CHAPTER 5: WAR RALLY
I walked away from the Observatory gates and walked over to the football field. I crossed the large field, keeping an eye out for any undead and walked over to the Field House. I looked inside to see if anyone I knew was in there. I couldn't see in because the windows were covered on the inside, so I then opened the doors to see a bunch of zombies in there. I quickly closed the door just before they could notice me. "Damn", I said. "I just hope those aren't being used for as weapons against the Nerds". I quickly left the Field House and went to the stairs leading up to the Athletics Area. I climbed up and I was surprised to see what I saw.
The Jocks apparently did their homework, I thought to myself. They made a barricade out of branches and barrels and there was two Jocks posted at the barricade. I approached cautiously with my arms in the air to let them know that I was not a zombie. "HEY", I shouted. "I'm not one of them. I'm perfectly good". "Hopkins, is that you?" one of the Jocks on post, Dan Wilson, asks. "No, it's Bigfoot", I replied sarcastically. "Of course it's me. Now are you going to let me in on your fort or are you going to knock me out with your potato guns and leave me for the zombies to eat?"
"Sure, come on in", Dan offers. But before he could let me climb over, the other Jock on post, Juri Karamazov commented, "Unless you just here to take care of us for the smart-asses over at the Observatory". Dan raised his Spud Gun at me and says, "So why are you here? You must have went through the woods to get to this barrier. Along the way, you must have been over at the Observatory and those Nerds must have told you what we have been doing. So are you here to take us out, or are you here to help us out?" "This is pathetic. We could be joining forces to battle the undead, not killing one another", I pointed out. "JUST ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION", Juri yells. "Look, I just need to talk to Ted. Please, just let me see him", I told them. "That doesn't answer the question", Dan says. Just before they could say, or do, anything else, a familiar face whom I dated came around the corner and saw me.
"Jimmy, is that you?" Mandy then rushed over to the barrier. "Mandy, go back in the Gym. You know Ted doesn't want you to risk your life just by being out here, especially with those Nerd scum possibly trying to take us out", Juri tells her. "Shut up, Juri. I'm not his girlfriend anymore if you haven't noticed. Plus, I'll do what the hell I want. I would have left if you guys haven't held me prisoner here in the first place", she spat out. "We're too busy out here to deal with your bitch mood right now, Mandy. Right now, we're about to deal with a potential risk to our survival", Dan stated to her. From the look on her face, I could tell she wanted to smack the hell out of him. But instead, she told both Dan and Juri, "Let him in. It's dangerous out there. He's one of my true friends. If he has to talk to Ted about something, then let him. What's the worse that could happen?" "I die, you die, we all die", Juri stated to her. "Bullshit, he's more of the peaceful kind of guy, especially after everything that he did throughout the school year", she reminded him.
Dan lowered his weapon and then stated, "She has a point. He did try to bring peace to this place". "But what about..." "We'll just wait till Ted gives the order", Dan cut Juri off. "Jeez, that makes me comfortable knowing that Ted might either make you guys shoot me or feed me to a bunch of zombies", I said to them. "Don't worry Jimmy, he won't or he'll have to deal with me", Mandy then tells me. "Climb on over", Juri then orders me. I carefully climbed over the barricade without knocking it over and then walked over to Mandy. "Hi", I told her. "Hey, Jimmy", she says before she hugged me. "Glad you're safe", she then tells me. "You too", I told her. "Right...can you just now take him to Ted so he can talk and that we can get back to our duty?" Juri orders Mandy. "Fine, whatever. You two ain't worth having to protect me anyway", she insults them before taking me to go see Ted.
We went around the corner and just before we entered the Gym, I asked Mandy, "Please tell me he didn't feed a Nerd to some zombies before I showed up?" "Sadly, he did", she then replied. "But I'm glad you're here. Ever since this whole outbreak started, he's gone nuts about taking the Observatory from the Nerds. He claims that it's 'the only safe place left on campus'. The worse part is that every Jock here agrees too. They're hell-bent on wiping out the Nerds". "Man, even in a serious situation where flesh-eating monsters come out of the ground to try to rip us to pieces, Ted and Earnest will still battle one another even until death", I stated. "We got to work together at least if we're going to try and conquer the undead", she suggested. "That is why I'm here", I started to explain. "I got a group based in the Main Building and I thought that I should invite both parties if we want to survive. We could use the Jocks for muscle and the Nerds for making effective weapons. Both parties would be welcomed. We got enough food and supplies to last us maybe a while until help comes".
Mandy's features lit up as I told her about my plan. "That sounds like a good idea. It's just perfect", Mandy says. "But I don't know if Ted will play ball with the Nerds or even with other people". "What do you mean?" I asked her. "Ted doesn't exactly want to share with other people", Mandy started to explain. "If he's going to move in somewhere safer, he's going to take it by force. And right now, he plans on killing every last Nerd at the Observatory, even if they surrender. He'll even go as far as using zombies as his own instruments. He has the entire Field House full of zombies that he plans on unleashing on the Nerds. He's dangerous, Jimmy. And I would be careful if I were you. You say the wrong thing and he'll probably have you killed". "Mandy, Mandy, Mandy", I started. "I'm king of the school if you don't remember. He'll have to listen to me. But he does attempt to try and take out the Nerds, then I'll have to stop him dead in his tracks, one way or another". "Well, I wish you luck then", she stated. "This way", she then says as she led me into the Gym.
As we entered the Gym, I saw Jocks all around just talking and holding weapons as if expecting to attack. "Hopkins, is that you?" Kirby Olsen says as he approaches. "Good to see you too, Kirby", I told him. "What's going on?" Mandy then asks Kirby. "Ted told us to gather any kind of weapon that we can find. I'm guessing we're about to be attacked by the Nerds", he suggests. "Or are about to attack the Nerds", I added. "Where is Ted? Jimmy needs to talk to him right away before he goes out", Mandy tells him. "He's in the Pool Building, overlooking the pets in the swimming pool", Kirby says. "Pets?" I asked him. "I'll show you", Mandy says as she pulled me to the Pool Building. Just as we entered the building, I look down and see about five zombified dogs trying to climb out the pool. Luckily, the ramp leading up was busted so they couldn't get to the top and escape.
"Look in the corner over there", Mandy pointed out. I looked in the direction and saw what looked like a torn-up corpse that the dogs must have been feeding on. "It use to be Jones before Ted decided to feed his pets", Mandy tells me. "Ted, you are fucked in the head", I said out-loud. "HOPKINS", I hear him shout. "Let's hope he didn't hear that", Mandy whispered. I look up at the stands and see him starring down at us. "I'll come with you up there", she then tells me. I then went to the stairs on my left and climb them up to where Ted is waiting.
"Sup, Ted? Long time, no see. How's life?" I asked him as I slowly approached him. "How do you think life is?" he questions me. As he turns to face me, I can see in his eyes that he wasn't the same person that I fought twice before. That Ted Thompson was gone and now there was this colder, more darker Ted Thompson in his place. How is it that he transformed from a normal average Jock to a stone-cold killer? This own thing only started over a week ago, according to Clayton. Is it even possible that he transformed during those few days? Or that he had pent-up mental issues all his life that just awoke right now? Who knows.
"Ted, Jimmy came all the way here from the Main Building to talk to you about a proposal. He thinks that it could work", Mandy tells him. "Mandy, with all due respect, I told you that the only thing that I have my eyes on is the Observatory. I don't even want to hear what Hopkins has to say. In fact, I don't need to anymore". "Come on man, hear me out on this", I offered. "NO", he shouted. "I DON'T HAVE TO HEAR SHIT FROM YOU ANYMORE. All that 'king of the school' bullshit doesn't mean anything here anymore. It's dog eat dog out there now. We're doing things MY WAY now". "Look, I have a safe place for all the Jocks and Nerds", I started to explain. "If you guys solved your issues and team together with my group, then we can take down the undead forces that wander out there. I already talked to the Nerds and they'll be willing to make peace with you just so they can move in with both our groups. We're going to need to work together if we're going to survive and figure out what caused all this".
Ted was paying attention to his pets while I spoke about the benefit of working together. But when I mentioned the deal that I made with the Nerds, he slowly turned back to my direction and gave me a deadly stare. "What did you say?" he asks in a low voice. "You need to work with the Nerds if both groups are going to survive this madness", I continued. "You made a deal with the Nerds?" he says while slowly approached me. "I care about the welfare of each member of the group here and at the Observatory. If we band together, then we'll be able to survive this outbreak", I told him. "You bastard, you're working with the Nerds. You're here to help them wipe us out. Take us somewhere for them to ambush us in the open", he stated. "I'm not trying to get you guys killed. I'm trying to save everyone here", I told him. "Ted, just please listen to Jimmy", Mandy reasoned with Ted. "We'll be better off working with the Nerds and living in the Main Building than taking our chances here trying to claim the Observatory". "Bullshit", Ted says to Mandy. "I know what I'm trying to do here. And right now, I'm taking out the trash". "Trash, what trash?" I started to ask, but before it could come out of my mouth I felt the back of my head explode and then I blacked-out right before I hit the floor.
...
After a while of being unconscious, I awoke in the Gym with every Jock gathered all around me while I was helplessly tied up. They were all giving me angry stares and even calling me insults. "Traitor", Juri spat out. "I hope he becomes a zombie", Casey Harris yells. "And I thought you were our salvation to our problem", Dan stated. "I'm trying to save both groups. How is that a bad things?" I said to them. While everyone just spat out insults out at me, I turned around and saw Ted at the top of the bleachers. "My fellow brothers", Ted says to his group, "the Nerds may have tried to wipe us out by sicking Hopkins on us, but now we must take them out. We finally got us a mounted weapon for our attack truck and now we must make a move". "Ted, you're making a mistake. You're all making a mistake. Hopkins is trying to save us all. I can't believe that you all rather resort to violence than live in peace", Mandy says right when she raced up to the top of the bleachers.
"You don't know what you're talking about", Ted says to Mandy. "I know better than you do. You're a complete psycho, Ted. I can't believe that you would rather kill people than live and share a safe haven". Just when everyone including Mandy was least expecting it, Ted smacked her right across the face and she fell butt-first onto the floor. "You see this, guys. They turned my own girlfriend against me", Ted pointed out to the others. "I was never your girlfriend, you fucking psychopathic asshole", she said right before she ran out of the room crying.
"Now you see what you have done? Turning my girlfriend against me? You happy now?" he then says while walking down towards me. "I never tried to do anything except for try to unite everyone to fight the undead", I stated. Ted turned back to the group and then shouted, "Okay, first these bastards won't give us the Observatory which we all know that we truly deserve since we're stronger and more handsome. Then they kill Damon and Bo. And now, they tried to have Hopkins walk in here with the intention of luring us into a trap. Guys, it's time to fuck us some Nerds". He then picked up a Spud Gun and shouted, "WHO'S WITH ME?" Everyone then raised either their weapons or their fists in the air and let out a cry of approval.
What have I done, I thought to myself. The Nerds were right. There was no way that the Jocks would negotiate to live peacefully. Mandy was right too. Ted rather spill blood than to live with anyone. Now, I was all tied up during a war rally. I just started a war and there's only one way all this will end.