their line formation and pressed on, collecting Peace's flashlight at the bottom of the sloped tunnel.
Shallow left, straight, through a passage made of utility pipes that was so narrow, most of the Fools had to turn sideways and fit their bags of equipment through behind them. They continued on, ducking underneath another set of pipes a little further down the hallway.
"Are you sure this is the right way out of here?" Cowboy whispered to T.Rex.
T.Rex sighed. "No, I'm not. I'm just doing the best that I can."
Another right, and the tunnel they were in suddenly stopped. The Fools crowded around an unmarked door, looking expectantly at Ryan. "Somebody else wanna try this one?" T.Rex joked, reaching for the handle. He winced, turned the handle, and the door opened smoothly. T.Rex held the door and waved everyone by before stepping through himself.
They were now in a much larger tunnel that extended left and right until blackness took over, with linoleum flooring and tiles on the walls. The shape of the tunnel was a large gentle arch, and the flashlight revealed yellow lines painted on the floor. Looking back, the Fools saw the door they'd exited was marked "526 E - Authorized Personnel Only."
"What is this place?" Peace asked, his voice echoing around them.
"Keep your voice down," T.Rex reminded at a whisper. "If I've read this utility map right, it should take us to a safe exit point. A place where we can regroup and then head for Hillenbrand to get Jenny." He pointed down the tunnel. "We should have a long walk that way, so let's get a move on."
The group re-formed. Angel Hair and Rubble led the way more or less side by side, alternating responsibility for the flashlight. Following them was T.Rex, flanked by Cowboy on his left and Kamikaze on the right. Peace and Beard followed, glancing regularly over their shoulders to check for stragglers.
As they walked, their footsteps and equipment made loud echoes, and it made T.Rex nervous. He signaled for the Fools to pause, to make sure the echoes were not obscuring some other noise. The group froze, and the noise of their movement quickly faded. A slight moan drifted to their ears, and T.Rex motioned for the group to spread out in a defensive posture.
If the flashlights are on, T.Rex thought, that might draw them to us. But we sure as hell don't want to fight in complete darkness, and getting caught off guard by a zed in this confined space is gonna be mayhem. "Psst!" he hissed. "Flashlights, both ends - search pattern, go!"
Peace clicked on his flashlight at the back of the group and began sweeping the beam of light to the end of the tunnel, complementing Angel Hair's similar movements at the front end of the group. The rest of the Fools stood nervously, equipment on the ground and weapons at the ready. They all watched the beams of light play down the tunnel, scanning for any threat. After a few minutes, a slow growl reached them.
"That one sounds farther away," Kamikaze whispered, holding her machete tightly.
T.Rex did not want to leave the threat ignored, but was eager to continue. "Rear light out," he whispered, "and everybody grab your things. We continue on, but everybody keep your eyes and ears open. Watch for my signal - we'll stop at intervals to listen for trouble."
Continuing on, the Fools walked even further down the tunnel, pausing occasionally to listen. No other noise reached them. As they continued, T.Rex was estimating their distance in his head, anticipating their next obstacle.
Finally, T.Rex signaled for another hold. The group froze and assumed a defensive stance, but Ryan had other plans. "Alright, now we switch things up," he told the Fools. "I want every available flashlight to search the walls left and right - if my calculations are correct we should be very close to a door just like the one we got into this tunnel with. The tunnel lights are out, otherwise it would be very obvious." The Fools murmured agreement, and then continued on combing the walls with every remaining light.
They moved slower, meticulously covering every inch of the wall. Kamikaze's flashlight died, and T.Rex urged them to speed things up without compromising their thorough sweep.
Finally, Cowboy called out. "I see something! There's a door back here in a little nook!" He pointed his flashlight to the wall, excitedly, and the Fools crowded around. Hidden in a small recess was another large door marked "KLAF - Authorized Personnel Only."
"Yes!" T.Rex shouted, then looked around nervously, regretting his outburst. Then, in a quieter voice he said, "Guys- this is it. This is exactly what I was looking for." He whirled around and clapped Peace on the shoulders. "I need you to get us through that door. I'm not going to sugar coat this for you...we really need that door open."
"What if I can't get it?" Peace asked as he knelt down, digging through is pack for his lock picking equipment.
"Well," T.Rex sighed, "then I'll have to come up with some other brilliant solution, but I can pretty much promise you all it won't be nearly as good as this one. Fools! Let's set up a perimeter and let the man do his work, okay?"
Shuffling around, the Fools stood with weapons drawn, protecting the small doorway. Peace balanced a flashlight on the ground so that it pointed directly upwards, illuminating his target. T.Rex kept looking back nervously as Peace set to work, gently sliding the tiny tools into the lock and twisting.
Peace leaned closer to the lock and squinted, moving his hands very slowly and deliberately. His tongue slipped out of his pursed lips as he concentrated, and the very faint metallic clicking of his tools was the only sound in the entire tunnel.
"Yeah!" Peace suddenly shouted, standing up and pumping his fists in the air. "Ladies and gentleman, you may proceed," he said, as he bowed and gestured towards the door.
T.Rex turned and walked over to his friend. "Thank you, Peace. You've done a great job," he said as he opened the door. "Fools, if you would, please, join me on the other side of this door?"
The Fools, filled with excitement, moved their equipment into the small room on the other side of the door. The only feature of the room besides pipes were a series of metal rungs on the wall. Above the rungs, the only feature of the ceiling, was a metal disk with a few holes letting in a faint light.
"Rubble," T.Rex said with a grin, "do you think you could climb up there and move that cover?"
Angel Hair shut the door to the room as Rubble ascended the rungs about 15 feet into the air. He wrapped his left arm around one of the highest rungs and reached out with his right, pushing against the cover. It didn't move. Rubble grunted, teeth clenched as he pushed again, and T.Rex's smile faded.
Determined, Rubble stopped pushing for a moment and moved one rung higher, ducking to avoid hitting his head. He bent his legs to climb one more step and braced both of his hands on the rungs. He placed his shoulder against the cover and extended his legs, letting loose a primal grunt.
The cover gave way and popped upwards, while soft light spilled in and flooded the room full of Fools. "Time out!" T.Rex said in a quiet voice.
"Huzzah!" the Fools on the ground responded, softly enough as to not draw attention from above ground. Rubble slid the metal cover aside and motioned down at Angel Hair. "Time in," Rubble said softly.
Without another word spoken, Angel Hair scampered up the rungs with both pieces of Rubble's pool cue weapon. "I'll clear the area up here long enough for you guys to bring our equipment up," Rubble said down to the Fools below, and then climbed back into the world.
Current Word Count: 41,424
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Author's Quandry
The Brant "Rubble" Bell asked me yesterday if I was
A) Going to attempt NaNoWriMo 2008
and
B) If I would consider making it a sequel to my current story
I can honestly say I wasn't planning on doing the former, and had never considered the latter. That said, his question got me thinking.
For starters, I've learned a lot about writing by trying NNWM 07. Some of it mechanics, like punctuation during dialogue. Some of it is about how difficult it truly is to write 50k in 30 days, even if you love the source material. Things like pacing issues, typos, taking good notes on your own decisions - and more.
Still, I think I made it about halfway through my story by the end of November, and if I was to tackle it this year, I really have to consider my schedule (read: classes). I don't think I can do it. I don't know if I have the discipline, the crazy writing intensity to stick through another novel's worth of work...even if it takes another year to finish like this one.
I guess the only reason I'm making an issue of it is because I'm actually close to finishing this novel, and the ending would greatly greatly influence how the second one might play out - from the surviving characters to the level of devastation the zombies [may have] inflicted on the world. If I'm going to write a sequel, I need to start planning it now and alter the ending of this one accordingly.
After much deliberation, I told Rubble I would consider it. I'd need 2 things:
* A really good story idea. I need some sort of action, a problem, a quest - some driving force for the novel to exist. It seems obvious, but the current novel took shape over weeks of planning, and in the end there was a very poignant rescue story to tell, amidst the backdrop of the zombpocalypse. My theoretical sequel needs a similarly epic premise, and as of now I have none.
* Lots and lots of encouragement and readers. You guys have been awesome so far, helping me fix problems and providing lots of constructive criticism. Your enthusiasm has become mine, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate and enjoy it.
For now I'll keep thinking it over. If you have any thoughts, please [as always] leave 'em.
Thanks!
A) Going to attempt NaNoWriMo 2008
and
B) If I would consider making it a sequel to my current story
I can honestly say I wasn't planning on doing the former, and had never considered the latter. That said, his question got me thinking.
For starters, I've learned a lot about writing by trying NNWM 07. Some of it mechanics, like punctuation during dialogue. Some of it is about how difficult it truly is to write 50k in 30 days, even if you love the source material. Things like pacing issues, typos, taking good notes on your own decisions - and more.
Still, I think I made it about halfway through my story by the end of November, and if I was to tackle it this year, I really have to consider my schedule (read: classes). I don't think I can do it. I don't know if I have the discipline, the crazy writing intensity to stick through another novel's worth of work...even if it takes another year to finish like this one.
I guess the only reason I'm making an issue of it is because I'm actually close to finishing this novel, and the ending would greatly greatly influence how the second one might play out - from the surviving characters to the level of devastation the zombies [may have] inflicted on the world. If I'm going to write a sequel, I need to start planning it now and alter the ending of this one accordingly.
After much deliberation, I told Rubble I would consider it. I'd need 2 things:
* A really good story idea. I need some sort of action, a problem, a quest - some driving force for the novel to exist. It seems obvious, but the current novel took shape over weeks of planning, and in the end there was a very poignant rescue story to tell, amidst the backdrop of the zombpocalypse. My theoretical sequel needs a similarly epic premise, and as of now I have none.
* Lots and lots of encouragement and readers. You guys have been awesome so far, helping me fix problems and providing lots of constructive criticism. Your enthusiasm has become mine, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate and enjoy it.
For now I'll keep thinking it over. If you have any thoughts, please [as always] leave 'em.
Thanks!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Chapter 29 - Blackout
????
????
Location Unknown
Ryan drifted in and out of consciousness.
"Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Rehhhhhhhhhhcks..." he vaguely heard somebody calling his name. The syllables sounded like a church bell or perhaps a foghorn, played in slow motion. He tried to respond, but his body refused.
Ryan heard more conversation nearby, but it was garbled and he could only guess which mumbles went with which Fool. As he listened, it was fairly clear which belonged to Kamikaze, the only female of the group - the pitch was much different. T.Rex wondered how long he'd been out, and what might have happened since then. He realized he couldn't remember why he'd lost track of the world. It all reminded him of the time in high school he was in the hospital for surgery, and under heavy medication.
As time passed, T.Rex fought back a panic. What if I got bitten? What if this brain deterioration is part of the zedification process? What if I'm destined to eat - wait a second. If I was gonna end up a zombie, the Fools would've taken care of me by now, surely. Besides, he assured himself, a zed couldn't think of a word like "deterioration". His brain started to warm up and he took a few stabs at some mental math to convince himself no permanent damage was done.
Finally, after several tries, T.Rex's eyes fluttered open.
"Hey!" Peace said from Ryan's side. He yelled something else to the group, but T.Rex couldn't quite make it out.
As the world slowly came into focus, T.Rex blinked awkwardly. The room was mostly dark, except for a flashlight now aimed yet again at his face. The Fools all gathered around him, and T.Rex could see hope in their faces.
Angel Hair spoke to him, but all T.Rex heard was "Jabbajaabba head jabba dabba zed jabba jaabba?"
T.Rex moved his lips tenatively. "Talk...slow," he said with effort. He hoped the rest of his body would catch up to his brain, and fast.
"GLLLAAAD. YOUUU. ARRRR. BAAAACK," Angel Hair tried again.
T.Rex rolled his eyes. "Not loud-er. Head hurts. Think-ing slow."
They all nodded in acknowledgement. "Can you move?" Cowboy asked.
Gritting his teeth, T.Rex managed to move his hand slightly.
"You just wiggled your finger! That's wonderful!" Rubble said, excited.
"Quick heal-er," T.Rex grinned. "Tell me what ha-hap-pened." He was frustrated that he was thinking quite clearly, but the words weren't forming correctly. It was as if he'd just gotten back from the dentist, and his mouth was numb.
"The door hit you when you opened it," Beard explained. "A huge fat zed was leaning on the door and flew out at us. Kamikaze and Angel Hair immediately grabbed you and pulled you away to safety. Rubble dove out and grabbed the crowbar you dropped - he swung it around and caught the zed's ankle, causing it to trip right in front of the three of us." He pointed to Cowboy, Peace, and himself, the group previously stationed on the other side of the door.
Angel Hair chimed in: "You shoulda seen it! The zed face-planted, and Peace and Beard jumped onto it, kicked away the helmet and chopped its head off with their hatchets!" he punctuated his speech with hand motions, smacking his hands together to illustrate the zed falling and chopping motions for the combat.
T.Rex just smiled, and already felt a little better. "Sounds great- sorry I missed it. So where are we? How long was I out?"
"We took care of the zed and then dragged you back in here," Rubble said, spreading his arms out to indicate the room. "That is to say, the room we found with the zed in it. It's some sort of maintenance workroom, and we've found a few things you might like. You've been out for a few hours, and we didn't want to move you much because you were out. Plus it would've been a pain in the ass to carry and defend your lifeless body running around in dark tunnels."
With his strength returning, T.Rex nodded. "Thank you, guys. What did you find?"
Peace disappeared for a moment and returned with some crumpled papers, yawning. "The zed we found shut in here was a maintenance guy for Purdue, and he left a detailed journal. It's pretty disturbing. Here, lemme read you some highlights:"
Peace held up a finger as he scanned over the pages. "Wait, it gets worse. Here's another entry:"
"What's the last entry?" T.Rex asked.
Peace flipped to the final page. "It just says:"
"What the hell does that mean? Like, 4am?" Ryan asked.
Peace shrugged. "No clue. It just says four."
"And we're sure it's him?"
"Bite marks match the description, and we found a positive ID in his wallet," Kamikaze said.
A grim silence hung in the air as T.Rex pondered the meaning of the document they'd recovered. "Somebody take some notes of the important details, and then store them separately from the journal in somebody else's pack. If we make it out of here, this is firsthand evidence that we need to protect if we can."
Ryan gritted his teeth and stood, fighting back a wave of pain and nausea. As the Fools listed to him the various items they'd found in the maintenance room, he felt a renewed sense of purpose.
"Everybody suit up, and get ready to move," T.Rex commanded.
"Are you sure you're okay to go?" Kamikaze asked. The rest of the Fools paused to look at T.Rex.
Ryan narrowed his gaze. "I'll be fine. Let's go rescue Jenny." Together they exited the maintenance room, back into the shadowy tunnels beneath campus...
Current Word Count: 39,539
????
Location Unknown
Ryan drifted in and out of consciousness.
"Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Rehhhhhhhhhhcks..." he vaguely heard somebody calling his name. The syllables sounded like a church bell or perhaps a foghorn, played in slow motion. He tried to respond, but his body refused.
Ryan heard more conversation nearby, but it was garbled and he could only guess which mumbles went with which Fool. As he listened, it was fairly clear which belonged to Kamikaze, the only female of the group - the pitch was much different. T.Rex wondered how long he'd been out, and what might have happened since then. He realized he couldn't remember why he'd lost track of the world. It all reminded him of the time in high school he was in the hospital for surgery, and under heavy medication.
As time passed, T.Rex fought back a panic. What if I got bitten? What if this brain deterioration is part of the zedification process? What if I'm destined to eat - wait a second. If I was gonna end up a zombie, the Fools would've taken care of me by now, surely. Besides, he assured himself, a zed couldn't think of a word like "deterioration". His brain started to warm up and he took a few stabs at some mental math to convince himself no permanent damage was done.
Finally, after several tries, T.Rex's eyes fluttered open.
"Hey!" Peace said from Ryan's side. He yelled something else to the group, but T.Rex couldn't quite make it out.
As the world slowly came into focus, T.Rex blinked awkwardly. The room was mostly dark, except for a flashlight now aimed yet again at his face. The Fools all gathered around him, and T.Rex could see hope in their faces.
Angel Hair spoke to him, but all T.Rex heard was "Jabbajaabba head jabba dabba zed jabba jaabba?"
T.Rex moved his lips tenatively. "Talk...slow," he said with effort. He hoped the rest of his body would catch up to his brain, and fast.
"GLLLAAAD. YOUUU. ARRRR. BAAAACK," Angel Hair tried again.
T.Rex rolled his eyes. "Not loud-er. Head hurts. Think-ing slow."
They all nodded in acknowledgement. "Can you move?" Cowboy asked.
Gritting his teeth, T.Rex managed to move his hand slightly.
"You just wiggled your finger! That's wonderful!" Rubble said, excited.
"Quick heal-er," T.Rex grinned. "Tell me what ha-hap-pened." He was frustrated that he was thinking quite clearly, but the words weren't forming correctly. It was as if he'd just gotten back from the dentist, and his mouth was numb.
"The door hit you when you opened it," Beard explained. "A huge fat zed was leaning on the door and flew out at us. Kamikaze and Angel Hair immediately grabbed you and pulled you away to safety. Rubble dove out and grabbed the crowbar you dropped - he swung it around and caught the zed's ankle, causing it to trip right in front of the three of us." He pointed to Cowboy, Peace, and himself, the group previously stationed on the other side of the door.
Angel Hair chimed in: "You shoulda seen it! The zed face-planted, and Peace and Beard jumped onto it, kicked away the helmet and chopped its head off with their hatchets!" he punctuated his speech with hand motions, smacking his hands together to illustrate the zed falling and chopping motions for the combat.
T.Rex just smiled, and already felt a little better. "Sounds great- sorry I missed it. So where are we? How long was I out?"
"We took care of the zed and then dragged you back in here," Rubble said, spreading his arms out to indicate the room. "That is to say, the room we found with the zed in it. It's some sort of maintenance workroom, and we've found a few things you might like. You've been out for a few hours, and we didn't want to move you much because you were out. Plus it would've been a pain in the ass to carry and defend your lifeless body running around in dark tunnels."
With his strength returning, T.Rex nodded. "Thank you, guys. What did you find?"
Peace disappeared for a moment and returned with some crumpled papers, yawning. "The zed we found shut in here was a maintenance guy for Purdue, and he left a detailed journal. It's pretty disturbing. Here, lemme read you some highlights:"
Marshall Franklin, United States Army Corporal, 249th Battalion, Retired. June 6th, Third Shift.T.Rex shook his head slowly. "Aww, c'mon. He gets bitten and then stays-"
I was asked to work a double shift tonight because one of the new guys called off again. I cannot stand the work ethic of this new generation, and I can only hope I can set a good example to follow. At any rate, we are still dealing with power outages across campus, and complete blackout areas are noted below. I've managed to re-route what little power we have left to the critical locations, as ordered by my supervisor. I'll be surprised if it lasts through the weekend at this rate.
One other item of note: while checking the master fuse box in section eight, I heard a strange noise at approximately 2:30am. I went to investigate, and confronted a transient hiding behind one of the dormant steam pipes. I lost track of him, but there was a scuffle. I was bitten once on my right hand, and treated myself with the medical kit at the supervisor's station. I will continue to monitor the power situation from the West Control Center.
Peace held up a finger as he scanned over the pages. "Wait, it gets worse. Here's another entry:"
Peace squinted in the limited light provided by the flashlight. "It gets harder to read, but then:"
Marshall Franklin, US Army, retired. June 7th, 10:15am.
Nobody reported in for the morning shift, but I'm not feeling well. I feel dizzy and constantly hungry. I've decided to nap in the break room instead of trying to drive myself home. I will check on things after I rest a bit.
M. Franklin, Army. J 8, 9pm."It goes on and on like that," Peace said. "The guy got bitten one night and stayed here, trying to keep things going and his journal basically records his transformation into a zed. My guess is either somebody locked him in here after he came back to life, or possibly he just locked himself in to protect others."
Still sick. Haven't heard from the replacement shift, so I'll stay here overnight to keep an eye on things. Power outages all over.
"What's the last entry?" T.Rex asked.
Peace flipped to the final page. "It just says:"
4. Hungry.
"What the hell does that mean? Like, 4am?" Ryan asked.
Peace shrugged. "No clue. It just says four."
"And we're sure it's him?"
"Bite marks match the description, and we found a positive ID in his wallet," Kamikaze said.
A grim silence hung in the air as T.Rex pondered the meaning of the document they'd recovered. "Somebody take some notes of the important details, and then store them separately from the journal in somebody else's pack. If we make it out of here, this is firsthand evidence that we need to protect if we can."
Ryan gritted his teeth and stood, fighting back a wave of pain and nausea. As the Fools listed to him the various items they'd found in the maintenance room, he felt a renewed sense of purpose.
"Everybody suit up, and get ready to move," T.Rex commanded.
"Are you sure you're okay to go?" Kamikaze asked. The rest of the Fools paused to look at T.Rex.
Ryan narrowed his gaze. "I'll be fine. Let's go rescue Jenny." Together they exited the maintenance room, back into the shadowy tunnels beneath campus...
Current Word Count: 39,539
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Author's Notes
A few things of note to the reader:
1. New poll, on the right sidebar. Thanks for your votes and comments thus far.
2. My story is set in the real world, and, at the time I started it for NaNoWriMo, it was set in the future as well. As of Chapter 24, time has caught up and I'm more or less writing in the "past". I feel like this gives me less artistic creativity, because no I'm not longer completely "making up" people, places, and things. Some of you didn't notice and/or don't care, so if that's you, just keep doing your thing (reading and enjoying my story, hopefully). If you're a stickler for details, please know I'm aware, and have plotted out the story well beyond what I've written - those choices may not reflect reality as we know it today.
3. I've added a disclaimer to the intro, as well as edited a few dates, times, and the inventory list, but none of it will significanly alter what you've read so far.
Finally, I'm close to 40k! I'm closing in on my word count goal!
1. New poll, on the right sidebar. Thanks for your votes and comments thus far.
2. My story is set in the real world, and, at the time I started it for NaNoWriMo, it was set in the future as well. As of Chapter 24, time has caught up and I'm more or less writing in the "past". I feel like this gives me less artistic creativity, because no I'm not longer completely "making up" people, places, and things. Some of you didn't notice and/or don't care, so if that's you, just keep doing your thing (reading and enjoying my story, hopefully). If you're a stickler for details, please know I'm aware, and have plotted out the story well beyond what I've written - those choices may not reflect reality as we know it today.
3. I've added a disclaimer to the intro, as well as edited a few dates, times, and the inventory list, but none of it will significanly alter what you've read so far.
Finally, I'm close to 40k! I'm closing in on my word count goal!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Chapter 28 - Labyrinth
June 14th, 2008
2:00am
Maintenance Tunnels
Peace let a triumphant yell and jumped from the ladder to the ground, skipping the last few rungs. "We made it!" he said, exuberantly.
All seven Fools and their supplies were crowded into a small room under the Machine Shop. The curved walls were mostly bare, holding only dormant track lights and several pipes. Some were insulated, others were not. The ladder above them and a door at the far end of the room were the only exits.
They were in an access room to the network of maintenance tunnels beneath Purdue. The tunnels were something of an urban legend around campus, rumored to have been built for mundane uses like utilities (steam, water, sewage, electric and internet cables) and maintenance (access to most buildings and sensitive structures), or for more exotic uses (for the campus nuclear reactor, as a safety measure during the Cold War, or at least a warmer way to walk to campus). They were also rumored to be unaccessible for different reasons, such as post 9/11 security, unsafe conditions, or even because of dead bodies.
"We're not out of this yet," Kamikaze said in a grim tone as she shined her flashlight beam on Peace.
"Yeah," T.Rex said, "but good job, everybody. I thought we were done for back there. Taking Harrison Street back to Discovery Park should have been the best way to go, the way with the least zombies. I don't know where that bus or all those zeds came from, though. Then once I saw the crowd waiting for us, I made an executive decision to head into the Machine Shop. At the time, I thought it was our best option. I thought we'd find something there."
"We almost didn't get in," Cowboy said, scowling.
"I know, and I think we should all thank Angel Hair for that one in particular," T.Rex said.
"Time out!" Rubble said, sweeping his hands out horizontally. There was a moment of group silence, then "Huzzah!" they all cheered in unison, just like in practice.
"Time in," Rubble said, resuming the conversation.
"So yeah, good work saving the equipment and I'm happy we escaped down here. Now we have to find an exit. Preferably somewhere isolated," T.Rex continued. "But first, lights off and snacks out. I want everybody hydrated, rested, and energized."
"Wait, we have to turn out the lights?" Cowboy said in a confused tone.
"Unless you know the layout of these tunnels, I'd like to conserve battery power until we're out. The room we're in is empty, and we'll stack our stuff in front of the door over there. I'm pretty sure the zeds above us can't even hear us through that cover, much less think to lift it and come get us."
The Fools took turns placing their bags by the door, carefully removing their limited rations. They formed a loose circle on the floor and one by one extinguished their flashlights until darkness reigned.
A few minutes went by without conversation as the Fools rested. Food wrappers crinkled, echoing faintly in the room.
Beard spoke first. "So what was with that barrel, T.Rex?"
Ryan was fortunate the darkness obscured his face. "That was, uh, y'know... improvising?" Everybody chuckled. "Seriously, I dunno. I thought it might have something more volatile inside, or maybe pressurized, and that the detonation might have cleared some or most of the zeds out. When it didn't, I just kinda...froze, I guess."
The Fools continued to chatter, describing to each other the action that some had missed, including the Machine Shop ramp battle, the discovery of the tunnel hatch, and some well placed shots and harrowing close calls.
T.Rex fumbled in the darkness for his own pack and unzipped a pocket, drawing out a strip of cloth. As he listened to the tales of action, he carefully removed the loose, ragged dressing on his arm wound and replaced it with a fresh homemade bandage.
As the conversation wound down, T.Rex addressed the group. "Alright everybody, are we about ready to move? Everybody get some water to drink?" The Fools responded in turn and Ryan was convinced they were all ready. "Somebody volunteer to be our single flashlight for a bit and we'll head out."
Cowboy strode forward and shined his beam right in T.Rex's line of sight. "Pip pip, cheerio!" he called out in a fake British accent.
T.Rex shielded his eyes from the light, blinking awkwardly. "The next time zombies descend upon this earth and destroy our civilization," he said sarcastically, "somebody remind me to pack red cellophane, okay?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Cowboy said, now interrogating T.Rex with his flashlight.
Kamikaze jumped in the conversation. "If you tape red cellophane over a light source, it's a cheap way of adjusting it so you won't lose your dark adapted eyes," she said. "I do it a lot when I go stargazing so I can read star charts."
Cowboy tapped his temples in acknowledgment, with the traditional improv "ahhhh" to match.
"Alright," T.Rex said. "We go through this door and look for any sort of exit, not just left or right but possibly up. Weapons out and ready, and I want Beard to go last. Keep an eye out for trouble, and don't talk unless you have to. I'm guessing the acoustics in the tunnel are going to be awful and I don't want our voices alerting a bunch of zeds while we're boxed in like this. Let's move."
When the door was opened a musty draft wafted in. The breeze coming from the tunnels was cool and felt like natural air conditioning when compared to the humid summer weather the Fools had been living in recently.
The group stared forward and saw the tunnel ahead immediately split left and right.
"Which way, Captain?" Rubble said.
T.Rex cocked his head and pondered a moment, trying to mentally picture which way the tunnels were oriented. Though he desperately wanted to avoid exiting in the heart of campus, anything was better than the Machine Shop at this point.
He tried to sound confident and decisive. "Left."
Cowboy led the group, illuminating the tunnels with his flashlight. Directly behind in single file were T.Rex, Kamikaze, Angel Hair, Rubble, Peace, and finally Beard. They walked the corridors in silence, scanning the walls for any clues about their location, or for ways to escape the winding tunnels.
The first thing they encountered was a crawlspace on the right, near the floor. Like the Machine Shop door, only Angel Hair and T.Rex could fit, so they kept moving on. The tunnel turned left at a ninety degree angle, and they had no choice but to follow.
They came across a pair of steel doors, one on each side of the corridor. They were both locked, so they kept going. Another fork. Left. More tunnel, and another locked door. Right. Straight. Left. A four way intersection, straight. Right.
The tunnels were eerily quiet. With the power outage, there was no white noise, just the occasional cough or rustle of equipment as the Fools trekked through the underground. Most of the doors they came across were locked, and too strong to force into. They found plenty of pipes or vents for steam and other utilities, but none for people to travel in.
Straight. Left, left, right. Fork right, straight, fork left.
T.Rex tried to keep up with the twists and turns, but a voice in his head knew he was basically guessing at this point. In the dark, the tunnel sections all looked very similar. He estimated they were probably under Matthews Hall when he felt a tap on the shoulder.
"I think I hear something," Kamikaze whispered.
"Halt," T.Rex hissed, and the group waited nervously.
The faintest tapping could be heard somewhere nearby, having been obscured by the footsteps of the group. It was irregular and did not sound mechanical.
T.Rex pointed toward the sound, and the group advanced slowly, weapons ready. As they rounded a corner, the tapping bled into a thumping sound.
A single door was the only feature of a long section of tunnel ahead. "That has to be it," T.Rex whispered.
This is like something out of a horror movie, Ryan thought. Still, it could conceivably be a person trapped in there that we might help. Probably a zed, though. At any rate, if we get in there we might be able to find something of value. Weapons, an exit, a map, or something.
T.Rex held up seven fingers, three on one hand and four on another. He motioned them apart and looked at the group, and the Fools nodded in recognition. He flashed the three hand and pointed to Beard, Peace, and Cowboy. He flashed the four hand and pointed to himself, and then Kamikaze, Rubble, and Angel Hair. He waved the first group to the far side of the door and motioned for the second group to take up a position opposite.
The Fools stood ready, weapons drawn and ready to strike. "I think it's a zed, but don't attack until we're sure," T.Rex whispered to the Fools. He looked at both squads one last time, waiting for any signs from the Fools. There were none, so he slowly reached his arm out.
Gingerly, he grabbed the door handle. He twisted, expecting it to be locked like every other door they'd encountered. It gave slightly, so T.Rex twisted a bit more and the door flew open violently, hitting him with enough force to knock him backwards.
T.Rex's head hit the ground, and the last thing he remembered seeing was a large, overweight zombie wearing coveralls.
And a yellow hard hat.
Current Word Count: 38,239
2:00am
Maintenance Tunnels
Peace let a triumphant yell and jumped from the ladder to the ground, skipping the last few rungs. "We made it!" he said, exuberantly.
All seven Fools and their supplies were crowded into a small room under the Machine Shop. The curved walls were mostly bare, holding only dormant track lights and several pipes. Some were insulated, others were not. The ladder above them and a door at the far end of the room were the only exits.
They were in an access room to the network of maintenance tunnels beneath Purdue. The tunnels were something of an urban legend around campus, rumored to have been built for mundane uses like utilities (steam, water, sewage, electric and internet cables) and maintenance (access to most buildings and sensitive structures), or for more exotic uses (for the campus nuclear reactor, as a safety measure during the Cold War, or at least a warmer way to walk to campus). They were also rumored to be unaccessible for different reasons, such as post 9/11 security, unsafe conditions, or even because of dead bodies.
"We're not out of this yet," Kamikaze said in a grim tone as she shined her flashlight beam on Peace.
"Yeah," T.Rex said, "but good job, everybody. I thought we were done for back there. Taking Harrison Street back to Discovery Park should have been the best way to go, the way with the least zombies. I don't know where that bus or all those zeds came from, though. Then once I saw the crowd waiting for us, I made an executive decision to head into the Machine Shop. At the time, I thought it was our best option. I thought we'd find something there."
"We almost didn't get in," Cowboy said, scowling.
"I know, and I think we should all thank Angel Hair for that one in particular," T.Rex said.
"Time out!" Rubble said, sweeping his hands out horizontally. There was a moment of group silence, then "Huzzah!" they all cheered in unison, just like in practice.
"Time in," Rubble said, resuming the conversation.
"So yeah, good work saving the equipment and I'm happy we escaped down here. Now we have to find an exit. Preferably somewhere isolated," T.Rex continued. "But first, lights off and snacks out. I want everybody hydrated, rested, and energized."
"Wait, we have to turn out the lights?" Cowboy said in a confused tone.
"Unless you know the layout of these tunnels, I'd like to conserve battery power until we're out. The room we're in is empty, and we'll stack our stuff in front of the door over there. I'm pretty sure the zeds above us can't even hear us through that cover, much less think to lift it and come get us."
The Fools took turns placing their bags by the door, carefully removing their limited rations. They formed a loose circle on the floor and one by one extinguished their flashlights until darkness reigned.
A few minutes went by without conversation as the Fools rested. Food wrappers crinkled, echoing faintly in the room.
Beard spoke first. "So what was with that barrel, T.Rex?"
Ryan was fortunate the darkness obscured his face. "That was, uh, y'know... improvising?" Everybody chuckled. "Seriously, I dunno. I thought it might have something more volatile inside, or maybe pressurized, and that the detonation might have cleared some or most of the zeds out. When it didn't, I just kinda...froze, I guess."
The Fools continued to chatter, describing to each other the action that some had missed, including the Machine Shop ramp battle, the discovery of the tunnel hatch, and some well placed shots and harrowing close calls.
T.Rex fumbled in the darkness for his own pack and unzipped a pocket, drawing out a strip of cloth. As he listened to the tales of action, he carefully removed the loose, ragged dressing on his arm wound and replaced it with a fresh homemade bandage.
As the conversation wound down, T.Rex addressed the group. "Alright everybody, are we about ready to move? Everybody get some water to drink?" The Fools responded in turn and Ryan was convinced they were all ready. "Somebody volunteer to be our single flashlight for a bit and we'll head out."
Cowboy strode forward and shined his beam right in T.Rex's line of sight. "Pip pip, cheerio!" he called out in a fake British accent.
T.Rex shielded his eyes from the light, blinking awkwardly. "The next time zombies descend upon this earth and destroy our civilization," he said sarcastically, "somebody remind me to pack red cellophane, okay?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Cowboy said, now interrogating T.Rex with his flashlight.
Kamikaze jumped in the conversation. "If you tape red cellophane over a light source, it's a cheap way of adjusting it so you won't lose your dark adapted eyes," she said. "I do it a lot when I go stargazing so I can read star charts."
Cowboy tapped his temples in acknowledgment, with the traditional improv "ahhhh" to match.
"Alright," T.Rex said. "We go through this door and look for any sort of exit, not just left or right but possibly up. Weapons out and ready, and I want Beard to go last. Keep an eye out for trouble, and don't talk unless you have to. I'm guessing the acoustics in the tunnel are going to be awful and I don't want our voices alerting a bunch of zeds while we're boxed in like this. Let's move."
When the door was opened a musty draft wafted in. The breeze coming from the tunnels was cool and felt like natural air conditioning when compared to the humid summer weather the Fools had been living in recently.
The group stared forward and saw the tunnel ahead immediately split left and right.
"Which way, Captain?" Rubble said.
T.Rex cocked his head and pondered a moment, trying to mentally picture which way the tunnels were oriented. Though he desperately wanted to avoid exiting in the heart of campus, anything was better than the Machine Shop at this point.
He tried to sound confident and decisive. "Left."
Cowboy led the group, illuminating the tunnels with his flashlight. Directly behind in single file were T.Rex, Kamikaze, Angel Hair, Rubble, Peace, and finally Beard. They walked the corridors in silence, scanning the walls for any clues about their location, or for ways to escape the winding tunnels.
The first thing they encountered was a crawlspace on the right, near the floor. Like the Machine Shop door, only Angel Hair and T.Rex could fit, so they kept moving on. The tunnel turned left at a ninety degree angle, and they had no choice but to follow.
They came across a pair of steel doors, one on each side of the corridor. They were both locked, so they kept going. Another fork. Left. More tunnel, and another locked door. Right. Straight. Left. A four way intersection, straight. Right.
The tunnels were eerily quiet. With the power outage, there was no white noise, just the occasional cough or rustle of equipment as the Fools trekked through the underground. Most of the doors they came across were locked, and too strong to force into. They found plenty of pipes or vents for steam and other utilities, but none for people to travel in.
Straight. Left, left, right. Fork right, straight, fork left.
T.Rex tried to keep up with the twists and turns, but a voice in his head knew he was basically guessing at this point. In the dark, the tunnel sections all looked very similar. He estimated they were probably under Matthews Hall when he felt a tap on the shoulder.
"I think I hear something," Kamikaze whispered.
"Halt," T.Rex hissed, and the group waited nervously.
The faintest tapping could be heard somewhere nearby, having been obscured by the footsteps of the group. It was irregular and did not sound mechanical.
T.Rex pointed toward the sound, and the group advanced slowly, weapons ready. As they rounded a corner, the tapping bled into a thumping sound.
A single door was the only feature of a long section of tunnel ahead. "That has to be it," T.Rex whispered.
This is like something out of a horror movie, Ryan thought. Still, it could conceivably be a person trapped in there that we might help. Probably a zed, though. At any rate, if we get in there we might be able to find something of value. Weapons, an exit, a map, or something.
T.Rex held up seven fingers, three on one hand and four on another. He motioned them apart and looked at the group, and the Fools nodded in recognition. He flashed the three hand and pointed to Beard, Peace, and Cowboy. He flashed the four hand and pointed to himself, and then Kamikaze, Rubble, and Angel Hair. He waved the first group to the far side of the door and motioned for the second group to take up a position opposite.
The Fools stood ready, weapons drawn and ready to strike. "I think it's a zed, but don't attack until we're sure," T.Rex whispered to the Fools. He looked at both squads one last time, waiting for any signs from the Fools. There were none, so he slowly reached his arm out.
Gingerly, he grabbed the door handle. He twisted, expecting it to be locked like every other door they'd encountered. It gave slightly, so T.Rex twisted a bit more and the door flew open violently, hitting him with enough force to knock him backwards.
T.Rex's head hit the ground, and the last thing he remembered seeing was a large, overweight zombie wearing coveralls.
And a yellow hard hat.
Current Word Count: 38,239
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