Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter for you all to read. This one was fun for me to write, although it was also kind of a pain since this was written in-between me preparing for my college finals. And since we're on that subject, let me say now that there might not be another update to this story for the next couple of weeks. Next week is going to be my college finals, and finals are the most important of college tests apart from the undergraduate exam or whatever it is you need to take to officially graduate. Grades are god in college, and I need god-like grades to get me out of this academic probation I'm in right now.
But yeah, that's enough about me and my school grade woes. Just a heads-up that things might be slow for the next couple of weeks. Anyway, I do hope that you like what I've written in this chapter. I had decided to introduce another character in this one, although his role is quite minor and only meant to help the teens along. I mean, the guys can only do so much themselves without having the need to have a hand guide them from time to time.
And while I have read the entire Young Avengers series now, I'll still stick with the way I have my characters acting. After all, the beginning of a zombie apocalypse can make people act differently. It also provides a challenge for me in that I have to write the characters in a way that it shows them growing. So while Billy right now is acting kind of like a shy wimpish-like teen right now, I want him to grow out of it and become more confident like he is in the comics. Why throw him into that confident role right from the get-go? There wouldn't be much of a story if things were like that, right?
Please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story that you want to read. They are always very helpful in letting me know how you think I did on these chapters and allow me to make minor changes to pet peeves you might have. They also provide me with the motivation to keep me writing the chapters to the stories that you all like to read.
Also, thanks to MsMorningBird and DimancheOtaku for your reviews of my last chapter. For DimancheOtaku, I hope that my explanation just now justifies a bit why I made Billy just slightly wimpier in this story. Then again, I only started out writing this story before ever reading the comics, but I feel it makes a good start for the building of a complex character that grows in the face of disaster. I hope that you like how I'm having him simply grow into that confident person that he acts like in the comics.
And for MsMorningBird, I like that you like my outtakes section. This is the first story where I decided to implement this section. I figured it'd be a good way to twist some of the serious scenes to be a bit funnier as a way to unwind from the most likely stressful chapters. And I'm also happy that I've written Greg in a way that you want him to survive. I know in the comics that he was just a guy manipulating Teddy so as to get a quick buck. I never knew this when I first wrote this since I never read the Young Avengers when I first started this, but I had imagined him to be a reformed bully who once picked on Billy in elementary school.
Now I'll go ahead and leave you alone to read this new chapter. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories on this site everybody!
Chapter 11: Separate Ways A-1: To Suffern High
Following the directions given to them earlier by Greg, the two teens quickly made their way through the barren streets to Suffern High. While they were in somewhat of a rush, they had chosen on a somewhat fast walking pace instead of conducting a full-on sprint. They were still feeling a bit tired from their earlier escape from a sudden zombie horde upon entering a Suffern neighborhood. That and they had yet run into the threat of being surrounded by zombies, so they figured they should conserve what strength they had left for whatever dangers that might stand in their way.
Of course, just because the streets were pretty clear did not mean they had a wonderfully safe stroll without incidents. After all, it was pretty much impossible to not see at least one zombie within a minute of each. The blond simply took care of them with a swift strike to their heads so they would not have to worry about back attacks should they be forced to stop or double-back a bit. Billy took it upon himself to play the role of lookout and watch for any sudden group appearances of monsters. He only used his gun when circumstances became dire. Granted, everything he saw was nothing that Teddy could not handle himself and thus conserved his precious ammo.
"Do you think…things are ever going to get back to normal, Teddy?" Billy suddenly asked as they slowed their pace to a calm walk when they reached Mile Road. The school building was now within their sights along with a few zombies that stood in between them. "I mean, this couldn't be worse than any kind of war we could've been thrown into. Do you think the United States can bounce back from something like this?"
"…I honestly have no idea, Billy," Teddy replied with a sigh that held a depressing edge to it. "You said it yourself when we were in the van yesterday that blogs showed zombies as far as Ohio. Combine with what's happening here in New York, it kind of says that most if not all of the eastern states have been affected by this. That's more damage than a hurricane or tornado tearing through cities! If we can somehow rebound from this, then it'll take a lot of time, money, and cooperation from both politicians and outside sources. Cooperation might be there, but I doubt the country really has that much time or money on their hands."
"…I guess you're right," the raven haired teen agreed before letting out a depressing sigh of his own. "With how the state was doing financially before this, I doubt anything short of going into the past to stop whatever caused all this would be enough. But do you think that the whole world is like this?"
"If that were the case, then we'd probably have heard something about this before seeing it for ourselves. And unless these zombies became smart enough to learn how to pilot a plane or command a ship, this is all most likely isolated here in the United States alone. I'm sure Greg would probably agree with me on that."
"Are you suggesting that we should find a way to escape the States? I guess we could give it a try if we needed to, but you really think that a plane or boat would be operational during all this chaos?"
"That's not what I was trying to say, Billy," the blond corrected as he took a swing at a lone zombie that stood in their way. He then continued on once he saw it was officially down and turned to look at his friend, "In fact, that'd be the last thing I'd recommend us trying to do. What if one person managed to turn into a zombie and started killing everyone onboard? We'd be trapped in a confined area while fighting to survive. With so much panic, a plane could easily crash and kill everyone still alive. And in terms of a ship, we might end up adrift in the middle of the sea where we'll either die from zombies or inevitable starvation. No, staying here on land is our best bet at staying alive for as long as we can."
Unable to come up with a suitable point to counter with, Billy merely nodded his head in understanding to the blonde's explanation. It was not as if he was considering leaving the States himself. He still needed to know if his parents down in Baltimore were alright. Even if he could not possibly reach them, he still wanted to know how they were doing.
"But what if it comes to the point where we really have to consider leaving the States?" he asked as could not get the thought out of his mind. "Unless we manage to find some kind of colony where people have gathered together, we can't possibly live here for the rest of our lives. I mean, Greg said that food is going to be a problem once people start realizing that the military can't handle it. And it'll only be a matter of time before we find ourselves trapped within a horde of zombies. And even if we manage to beat those odds, I can't help but think that the country's already doomed beyond recovery. What if…?"
"Stop it, Billy!" the blond snapped as he turned to face the raven haired teen who looked to be on the verge of tears and used his free hand to grab his shoulder. He then said in a calmer and reassuring tone, "I know you tend to ramble when you're scared or nervous, but it isn't like you to be thinking like that! You have to stop thinking about all the negatives and try to focus on the positives. I know it's hard to do considering what we've been through, but that's all we really can do apart from surviving.
"And what have I told you about thinking those 'what if' thoughts? All they do is make us second-guess ourselves, something we can't afford to do in situations like this. And all it ends up doing is make us lose hope to the point where we might end up shutting down. How do you think I'd feel if you just shut down on me after everything we've been through?" he added as his face fell a bit when he said that.
"T-Teddy…," Billy stuttered as he looked into his best friend's blue eyes and saw an emotion that his words were not conveying. He saw that he was scared for him because of his earlier rant and was concerned about his mental well-being. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry about me. I'll try not to do that again."
"Who said I was worried?" Teddy added in a nonchalant tone, although his eyes easily betrayed his feeling of reassurance. "Let's just concentrate on what we're trying to do right now. That's all we really can do.
"And speaking of doing things, we better pick up the pace," he added as he broke eye contact and once again took the lead towards the high school. "This is hardly the time or place to be having a conversation like this unless we plan on making permanent friends with zombies. Let's just worry about finding Tommy and getting him and us the heck out of this city. I believe Greg when he says that the military shelters are solutions that aren't going to last, so I'm not placing any of our safety in their hands."
Without saying another word, the raven haired teen quickly followed his best friend once more and kept his eyes and ears open for signs of zombies. He knew that the blond was right; he had to stop his mind from wandering to those pesky "what if" thoughts. He needed to keep thinking about positive things so as to avoid making himself shut down and to keep himself together. And right now, he had to keep it together so he could make it to Suffern High School and get Tommy out of there.
Before they were even ten seconds back into their journey, the sound of rapid gunfire was heard echoing and breaking the silence in the streets. Instinctively, the blond turned his attention to his best friend to see if he had fired his gun. The raven haired teen merely had his gun in a relaxed position and simply looked back with confusion on his face. They then heard it again, this time accompanied by a loud shout.
"Th-That sounded like it came in the direction of the school!" Teddy exclaimed as the rapid gunfire continued on much longer than when they first heard it. He then shouted excitedly as he broke out into a run, "Come on, Billy; we've got to hurry! That might be the military trying to defend the place."
"W-Wait up, Teddy!" Billy shouted as he nearly tripped over his own feet trying to not get left behind. The other simply ignored him and kept on running. "I don't think running towards gunfire is the smartest thing to do."
In a manner of seconds, the two had finally arrived at the front gates of Suffern High School. What they saw had, for lack of a better word, shocked them. Both of them were right in assuming that the military had, in fact, went and guarded the school from the horde of zombies. Jeeps with built-in machine guns seemed to line a perimeter along with concrete barricades and piles of sandbags. Vehicles with bullet holes and the occasional large black markings of an explosion could be seen littering the street. It looked like they were well prepared to defend the school against the zombie infestation for as long as they had to.
However, the key word in all this was that they had been well prepared to fight. If they indeed have everything under control at one point, then everything in this case proved to not be enough. Along the outside of the perimeter line were bodies of people dressed in both regular and military clothing. Many of them looked to have been riddled with bullets; all of the military people looked as though they had been bitten. And to make matters even worse, zombies could be seen wandering around just on the other side of the blockade. The scene looked reminiscent of a battlefield where one side failed to protect their base.
As the teens had their eyes glued to the sea of death that lay before them, they had all but forgotten the reason why they rushed here. However, the sharp sounds of rapid gunfire quickly reminded them and had them looking around randomly for the source of it. They soon saw a rather sizable group of zombies on the other side of the barrier seemingly huddled around something. From within that monstrous crowd was a loud shout that sounded guttural as if he had been yelling for a while. More rapid gunfire was heard followed by a couple of zombies falling to the ground with the others taking their place.
"If you really want me, then come and get me!" they heard a man's voice shout over the continuous spray of bullets. It did not look like the person was doing much damage on his own. "So long as I have my machine gun here, you're going to have to work in order to make a meal out of me. Die you sons of bitches from Hell!!!"
"W-We got to help him!" the raven haired teen immediately exclaimed as he brought his gun up and shot at the nearest zombie, not caring where it was he ended up hitting it. A couple immediately turned towards the sound of the new bullet and took notice of the teens. "He's not going to last long!"
"No need to tell me twice!" Teddy said as his face changed to a serious expression. He then quickly commanded as he began to hop over the barricade, "You take care of the right while I take the left. Don't cross over to my side until you're either done with yours or see one about to take a chunk out of me. And don't be too busy shooting that you forget to look around you and get attacked by one of them!"
In a couple of seconds, the blond had reached the zombie group and started taking them down with swift yet accurate strikes to their heads. Unfortunately, his appearance quickly earned their attention and was now in uncomfortably close quarters with them. As such, his crowbar was now just a useless hunk of metal. He was forced to rely on his karate moves to push them back before being able to use it to finish them off.
Throughout all this chaos, he somehow managed to stick with the left group of zombies as he had originally planned out. It was not easy considering how his side was littered with the occasional oddly placed sandbag and dead bodies which caused him to have little room for error in his footwork. However, he was forced to work with what he had and kept a cool head during the entire hectic battle.
Occasionally, Teddy saw some zombies falling to the ground after hearing a single shot go off. He really had to hand it to Billy; he really did have the great aim that he had been going on about and proved it in this moment. Most of his shots were actually to the head with only one so far that he had to finish off for him. He even sneaked a quick glance during a moment of calm over to where he was and saw him shoot at one in the head at point-blank range before returning to cover duty. Whatever doubts the blond had before about his best friend being able to both handle a gun and take care of himself had now greatly diminished.
After a terribly drawn-out minute had passed, the teens had managed to take care of the group of zombies together. Whatever were on the floor and still making sounds or movements were quickly taken care of with a swift kick to the head from Teddy. In the meantime, the raven haired teen carefully made his way over the barrier, gun still in his hands, and towards where his best friend was busy making sure all the monsters were dead.
Lying against the back of a military jeep a couple feet away was a man dressed in full military clothing. His clothes were quite bloody; his helmet which had a visor built into it had the telltale signs of blood having been hastily wiped away. His left arm had some bandaging around it with some more of the coppery substance covering it. He had in his hands a machine gun the he seemed more concerned with instead of wanting to know who had just saved him. In fact, he paid the two teens little mind and seemed content to be in his own littler world where the upkeep of his gun was most important.
"Are you okay, sir?" Teddy asked as he put the last zombie out of its misery before turning to look at the man they had just rescued. "We heard you firing your gun and came running as fast as we could."
"Hmm, so it was you kids who got me out of that mess," the man replied passively as he finally acknowledged the two's presence. He then said with a chuckle devoid of any humor, "Doesn't that just beat all? An army man like me being saved by a couple of teenagers wanting to play hero. Can you say ironic?"
"Sorry if we…kind of wounded your pride," Billy half-heartedly apologized, finding it weird that a person so near death would act so relaxed to the point of arrogance after being rescued. "It really looked like you needed help there. I mean no offense, but you didn't quite have things under control."
"And what makes you say that?" he questioned before taking off his helmet and revealing a mess of blond hair with piercing blue eyes staring right at the raven haired teen. It was almost unnerving how they seemed to reflect a sort of strong defiance in them. "What's stopping you from saying that I did have everything under control?"
"Are you okay, sir?" the blond asked with an eyebrow raised at this. "I know what we did was reckless, but like my friend here said, it looked like you needed help."
"…Sorry," the man suddenly apologized as he gave them a half-smile that seemed oddly forced. "It's not like I don't appreciate what you two did for me. It's just that after stressing about keeping everybody safe and making sure those monsters don't get through the barricade, I'm kind of a bit wound up. Imagine how I'm feeling on top of the fact that me and my men failed to protect said barricade. All we did was herd the food into one place."
"What happened here?" the raven haired teen asked as he took a good look at the chaos around him. "I thought the schools were designated as shelters in times like this. With a defense like this set up, how could zombies have gotten past all this?"
"Apparently, a couple of the people who retreated here were already bitten. Things were too hectic; we didn't have time to be searching all of them for zombie-related injuries. I'm not sure if you two are privy to this, but anybody bitten by one of those things will turn into a zombie in time. That's how we ended up losing our defensive line, zombie reinforcements unintentionally popped up in there.
"Naturally, we tried to fight back despite being taken by surprise," the soldier continued on as he unconsciously brought his free hand over his bandaged arm. He also let out a couple of coughs that sounded rather strained and forced before continuing on. "Some of the soldiers shot their way inside to look for survivors. I don't know if they found any, but their either dead or worse by now. None of them answered my calls on the radio when I called for a status update. Hell, nobody within range of my frequency is answering! This means I'm the last military official alive in Suffern!"
"… …Sounds like what happened in our Southfields high school also happened here," Teddy surmised as his mind tried to make sense of what he just heard. "People just don't know that they're good as dead the moment they're bitten. That's the whole reason why we're even out in the open right now."
"So you two are from Southfields. I'm guessing that you came here hoping that things were better than whatever was going on back at your place. Now you know; this place is the same if not worse.
"By the way, how did you guys managed to get here?" he asked as the question seemed to suddenly pop into his mind. "The roads are terribly clogged by cars, and I've heard from my allies that the streets are filled with these monsters. I'll bet that you probably have been on the move for a while."
"Actually, we started making our way here yesterday," the blond explained much to the army man's surprise. "We were still in school in our classrooms when the zombies just suddenly appeared. We were all panicked, but we somehow managed to make our way to the school cafeteria. Needless to say, someone was bitten and forced us to escape from the school itself. Since then, the two of us along with another one of our friends have been making our way here. We heard from officers that things were safer here."
"It was safe for the past couple of weeks until things started to really get out of control. Unfortunately, communications between us and the neighboring towns was poor due to how unorganized our overall defense was. Basically, we couldn't contact anybody outside of our radio's natural frequency about what was going on. In other words, whatever happened here stayed with us until we died."
"And you're saying that we're as good as dead unless we get out of here?" Billy asked as he bit his bottom lip nervously. The man merely nodded his head at this. "But we can't leave yet! I came here so I could find my brother who was supposed to be here for his track competition. I'm not leaving until I find him!"
"Sorry kid, but he might as well be as good as dead," the military man replied with little care of Billy's reaction to his words as he let out another round of coughs. "If he took shelter in this school, then it's most likely he's dead along with everybody else. We've sealed off every entrance to this school save the front gates. I've been here the whole time, and I saw nobody leave this building except for more zombies."
"But what if you're wrong?" the raven haired teen countered as a fire was lit in his words. "You don't know if they're just simply hiding out and waiting to be rescued."
"What do you think some of my men tried to do when they went in guns at the ready? The fact that they haven't radioed back to me for three days signifies that they're dead! If that doesn't tell you that zombies have already taken over the school, then you're just refusing to face to cold hard truth!"
"That's enough, sir!" Teddy sharply cut into the man's harsh words and placed a comforting arm over Billy's shoulders. He looked like he was ready to cry soon. "Just because your men didn't survive the encounter doesn't mean that everybody else in there couldn't. Like Billy said, there's a chance that people are either hiding out or trapped in rooms with no way to escape. One of them might even be his brother. So long as this possibility exists, my friend and I are going in that school whether you like it or not!"
"…Humph, you're really quite the optimistic bunch," the man stated with a light chuckle as another round of coughs left his throat. However, this time around seemed much harsher than before. Once he had calmed down, he said in a slightly raspy tone, "It's admittedly quite refreshing after being surrounded by so much death for so long. Perhaps you are right in saying that there are still people alive in there. What do you hope to accomplish with just you two going in? The last military group to go in had seven people; I don't think I need to remind you again what happened to them."
"Oh, we have our ways of surviving," the blond said as he showed off his crowbar and motioned to the gun that was still in Billy's hands. "My karate skills have me pretty good with using weapons, and my buddy knows how to shoot that gun like an expert marksman. So long as we're together, nothing can stop us."
"Optimism is one thing, but overconfidence can easily lead to your downfall. Still, I doubt that you're going to be swayed out of this insanity of an idea no matter how hard I try." He then said as he brought his machine gun up towards Teddy, "In that case, you should take this with you. It's out of ammo right now, but there are more bullet clips in the jeep behind you. I hope you know how to reload that thing. If not, then ask your friend since he seems to know how to use that handgun pretty well.
"I also have something to give your buddy," he added as Teddy took the gun with some reluctance which allowed his free hands to dig into his pockets. "I've got some spare handgun clips for you to use. I'd give you my handgun, but I handed it to one of the guys that went in. It shouldn't matter since your gun looks like the same make as mine."
"Th-Thanks," Billy thanked as he took the seven clips of ammo and placed them in his belt pouch along with the others. All of a sudden, he found himself not as hard pressed for bullets. "But what are you going to do? Without a gun, you can't defend yourself against the zombies that come by."
"As if it matters to me anymore," the man responded with a bitter chuckle as he patted at his bandaged arm. "This wound pretty much renders any act of self-defense on my part to be completely redundant."
"What are you talking about?" Teddy asked after returning from the jeep with some bullet clips in hand. He had since placed his newly acquired machine gun over his back with the help of the strap attached to the gun. "A simple wound shouldn't be making you feel like protecting yourself isn't worth it. In fact, it should be something that entices you to make sure you don't get hurt again. Wait a minute!" he exclaimed with a sharp intake of air. "Don't tell me that you've been…!"
"I see you understand what I'm getting at here," he replied with a dark chuckle as he practically ripped away the bandaging. What lay underneath was an arm that looked like it had been bitten clean through. A clear view of both bone and connecting muscle could be seen along with the blood now coagulating around it. It was a sight that made Billy turn around with his face quickly turning pale and his stomach beginning to churn uneasily; Teddy only stared back in complete shock. "This is what it looks like if you somehow survive a zombie attacking you. Unfortunately, it might as well be a poison since a bitten person only lives for a few more hours. Why do you think I was surrounded by those monsters when you two came around? I was antagonizing them so they could finish what they started."
"…But isn't that a waste of whatever time you have left to live?" the blond asked as he recovered from his shock and was now fiddling with the strap of his newly acquired gun. "If I were in your shoes, I'd be busy trying to help whoever I could until I keeled over. If I were to die in the next few hours, then I'd do something other than just sit around and get bored waiting for my inevitable doom."
"Why don't you help us search the school for anybody still alive?" Billy suggested as he seemed to have recovered from his immensely sick feeling from seeing the wound. He still looked somewhat pale, but it was definitely an improvement from earlier. "If anything, it should be better than just waiting around for your death to come. That and we definitely could use all the help we can get with this. Like you said earlier, we probably won't be able to do much on our own in a building filled with zombies."
"…I want to pass on your offer, but I admit I was starting to get bored before getting surrounded by those monsters," the man said with a shrug of his shoulders as he finally got to his feet. He then went over to a body of his fallen comrade and took the handgun on the ground along with any bullets he could find on the corpse. "Damn, this is the only gun I see around here, and I don't have time to be picky."
"You want me to give you back the machine gun? I haven't used a gun before, so I'm kind of nervous just holding it."
"Then you best get used to having it on your person at all times. If you're planning on leaving town after finishing this suicide mission, and that's considering if you two survive, then that gun is going to be your best friend apart from your crowbar. I'll teach you what I can about wielding it as we go along. Here's to hoping that you're a fast learner. Now let's hurry up and get this over with while I'm still kicking," he suddenly said with his gun at the ready as he began making his way towards the school entrance.
"W-Wait a minute!" the raven haired teen exclaimed which caused the military man to stop in his tracks. "If you're coming with us, then shouldn't we know you name? I mean, we need to call you something if things get crazy in there."
"I suppose that's a fair enough proposition," the man replied as he turned around and stood at attention like a well-disciplined soldier should. "For the formal introduction, I'm Sergeant Major Rogers, the commanding officer for all the men stationed throughout Suffern. However, I'll allow you to address me as Steve only because formality holds no meaning for me anymore in the face of death."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Teddy responded just as Steve turned back around towards the school. He and Billy quickly followed suit with their weapons at the ready, both prepared for whatever horrors they were going to face inside Suffern High School.
Well, that's if for this new chapter. And now you know that the new minor character I've introduced here is Steve Rogers, otherwise known to all as the white Captain America. And I say white Captain America since I've heard through Young Avengers that Eli's grandpa is the black Captain America. Again, I'm not well-versed with the entire Avengers universe, so don't kill me for what might be considered redundancies to the rest of you.
Anyway, since he is a minor character for the sake of my story, don't expect too much if any of a character growth on his part. For one part, he's not going to play much of a role. The second reason is because I honestly don't know much about him thanks to my overall lack of the Avengers universe as a whole. However, I will try my best with what little I've learned of him in the Young Avengers.
I apologize in advance if I happen to portray him a lot differently than he should be. Don't forget that I've only read the Young Avengers, and most of what I base him here are from that series alone. Here, I tried to make him to be dedicated to his duty and convicted to whatever he's already had planned in his mind, such as killing himself when already bitten. Of course, I also tried to put in a soft side to him covered up by that tough-like attitude in that he's now following Teddy and Billy into the school so as to protect them with what little time he has left.
But yeah, that's enough ranting about this chapter. Let me go ahead and leave you all alone to read the outtakes. Please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story that you want to read. As I said earlier, they are always very helpful in seeing if there's anything you feel I need to fix or elaborate as well as provide me with motivation to continue on. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories on here everybody!
Outtakes:
Teddy: We're going to have to consider ways to survive in case worse comes to worst.
Billy: Are you saying that we should leave the States?
Teddy: That's not what I was getting at, Billy. The last thing I want us doing is to be confined to a restricted space where we'd be easy targets for zombies.
Billy: But what if we do have to leave? Do you really think things are going to get better here? If they end up getting worse, then we're sitting in the middle of a literal death trap! We need to consider whether or not leaving here in the future is going to be our best bet at living!
Teddy: Billy... (Immediately gets cut off)
Billy: In fact, we probably should be heading to a different continent once we get Tommy and regroup with Greg. I'm sure Greg would want to get out of here as soon as he can. I mean, if only the States is suffering this, then it should be safer in different countries. Anywhere should be better than staying here.
Teddy: (In annoyed tone) You're rambling like crazy, Billy. Calm down.
(Billy ignores Teddy and continues ranting much to Teddy's chagrin)
/
Teddy: Did you just hear a gunshot, Billy?
Billy: Don't look at me. I didn't do it!
Steve: (From far away) Die, you sons of bitches!!!
(Continuous spray of bullets can be heard)
Billy: Sounds like it's coming from the school.
Teddy: Don't you think we should help the guy out? It looks like he's getting surrounded?
Billy: I don't think so. I mean, he's serving as a pretty good distraction for the zombies. This will make it easy for us to get into the school.
Teddy: ...You know, that's a good idea! Let's go with it!
(Both teens quickly enter school as Steve gets mosh-pitted by zombie group)
/
Teddy: Why do you want to just throw your life away like that? (Looks shocked) Wait; did you get bit?
Steve: About time you figured it out. (Rips open bandaging and brandishes zombie bite to the teens) This is what I get for letting my guard down, a one-way ticket to a slow death.
Billy: Oh my god! (Immediately turns around and starts vomiting)
Steve: Oh, come on; it's just a flesh wound. It's not like it's going to kill you.
Teddy: (Not giving Billy a second glance) He has a weak stomach. He's not really man enough to see something like that.
Steve: So I gathered. Not exactly army material if he's easily affected by these things.
Teddy: Eh, he covers my back pretty well despite being a coward at heart.
Billy: (In a sickly tone) I'm still here, you know...? (Resumes his vomiting fit)