Stan Of The Dead
This is the final chapter! Sorry for the delay, but I've been busy and haven't had much time to write recently.
Chapter 14
There was a short silence after Wendy spoke.
"Are you insane?" Bebe asked.
"Look, I get it. You're scared. There's a strong chance that we might die," Wendy said. "But I'd rather die this way than as a coward."
"You're not really selling this plan to us, Wendy," Cartman said.
"What she means is that we can either sit here and die, or fight," Stan said. "I'm totally with her. What about the rest of you?"
Nobody replied, but Clyde, Craig ,Token and Heidi fetched the four remaining pool cues. The zombies slowly closed the gap even further.
"Cartman, now would be a great time to become a really good shot," Stan said, as they backed away.
"Even you can't miss from here," Kyle said.
"Wanna bet?" Kenny muttered.
"Screw you Kenny." Cartman took aim at the nearest zombie's head and fired but again he missed, the shot earthing itself in the ceiling.
"Okay, that was a good try," Stan said, his voice full of false brightness, like a teacher talking to a dim pupil. "Now try aiming six feet lower and you've got him."
Cartman gritted his teeth and fired. This time the shot was on target. It blew the top of the zombie man's head off and he slumped to the floor. The others piled on top of him leaving a small gap for the kids to slip through. They ran to the counter while the zombies were occupied and climbed over. They all would have made it, too, if they hadn't been noticed by some of the other zombies who'd been unable to get close enough to feast on the dead one.
They surged towards the escaping kids and blocked off the gap. Kenny and Red, who were at the back of the group, found themselves cut off and surrounded. They stood back to back, terrified and weaponless.
The other kids could had already climbed over the counter before they realised what was happening. They watched in horror as the zombies closed in on their prey. Red screamed.
"Red!" Wendy cried. She tried to get back over the counter, but it was already too late. There was a series of horrible cracking sounds, which Stan realised must be breaking bones. Red's screams became gurgles. He gently took hold of Wendy and pulled her back.
"I'm sorry, Wendy," he whispered as she began to cry.
"Kenny!" Kyle shouted.
There was no response. The other zombies turned towards the counter.
"Dude, he's done for," Cartman said.
"The rest of us will be too, unless we do something!" Token shouted.
"Here, hold this." Cartman reloaded the gun and handed it to Butters, who took it reluctantly. He ran off in the direction of the kitchen.
"Cartman, what are you doing?" Kyle called after him.
Zombies began to pull themselves over the counter. The kids with pool cues hit out at them, trying to knock them back.
"Butters, you've got the gun!" Bebe shouted.
Butters looked down at it. He didn't have a very good history with guns. They always seemed to go off when he didn't want them to. "B-But - "
"Goddamit Butters, just shoot!" Kyle yelled.
Butters groaned. "All right then. But don't yell at me if things go wron - "
The gun went off in his hand – and the shot hit a young male zombie in the crotch. He moaned, although it was an altogether different moan than normal, and fell off the counter clutching his groin.
Butters turned to find Cartman standing behind him. The bigger boy gave him an exasperated look.
"But I didn't mean to!" Butters protested. "I wasn't even looking at that guy!"
"What's in the bottle, Cartman?" Kyle asked.
Cartman was holding a large white plastic bottle which contained some sort of orange liquid. The letters 'W.S.S.' had been written on the front in black marker pen. He grinned and began pouring it over the counter, splashing a few zombies in the process. Then he took a box of matches out of his pocket.
"Let's see how hot Willie's Special Sauce really is, shall we?" he said, still grinning dementedly.
He lit a match and threw it on to the counter.
There was a loud whooshing sound and flames shot up in front of them, with a heat so intense that it took Stan's breath away. The flames spread quickly along the counter, devouring the wood as well as a few zombies that got in the way.
"Let's go!" Stan shouted.
Just as they turned away, something orange leapt over the counter. It landed in a heap in front of them, slightly on fire. Stan and Kyle stamped out the flames and stared.
"Kenny?" Kyle asked.
Kenny raised his head to look at them. The bits of his face they could see were bone white and his orange parka was slowly turning red. He tried to stand, but his legs gave way. Stan and Kyle gently took his arms and held them around their shoulders.
"Thanks guys," Kenny said, his voice barely above a murmur.
Zombies began falling over the burning counter, still determined to get to the kids despite the fire. They ran away down the small hallway and into the kitchen. Behind them, they could hear the moans as some of the undead tried to follow them.
The back door of the kitchen led out into a narrow alleyway. Token cautiously peered outside.
"Is it clear?" Kyle asked.
Token shook his head. "There's some coming up the alley towards us."
"Enough for us to fight?" Stan asked.
"The alley's too narrow. We've got no chance. Unless..." Token's eyes fell on the gun, which Butters was still holding. "How many shots have we got left?"
Cartman reached into his pocket and opened his palm to reveal two cartridges. "That's it."
Stan glanced behind them at the door. The zombies in the diner were getting closer. "That'll have to do. Come on."
They piled out of the kitchen and faced the zombies shuffling up the alley. Stan could see what Token had meant about the alley being too narrow. There was barely room to swing a cat, let alone a pool cue.
Cartman snatched the gun from Butters, loaded the last two cartridges, and took aim.
"Give it here, Cartman," Kenny croaked.
Everybody looked at him in surprise. "Kenny?" Stan enquired.
"Let me go, guys," Kenny said to Stan and Kyle.
"But - " Kyle began to protest.
"You have to leave me here. We all know what's going to happen to me. But maybe I can save you guys. And myself."
Stan and Kyle exchanged glances and reluctantly lowered Kenny to the ground. He slumped back against the wall and held his hands out for the gun. Cartman shrugged and passed it to him. Kenny clicked the gun open to check the cartridges were in place.
"One for them, one for me," he said.
He looked up at his friends and pulled his hood back, revealing the dirty face and greasy blond hair that lay beneath it. He smiled.
"Goodbye you guys."
He took aim and fired at a hugely fat zombie at the front of the advancing group. Fortunately, Kenny was a much better shot than Cartman. The top of the zombie man's head exploded, splattering everything close to it with blood and chunks of brain. The other zombies surged towards the unexpected meal, the kids temporarily forgotten.
Stan looked at Kenny, wiping away his tears. "Thanks Ken."
Kenny nodded. "Go," he rasped.
He watched his friends run away down the alley, dodging past the feasting zombies and gathered up his remaining strength to lift the gun one more time. He gripped it, but he was weak from blood-loss, and his arms wouldn't move. The gun slipped out of his loosening grip and fell harmlessly to the ground.
"No, please. I don't want to become one of those things," he whispered.
But it was no good. He was so tired. Rest now. Shut your eyes and it'll all be over...
He tried to stop it, but he could feel the weariness spreading to every inch of his battered body. It felt like his very soul was aching. Sometimes, you just had to stop fighting. Kenny's eyes closed and his head slumped silently on to his chest. A moment later, his eyes opened again, but there was nothing behind them now. He looked up and down the alley and began to moan.
The fourth graders ran out of the alley into the street. It was pitch dark, save for a couple of streetlights. They looked around.
Thick black smoke was pouring out of Willie's, enveloping the remaining zombies that hadn't got inside the diner. As they tried to get away from the smoke, they shuffled unwittingly towards the kids.
"Aw crap," Cartman said.
Stan did a quick head-count. There were about twenty of them. Too many to fight.
"Oh come on! Really?" he shouted, to no-one in particular. Just one little bit of luck, that was all they needed. Was that really too much to ask?
"Run!" Bebe shouted.
They turned to run and were dazzled by several sets of fast moving headlights. They dived for the safety of the sidewalks as five huge Army trucks skidded to a halt. Stan watched, openmouthed, as soldiers jumped out of the trucks, machine guns in hand, and charged towards the zombies. He looked away and put his hands over his ears as the sound of gunfire echoed around the deserted street. Only when the noise had died away did he dare to look. A pile of undead bodies littered the street and some of the soldiers were slapping each other on the back. Stan shuddered and looked away again.
"Stan? Stan?" This was a much more welcome sound.
"Mom?"
Stan's family appeared around the side of one of the trucks and ran towards him. More parents were climbing out of the backs of the others, calling their children.
Sharon Marsh scooped her son up into her arms and held him tightly.
"Dad!" Stan let go of his mum and jumped into Randy's arms. He peered over his father's shoulder at his sister. "Shelley," he said, his voice neutral.
"You survived then, turd," Shelley said. She radiated disappointment.
Stan grinned. "Yep."
Behind Shelley, he could see Kyle, who was almost being kissed to death by his mum. Beyond them he saw Kenny, Jason and Red's parents circling, still looking for their kids. They were the only ones who hadn't been reunited. Stan swallowed hard.
"Mom, can we go home now?" he asked in a small voice.
"Yes," Sharon said. She looked tired. "Let's go home."
The zombie invasion dominated the news for days afterwards. Stan didn't pay much attention to it, all he knew was that some important people had been fired over the radiation spill. The media were obsessed, however. They even gave it a special name: Z-Day.
The remaining zombies had either been killed or rounded up. The ones that had survived were being put to use doing the jobs that no-one else wanted to do, such as collecting shopping carts at supermarkets, working the fields on farms and being contestants on cheap reality TV shows.
The elementary school re-opened a few days later. Even though it had been thoroughly cleaned, Stan could still make out faded bloodstains on the floor of the hallway.
He arrived in Mr Garrison's classroom to a surprise. Kenny and Jason were sitting at their desks, but their hands and legs were shackled by chains attached to the wall. They moaned softly. Stan looked at Mr Garrison, eyebrows raised.
"The zombie children still deserve an education, according to the goddamn human rights pussies," Mr Garrison said.
Stan took a seat as far away from the two zombies as he could. He was taking his books out of his bag when a shadow fell over his desk.
"Hi Wendy."
"Hey Stan. Mind if I sit next to you?"
"Go ahead." She sat down and began getting her own books out.
Stan frowned. He and Wendy hadn't spoken since Z-Day.
"So how've you been?" she asked.
"Good. You?"
"Okay, I guess." She took a deep breath. Stan got the feeling she was trying to say something. "I'm sorry Stan."
"What for?"
"Everything." She paused. "I was wondering if we could try again. I miss you." She glanced at him. Stan was staring straight ahead, at the blackboard. "Stan?"
"I'd like to but..." he sighed, "I learned something Wendy. I tried to change for you, because you made me feel ashamed about who I am. But it's because of who I am, and the experiences that I've had, that helped us survive Z-Day. I'm proud of myself and what I've done. What I'm trying to say is, accept me as I am or we'll have no future."
Wendy smiled through her tears. "I will, I promise."
The bell rang. The rest of the kids hurried in and took their seats. Stan smiled at Kyle as he passed. It felt good to have his friends back around him again. He turned to Wendy.
"Do you want to hang out after school?"
"Sure. Shall we go to my house?"
"Nah." Stan grinned. "Let's go to Willie's."
Wendy grinned back. "I'd love to."
And that's it! Thanks to everyone who read the story, I hope you enjoyed it.