Warning: Blood and gore
(Two months ago)
Aubrey sat and stared at the TV screen in front of her. The emergency broadcast had been on repeat the entire day, signaling the end of the world. She jumped up from her couch and ran into her bedroom. She moved to the closet and pulled out the gun safe and input her code. She reached in and pulled out her new Colt Python that her father had gotten her for Christmas. She quickly loaded the revolver and spun the cylinder before locking it in place. She reached back into the closet and pulled out the holster for the gun. She buckled on the belt and slid the gun neatly into its holster. She glanced at the sniper rifle sitting in its case but decided that her pump action shotgun would work better for what she had planned. She knew she had a lot of guns for a camp director but the Posens were an Army family and she'd be damned if she wasn't an expert shot. Plus firearms seemed to be the only gift her father knew how to buy.
Once she was armed to the teeth Aubrey rushed out of her cabin and hopped in her jeep and gunned the engine. The back tires kicked up clods of dirt as she shot towards the exit, ignoring the shouts from her staff. If the world was going to end then Aubrey was going to die next to the ones she loved. Although she had no intentions of dying, she had every intention of telling the apocalypse to fuck off.
The Lodge of Fallen Leaves was only about an hour and a half away from Barden and Aubrey intended to shorten that significantly. Under normal circumstances the thought of going this fast would send her running for the bathroom but there were people that she needed to protect. The miles flew by and Aubrey watched as the closer she got to Barden and Atlanta the more chaotic the roads became. People were getting out of cars and running around in a panic, Aubrey skillfully drove around the parked cars. Eventually the roads became too congested and she shifted the jeep into four wheel drive and went off road. It's surprising how fast you can drive when there's no cars in front of you.
She was only about ten minutes out when she saw her first zombie. She didn't get a very good look but she saw a person tearing into the throat of another with blood flying everywhere. Surprisingly she didn't feel any need to vomit, if Aubrey was anything she was goal oriented and nothing was going to stop her from getting to her Bellas.
Barden itself looked relatively peaceful and the campus she had called home for four years was eerily silent. She pulled up in front of the Bella house and leapt out of the car, sprinting up the front steps. She grabbed the door knob but when it didn't open she started pounding on the door.
"Stacie! Chloe! Anybody open the door!" When she didn't get a response she took a step back, lifted a leg and kicked the door in. The door frame exploded into splinters and Aubrey pushed the rest of the way inside. Before she could take another step she felt cold steel pressed against her throat. She turned her head and let out a relieved breath. "Lilly put the sword down, it's me."
Lilly slowly lowered her blade and took a step forward pulling Aubrey in for a hug. Under normal circumstances Aubrey would have been terrified but if she was honest Lilly was definitely the Bella she needed most right now. "Lilly, where is everyone?"
"Basement," was all she got out of the quiet girl and Aubrey moved to the basement door. Lilly meanwhile moved to stand in front of the door, keeping watch to make sure no one or thing made it inside. Once Aubrey had the basement door open and made her way down the stairs she was engulfed by a very worried redhead.
"Bree what are you doing here!? What the hell is going on!?" Chloe was in near hysterics, one minute she had been studying the next Lilly was in her room forcing her out of bed and down into the basement. One by one the other Bellas joined her and Lilly had told them that under no circumstances were they to leave.
Aubrey glanced around and took stock of who was there. Cynthia Rose was sitting in the corner with her head in her hands. Jessica and Ashley were holding each other with concerned looks on their faces while Flo and Amy were rooting around in a large trunk. Stacie, Beca and the new girl Chloe had told her about were missing.
"Chloe, where's everyone else? Where's Stacie?" Aubrey did not like the idea of the girls being scattered around campus.
Chloe took a deep breath before responding. "Beca's in Portland visiting her mom, Stacie is with Emily in the library helping her study. But why? Bree please tell me what's going on Lilly wouldn't say anything."
"Zombie apocalypse, we need to get everyone together and get them to my camp." Aubrey slipped into captain mode and the other girls were quick to respond. All except Chloe who just stood there staring at Aubrey. "Chloe, I need you to focus. Can you do that for me?"
"Beca."
"What?" Of all the things to be thinking about, Chloe's toner for the hobbit was not a priority.
"I need to call Beca. I need to know she's safe." Chloe pulled out her phone and dialed Beca's number. Aubrey just rolled her eyes and helped the other Bellas pack up.
"Whoa! Now we're talking!" Amy pulled what looked like an actual flamethrower from the trunk.
"Amy," Aubrey held up her hands and gestured for Amy to lower the weapon. "Why don't you just put that back."
"Relax Cap, I've used one of these bad boys before." Amy lifted the tank over her shoulder and strapped it to her back. "These things are great for chasing off Tasmanian Devils."
Flo stood up pulling a long belt of knives out of the trunk. "I don't know what that chica is into but Lilly is way to prepared for this." Despite her apparent shock Flo slipped the belt on and juggled the knives with practiced ease. When everyone just stared at her she shrugged. "In my country you learn how to use knives before you turn four."
A plan was starting to form in Aubrey's mind, something that just might get all the Bellas out of this. Chloe was still pacing with her phone pressed to her ear so Aubrey decided to deal with her last and started barking out orders.
"Flo, do you know how to drive the bus?" Flo nodded and Aubrey continued. "I need you to go get it and bring it back here." Flo saluted and made her way back up the stairs. "Amy?"
"Yes mon capitaine!" Amy stood at attention and saluted. Aubrey let out an exasperated groan. "I need you to stay here and protect the Bellas until Flo gets back. No one gets in or out, understand?"
"Aye aye cap. Don't you worry it won't be the first time I've dealt with a horde trying to get into my house. Although last time it was the Thunder from Down Under crew." Amy followed Flo up the stairs. Aubrey turned back to her distraught best friend.
"She's not picking up Bree. Why won't she pick up? God Beca please just answer me." Chloe's hand, the one not holding the phone, started to fidget and run through her hair. Aubrey hadn't seen the redhead like this since freshman year finales.
"Chloe sweetie I need you to look at me," Aubrey waited for Chloe's eyes to focus on her. "Beca's in Portland with her mom right?" Chloe nodded. "And if I remember correctly her mom's a cop?" another nod. "Then I'm sure Beca is fine, her mom will protect her so right now we need to focus on getting ourselves out of here. Okay?" Chloe gave a final nod and Aubrey pulled her friend in for a hug. "All right, I need you to be in charge of the girls here while I go and get Stacie and Emily. Gather everything and anything you think will be useful and when Flo gets back, load it up on the bus." she watched as a determined look came over Chloe's face and Aubrey knew that, for now at least, her friend would be fine.
Chloe got CR, Jessica and Ashley up and moving to gather supplies so Aubrey moved back up the stairs and walked over to Lilly. "Are you up for a rescue op?" Lilly side eyed Aubrey and gave the slightest head nod. "Good. We're heading to the library to get Stacie and Emily." Lilly squared her shoulders and followed Aubrey out the front door. The two took off running to the center of campus.
As they got closer to the library Aubrey's nerves grew, things were way too quiet and campus seemed to be deserted. She kept her head on a swivel as she and Lilly cut through the amphitheater and across the quad. Lilly held up her hand and Aubrey stopped immediately, Lilly pointed to something in front of them and Aubrey followed her finger and cursed. Outside the front doors of the library were dozens of zombies crowding around the doors. If she looked closer she could make out several bodies that were lining the edge of the building. Aubrey had to fight to keep her stomach from revolting but Lilly just stared ahead with a look of intrigue.
Aubrey tried to think of a way through the problem in front of them. She knew that there were several entrances to the library but a look around the side of the building revealed that the entire structure was surrounded.
"There's an underground passage between the science building and the library." Lilly whispered into Aubrey's ear. The blonde glanced over the science building and saw that there were significantly less undead. She nodded her head in agreement and the two made their way over to the neighboring building. Aubrey watched in fascination as Lilly moved gracefully and dispatched the zombies with practiced ease. Before she knew it the path was clear and the two were able to make it into the relative safety of the indoors.
Or so they thought.
Aubrey let Lilly lead the way to the tunnel that led to the library. It had been a while since she had been down here and she had no doubt that Lilly had every square inch of the Barden underground memorized. When Aubrey had first arrived at Barden she was surprised to learn about the massive tunnel system underneath the school. Apparently the school was really old and a network of tunnels and bunkers had been built during the cold war in preparation for nuclear fallout. Obviously that had never happened but now the tunnels served as a means for college students to get high, have parties or in their case avoid large hordes of the undead.
The pair made their way down silent hallways and down several flights of stairs. They finally reached the basement but stopped when they heard screaming coming from above them. Lilly gave Aubrey a curious glance, asking what they should do.
Aubrey shook her head. "We need to keep moving. I don't like being trapped down here so the faster we do this the better." Lilly nodded and continued towards the tunnel. Aubrey didn't like leaving someone to the horrors upstairs but the screaming had stopped and she didn't want to think about what that meant.
Lilly kept flexing her wrist swinging her katana in small circles. Aubrey had the thought that if Lilly was nervous then what should she be feeling? Right now she was just focused on getting Stacie and Emily to safety, everything else was taking a back seat.
After a few more twists and turns they reached the heavy metal trap door that led to the underground tunnels. Aubrey leaned over and turned the latch, she tried to lift the door but she couldn't manage it. She let out a curse and it took both Aubrey and Lilly heaving with everything they had to get the door open. Once they had it open Lilly produced two flashlights, handing one over to Aubrey, and led the way into the dark tunnels.
"Is there some sort of fuse box or something to light the tunnels?" Aubrey asked as she scanned the room they were in with her flashlight. She jumped a little when the lights popped on and spun around to see Lilly standing next to a master switch attached to a large control box on the wall. "Oh...thank you."
Lilly nodded and gestured with the point of her sword towards the tunnel leading to the library. Aubrey took the lead and drew her revolver, keeping it at the ready just in case. They made their way slowly down the tunnel, neither girl wanting to rush into a bad situation. Aubrey just kept thinking about all the horror movies where everything went to hell once the characters went into the basement.
The flickering yellow lights above them gave the tunnels an eerie glow. The dripping sound coming from somewhere in the tunnel wasn't helping either. They were making decent progress when a gunshot ringing out through the semi darkness stopped them in their tracks. They glanced at each other, both stretching their hearing to the limits as they continued. After a few more minutes they found the source of the gunshot.
Leaning up against the side of the tunnel was a body. Aubrey didn't recognize him but she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Blood was slowly seeping from the wound in his chest and the gun that he used was laying next to the body in a slowly growing pool of blood.
Lilly reached for the gun but Aubrey grabbed her arm. "Don't bother, there's blood and who knows what else clogging the chamber. And we don't have time to sit here and clean it." Lilly just shrugged and the girls worked their way past the dead body. The tunnel was narrow so there wasn't a lot of room for them to get around the body but eventually they managed it. They made it another twenty feet before they heard a shuffling noise from behind them.
They turned to find the corpse slowly rising to its feet. It made a coughing sound and blood came flying out of its mouth as it turned towards the girls and started shuffling forward. Lilly reacted faster than Aubrey and pulled her friend along as fast as she could. Aubrey thought they had given the thing the slip but when she turned around she saw the zombie sprinting after them. The haphazard way the zombie was running would have been comical if it wasn't trying to eat them. Aubrey fired at the corpse, the shots echoing down the tunnel, but the bullets only seemed to inconvenience it. Eventually they reached a larger room and Lilly shoved Aubrey to the side before taking a defensive stance. When the zombie came within range Lilly swung her katana and cleaved its neck in half.
Aubrey watched as the body collapsed and stared in horror as the head continued to wiggle around on the floor, its jaw still working trying to bite them. Lilly strode forward calmly and plunged her sword into the head.
"Always go for the head." Lilly whispered and Aubrey nodded quickly. She was a little shaken by what had happened but Lilly didn't give her time to decompress. The smaller girl moved over to a hatch in the ceiling and pushed it open, luckily this one wasn't as heavy. Aubrey followed her friend and found herself in the basement of the library. Bookshelves surrounded them and Aubrey took a second to get her bearings. Chloe had said that Stacie was helping Emily study and Aubrey knew that Stacie liked to use the private study rooms on the fourth floor. Something about those having better sound proofing.
The duo made their way to the stairs and started the climb. When they reached the ground floor they did a quick scan and were relieved to find that the zombies outside hadn't made their way inside. However, the glass doors leading outside were crowded with the undead, meaning they would probably have to use the tunnels again to escape.
They made their way to the fourth floor and moved to the study rooms. Lilly took the first one and kicked in the door revealing an empty room. Aubrey repeated the action with the second room and they continued alternating until eventually.
WHACK
Aubrey just barely managed to duck under the chair that was swung at her and before she could regain her feet Lilly had the attacker in a headlock and pinned to the floor.
"Bree!" Aubrey looked up only to be smothered by a fast moving brunette. She tried to keep herself from crashing to the ground but was unsuccessful and they went tumbling to the floor.
"Why Miss Posen if you wanted to get to second base all you had to do was ask." Stacie said with a salacious wink. Aubrey immediately blushed, apparently during the fall Aubrey had "accidentally" placed a hand on Stacie's rather generous bosom.
She immediately pulled her hand back. "I'm so sorry Stacie! I didn't mean to, I swear." Aubrey could practically feel her blush deepening.
"Really? Well that's too bad." Stacie stood up and pulled Aubrey to her feet. "We can discuss your "accidental" grope of the goodies later. What I want to know is what the hell is going on outside?"
"Before we do that can someone please tell Lilly to get off of Benji?" The other tall brunette, who Aubrey assumed was Emilly, asked from her spot across the room. Lilly still had the treble pinned to the floor and didn't appear to be letting go any time soon.
"I'm sorry! We heard someone kicking in doors and I was worried it was some freak!" Benji tried to push Lilly off but the girl just tightened her grip causing Benji to let out a grunt of pain.
Aubrey decided to intervene on Benji's behalf. "Lilly let him go, I would have done the same thing."
Lilly slowly released the treble and stood up, moving back through the door to make sure no one snuck up on them. Aubrey turned to the freshmen and held out a hand. "High, you must be Emily. Chloe's told me all about you." The younger girl blushed but shook Aubrey's hand anyways.
"Relax legacy, this is Aubrey. She was captain of the Bellas my freshman year." Stacie chimed in.
"Oh I know she's the first captain to lead the Bellas to victory." Emily said in an awed tone. Now it was Aubrey's turn to blush, no one had ever fan-girled over her before.
"Can we get back to what the hell is going on?" Benji asked as he stood up. Aubrey quickly jumped into explaining about the whole zombie apocalypse and her plan to get all the Bellas to her camp in the mountains.
"This is a joke right?" Emily asked. "Zombies don't exist, they're just something made up for TV and movies. They're not scientifically possible."
"Hate to burst your bubble Em but it really wouldn't be that hard to start a zombie apocalypse." Stacie said as she started to gather her things from the room. "A couple gene manipulations of a virus like rabies or mad cow disease and you'd get one nasty little bio bug." Emily's jaw dropped as they watched Stacie pack away several text books into her messenger bag.
"Stacie, we're going to have to move fast. Do you really need those books?" Aubrey asked and Stacie just nodded.
"These books are for advanced chemistry and bioengineering. I might know my stuff but if what you say is true then the info in here could be worth its weight in gold." Stacie finished packing and made her way to stand next to Aubrey. "Trust me we'll need them."
Aubrey just shrugged and led the way out of the room. She looked around and saw that Lilly had moved to the railing overlooking the entire library. When Aubrey joined her she felt her stomach drop. Somehow the zombies had made their way through the doors and the entire first floor had been flooded with corpses.
"Oh my stars." the others had joined them and Emily's face was one of complete disbelief.
"What are we going to do?" Benji was just as stunned as Emily and Stacie wasn't looking much better.
Aubrey scanned the area and could feel a light-bulb go off in her head, she pointed across the room. "We take the elevator. If they haven't made it to the basement yet then we should be able to make a clean getaway." She grabbed Stacie's hand and pulled until the other girl started following. Benji was quick to recover and grabbed Emily by the arm while Lilly took up the rear.
"NO! NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING STO-AHHHH!" The screaming was coming from somewhere on the floor below them. Meaning the horde had made it to the third floor.
Stacie stopped and tried to turn to where the screaming was coming from. Aubrey stopped her and pushed the girl towards the elevator. "We can't help them. We have to keep moving." She could tell that Stacie didn't want to leave the person so Aubrey kept pushing. "They're already dead. There's nothing we can do." Stacie looked into Aubrey's eyes and gave a brief nod of understanding. With some more prodding from Aubrey the group made it to the elevator. When the doors opened they were shocked to find someone cowering in the corner.
"Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop." The guy just kept repeating himself and Aubrey was wary of entering the elevator with a crazy person. Emily approached the man and knelt down next to him.
"Sir are you okay?" Emily asked Aubrey wanted to scream at the freshman. Of course he wasn't okay it was the end of the fucking world and this guy was hiding inside an elevator. Before she could say anything though the guy jumped up and forced his way past the group and they watched as he hopped onto the railing. Lilly moved to stop him but before she could make it he flung himself from the railing and plummeted to the ground below. The group stood there stunned until they heard a thud, then the screaming started.
It wasn't human screaming but rather a more animalistic, guttural scream that was coming from the undead. It chilled the blood and froze the group in their tracks. "We need to move. Now!" Aubrey shoved her friends into the elevator and punched the button to start the descent. The doors closed and luckily cut off the screaming coming from the first floor. Unfortunately the elevator music was nearly just as bad, Beca may have made fun of Aubrey's taste in music but even she couldn't stand elevator showtunes.
It took a minute but eventually the doors opened with a pleasant "ding". Aubrey and Lilly pushed their friends out the door and forced them to keep moving. They had just reached the hatch leading to the tunnels when there was a loud bang coming from behind them. Lilly turned and saw the horde rushing towards them. She pushed Emily to greater speeds, Aubrey looked back and saw what was causing Lilly to hurry. Aubrey stopped and fired at the undead, managing to kill six before her revolver ran out of ammo. She went to reload but Lilly grabbed her arm and shoved her towards the hatch.
"Go. I will join you soon." Lilly spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. She didn't wait for Aubrey to argue, instead she faced the oncoming horde and brandished her blade. "Get them out of here Captain, it is your duty."
Aubrey was about to protest but a look from Lilly shut her up fast. Lilly was determined and if Aubrey knew the other girl then she should be more concerned about the zombies. She turned and opened the trap door and started pushing her friends towards it despite their complaints.
"Aubrey what are you doing? We can't leave her!" Stacie protested. Aubrey ignored her and kept shoving the taller girl down the hatch. Once the other girls and Benji were in the tunnel Aubrey turned and watched in awe as Lilly began cutting through the zombies like they were made of wet tissue paper.
"What are you waiting for!? GO!" Lilly shouting was unprecedented and it spurred Aubrey into action. She leapt down the hole, closing the hatch behind her. She could hear the screams coming from above them and forced herself to get her friends moving. Stacie was not happy to be leaving her friend behind but Aubrey forced her to keep moving.
Eventually the screams died down as the group made their way through the tunnel and by the time they reached the other side all was quiet. Aubrey and Benji managed to open the hatch leading to the science building and they all left the underground. Stacie was still mad but she knew that if she tried to go back then Lilly would have died for nothing. Instead she focused on something she could do.
As they made their way through the science building Stacie grabbed as many chemicals as she could carry. When Aubrey had questioned her collection, Stacie's response was to create bombs. And while yes there were plenty of materials to make bombs she was thinking more about the long term. With the chemicals she was grabbing she could fabricate some medicine, she was by no means a pharmacist but she was going to put that bioengineering major to good use. Eventually they made it to the front doors. Aubrey peeked outside and was surprised to find only a few meandering zombies.
'All of the ones outside the library must have moved inside.' She thought and gestured for everyone to follow as she exited the building. As they made their way past the library and across the courtyard Aubrey kept glancing behind them. She kept holding out hope that Lilly would miraculously show up but as they moved away from the buildings she started to lose hope.
The small group made their way across campus and finally the Bella house came into view. They spotted the bus so at least Flo came through on her mission. Chloe had the other Bellas working overtime. CR, Jessica and Ashley were busy moving between the house and bus carrying various supplies. Amy was keeping watch brandishing her flamethrower at anything that moved. Aubrey still wasn't sure if they should have given Amy the highly explosive weapon.
As they approached the house Benji kept glancing towards the Treble house. "I'm going to go get the guys." He said before turning to look at Emily. "Do you think the Bellas will wait for us?"
Before Emily spoke up Aubrey interjected. "You have ten minutes. If the ding-a-lings aren't here by then we are leaving." Emily went to protest but Aubrey continued. "That's how long I'm giving Lilly, I don't think she's dead. If anyone can survive that it's her and if she's not here by then we'll leave a note or something telling her where we went." Benji nodded and took off towards the Treble house.
They had reached the bus by this point and Chloe heard the tail end of the conversation. "What do you mean wait for Lilly? She's right there." Aubrey, Emily and Stacie turned to see Lilly round a corner and sprint towards them. Their moment of joy was crushed when they saw dozens of zombies chasing after her. They watched as Lilly spun and stabbed a zombie that was getting too close.
"Guys we got a problem!" The girls turned back around to see what CR was yelling about. The horde had snuck around behind them and they saw a corpse shuffle its way out of the house.
"EVERYONE ON THE BUS NOW!" Aubrey shouted and the rest of the girls kicked it into high gear. Jessica and Ashley fled to the bus with Chloe and Emily right behind them. CR jumped in the driver seat and revved the engine. Or at least she tried to but the engine just sputtered.
Amy lit her torch and launched a stream of flames across the yard, catching not only the zombie but also the house on fire. "Don't you flat butts worry." Amy turned and fired at another group. "I got this."
Aubrey rolled her eyes and fired at the zombies behind Lilly. She quietly thanked her older brother for letting his little sister tag along to the gun range. Lilly managed to make it back to the bus and turned to help fend off the undead. The engine sputtered again and they heard Chloe let out a curse.
"Flo do you think?" Aubrey started to ask but the other girl interrupted her.
"Fix the cliche engine trouble? No problema." Flo drew a knife and flung it at a nearby zombie, hitting it right in the eye. She moved around to the front of the bus with Aubrey and Amy moving to cover her. Flo popped the hood and started fiddling with the engine. The horde kept getting closer and Lilly had her hands full keeping them at bay from the door. Aubrey was running low on ammunition and Amy, well Amy looked like she was having the time of her life. After a few moments the engine roared to life and Aubrey pushed Flo and Amy towards the doors. Lilly ran off and hoped into Aubrey's jeep. Aubrey was the last to jump on the bus, pulling the handle and closing the doors shut behind her.
"CR floor it!" CR didn't need any more incentive and slammed the gas pedal to the floor. The bus lurched forward and rammed through the few zombies that were in front of them and shot down the road.
Chloe turned around and watched the Bella house slowly burn. She felt a hand on a shoulder and turned to see Aubrey standing next to her. They had been through a lot together in that house and they shared a quiet moment remembering the good times and the bad. They were brought back to reality by the bus coming to a sudden halt. Everyone looked outside and saw that CR had stopped outside the Treble house. CR opened the doors and Benji, Jessie and Bumper all jumped inside.
"Go, Go, Go!" Bumper screamed, at any other time Aubrey would have found it humorous just how high his voice could get. CR shut the doors just as a zombie clad in a Treble jacket reached the doors. CR took off again and Barden slowly disappeared behind them, they made it a few miles before CR pulled over to the side of the road.
"Aubrey, you're going to have to give me directions. I have no idea where we're going." CR turned around and Aubrey just nodded her head. The blonde looked at her friends to see them in various states of shock. Jessica was holding Ashley and Benji was holding Emily. Bumper and Amy were quietly talking at the back of the bus while Flo cleaned her weapons. Chloe was on her phone again, probably trying to contact Beca and Jesse was pacing the length of the bus.
Aubrey turned back to CR and motioned for the other girl to get out of the seat. "Don't worry you guys," Aubrey sat down in the driver seat and started the engine. "I'll get you home."
Sorry for the wait but when you're not felling it it gets kind of hard to write.
I tried to amp up the horror a bit since this story is labeled as horror, plus a zombie apocalypse should be scary so let me know how I did.