Hello everybody! Yes, this is one of my speedy updates that seem so rare these days. Oh well, can't do much about that since I do have to worry more about school than these updates. Still, it is nice to have more chapters done and make progress into these stories. That and I can always use all the practice I can get it I plan on becoming a professional writer.
But yeah, I honestly don't really have much to say for this particular author's note. That and it's literally like three in the morning for me, so I'm like not in the greatest of shapes to be writing these things. Still, it's good to let you all know a bit about what's going on with me. Makes me seem more connectable to you all instead of just being a person who spits out stories and only expects you to just read without having at least a small connection with the author.
However, I do have to say that I decided to bring one of my old stories back from the dead. It's called "A Dead Hedgehog's New Tricks" if any of you are interested in reading it. I know, the title is not something to go crazy for. You'd think that I'd be able to come up with something better after having put it in the back burner for the past year. Still, I would like it if you read it. It's based off of a game called "Ghost Tricks", so it might be somewhat familiar to those of you who played it before.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'll let you all go ahead and read this new chapter. Please don't forget to leave a review before you leave, whether it's to point out any mistakes or just to make suggestions that you happen to have in mind. Until the next update to this and any of my other stories on here everybody!
Chapter 13: Separate Ways A-2: High School of Death
"I hope you two are prepared for what's to come," Steve stated as he stopped short of the doorway leading into Suffern High. He had leaned against one side of the entrance while the two teens covered the other side. "If seven trained military men went in to rescue the survivors and died trying, I doubt that the three of us would fare much better much less find a living person in this mess of zombies. In fact, we might be lucky enough to escape with our lives intact if we have to make a run for it. Do you really want to play that dangerously?"
"Well, I think it's better than just doing nothing," Teddy simply responded as he gripped his crowbar tightly, the gun given to him by Steve resting comfortably underneath his backpack. He was still pretty nervous just carrying such a large weapon without knowing the first thing about using it, but he knew he would have to quickly get used to it. "Besides, it might be less dangerous in there now. I mean, no zombies came out the whole time we've been here talking. They probably don't get excited unless somebody's nearby."
"I think that's going to change the moment we're inside start running into them at every corner," Billy replied as he let out a sigh of worry. "That's probably when they'll get all excited and want a piece of us. Knowing our luck so far, we'd probably get swamped and start running like idiots again."
"The difference between yesterday and today is that we now know how to handle them," the blond explained, understanding clearly what his buddy was referring to. "So long as we don't walk into dead-end rooms filled with potentially mindless murderers, we should be fine. Now stop trying to find some excuse to get out of this, you two. We've already agreed on this, so let's just get it over with."
"Oh, I almost forgot!" the soldier suddenly said as he pulled out a tubular metal object from his belt pouch and tossed one to the raven haired teen who almost missed because of the sudden move. "You're probably going to want to put this on your gun. It's a silencer. Just screw it onto the gun's nozzle and it'll dampen the sound of a gunshot. I don't know if you two know this, but these things are apparently drawn in to any noise they hear. They're like a bunch of wild animals; they'll make their way to where the sound came from and attack if it's their prey of choice. Using this should make it easier to keep our cover and avoid from being surrounded once we're inside."
"You're not serious, are you?" Billy asked as he installed the silencer through Steve's simple instructions. "Great, now we have to go sneaking around like a couple of spies in enemy territory and be careful not to attract their attention. Oh, I hope Tommy at least caught up to that fact if he's moving around rather than hiding in one place. Knowing him, he'll never stay still even when facing something like this."
"I guess that's another reason to hurry up and get him out of here," Teddy explained with an encouraging smile. "He does have that annoying habit of not staying in one place for long. At least we managed to learn something new about how to survive these zombies. It'll definitely make it easier to survive once we're back out on the road."
"I guess you're right. The more we figure out about these monsters, the better off we'll be able to handle seemingly bad and crazy situations. Let's just hope we don't have to practice what we've learned in here."
With a quiet huff of amusement at how the teens seemed to supplement each other well, Steve allowed the two to have their moment. After that, he motioned for the two to wait before taking another silencer from a fellow soldier's handgun and installing it. Once that was done, he immediately walked through the door with his gun at the ready. Seeing nothing threatening, he waved the other two in before leading the way into the school.
Once inside, the teens saw just how chaotic things got in the school when zombies infiltrated the perimeter. Even though it was still the early afternoon, the hallway was somewhat dark with the lights turned off. What little windows that were scattered in between the rows of lockers were stained by dried blood that were either splattered on or imprinted by bloodied hands. The bodies it once came from were lying just below the morbid art, many with faces frozen in horror as their innards laid bare for the world to see. Most had been eaten clean to the bone; others seemed to have been well preserved only because of an existing body or two keeping them from zombie hands.
"Oh geez…!" Billy silently exclaimed just as a harsh stench reached his nostrils. He had not noticed earlier because of the shock, but the stench of death permeating in the hallway was beyond intense. Even if Steve was not there to tell them about the zombie trouble, the teen would have clearly notice that this all had to have happened a few days ago for such a smell to exist! Even Teddy was having trouble breathing as his breath was repeatedly coming in small gags. Steve seemed to be the only one not remotely fazed by the putrid scent, although he did seem to be breathing at a much slower pace.
"Best to get used to it now while you can boys," Steve quietly said, clearly not fazed by the amazing stench and trekking onward. "If you want to survive out in the wild once you're done here, then you're going to have to enter buildings filled with death and smelling just as bad as this. That's probably the only way you're going to find supplies unless you meet and raid off of passing survivors."
"God, why couldn't they have made this into an outdoor hallway like the ones in our school?" the raven haired teen complained as held onto his friend's arm for support as the smell was making him feel faint. His gun-arm was hanging loosely at his side yet still at the ready for any oncoming danger. "If this is how it smells in those places where medical examiners work, then I have a newfound respect for them. I don't know how they can stand being in the same room as a decaying corpse for so long!"
"They use a kind of scented cream underneath their noses which masks the odor," the man explained as they reached a connecting hallway. He then said after making sure the new area was safe, "I used to work as a coroner for the Brooklyn Police Department before I became a part of the military, so I know about these things. Believe me when I say it wasn't the most pleasant of jobs to be working in. Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd actually see things that are worse than examining dead people, though."
"Let's just try to get this over with quickly," Teddy managed to choke out in breaths too small to be considered for long-term sustainment of consciousness. "I've never fainted before, but I think I'm getting close to it right now."
"Seriously, you two need to grow some more backbone if you're already complaining about something hardly worth worrying over. You'll have a hard time making it through this catastrophe if you don't harden yourself up. Anyway," he quickly added as he pointed to a nearby door marked "Nurse's Office", "perhaps we should check that room first. Maybe the person you're looking for is taking shelter there."
With only a shrug of his shoulders, the blond teen quickly made his way towards said door, his hand drifting over the handle and ready to twist open. Billy was still somewhat unsteady on his feet but managed to ready himself for a potential showdown. The soldier was also ready as he stood guard over the area to make sure they did not get back-attacked. Seeing this, the baseball player opened the door and immediately stepped out of the way so that his buddy would have a clear shot at whatever might come bursting out.
"…I don't see anything," the raven haired teen softly relayed before poking his head into the room to confirm its emptiness. All he saw was a tabletop cluttered with typical school nurse materials and various bandages and gauze scattered along the floor. There were also some spots of blood along the floor, but there was nobody inside to claim responsibility for it. "Somebody was here before, but they left some time ago. It looks like there isn't going to be any dead bodies stinking up the place. That's kind of a good sign, don't you think?"
"Don't start getting too comfortable just because you found a place that zombies have yet to claim as their own," Steve reminded as he managed to muffle another bout of coughing. "You never know when things can take a turn for the worse."
"Trust me; I think Billy and I already went through a 'turn for the worse' scenario," Teddy explained as he entered the room and surveyed the area himself. "We thought that we were safe when we took shelter in our high school cafeteria yesterday, but it ended up that a bitten student managed to come in and started causing another mass panic. Anyway, let me see if there's anything useful we can take along. And maybe we'll be able to find something that'll help you take care of that cough."
"Don't bother trying to help me with this; it'll merely progress from this simple cough to a debilitating fever later," the man simply brushed off as he stood just outside the doorway. "I've seen the effects this has on a person regardless of how healthy they are. No amount of medication will be able to slow down the transformation process. It doesn't even delay it; it just makes the direct symptoms more bearable."
"But don't you think it'll than just having to suffer in pain the whole time?" Billy asked as he helped the blond take whatever medicinal supplies they could find. "Just because you're dying doesn't mean you can't try to be more comfortable. And since you're here helping us out, it'll definitely make it easier for you to fight."
"…I guess you do kind of bring up a good point there. Heh, I can't believe a teenager is actually giving me a good talking-to about my well-being. Just don't take too long trying to find and take everything you think you can use. If one of those zombies finds us, then they always manage to bring the entire gang on our asses. It'll be hell to search for whoever you're looking for if that happens."
With that warning in mind, the teens quickened their search of the Nurse's Office. The last thing they wanted was to be trapped in the room with only the window serving as their way out. Being discovered now would most likely get every zombie in the school to start moving around. The hallways would most likely become insanely crowded with the dead, and that will make it harder if not impossible for them to find Tommy considering if he was still somewhere in the building to begin with.
In less than a minute, they were able to stock up on a good amount of first aid supplies including gauze, sling wraps, and anti-bacterial cream. The added bulk thankfully did not bring about any extra weight, so they did not have to worry about being slowed down because of their backpacks. They also took a couple plastic bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide in case they had minor wounds that needed to be cleaned.
Not to their surprise, most of the medication in the office was mainly prescriptions made out to specific students. That was to be expected since this was a high school. Most medicines apart from what certain students needed to take were not allowed on campus. Oddly enough, they still managed to find and take two near-full bottles of pills inside the nurse's desk, one of them being Tylenol and the other simple immune boosters. There was also a bag of cough drops that had only a quarter of its contents left for the taking.
"I wonder if the nurse here was a bit of a health freak," Teddy wondered out loud as he packed away their latest findings. "They were like prepared to reduce the risk of getting sick and to take care of coughs and headaches when they come."
"You guys better start wrapping things up in there!" Steve hissed just as a barely audible sound was heard. In the next moment, the sound of something heavy falling to the floor reached the teens' ears. "I just took out a roaming zombie, but I don't want to stick around and see if it had some friends following it."
"Geez, you weren't kidding when you said the silencer dulls the sound of a gunshot," Billy replied as he put on his backpack and exited the office with the other close behind. As the man had just said, a new body was now lying a good few yards away from them. "Where should we be looking next?"
"If there really is someone left alive here, then they could be anywhere," the soldier deadpanned while leading them through the hallways, being careful to look out for danger when approaching a corner. "However, I suppose we can go search the gymnasium first. There's plenty of food and water in there from our relief efforts to tie people over for a while, so that'll be our best place to find anybody."
"You're going to take us all the way to the gymnasium?" the blond teen repeated with an uncharacteristic groan. "Do we really have to start off our search from there? I've been to this school's gym before for a martial arts competition, and I remember it being located somewhere outside towards the back end of the school! If we're going to travel all the way there, then I don't think we'll be able to avoid running into a couple of zombies. I hope you have a quick way for us to get there. I don't think we'll have time to kill everything in sight nor can we risk ignoring them in case they get more of them on us."
"And that's why I had my and your buddy's guns equipped with silencers. You just saw how I managed to take out a zombie quietly and from a distance. We can just do the same thing if we run into more. You just make sure you don't hit the wall with your crowbar lest you want to ring the dinner bell. And don't even think about using that automatic rifle unless we manage to get ourselves into a desperate situation."
"Uh, I think it's time we made good on that plan," the raven haired teen stated as he raised his gun and shot it at a zombie he saw at the end of the next hallway. Unfortunately, it landed in a way that it fell against an abandoned mop container. This in turn caused a sharp cluttering sound to echo throughout the abandoned hallway, making the three of them wince at the cursed noise.
"So much for hoping we could sneak through quietly," Steve growled before starting to shoot a few zombies. "Come on; get a move-on, you two! When the rest of them start coming, it's going to be hell just to move around!"
Just as he said that, more zombies started flooding into the hallways out from the open classrooms. Teddy barely managed to knock a zombie coming out of a nearby room in the head as it almost had its hands on the unsuspecting soldier. The two with the guns were taking down those that stood in their way as they began blocking the hallway, but it proved futile as more were popping up than they were taking down.
By some miracle, the group managed to make their way towards the end of the hallway with barely any room and more zombies joining in on the chaos. It took almost two torturously long minutes, but they finally made it to the doors leading to the outdoor hallways. With a few more well aimed shots and strikes, they burst through the doors and were finally free from the suffocating killer crowd.
"Quick, shut those doors!" the soldier exclaimed as he turned around and shot at those that were about to come out with them.
Without hesitation, Billy and Teddy each took a door and began closing them. However, they had a hard time doing so since some zombies managed to jam it with their arms. Out of desperation, the blond teen kicked some of the arms which caused some of them to fall to the floor. The raven haired teen managed to blindly shoot some of the monsters which caused a few more arms to retreat back into the hallway. Soon enough, the doors were finally clear enough to close all the way. For added measure, the blond used his crowbar and jammed it into the door handles to prevent them from opening again.
"Whew, that was too close!" Billy said with a deep sigh as continuous pounding could be heard from the doors. "You weren't kidding when you said they were attracted to sounds. They all just came out of nowhere and started surrounding us!"
"That's why I gave you the silencer before we came in," Steve responded before another bout of coughs came around. This time, it sounded a lot more strained. In fact, it took him about ten seconds before he managed to calm down.
"…You're getting worse," Teddy murmured with a frown as he noticed the soldier's eyes shimmering a bit from the pain. He then suggested as he quickly dug into his friend's backpack, "We found some cough drops in the Nurse's Office. It should at least help make your cough less painful to deal with. And if it makes any difference, you can take some of the Tylenol we found to make the pain easier to deal with."
"I think I'll pass on the cough drops," the man hoarsely replied before taking the pain killers and popped a couple pills into his mouth. He then said after tossing the bottle back and quickly reloading his gun, "Come on; let's keep moving. It's not smart to be staying in one place out in the open for too long. The gymnasium shouldn't be more than three minutes' worth of walking from here. Depending on how things work out, we can take a break and decide on our next move if who you're looking for isn't there."
"Well, I hope what we do after that doesn't have us going back into the school hallways again," the raven haired teen said as he checked the bullets in his gun. "If Tommy is somewhere in this school but isn't in the gym, I'm going to kill him myself for having turned this into a deadly game of hide-and-seek!"
"That's considering if you can catch up to the track field star first," the blond added jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood. It did not seem to work as Steve continued to lead the way to the gymnasium with Billy following close behind. "Come on; don't be like that. I was just trying to kill the tension."
Before he could continue trying to defend himself from the silent treatment, the outdoor silence was abruptly disrupted with the sound of doors bursting open. Looking around, the three saw more zombies pouring out from various doors other than the one they managed to close and lock. Apparently, the previous fiasco from inside the hallway caused a ripple throughout the entire school that effectively riled up all the zombies.
"Damn, these things just don't know when to give up!" Steve growled before breaking into a full-on run. "Keep up with me, you two!"
With a groan of disappointment, both teens ran as fast as they could to keep up with the slightly faster soldier. Whatever zombies that happened to be in their line of vision were thankfully too far away to pose any kind of problem. Apart from the horde that was no doubt following them, it was a rather danger-free trek to the gym. However, that thought did little to appease their apprehension at the worsening situation.
Because they were running, the three were able to make it to the front doors of the gym in about a minute. They had made good distance between the monsters, but they quickly entered through the open doors in hopes that they did not see where they were hiding. This time without any trouble, the teens closed the door while the soldier took a quick look of the area for any signs of danger.
"…Hmm, it looks like this place is secure for the most part," the man concluded after seeing and hearing nothing. "That's a nice change from all this survival rush."
After locking the door with its own locking mechanism, Billy and Teddy turned around and finally took a good look at the gym interior. Some of the bleachers had been pulled out but were devoid of any people. Blankets and clothing among other things littered the bleachers while boxes and crates were stacked on top of and around tables set up in the middle of the gym. It was clear that this place was set up to be an area to receive disaster relief, but it had clearly been abandoned when the zombies took over from the inside out.
"According to what I heard a week ago when this school was still safe, the zombie attack didn't happen here in the gym. If that's right, then there shouldn't be any reason for them to be here unless those that got bit came back and turned. Don't let your guard down until we know for sure this building is safe."
"But wouldn't anybody who survived the attack and came here for shelter have already cleared them out?" Teddy wondered as he peeked inside a nearby box. "I doubt they'd just seem content to hide out in a place alongside a trapped zombie."
"You'd be right in assuming so," a woman's voice suddenly cut through the quiet gymnasium. Startled, all three started looking around for the source of the mysterious voice.
"Wh-who's there?!" Billy called out as he kept his gun at the ready for any unexpected surprises. He then asked in totally random fashion, "Are you a survivor or someone who preys on unsuspecting people and takes their things?"
"Humph, that's quite an imagination you got there," the woman answered in a rather amused tone. "Luckily for you, I'm just a regular girl trying to survive this insane zombie apocalypse."
"Where are you?" the blond teen asked as he brought his assault rifle to his hands without thinking. "If you really are just a survivor, then stop talking to us from your hiding place. Show yourself!"
"…You really don't recognize my voice, Teddy?" she asked, taking the blond aback when she mentioned his name. "Well, I guess it can't be helped what with all this making everyone run on only survival mode."
Once that statement was made, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the three from somewhere above. As she stood straight up, they could see that she had long black hair that was unrestrained by any bands or clips. She was dressed in a simple shirt and black jeans, but she also had what appeared to be a bow in one hand and a quiver full of arrows situated on her back. Also placed against her side was what looked a lot like the hilt of a sword, but the rest of it was covered by her slim yet fit body.
"No way…!" Teddy whispered as he took a good look at the woman in front of them. Billy was still on high alert mode with his gun pointed at her while Steve just settled with staring at the newcomer before him. "Is that you, Hawkeye?"
Well, even I have to admit that the ending for this chapter wasn't what I expected. Believe me when I say that I'm pretty surprised at how this just made a spontaneous change. I never intended for Kate to make her appearance into this story so soon, but I also never intended for the three to be chased by the zombies so soon either. It just happened to become workable with the situation everybody was in and spilled out of my mind before I even had a chance to know what I was writing. Then again, I guess constantly listening to a video game theme called "Rosalia's Petals" really put me in the mood to write a bit darker than I had intended for this chapter. I swear; it really fits for certain zombie situations like this.
But yeah, now our friends have found another friendly and potentially helpful face. However, we still have yet to find Tommy yet. I wonder if he's even here to begin with. Then again, Kate was taking shelter here, so there's no reason that impatient guy isn't here as well.
And yes, Steve's condition is slowly getting worse for any of you who are wondering. Just like it was in the comic book series, he will die at some point. Note that I only heard that happening from one of my friends who happens to be a big fan of the Avengers series, so that's how I originally came up with the concept that he will have his heroic last deed before succumbing to his injuries. Kind of poetic in a sad sort of way, don't you think?
Anyway, that's enough of my rants. Like I said at the top of this story, it's three in the morning for me. Yes, I type these notes as they come along and within minutes of each other. So now I'm going to leave you with the outtakes and get some much needed sleep. Thankfully for me, I don't have school on Fridays.
Don't forget to leave a review before you run away and read the next story that piques your interests. Until the next update to this and any of my other stories on here everybody!
Outtakes:
Steve: Here Billy. (Throws silencer to him) It'll dull down the sound of your shots.
Billy: Alright; thanks! (Starts installing enhancement) Now let me see how well this works.
Teddy: Just don't test it out on us and you'll be fine.
(Tests silenced gun out on nearby jeep; accidentally hits engine and causes it to explode)
Steve: The hell you do that for?! (Angrily snatches gun from Billy) You just blew our position!
Billy: I didn't mean to hit the engine! And how was I supposed to know it was going to blow up with one shot?
Teddy: (Sighs while facepalming) I wonder if Greg knows how lucky he is to not have to deal with this...
/
Teddy: God, it stinks in here! (Covers nose)
Billy: ...(Covers nose while looking pale)
Steve: Come on; it isn't that bad.
Teddy: We're not soldiers like you.
Steve: I've smelled worse in a coroner's office.
Teddy: As if that's the truth! What do you think, Billy?
Billy: ... ... ...
Teddy: Billy? (Pokes said teen)
(Billy falls over and faints from smell)
/
Billy: Oh, we're finally out of that hallway of doom! (Falls to ground and starts kissing it)
Steve: ...What the hell is he doing?
Teddy: ...I think he's finally lost it.
Billy: Oh, thank god we survived that ambush! (Continues kissing ground)
Steve: ...How about we just leave him for the zombies to take care?
Teddy: You know, I was just about to suggest that myself.
(Both leave as Billy continues to happily kiss the ground)
/
Steve: Well, we finally made it to the gymnasium.
Billy: (Looks around room) Seems pretty quiet. Are you sure anybody's in here?
Kate: Do I count as a somebody?
Teddy: (Looks around frantically) Who's there?!
(Kate jumps from somewhere above and breaks leg on landing)
Kate: OOWWWW!!!!!!! (Starts crying in pain on the floor) Someone take me to the hospital!!!
(All three just look at Kate with a "what-the-heck" look on their faces)
Kate: (Continues crying) Don't just stand there! Help me!!!
Billy, Teddy, and Steve: ...I don't think so. (Turns around and exits the gym)