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.