Chapter Twenty-Five— Desperation

CHIIRUP!

Drew wiped the strange goo from his face. He fired again with the powerful revolver, trying to kill the creature. He didn't understand how something so thin could take so many bullets. He had shot it twice, yet it refused to fall, ignoring its wounds. Drew could even see its ribs. It reminded him of a skeleton, another living corpse. It should have shattered when the crushing bullets of his revolver tore into it.

With his third shot, the creature fell, shaking wildly before falling still. Drew took the lull in the pandemonium to reload his revolver. As he did so, he counted his remaining rounds. He frowned with disappointment when he found only three more bullets left after his gun had been reloaded.

Perfect, Drew thought with disgust. Nine bullets left and it takes at least three to kill one of these things. You better use these wisely.

He looked around quickly, trying to gauge how many creatures remained. It was hard to tell; they moved so quickly, jumping around the room like giant, blood-thirsty grasshoppers. Logic told him it couldn't be anymore than ten, but logic didn't seem to hold its weight in a world where normalcy was turned upside down.

Drew looked over the second floor balcony. Below he saw Steve, surrounded by the creatures. The little girl, Annie, stood clutching his hand in terror. Drew raised his handgun, but he didn't dare fire. He was no soldier — his aim was decent at best. Any shot he took from this range with his magnum would do more harm then good.

He ran for the stairs, trying to get closer. When he saw one of the creatures lunge, slicing Steve across the back, he ran faster. Halfway down the steps, the creature swung again. He yelled out this time. "Steve!!"

Drew could see blood, the blood that poured from Steve's back, and the blood that stained the creatures claws. Like a bull, the sight of red infuriated him. He finally raised his gun. His anger drove his aim. His fury steadied his hand.

With thunderous vengeance, the gun rang. His aim couldn't have been truer. The first shot blew out the back of the first creature's skull. His second shot hit the second creature right in the back. It tried to scuttle away, but Drew gave it no quarter. He walked up to it quickly and fired three more shots into it. Just enough to make it lie still, permanently.

Drew's rage didn't end there. He wished for more creatures close by for once, just so he could shoot more. He wanted to see their blood spilled. He wanted to hear their cries. However, he knew to calm himself, for there was something much more important on hand. He turned back to Steve and rushed to his form.

The man gently set the girl aside, who remarkably remained untouched. With her safe, he collapsed to the floor. Drew finally reached him and slid to his knees. He knew what to expect, but he didn't want to believe it all the same. Not until he saw with his own eyes.

"Steve?!" He called, shaking the man's body. "Steve?"

His eyes remained close, and his mouth stayed tight. Surprisingly, his mouth was drawn into a thin lipped smile. Despite the blood everywhere, the man looked very peaceful. Compared to everything around him, the man looked like he was living in Eden.

Drew turned to the girl then and held out his hand to her. She quickly took it, moving in closer and actually wrapping her tiny self around him.

"Don't worry," Drew said. "Steve protected you, and I'll finish what he started. No one here is going to let anything happen to you."

The promise may have seemed empty, but Drew had every intent of keeping it. He shouldered the girl with his left hand, keeping her tucked safely and securely. In his other hand he kept his revolver, ready to defend.

There were still several of the creatures left, and they had to hold out until an opportunity arose.

Drew didn't like the odds. Nor did he like that he was holding onto the girl. They made an easy target for the creatures. Then, he remembered the librarian's office that Alex had spoke of.

"Come on, Annie," he said to the girl. "Let's get you somewhere these nasty bug-men can't get you."

He moved across the floor quickly, turning to cover every possible angle an attack could come from. A difficult task, for sure. The creatures seemed to be able to leap from nowhere straight into existence. He made sure to watch the ceiling especially.

By the grace of God, he made it to the door and tugged at the handle quickly. He had expected to find it locked, but he was ecstatic to find he was wrong. As he opened the door with his back to it, one of the creatures dropped from the ceiling in front of him. Annie screamed in his ears, but he remained calm.

"Cover your ears," Drew said. However, he didn't wait for her to comply. He needed to act quickly, or they both were dead. He raised his hand and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

BAM!!

The gun fired once and only once. He had forgotten to reload it after he had shot Steve's killers. He cursed his stupidity. He needed a new plan quick, one that would at least buy him some time to load his three last shots.

The one shot fired from the magnum clipped the creature in the shoulder. It turned, howling in pain. Before it could recover, Drew had slipped into the librarian's office, shutting the door behind him.

"Go to the desk!" Drew urged the girl as he set her on the floor. "Hide there and don't come out no matter what!" She didn't act quickly, but she did act. That was all that mattered to Drew. There was no guarantee that she would remain safe, but in Drew's mind, she faired much better than any of the rest.

The door to the library had a small window set in it. Through it, he saw the creature staring back at him with yellow, piercing eyes. Even through the door, he heard it screech, and it leapt towards the door.

Drew braced himself against it, and the creature bounced off. The door jarred, and he grunted to keep it from flying open. He couldn't do this all day; he had to get rid of it.

Anxiously, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the last three round for the magnum. He quickly loaded it, taking desperate care not drop any of the rounds. When he saw the creature gearing up for another assault, he cupped the last round in his hand so as not to lose it. He gritted his teeth in desperation and braced himself.

The creature, once again, threw itself at the door. The door held again, but the window did not. One of the claws punched through the window, spraying glass.

"Son of a bitch!" Drew yelled, shaking his hair and freeing the glass stuck in it. The claw stretched further through the window. Drew dropped down to his ass, keeping the door shut but staying out of the claws reach. There, he loaded his final bullet.

Thinking quickly, he stood up and grabbed the door handle. The door opened outward which was helpful in two ways: it was more resilient to opening from the creature's assault, and it also allowed him to open it towards the creature. That was exactly what he did.

With all of strength, he pushed the door open. The creature screeched as it lost its balance and smashed into the wall. Drew heard a sickening crunch as the creature was compressed between the door and the wall. It scuttled, chirped, madly flailing about to free itself.

Drew gritted his teeth again and pressed harder. As he did so, he raised the revolver with a free hand. The creature's head remained in the window, lined up perfectly. Its head thrashed side to side, imbedding the remaining shards of glass into its pale skin.

It didn't matter how much it thrashed, Drew managed to hold it back. Despite its loathsome appearance, the creature didn't seem much stronger than the average man, and Drew had all the leverage. With time it may have escaped, but Drew never gave it time. When he fired from such a close range, the skull completely obliterated as the bullet passed through it and into the dry wall.

"Gross!" Drew said, spitting to the floor. In the cranial explosion, chunks of blood and gore had found its way all over his face and even into his mouth. The taste was less than pleasant, to say the least.

Still grimacing with disgust, he turned back to the office. He couldn't see the girl, and that was good. He just hoped she would stay there until the coast was clear.

Will the coast ever be clear? Drew thought. Things look pretty hopeless right now. Little ammo, and no sign of their numbers dwindling.

He didn't give much weight to those thoughts though. He preferred to be hopeful. Hope would only last so long though. At this point, things were getting desperate.

xXxXx

As the trio moved closer to the library, it became impossible to ignore the gunshots. Without a word between them, they all began to run, Michael actually leading them.

Didn't they board up the doors? Neil thought. They had to have. It'd be just stupid not to, so how did the zombies manage to break through so quickly?

He realized he didn't have the time to wonder that, so he decided he could only run faster. As he ran, his eyes scanned the ceiling. The Crawlers had seemed to climb straight out of the darkest recesses of human imagination, but now that they had crawled into Neil's life, there was no denying them anymore. He had to keep his eye for it them, for he doubted that the two Josh and he had killed were the only ones. Michael had said himself that there were at least two more.

The trio approached a corner and Neil shouted directions quickly to save them time. "Left!"

"You don't think the Crawlers got into the library do you?" Michael asked, breathlessly.

"How would they get in?" Josh said, his breath a little steadier than the boy's.

"I left through the vents, and they seem to travel exclusively through them," Michael answered.

"Then we better hurry," Neil said gruffly behind them. "They're going to need the cavalry soon."

"Two men with barely any ammo and a kid without a gun," Josh said bitterly. "Some cavalry."

"Better than nothing."

Finally, the double-wide doors that led into the library were in view. All of three moved anxiously to it, and Josh pulled out the keys.

"Which one is it? Which one!"

Neil's mind fumbled the ball. He had so many keys on the chain; it was nearly impossible to distinguish which one was which. They couldn't test them all. By that time, everyone in the library would die, that much was evident.

"Damn it! Neil! Which fucking key?!"

Then, an image crystallized perfectly into his head. "The large silver one! Says '8A 20' on it!"

"Got it."

"Michael," Neil said. "Move back. You don't have a gun. Let us handle this."

"But my dad!"

"I bet more than anything your dad just wants you to be safe," Neil said. "He definitely doesn't want you to go running into danger without a way to defend yourself. So just stay here and wait, we'll handle it."

Neil and Josh raised their guns and ran through the doorway.

"Quick!" Josh yelled, managing to raise his voice above the gunfire. "We have a way out! Get over here now!"

The remaining survivors ran straight for the door. Christie was the first to reach them.

"Josh!" she exclaimed with fervor. "Thank God you're alright! We had to shut you out there. We were so worried you didn't make it."

"I'm fine," he said, half-paying attention to her. As she spoke to him, one of the Crawlers came scuttling across the ceiling. He raised his gun and fired, and Neil joined in. They dropped it quickly. "Had to go save Neil's ass. Where's Drew?"

"I-I don't know," Christie said, looking around. "He was just here a second ago."

Neil looked at Josh with remorse. From the drummers eyes, he could tell the man was already fearing the worse. If his friend had been killed by the Crawlers, Neil couldn't imagine what would happen to Josh. The man looked ready to collapse from emotional and physical fatigue.

When the bassist came up the stairs, both Neil and Josh breathed a sigh of relief.

A few more survivors passed Josh and Neil, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He had only a few shots left in his gun, and he needed to make sure every shot wasn't wasted.

"Look who it is!" Drew said as he reached them. "Man, am I glad to see you."

"Likewise," Josh answered, a smile on his face. "Now, let's get out of here. I'm tired of shooting these mutated grasshoppers." He looked around to make sure there were no more survivors. "Now, where's Steve?"

Drew shook his head. "He got clawed up pretty badly protecting that little girl." As he said this, his face went pale and he opened his mouth wide. He seemed to remember something important.

"Little girl?" Neil said quickly. "Is she alright? Where the hell is she!"

"Fuck!" Drew yelled. "I put her in the librarian's office on the first floor so she would stay safe! We have to go fucking get her right now."

Neil didn't say anything, just took off. Annie was in danger. With so many gunshots and screams, she was probably more frightened than she had ever been. He felt so bad leaving her behind, but he would make things right.

She was his world now, the only thing tying him to sanity. She was a reminder of how beautiful life could be, and he could never let her go. She was just a child.

"Neil!" Josh yelled behind him.

"Get to the roof!" Neil yelled back. "It's the only safe place! Also, there's more ammunition in the science lab. We kept it there just in case! I'll meet back up with you!"

He didn't look back then; he didn't dare. Looking back would only slow him down, and he needed to be quick to save Annie.

xXxXx

Josh watched Neil sprint, leaping over the bodies of those that had fallen, humans and Crawlers alike. One of the crawlers leapt for him, but Neil didn't even shoot at it, just nimbly jumped away, dodging the lethal claws.

Once again, Josh found himself chasing after another person throwing themselves into danger. The attraction seemed to great to resist. As his lungs pumped, he thought to himself, What the hell am I doing? Why do I always throw myself into danger right after someone? Do I want to die? Would I throw myself into the fire as quickly as long someone paved a path for me?

All questions he had no answer for.

Neil's heroic charge to save Annie drew the attention of nearly every Crawler in the library. They were his sheep, and he their Sheppard.

Josh stopped at the balcony. He looked down, right below him, he saw Neil reaching a door that must have been the librarian's office. One of the Crawlers stood posted right outside it like a guard of some sort. Neil's revolver dropped it before it could attack. Then, he disappeared from sight. Crawlers gathered at the shut door.

Josh didn't know what to do. If there was no exit, Neil was screwed. The only way out was being attacked by four Crawlers. They swarmed around it, shoving and clawing to try and break the door down. With no other clue, Josh began to fire the last of his ammo into the swarm of Crawlers. They screeched; blood sprayed; but none of them died.

"Come on!" Drew yelled in Josh's ears, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him away. "We can't do anything for him now. He's on his own."

Josh shook the bassist's hands off, returning to the rail. As he looked down, he realized the bassist was right. Still, he couldn't abandon Neil, so he did the last thing he could think of.

Grabbing a handful of books from the nearby shelf, Josh chucked them down one at a time, yelling and hollering as he did so.

"Come on you skinny fucks!" Josh yelled. "Stay away from him! Come over here! Easy meat!"

Drew saw what was going on and grabbed a few books himself.

"There's two of us here now!" Drew joined in. "Why go after him?"

The Crawlers chirped, sounding slightly confused. Finally, one of them moved away from the door. It climbed the wall, gaining ground, heading straight for the two musicians. Another of them followed, but two stayed by the door.

"Fuck!" Josh cursed out loud. They had helped a little, but he had been hoping to draw them in. He heaved his final book, something by Hemmingway, and turned to run. Drew followed close behind.

The Crawlers were fast, Josh had to give them that. They followed closely, the sound of their clicking talons impossible to ignore. Josh wanted to look back and see how close they were, but he didn't dare. He kept his eyes forward, focusing on the door and Christie telling them to run faster and faster.

The door grew closer. The clicking grew louder. Josh moved faster.

Finally, he reached the door, but he didn't dare slow down, not even a little. He passed through the door at a full sprint, and fell to the ground, rolling to a stop. Behind him, he heard the door slam shut and a great weight fall against it.

Josh lay on his back, breathing heavily. To his right, Drew lay next to him, laughing a little.

"I didn't think someone could get so pissed at a few books," Drew exclaimed breathlessly.

Josh laughed a little, sitting up. His heart seemed to beat faster than a hummingbird's wings. He wondered if someone's heart could explode from a sprint just like that. It seemed entirely possible.

"Let's just hope we don't have to do anymore running for awhile," Josh said. "I don't think my heart can take it."

"What about my dad!" Michael yelled suddenly. "He's still in there!" He pointed to Christie accursedly. "You shut him in there! How's he supposed to get out now?!"

Drew stared at Michael empathetically. "Listen, Michael," he finally said. "You dad is…he's…" he struggled for the right words. "Your dad gave up his life to save someone else."

"You mean?"

"Your dad is gone."

Josh expected hysterics, but Michael kept himself under control. He did cry. The tears poured and rolled down his face like a heavy storm, but he didn't yell, scream, or throw a fit. In a way, it made Josh feel worse, for it just went to show how much the violence and carnage had hardened the little boy.

"You said he died saving someone else?" Michael asked in between his silent sobs. Drew nodded. "Then he died a hero. My dad's a hero."

"There is no one more heroic," Drew said, grabbing the child and holding him.

This revelation calmed the boy a little. The flow of tears slowed, and he wiped his eyes with his arms.

"No disrespect to your father," Alex spoke up," but we don't have the time for a funeral right now. We need to get out right now."

"Right," Josh said, finally standing up. He looked at the survivors of the library attack. Only Drew, Michael, Christie, Alex, and himself remained. So many lives lost so quickly. "Let's find a way out before the place is crawling with zombies, Crawlers, and God knows what else."

As he walked away from the library doors, he didn't think about Neil, still trapped in there. Those kind of thoughts would lead to thoughts of a more violent, hopeless nature. So he pushed them away and thought of something more hopeful, safety.

"Alex, are there any exits you can think of?" Drew asked the Latino man.

"There's stairs on the east and west side," Alex side, "but those are just going to go downstairs."

"The first floor has to be filled with them now," Christie said.

"But what other choice do we have? We have to find a way down there and get out the back. If we hurry, maybe time is on our side."

"What about the roof?" Drew said. "Neil said it was the only safe place. We could go up there and maybe wait it out."

"But why wait it out when we could make an attempt right now?" Alex asked.

Josh spoke up. "We could easily get trapped down there. The way I see it is the first floor is a lost cause at this point. They're going to keep moving through the building, eventually reaching the second floor. Our only hope is to keep outrunning them." He pointed his finger to the ceiling. "We go up."

"Agreed."

"Let's do it quick then," Christie said. "They made it up the stairs."

Sure enough, the blond waitress was correct. Ahead of them, the zombies shuffled slowly. There were only a few, but in time they're numbers would grow to the point they would control the entire width of the hall.

"We have to move," Drew said. "Alex, where's the entrance to the roof?"

"Follow me."

Josh looked back over his shoulders as he ran. The zombies grew in number, turning into another swarm of dead flesh. In the middle of that group he saw something that made him stop entirely. He saw the flash of long red hair, a full red beard.

"Adam?"

He waited a little longer, waited for another glimpse. He had assumed the worse before, that Adam had become one of the living dead, but he had never really wanted to believe it.

"Josh!" he heard Drew yell. "What the hell are you doing?!"

The drummer shook himself free of that hypnotic trance. "Nothing," he called back, running to the bassist. The two of them ran together, increasing their speed to catch up to the other three survivors.

Alex led them around a corner, and they followed. Behind them, Josh heard a great crash. Something had fallen through one of the vents, and he didn't need to use too much brain power to figure out what it was.

Chiirup!

"Go! Go! Go!" Josh yelled. He dared a look behind to see only one Crawler chasing the group. One was too many in Josh's mind. He wished they had made a stop at the science lab. That extra ammunition Neil had promised would have went a long way. At the moment, Josh had a revolver and a handgun, both devoid of any rounds. If it came down to it, he supposed he could use them like clubs.

How useless.

With no hope of defeating the creature, the group ran. The Crawler followed, hugging the ground, crawling rapidly on its four legs. It looked like a spider straight out of hell.

If only I had some bug-spray, Josh thought with a sarcastic smile.

"Just a little further," Alex called out.

Suddenly a horrible nightmare entered Josh's mind. What if they reached the stairs and the door to the roof was locked? It seemed likely. After all, the school, caring for the safety of its students, would keep it locked all the time. He looked back over his shoulders; the creature was still twenty feet away, but that twenty would dissipate quickly once they tried fiddling with a lock and key.

They needed to kill the creature, or they needed more time.

"Drew!" Josh said to his friend. "Take these keys. You guys will need them."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Drew's eyes saw right through Josh's plans. "You're planning another suicidal run like back at the hotel. Fuck that, I'm going with you." He grabbed the keys and yelled to Michael. "Michael! Take the keys, you guys need them. Me and Josh are going to buy you more time."

The keys flew through the air, and Michael grabbed them gracefully.

"What's the plan then?" Drew said.

"Next corner, we go opposite of them, slow down, and hope the creature takes the bait."

"And if it doesn't?"

"We're going to have to find something to kill it with quickly."

Ahead, Josh could see the corner approaching. His already rapidly beating heart pounded faster. Now was the time to find out how the plan would work.

Alex, Christie, and Michael all turned left. Drew went right. Josh stood in the middle, looking back at the approaching Crawler. His chest rose and fell quickly as he struggled to get air. He hoped the creature would see his stopping as a sign of weakness and chase him.

As the Crawler grew near, Josh saw its eyes focused on him. He smiled a little. Things seemed to be going to plan. He waited until it was a little closer before turning right as Drew did. He watched behind him, crossing mental fingers. He actually sighed with relief when he saw the creature continue its pursuit of him, forgetting completely about the other three.

"Now what?"

Good question, Josh thought. I had been too worried about if it was going to follow to think of something else.

"Duck into that room!" Josh yelled. "We might be able to lose it in there."

Drew made a quick left, disappearing through a doorway. Josh followed him in. He slammed the door shut quickly, engaging the lock with rushed impatience.

The drummer stepped back slowly, never taking his eyes off the door. He drew in deep, ragged breaths. He felt the blood pounding in his ears. His anticipation grew.

Maybe it didn't see us go in the door, Josh thought to himself. Maybe it doesn't know where we are. Maybe it went right by us.

Those were a lot of maybes.

Josh turned slowly, looking at Drew confused. The bassist returned his look with a shrug of his shoulders. Neither of them made a noise, listening carefully for any sign of the creature.

BAM!!

Behind the drummer, he heard a great crash. He turned quickly to see the Crawler falling gracefully from the vent. It let loose a victory cry — one that shook his bones and boiled his mind with hot fear.

The vents! How could he have forgotten about the vents?! It was how the creature had first made its entrance. How could he be so stupid?!

The creature had landed almost completely in the middle of Josh and Drew. Who it would go for, only the creature knew. However, Josh figured he could help its decision. He stood next to the teachers desk, and he grabbed a heavy paperweight set upon the desk. The paper weight was shaped like an Egyptian pyramid, only then did Josh realize he was in a World Studies class.

"Get back in the vent you mutated piece of shit!" Josh yelled as he hurdled the mini-pyramid at the Crawler. The creature shrieked from surprise or pain as the weight crashed against its hip (if it had a hip, that was). Josh grabbed the next best weapon he could find, a pair of large (hopefully sharp) scissors. He backed up as the creature branded its claws at him. He knew the creature would leap at him soon.

Leap it did.

Josh jumped to the side, landing roughly. Out of instinct, he rolled to the side as his body connected with the ground. The creature landed right next to him. He crawled away on all fours, weaving in between the desks, trying to find a barrier to separate him from the creature. All the while, his mind raced.

What now? What do I do? What do I do? I need to find someway to kill it. Someway to escape!

The creature crawled above him, moving from desk to desk, trying to slash at him with its claws. He didn't know what to do but keep dodging and hope to find a way to kill the creature.

Josh made it to the other side of the room, leaving the desks. He quickly climbed onto two feet and looked back. The creature leapt at him again, and he dodge, rolling to the side. He decided to fight back. He took the scissors and stabbed out.

He felt the sick sensation of the blade piercing flesh. The creature howled in pain, and hot blood washed over Josh's hands. He scooted on his ass, pushing himself away. The blue handle of the scissors stuck out of the creature's ribs. With the creature somewhat distracted, Josh stood onto his feet.

Behind the creature, Drew ran up quickly, a large, machete-like blade clutched in his hands. With an angry howl, he swung downwards, onto the creature's shoulder.

More blood. More cries of pain. The creature spun around, lashing out with its other, healthy claw. Drew had been expecting this and ducked low, swinging with a side slash, catching the creature in the ribs, right above the blue handle of the scissors. Josh watched amazed as Drew attacked the creature like a Knight of the Dark Ages.

The creature refused to flee, refused to give up the fight. It swung downwards at Drew, but he had moved away already. With a final swing, he brought the blade down on the creature's skull.

THUMP!! THUMP!!

The first sound came from the blade connecting with the skull, splitting it in half. The second came from the Crawlers body slumping to the ground in a bloody mess.

Drew stood over his kill, the creature's strange blood covering his face, breathing heavily. He looked amazed himself at what he had achieved. Finally, he looked at Josh and said, "I'm surprised I didn't throw up. You think I'd be spewing out everything from something as disgusting as this. I feel a little queasy, but other than that…I'm fine."

"You really saved me there," Josh said, moving in and giving the bassist a quick pat on the back. He looked down at the slain Crawler, then to the large blade in Drew's hands. "Where did you find the machete anyway?"

Drew flashed a quick smile, grabbing a stack of paper and using it to clean up his face. "It's not a machete. It's a paper-cutter. I pulled the blade off the machine. Thing worked like a charm."

Josh nodded in appreciation. He gave one more look to the creature before turning away and heading for the door. "Alright, I think it's time we joined with the rest of the group. We'll have to be quick and quiet." He turned back to look at Drew. "And bring that paper-cutter along too."

Drew wiped off the goo still on the blade with a piece of paper. "I wouldn't dream of leaving it behind."

As they walked into the halls, they could hear the moans of the undead reverberating off the walls. Though, not a single one lay in sight.

"They must be close by," Drew said. "We're going to have to leave quickly."

Josh agreed. "We just have to be careful not to draw them towards the others."

They walked with rush back towards the cross-section they had used to lead the Crawler away. Josh looked down the hall, expecting hundred of zombies to staring back at him. The halls were clear, though he didn't expect them to remain that way for long.

"How are we even going to find the stairs though?" Drew asked as they moved forward. "All we know is that they are in this general direction. We have no clue where it is."

"Nothing we can really do but hope for the best," Josh said grimly. "If we can't find our way to the roof, we can at least try to find the science lab. We can grab some ammo and try to hold off for a little while."

"Sounds desperate."

"Desperates all we really have right now."

The hallway offered no answers to their plight, only empty classrooms, open lockers, and the moans of the dead behind them. They were alone. Then, Josh saw something.

"Do you see that?" Josh said, pointing down the hallway.

"Is that a gun?"

Indeed it was. The perplexing thing about it was that it lay in the complete middle of the hallway, pointing straight to an unmarked, steel door on the side of the hallway. Looking at it, Josh realized it was left behind by the others. That was the only logical explanation.

The gun didn't look like it had been simply dropped and left behind. From the way it layed perfectly in the center and how it pointed perfectly towards the door, someone must have placed it.

"Pretty clever," Drew said in admiration. He reached down and picked up the gun. "At least we found the stairs."

Josh looked behind. The halls were still clear, nothing would see them enter. His eyes shot up to the vents. One of the Crawlers could have been hiding in the there, waiting for them to reunite with the others. Josh didn't buy that though. Except for traveling through the vents instead of busting down doors, the creatures seemed to have little other intelligence. They didn't open doors. They didn't even seem to communicate. So they wouldn't lay in wait and set traps either.

"Coast is clear. After you, Drew."

They opened the door and shut it quietly behind them. They stood in a cramped, tight hallway. Directly ahead of them, the hall turned into a large staircase. They had no where to go but up. Josh reached instinctively for the lock and locked the door. After it was latched, he stopped, staring at the lock.

There could still be others in there, he reasoned. I can't lock them out. That'd be damning them for sure. His mind's eye saw Neil and the little girl, fleeing from a horde of zombies and Crawlers. It was with hope that he reached and unlocked the door.

The stairs led to a furnace area of sorts. At least, that's what Josh thought it was. There were large gray machines, humming with life. The floor and walls were cold concrete. Nothing had been done to make the room more hospitable — that much was evident.

Josh's eyes scanned the room for another door. He saw plenty of open vents and realized with terrifying dread that the Crawlers used this room as well, as a hub to travel throughout the building. There were none at the moment, but there could be some soon. Suddenly, the roof didn't seem like the best plan, but it was all they had.

There stood a door on the far end of the room, resting on a small ledge.

They made it to the ledge without any Crawlers, Shriekers, Clickers, or any other sort of demons attacking them. Drew opened the door, leading them back out outside. Josh's eyes squinted at the daylight, slowly adjusting.

"They made it!" Michael announced happily. He rushed up to Drew first, hugging him tightly. Drew returned the gesture with a little bit of surprise.

"You guys just had to be the heroes, didn't you?" Christie said, walking up angrily. She looked like she was ready to lash out. Instead, she just smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're okay."

It was Alex who broke up the small reunion.

"How long do you think we need to stay up here?"

Josh looked back at the shut, steel door. "Who knows exactly? I have no clue when or if the zombies will stop searching and head back into the streets." He didn't mention the vents or the Crawlers.

"We may as well get comfortable then," Christie said, sitting down on the graveled surface.

Josh walked to the edge of the building. The roof was large, very large. Only when he stood on top of it did Josh realize how big the school really was. He felt like an ant on the back of a human's palm, totally and completely insignificant.

Below him, he saw the carnage of the virus in a different light. In a lot of ways, it looked like a bomb had been dropped on the city. Windows were smashed, cars empty and dented in (a few had even been flipped over), trash littered the streets. And there were the bodies, dead and undead.

He could see a dozen or so zombies, shuffling about, eating the decomposing bodies of those who had been killed and didn't revive themselves. Josh had no idea why everyone didn't come back. Maybe if the zombies killed the person to quickly, the virus didn't have time to affect them. That was the only explanation his mind could come up with.

Josh brought his eyes up to the sky. The clouds were gray and dreary. Nature seemed to be more of a reflection of his insides than anything at the moment.

"Looks like rain," Christie said, joining his side.

"Would it be too much to ask for some sunshine?" Alex said, approaching the ledge too.

Michael and Drew came too, and all five of them stood at the edge of the roof, looking down on the streets.

"Do you think we'll see anyone else alive down there?" Michael asked.

"Well lets wait and see," Drew said. "After all, there has to be some others still alive."

They didn't see anyone else.

xXxXx