This is kind of a long chapter! My apologies. Sorry if your character doesn't get much action, I'm only trying to introduce characters! It's still chock full of zombie smashing and bashing, slicing and dicing ;)
Well, this is new, thought Jonas as he sprinted by a fresh corpse being ravaged by a pair of the freaks. All around him he could hear the screams and cries of the dying and desperate as they struggled to remain alive amidst the chaos. Ahhh, here we go, he thought as a small, unimposing building came into view. He approached it cautiously, stepping over a half eaten body in order reach the door. Slowly, he pushed it open and looked around. Nothing. Jonas released the break he didn't know he had been holding and entered, locking the door behind him. He was in the janitors little living quarters, hoping to find tools or something he could fashion into a weapon. The janitor couldn't afford to live anywhere else, so the school had provided this fine little…shack.
There's gotta be something I can use here, Jonas thought as he stripped the place, turning it upside down in order to find something of value. His eyes fell on an old battered locker with an equally battered lock . Bingo. He picked up a brass lamp and smashed the lock. It game way immediately, the years of accumulated rust had weakened it considerably. Inside, there was a broom, a mop, a spade, and a hammer. Jonas sighed and grabbed the hammer, turning to exit the shack. He froze as the doorknob slowly began to turn. With baited breath, he moved to one side of the door and raised his hammer. The door opened with a creak that sounded like a cannon blast in the silence. A girl with long sandy brown hair sauntered through. Jonas slammed the door shut behind and pushed the girl over, his hammer raised.
"SAY SOMETHING." He commanded.
"Fine. How about 'hit me with that hammer and the zombies will be the LAST thing you'll have to worry about" she replied, glaring up at him.
Jonas dropped his arm and extended his free hand toward her. She knocked it aside and rose to her feet, dusting herself off. She glanced around at her surroundings and her features melted into an easy grin. "Nice place you've got here. I'm Aki Youngblood. You're Jonas, right?"
Jonas ignored her and moved to the window. He pushed aside the dusty curtains and gazed outside.
"How's the weather" joked Aki as she walked over to the locker and grabbed the broom. With a snap, she broke off the tip on her knee, turning it into a crude spear. Jonas eyed the makeshift spear in silence. He nodded in approval.
"You better hope that thing holds up"
"So it CAN speak! Shame, I was actually betting against that outcome!" she laughed.
Despite himself, Jonas felt a faint smile touch his lips. He turned towards the door and placed his hand on the knob. He looked at Aki inquisitively.
"Yeah, I'm coming. But you should know that I don't usually make a habit of picking up strays! On 3 then. 1…2-"she said.
On 2, Jonas threw open the door and rushed outside. He tried to distance himself from the shack so as to avoid getting cornered. Outside, the air was still, not a single thing stirred.
"Where did you learn to count?" Aki huffed.
As they stalked forward, they heard shouts from inside the school. Jonas ran for the doors with Aki trailing close behind. Inside, the moans of the undead echoed off the walls, sending a shiver down his spine. The floor was slick with blood from recent victims. Poor bastards, he thought. Proceeding carefully, Jonas took great care in where he placed his feet. The shouts started again, doubling in intensity and desperation as the unknown people were no doubt assaulted by more of these fiends. Aki ran past him, towards the sound. He quickened his pace, settling for a dead sprint as they made their way deeper into the bowels of the school. She slowed to a stop at the doors leading to the cafeteria. Aki looked at Jonas pointedly who nodded in turn.
Together, they yanked open the doors and charged inside, their weapons drawn. In the middle of the room, 3 students manned the top of a table, striking down at the creatures reaching for their feet, each swing signaling the end of yet another of the undead.
"We have to help them!" yelled Aki, struggling to be heard over the groans and moans filling the cafeteria.
Jonas winced as the sounds assaulted his ears. "Agreed. Take the left, I've got the right" he ordered.
He charged forward, his hammer raised. He brought it down on the head of the nearest unsuspecting zombie, surprised at the ease of which it tore through its head. He heard a shuffling behind him and spun on the ball of his foot, and was yanked downward as the zombie attached to his hammer sank to the ground, dragging him with it. With a yell, he kicked his latest assailant in the chest, buying himself a few seconds respite. Turning back around, he firmly grasped the handle with both hands and heaved, the hammer sprung free of the muck with a wet, squelching sound. In the same motion he spun around again and drove the sharp end into the second zombie's temple. Its moans ceased as the hammer destroyed its brain. It toppled over and Jonas grinned. 2 more blows resulted in the "death" of 2 more of the creatures. He glanced over at Aki. She seemed to be holding her own. Having taken 2 down already, she was steadily working on her third. Jabbing it through and through, over and over until its body forfeited the battle, too battered to continue. Her face was alight with grim determination. Turning his attention back to the now dwindling crowd of zombies, Jonas waded through the mess, inflicting as much damage as he could. He maintained a somber expression as he landed blow after blow, the hammer smashing through bone as easy as it might smash cardboard. When the last of the freaks had fallen, its chest staved in by Jonas' hammer, the students on the top of the lunch table hopped down.
"Thanks. I'm Carver" said the male student shortly. He hefted the fire extinguisher he had been swinging around from the pipe. His female partner dropped her arm, in it was a 2X4; she looked up and smiled sweetly. The smile contrasted oddly with the fresh blood that painted her visage. "Yeah, you'd probably be bashing our heads in too if you'd been a few minutes later. I'm Hailey Cook"
The third girl wiped the blade of a butcher knife on the hem of her skirt, she raised her hand in greeting "I'm Amamiya. You can call me Amaya"
"I'm Aki! And this is Jonas" Aki offered cheerfully.
"Right. Now that we're all properly acquainted, we need to get out of here. Unfortunately, I've got the Ducati today, so that's no good." Jonas interjected.
"So we're sticking together then? What'd I tell you about strays!" asked Aki.
"If we don't, we probably die." he said simply.
"When I ran inside, I saw the buses sitting in the parking lot. There had to be at least 20 of 'em. We need to get to the office and grab the keys." informed Hailey.
"Sounds like a plan." Jonas replied.
Everyone turned to Carver, who simply nodded. Behind him, the second pair of doors on the opposite side of the Cafeteria burst open. Two students ran inside, panting from exertion. They looked up and the male said "Easy, guys. We're no threat."
Jonas lowered his hammer, the rest of his "group" followed suit. He hadn't even realized he had poised himself for attack. What is wrong with me?, he asked himself.
"I'm Takuya. This is the Goddess of Love" said the boy, his messy blond hair was in disarray and streaked with blood.
The girl had regained her breath and she smacked Takuya in the arm. "I'm Aphy. Short for Aphrodite."
"Well, you guys should stick with us. The more people we have, the better. We're going need as many people as we can get" Jonas offered. He heard Aki sigh behind him.
Takuya and Aphy looked at each other. They looked back at Jonas and smiled.
"I'm in" said Takuya.
"Me too!" Aphy chimed in.
"Then it's settled. To the office we go." Jonas said.
