REWRITTEN 12/12/15
Our First Mission
The Panic, as it would come be called, was my first clue that something other than nature was controlling the apocalypse. The number of zombies that appeared all at once that night was staggering and inexplicable. They literally poured out of the woodwork, fresh and rotting and hungry. I had my suspicions about who the culprit was, but I wasn't ready to air them right then. Making sure that David survived the night was a more pressing matter, and I wanted to be absolutely positive before I began slinging accusations around.
The group flitted through the streets like silent, grey wraiths, the weight of the snow suppressing any sound we might have made as it broke up our solid shapes. Screams lit the air, and we followed them towards the high school that sat in the center of town, freezing by the fence that surrounded the football field. I wrapped my fingers through the holes and stared without truly comprehending what I was seeing.
The three story, brick building was on fire. All the windows had been shattered, and the flames spurted into the air like blood coming from a burst eye. Tortured bodies, both dead and undead, grew from the football field like crooked grass. "Holy shit," William breathed, and I had to agree.
I spotted movement across the way. "There's someone alive out there!" I pointed out urgently. A small figure perched on the roof of the press box, curled into a ball. The undead pooled around the base of the small building like oil seeping out from underneath a car, their many arms clawing desperately at the walls. "Alright, this is our first mission!" I exclaimed. I leapt into the air and somersaulted, thrusting my arm out into the air dramatically when I landed.
Instantly, everyone burst into laughter.
"What the hell was that?" Onyx demanded.
"My Ranger pose," I said defensively, pouting a little.
Minka laughed appreciatively, the only one who understood the reference. "Nice."
"Thank you," I replied. "It's good to know that there's at least one cool person in this group."
"That's one word for it," Onyx scoffed, gaining laughter points from the rest of our friends.
I huffed indignantly, pushing at a strand of hair, and continued talking as if nothing had happened. "Here's the plan. We're going to split into two two groups of two and a group of three." I purposefully miscounted.
"Me and Arin!" Teemo said automatically, grapping his wife into a hug. She smiled indulgently.
"You and Samik, obviously," Onyx said with a snort. I narrowed my eyes dangerously. "I'll be with Minka."
"So that just leaves Zeus," I finished, turning to the final member. "Looks like you get to pick."
"Cool." She thought about it for a moment, nodding her head as she regarded each of the groups in turn. "I think I'll go with Teemo and Arin."
"Yes!" Teemo crowed, raising his hand for a high five. Zeus slapped his palm, jumping to do so. Zeus wasn't short, but Teemo was very tall and had his arm almost all the way extended into the air.
I beckoned the others to gather around me, and they crowded in, leaning forward like we were in a football huddle. Or whatever it was called. "Onyx and Minka will circle around to the left, through the parking lots. Teemo, Arin, and Zeus, will go to the right, next to the tree line. Samik and I will go through the middle to create a distraction and clear out some of the zombies." I paused, trying to figure out if I had left anything out. "One more thing, try to steer clear of using magic. For some reason, humans aren't really a fan of things they can't understand, even if it's saving their asses. Don't get separated from your partner. Sound good?"
Everyone nodded, but Zeus raised her hand "I don't have a weapon."
Onyx slid the strap of her assault rifle off her shoulder and handed the weapon over. Zeus took it as if she were being given toxic waste in a Tupperware container without the lid.
"Point and shoot," Onyx explained. "Try not to hit anything that's not dead."
Zeus nodded, her knuckles very white. "Anything else?" I asked, and the group shrugged. Not that they could think of. "Alright then, E.Z.H.F., activate!"
We drew our weapons and prepared to charge, faces set like rocks that would never weather. "Hold it!" William shouted in angry protest, stopping our dramatic charge before it could even begin. "What about me?"
I looked back over my shoulder, one eyebrow raised. "What about you?"
"What do I do?"
I gestured vaguely with my hands. "Stay here and root for us."
"What?" William's face turned a bright burgundy. "No!"
Annoyed, I stepped away from the fence to get in his face. "Look, bro, I didn't ask you to join our group. There were only supposed to be seven of us, so all you're doing is wrecking the group dynamic. Also nobody wants you here. So basically, you're just here to lug all our crap around. You're our…" I hesitated to search for the best word to completely crush his soul with, "our cheerleader," I finished with a malicious smile that was all teeth.
Every muscle in William's body went rigid, and his short hair practically bristled. "I'M NOT A FUCKING CHEERLEADER!" he screeched, his voice cracking halfway through.
The football field below us became as silent as a broken spaceship floating through space. Nearly as one, the dead faces turned to stare up the hill at us, shifting like a field of grass in a breeze. The moans began again, rumbling through the air, and the munchers lifted their arms and started shambling towards us. "You idiot," I hissed at William, poking him in the chest. "This is why you aren't part of the squad." I shot a quick glance to each of my friends, raising my voice. "Go go go!"
"We're gonna win!" Teemo shouted, pumping his fist in the air as he, Arin, and Zeus ran off to the right.
"Nu-uh!" Onyx called back. She jabbed her thumb at herself. "We are!"
Teemo ran backwards so he could make a mocking face at the other team. "Bring it!"
Onyx's eyes narrowed into a glare, and she took off, dragging Minka along by the arm. They skirted the fence to the left towards the parking log while Teemo, Arin, and Zeus followed it towards the trees on the opposite side.
Samik and I quickly scaled the chain links and dropped to the snow on the other side, trapped in a fishbowl with the hungry dead. We drew our weapons, and I twirled my sword around a couple of times, testing the way it swished through the air. Samik held his blade out before him, perfectly still.
We advanced towards the mob side by side, and the closer we got, the worse the smell became. It was like the ocean had gone bad, all the sea creatures dying in one fell swoop. I gagged violently, quickly switching over to breathing only through my mouth. Thank the gods my sense of smell was already very poor. Samik pulled his shirt up to cover his nose.
We paused when the first munchers were only a few yards away from us. I rolled my neck around in a circle and heard my spine pop. "Hey, dipshits!" I yelled. "You wanna piece of me?"
The munchers moaned in response, seeming to lurch forward faster.
I grinned. "That's what I thought. Come and get some! Tallahassee's good tonight!"
I shamelessly quoted all movies and books.
Suddenly, the munchers were on top of us. With an adrenaline-fueled roar, I snapped my sword up and sliced off the top half of three skulls, darting out of the way of a pair of reaching arms, pausing long enough to spear the muncher in the head. Instinctively, Samik and I positioned ourselves so we were back to back – the exact opposite of what the Zombie Survival Guide suggested. But we were elves, I figured. Brooks probably didn't write his manual with magical beings in mind.
My blade flashed, blurring like a spider web hit by sunshine, and long ropes of thick, black blood flew through the air, followed by shattered skulls and splattered brains. Off in the distance, I could hear the rat-a-tat-tat of Zeus's gun, but the sound was duller than a used number two pencil.
"Yeah!" Teemo's voice cut over the din of the munchers all around me. "We win!"
Time to disengage, I thought and turned to find Samik to tell him. The elf wasn't there. The space at my back was empty. Panic bubbled through my stomach like cold acid. "Samik?" I yelled, voice cracking.
No answer.
Louder. "Samik?"
The empty moans seemed to whisper his name mockingly. My panic grew, surging from my gut up my esophagus. Furious, I launched myself at the munchers, sword a steel whirlwind around me, cutting off any hand that strayed to close, slicing through just enough skull to reach the brain and exiting cleanly.
A hand fell on my shoulder. I turned excitedly, sure that it was Samik, but then the fingers tightened roughly, biting through my jacket. With a roar, I changed my grip on the hilt and drove the sword back over my shoulder, spearing it straight through something with a sickening crunch. The hand on my shoulder slid away as the body collapsed to the ground.
I finished the spin, knowing that I needed to deal with the mob before I could throw myself into finding Samik. I stared around me incredulously, mouth falling open. What the hell…?
"Gods, that's so cliché," I groaned, hanging my head to the side in exasperation.
Advancing towards me was an undead football team complete with a ragged band of undead cheerleaders. The muscle-bound corpses wore their game uniforms, though the white jerseys were shredded and stained red. The shoulder pads practically doubled the size of their bodies, and the shin guards poked through the ripped remains of their muddy pants. Worst of all, the team sported their red helmets, bright and somehow gleaming – though maybe that was just because I couldn't see the blood.
The cheerleaders were even more horrifying. Blood dripped down their white tights, blending in with the pleated red skirts and long sleeve shirts. The once pristine ponytails were frayed and torn to pieces, hanks of hair distorting their blank faces – that much wasn't terribly different from when they were alive. They were new munchers, but their perfectly taunt skin was already beginning to sag and turn grey.
I sheared through a helmet with a grunt and flipped the sword around to stab it through the air of a leering cheerleader, slowly forcing my way into the offense, or whatever it was called.
Suddenly, I noticed something glittering on the ground. I crept closer, slashing my way through the football team. My blood ran out through my feet. It was a sword. A katana. Samik's katana. Blood soaked the churned snow around it, deep and threatening. My vision tinged red, and without warning, flames sprouted along the edges of my blade, flying out in deadly arcs as I hacked viciously away at the mob, melting the plastic helmets as it passed through them easily.
I felt unstoppable, daring the Universe to throw another thousand munchers at me. I could cut them down swifter than I cut fruit. You messed with Samik, and I killed you. It was as simple as that.
Before long, the only bodies around me were still bodies, and I was coated in a layer of congealing blood, breathing heavily, eyes searching for another target for my hungry sword. Most of the corpses were charred slightly, smoking in the winter air. I stood in the center of my rage, waiting to be attacked, hoping to be attack.
Too many long moments passed before coherent thought crept its carefully way back into my brain. I let the sword fall to my side and began to look around frantically for a sign that Samik was alive. I yelled his name, kicking bodies over as if hoping to find him beneath one. Tears began to blur my vision. There was no hint of him.
My movement faltered. The blade fell from my fingers and stuck itself into the chest of a muncher. I barely noticed. My chest was ice. My limbs were ice. My heart was ice. My knees prepared to buckle. Everything was cold. I had nothing left.
"Enia?" the voice appeared just before I could crash to the ground.
Tiny pinpricks of heat reappeared, slowly worming their way up my veins to my heart, moving like fat parasites. I turned slowly, braced for disappointment. My eyes widened to drink in as much of the figure before me as they could. Realization hit like a sledgehammer, and I shrieked sharply with joy, flinging myself into his arms and almost bowling him over in the process. He caught me, laughing, and buried his face in my hat. "You're not dead," I whispered quietly to hide the tears choking my voice.
"No, I'm not," he agreed, sounding relieved.
When I pulled away, I realized that my hands were sticky wet. I looked over Samik with growing horror, seeing that his arm was soaked in blood. I stepped back, eyes widening with horror. I couldn't deal with this happening, I wouldn't. It wasn't possible. It didn't compute with my brain.
"I wasn't bitten," Samik explained hurried, gesturing at his wounded arm. "I tripped and got pulled to the ground, and a muncher was about to bite me, but I managed to use magic to escape underground." He rubbed at the back of his head, looking sheepish. "I cut myself on my sword in the process."
I let out a gasp of relief, clutching at my chest. "Why did I noticed you go down?"
He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Because you're literally the least observant person on the face of this planet."
"That's true," I agreed, nodding along with my words. My knees wobbled suddenly, and I almost collapsed, barely managing to catch myself before I hit the ground. Samik reached out in concern but I waved him away. "I'm fine. Just relieved. Thank the gods for magic, am I right?"
He laughed shakily. He was trying to brush off his near-death experience, but I could tell that it had rattled him. He turned away and went to pick up his fallen blade, wiping the blood from it and stuffing it back in his sheath. I held back my gasp when I saw the long gash in the sleeve of his coat.
"How bad is it?" I asked.
He glanced down at the wound as if just remember it. "Not as bad as it looks."
"We'll have Arin take a look at it later." It wasn't a suggestion. Arin was an expert at water and healing magic.
"Hey! Don't!" Teemo's panicked voice cracked through the silence.
Simultaneously, Samik and I spun towards the sound. I snatched my weapon up from the ground, my knuckles tight.. Teemo, Zeus, and Arin had made it over to the bleachers, and had climbed on top of the press box to rescue the human. Minka was climbing up the other side of the building, but Onyx was nowhere to be seen. The stranger was wrestling Zeus for the gun, pinning my friend to the ground and yanking violently on the weapon. Teemo had his arms wrapped around them, trying to pull them away, but whoever it was had the surging power of a thousand volts of adrenaline.
Samik and I took off without having to speak, hurtling over the fallen corpses. I bounded up the bleachers and climbed swiftly up the stack of crates piled against the side of the building, heaving myself up onto the roof. I added my weight to Teemo's, and together we managed to drag the girl off Zeus. The gun came with us. I lunged for it as soon as I noticed, trying to wrench it away from the blonde-haired girl, but she clung to it like a leech. "Let go!" I yelled as if that would help.
"No!" she wailed, screwing her eyes shut as she fought back. "I can't take it anymore!"
I hesitated for a second when I realized what she wanted to do but regained control before she could take advantage of my lapse. "You can't take it anymore? It's barely started!"
"I don't want to be eaten!" the girl screamed. "I've nothing left to live for!"
I heaved on the gun and almost fell over. "There are plenty of things to live for! A friend, a parent, a sibling, a boyfriend or girlfriend."
"Everyone I know is dead!" she interrupted and flung herself away from me as hard as she could.
I doggedly held onto the weapon though I was dragged forward a few steps. "Then live for the little things. The sunrise or sunset, chocolate, revenge. I could go on and on."
The girl shook her head stubbornly, tears running down her dirt streaked face.
"Then how about showing those undead bitches that they can't beat you?" My voice dropped into a low growl. "That you will survive and crush their asses!"
Her tears dripped onto my hands as she pulled on the gun. "Maybe that works for you, but I'm made of weaker stuff."
Suddenly, she wrenched the gun in a different direction, bending my fingers painfully so I was forced to let go. Before any of us had a change to react, she reversed the barrel and stuck it under her chin. The girl screwed her eyes shut and pulled the trigger.
The retort was the loudest thing I'd ever heard. It rolled through the air in slow motion, like fog cresting over a hill. Warm drops of her blood splattered across my face.
Seven statues stood on that rooftop. Even our hair stood taunt against the stiff winter breeze. I had forgotten how to blink, how to breath. Without warning, William came puffing up onto the room, his boots thumping loudly on the metal. "What just happened?" he asked, breathing heavily.
"I blame you," I snarled as I began to stalk towards the edge of the roof that faced the school. I heard William made an exasperated snort of confusion.
"Where are you going?" Arin called after me.
"To put out that goddamn fire," I answered. Footsteps drummed behind me, but I didn't acknowledge them. Most of me wanted to do this alone.
Were were the Elite Zombie Hunting Force. It was our job to save and protect people. But how were we supposed to do that if they didn't even want to be saved?
Enia: Ugh, emotions. I hate emotions.
Samik: Emotions made writing more believable, Enia.
Enia: I know. I know.
William: (grumbling) I'm not a fucking cheerleader.
Enia: (points towards door) get out of my author's note.
(William leaves, still grumbling)
Samik: Shouldn't that be authoress's note?
Enia: Meh, too hard to say. Also, we got to break down those heteronormative barriers. Alright, please leave a review! Or else I'll stick William in a cheerleader's outfit in the next chapter. (shudders violently) Now there's a scary image.
Samik: How would you manage that without a giant plothole?
Enia: I'm Enia Silverson. My readers don't care.
Samik: Some might. And then there's the Plothole Police to consider.
Enia: That's why I have you, my lawyer.
Samik: …I don't think that's part of my job description.
Enia: Your job is whatever I say it is.
Samik: This could end badly. Please review so I don't have to worry about this. I've never been to law school!