Chapter 2
"MOVE! MOVE!" Chef shouted, pushing Katie and Sadie out of the way as Eva leapt at them with a bloodcurdling roar. Chef grabbed a plate from the table and smacked Eva across the face with it, sending the zombie girl flying across the room. Eva landed face first on the ground, but it didn't seem to faze her and she quickly began getting back to her feet. Apparently the fall had broken her nose as it was now twisted and her moans had become nasally. "Everyone in the kitchen now!" Chef ordered. Everyone followed his orders and started for the kitchen door. Unfortunately, Eva got back to her feet in time to tackle Tyler to the ground and bite one of his ears clean off. Lindsay almost tried to run back and save him, but Owen caught her and threw her over his shoulder.
"He's gone! We've got to save ourselves." Owen said as he carried Lindsay into the kitchen.
Soon enough almost everyone was in the kitchen with the exception of Eva and Tyler, the former of which was contently munching on the latter, and Katie and Sadie who had hidden under a table in their horror instead of running with the others. "Come on, Katie. We have to go." Sadie insisted.
Katie shook her head. "No way. Maybe if we stay quiet Eva won't notice us."
"She's a zombie! She can smell our brains!" Sadie pointed out.
"Whatever." Katie growled. "I'm staying right here."
"Fine! But I'm going to save my life!" Sadie hissed as she slowly backed out from under the table. When she felt the wall behind her show slowly stood up. She thought that if she moved slowly along the wall and if Eva was still preoccupied with Tyler, then she could easily make it to the kitchen without Eva noticing.
"Sadie, no!" Katie pleaded.
But it was too late. Sadie slowly stood with her back to the wall. When standing fully up right, her head was lightly pressed against the window behind her. Then a dozen hands shot through the window, shattering the glass and causing the girls to scream. Eva didn't seem to notice a thing, too busy trying to rip Tyler open to get to his organs. The undead camera crew and interns moaned and reached aimlessly through the broken windows, the sent of brains and blood drawing them. One of them grabbed Sadie by one of her pigtails as she tried to run. Then, grabbing her arm with its free hand, the zombie bit into her forearm and ripped it off at the elbow…
… It was Steve the camera guy.
Katie screamed and bolted for the kitchen, diving through the window that Chef used to serve food instead of using the door. She landed on top of DJ, toppling him to the ground.
"Everyone get back!" Chef ordered. He looked out to the dining room. Eva was done with Tyler, who was now a zombie himself, only more disfigured after being half eaten by Eva. Like Eva and the other zombies, his skin was pale, but unlike them, he was missing one ear, half his nose and most of one cheek. His shirt was torn to shreds and Eva had almost succeeded in ripping his stomach open. Sadie was lying in a heap on the floor, slowly being zombiefied herself. Steve was busy eating her arm. The rest of the camera crew and interns were still trying to get inside. A few of them were even reaching for the door knobs, but they were just out of reach. "All right, here's the plan." Chef said as he backed away from the window. "Goth Girl, there's a green tool cabinet next to the fridge. In the second to bottom drawer there should be a few hammers and a lotta nails. Get them. Criminal, Chubby and Wimpy Jock, help me lift up that table and hold it over the window. Then we're going to need the rest of you to nail it down. Understand?"
They worked quickly and efficiently. Still, the combined effort of Chef, Duncan, DJ and Owen was barely enough to keep the table up against the wall with zombie Eva and Tyler pushing back against them. By the time Gwen, Bridgette, and Courtney had securely nailed it to the wall, their arms were pounding in agony.
"Okay, can someone please explain to me how we're running from zombies" Heather demanded, crossing her arms. "They're not even real."
"Apparently they are." Noah retorted. "Did you not just see Eva tear Tyler to shreds?"
"Up until now, I mean." Heather growled.
"Now isn't the time for your bickerin'." Chef growled. "We need to focus all of our energy on getting off the island alive."
"And how do you propose we do that?" Duncan demanded. "You saw those things reaching for the door knob. They not be human anymore, but they still have their basic instincts. They're smart, and that combined with their increased strength and desire to feed means half of us wouldn't last five minutes if we tried to escape."
"That and the Boat of Losers isn't here. It's the only boat we had access too that could fit all of us." Gwen pointed out. "If we tried getting to the canoes, most of us would be eaten by the time we got to the boat house and the rest of us would likely die trying to get them into the water."
"What about calling for help?" Cody suggested.
"There's no signal." Heather said.
"So what do we do then?" Trent questioned.
No one answered him. Everyone fell silent, save for Lindsay and Katie who were sobbing over the loss of Tyler and Sadie. The sound of Eva and Tyler (and by now more than likely Sadie) pounding on the other side of the wall filled them all with dread. They had almost no way off the island other than swimming, and as big as the lake was most of them would drown before reaching the main land. They were trapped on that island… doomed to become zombie food or starve to death and then become zombie food. "We're all going to die here." Beth mumbled.
"No we're not." Chef said as he stood up. "You here me, soldiers? From now on, it is our mission to get off this island alive! If any of you fail me I will personally make sure that your zombiefied selves go straight to hell! Is that clear?"
Ezekiel was the first to answer. He stood and saluted Chef. "Sir, yes sir!" Beth and Cody soon followed his example, mimicking him. Soon, almost everyone was saluting Chef as if they were an obedient military troop. Heather was the last to agree.
"Fine, whatever." She grumbled, not saluting like the others. "Just make sure I get out of here."
"All right." Chef said as everyone sat back down. "Here's the plan. Now, back at the cabin that me and Chris use there are three rifles, two pistols, and about three thousand bullets. If you're wondering why, I like to hunt. Now, if we can get those guns, we can defend ourselves. Otherwise, we won't last long enough to get off the island."
"Only five? But there are over twenty of us." Courtney pointed out.
"Hey, genius, we're in a kitchen. There are knives everywhere." Noah retorted. "Tie them to the end of some sticks or brooms and we've got spears."
"Good thinkin', know-it-all." Chef agreed. "Get some weapons ready and meet me at the back door. I want us ready to make a run for it in five minutes."
~ELSEWHERE~
Somewhere high in the Canadian Rockies a blizzard rages, camouflaging a small secluded cabin from prying eyes. The inside of the cabin is dark, lit only by the screens of a few computers. Six men in long white lab coats sat at these computers while a seventh man dressed identically leaned against a wall, flipping a lighter on and off. The seventh man eventually walked over to one of the men at a computer and watched the screen over his shoulder. "How goes the infiltration?" he questioned.
"I've successfully hacked into every camera they have set up on the island. We have clear visuals at all points." The man at the computer answered.
"And the experiments?"
He hit a few keys and an image appeared on the screen. It was a short clip of a girl running through the woods with a man chasing after her. He paused the image just as the man came to the center of the screen. "Now, if we just zoom in a little…" The image zoomed in on the man's face. Once the resolution was fixed, it clearly showed the man's pale skin and lifeless eyes. "Successful." The man at the computer confirmed.
The man standing behind him grinned. "Excellent. Now it's only a matter of time…"
~CAMP WAWANAKWA~
The group slowly and silently made their way though the woods, all keeping an eye out for any zombies, with Chef at the lead and Duncan and Trent watching the rear. Everyone was armed with knives from Chef's kitchen, a few of which were tied to the end of brooms. They were on their way to Chris and Chef's cabin, as planned. As far as they knew, the zombies were still at the Mess Hall trying to get them, unaware that they'd left. Still, there was the distinct possibility that they were being followed at that very moment.
Chef turned to the others and raised his open hand to them, signaling them to stop. He then took a few steps forward and stuck his head out passed a tree to get a look at the surroundings. They had arrived at their destination, and from what he could tell there were no zombies in sight. He looked back over his shoulder and signaled to the others to follow him and they quickly made heir way to the cabin, which Justin commented looked like a palace compared to the campers crappy cabins. It was two stories tall and looked like it could've housed all of them comfortably, including those that had already been zombiefied. Duncan and Trent remained outside to watch for Zombies.
"Okay, people, get comfortable while you can." Chris ordered as the campers all took seats among the multiple couches and chairs. "We're going to hold up here until we can figure out how to escape the island."
Everyone did as Chris suggested and got settled in while Chef went upstairs to his room to fetch his guns and ammo. Courtney and Bridgette did their best to try to calm Lindsay and Katie, who were still extremely upset about the loss of Tyler and Sadie. Harold, Cody, Beth, and Leshawna turned on the TV and started flipping channels, both to find something to get everyone minds off the zombies and to see if there were any new reports about it happening anywhere else. Justin and Gwen both just lied down and tried to get some sleep, thinking that rest would help calm them. Geoff and Izzy went around the building and did their best to barricade the windows. Heather and Noah just sat around, trying to think of ways that they could possibly survive this ordeal, and Ezekiel, Owen, and DJ went into the kitchen to see if they could get something to eat for everyone.
"Dude, there's bacon in here!" Owen announced gleefully when he looked in the refrigerator. "I'm gunna cook it."
"NO!"
Owen froze before he even reached for the bacon. "Are you crazy?" DJ demanded. "If you cook that, then the zombies will smell it and come running!"
"Yeah." Ezekiel agreed. "We can only eat what we can't cook. Otherwise we're just fattening ourselves up to become food ourselves, eh."
"I hate zombies… so much." Owen groaned.
Back in the living room, Leshawna hit the off button on the TV remote and threw it against the wall in her rage. "Damn! Why is it that in every zombie movie ever made, and apparently real zombie apocalypses, the TV always goes out? Now we're completely cut off from the main land!"
"So what do we do?" Beth asked.
"What do you mean 'What do we do'?" Cody questioned. "Anyone who's seen Dawn of the Dead or even Shaun of the Dead knows what we do know. We do our best to survive. Plain and simple."
"I say we wait it out here until someone comes and finds us." Leshawna suggested. "After a while they producers or someone will come here to find out why they've stopped getting footage and then we'll just hitch a ride on their boat."
"One big flaw." Harold pointed out. "When they get here, they won't be prepared for a zombie attack and will more than likely become zombies themselves. It's a vicious circle. Anyone who comes here won't be prepared because, up until now, zombies were fake. Thus, they'll just be making more zombies for us to deal with. Our best chance is to find our own way off the island, killing all of the zombies along the way if possible."
"You are one smart dude, you know that?" Leshawna chuckled, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. Harold blushed.
Just then they heard Gwen mumbling in her sleep. Harold, Cody, Beth, and Leshawna looked over to find her lying on a couch, curled up in the fetal position as she shivered in her sleep. She was dreaming, obviously a nightmare due to her expression. "Poor thing." Leshawna said. "Must be terrified."
"Aren't you?" Cody questioned.
"Of course I am! I don't wanna become zombie chow!"
"No…" they heard Gwen groan in her sleep. "No… Don't come near me… get away…" Suddenly, she sat bolt upright and screamed, her eyes as wide as dinner plates and sweat dripping down her face. Then she came to here senses, realizing where she was. "A dream… a nightmare… it was just a nightmare… thank god…"
"Jeez girl, I haven't heard you scream like that since we had to jump off that cliff." Leshawna said.
"What were you dreaming about?" Beth asked.
Gwen wiped the sweat from her forehead and shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it… just a dream, right?" she said with a forced grin.
"All right, listen up!" Chef called as he came down the stair holding all five guns under one arm and a few dozen boxes of ammo under the other. "Now, I've only got five of these things so I want anyone of you who's ever used a gun before to come up now." Izzy came running out of nowhere and stopped in front of Chef, holding her hand out. "I don't think so, crazy girl." Chef growled. "If I had a death wish I would've stayed with the zombies. Next!"
Surprisingly, Harold came up next. "Five time attendee of Fire Arm Camp and I go hunting with my uncle at least once a year, sir." He explained. Chef nodded and tossed him a shotgun and a couple boxes of ammo.
Next Heather came up, again to everyone's surprise. When she noticed the suspicious looks, she explained. "What? I go to a firing range to blow off steam. It's not like I'm a murderer or something." This time Chef just shrugged before handing her a hand gun and a few boxes of ammo.
"Anyone else?" Chef asked. No one moved. "What about the criminal?"
"You know, I really don't like how you call me that." Duncan was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a smug grin on his face. "And yes, I have used a gun before. So hand it over." Chef tossed him the second shotgun without even hesitating.
"Anyone else?" Chef questioned. "No? All right." Then, without a second thought, He tossed the second hand gun to Chris.
"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing man?" Chris demanded. "I don't know how to use this thing! The last time I used a gun was when I had a brief appearance as a cop in a movie, and those bullets were blanks!"
"Yeah, well, suck it up!" Chef snarled. "None of the rest of them have used a gun before and you're the only other responsible adult, if you define the term responsible vaguely."
"Okay then, you're the boss… apparently." Chris agreed reluctantly. "So what's the plan then?"
Chef has no response. It was obvious that even he, with all of his military expertise and training, wasn't prepared to handle a situation like this. The tension was thick in the air. No one knew what to do and even where to begin on a plan other than hope for the best. With nothing more he could do, Duncan went back outside to continue his guard duty, but before he'd even closed the door he came back in and slammed it behind him. "I think the plan is to stay here and fight for our lives." He said.
"What?" Chef demanded as he rushed over to the door. He opened it slightly and he and Duncan stuck their heads out. There was the same horde of zombies from before coming at them, this time with Tyler, Sadie, Eva, and Steve in the lead.
"How did they find us?" Duncan questioned.
"You said it yourself, kid. They're smart." Chef explained. "They knew we'd go looking for shelter." Chef pulled Duncan inside and they went to a nearby bookshelf and began pushing. "Mamma's Boy, get over here!" Chef ordered. "We need help barricading this door!" DJ came over right away and began pulling on the other side.
"Wait! Trent's still out there!" Gwen pleaded.
"It's too late!" Heather said. She grabbed Gwen's arm to hold her back as she tried running to go save Trent. "They probably already got him! There's no reason for you to commit suicide to save someone who's already dead!"
"You don't know that!" Gwen shouted as she pulled her arm free from Heathers grip.
"But you're willing to take that risk?" Heather growled. "You didn't seem nearly as concerned when we lost Tyler and Sadie!"
"Hey, enough!" Chris ordered as he pulled the two girls away from each other. "Heather, you and Harold come with me and get ready to shoot. The rest of you, run! There's a stairwell behind a door in the kitchen that leads to s cellar. Go through there and you should find another way out. Do your best to get to the boat house. If we don't meet you there within one day or if zombies show up, then just take the canoes and leave without us. We'll keep the zombies busy here for as long as possible. Leshawna, you're in charge. Now go!"
The fourteen teenagers did as Chris said and left, going into the cellar. "All right, people… let's do this!" Chef, Duncan, and Harold took their shot guns and blew holes through the walls in order for them to shoot. "Harold, Duncan, Heather, I want you to follow the others if they get too close." Chris ordered. They didn't respond.
~OUTSIDE~
DJ and Owen pushed open the cellar doors which led to the outside. There were no zombies in sight and they signaled for the others to follow. "We're going to have to cut through the woods to avoid them." Leshawna explained as they exited the cellar one by one. "Let's go!"
"You might want to rethink that." Noah said nervously.
"Why?" Leshawna questioned.
Noah just pointed behind her. Leshawna looked over her shoulder to find a grizzly bear making its way towards them on all fours. It's fur was lighter than the one's she'd seen on TV however, and it's eyes were dull and lifeless. "Zombie Bear!" she shouted. "Scatter!"
They all ran in different directions… Justin didn't make it. Leshawna, Gwen, and Owen stayed behind long enough to watch the bear take a few bites out of him before backing off and Justin rose to his feet, despite his ribcage being ripped open.
"Crap…" Leshawna growled. "Now we've got to find the others…"
"Are you crazy?" Owen demanded.
"I am not leaving this island until I know they are all dead!" Leshawna said to him.
"Well then let's get going before Justin and the Bear come after us! Gwen said, grabbing their arms and pulling. They ran off just as they hear the first shots being fired from the other side of the cabin.