Chapter 6:
The cloudless blue sky gave way to the blazing, unforgiving sun as it reached down to kiss the pavement. Dried blood boiled and sizzled as the tranquil immobility of the world let its surface roast under the midday sun. The ungodly smell of all things foul and rotting simmered from invisible embers on the ground. On pallid cheek, a cold bead of sweat introduced itself to gnashing teeth.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three consecutive shots pierced through the stagnant air, cracking the seams of a false serenity. In an instant, Wesley felt as if hundreds upon hundreds of prying eyes were set on him. A paralyzing chill engulfed him. Soaked in blood from neck to toe, he hurriedly went to the living room window of Unit H.
"Were those gunshots? Wait... gunshots! Shit!" he hurried back inside the apartment. "Dude, we need to get to the gate, now!"
Robert was in the east wing 2nd floor bedroom of Unit H. He ran to the window to see what caused the commotion on the upper floors, momentarily ignoring his task. In that fleeting moment the horrid zombie of the unit's owner, who had sought shelter inside the washroom after having been bit, ambled towards its unwary prey. Robert instantly turned around after hearing the zombie's heavy footsteps as it dragged its weight across the floor.
"Dude, you okay in there? We really need to get to the gate right now. Those were gunshots! Noise attracts zombies!" yelled Wesley, "...well, at least in the new zombie comics.", he whispered on.
Robert assessed the situation carefully. A king-sized bed separated him from the zombie and a zombie separated him from the door. Axe, bed, zombie, door...
Robert grinned as he shifted his grip further down the axe haft. The zombie lunged forward at an ungainly pace. With a quick burst of energy, Robert swiftly placed his foot onto the soft mattress and propped himself up onto the bed. He stepped forward, changing his stance halfway into a crouch, then gracefully pivoted on his heel. He did a full mid-air pirouette, axe whirling in a flurry, and squarely landed a blow at the zombie's face with all of his weight added to the momentum of the whirling axe. The blade lodged into the zombie's skull dragging him forcefully onto the floor as Robert landed right next to him. The zombie's skull shattered internally as soon at head and axe made impact. Robert pulled out the fire axe with ease and in one fluid motion upon falling, exited through the door, vaulted over the staircase railings and reached the first floor.
"Oh my God, we heard gunshots... What's happening? Where's Charlie? Is he okay?" asked Mayca frantically and without breath. She was standing outside on the small yard, barefoot and teary-eyed.
Before Wesley could reply, someone started yelling from the top floor. Mayca looked up and found Ric waving his pan. Charlie stood beside him, smiling. Robert jumped out of Unit H's doorway all hyped up and energetic.
"Dude!" shouted Robert. He had barely settled on his feet when he noticed movement on the 3rd floor. Robert and Wesley looked up. Zombies were coming out of the apartment units they haven't cleared yet, attracted by the loud noise; like a dinner bell inviting everyone to a tasty meal. One by one they poured out of the doorways until there were a dozen of them in all scattered around the compound's upper floor hallways.
Ric and Charlie were quick to notice that they were slowly being surrounded. They ran back into the room and closed the door behind them. The old woman, the pregnant girl and the security guard entered the apartment unit one door away from where the pregnant girl was. Within a matter of seconds, both doors were being attacked by a horde of more than a dozen zombies.
"Mayca, get back inside and barricade the doors. Start barricading the windows too. We can handle this.", commanded Robert. He glanced at Wesley who stood not far beside him. Wesley was looking at him, eyebrow raised as if quietly asking: really?
"Damn it. Please don't get worse..." muttered Wesley as he watched the zombie horde grow in number. He bit his lip in frustration. His guts tightened inside him. He felt like he was going to throw up at any moment but tried his best to hold it in. Panic was beginning to consume him. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Fuck, what to do? What to do?" he muttered on.
Above and around them, it seemed as if more zombies were coming out of the apartment units. Robert unwittingly started producing all sorts of groans and whimpers in frustration.
CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK!
Wesley looked behind and recognized immediately what the sound was. Zombies were pounding at the gate. At the moment, judging by the sounds, there were only two or three zombies at the gate but if the commotion upstairs was any sign, there were soon to be much more.
"Dude, you're able to build shit faster than I could. Block the gate, now!" ordered Wesley. Robert looked at him momentarily, a rather blank expression on his face, and ran off to the gate. Wesley ran to the stairwell.
Inside Unit F, Mayca had just slammed the door behind her and was anxiously trying to push the couch against the door.
"What are you doing? The guys are still out there!" exclaimed En.
"N-nii..." Mayca struggled to find words. She was on the verge of tears and had to stop pushing more than twice to slump down on the floor. "...Robert said we need to barricade ourselves in. T-there's so many zombies outside... Charlie..." Mayca slumped once more to the floor. En looked out the living room window and immediately saw the zombies shambling around the upper floors. From where she stood, the loud thumping of heavy undead hands reverberated against the steel gate with such force that it shook her knees. Noises echoed across the walls as groups of zombies tried to bash their way into the occupied apartment units.
"Ting, Shayne, get down here right now!" yelled En from the stairwell. Without waiting for a reply, she effortlessly pushed the heavy oven in the dining area against the back door. With a quick glance, she acknowledged how the windows were already protected by steel bars and so decided to simply shut them all. At this point, Ting and Shayne were already hurrying down the stairs. The stairwell was bordered by 6-foot tall window that let in a copious amount of natural light. On rainy days when the raindrops form waterfalls on each of the eight window panes, sitting there seemed like such a relaxing idea. The sight of a zombie stumbling over and falling from the 3rd floor balcony induced a bone chilling scream from Shayne.
"Get the refrigerator upstairs! Mayca, get those plastic chairs then help me get some of the water jugs into my room. Will somebody please look for something we can use as a weapon?" exclaimed En. Shayne was lost in an obvious state of panic while Ting coldly perused through the cupboards for a likely weapon. Mayca took two deep breaths before mustering the strength to stand up and help En.
"Don't just stand there! Get the refrigerator!" shrieked Ting who had, in such short time, acquired a ladle, a kitchen knife, a chopping board and a steel frame from inside the oven. She was already on her way upstairs, met by En and Mayca who were already on their way back for another batch of water jugs. She looked back at Shayne. "Hurry up!"
Shayne, with a burst of adrenaline, swooped down and picked up the small refrigerator with such ease that it seemed as if she were merely carrying an ice box. Fear shot pangs of pain and bursts of energy coursing through her body as she climbed up the stairs with the refrigerator's power cord bouncing off the stairs in a trail behind her.
As soon as the door slammed shut behind Shayne, no one dared speak a word.
THUMP...
THUMP...
THUMP...
The menacing sound bounced around the walls and no one knew where exactly it was coming from. All four of them were huddled in the corner of the room right beside the window.
"What's going to happen now?" whispered Shayne, the fear of a helpless child rising from her voice. Mayca clung onto En's arm, tears gushing down her face. Shayne tugged on the other, her eyes closed as she cried as well. Ting sobbed silently on En's shoulder.
"Damn it... Guys, please be okay..." muttered En.
On the upper floors, Ric and Charlie stood just beyond closed doors. They had jammed the sofa, the fridge and the dining table against the doors and windows. The muffled echo of moaning zombies and the occasional thud of zombies pounding at the door prevented them from having even a moment's peace.
Charlie walked around the apartment unit, pacing back and forth as if part searching the room for anything useful and partly wracking his brain for anything that will help.
"Shit!" exclaimed Ric, who was sitting haplessly on the floor.
Charlie let out a sigh of exasperation. "This is frustrating!" His heart pounded mightily on his chest, attempting to break out through his ribs and escape unsightly death. He looked around, assessing the situation that faced him. He ran the scenarios through his mind. They could break a small part of the window and take out the zombies one by one with his mop spear. No, what if the spear breaks or if they just start pouring in through the window?
Charlie ran to the washroom. Inside was a small window with a sheer four storey drop into parked cars right below. Not only did it seem too small, what were they to do once outside? At best they could try to climb to the roof which in itself seemed like suicide. But once on the roof, what's the best they could do? Roast to death under the sun, parched and hungry while slews of zombies awaited them below? It was better than getting eaten alive but still not good enough.
CRASH!
"AHH! FUCK!" yelled Ric who jumped to his feet. One of the jalousies fell off the window and shattered loudly on the floor. Pallid, dead arms flailed hungrily through the opening. Ric hammered them with the frying pan, breaking undead fingers and crushing bone although neither helped alleviate the problem.
"Help me with this cabinet!" shouted Charlie from behind him. He stood right outside one of the empty rooms. One of which had a tall wooden cabinet dresser inside, taking so much space but giving the room's inhabitants a sense of luxury. Together, Ric and Charlie pushed it as quickly as they could against the broken window. Unlike the windows on the more expensive ground floor apartments, these ones had no steel frames or screens protecting them.
"Almost there..." said Charlie as they pushed the cabinet against the window and the undead arms from outside pushed back. "...there! Get the mattresses and other heavy stuff from inside those rooms. I'll try to hold this here. I can feel them trying to push it out of the way!"
Ric ran off and dragged out the mattresses from the empty rooms. They jammed the dresser full of bed sheets and mattresses until it was heavy enough to stay in place despite the zombies pushing from outside.
Out of breath, both Ric and Charlie slumped onto the floor by the wall opposite the entrance. Cold sweat not only dripped on their foreheads but drenched their clothes so fully that they shivered in a potent mixture of adrenaline and fear.
"We're trapped here, aren't we?" asked Ric. His voice shook uncontrollably as he struggled to hold in tears.
"Shit..." he mumbled. He lifted a fist to his mouth. "Shit. Fuck, this is unfair! I... I haven't done anything with my life yet."
Charlie looked at him and breathed deeply before turning his gaze back at their makeshift barricade which at that moment shook violently as zombies pushed from the other side.
"I haven't proven anything yet... not to anyone... not to myself... my mom... Oh God my mom! I-I... I wasn't there to protect my mom!" At this point, Ric couldn't hold his grief much longer. He burst into sobs and whimpers beside Charlie. He buried his face in his hands.
Charlie looked at him and patted Ric on the back. Charlie fished his silver watch from his pants pocket and gazed at it for a moment, looked around him, then returned his gaze at it. He paused and took a long moment of thought. He breathed deeply and slowly until his controlled breathing turned into short gasps of air. It was like a long drawn laugh that turned awry somewhere inside him and turned into weeping. He put aside his glasses and threw the mop spear against the wall. It bounded off and fell to the floor with a sound drowned out by the zombies.
"That was a stupid idea. I should have figured they'll just stumble down onto me if I try to climb up the stairs.", said Wesley with a forced chuckle. "How're the gates?"
"Two zombies now unquestionably lifeless. But if they're attracted to loud sounds like they're showing right now, who knows when we'll get swarmed by all those zombies outside.", said Robert grimly.
"Yeah, thought so too. One problem at a time though, any idea how we'll get the guys out and clear out the zombies?" asked Wesley.
"Well there's that van over there.", said Robert who pointed in the direction of the blue van parked near the gate. "The horns should still work. We could get them to shift their attention to us so that Charlie and Ric can get out."
"What? And call in more zombies from outside this time?" asked Wesley "How about we get on top of that van, yell at the zombies and make a dramatic last stand?"
"I hope it won't be our last stand..." said Robert.
"Nah, don't worry. Just bad choice of words I guess. There's hardly more than a dozen of them up there. We can do this.", replied Wesley.
"Right, if you say so.", said Robert.
"Yeah... so, do the honors.", said Wesley as he motioned to the upper floors with a nudge of his head. Robert let his shoulders fall and sighed. He took one deep breath and prepared to shout.
"HEEEEEY RIIIIIC!" bellowed Robert at the top of his lungs. "WE'RE GONNA MAKE SOME NOISE TO GET THOSE ZOMBIES GO DOWN HERE! YOU OKAY IN THERE? I MISS YOU!"
A muffled "DUDE, FUCK YOU!" emanated from the beyond the wall of zombies.
"OKAY, I LOVE YOU TOOOOOO!" shouted Robert. He laughed heartily with Wesley before they climbed up the van. The two of them shouted random words and profanities while they thumped and stomped at the roof of the van. Slowly but surely the zombies began to turn their attention to much easier prey.
"Dude!" laughed Wesley. "If we're lucky those clumsy idiots will fall down the stairs and break their legs before they get to us!" They laughed morbidly at the idea as they continued their hollering.
"Yay! Did you hear that? They're still okay!" exclaimed En who was already looking out her bedroom window.
"Where's Charlie?" said Mayca who stood right beside En.
"Upstairs with Eric, don't worry Mayca. Charlie will be fine. They'll all be fine... they have to be.", replied En. She looked around her room swiftly before realizing that she was searching for a weapon. She wanted so badly to go out and help but paused and with trepidation, reconsidered.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" bellowed Robert and Wesley in unison as they kicked and swung at the zombies that surrounded the van. The van was high enough for the zombies not to reach them very well with their arms but also low enough for the two of them to reach their heads with the axes. When some of the taller zombies started attacking, all that they had to do was step back a little for the zombies not to be able to reach them. Choosing the van as a platform was a gamble that had clearly paid off.
As soon as most, if not all, of the zombies were set upon attacking Robert and Wesley, Charlie and Ric charged out of the upper floor apartment. They fought their way down the stairs with ease; the zombies that they had to fight were those that fell down the stairs and effectively incapacitated themselves. Charlie picked them off easily at a distance with his mop spear.
CLANG!
Ric swung the pan at the back of a zombie's head. The awkward feeling of breaking its skull reverberated through the pan's handles and onto Ric's hands. He winced from an emotion of equal parts disgust and satisfaction. Charlie grit his teeth as he stabbed his spear with calculated fury at the zombies, occasionally kicking them back to induce distance before thrusting the spear again.
"One hour.", spoke Charlie as he held his watch with bloodied hands. "Only one hour passed. Damn."
"Time flies when you're having fun, huh?" grinned Robert.
They observed what remained of the bloodbath. It was gruesome, but it enlightened them to think of it as proof that they survived.
"Anyone else feel like they need a shower? I feel sticky.", said Wesley while tugging at his blood-soaked shirt.
"EN! MAYCA! It's okay now, you can open the door!" yelled Ric.
Upstairs in her room, En breathed a sigh of relief before slumping on the floor. She clutched at her still pounding heart with a slight smile. Mayca, just as relieved, followed suit.
"Ow!", exclaimed Mayca. "What was that?"
She searched the floor for what had hurt her when she tried to sit down. Finding nothing, she searched her pockets and found her cell phone with its screen brightly lit. 3 messages received. She immediately pressed Open and found three text messages from her mom. She opened the first one.
"Anak, nasan ka na? Nakakatakot yung balita sa TV! Kanina ka pa namin tinatawagan pero di makaconnect. Magtext ka agad nagaalala na kami dito. Magiingat ka ha? M—"
BATTERY EMPTY glared on the screen.
The phone's lights went out.