Chapter IV: A Sacrifice
"We do not have any choices. Let's go inside that classroom," said Xander looking at the closest classroom to their left.
Michael rushed to open the door and shouted "Go go go!"
"Let's push that shelf to barricade this door," said Eddie at once.
The door was now blocked with a shelf; still the infected students kept hammering their fists at the door.
"Xander, did you see Brenda?" asked Shiela as she grabbed Xander's arm and looked him straight in the eye.
"No…" he felt his heart dropped. "I thought she was with you…" said Xander, his eyes unblinking.
"We need to first figure out how to get out of here. I think they won't stop slamming on the door until it's broken…" said Michael, staring down, apparently thinking of something.
"Let's call the police. It didn't work in the baseball club's room but I'll see if I can get a signal here," muttered Hitomi as she dialed the hotline "100". But when she faced her friends again, her downcast look was answer enough. "It says all circuits are busy…"
"If they could help us, they should be here by now…" said Michael. "I also tried calling them yesterday before joining you two, but it's just what you've said Hitomi."
"I say we carry these chairs and give them hell." suggested Eddie holding up an armchair.
"No, too reckless. They're more powerful than us. We might get dragged down and bitten instead." said Michael.
"Then what do you suggest, jump out of the window?" asked Dan jokingly.
"That's it Dan, you are a genius!" said Xander running to the window.
"Well that's the first time anyone said that to Dan," interrupted Shiela.
"Huh? I was just joking you know, none of us is Superman or Spiderman, or are you?"
"You know, jumping down two stories high might break our legs" said Michael.
"No look in here." He glances from the window underneath. "We can walk at the edge below the window, it looks like we can walk in it with half of our feet in land, and enter the window of the other classroom at the end," suggested Xander.
"I…I'm kinda afraid of heights so… can we just… stick to my plan?" asked Eddie in a shaky voice. He was just about to smash the windows – an armchair readied at shoulder level.
"Umm… guys, the door is almost being destroyed," said Hitomi. "Just decide on something; fast!"
"Anyone in favor of Xander's plan hands up," said Michael; all hands were up except Eddie's.
Xander said "Ok, Dan you go first then the two ladies, we three will then follow, we will just hold this barricade more so it won't get destroyed easily,"
A familiar distracting growl was heard from the outside that made them shudder.
"Anyone heard that? It's like the one from yesterday at the baseball club locker room," said Hitomi.
"And the one I saw and heard also," added Eddie.
"It just says we should get going," said Michael as he pushed the shelf.
"Whoa… you understand zombie language? Cool…" said Dan.
"D…Dan! H..hurry u…up I…I can't hold this… barricade much longer" said Xander trying to speak while pushing the barricade. Eddie dropped the armchair and came to help them.
Dan broke the glass window with a chair. "Why did you do that? We can just slide it open," said Shiela, her eyebrows almost connecting.
"It's… much cooler this way," said Dan with a manly voice. "Eddie you go next after these two ladies, you are 'The Zombie Exterminator' right? You can do this."
"Finally you said something which makes sense," said Shiela.
Dan led the way and walked along the edge slowly. "Don't look down," he said but he looked down himself and got dizzy and almost fell, but Shiela held his head and slammed his face into the wall.
"Th..the..thenk kyou.." he said sounding like he had a cold.
"Eddie you next," said Xander.
"B…b…but"
"You're going to exterminate… all of the zombies? Y...you should not die… in a place like this,"
"Y…yeah" and Eddie ran towards the window, he placed his wooden stick to his back pack.
"You're next Xander," said Michael.
"N…no I…I insist… you go next."
"You don't have to be hero every time; you've already contributed a plan."
"But…" said Xander, as the infected students kept slamming the door.
"Look, I have bigger muscles, I can take care of this myself, and who's going to take care of the anime-girl if you're dead?" muttered Michael as he put on a stance far greater and bolder than what he usually was.
"Ok, but promise me you will follow us. I'll fortify the door with these chairs so those infected student's won't go directly to the window," said Xander nervously. Michael managed to let out a smile. Xander rushed and placed chairs in front of the windows blocking the direct path.
"Farewell…" said Michael silently as he turned and glanced at the back of Xander who was going out of the window. The infected ones broke the window glass of the door and were slamming it harder.
Another ferocious growl was heard from outside the classroom, but it sounded like it was going away.
Xander slipped the bat into his waistband. He then slowly positioned his feet to the edge. He saw that the others were almost at halfway their journey, but Eddie was somewhat lagging.
They were now at the end of the building's classroom. "Don't break it. They might hear us," said Shiela silently.
"Ok, ok…" said Dan lazily as he slowly opened the window and goes inside the room, followed by Hitomi and Shiela.
Now when the two girls got inside, Dan flipped on his heels and parked himself right in front of Hitomi, his right hand extended. "Hi, I'm Daniel Stringer. They say I'm the hottest guy around here. What's your name?" said Dan silently and smiled at Hitomi.
"Who said you are the hottest guy yuck…" said Shiela with a sound of disgust.
"Ah… I'm Hitomi Sanada, second year student of culinary arts," said Hitomi modestly.
"Whoa… a girl chef… that's cool I love chefs, I love foods and I love y..." and a fearsome growl outside the classroom interrupted him, it sounded so close, like it just passed by.
"Shhh… hear that? It's creeping me out…" said Shiela.
"Don't worry, if you two are scared you can always hug me."
"Can you stop joking around, we're in a serious situation here!" said Shiela silently but in a high tone.
"Oh yeah I almost forgot," said Dan while remembering what Eddie told him, that they should not make Shiela angry anymore because she knows karate.
Eddie had come inside the room panting and covered with sweat. "So did you looked down?" asked Dan.
"Of course not, I might've fell," said Eddie catching his breath.
"At least we know who is smarter between you two," said Shiela silently to Hitomi.
"Where's Xander and the other guy?" asked Dan to Eddie.
"I saw Xander just a few steps behind me but the other guy, no…"
"I wish I'm wrong on what I'm thinking," Shiela interrupted.
"Here's Xander," said Hitomi happily, after seeing Xander come in from outside the window and greeted him with a hug. Xander's face turned red again.
"Wish I was the one after Eddie…"
"Well enough for the sweet greetings, where is the other guy that accompanied you?" asked Shiela.
Xander looked outside the window but Michael was still out of sight. He fell silent.
"Almost all the infected students are walking into that classroom. So the stairs leading to the first floor is clear. We just have to face off some new ones said Eddie after peeping to the door's window glass.
"Xander, this is our chance. Don't let that guy's life be of waste!" said Shiela seriously.
"We need something to distract them and let them walk away from the stairs. From what I've read of 'How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse', they are easily attracted to sound," said Eddie.
"Noise… use my book. Throw it somewhere –" suggested Dan.
"That wouldn't even land far from here," said Shiela.
Xander recalled that he had a baseball kept in his pocket. He slightly opened the door and threw it, hitting the wooden wall. The infected students near the stairs reacted and looked for the source of sound. Not letting the chance pass, the group ran downstairs. They were confronted with a few infected students.
"Dan! Lead the way, Hitomi! Shiela! Follow Dan! Don't mind the infected ones; me and Eddie will be your shield, hurry!" They dodged and hit the incoming infected students.
"The car park is just ahead I can see it!" said Dan while running. They saw another group of students who was trying to open a car. Apparently they don't have its key, and one of them was bitten. The other two was fighting off incoming infected students with floor mops. Unfortunately it was broken and they were devoured.
"No! Don't bite me! HELP! "
Hitomi tripped from a rock planted on the ground and fell from her feet.
"Ouch! Leave! Go on without me!" she shouted.
"NO!" Xander bellowed. "Eddie carry Hitomi to the van, I'll be the decoy." He then ran at the left side far away were Hitomi and Eddie is. He shouted as loud as he could.
"HERE I AM! COME AND GET ME!" They followed the sound and walked towards him, staggering at every step.
"Tch… they're a bit fast even while walking," said Xander to himself. He dodged an infected student who jumped at him only to fall to the ground as he lost his balance.
He was unable to stand up quickly as another one closed unto him. Then the infected student's head in front of him was crushed by another baseball bat behind it. Blood came out of its mouth, splattering on Xander's shirt and the ground.
"Still acting hero aren't we?" said a familiar voice. As the infected student's body slid downwards, he saw a very familiar face.
"Michael!" said Xander gladly.
"Heh… I told you I have bigger muscles," said Michael beaming at him, and offering his hand.
"Thanks, I owe you one," said Xander while wiping off the blood on his face.
"Just returning the favor," said Michael. "So, what now? How do you propose we kill these things? You shouldn't have yelled at them," and he slapped Xander at the back of his head.
"Well, it's the only thing I can think of to save Hitomi."
"Hehe… You really like that girl huh?! I won't lose to you. Anyway we're here, so let's take down as many as we can shall we?" said Michael with excitement.
"Yeah, let's go." They ran and hit the closest infected student.
"That's one!" said Michael after crushing the head of an infected student.
"Whoa… they keep on coming…" said Xander nervously; he didn't notice that someone almost jumped at him from behind.
"Xander, behind you!" warned Michael. An arrow flew and directly hit the head of the infected student.
"Looks like you boys are having fun," yelled the girl, standing at the branch of the tree. She sounded almost fearless. She wore a robe like those players from the archery club. Her face was hidden by the shades of the tree's leaves. She shot more arrows, and directly hit the infected students at the head, taking them down one by one.
"Whoa… she's really good at it," said Michael, amazed as he watched the bodies fall one by one with every lethal shot.
"Ah there is my sweet van!" said Dan happily. It was a 1968 Chevy Van that looked like the mystery machine in Scooby-Doo. "Wait where is my key… key… key..." He looked for it in his pockets and bag.
"Here is my sweet key," he found it inside his bag covered with his books."Come inside quick!" he said after opening the back door. He rushed to open the driver's door at front.
Eddie, Hitomi and Shiela were now inside the back of the van. The inside of the van was a bit spacious; it didn't have any chairs to sit on, and there were 2 bicycles and posters of racing cars on the wall. It had a door on top, but no windows.
"How about Xander?" exclaimed Hitomi. "He risked his life for me!"
"Don't worry. I'll drive this van to where Xander is. We will not leave until we got him," said Dan calmly.
"Hitomi… he might be our resident idiot but I'll vouch for his driving skills." Shiela then tapped on Hitomi's shoulders, calming her. In the front seat however, Dan was manhandling his steering wheel; the van backed up at such a speed that a nice, resounding crash told them he'd slew some infected ones.
Xander and Michael were still fighting with the help of the girl archer on the tree's branch.
"She's really good at this," said Xander after hitting an incoming infested student.
"Quick, get into the van!" shouted the girl as she climbed down the tree and ran towards them. "Let's talk later. We need to get out of here. There are more of those coming!"
A ferocious growl was heard from the creature on the second floor, followed by a thud and a mini crater where it landed on the soft ground. It still had that vague representation of a human's anatomy, though it would be bald if not for some stray strands of hair falling off its shoulders. Try as it might, its spine couldn't be straightened, forcing it to crouch with two hands on the ground. Ghastly pale and hideous – no creature of its kind should roam the earth. As if daring Nature to open a gap below its foot and cancel its existence, it cast a stare so piercing through bloodshot eyes.
It growled again as if it was a battle cry. More infected students were coming out of the building, some fell from above but are still able to stand up, and the other group who was bitten recently was now one of them.
"So they really become one of them after getting bitten," said Xander looking at the infected students.
"You mean this is the first time you saw this happen?" asked Michael in disbelief.
"It seems so, anyway let's run," said the girl. They rushed to where the van is, hitting some infected students that blocked them.
"Xander!" exclaimed Hitomi as the van's back door sprung open, Xander and the girl got inside but Michael was still fighting some of the infected students.
"Michael! Don't mind them anymore. Run!" shouted Xander. The girl hit the infected student's head with her arrow; Michael ran as fast as he could but one infected student lying at the ground caught his feet and was tackled to the ground.
"Leave me!" shouted Michael. Eddie held Xander's arm tightly because he was trying to jump off.
"NO!"
Dan drove the car away, going to the exit for the cars. "He is a goner," said Eddie to Xander.
Michael continually kicked the infected student who got his leg, and eventually it loosened its grip. He smashed its head with his baseball bat but unfortunately the creature lunged at him; it was too late to react and defend himself. "Maybe this is it…" he said weakly and he closed his eyes.