Pandora: The Sampson Chronicles
Chapter 1: Between the Living and the Dead
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Do you know what the first thing you think about is after you've been in a car crash? It's not, "Golly, I've been a crash!" or "Oh no! A car crash! Good thing I have insurance! I hope the other driver does as well!"
Nope, none of those. It's more like, "Ow – Why are all my – ow – bones trying to – ow – squeeze out of my – ow – body?"
I know that most people go into shock after a crash. Lucky jerks. I have never been most people and I did not have the luck of going into shock. So I say unto you, asshole that hit me, on the day when my spine stops trying to impersonate a jackhammer I will find you and introduce you to my hammer.
And by hammer I mean fist. And by introduce I mean sucker punch you in the balls!
On second thought, wasn't I sitting on bus? That's right, I was sitting on a shuttle bus going from my college in order to do some shopping at the mall. I would like to addendum my previous statement now by including the bus driver in the ball punching.
That douche.
On third thought, what was it that actually caused the crash? I do recall a car smashing into the side of the bus, but that wasn't even enough to tip us over. No it was something that happened after we got off the causeway. But what? I must have hit my head at one point because I was drawing a complete blank.
Up until this point I had kept my eyes closed for fear that the massive pounding in my head would cause them to vacate their sockets, but I now felt it was worth the risk of opening them to gather some intel on the situation.
My next thought upon opening my eyes was, "Holy shit!" Not only had the bus crashed, but it had fucking tipped over! All that separated me from the ground now was a thin sheet of plastic glass that had spider webbed from the harsh impact. That could certainly explain why I hurt so much.
Another explanation for that could be the pretty red head and her equally pretty blonde friend lying atop of me. Hmm… I don't remember them being there before the crash. Oh wait… the bus tipped over… which means that everyone on the other side of the bus fell to my side of the bus in accordance with the rules of gravity.
Good God, but did my head hurt.
It was one problem solved at least. Now for the next problem. Were they alive, or was pinned beneath two very pretty corpses? Were corpses even allowed to be pretty? I didn't want to dwell on the thought, and hoped I wouldn't be finding out.
It took more effort than I thought it would to move my arm because – OW! – it seemed the bones in them wanted a new home too. I managed to get it free from the red head pinning it, her body still very warm I noticed thankfully, before doing the old checking the carotid artery routine.
A pulse! Excellent. I did the same to her blond friend and was again relieved to feel a strong pulse. I let my arm drop as the muscles in my arms berated me for using them too much. They were both alive, just unconscious for whatever reason.
Did they faint? Hit their heads like I did? There really wasn't a way for me to tell, but their even breathing was another welcome sign from them, one I'm surprised I didn't notice before.
Wow, did my head hurt! And who the hell was making all those banging noises anyway? Those were definitely not helping my headache or my all over ache at all. I turned my head to the side to look out the front window- the source of the noise- to see what was causing it and… well I believe my words speak for themselves.
"Well shit. Zombies!"
The quite literally forsaken undead were currently trying their damndest—every pun intended—to make their way into the little metal tube I currently resided in. They weren't making very much progress against the stubborn, thin, plastic glass keeping me safe, but I had faith in their determination to eat me alive.
I think it was time to start thinking about getting out of here.
Step one to such an escape would be turning the dead weight on top of me into living people willing to help a fella out of a death trap. But how do you wake a person who might me in coma for all I knew? I started with the tried and true shaking of the shoulders and shouting, "Hey, wake up!"
It didn't quite work on them, but it did gather the attention of the others on the bus who were either regaining consciousness or coming to terms with what just happened to them. An ear splitting, headache worsening, scream told me they also knew about the zombies, but all of this still failed to pull the pretty girls on top of me out of their slumber.
Seeing as being gentle wasn't working, I moved onto more extreme measures. To be blunt, I smacked a bitch, but to be fair it was getting rather hard to breath and I still felt like I lost a fight to a tank. Good golly I was being rude! It worked though and for the first time in my life I found myself on the opposing end of a furious red head.
"What the hell was that for you stupid piece of shit!" I must say, it was as terrify as I'd heard it to be. But this was no time for games.
"Long story short? Zombies crashed the bus, are now trying to break in and will succeed unless we do something to get out of here. Also, my spine is currently having a boxing match with my sternum so I would appreciate it if you would get off me and wake up your friend."
I could tell by the look on her face that she didn't quite believe me, so I drew her attention towards the front window. She turned her head to look, and as her jaw dropped and her eyes widened I knew that I had managed to convince her.
"Well shit. Zombies!" She said.
"Funny, I said the same exact thing. Now, can you please get off me?" It took her another second to comprehend what I was saying, being as distracted by the zombies as she was, but when it finally clicked she scrambled off.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?" The concern from her was touching. It was also a little bipolar, but I would remember it nonetheless.
"No, I'm not okay, but I'm fairly certain that the bus crashing is at fault for that, not you. I'll power through it. Go check on your friend, she still hasn't woken up yet."
That eased her mind a little before she turned her attentions to her friend. "Come on Lucy, wake up!"
As the red head tried to wake her friend I started the agonizing process of getting up. From what I could tell nothing seemed broken—I had full control over my arms and legs and I could still wiggle every finger and toe—but I could tell that should I ever find time to rest I would wake up as one giant bruise.
Despite the pain I was able to get to my feet. My head was still throbbing with my probable concussion but the steady trickle of adrenaline served to dull the pain enough to allow me to think. We had to get out of the bus before the dead got in, and on most buses that would be the sliding door near the front.
There were two problems with that however. The first is that the zombies were also near the front of the bus and would probably be thrown into a greater frenzy at the sight of their meal trying to escape. The second, bigger problem is that the door was currently facing the asphalt. So…yeah, new plan.
I looked to what used to be the roof, now just another wall, and saw the emergency escape hatch, conveniently placed for people in such as situation as ours. I hobbled over to it, the others among the bus getting out of my way as they either helped their friends or tried to put as much distance between themselves and the zombies as possible.
I was about to turn the lever and open it up when I heard a loud—SLAP!—sound. "Ow, Eve! What the hell?"
I turned to look at the pretty red head, named Eve apparently, with an amused smile on my face. Sensing my look she faced me with a deadpanned expression before shrugging. "What? Whatever works right?"
I could only smile. I think I liked this girl. "Right. Whatever works." I turned my attention back to the hatch and turned the lever. With a small push the rubber gave a pop and the hatch unsealed itself, giving way to the outside world.
There were about four thousand zombies only twenty feet away. Okay, maybe it was more like forty zombies, but still. Each and everyone turned to stare at me, their milky eyes fixing hungrily upon me.
Neither of us moved for a moment before my brain finished rebooting and pointed me towards the proper course of action. It even provided a word prompt! "Oh shit!"
I closed the hatch and resealed it, feeling oddly comforted by the sucking motion of the rubber against the metal. I hopped away from the hatch when the pounding on it started, my instinct telling me to get away from the massive horde of predators on the other side. Someone tapped me on the shoulder then, causing me to jump and turn to face the person, my arms raised and ready to do some serious damage, but it was unnecessary.
It was Eve. She looked pale and frightened- a reflection of my own appearance no doubt. I thought it only made her look more beautiful. And how messed up does that make me? "I guess we're not getting out that way, are we?" She asked.
I shook my head and took a few deep breaths to get my nerves under control before lowering my arms. "N-No, not that way."
I took one last breath to clear my system. The adrenaline was pumping hard now, dulling my pain further, making my mind sharper. I had to think, what other way out was there?
"Okay, the side door is blocked and the hatch is out of the question. We can't go through the front window, obviously. What about the back door?"
We turned to look at the back door and were infinitely disappointed to see the faces of the dead blocking yet another exit. I could now feel the cold feeling of terror building within me now, the desire to scream and yell and lash out building as more and more I realized we were trapped and going to die.
I tried to keep control, but it was tough when everyone else around me was beginning to panic. "Oh my God, we're trapped!" One of the people shouted.
"We're surrounded! Is there any way out of here?" Yelled out another frightened college student.
"I don't want to die! Not like this! Not now!" Another shouted in panic.
"Someone, please, do something! Anything!" Good God, did these people not have any spine?
Eve looked to be on the edge of panic as well and was finding comfort in the arms of her friend. They were clinging to one another, Eve on the verge of allowing tears to leak through while Lucy tried to comfort her with words she didn't believe. They were both going to break soon, and in the face of certain death it was certainly understandable. Everyone was feeling hopeless and starting to give up.
Everyone but me.
"Shit, Chris. What am I missing? It's something basic. Come on, think!" God damned shuttle bus! If only I had a car I wouldn't be going through this bullshit! It wasn't even one of those really nice, white paneled ones with the comfy cloth seats and overhead racks.
No it was a shitty yellow school bus, with shitty leather seats and shitty plastic windows. It wasn't even one of the newer ones but one of those flat faced pieces of shit and by God was my head hurting! And now there was an annoying buzzing noise in my ears, probably from the lack of adrenaline or the headache or whatever! It was friggin annoying too, sort of like the noise those safety windows would make when you pulled the lever…
…Hold up!
"Everyone shut your mouths and grow a pair! Eve! Do you think if I give you a boost up to that safety window that you can open and climb on up to the roof?"
"What? I-I'm not-" I slammed my fist against the roof, causing a tremendous booming noise throughout that bus that caught her attention, as well as everyone else's. "Damn it Eve, focus! You do this and we have a way out of here! Can you do this or not?"
That snapped her out of whatever panic she was about to fall into and I noticed the resolve enter her eyes. "I can definitely try. Give me a boost."
If I had a full tank lifting her up would have been nothing, but crashes tended to be a little draining. I grunted and growled however, drawing from somewhere deep down to get her up high enough to reach the window.
She yanked the lever up and the annoying buzzing sound started through the bus. The front window was started to spider web with cracks, the dead's constant hammering finally bearing fruit. She pushed on the window, but it only opened a fraction, barely enough for even the tiniest among us to squeeze through, much less everyone else.
"It's not big enough!" She said. I resisted the overwhelming temptation to reply back with a bit of snark. "The thing is a piece of shit! Just break it open!" I snarled.
She followed my advice, and after a few good thwacks managed to force it open, creating a gap big enough for everyone to squeeze through. A cheer rose through the bus, a small glimmer of hope running through everyone at the chance of escape.
"Alright then, pull yourself up and out now. Lucy, right? You go next. Everyone on that side of the bus get in line behind her! Everyone on my side behind me! We're only going to be able to get you guys out on a time! Is there anyone else here strong enough to lift people up?"
Behind me a fellow wearing a football jacket and looking like he was made from solid granite raised his hand. "Alright! You're going after Lucy to help lift people out of here! If anyone else is strong enough step forward now to give me a hand with getting everyone out!"
Another big fellow stepped up. He gave me the impression of having lived a hard but good life on a farm. By the callous on his hands and the simple but functioning style of clothing I'd be willing to bet money that I was right. "Name?" I asked.
"Samuel." He responded in a warm baritone. I nodded in appreciation. "Alright Samuel. After I get Lucy out you help me with the big fella, then we'll alternate till everyone else is out. Then you, and me last. Got it?"
He nodded and I noticed the resolve of steel forming in his eyes. We then got to work, pushing people up one by one. We quickly worked out a system. Me or Samuel would get down on one knee and make a basket out of our hands about a foot off the floor. Then whoever was next would give a running start before using our hands to push off and grab the hands of the people up top.
Samuel and I would then aid them by pushing them off by their buttocks and lower thighs. It was awkward at first, but time was of the essence so we were quick to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. We had a little trouble on some of the- and there really is no tactful way to put this- fat people, but we got it done, and one by one all the other people on the bus were getting out.
There was only about thirty in total, including myself and Samuel. I was by no means unhealthy, but can anyone really imagine what it's like to lift anywhere from one hundred to three hundred pounds in a high stress situation around fifteen times while also suffering from an unknown amount of injuries from a crash? It was hard, and it was becoming quite clear to both of us that the last guy left wouldn't have near enough energy to lift himself out, much less the other guy.
Samuel was in the same boat as me injuries wise, and he was looking to be just as tired and pained as me too. I'd already set the rules of this little rescue operation however: him first, me last. I got the feeling that he wasn't the type of guy to just leave a fella behind when times were tough, but I had a way of convincing him of my point of view.
As we shoved the last person out the cracking noise from the front window grew louder, the spider webbing have spread much further than the last time I checked. They would be inside in moments.
I turned to Samuel. "Come on bud, it's your turn." I dropped down to one knee and assumed the ready position. Up above the head of the linebacker and Eve could be seen through the window, each of them ready to help us out, waiting for the both of us.
In fact, everyone looked to waiting for us. None had tried to go any farther from the bus after reaching the top, and by the looks on their faces I could tell that the dead had most likely surrounded the bus. They would need a miracle in order to escape. A miracle… or a distraction.
"You're not planning to leave, are you?" Samuel asked me, a grave tone to his voice.
I drop my hands and lowered my head, taking the moment to catch my breath and reach for the last drudges of my strength. The adrenaline had been doing me well so far, but I was a long way off from being alright. I lifted my head to look Samuel in the eye.
"Oh hells yeah I'm planning on leaving! I'm going to go right through that door over there." I pointed to door at the back of the bus where the least amount of zombies seemed to be, where there seemed the greatest chance for me to make a loud enough ruckus to pull the undead away from the survivors and give them a chance.
"What! You can't Chris, that's suicide!" It wasn't Samuel, but Eve that shouted at me. There was that look again, the one that I would always remember. Not a whole lot of people were ever concerned about me. I was raised to be tough and told time and again to never rely on others and as a result I was never really close to anyone. It was nice to know that some people could care.
"Suicide? No way! Not when I've got this bad boy!" I reached down to boot and withdrew my most prized possession.
"Dude, is that a knife? Why were you carrying a knife around?" Asked Samuel. He was impressed, a little weirded out but impressed nonetheless. What can I say? We men are easily impressed by the sharp and shiny.
"First off, it's a trench knife. Notice the hand guard that is reminiscent of brass knuckles. Second off, it's a family heirloom that I never leave home without."
He gave me one of those crazy people looks. I let out a sigh. "Look, I'll tell you the whole story when we find someplace safe to chill, alright? Promise! Now get that big old boot of yours into my hand and start climbing!"
I don't whether it was the trench knife that I stuck between my teeth or my attitude that won him over to letting me be the last man out, but he just nodded dumbly before making his way up to the others with a little boost from yours truly.
Eve wasn't as easy to distract however. "Don't be an idiot Chris! You can't take them all on with a just knife! You'll die! Just… please try and get up here while there's still time!"
I looked up at her, and then to front of the bus. The window cracked further, it bulging slightly now against the force of the dead against it. My time was rapidly running short.
I looked back up at Eve. "Eve, trust me when I say I am so amazingly terrified right now that I can hardly move, but I can't just do nothing. I need to give you all a chance to escape, and believe me when I say I have no intention of dying today."
I meant it too. I was taught long ago that it was your belief in the world that shaped your reality. If you believed that you would succeed at something, then you simply would. Right now, I believed that if I went outside with my trench knife against the undead that I would live to fight another day. It was as simple as that.
"But you don't know that! Please! Just come up her before it's too late!"
But it was already too late. The dead had finally managed to damage the window enough to reach their hands through. In seconds the whole thing would be down and they'd be inside. There wasn't enough time to climb out now even if I wanted to, there was only time to run.
I spared a few seconds to say goodbye anyway.
"Thanks for the concern, Eve. You can't begin to imagine what that means to me. I wish I knew you sooner, I feel like we could have had something great together. Now, when I get outside I'm gonna try and get as many on my ass as possible, and its then that I need you all to run in the opposite direction. Comprende?"
She gave me a nod of understanding, but was unable to hold back her tears any longer. How strange it was, to see the tears of another shed for yourself. I'd remember them, just as much as I'd remember her. She pleaded again for me to climb, her voice thick with tears and nearly incomprehensible, but it was too late.
The dead were through.
"Crap!" I moved as fast as I could towards the other side of the bus. A quick glance behind me showed that the dead were as dumb and clumsy as everyone has portrayed them, tripping over one another like overzealous child and barley gaining any ground in their rush. It gave me the few precious seconds I needed.
I reached the end of the bus, with the screams of the survivors up top reaching my ears, yells for me not to through with or to find another way filtering past the hungered calls of the shambling dead at my heels.
I took one last look back at them as I reached the door. My eyes met Samuel's, and understanding passing between us that the torch had been passed on and that he'd do his best to keep everyone safe in my stead should things go fubar.
Then my eyes met Eve's once more, and for that one moment I wished for a second that I could be anywhere else- as long it was with her and those beautiful concerned eyes of hers I didn't care were. It was so weird, to have just met someone yet feel so connected to them in such a sort amount of time. It makes me wish I'd done something for her to remember me by, or for me to remember her, like run my fingers through her hair.
Hindsight. It's one of those things you'll always have but never need till it's too late.
I gave them a quick two fingered salute, a cocky smile on my face. I killed my fear, keeping the faces of those I saved in my mind as I turned the lever and forced the door open. I pushed and it swung open, the door hitting the ground thanks to the crooked position.
I jumped through the portal, leaving the death trap of the bus behind and hopped right into the equally dangerous jaws of the dead waiting outside the bus.