Episode 5: Settling In

Ness threw me the duffel bag of weapons.

“The place is really open,” she explained, “so we need to be careful and quiet. I don’t know what’s in there, but it wouldn’t be hard for a biter to sneak up on someone who’s not paying attention.”

I pulled out my machete and strapped the sheath to my thigh. Then I took out my pistol.

“No guns,” Ness stated. “Too loud. Also, I’ll only be able to take a small group. We’ve got to be as stealthy as possible.”

I nodded and put my gun back in the bag.

“I’ll take no more than four,” Ness added.

John stood up and walked over. “All right, well, Erik this was your idea, you should go. Logan, you too. Also, Ellis and Rebecca. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things.”

Logan, Ellis, and Rebecca dug knives, bats, and metal pipes out of the bag. Robert stood in he background, eyeing John suspiciously. Lily gave me a kiss goodbye before we walked out the doors. Ness led the way with her bow at the ready. Logan and Ellis followed behind with metal bats at the ready. Rebecca and I took the rear.

There were only a few walkers in the parking lot today. Ness fired an arrow that hit a walker right between the eyes. One walker approached me, and I swung my machete, slicing its head in half. We killed a few more as we came to the doors of Home Depot.

They were closed, but they slid open easily. Inside it was dark. Very dark. High shelves were disorganized. Some were knocked over. Items were spilled everywhere ranging from  tape measurers, to paint cans, to door knobs, to screwdrivers. It looked as though the place had been looted, but only lightly. We waited, silently, for several minutes, listening.

Finally, I relaxed. “Okay, Logan, you and Ellis take those shelves over there. Rebecca, you take the front counters, Ness, you and I will take these shelves over here. What we’re looking for is…well…anything. If you think we can use it, take it; specifically tools, axes, duct tape, tarps, survival gear, or batteries.”

They nodded.

“If you hear anything,” I continued, “run.”

We separated on that note and carried our duffel bags to our positions. Ness kept her bow at the ready as I went through the shelves. I found an empty flashlight, nuts and bolts, a wrench, nails, and…

“Oh yes!” I said, and Ness shushed me. I smiled as I picked up a 24-pack of D-batteries. I quickly shoved two batteries into the flashlight, and it flickered to life. I put the rest in my bag. “With this, we could go deeper into the store.”

Ness agreed, still tense with an arrow nocked on her bowstring.

In the shelves near the back of the store, I found a toolbox, a hatchet, another pack of batteries, and a pair of bolt cutters. I also found a box of long, thin, wooden rods.

“Hey, Ness,” I said and showed her the rods before putting them in the bag. “You could use these for new arrows.”

She smiled and lowered her bow when we heard it: a steady moan, joined by a chorus of others. I whipped my flashlight around, peering into the hallways. The alarm bells in my head were deafening.

Ness and I crept around the corners. It was pitch black, and I wouldn’t have been able to see anything without the flashlight. We came across a dead body, bitten and picked clean. We found several more down the hallway, and we went around the next corner.

“Ungh!!!”

The horde of walkers moaned and moved slowly, but once they saw us, they advanced.

“Run!” I yelled, hoping Ellis or Logan would hear it too, if they weren’t dead already.

We ran as fast as we could, zigging and zagging through the hallways. We would often be cut off and forced to change direction. They were everywhere. It was as if we had rung the dinner bell, and walkers had come from everywhere. Ness had said before they got here, this place had been swarmed by walkers. How could I have been so stupid?

We rounded a corner, past a model of a kitchen, and ran into Ellis and Logan. They were startled and raised their blood-covered bats. Once they realized it was us, they relaxed, and we continued running. We were faster than the pursuing herd, but we needed to find the exit. Finally, I saw the glow of light. I ran for it. The others followed. Walkers reached for us, but they were too slow. Rebecca was at the glass doors, jamming a knife into a walker’s brain.

“Open the doors!” I screamed frantically. Rebecca heard me and slid the glass door open.

We ran through, and Rebecca slid the doors closed quickly. The herd wasn’t at the doors yet, but they were close.

“Here!” I heard Logan yell. He handed me a chain and a padlock, and I wrapped it tightly around the door handles. She clicked the padlock into place just and the herd hit the glass.

They hit hard. The glass cracked, the chains were strained, and we readied our weapons for a fight.

But it held.

We waited for several long minutes, but the glass held. We were safe.

For now.

While Ness led Logan and Ellis around to lock up the other entrances to Home Depot, Rebecca and I hauled the new supplies back to Target. Rebecca was in her twenties, very pretty with short brown hair always in a ponytail and dazzling green eyes. She had been one of the soldiers guarding the school when it fell along with Joshua and Samson. They had never talked about what happened that day, but considering those three were the only survivors, I can only imagine how horrible it must have been.

We got to the front doors, and Robert let us in. I handed off the supplies to him and was greeted by Reed.

“Hey bud,” I said to him. I looked around.

“Where’s Lily?” I asked.

“I think I saw her looking at clothes,” he replied.

I smiled at him and walked past.

Lily was sitting against a wall with some shirts in his lap. Her nose was red, and she was looking down. Her brown hair was hanging loosely. I sat down next to her and placed my hand in hers, but she pulled it away.

“What’s wrong?” She sniffled. Her hands were running over a silk shirt.

“I saw Cynthia kiss Brett today,” she said softly, and before I could say anything, she continued. “How could she do that? We only buried her husband and the rest of her family two days ago.”

“Well,” I said, “some people cope in different ways.” I looked at her, but something wasn’t adding up. “What’s really bothering you?”

She faltered.

“It’s just,” she began, “we’re fooling ourselves into being happy. I mean, how can we be happy? We’re eventually gonna become one of those things. It’s all just hopeless.”

Fresh tears flowed down her cheeks. I reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Hey.” I turned her face toward me. “You love me right?”

I noticed a slight curve in her lips as she nodded.

“And are you happy with me right here, right now?”

Her smile grew, and she nodded again. I smiled too.

“Then there’s hope.” I leaned in and kissed her. “We’re gonna make it. It’s not hopeless.”

We hugged and kissed again.

It’s not hopeless.

Right?

Episode 4: Death and Target

        “…and may they rest in peace.”
        We were all there, standing in front of eleven wooden crosses pegged into the ground in front of a bank. Cynthia was on her knees, weeping openly. Brett, a tall and skinny man with long brown hair, stood behind her with his hand on her shoulder. Cynthia’s fourteen-year-old son was several feet away with his arms crossed and an angry look on his face. Berm sat on the grass with his daughter crying in his shoulder. He was trying not to cry, but I kept seeing tears roll down his cheeks. Spencer stood near the back, expressionless. I stood beside Lily with my hand in hers. She was crying too, but I wasn’t.
        The only thing I could think was: what next? I couldn’t think about the dead when I was so focused on the living. Where would we go? What would we do? The bus had broken down right there in front of the bank, so John figured it was a good of a place as any to do the ceremony. Our destination was Target. Lily had suggested it.
        “If any place would have any supplies, they would be there, right?” she had said.
        Without the bus, we would have to make the journey on foot. But it was hard enough just standing there at the funeral with all of the guilt on my shoulders. I had decided we would leave. I had come up with the plan. I hadn’t shut that classroom door tight enough. And now, eleven people were dead because of me. It was my fault, and I knew it. John knew it too. He kept giving me cold looks and intimidating stares.
        Albert, who had given the ceremony, closed his little Bible and nodded at John.
        “All right everyone,” he called. “We’re heading out in ten minutes. Get you gear together, and make sure you’re armed.”
        Slowly, everyone migrated away from the crosses until all that was left was Spencer. I saw him kneel next to his brother’s grave and mutter quietly. I didn’t know much about Spencer, only that he had owned a gun shop with Daniel. They came to the school one day a few weeks in, and they just gave us much-needed weapons. After we had accepted them in, they immediately started to contribute to the group.
        Lily and I grabbed our packs stepped in front of the group. I noticed a small boy, Reed was his name I think, struggling with his backpack. I walked over and helped him fasten his backpack.
        “Thanks,” he said.
        “What’re you doing out here alone?” Lily asked. “Who’s supposed to be taking care of you?”
        Reed looked down. “Well, Roger used to take care of me and Chloe, but now they’re…”
        We were silent. John began to walk, everyone followed him.
        “Well…” Lily said. “Why don’t you stay with us? We’ll take care of you.”
        She smiled down at him and took his hand. “Come on.”
        I gave Lily a look as she went past. Why would she do that? We can’t take care of a kid. We’re only seventeen! She gave me look back that said, shut up. We’re doing this.
        “How old are you Reed,” I asked.
        “Eleven,” he replied. “How old are you?”
        “Seventeen.”
        “That’s a cool sword.”
        “It’s a machete.”
        “Oh.”
        “Yup.”
        Why was I so bad with kids? I can’t even keep a conversation going! What was I supposed to do? I never had any siblings or any younger cousins. I didn’t how to deal with an eleven-year-old. Luckily, Lily did. They talked and talked, and I was silent.
        We were walking for about ten minutes when we came across our first few walkers. They came out of nowhere.
        “No guns!” John called.
        I pulled out my machete and ran up to a walker. It lunged at me, and I shoved my blade through its face. I whirled around and decapitated another.  I saw John kill his own walker and Spencer kill his.
        “Erik!” came Lily’s voice.
        I turned and saw a walker coming toward her and Reed. It gnashed its teeth and reached out to them. I rushed forward with my blade raised, but Reed beat me to it. He whipped out a knife and rammed it up into the walker’s forehead. The walker fell forward, and Reed had to dodge out of the way or it would have fallen on him. There was blood splattered all over his face.
        I smiled. Maybe we did have some things in common.
        About a half an hour later, we walked onto the Target parking lot. Trash was everywhere, there were ten to fifteen cars parked in various places, and there were only a few walkers here and there. The whole place was quiet. We approached the front doors of the Target store, and the first thing I noticed was the thick, heavy chains and wood plating on the doors.
        John walked up to the chains and tugged on them. They didn’t budge, and he turned to everyone else.
        “All right, everyone. Be on the lookout while we try to get these chains off.”
        I walked up to the chained doors, and Reed followed close behind me. There were two sets of door with chains with a padlock on both of them.
        “Bolt cutters aren’t going to work on these,” I said to John. “They’re too thick.”
        John looked over, but he didn’t say anything. I leaned in and put my ear to the door, and after a few seconds, I heard something move.
        “There’s someone inside,” I said and backed quickly away. I pulled out my gun, and Reed pulled out his knife.
        “What?!” john pulled out his gun as well. “How many did you—”
        Suddenly, a door burst open about twenty feet away. It was the same color as the building, so I didn’t even see it. A girl rushed out. She wore a black tank top, cargo pants, boots, and a quiver full of arrows. She held a simple bow about three and a half feet long. She looked to be around my age and about 5’10”. She had dark black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail and caramel colored skin.
        Just as she nocked an arrow and stepped forward, the door to the shoe store on the opposite side, between the Target and Home Depot opened, and another figure stepped out. This one was male, and he was big. He was about 6’2 with big arms, broad shoulders, and a thick neck. He had a hunting rifle strapped to his back. In his hands, he held a 3 foot long, medieval looking, double-edged sword upright and ready. He looked older than me, maybe in his twenties, with short, light brown hair and beard stubble. He had fierce eyes that made me think he could tear us all apart.
        We were surrounded.
        “Drop you weapons!” shouted the girl.
        “Like hell we will!” john yelled and raised his M16.
        I don’t know why I stopped him, but I did.
        “Wait!” I shouted as I placed a hand on his gun and forced it down. I looked at the girl and walked forward. “Look. We just need a place to stay. We’ve lost a lot of people recently, and we have to leave our home. Now, I know it’s crazy, but please. We don’t have anywhere else to go.”
        A few seconds passed. She and the guy shared a look. She looked back at me.
        “We’ll let you in, but your weapons stay with us. We don’t want any trouble once you’re inside.”
        I nodded and slowly put my gun and machete on the ground. I looked back and saw everyone else doing the same. Soon everyone’s weapons were on the ground, and the girl kept her bow aimed at us as the guy went around, shoving our weapons into a duffel bag. Once he was done, the girl relaxed and put the arrow back in her quiver.
        “Robert,” she called. “Open the doors.”
        The big guy named Robert stuck his sword into the sheathe at his side and pulled out a ring of keys. He walked towards the doors.
        “We’re not actually going in there with them unarmed are we?!” Ellis asked. “There could be more people waiting in there to ambush us!”
        I looked at the girl, but I couldn’t see anything that would lead me to believe they were going to ambush us. In fact, I saw something else.
        “It’s just you two isn’t it?” I asked.
        She was silent. I studied her closely. Something about her looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.
        “We don’t even know these…these…kids!” Ellis shouted.
        “I do,” I blurted out, without even realizing it yet. I walked to the girl, and she took a defensive step back. Suddenly, it hit me. “We went to school together.”
        She looked at me as if she just realized it as well.
        “Yeah,” I continued. “We went to the same elementary and middle school.”
        She blinked and nodded slowly.
        Her name came to my lips.
        “Jen—”
        “Stop!” she interrupted. Her eyes went from curious to stone cold. “That’s not me anymore. I’m not the person you remember.”
        She stepped in close, looking up at me fiercely.
        “I’m not a child. So don’t you dare underestimate me…or I will kill you.” She softened just a little and began to walk away but stopped. “Call me Ness.”
        She walked away toward the doors that Robert had just opened.

        Luckily, there wasn’t an ambush waiting for us inside. Instead, we found a Target store untouched by anyone, probably since this all started, besides Robert and Ness. They truly were the only ones there.
        We took our gear and set up in the outside furniture section of the store. Reed, Lily and I set up our sleeping bags in the gazebo. John took a couch. Gabriel and Spencer took a rug, and the kids all the kids took a fluffy recliner. Everyone else spread out on the floor.
        Logan, Spencer and I brought over a bunch of food from the other side of the store. All of the dairy products, frozen food, fruit and vegetables had all gone bad, but there were still chips, soda, water, canned food, and candy. Glorious candy. I grabbed a bunch of boxes of Reese’s Pieces and stuffed them in my backpack. They were my favorite. I also grabbed some Red Vines for Lily and a box of Cherry Coke for Reed, Lily, and I to share.
        That night, I couldn’t sleep, so I went to the books section of the store after everyone was asleep. There, I found Ness with a candle, reading a book. She looked up for a moment then went back to her book.
        “Hey,” she said.
        “Um, hey,” I replied, moving to the bookshelves.
        I hadn’t read a book since I read The Great Gatsby in English class. There were books at our camp, but I never found the time to read them. I was always practicing my shooting, going for supply runs, or hanging out with Lily.
        “Erik?” came Ness’s voice. I turned to her.
        “Yeah?”
        “I’m sorry about earlier today.”
         I shrugged and went back to looking at books. “It’s fine. I get it. You have to look intimidating to the rest of my group. Good job by the way.”
        She didn’t say anything, but I saw her smile.
        “I do have some questions for you though.” I continued as I sat down across from her. “Why would you let us in? Why would you have given all of this stuff when we could have just killed you for it?”
        “Well why didn’t you kill us, Erik? You could have, but you didn’t.”
        I shrugged. “That’s just not the way I prefer to deal with things.”
        Ness sighed.
        “I let you in because Robert and I used to be part of a bigger group that was paranoid of everyone. They never helped anyone we came across. They never…cared for anyone else or each other. When the biters came, no one helped each survive. It became every man for himself. They even abandoned the kids. Because of that, almost everyone was killed.” She paused. “I helped you today because I guess I just hope, if the time comes, you’ll do the same for me.”
 I didn’t know what to say. I looked down at the floor and then back up at her.
        “Thank you,” I said. She nodded. “Here’s my second question: what kind of supplies are at Home Depot?”
        “When Robert and I found this place, there were walkers everywhere. Another guy had let us into this place. He had been manager and locked this place up from everyone else from the start.”
        “Where is the guy now?”
        “Dead. Anyway, he had chained up Target but not Home Depot. I’m not sure what’s left, and last time I checked, it was full of biters. But that was a few weeks ago.”
        I thought for a few moments.
        “If you’re up for it,” I suggested, “could you take a few of us in there tomorrow? To see what we can find?”
        “Sure,” she replied
        I smiled.
        “One last question.” I pulled a book off the shelf. “Is this any good?”
        “Never read it.”
        “Why?”
        “Because it’s a part of a series that isn’t finished, and I know that it most likely will never be finished. It’s depressing.”
        A few silent seconds passed until she picked up a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
        “Here.” She handed the book to me. “This one’s good.”
        I took the book, smiled, muttered a thank you, and stood up. I went back to the gazebo where Lily and Reed were sleeping. I laid down between them and slept more soundly than I had in a long long time.

Episode 3: Escape

        “Oh yeah. That gunshot really set them off. There are tons of them.” Daniel poked his head out of the steel trapdoor. Logan, John, Albert, Spencer, Lily, Gabriel and I crowded around. “They’re all crowded around the door,” Daniel continued.
        “How did they get up here?” Lily asked.
        Daniel shrugged. “When there’s a will there’s a way I guess.” He looked at John. “It’s gonna be a while before we can make another run for supplies.”
        “But we’ll be okay right?” Albert asked. “I mean, we have enough food up here to last right?”
        John and I exchanged a look.
        “We’re fine on water,” John began. “But we’ll be out of food in a few days.”
        Logan stepped forward. “But if we could get down to the kitchens—”
        “Even if we got to the kitchen, it won’t matter,” I said. “We only have enough food down there for maybe a few more weeks. I hate to say it, but this place may have run dry.”
        Everyone looked over at me.
        “What are you suggesting, Erik?” John asked.
        I sighed. “I’m saying…we need to leave.”
        Everyone was silent, giving me looks of shock and worry. I saw Albert turn and walk to the roof’s edge. Daniel climbed up out of the trapdoor.
        “You can’t be serious!” Daniel said. “There’s no way we’ll be able leave right now. Even if we got through those walkers, what will we do then?”
        “We can drive away in those,” came Albert’s voice.
        We all rushed over and looked down. There, in the parking lot down below were two yellow buses. There were only a few walkers wandering the lot, and the buses seemed untouched.
        “If we can get past those walkers, we could get to those buses and drive away,” Gabriel said. “Everyone could fit.”
        “It’s perfect,” I said.
        “What?” John asked. “Why do we have to leave? This is our home. If we can get to the kitchens, we can survive longer, and if we can go on more supply runs, we’ll be fine.”
        “No. We won’t,” I replied. “How long do you think we can last on just supply runs? We’ve already gone through most houses around here. Other places have already been picked clean. We can’t survive here!”
        Silence. John sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He walked up to me and got close.
        “Fine,” he breathed. “But just know that I will not be responsible if something goes wrong. This one’s on you.”
        He backed off and walked away. I shuddered and sighed.
        “Okay…well.” My eyes fell on Daniel and Spencer. “How many guns do you have from your gun shop?”
        Daniel shrugged. “About a dozen or so.”
        “Good.” I started to walk away. “Get a gun in everyone’s hand if you can, and tell them to pack everything up. We’re getting out of here!”

        It wasn’t too long after that when everyone was armed and ready. The tents, any remaining food, and the water were all packed up and in various backpacks. The women and children huddled together while the men with guns encircled them. At the front of the pack, John stood with his M16 and baseball bat.
        “All right everyone, listen up!” John yelled. “The hallways are going to be tight. Only advance in groups of four or five. Wait at the end of each hallway for the rest of the group before moving on. The people who are unarmed should only follow once the hallway is clear. For those of you with guns, fire only when necessary. We don’t have much ammo, so we can’t mow down every walker we see. Push as many as many as you can back into the classrooms then close the doors. Understood?”
        Everyone nodded solemnly.
        The first group down was John, Daniel, Spencer, Gabriel, and I. We descended down the ladder to a small room closed off by two grey doors. At the moment, I couldn’t hear any walkers right up against the doors, but I still heard moans from the hallway. I took a deep breath and took a ready stance. I had my fully-loaded gun in my left hand and my machete in my right.
        Don’t get afraid now, Erik, I told myself. There are people depending on you.
        John and Spencer stood at the doors, ready to open them. John looked at everyone and nodded. He and Spencer threw open the doors and immediately began to fire into the walkers.
        BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
        The monsters closest to the door were dead in seconds, and the five of us poured into the hallway. I noticed about twenty or so walkers in the hallway itself. Many of them were coming out of a single classroom.
        “Erik! Get that door!” John called.
        “Got it!” I rushed to the door, decapitating a walker on the way. I kicked a walker into the classroom, causing the others to get pushed back as well, and I slammed the door shut. The class was packed full of walkers, and they all pushed against the door trying to get to me.
        We made our way down the hall, killing walkers, as the next group came down. Albert, Logan, Samson, Joshua, and Rebecca came down the hall picking off the walkers that we had either missed or had not fully killed. As soon as the hall was clear, everyone else began to come down the hall. Roger Black came down with Reed and Chloe. Next came Lily, who had her gun out, and the Brooks and Berm family. All of the adults had oversized backpacks, and all of the kids were grasping the hand of their parents. They all walked down the hall slowly, and I turned my attention to the next hallway. It was completely clear.
        Everything was going as planned.
        Little Sarah Brooks screamed as a walker bit her neck. I turned around to find walkers filing into the hallway from the classroom I had shut. They quickly filled the hallway, surrounding the helpless families. I saw Sarah’s dad try to push the walker away from his daughter, but he was tackled from behind.
        There were so many that I couldn’t tell what was going on or where anyone was. I heard Principal Berm’s wife scream, and Berm himself yelled, “Sandra! No!”
        I ran towards the chaos, and my group followed me.
        “Lily!” I called. “Lily!”
        BAM!! I shot a walker in the head as it reached for me.
        Just then, Lily and Logan ran out of the swarm. Lily grabbed my hand and tugged at my arm, trying to get me to go down the hall.
        “Run! Everyone get out of here!” John’s voice boomed. He started to run as he took out another walker with his bat. He gave me a dirty look as he passed.
        I watched as Berm and his son and daughter emerged from the mob. Walkers grabbed his little boy, and Berm had to rip his daughter away from her brother and run.
        Everything was happening so fast. There were walkers everywhere, and I didn’t know who was dead or alive. I just ran with Lily’s hand in mine. We made it to a stairwell and descended. John, Logan, Daniel, Spencer, and Berm with his daughter were following behind the two of us.
        We came to the bottom of the stairs and to a set of glass doors. The two buses were in sight. With a mighty kick, Logan blasted the doors open, but before we made it out, John stopped us.
        “Wait,” he said. “Erik, Daniel, you’re with me. There’s still some food in the kitchens, and we’re going to get all we can. Everyone else get to the buses.”
        At that moment, Albert, Ellis, Gabriel, Cynthia and her son, Reed and Brett came down the steps. John immediately pointed at Albert.
        “Albert, you and Ellis get to the buses and see if they’re working. Everybody else, get in the bus and stay safe.”
        Everyone ran outside, but Lily wouldn’t let go of my hand. She looked into my eyes and kissed me.
        “You come back,” was all she said. I nodded, and we kissed again.
        The cafeteria was just down the hall. It didn’t take long to get there, and we didn’t run into a single walker. The kitchens were clear except for one body that had hardly anything left of it. It vaguely looked like Lucas. Its mouth and eyes opened, but it couldn’t move. I raised my gun, but John stopped me.
        “Don’t waist the ammo,” he said. He raised his bat and brought it down hard on the walker’s head.
        We got the rest of the food without any problem, stuffing it into duffel bags. We left quickly. I was on point with my gun and machete at the ready, but we weren’t attacked. John stood behind me, and Daniel was about ten feet back.
        We were almost out when I heard Daniel scream. A walker bit into hit shoulder. John quickly shot the walker, and Daniel fell to his knees, crying and whimpering. His shoulder gushed blood.
        “Oh God no!” Daniel kept saying. “Oh G—”
        BAM!!!
        John lowered his smoking gun and grabbed the duffel bag Daniel had been carrying. More walkers began to appear at the end of the hallway. John grabbed my shoulder, and we ran outside. We hopped on the bus that everyone was in. Albert was at the wheel, and everyone else was sitting in the leather seats.
        Seconds of silence felt like years. Eventually, Cynthia spoke up.
        “Is this all who made it?” she asked sadly.
        No one said anything, and she began to cry. Berm and his daughter began to cry as well.
        Albert sighed. “Well, I guess we’ll best be going.” He started the bus and started to go when something caught my eye.
        “Wait!” I called. Down the steps near the side of the school came Joshua, Rebecca, Spencer, and Brett. In each of their hands they carried an assortment of handguns, assault rifles, and magazines and boxes of ammo.
        “Open the doors!” John shouted, and Albert did.
        The four of them ran onto the bus.
        “Go! Go! Go!” Brett called. “They’re right behind us!”
        I looked back and saw a horde of walkers stumbling down the steps.
        “Drive Albert!”
        Albert pulled the bus out onto the deserted road as the rest of us picked through the new weapons.
        “We got ‘em from those soldiers out in front of the school. Usually we couldn’t get to ‘em, but we saw a chance,” Spencer said. He looked around. “Hey Daniel!” No answer. “Daniel?”
Albert eyed him in the mirror.
        “Spencer,” John began. “He—He didn’t…”
        Spencer’s eyes welled with tears. “He’s dead?”
        John nodded.
        Spencer swayed and collapsed into an empty seat. He broke down and wept.
        No one said another word as we drove down the deserted road.

Episode 2: Tough Choices

        Andy collapsed while carrying wood to the fire. It was nighttime, and I was cuddling with Lily in front of the flames. Everyone else was around the bonfire as well. There was John, Principal Berm who sat with his wife and two kids, my friend Logan, Gabriel Harper, a surgeon who had made it out of the hospital across the street, brothers Daniel and Spencer Wright, Roger Black who was sitting with two kids, my school counselor Cynthia Brooks with her husband and three kids, war veteran Albert Hamm, Brett Rogers, Ellis Jackman, and soldiers Joshua Barnes, Samson Edge, and Rebecca Soren.

        Andy fell right behind me, and the wood he was carrying fell on top of me. Pieces of wood rolled into the coals, spraying sparks everywhere. He fell on his back in a large thud.

        “Oh no! Andy!” Cynthia called. She got up and ran over to him.

        “What happened?” John asked, coming around from the opposite side of the bonfire.

        “Andy passed out!” Cynthia replied.

        “Gabriel!” Principal Berm shouted.

        Gabriel got up from where he was sitting and rushed over to Andy.

        “What’s wrong with him?” Spencer questioned.

        Gabriel ran his hand along the bloody bandage on Andy’s forearm, and I knew what he was going to say before he did.

        “He was bitten,” I said solemnly. Gabriel peeled off the wrappings and nodded.

        Daniel was on me in seconds. He grasped my shirt and threw me to the ground. John stepped between us and held Daniel back as Lily helped me back up.

        “You knew he was bit, and you didn’t say anything?!” Daniel shouted.

        “I didn’t know then,” I retorted. “I saw that he was hurt, but he told me it was just a cut!”

        “You put us all in danger!” Daniel screamed. “What if he had turned?! We have kids here!”

        “Daniel, calm down.” It was Spencer, Daniel’s brother. “He couldn’t have known that Andy was bitten, and even if he had, what was he supposed to do?”

        “He should have killed him!” I heard Ellis say. “He has a gun! He should have used it!”

        “Enough!!” shouted Berm. “Gabriel, get Andy into a tent. Daniel, Spencer, help him. Everyone else just calm down and try to get some sleep. Gabriel’s going to do everything he can, and if the time comes, we’ll do what we have to. If you want, when he wakes up, you can tell him goodbye. Mr. Dawson? I believe it’s your turn for watch duty.”

        John nodded and grabbed his gun, heading to the wooden watchtower we had built. Daniel, Spencer, and Gabriel lifted Andy’s heavy body and put him in his tent. Everyone else finished their dinner and headed to their own tents.

        Lily walked up to me and kissed me on the cheek.

        “Don’t blame this on yourself,” she said as if she was reading my mind. “You did everything you could.”

        This time, she kissed me on the lips.

        That night, I tried to sleep, but I kept waking up to Andy’s cries of pain. Finally I left my tent without waking Lily or Logan, my tent mates. I approached to tower where John was perched. I climbed up the ladder and sat next to him. Andy’s moans resonated over the whole rooftop.

        “It started about an hour ago,” was all John said.

        I looked down.

        “I know,” I said. “I couldn’t sleep.”

        We sat in silence for a few minutes, looking over our town of St. Peters. I had never gotten to see a view like this before the world ended, but I’m sure it would be even more amazing with millions of lights dotting the land all the way to the horizon. I had lived here all my life, and I’m sad to say I had never gotten this kind of perspective of my own home. I could see my own house from here. It was full of walkers the last time I went there a few weeks ago.

        Andy cried out in pain from his tent not too far away.

        “It sounds like he’s in a lot of pain,” John said. “Gabriel came by earlier and told me it won’t be long now. Problem is...no one is willing to do it.”

        I knew what he meant. When you were bitten or scratched by a walker, eventually you got a deadly fever. When you die, you become one of them. By shooting one of them in the brain, they die for good.

        “Maybe he’ll get better,” I said hopefully, but all I got was a look from John.

        “Yeah,” he replied, “and maybe I’ll go back to watching football on my plasma screen while eating wings.”

        We sat listening to Andy’s moans of pain for another few minutes until Logan crawled out of the tent and walked over to us. He rubbed his eyes and scowled.

        “Will someone just kill him already?” he said.

        I looked at him surprised. How could he say something like that? How could he be so heartless?  I didn’t know Andy that well, only that he had been the drama teacher at my school. He was a great guy. He didn’t deserve this. Before I could say something, John beat me to it.

        “You want to pull the trigger? Be my guest.”

        What? I looked at him in surprise then back at Logan who got a strange look on his face. He turned and went back in the tent. When he came back out, he was clicking off the safety on his gun.

        “Don’t mind if I do,” he said and walked quickly towards Andy’s tent.

        I looked at John. He seemed…conflicted.

        “Wait! Logan!” I called.

        I ran after him, and John followed me. We weaved through the tents with curious heads poking out. We found Logan in Andy’s tent with a gun to Andy’s head. Andy was awake, and he seemed strangely calm. Logan’s hand was quivering.

        “Logan?” I inched closer. No one made a move for what seemed like forever. Logan’s whole body seemed to shake even more and more.  Andy was drenched with sweat and either coughed or moaned in pain every other second. John remained at the doorway, silent.

        Suddenly, Logan backed away quickly, dropping the gun to the floor and falling into a chair on the opposite side of the tent.

        “I…I can’t…I can’t.”

        Andy closed his eyes and let out a deep breath after a brutal cough.

        “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s okay son. It’s not easy to kill a man…I would know.”

        He looked over at John as if he just realized he was there.

        “John? Did I ever tell you about my family?”

        John shook his head.

        “I had a wife and a daughter, John. They were both so beautiful. After all this happened, the walkers, we hunkered down in this one restaurant. One day, a man came through, a big man with a big gun. He found my family while I was out looking for supplies. He—" Tears began to flow down his face, and he choked a sob. “I found my family dead and him standing over them.” He shuddered at a wheezy breath. He tried to compose himself, but he failed and broke down. “I grabbed his gun and killed him. I didn’t even have time to bury my family before walkers got there. So yes, I know about killing—“ He hacked up a bloody cough that racked his whole body for two straight minutes. Eventually he settled, and all he could do was weep.

        I cried too. Logan buried his face in his hands, and John had to turn around. I walked forward, and picked up the gun from the floor. I stopped crying. It had to be done. Andy looked up at me as I put the barrel against his forehead.

        “I want to see my family again,” was all he said.

        “You will,” I replied.

        Andy closed his eyes as I pulled the trigger. 

Episode 1: Here We Stand

        The walkers came a few weeks into the epidemic. Almost everything had been closed down and quarantined, but the military secured my school “to further the pursuit of a good education during these trying times”. At least that’s what Principal Berm said.
They didn’t stand a chance.
        I watched from the fifth floor window of my science class as a herd of undead monsters moaned and limped their way toward the school. The soldiers did their best to fend them off, but the sound of the gunfire only drew more in.
Panic hit the entire school like a lightning strike as the walkers ate their way into our sanctuary.

Five Months Later…

        “Erik!”
        I snapped back into focus. The walker was coming closer, gnashing its teeth. Usually, they don’t come near the kitchens where the army had stored the food, but this one, and a few others, had made their way in. I pulled my machete from its black leather sheath on my thigh. It was made of black steel, and it had a leather grip.
        The walker reached out to me with its dead arms.
        “Come on! Kill it!” John Dawson was behind the walker. He carried a heavy assault rifle and a metal bat. “Come on!”
        I swung the swung the blade down as hard as I could, lodging it into the walker’s skull. When I pulled it out, it made a loud shunk sound, and it fell it fell to the ground.
        “Is it dead?” asked Andy Brauning. He was a shorter, middle-aged man with a good amount of fat. His black hair was curly and sweaty. He carried a shotgun and a backpack.
        I kicked the walker. It was still, unmoving in a pool of blood.
        “Yeah,” I replied.
        “Guys,” a small voice said. “We need to get out of here.” It was Lucas, a tall, skinny, and fidgety man in his late forties with a hunting rifle clutched in his hands. He kept glancing around with his paranoid eyes.
        “We’re fine, Lucas,” John stated. “Come on, we’ll get the food and get back to the roof.”
        “O-okay,” Lucas stuttered.
        We all moved towards the back room where all of the food was. The entire room used to be wall-to-wall food, but now, there was only a mere pile in the back corner. We only had enough food for maybe a week.
        I looked over the pitiful pile of food and shook my head. “John, what are we going to do?”
        “No,” John whispered. “We aren’t talking about this right now. We’re fine. I’ll send Lily and Samson to make another supply run tomorrow.”
        “No,” I replied. “You’re not sending Lily out there again. She almost got bitten last time. Arnold did get bitten! She barely made it out!”
        John moved toward me swiftly, standing in front of me looking down. “I am in charge here not you. I give orders to keep you safe. I’ve done a good job so far, so get off my back!”
        I looked down. Andy and Lucas were silent. John looked away and took a step back.
        “Look,” he said. “I’m sorry. I—“
        “No,” I interrupted. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
        I knelt down and started to pack cans of food into my backpack. John ran his hand through his brown hair and pointed at Lucas.
        “You,” he said. “You stand guard.”
        Lucas nodded and left the storage room. Andy and John knelt down and started filling their packs as well. About ten minutes passed. We were almost done, but we were cut short when we heard shots outside. John quickly zipped his pack and grabbed his gun.  I handed my pack to Andy.
        “Finish this up,” I told him, and I pulled my gun out.
        Outside, Lucas was firing into a large crowd of walkers. There were about twenty or so, coming in from the school commons through the wide opening to the kitchen. They approached slowly on decaying legs. Lucas fired blindly and wildly.
         “They just keep coming!” Lucas shouted.
         John moved forward and grabbed his gun. “Then stop firing you idiot!”
         John pulled out his bat and struck a walker that had gotten close. It fell in a heap on the floor. More walkers filed into the kitchen.
        “Too late!” I called and took aim at a walker.
        BAM!
        Its head exploded.
        “We need to make a run for it!” I shouted.
        “Through that?” Lucas replied.
        “It’s the only way.”
        John moved forward. “Follow me!” He unloaded a rain of bullets on the crowd and formed an opening. He ran through, and I followed him. Andy waddled after me, and Lucas took the rear. We ran through the commons toward a long hallway. At the end of that hallway was a stairwell that would carry us to the roof, our sanctuary.
        I ran as fast as I could, and I didn’t stop even when I heard Lucas’s horrifying shrieks as walkers took him. We got to the stairwell with a horde of walkers pursuing us. I knew once we got up the stairs we would be safe. Walkers were slow, and they didn’t climb well. John and I started going up the stairs two steps at a time. Andy was a few seconds behind us. I looked back, and he was clutching his forearm. Blood was seeping through his fingers.
        “What is that?!” I asked.
        He looked at me with guilty eyes. “I…I cut it on a piece of metal in the kitchen.”
        I didn’t believe him, but walkers were getting closer. We ran up the stairs, and our pursuers tripped and fell over each other, trying to follow us.
        We made it to the second floor, then the third, and as I ran past the double doors to the fourth floor, they were pushed open. Two walkers jumped out. One of them ran to John, and the other tackled me. It fell on top of me, trying to bite me. It took all of my strength to hold it back.
        “ERIK!!” John called. I heard a gunshot.
        “I got it!” I called back. The walker snapped at me, so I shoved the gun into its mouth.
        BAM!!!
        Blood sprayed all over the back wall and ran onto my shirt. My ears rang so badly that when John pulled the walker off of me, I couldn’t hear a word he said. I just saw his mouth move.
“Come on! Get up!” I eventually heard him say.
I did, and we climbed another flight of stairs to the fifth floor. There, ran hurried through two more hallways. They were mostly deserted, but a few walkers remained. We got to the ladder to the roof safely. I climbed up first, opening the metal hatch and letting in waves of sunlight.

        We lived on the roof in makeshift tents and shelters. We had a dirt pile for campfires. There was only one way in and one way out. We had weapons from the fallen soldiers down below. We were fortified and safe. We’ve been here from the beginning, and we’ll be here ‘til the end.  This is my school, my roof, and my home.

        So here we stand.