CHAPTER 7
Welcome to the Rapture
Or
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Weapons of Mass Destruction

Jeremy quickly took his seat in front of his computer and turned on the monitor. The machine clicked on as the bright illumination of the computer gradually returned. Jeremy pivoted his head and looked backwards to see that his door was closed all the way. He wasn't exactly thrilled over the prospect of being interrupted in the middle of his conversation, especially now that the entire school's population had been gutted, save for only a handful of students. Having someone like Sissy simply barge in and get a good look at what was going on behind the scenes would only worsen the situation.

Feeling secured, Jeremy turned to the monitor and reestablished communication with Aelita. The image of her panicked face flickered on screen and immediately starting trying to explain things to Jeremy.

"Jeremy!" she said panicking, "Where have you been! I've been waiting for you for hours! There's been a disturbance and…"

"I know Aelita," Jeremy interrupted, "There's been a XANA attack. It's the reason I haven't got in touch with you."

"What? What has happened over there?"

"Something bad has gone down and I'm certain that its XANA's doing."

"What happened Jeremy?" Aelita was visibly scared, "Tell me what's going on."

"I'm not sure how it started, but somehow, XANA turned a few of the students here at the school into zombies and now they're…"

"Zombies?" Aelita asked. Jeremy looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face before remembering of the culture block between him and her. Aelita didn't have things like George Romero films or Resident Evil games where she came from so the whole concept of a "zombie" was an alien one to her.

"Oh yeah, you don't know what a zombie is." Jeremy said correcting himself, "Well, how do I explain it. A zombie is kind of like a dead person."

"Dead!" Aelita gasped, "Are you saying that XANA killed someone in your world!"

"Kind-of-sort-of-but-not-really." Jeremy replied. Aelita's expression couldn't have looked more puzzled.

"You're not making a lot of sense Jeremy."

"Well, let me finish explaining the whole thing to you." Jeremy sighed for a moment and resumed with his explanation, "When someone dies in our world, certain things happen to them. Their hear stops beating, they stop breathing, their muscles don't move. Et cetera. Most importantly, they now longer move or talk or think; at least that's how a normal dead person acts in our world."

"Okay." Aelita said nodding.

"But a zombie is when something entirely different happens. They still don't breathe or have a pulse, but they walk around and what now."

"So it's kind of like being part-dead and part-alive?" Aelita asked.

"Sort of yes. We also call them "the undead"."

"Very interesting." Aelita added, "But I don't see how they can be such a severe problem."

"I'm getting to that," Jeremy added, "You see, a zombie doesn't think like normal people. They don't have memories of things like family, friends, or even themselves. They only know one thing, that they have to kill and eat the flesh of the living."

"Oh God, that's horrible!" Aelita said with a clear element of disgust on her physiognomy.

"Yes, very! A zombie can't be reasoned with. They're like wild animals. Also, the people they kill eventually turn into zombies themselves over time."

"Like a virus or disease of some sort?"
"Precisely!"

"Is there any way to stop them or turn them back?" Aelita asked.

"When you're dead, you're dead. There's no turning back from something like that. As for stopping them, there's only one method that has proven effective time-and-time again." Jeremy was quiet for a second. He didn't know how to deliver this information to Aelita without horrifying her any further than he already had, so he gave it to her straight, "You have to kill them…again."

"Oh God." Aelita put her hand over her mouth. Her face was stricken with horror and disgust. "Jeremy, have you been…killing these…zombies?"

"Yes, I have." Jeremy answered, "When they attacked, me, Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were trapped in the school. In order to get over here to the dormitories, we had to blast our way through the courtyard where the most of them are gathered."

"How did you do it? Kill them I mean." As soon as Aelita said it, she knew that she wish she didn't. She wasn't comfortable with hearing the answers to this horrific story, but her curiosity overwhelmed her.

"With this." Jeremy answered, lifting his MP5K to where Aelita could see it.

"Is that…a gun?" Aelita asked.

"That's right." Jeremy answered, "A rescue team was killed trying to get us out of the schools, but they died trying, leaving their weapons lying around. So we took them and used them to defend ourselves."

"Must you shoot them to stop them?" Aelita asked, almost pleading.

"'Fraid so. Zombies are difficult to kill. If you shoot a normal human being, it would stop them in their tracks, but it would only slow down a zombie for a few seconds. In order to stop one, you have to shoot it in the head."

Aelita put her hand to her mouth and looked away. She was visibly ill.

"Please, I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Jeremy lowered his gun. He felt rather embarrassed over the fact that he just upset Aelita.

"Aelita…I'm, um, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go into all the graphic details. I just thought it was important that you knew that we were having a very rough time over here."

Aelita nodded, not looking at Jeremy.

"I…I understand."

The both of them were quiet. Jeremy knew that there was a lot to be said, but he just couldn't bring himself to talk about them.

"Aelita, look. Everyone else needs me right now, and Odd is still trapped in the classrooms. We need to get him over here."

"I see." Aelita looked up to face Jeremy, "Get back in touch with me when you're ready then."

"Aelita…" but Jeremy didn't get a chance to finish. Before he could say anything, Aelita dissolved into the background and the communication feed was stopped. Jeremy sighed and shut off his monitor.

"Yeah," he added softly, "See you when I get back."

Sissy placed her cellphone back into her pocket as she reached for a can of soda lying on the floor next to her. She had resumed her attempt to reach her missing father now that she was in the dormitories, but she never got through to him. As hell-bent as she was to get in touch him, even now she felt a sensation of futility in her actions. Regardless, she refused to believe that her father was dead, that he was somewhere outside, waddling around, waiting for the next human being to cross his path so he may tear them to ribbons. No, that just wasn't possible.

On the other side of the room, Ulrich, Jeremy, and Yumi sat in a small huddle, sketching out their plan to safely get Odd and Herb over to the dorms. Ulrich and Jeremy did most of the talking and Yumi sat by, mostly nodding in agreement. She was still upset with Ulrich and Sissy. Even if she knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she was, indeed, overreacting, she couldn't help but to resent Sissy and her being here. Yumi was a possessive girl, that's just the way she was.

Sitting outside the circle was Nicholas; listening, but not really contributing. He sat cross-legged on the floor petting Kiwi who rested next to him, eating raw dog food straight from the tin can (his reward for bringing back the ammunition). Just behind them, Milly and Tamiya sat, trying to fall into the conversation. They've seen and heard enough about zombies and killing for one day and they weren't exactly comfortable with the idea of getting more familiar with it than they needed to.

"Okay," Ulrich said softly, "So before we make anything official, we should dial up Odd and ask him about the napalm, right?"

Jeremy nodded in compliance. Ulrich turned to Yumi, whose sights were fixated on Sissy. Her gaze was full of resentment and fury. Ulrich put his shoulder on Yumi and shook her a little bit.

"Yumi, you still with us?"

"I so wish she would stop doing that?" Yumi said gritting her teeth, eyes still fixed on Sissy.

"Stop doing what?" Jeremy asked.

"Oh Hell." Ulrich said to himself, "Yumi, don't…"

It was too late. Yumi jumped to her feet and began berating Sissy.

"Dammit Sissy, how many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that!"

Sissy returned a glare of confusion and anger.

"Excuse me?" she answered sourly.

By now, everyone had stopped what they were doing and were paying close attention to Yumi and Sissy. Even Kiwi stopped to get a good look at the two.

"You heard me!" Yumi continued, "I'm sick and tired of you wasting your time and energy trying to contact your irrefutably dead father!"

Nicholas gasped with shock. Sissy's eyes filled with blind fury as she rose to her feet, dropping her phone.

"What did you just say about my father!" Sissy asked, desperately trying to hold herself back from punching Yumi.

"Are you deaf! Your father is most likely out there stumbling around aimlessly snacking on the corpses of those police officers outside and all you're worried about is trying to reach out and touch face with him!"

Sissy, armed with a look that could kill, stormed over to Yumi. Nicholas got to his feet, as did the other boys.

"Bitch!" Sissy added, "I'll reach out and touch your face!"

Sissy tightly grabbed the top collar of Yumi's shirt in a move to try and punch her, but before any of them could make their next move, Ulrich jumped in between them and shoved them apart. Jeremy grabbed Yumi and pulled her kicking body away from the fray. Nicholas jumped in and did the same.

"That's enough!" Jeremy shouted, "Jeremy, take Yumi out to the hall. I need to talk to her. Sissy, stay here, and don't follow. I don't need the two of you going at each other's throats again."

Jeremy nodded and escorted the fuming Yumi towards the door. Nicholas freed Sissy, who stormed off into the corner and picked up her cell phone.

"You better talk some sense into her Ulrich!" Sissy shouted.

"Don't you dare try and tell Ulrich what to do Sissy!" Yumi replied, "You're not his mother!"

"I said enough!" Ulrich shouted.

Everyone when quiet. Tamiya and Milly were against the wall, holding their hears so to try and not hear all the fighting. Even Kiwi was flinching, whining fearfully. Jeremy escorted the quiet Yumi out into the hall while Sissy took her seat, breathing heavily. Ulrich followed Jeremy out into the hall.

Yumi was against the wall, hissing angrily about Sissy to Jeremy, who fruitlessly tried to console her. Yumi saw Ulrich approaching and turned to him.

"Ulrich!" she pleaded, "You saw her! She grabbed me!"

"I said that was enough!" Ulrich shouted.

Yumi flinched and stood upright, looking at Ulrich in horror.

"Yumi, you don't have to like Sissy. I don't require you to even have to be in the same room with her, but for God's sake, if you are, could you at least muster up the composure to try and not start a fight with her? Things are ugly enough as they are right now and I don't need the few people we have here going at each other's throats while we still have people to save over in the classrooms!"

"Ulrich, but…" Yumi's voice was but a desperate whisper.

"I said enough!" Ulrich interrupted, "I can't have you picking fights over things as insignificant as what Sissy does with her cell phone. I have my phone right here, we can use it for whatever we want. Let Sissy worry about Sissy problems!"

Yumi's look of disbelief turned to one of disgust and fury.

"What are you always taking her side!" she shouted.

"Keep your voice down!" Ulrich commanded, "I'm not taking anyone's side here. I just want…"

"Yes you ARE!" Yumi stormed off and stomped down the hall, away from Ulrich and Jeremy.

"Yumi!" Ulrich shouted, "Come back here!"

No reply.

"Where are you going?" Jeremy asked.

"To the roof," Yumi sobbed, "I need to get some fresh air."

"Fresh air?" Jeremy asked, "Man, last time I checked, the air up there wasn't so fresh."

"Stop taking everything so literal." Ulrich said softly, "Get Odd on the phone, ask him about the napalm. Come get me when you're done."

Ulrich stormed back into the room where Sissy and the rest were. Jeremy watched him and stood in a moment of silence before he picked up his phone and dialed Odd. After a couple of rings, Odd answered.

"Hey Odd, this is Jeremy…yeah, I'm good. You?...Good, look. We think we have a plan to help you guys out of there, but I need to know something first. Do you still have any of that napalm left?...You do? How much?" there was a momentary pause, "Good, excellent. That should be more than enough. All right, here's the plan…"

Both Odd and Herb poured the goopy napalm over the side of the house and onto the ghouls below. They hissed and moaned angrily as the slimy substance fell on top of them. The two boys only laughed.

"Jerks won't know what hit 'em." Odd said, dropping the empty bucket.

"Do we have all the supplies we need." Herb asked.

"Yeah. I packed some food and I've got all the ammo Kiwi sent over. You?"

"Yeah, I'm straight."

Odd removed the Desert Eagle he had tucked between his belt and pants and loaded a fresh clip into it.

"This is going to be flippin' sweet." He said to himself as he pulled back the chamber on the weapon and tucked it back into his pants, "Take the supplies downstairs Herb, I'll be down shortly."

Herb nodded and took two backpacks downstairs with him. Odd took out his phone and phoned Jeremy.

"Hey Jeremy…Yeah, what's up!...Hey, we're finished over here on this side…Oh, you saw…All right then, look, we're heading downstairs. We're ready whenever you are...Okay, and you're going to fire off a warning shot first right?...Good. Okay, is that everything, because I can't think of anything else…Okay then, I'll see you when I get there. Later."

Odd closed the phone and headed downstairs, his sniper rifle slung over his shoulder.

"Are you girls ready?" Nicholas asked Tamiya and Milly. Both girls were on the roof, overlooking the infested courtyard.

A whole plethora of zombies staggered hungrily over to the dormitories, many dripping with napalm. Hissing wildly, they cumulated around the front entrance and began slamming their slimy, bloodstained fists against the walls, windows and doors. Ulrich, Jeremy, Yumi and Sissy, who were waiting eagerly in the lobby of the dormitories with guns in hand, looked on as the former shells of their classmates banged on the glass doors, starving to get inside.

"All right, that should be it." Nicholas said, aiming his Ingram at the sky, "You two get inside and lock yourselves in one of the rooms. Don't come out until we come and get you."

The two nodded and hurried back downstairs. Nicholas took aim into the sky and fired off a few good rounds. Afterwards, he hurried downstairs to join Ulrich and the rest.

This was Odd and Herb's cue. They had already left the classrooms via the back entrance and were now waiting out of sight. Hearing the warning shot, they both removed their weapons and prepared for battle.

"Herb." Odd said catching him before they both ran for the courtyard.

"What?"

"Don't wuss out on us. All of our lives are riding on this."

Herb looked at Odd, feeling a bit insulted, but only nodded in compliance. The two of them darted out from behind the building and onto the side of the courtyard opposite of the dormitories. The only thing that stood between them now was a massive wall of the living dead.

"Remember Herb!" Odd called, "Don't shoot the ones with the napalm on them until I say so."

Herb nodded, but he seemed distant, too scared to know what to do. Odd took aim with the Desert Eagle and killed a nearby zombie. The gunshot startled the zombies near the dormitories. The quickly turned around and began slowly staggering their way over to the two boys.

Odd fired off a few more shots, taking down more and more zombies and he went. Herb, however, did nothing. He stood there, Berettas in hand, too terrified to do anything.

"Herb!" Odd called to him, "Don't just stand there fool! Shoot!"

But Herb couldn't move. His mind was yelling to his body to act, to take aim and pull the trigger, but nothing happened. All he could see in front of him was a tsunami of flesh-eating ghouls, staring wildly back at him.

"What is Herb doing?" Ulrich asked himself from inside the dormitories, "Why isn't he shooting?"

"Maybe his gun's all jammed up?" Jeremy said.

"Or maybe he's being a coward." Sissy added sourly.

Yumi bit her lip, trying her best not to say anything bitter. It wasn't that she wanted to stick up for Herb, but because she was tired of listening to Sissy's sass. Alas, she said nothing. All she could do was stand there in the lobby, watching the masses of zombies slowly drag themselves away from the doors.

By now, Odd had already emptied a clip and was loading a new one into the chamber. Herb continued to do nothing.

"Herb!" Odd called, "Dammit Herb, shoot! You're gonna get us all killed."

Herb's face clenched. He tightened the grip he had around his gun. Like blood rushing into a numb limb, Herb could feel his nerve returning to him. Maybe it was just fear triggering his defense mechanisms, or maybe it was the adrenaline surging through his blood; He didn't just know. However, there was one thing he knew for certain, above all things, he didn't want to die. Not like this. Not with a dozen hands reaching into his screaming body, pulling him open and feasting upon his guts. Not when he had the power to do something about it.

POW!

The Beretta in Herb's hand cracked loudly. A single round sped across the courtyard, striking a zombie 30 yards away in the eye socket, punching out the back of his skull, and piercing the throat of another ghoul behind him. A phenomenal shot.

Herb was back in business. He was purged of fear and cowardice. All that was left now was instinct and the fighting spirit he needed to survive.

"Thank you!" Odd said cynically, taking aim with his reloaded Desert Eagle.

Herb continued his onslaught headshot by headshot. The chamber pulled back on his weapon and he placed the smoking weapon into his mouth, clenching the top of the chamber between his teeth. With his left hand, he removed a second Beretta and fired off more shots into the masses while he reloaded the empty Beretta with his other hand. Herb was something out of an action movie.

"Herb!" Odd shouted, firing off another shot, "Remember, don't hit the stained ones! Wait until they get a bit closer! I'll signal you!"

Herb heard Odd, but gave no reply. He was too busy dropping zombie ass to say anything. The Beretta on the left emptied and Herb switched hands, repeating his firing/reloading system: shoot with one hand, reload with the other. His shooting dazzled everyone.

"Sweet Hell!" Ulrich said, still locked in the dormitories, "Is that Herb picking off all those zombies!"

"I think it is!" Nicholas added, "Where did he learn to shoot like that."

Yumi had to stop herself from saying "Certainly not from Sissy". She took one deep breath, and said nothing. She only clenched her automatic rifle tighter.

The zombies were now about halfway between the dormitories and where Odd and Herb were. Everything was in position. Phase 2 was ready to commence.

"That's it!" Odd shouted, "Okay Herb, drop 'em!"

And drop 'em Herb did. He took aim at one of the slimy ghouls in the middle of the fray and opened fire. The bullet struck the ghoul, causing it to ignite, which ignited the others around it, starting a chain reaction of napalm-induced explosions which only took about a second to carry out. The whole section of the masses quickly turned into a raging fireball of screaming ghouls and dismembered bodies.

Limbs and guts splattered against the glass doors of the dormitories where the rest of the team were perched at. They flinched in terror and disgust for a moment before Ulrich decided to speak up.

"That's it!" Ulrich shouted, "That's our cue! Everyone, fall out!"

Yumi reached out and unlocked the doors. All five of them (Yumi, Ulrich, Jeremy, Sissy and Nicholas) spilled out onto the courtyard. Yumi, with a set of keys she found in the Nurse's Office, dashed for a row of cars near the side of the building while Jeremy gave her cover fire. Ulrich, Sissy and Nicholas spread out onto the courtyard, trying to clear a path for Odd and Herb to run through.

Odd and Herb ran forward, dropping zombies along the way while they hurriedly made their way towards the dormitories. Though the napalm took out a good chunk of the zombies in the courtyard, there were still a staggering number of them wandering around so it was important that they didn't stay for long.

With Jeremy giving her cover fire, Yumi climbed into a large SUV parked not too far from the school's entrance. Yumi revved the vehicle up and unlocked the doors. Still blasting at the corpses, Jeremy slid open the side door and climbed inside. Yumi then backed out while Jeremy continued to shoot at the ghouls from the open side door like some helicopter gunman. Somewhere deep in Jeremy's mind, there was a record playing "The Ride of the Valkyries".

As tough as the zombies were, Ulrich and Nicholas seemed to be making headway with the clearing. With each and every headshot, they were a step closer to a casualty-free rescue mission. Sissy, of course, was having no problem picking off the living dead. Her shotgun thundered loudly, incinerating skulls and limbs all around her. She seemed to be doing perfectly fine until she turned around and got an eyesore of her greatest fear.

It was her father. Part of his hand was missing, his hair was stained, and one of his eyes was crimson red due to a busted vessel, but it was him. The resemblance was unmistakable. Sissy lowered her weapon and stared at the ghoulish shell of her former father as he staggered hungrily towards her. She stared at him with gloom and despair in her eyes. Everything Yumi said was true. Her father was dead, another statistic, cannon fodder. It seemed as if Sissy was going to do nothing. She looked as if the only ambition she had left for her was to stand still and embrace death at the hands of her father as he extended his arms forward towards her and opened his mouth.

POW!

The head of Sissy's father evaporated. All that was left now was his lower jaw and a geyser of stagnant blood. She stumbled forwards a few steps, and fell to the ground, blood running from his massive wound. Sissy only stood there looking, clenching her smoking shotgun.

In the distance, Odd and Herb were dashing madly towards the entrance to the dormitories as Nicholas stayed behind them, providing cover fire. Yumi and Jeremy took the SUV around the back of the school, still busting shots into the crowd. Sissy could hear them, but she did nothing. She only stood there, sadly eyeballing her father's corpse.

A hand reached out and shook Sissy's shoulder. She jumped back and before she could take aim, she caught a glimpse of Ulrich's face.

"Come on Sissy!" he shouted, "We're finished here! Fall back!"

Ulrich didn't wait for Sissy to comply. He simply grabbed her by the sleeve of her shirt and pulled her along towards the entrance to the school. Sissy looked back to see her father still-bleeding corpse being trampled over by hungry ghouls.

Ulrich and Sissy were the last to make it to the dormitories. Ulrich pushed Sissy inside hastily and quickly turned around to lock the doors. As he did, Sissy perched herself against the side of the doors and stared outside in the direction of her father's body. It was now out of sight, its image obscured by the army of still mobilized dead, but she looked onward anyway.

Yumi and Jeremy entered the room panting. They were followed by Nicholas who went to the back to open the back door for them. Odd and Herb were sitting on the ground, trying to catch their breath, waiting for the adrenaline to work its way out of their system.

"Is everyone okay?" Ulrich asked.

"We're fine." Jeremy answered through short gasps, "We've got the escape car in the back and with a full tank of gas."

"Excellent." Ulrich commented, "How about you two?"

"I'm okay." Herb said panting. Odd gave Ulrich a mild thumbs-up.

"Well then," Ulrich said smiling, "It looks like everyone's okay! Plus, we've got a rescue vehicle! The mission was a success!"

Everyone, except for Sissy, cheered happily. Odd put his hand on Herb's shoulder and shook it.

"Damn Herb!" Odd commented smiling, "Your bustin' was tight!"

Everyone laugh. Odd even got a snicker out of Herb, who was now breathing at a normal pace.

"No kiddin' Herb!" Nicholas added, "Where'd you learn to shoot like that."

Herb shrugged sheepishly, "I don't know. I guess I'm just a natural."

"My ass you are!" Jeremy said smiling, "What's your secret?"

Kiwi came darting out from behind the corner of the lobby. He rushed over to Odd and jumped onto his lap, barking happily.

"Kiwi!" Odd shouted, "It looks like we're all one big happy family again."

"Speaking of which," Nicholas interrupted, "I'm going to go find Tamiya and Milly."

"Good idea." Ulrich added, "Later, we can start loading supplies into the vehicle for our big escape."

Everyone, except for Sissy, gave out another round of applause. Ulrich turned around to find Sissy, still staring out onto the courtyard.

"Sissy," Ulrich asked, "You okay? You're pretty quiet back there."

Sissy turned around, her eyes drowning in tears and face scrunched into a grimace. He dropped her weapon onto the floor, which landed with a loud clacking noise, and stormed off silently.

"Sissy?" Ulrich shouted to her, but to no avail. Sissy just kept running until she was out of sight, "I wonder what that was all about?"

"Forget it." Yumi said coldly, "Let Sissy worry about Sissy problems."