It knew only pain. It no longer had the words for these feelings, but it knew how to make the pain less. It's eyes were always burning, but in the darkness, it was not as bad. The orange film that clouded its vision responded harshly to light, and it quickly learned to avoid it. But then there was sound. Oh, how it hated sound! Even the faintest noise made its head throb in agony. It would clutch the fleshy little things on the side of its head to make the pain stop. If the sound did not go away quickly, it grew angry. It would silence the sound at any cost, even if it meant more pain from moving.
"Look at 'em out there." Ellis whispered, his eyes watching the few infected near the safehouse door.
Zack walked up behind him and looked out. They weren't moving at all, just sitting or leaning with their heads pressed up against the wall.
"They aren't like zombies I seen in movies." Ellis continued.
"Expecting them to start dancing?" Nick smirked.
"Naw, you know what I mean. That would be cool though."
"Okay, everyone. If you're all reloaded let's head out." Coach spoke.
The moon was high and full in the sky as the eight unfortunate survivors moved across the blood-stained pavement. It seemed that the closer they got to the stadium, the more the zombies seemed to double and triple in numbers. A balled-up newspaper rolled across the stretch on concrete in front of them like a tumble weed before a shoot-out as they came upon a large scaffolding near the iron gate to the Peach Pit. A few scattered gas cans littered the enclosed area between buildings, and they would not be able to continue until the gate was opened.
"It looks like we don't have much of an option." Nick announced as he approached the gate. "We sound an alarm and then wait for zombies to rip out our guts. Look at them all over there."
"Actually...I think I have an idea." Morgan spoke up. She was leaning on Ellis for support, her side burning from the pain of a freshly ripped wound.
"What's that?" Coach asked.
"See those gas cans?" Morgan asked as she pointed a few out. "Put two in front of the gate, one by the wall next to it, and if there is one left, put it behind the scaffolding. Then, seven of us climb up onto it, like a deer stand."
"I get what yer saying." Ellis smiled, "We shoot the zombies from up on the scaffold. But what's the cans for?"
"Once the other person hits the button to open the gate, they run back and get on the scaffolding. Then four of you each shoot a gas can. Trust me."
"That may just be the stupidiest idea I've ever agreed with." Nick smirked.
Rochelle and Alan gathered up two gas cans and set them up by the gate where Morgan suggested while Zack and Kaylee set up the other two. Once everyone but Ellis was safely up above the ground, Ellis smashed the button to open the electric gate. There was a high pitched noise as the gate opened and he ran back as fast as he could before the horde arrived. He pulled himself up onto the wooden platform just as Morgan, Kaylee, Coach, and Rochelle fired their guns and ignited the red cans. There was a small explosion of intense heat as they caught fire and formed a flaming sea around the scaffolding. Infected hissed and yelled out as their skin boiled and burned away after they dumbly climbed over the fences and fell into the blaze. Those that lived through the burning were quickly shot down. This went on for some time as the fires slowly dwindled down. Finally it was safe enough to cross.
They stepped over the charred remains of the infected and rounded the corner to the large stadium doors. Giant posters announced the show for the Midnight Riders as they walked inside.
"I love the Midnight Riders." Coach smiled. "I have all their albums, even the new ones that ain't no good."
"Can we focus, please?" Nick sighed.
To their surprise, the stadium was nearly empty. From what they could see, only three lonely infected had wandered into the stands.
"Looks like we walked into a Nickleback concert by mistake." Morgan laughed.
This got a chuckle out of the group, but it didn't last. They walked down in front of the stage and looked around. They would be able to start the show, that was for sure, but nobody seemed too excited to do so.
"Do you hear that?" Alan spoke up.
"Hear what?" Rochelle asked.
"Exactly." Alan sighed. "There haven't been any choppers in over an hour. If we start that show now, the only thing that's going to see it is whatever infected are still in the surrounding area."
"I hate to say it, but I think Alan is right." Zack frowned.
"Let's not give up yet." Morgan said. "This is probably the safest place we've wandered into so far. If some of us stay up near the lights, and the rest of us stay near the sound, we can wait until we hear another helicopter and start this bad boy up then."
"Well, it's not like we can walk back out there now. I'd hate to waste our only chance." Coach nodded.
"There's some vending machines up there by the light board we can raid." Ellis pointed.
"Nice eye, come on, Ellis." Nick gestured as he scaled up the stadium bleachers. Ellis climbed up after him, leaving the others to come up with a plan.
"There's eight of us." Coach said, "So we can keep four by each post."
"I don't mind staying down here on the stage." Rochelle said.
"I'll stay down here too." Alan said. "I don't like heights very much."
"That's two then. Morgan, what do you say?" Coach asked.
"Well, someone needs to keep an eye on those two." She laughed, pointing at Ellis and Nick.
"I'd rather stay down here." Kaylee said, pulling herself up onto the stage.
"Me too." Zack nodded.
"Then it's settled." Coach said. "Morgan, you need any help getting up there?"
"I think I can manage." She replied, stepping away from where she had been leaning against the stage.
Nick looked carefully at the food behind the glass. "Chips, chocolate, some kind of breath mints..."
"Got any choco choppers?" Ellis asked. "Those are Coach's favorite."
"Yeah, there's a few in there."
"I don't have any change with me."
Nick laughed and turned around, "You don't need any money, Ellis." He took Ellis' hunting rifle out of his hands and slammed it against the glass butt-end first. The glass shattered and fell inside the vending machine and down by their feet. "It's on me."
Ellis and Nick laughed as they reached in and pulled out as much junk food as they could. Once Coach and Morgan joined them, they settled in near the light board and had a snack.
"I ever tell you about the time me and Keith tried to make our own fireworks?" Ellis asked, "Now, I didn't know shit about chemistry but Keith figured gasoline burns right? Third degree burns over 90 percent of his body. The doctor had to call a few other doctors because he'd never seen burns over existing burns before."
"Ellis, I got a question for you and I don't mean to offend by asking it." Coach said, back against the light board.
"Shoot." He smiled, chewing on a beef stick.
"How the Hell does your friend Keith survive all that crazy shit?"
Ellis laughed so hard he almost started to choke, "I asked him the same thing before. He says he is indestructable, like Kevin Bacon in the movie Hollow man."
"What?" Nick said, "He wasn't indestructable."
"Yeah but he got set on fire a couple times and lived." Ellis pointed out.
"Kaylee...I want to talk to you." Zack said as he followed her across the stage.
"I already thanked you for saving me."
"No, not that. About us."
She turned around and looked at him, "What is there to talk about? You got mad when I said I didn't want a serious relationship and told everyone at school that I was a cheating slut. Now you want to talk about us? My senior year was a nightmare because of you!"
"Kaylee, I'm sorry! It was stupid. I was stupid! I just thought what we were doing actually meant something to you like it did me."
"It did, okay? I was afraid of commitment. So, thank you for backing up that fear." She snapped.
"Can we start over fresh? Be friends?"
"No." Kaylee answered coldly. "Not now. Maybe, if we survive this. But right now, I don't care what happens to you. Just stay out of my face."
Zack shoved his hands into his pockets and walked back to where Alan was helping Rochelle paint her nails. This confused him.
"Uh...what are you doing?"
"He's doing my left hand for me." Rochelle replied.
"Why?"
"Because I'm left handed." She explained.
"I mean why are you even bothering to paint your nails? We're in the middle of a zombie invasion." Zack sighed.
"That doesn't mean we aren't allowed to enjoy the things we used to enjoy." Rochelle explained. "If we don't take the chance to be human the few times the chance arises, we'll go insane."
"You agree with that?" Zack asked Alan.
He looked up as he screwed the cap back on Rochelle's little red bottle of nail varnish. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"
Zack sat down and rested his head on his hand. "How do you even know how to paint nails anyway? Isn't that a chick thing?"
"I had a younger sister before this." Alan replied.
Ellis got up and climbed over a fallen soda machine to get into the men's bathroom. He had his rifle with him, not just for zombies but also because it had a flashlight and the bathrooms were dark. He made a quick check of every stall, but opted for the urinal on the wall to relieve himself. After zipping up, he walked over to the sinks to see if the water still worked. He turned on the faucet to no avail, but saw that the soap dispenser was full. He lathered up his hands with it, scrubbing dry dirt and blood off as best he could. Wiping the grim off with a towel, he saw a metal box hanging on the wall by the paper towels. He shown his light over it and read the small labels over the slots. It was a type of vending machine that had everything from cologne to pain-killers.
"You okay in here?" Nick asked as he walked in.
"Yeah. Hey, look at this thing."
Nick walked over and shown his light on it. "Nice find. Let's see if we can open it."
"What do you want from it?" Ellis asked, helping his friend pull it off the wall.
"It's got asprin, and a little cologne wouldn't hurt."
"You smell alright to me."
"I'm talking about you." Nick laughed, wedging his crow bar under the lock.
It wasn't hard to break it open. Nick bent down and picked up the packages of asprin. They were in little individual packages of two. Once outside, he planned on opening them all and putting them into the asprin bottle they picked up a while ago. Ellis rooted through the little cologne samples, wondering if he really did smell that bad. He sniffed under his arm and nearly gagged.
Nick laughed, "Told you. There's plenty of wet napkins in here for you to get some of the stink off. If you're okay in here, I'm heading back out."
"Yeah alright." He replied, pulling off his ripe shirt and scooping up the wipes. He opened a few and scrubbed his chest and arms as well as he could, suddenly longing for a hot shower. Then he tore open a cologne packet and rubbed it across his collarbones and under his arms. It was better than nothing. After pulling on his shirt, he gave one last look through the tiny treasure trove. He laughed to himself about how everything in here came in some kind of little square package. Turning one over in his palm, he read the lettering. 'Trojan'. He looked around the room again, seeing if Nick had really left. The coast was clear. He picked up two more and shoved them in his pocket before walking back out.
"I should've gone up with them." Zack sighed. "I didn't know that staying on the floor meant I'd be playing beauty salon."
"Oh please." Rochelle laughed, "You are so cranky."
Rochelle was giving Alan a much-needed hair cut while they waited for signs of a helicopter. She'd already trimmed up Kaylee's bangs.
"They're up there eating and sitting around." Zack pointed. "What's next? Are you going to teach us the bend and snap?"
"I already know the bend and snap." Alan laughed.
Kaylee laughed so hard she had to hold her noise to prevent her water from coming out of it. "Alan, don't be funny while I'm drinking!"
"Sorry, I didn't know you were. I can't move my head yet."
"You know, Zack, I can give you one next. You've got more hair in your face than on your head."
"No thank you. I like my hair the way it is."
Morgan walked along with Ellis across the stadium bleachers. Every so often, she would set down one of the boxes of fireworks they picked up, look back up at the large towering scaffolding, move the box, then keep walking.
"You really think these will ignite the way the gas did?" Ellis asked, handing her another box from the small pile in his arms.
"We can only hope. So far I've had good luck making things explode."
"I never would've come up with any of this stuff. I see an infected and I shoot it or hit it, but I like the way you do it."
She smiled at him, "I like the way you do it too, but I'm not as sturdy as you are. I need to use the world around me to stand a chance."
"Sturdy? What do you mean?"
"Sturdy." She smirked, stopping to talk to him face-to-face. "You've got broad, firm shoulders and strong arms..."
He blushed and looked down, a smile plastered to his face. "I took a karate lesson once..."
Morgan giggled and put her hand under his chin, bringing his face up to hers. "You smell nice too."
Thank you, Nick! Ellis continued to smile at her, arms full of fireworks.
"Kiss me." She whispered. He leaned his face in to hers and met her soft lips with his eager kiss. He was certain the boxes would ignite in his arms from the heat of it, but thankfully only Keith was that unlucky. The boxes fell from his hands as he dropped them, wrapping his arms around her slender waist.
It knew only pain. It no longer had the words for these feelings, but it knew how to make the pain less. When the thing approached it, shining light into its burning eyes, it could not control itself. It ran toward the thing with the light, clawed at its warm fleshy parts as it emmited horrible noise. It had to make the noise stop! It bit down on the fleshy thing's shoulder.
The pilot shoved the infected off of him, fired at it with his pistol until it moved no more. "Fucking mother fucker!" He cursed, pulling his jacket on over the wound. "A man can't even stop to piss around here any more."
He climbed back into his chopper and took off. If he cut over the old Whispering Oaks carnival, he might be able to catch up with the other choppers.