CHAPTER 18: FLIPPING THE SWITCH
As we drove out of the tunnel, I couldn't help but notice Andrew starring at me. "What is it?" I asked him. "I heard your name before", Andrew tells me. "I heard it from somewhere. I just can't put my finger on it". "You must have heard about what I did over a month ago", I told him. "Wait, were you the one that defeated that psycho kid? That Gary Smith who turned the entire school into a war-zone?" he then asks. "That was me", I told him. "Well, you did a good job of kicking that kid's butt", he started to explain. "I met the kid a few times and I got to say, there was something not right about that kid. The way he talked, the way he persuaded my cousin's friends to help him take over the school. Hell, even the way he dressed made me cringe in a way. All gray with the exception of the teal vest. That's a depressing color".
"You met Gary before?" I asked Andrew. "I have", Andrew answers. "I knew that he was going to drag down Omar and his friends eventually. But luckily, I heard you beat some sense into Edgar down at the chem plant and persuaded him not to trust Gary. For what you done, I kinda owe you my thanks". "Aren't you part of the Townies?" I asked him. "Not really", he answers. "I was going to apply for the job at the power plant in town and live with Omar, but...well that part I don't need to explain right now". "I really don't think anything will be the same in this town after all this", I told him. "Me neither", Andrew says. After a while of driving, we made to the damaged front gates of the industrial zone. Hard to believe that no one repaired them yet. "Welcome to Jurassic Park. Let's hope they don't have King Kong in there", Andrew joked. "What?" I said to him. "You never saw Jurassic Park or King Kong?" he asks me. "I barely watch movies, play games or even read", I told him. "I didn't even know what zombies were until someone in my group told me". As Andrew gave me the stink eye, I drove through the gateway and parked the car in the empty lot by the WonderMeats Slaughterhouse.
After I parked the truck, Andrew, Clint and I hopped out of the truck and prepared out weapons. Well, Clint and I did. Andrew on the other hand didn't have a single weapon on him. "At least tell me you have a switchblade in your pocket?" I asked him. "I really don't believe in killing them", Andrew tells me. "Are you kidding me?" I asked him. "DUDE, IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED OUT HERE. YOU WON'T MAKE IT WITHOUT A WEAPON", Clint yells at him. "Why won't you kill them?" I asked Andrew. "Because I believe that they could be stuck in some kind of limbo. They're probably stuck between the living realm and the dead realm", he explains. "Believe me when I tell you this Andrew, but who they once were are gone now. I really don't think that they'll even come back", I told him. "Plus, I'm a Christian. Killing is a sin", he added. "Then claim self-defense. Always works for me", I told him. "I'll be fine. Let's just get to the power plant. I'll know what to do when we get there", he says.
I loaded up my Spud Gun and then we started making our way to the power plant. Luckily, some of the electronic gates were let open. If they were closed, then getting to the plant would have been a lot harder. After going through a few gates and taking out a few zombies, we made it to the gate leading into the power plant. Clint and I then grabbed onto the door and pulled it open. Once we opened it, there was another door that led right into the building. I opened it very slowly and looked inside for any unwanted guests. Luckily, there wasn't anyone or anything in there. "Let's go", I told them. We went in and closed the door behind us. "It's like a maze in here. How are we going to find the main console?" Clint asks. "The system should be upstairs", Andrew started to explain. "I've been here before. Once we find the console, let me deal with it. We can't risk damaging the system".
"Stick behind me. I'll lead the way", I told them. I kept my Spud Gun at eye-level as we went through the maze of power generators and mesh wiring. Once we got to the other side of the room, we found the stairway and climbed up to the second floor. Once we crossed a few rooms, we found the main control console. We weren't the only ones in there as there was a half-eaten corpse on the main console. "I think I'm going to be sick", Andrew says while cover his mouth. I went over to the corpse and tapped the head with my Spud Gun. There was no reaction, so I pulled the corpse off the unit and dropped it on the ground. As I did, a lot of it's insides spilled out on the floor. "Ugh, nasty", I said out-loud. Andrew vomit all over himself as I dragged the corpse to the other side of the room. "I hope he was dead before someone decided to munch on him", I said out-loud. "They're usually not", Clint says to me. "Can we just get this over with?" Andrew asks us. "Alright then. Just do what you're good at then", I told him.
Andrew then went up to the console and then started to examine it. "I have only been here one time and yet, I know how to operate this kind of system", he says to us. "It's very weird. But I'm going to need your guys' help to operate it". "I'll help out", I told him. Then I ordered Clint, "You stay and keep watch on Andrew. Make sure no zombie gets anywhere near him". "Don't worry. I have Andrew's back. Any zombie comes near us and I'll bash his skull in", Clint says. "Good then", I told him. I then turned to Andrew and asked him, "What do you need me to do?" "Well first, we need to pump the chargers. There should be about four of them and they're all on this floor, each in a metal cabinet. You must pull each lever at least four times before I can close the circuit". "Alright, I'll start searching", I told him. "Wait", Andrew says before I could go into the next room. He then pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it at me. As I caught it in my hand, I took a good look at it. "It's a lock-pick. You're going to need it", he told me. I then left the room and started searching for the pumps.
I found the first cabinet in the next room. I know it has to be it since there's sticks on it saying "Danger: 1000 Volts" and "Warning: High Voltage". Of course, there was a lock on it. So I took out the lock-pick and messed around with the lock. I never messed around with a lock-pick before. I've always wanted one though since you can't unlock all doors with a paper clip. Of course, I had to first find someone who was willing to sell a lock-pick. Maybe Andrew was willing to give it to me when all this is over. After a while of messing with the lock, I finally got it unlocked. I opened the cabinet and found the pump. "Alright, here we go", I said out-loud. I grabbed the pump and pulled down. "One". Then I pulled it back up. "Two". Down again. "Three". Up again. "Four". I went back to Andrew and told him, "I got the first pump". "I can see", he replies as he looks down on the console. "Get the other three already so we can have power again", Clint tells me. I went back to the other rooms and started looking for the other three pumps.
I found the next one in what looked like the lunch room. "That's a very convenient place", I said to myself. I took out the lock-pick and messed with the lock until it clicked open. I opened the cabinet and did the same process over again. "One, two, three, four". Two down, two to go. I then went to search for the next one. When I found the third pump, there was a fat charger in there. As it turned around to face me, I shot it in the head with my Spud Gun. As I walked over it, I noticed the fresh blood around it's mouth and down it's chest. "I guess this must be the one that munched on the poor worker", I said to myself. I then messed with the lock until it clicked open again. I opened the cabinet and repeated the process again. "One, two, three, four". Only one left. I then went to find the last one.
As I went into the last room, I found the last pump. I messed with the lock and just as it clicked open, I opened the cabinet and saw that the lever was broken off. "What the...?" I said out-loud. I then went back to the others and told them, "The last lever has been broken off somehow". "You're kidding me, right?" Andrew asks me. "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" Clint yells out-loud. "Let me think", Andrew says to Clint right before he started pacing around the room. After a while of pacing, he tripped over the dead body. "Darn it", he says as he gets up from the floor. From the looks of it, he was about to kick the body right before he noticed something on the body. He bent down and then dug through the body. "You seriously going to dig through that body, even though it could be carrying whatever it is that's causing the dead to walk on the streets?" I asked him. After a while of digging, he pulled what looked like the lever out of the body. He handed me the lever right before he threw up again. "I'll...I'll just put this on and see if it works", I told him. Using only my index finger and my thumb, I carried the lever back to the pump. I put the lever back on and then pumped the last charger. "One, two, three, four". After the last charger was pumped, I returned to Andrew and Clint.
"Now with the chargers primed, we just need to push to close the circuit", Andrew tells us. "I'm kinda lost with the circuit talk", I told Andrew. "Okay then", he says right before he started to explain the idea of circuits to me. "A closed circuit keeps the electricity going. If the circuit were to open, then electricity won't pass through. That's how light switches work". I looked at the control console and saw the three buttons: "Press To Close", "Press To Open", and "Press To Charge". Andrew pressed the "Close" button soon all the lights in the power plant came back to life. "Now to turn the power back on in the entire town", I said out-loud. Andrew went to the other side of the console and flipped open some panels, each with a button underneath. "Each of these buttons will turn the power back on in each of the town's districts", Andrew says before he pressed the first button. "That one was for Blue Skies Industrial". He then pressed all the other ones. "That does it. This town should have power for another ten to fourteen days", Andrew tells me. "What kind of power plant is this anyway?" I asked him. "It's a geothermal plant. It takes energy from the earth's crust and transforms it into electricity. The way this plant is built, if no one's here to monitor it, then it'll shut itself down". "Cool", I said out-loud. "Alright with the electricity back on, we should head back to the asylum", Andrew says. "You're right", I told him. "Let's get the hell out of here".
We left the room and started heading downstairs. We went back through the maze of generators and mesh wiring. Once we got to the door, I checked how much spuds I had left in the can. I only had seven left, which was good enough. "Looks like we're back in business", Andrew says cheerfully. But just as he slightly opens the door, a rotten arm reaches through the opening and grabbed Andrew by the shirt. I grabbed Andrew by the shoulder and pulled him away from the door. Just as I pulled Andrew away, the door opened and a lot of zombies started coming into the room. "BACK. BACK. BACK", I yelled to Andrew and Clint. We turned around and ran all the way back through the maze. There was no way to take on all of them, so we ran back to the control room, locked the door up and barricaded it with anything we could get our hands on. Just as we completely barricaded the door, the sound of zombies knocking and scratching the door outside started to fill the room up to where that was nearly the only thing we could hear.
"Any suggestions?" I asked Clint. "Nope. We're screwed", he says out-loud. "What about the window?" Andrew asks. "That's probably a fifty-foot drop right there", I told him. "There's no way we could survive the fall and not get munched on". Just as I looked around for another way out, Andrew spoke up again. "We could use this cord". I turned around and saw that he had found a very long black cord. "Okay then. We'll do it your way", I told him. I went over to the shelf and picked up a heavy walkie-talkie. Then I threw it at the window, shattering it to a million pieces. I then picked up another walkie-talkie and tossed it at the window beside the one I broke. With both windows broken, I grabbed the cord and tied it around the piece that separated the two windows. "I'll go first", I said to them.
I tossed the rest of the cord out the window, grabbed onto it and started climbing down. Once I got to the floor, I checked out the stairway and made sure no zombie was coming down the stairs. Once a minute passed by, Andrew was now on the ground. "Tell Clint to hurry it up. We might not have long till they come back down the stairs", I told him. Just as I said that, I noticed a fresh zombie coming down the stairs. "Oh crap", I said out-loud. I took out my metal pipe and then smacked the zombie in the head just as it walked out into the open. Once it was on the ground, I stomped on it's head a few times until it stopped moving.
I turned back around and saw that Clint has made it down now. "Let's Go", I said quietly. We then started making our way back to the door through the maze. Once we made it to the door, I closed it without making a single noise. However when we made it to the gateway, I turned back and saw the door knob twisting. I watched in horror as another fresh zombie opened the door and started making it's way towards us. I swung my metal pipe at it's head and then smashed the head to a million pieces. "Come on, let's get back to the truck before we come across more of them", Andrew suggests. All three of us ran from the power plant all the way back to the slaughterhouse. Without hesitation, we hopped back into the truck. I started it up and drove out of the industrial zone.
"Did you see that?" Andrew asks. "That zombie just opened the door. That proves that what I said before is true". "What? You mean the limbo thing? Don't zombies usually know how to do that kind of stuff in movies, games and comic?" I asked him. "Not most of the time. Zombies are usually dumb. These are semi-smart", Andrew pointed out. "Right before we know it, they'll be using guns next". "Hey, that's what one of my friends back at the academy said", I told him. "I'm guessing either he's a zombie enthusiast or he believes the same thing that I do", Andrew says. "Believe it or not, I don't think he is much of a zombie enthusiast. He's from New Orleans and people down there believe a lot of weird stuff, according to him", I told him. "So, what are you going to do now with the power back on?" Andrew asks me. I then started to explain my plan to Andrew.
"First, I'm going to clear the asylum so the Townies can at least get some supplies out of there. Then I gotta head back to the academy to get the school bus so that I can pick up all the cliques and take them back to the school. Hopefully, the Townies will want to come with me. Then after that, we're clearing out the school and making it a safe haven. We're going to need a lot of help, especially with the electricity. You knew what you were doing back there in the plant. We're going to need you". "Cool", Andrew says. After a while of driving, we made it back to the front gates of the asylum. The Townies opened the gate and I slowly drove in and parked the truck.
I hopped out of the truck just as Edgar approached from the gate. "Way to go, Jimmy", Edgar congratulated. "You got the power back on in the nuthouse". "Not just the asylum, but the entire town", I told him. "Sweet. The streets will be lit up again", Edgar says. "I guess there's nothing else to do now but to clear the asylum", I said. "Are you ready for part two of the plan?" Edgar then asks me. "Might as well get it over with", I told him. "Alright then. I'll see who else is willing to help you out. Give me ten minutes", Edgar says right before he went to talk to the others. Alright now, part two. Let's hope that it goes well.