Chapter 3 - Yes, Virginia, There Are Zombies
The next morning dawned bright and sunny. Everything seemed peaceful as the guests came down one by one and dug some breakfast out of the refrigerator. Jill wondered for a second if Jennifer had been right, that they should just enjoy their stay on the island without worrying so much. She glanced around at the paintings and decorative swords and masks on the walls, then glanced at the greenery outside. It all seemed so calm.
As they were all sitting around the large dining room table finishing their food, the unmistakable sound of an airplane was suddenly heard. Everyone rushed outside and began waving their arms and shouting. Whoever was in the airplane, however, didn't seem to notice, and the plane continued on its course.
"Damn," said Benny. "That could have been our ticket off of here."
"Why should we want to leave?" asked Zeke. "This is a great free vacation."
"Yeah, like some sinister-looking stranger just decided to generously give a free vacation to a bunch of people he doesn't know," responded Benny. "I think something bad's going to happen and we should get off this island before it's too late."
As Zeke snorted and moved off to flirt some more with Jennifer, Laura said, "That plane was flying too high to see us anyway. It wouldn't have made a difference."
The guests soon made their way outside to enjoy the warm sun. Zeke and Jennifer lay side by side on deck chairs, sunning themselves. Benny and Chuck were in the pool, having a debate. Benny was trying to convince Chuck of the existence of UFOs, and Chuck was countering the arguments with logic and reason. Laura was busy doing laps in the pool.
Jill had decided to go for a walk. Monica and Mark decided to go with her. Mark, although he had taken off his suit, was still wearing a dress shirt and a tie. Monica looked at him with amusement. "Do you always go on vacation dressed like that?" she asked.
Mark laughed. "No," he said. "My letter that invited me here said that an important client wanted to have a business meeting with me here." He shook his head. "I don't believe in all that UFO crap Benny's saying, but I think he's right about someone having a sinister motive for putting us here. The sooner we get off this island, the better."
Jill, who had paused briefly to tie her shoe, couldn't hear Monica's reply as they walked on ahead of her. But she did hear their very loud screams a second later. She raced up to them and saw...
A ZOMBIE! Here, on this island! The zombie approached them slowly, a low growl coming from its throat. Jill automatically went right up to the zombie and punched it as hard as she could in the face, stunning it. She then quickly reached out and snapped the zombie's neck. As it fell to the ground with a dull thump, her mind raced. How could zombies be here? How could the infection have spread here? The only explanation was...somebody must be using this island as an experimenting station or breeding ground for zombies! She looked up and suddenly realized that Monica and Mark were staring at her.
"Where did you learn to do that?" asked Mark. At the same time, Monica asked, "What the hell was that thing?"
Suddenly, they heard growls and shuffling coming from the bushes. "There's more of them coming," said Jill. "Quick. We have to get back to the mansion and warn the others. This whole thing...it's a long story. I'll explain when everyone's there." The three of them hurried rapidly back along the path towards the house. Behind them, they could hear the grunts and growls of the zombies.
The other guests looked up and stared in surprise when they saw Jill, Monica, and Mark come crashing out of the bushes. "Everyone out of the pool and into the house!" Jill ordered. "It's an emergency!"
The guests (with considerable grumbling) climbed out of the pool and off of their chairs and followed her into the mansion. When everyone was inside, she closed and locked the door behind them. Everyone sat down on chairs and couches in the large living room. "You want to tell us what the hell this is all about?" asked Zeke.
"Yeah," said Jennifer. "What's so important that you had to interrupt my tanning?"
"Um, okay," said Jill. "I know this is going to sound REALLY hard to believe, but...there are zombies out there who are trying to eat us." Mark and Monica nodded. "One of them was about to attack us, but Jill killed it," said Monica. "She was really cool." Jill blushed.
From the looks on their faces, it was clear that Zeke, Jennifer, Chuck, and Laura did not believe them. Only Benny nodded his head in excitement. "I knew it!" he said. "Some crazy scientist is using this island to breed an army of zombies! I just knew that Ted was up to no good!" That was one good thing about conspiracy theorists, Jill decided. They would believe any crazy-sounding story, even if it was true.
"I thought zombies only existed in video games and horror movies," said Laura.
"I'm afraid not," replied Jill. She went on to tell the whole long story, about her work with S.T.A.R.S., about the Umbrella Corporation, about the T-virus, and about Raccoon City. When she was finished, Monica, Mark, and Benny were nodding their heads in understanding, but the others still looked skeptical. "The idea of zombies existing in reality is..." began Chuck.
"Look!" said Mark, interrupting him. He pointed out the window. Sure enough, a pair of zombies had emerged from the bushes and were nearing the pool area. They were making their way closer to the house. Chuck, Laura, Jennifer, and Zeke stared in shock. "I'll be damned," said Chuck.
"I don't suppose anybody brought any kind of firearms with them?" said Jill, wishing that she had brought some of hers along. Unless...She suddenly remembered something and turned to Zeke. "That long, thin case you brought," she said. "It's a rifle case, isn't it?"
Zeke was already on his feet, running towards his room. A few moments later, he returned with the long, thin case. He opened it and took out an AR-15 rifle. Quickly loading it, he opened the window and took aim at the nearest zombie. He fired, hitting it in the chest, but the zombie kept coming.
"You have to hit them in the head," said Jill helpfully. Zeke fired again, this time hitting the zombie in the head and killing it. He then quickly dispatched the second zombie. After that, Jill yanked the window shut again. Jennifer turned to Zeke. "So, what'd you bring that thing here for?" she asked.
"I do some shooting on my cable TV show," said Zeke. "Thought I might have a good chance to practice on an island in the middle of nowhere."
"How much ammo did you bring?" asked Jill.
"About sixty rounds," he answered. Jill frowned. If her past experiences with zombies were any indicator, they would need a lot more than that. "All right," she said. "The safest place for all of us is in the house. We should all make sure to stay inside. Also, we should barricade all the doors and first-floor windows."
"What about trying to signal a plane or a boat?" asked Laura. "Don't we have to go outside for that?"
"We can probably rig something up from the upstairs windows," said Chuck. "We don't have to go outside."
"Well, let's get to work," said Jill. They all began dragging furniture and other heavy items to barricade the doors and windows. As they worked, they caught occasional glimpses of zombies moving around outside. The mansion was very big and it was a large, time-consuming task. Finally, they were almost finished. Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering rang through the house. A small group of zombies had smashed through one of the few windows that hadn't been barricaded yet. One zombie sank its teeth deep into Mark, who was closest to the window, and took a chunk out of his neck. His horrible scream echoed through the mansion. Monica, who was also in the room, was grabbed by another zombie. She managed to shake herself loose and kick the zombie, sending it flying backward. Mark was already being dragged outside by some of the monsters. Monica screamed for help and tried to run forward to help him, but was grabbed by a fat and ugly zombie. She began fighting it.
The others, hearing the noise, charged into the room. Zeke had his rifle, while Jill and Chuck each carried one of the swords that had been displayed on the dining room wall. Zeke shot the fat zombie that was attacking Monica, then aimed out the window and began shooting the zombies that were dragging Mark away. Meanwhile, Jill, sword in hand, began attacking the monsters that were still in the room. She sliced one clean in half at the waist, then kicked another that was about to bite her, sending it to the ground. She finished it off by shoving her sword into its head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chuck finish off another zombie. Jill approached the last zombie in the room, sword raised, and quickly decapitated it.
A growl came from the floor. The upper part of the zombie that Jill had cut in half was dragging itself slowly towards her. She raised her sword, but Monica stepped forward. "Allow me," she said. With that, Monica kicked the zombie as hard as she could in the head. The head came flying off like a soccer ball. Jill and Monica smiled at each other.
Zeke, rifle in hand, peered out the window. "I think they're gone now," he said. No more zombies were in sight, but poor Mark's corpse was visible in the grass. Large parts of him were missing. Jennifer threw up into a trash can when she saw the body.
They dragged the rotting, stinking zombie bodies outside. Jennifer looked as if she was going to throw up again. As they worked, Zeke, clutching his rifle tightly, kept a close eye out for any other zombies that might jump out of the trees. After all the undead had been taken outside, the guests quickly barricaded all the remaining windows. When they were done, Jill sat in a chair and covered her face with her hands. This wasn't supposed to be happening again. Not here.
She sat up straight and tossed her hair. "Focus," she told herself. She turned to the others. "What have we got?" she asked.
"I've got 51 rounds of ammo left," reported Zeke. Chuck added, "From the amount of food in the refrigerator, I think we have enough to last us about a week."
"We're screwed," said Benny. "Even if someone does come here to save us, how are we or they ever going to get past all those zombies? The mad scientist who's behind all of this is going to get away with it, and there's nothing we can do about it. We're all dead." At this, Jennifer broke down and began crying. Zeke went over to comfort her.
"We can't afford to think like that," said Jill sharply to Benny. "There's always a chance." Benny seated himself in a corner and began muttering to himself about mad scientists, UFOs, and conspiracy theories. Zeke was still comforting Jennifer in another corner.
"Come on," said Jill to the others. "Let's search the house. We've got to find weapons, radios, extra food, and anything else that might help us." Chuck and Monica began searching the ground floor. Jill took the second floor, while Laura went to the third story. As she climbed the stairs, Jill thought to herself. She wasn't feeling as negative as Benny, but she was still worried. How long could they survive?
