Scenario 10: Sweetbreads
The group returned to Ms. Hertz's classroom. Aelita fetched a first aid kit inside Ms. Hertz's desk and began helping Ulrich and Tina patch up Yumi and Darren's wounds. There was nothing seriously wrong with either of them. Most of their pains came from the fatigue of having ran halfway across the city. Yumi had a few bad scrapes on her legs from where she had fallen earlier and Darren still had the nasty cut on his cheek that Mrs. Ishiyama had given him. His knuckles had seen better days as well. Ulrich helped Yumi on top of the Ms. Hertz's desk and she gingerly rolled up the legs of her pants to reveal the multitude of scratches and bruises. Tina sat Darren down in Ms. Hertz's chair and took a handful of gauze bandages from Ulrich with a word of thanks.
"What happened?" Tina asked. "Where's Chris and the others?"
"They weren't with me when I escaped Alexander." Darren said as she poured a generous amount of antiseptic onto the bandage. "I don't know where they are."
"Was the fort really that bad?" William asked.
"Worse." Darren replied as he wiped the dried blood from his face with a bandage. "The fort looked like hell itself had clawed its way out of the ground."
"What the hell is going on?" Yumi asked looking at Ulrich.
"You... haven't heard anything?" Ulrich asked lowering the box of band aids he was applying to her smaller scratches.
"I've been running all day." Yumi said. "Both of us. I was at my house and..."
She stopped.
"Those things attacked." She said finally. "I was about to be torn apart and then Darren showed up and saved me. What the hell are those things? What's wrong with those people?"
"Well in a word?" Odd asked sitting on a stool next to Yumi. "Zombies."
"What!" Yumi exclaimed nearly knocking the box of bandages from Ulrich's hand.
Ulrich growled under his breath and mentally praised Odd for his tactfulness. Yumi looked at Ulrich questioningly, her mouth hanging open in shock.
"Y-yeah." He said. "That's- That's pretty much it."
"What Odd means." Jeremie began. "Is something is causing the corpses of the recently dead to re-animate."
"The dead are coming back to life and attacking the living." Aelita said. "The CDC has been trying to find an answer but so far they haven't come up with anything. The last thing we heard was that whatever this is is transferred through contact with infected blood. Bites and scratches won't infect you in and of themselves but the blood is highly contagious."
Yumi looked down at her hands and clothes in fear.
"D-don't worry!" Aelita said quickly. "The virus replicates very rapidly. If you were infected you probably would have turned by now. The shortest time that had been reported was a matter of seconds while the longest was two hours."
"I feel like I'm going to be sick." Yumi muttered lifting herself off the table.
"I'll take you to the bathroom." Ulrich offered.
Yumi smiled at him and nodded weakly. He helped her out of the classroom and down the hall to the girl's restroom. After they had left Tina turned to Darren and passed him another length of bandages.
"Darren? Where's the Sarge?" Tina asked fearing she already knew the answer.
"KIA." He muttered as he began wrapping his battered knuckles.
"Sorry." She said quietly.
Darren didn't say anything. The police radio on his belt crackled to life and a faint voice laced with static could be heard on the other end.
"-ren? Da- -ren? -ome in! Hello?"
Darren stood up and grimaced at a pain in his side. He took the radio off of his belt and began fiddling with the dials trying to get a stronger signal.
"We can try the roof." Jeremie said standing up.
Darren nodded.
Everyone exited the teacher's lounge and took the stairs up to the roof. Immediately the radio cleared up and Darren put it to his ear.
"This is Darren dispatch go ahead."
"Thank god!" Jillian exclaimed into her head set. "I lost visual on CCTV when you entered the school! Are you guys all right?"
"We're fine." Darren replied. "We made it into the school and we've met up with about a dozen other survivors."
"That's great news!" Jillian smiled.
"That won't mean much if we are stuck here by ourselves." Jeremie said. "What's the situation on your end?"
"The GIGN managed to get a foot hold." Jillian replied acknowledging the new voice. "They're launching a counter assault against the Burners and are going to clear the area for the army to move in. Once that's out of the way the GIGN will start making their way to Kadic. We may not have to evacuate at all. Just hold out long enough for the army to arrive and start working on cleaning up the city. Just hold out a little longer guys." She said.
"Roger that dispatch. Out." Darren said.
He turned off the radio and handed it to Jeremie to hold onto.
"So this is good news right?" Sam asked looking over at Odd. "All we have to do is stay up here and wait it out."
Odd smiled at her and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Yeah babe. We just got to keep our heads down."
The sun finally set and darkness fell over the city. The air was cold and the light of the pale moon was obscured by clouds. Over the distant sound of sirens and gunfire, the deep rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance.
"Storms coming." Jeremie said. "Let's head back inside."
Everyone turned to leave but Tina stayed. She looked over the city, nervously biting her lower lip out of worry for her brother.
"Come on." Darren said behind her. "We don't need to be out here anymore."
"Do you think he's okay?" Tina asked.
She felt his hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked up at him.
"He's fine. He won't die until I tell him to."
Tina half smiled and followed Darren downstairs.
Back down in the teacher's lounge they had found a case of water bottles and a box of fruit bars in a cupboard along with some old coffee filters.
"Strawberry." Odd said mournfully staring at the fruit bar Sam had given him. "It would be strawberry. Leave it to the world to end before lunch time."
"Sorry Hun. If you want you can jog on down to the cafeteria. See if there's any left overs." Sam said with a sarcastically.
"Oh she's funny." Odd muttered tearing the wrapper off of the snack and eating half of it with one bite.
"Here's your sword by the way." Terry said handing Ulrich his wakizashi.
"Oh thanks." Ulrich said taking it.
"I got some other stuff too." Terry said unzipping the duffel bag he had brought from the dorms. "I don't know if I got everything though. I just grabbed what was on the wall."
"That was everything." Ulrich said. "I appreciate it."
"No problem. You have a respectable collection."
Ulrich smiled as he started looking through his small arsenal of martial arts weapons.
"Wasn't sure what that was though." Terry said pointing to a small rectangular object with a Velcro strap.
"It's a holster for the shuriken." Ulrich explained. "can hold up to twenty."
"Cool."
"You weren't half bad with the sword." Ulrich remarked as he began loading the sharp four pointed stars into the holster.
"Yeah. I was a member of the kendo club at my old school. I was going to be the chairman until my dad got a transfer.
Ulrich nodded.
"I tried to talk Jim into starting one a few months ago."
"Yeah." Terry nodded. "Yeah I remember. I signed the form that was tacked on the wall in front of the gym. Apparently not enough people were into it."
"The only reason the Pencak Silat club is still active is because of Yumi and me." Ulrich said. "How come you never joined?"
"Just not my style." Terry said with a smug grin. "I was always more into Kung Fu."
"Tell you what." Ulrich said.
He unsheathed the sword and inspected the blade. It had a few noticeable nicks from hitting bone but other wise wasn't damaged that much. The strokes Terry made when fighting were, for the most part, precise and true.
"You hold onto the sword. I'm good with the bat. And take a pair of the nunchaku if you can use them. Everyone should be carrying a weapon of some kind."
"Really?" Terry asked. "Thanks. I'll take good care of them."
"Can I take one of those knives?" Desmond asked.
"Yeah sure. Go ahead." Ulrich nodded handing Desmond one of the longer throwing knives.
" 'Ey, oo." Odd said to Desmond through a mouthful of food.
Desmond looked over at him questioningly, not sure what Odd had said.
Odd swallowed and continued.
"Did you happen to see my dog when you were in our dorm room?"
"No sorry." Desmond replied shaking his head. "We didn't really have time to look though. We just grabbed what we could."
"Aw man." Odd said his face darkening with worry.
"I'm sure Kiwi's fine Odd." Aelita said patting his shoulder. "He's smart. He's probably hiding out somewhere. We'll find him."
"I can't stand the thought of my little diggity dog out there alone! I need to feed him! He's too small to take care of himself!"
"I'm more concerned with getting food for us." Jeremie said. "We need supplies. The army may be on its way but we don't know how long we might be stuck here."
"There's a vending machine on the first floor!" Odd said sitting up straight. "We could run down there and clear it out!"
"Is that a good idea?" Desmond asked. "It's dark after all. We don't know what could be stumbling around down there."
"I got a flashlight." Darren said. "We should clear the building anyway."
He looked over to Ulrich.
"How many rounds do you have left?"
"About ten or so."
"Okay." Daren nodded.
He had been cleaning the SIG Pro as best as he could and finally got it working again. He racked the slide and left the handgun on the coffee table having split the last magazine between the SIG and his M9.
"We'll take the guns as back up but don't use them if you can help it."
"Who's all going?" Ulrich asked. "We need to keep it small. No more than five."
"Me!" Odd exclaimed hopping up. "They had better restocked the honey rolls or there will be hell to pay!"
"I'll go." William said.
"I'll tag along." Sam added.
"You sure?" Odd asked.
"Yeah. It's no big deal. Someone needs to watch your ass." She said.
"Okay. Let's go." Darren said.
The hallways of Kadic were dark and eerie. Ulrich and the others had wandered around the campus at night all the time after lights out but never really had a reason to explore the science department. He and Darren were in the front of the group, Darren holding his knife and flashlight akimbo, carefully scanning the halls for any sign of the walking dead. Behind them were Odd, William and Sam, weapons drawn and on the alert.
"School always creeped me out during the day." Odd said in a hushed whisper. "This is something like a nightmare."
Darren hushed him quietly. He held up the hand he held the knife in, keeping his flashlight aimed at a doorway just down the hall.
"Thought I heard something." He said in a quiet voice.
He motioned for them to follow him and they quietly approached the door. When they got within arms reach a dark figure leapt out of the shadows and snarled at them. It was a six year girl with long dark hair still wearing her pajamas. Darren quickly buried his knife into her chest and pinned her against the wall. Ulrich slammed his bat down on her head and caved in her skull.
"I knew her." He said quietly as Darren pulled the knife free and let her limp body slide to the floor. "She was nice."
"Not anymore." Darren said wiping the blade clean on his jeans.
They continued down the hall and cleared every class room they passed. Then the next floor and finally they reached the ground floor.
"Vending machines are right in the middle of the hall." Odd said.
"Let's just take it nice and slow." Ulrich said. "If we die over a damned snack cake I'll kill you Odd."
They moved down the hall as quietly as they could.
"Silent as the grave." Sam remarked quietly.
It was true. The entire building was as quite as a graveyard. It was an eerie silence as opposed to a comforting one. Finally they came to the vending machine. Inside was a single light bulb that illuminated the contents inside, shining like a beacon in the stark darkness.
"Oh thank god!" Odd said quietly jogging up to the machine.
"Pies! Ulrich!" He whispered excitedly. "They got pies! I heard they were going to start stocking them but-"
"Shh!" Ulrich hissed. "Just get the damned food!"
Odd reached into his pocket and began fumbling around for his money.
"Shit." He gasped.
"Don't tell me..." Ulrich muttered angrily.
"Sam do you-"
"No." She said stiffly. "You still owe me for dinner last week."
"Gah!" Odd moaned.
"Darren you have any cash?" Ulrich asked.
Darren shook his head.
"Why don't we just smash it?" Odd asked desperately. "I mean, there's no point in asking politely and we need all the food we can get."
"Fine." Ulrich said. "Just be quick."
Odd picked up a fire extinguisher on the wall and slammed it into the glass as hard as he could. The glass shattered and fell to the ground making a loud clinking sound.
"Ha! Now-"
Suddenly an alarm went off from the vending machine, a loud ringing that rivaled a fire alarm.
"The fuck?" Odd exclaimed.
"A burglar alarm! Seriously?" Sam cried.
"Who wires a vending machine!" William yelled.
"Just unplug the damn thing!" Darren yelled.
Ulrich fumbled behind the machine and yanked the cord out of the wall. The siren died down instantly but the damage had been done. Down the hall they heard the sounds of the damned things shrieking like mad. Darren shined the flashlight down where they had come from and saw several shapes moving in the darkness.
Ulrich cursed as Odd began grabbing as many snacks as he could carry.
"Just grab what you can!" Ulrich said. "Come on!"
They broke into a run down the opposite way.
"Damn damn damn!" Odd yelled as they ran through the shadows.
"I hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!" Darren roared.
"We gotta get to the stairs!" Sam yelled.
"No!" Ulrich argued. "If we go up the stairs we'll lead them to the others!"
"What then!" Sam asked desperately.
"We go back outside!" Ulrich said.
"What?"
Ulrich led them down the hall until they reached the set of heavy double doors that led back out to the school grounds. He shoved them open and kicked the door stop down to keep the door open. The black sky lit up for a brief second as a bolt of lightning flashed across the night sky.
"Come on! We can run to the gym from here!" Ulrich said.
"Lead the way!" Darren called over the roar of thunder.
A zombie a few feet away charged at them and Darren rammed his knife into the monster's throat. He gave the blade a sharp twist and nearly decapitated the creature. The group ran as fast as they could, leading the things behind them away from the classroom building.
"This way!" Ulrich yelled holding the gym door open.
The others darted through and Ulrich left the door open for those things to follow them. They ran through the gymnasium, their shoes squeaking loudly on the waxed wooden floor. Another flash of light came from the windows outside and illuminated the interior of the gym. Ulrich could make out three bodies laying on the ground. There may have been more but he couldn't tell.
"Jim's office! There's a door that leads outside!" Ulrich called.
"Damn it!" Darren yelled shining the light behind him.
In the door way were several of the creatures, growling and snarling like animals. The few bodies on the ground stirred and started to get up. Darren sheathed his knife and drew his handgun. He fired three shots, dropping two zombies. Ulrich drew his and fired two, hitting one zombie in the head and another in the chin.
"Into the office!" Ulrich called. "This way!"
They followed Ulrich into Jim's small office and shut the door behind them. Odd and William shoved their weight into the door as it began to rattle and shake. Darren and Ulrich grabbed a weight bench and shoved it in front of the door, letting Odd and William move out of the way.
"We good?" Odd asked.
"Yeah." Ulrich replied gasping for breath. "Yeah I think we-"
The small glass window on the door shattered and a gray skinned, blood covered hand reached through and grabbed a hold of Odd.
"FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU-" Odd cried in fear.
Darren pulled out his gun and started to aim.
"Can't get a shot!" He yelled.
There was a whiz of air and an arrow planted itself in the zombies forehead just above its right eye. It let out a gurgled death rattle and released Odd before falling backwards away from the window.
"What the- who?"
Odd looked up at Sam who was holding one of the wooden long bows used by the archery team.
"S-Sam? How?" Odd gaped.
"I took the gold medal for archery at summer camp." She explained. "Four years in a row."
"Fucking A." Odd smiled in relief as Ulrich pulled him to his feet.
Sam picked up a quiver containing several more arrows and slung it over her shoulder.
"Let's go." Ulrich said.
They left Jim's office through the side door and crept back up to the front of the gymnasium. There Ulrich closed the doors careful not to draw the attention of the zombies still inside. Relieved to be in one piece the group then made their way to the teacher's lounge in the science building.
"How'd it go?" Yumi asked as they came back.
Odd turned out the pockets of his hoodie and an avalanche of sweets and other assorted junk food rained down from his arms. He reached down and grabbed a snack cake, eagerly tearing off the paper with his teeth. He took a massive bite that left only a tiny crescent behind.
"Oh 'eah." He said nodding at Darren. "Otally 'orth eh."