Decaying Hearts

Chapter 11

   I had thought it would be all over for the day once we returned to the safety of the school, but that was far from the truth. My body felt so week, I was so tired my eyes struggled to focus for more than a few minutes at a time. I was more than ready to let sleep take me away. If only I could just have a few moments...
  The van jerked to a halt and Emma cursed at the front. Tony rushed by me in a crouch and hunched over in the gap between the driver and passenger seat. He brushed a hand through his fading hair, letting out a huff of irritation before storming out the vans side door. Reluctantly, I rose to me feet and followed in suit, struggling to fall into step.
  I didn’t need to ask, as soon as saw what had caused the alarm my body’s fatigue vanish and was replaced with a second rush of adrenaline. The front fence was down, but how was much more horrifying. The fence couldn’t have fallen easily; it was much too sturdy for such an accident, with wood pushed up against it on both sides for extra support, it was impossible.
    No, there were skid marks of tires burned into the tarmac that once led into the school parking lot. I could still smell the ghastly odour of burning rubber.
  “Shit!” Tony yelled.
  “Who could of done this?!” I gasped.
  “I know exactly who did this!” He spat venomously as he started towards the building, I followed close behind.
   Just outside were two abandoned vehicles. One was a transit van similar to ours, the difference being that the doors to the back section were at the rear rather than the side. There was a long black bumper sticker that read “Zombie Slayer” in neon green, it must have been from an old video game; the irony.
   The other vehicle was a little red, two-door polo with the door left wide open, the keys still in the ignition. The signs had been confirmed; this was not an attack of the dead, but a break in by the living.
   We ran through the corridors and the halls were silent. Dead. It seemed like nobody was here. All seemed lost. Nancy was not wandering the halls in her distant state and Robert wasn’t lingering behind her as he often did. Jake wasn’t marching the grounds with Howard, attempting to match his tough guy persona. And where was Rosie?
  We remained quiet and pulled out our pistols. When it came to the living, I knew all too well that they were more dangerous than the dead. Some people held on desperately to their grasp of humanity, but others seemed to marvel in the new world – in fact some people embraced it. Many became just as heartless as the corpses that hunted us; they would kill for the sake of the thrill, because they could. People turned from killing in self-defence to brutal murder and most of the time for petty gains.
   Running through the halls, we approached the cafeteria. We could hear the voices down the hall. Two people were talking amongst themselves; one of the voices was deep and dull and clearly man, from what he was saying I guessed he was the ring leader.
  “Let’s just kill them and take this place. When the others come back, we’ll kill them too.”
  “No. We’re not here for a slaughter!” Said the second voice.
   It was a woman. She sounded young, maybe my age? Mid 20’s? A high pitched soothing voice that sounded so familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. I was almost sure I knew it, but I knew just how unlikely that was.
   I popped my head around the corner of the hallways and saw just the back of the two bodies walking back into the cafeteria. The man was smaller than the woman but with a stocky build. The woman was tall and slender with mousy brown curls falling down her back. The heavy door slammed behind them.
  “Who are they?” I whispered so softly I wondered if the words ever left my mouth at all.
  “They have a house secured in a nearby neighbourhood. It’s reasonably secure out on the streets here but they still want the security we have here.”
  “Why didn’t they just join us here? I mean... you.”
  “They were offered a place here. We were more than happy to welcome them, the more the merrier I say. They have a good force on their side, the bigger the force the stronger we are. But that guy you just heard, that’s Dim. He is a sadistic, power hungry dictator. He won’t settle for just living here, he wants to control it.” Tony explained with a tone of regret. I guess he really did want the group to join them here; there is safety in numbers after all, but with this Dim about I doubted it would work well.
  “Follow me.” Tony said and marched in the other direction.
   We headed down the corridor, to the right and into a janitors closet on the left. He ushered me in and locked the door behind us. It was a very small room, much like a box, with only a mop and bucket, a step ladder and a few cleaning products lined up on a metal rack.
   Tony took the step ladder from its place and positioned it hastily in the centre of the room, just under a vent.
  “Here’s the plan, were going to enter the cafeteria through the vents. When we are over the grate that will allow us to drop in, were going to shoot two guys in the room, in the leg,” he stopped to point out. “Then we’ll drop down securing our own people. Dim won’t see it coming and freak out. He’ll abandon the wounded and leave with those that can.
  “What about those left behind?” I asked critically.
  “Hopefully, they’ll see Dim’s true colours and join us.”
  I nodded in agreement and allowed tony to enter the vents first; he had a better idea about the whole system and my navigation skills were limited at the best of times. Geography had never been a friend of mine.
  Nevertheless, we crawled on through the vent systems with care, effectively trying not to clunk against the metallic casing. The last thing we need was to give away our position as we hovered above the opening that would give us space to drop.
   Tony pulled a screwdriver from his pockets and began releasing the screws from their unwilling prison and gently lifted the lid. We peeked into the canteen and saw a group of people I had never seen before. It was around the same size as our own group, only their force was stronger.
   We had to take into account the potential abilities of the people in the rival group compared to ours. We had a frail old woman, a pregnant girl and a child; that left us three down. These people were all relatively young and healthy, the oldest person in their group must have been early 40’s.
   Tony indicated that I took my pistol and pointed towards a young looking lad, maybe late teens or early twenties. He looked almost angelic with his high cheek bones and a halo of blonde curls that fell roughly to the nape of his neck. Though, his innocence was tainted as had a gun held against Rosie’s temple.
  It was clear that the boy was uncomfortable with the whole situation as his hands fidgeted on the trigger and he wiped his free hand on his distressed jeans over and over. His face held stern but his darting eyes gave him away.  He was just a boy trapped in a nightmare.
  “Tony... he’s just a kid!” I whispered frantically.
   How could he expect me to shoot a kid? He would have been most likely fresh out of school, so young and yet he held a gun to a woman, but it may not have been his choice. In this world, a young kid desperate and alone would do anything for acceptance. I was sure he’d do anything for any sense of normality; that doesn’t mean he lacks a conscience.
   I couldn’t attack the innocent. Images of the cat being tossed to the teeth flashed through my mind and I flinched with disgust. Although it had been just a cat, I had killed it. That black cat never had the choice; I made it for it. That was something I refused to do again with no just reason. Cat or human.
   “I can’t do it.”
   Tony flashed me a menacing look, a side to him was revealed to me that I never thought could exist in a guy that seemed so genuine. He seemed so in control, so poised yet the rage was growing in his greying eyes. It was like looking in to the dark depths of a maelstrom. He jabbed his gun in the young man’s direction and his brows furrowed with annoyance. I shook my head. I wouldn’t.
   Bang! Bang!
  And the blonde boy collapsed to the ground along with another young boy who looked even younger. I couldn’t suppress the gasp. They both tumbled to the ground; the target intended for me nursed a wounded shin whilst the other held tight to his abdomen. Tony had missed the leg! He was dead, was all that came to my mind. The medical supplies here couldn’t possibly tend to such a wound. How medically trained was Maria?
  Tony dropped to the ground and quickly moved from the space. I followed him down and automatically rushed to Rosie’s side. Her hand laid anxiously across her bulging bump, as though her delicate hand would be able to protect her baby from any harm that came their way. I softly place a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she smiled simply, gratefully.
   I turned back to the brawl unravelling before us to see Tony and Dim starring down the deadly barrel of their guns. My stomach turned, something terrible was about to happen. As I did a quick body check, it seemed everybody was okay. Jake and Howard were held at gun point at the front of the canteen by two girls, they were probably there to show some kind of example, that our boys were weak. One of the girls was young and dainty looking with the other being mid thirties and broad.
  Nancy was crying hysterically, she was so confused with her face pressed in to her husband’s chest. Robert was doing all he could to sooth her, he stroked her hair as he brought his hand through and rubbed the tips, making her visibly shiver. It seemed to calm her slowly. His other hand held her chin, keeping her gaze away from the weaponry that threatened them.
  “What do you want, Dim?” Tony spoke simply, his tone was menacing and haunting.
  “You know exactly what I want, Tony.” Dim began, his voice emphasising the name as though he was tasting each letter.
  “Well, you better keep looking ‘cause you’re not welcome here. Not anymore.”
  “I’m not here for your blessing, sweetheart.” Dim’s tone echoed mockery, clearly feeding off the anger that surged through Tony. “I’m here to take what I want.”
  “Not today you’re not.”
   And as if on cue; Lenny burst through the back doors of the cafeteria, shooting aimlessly. One after another, bullets flew through the room and sent our foes running. With each gunshot it seemed another guy disappeared through the doors and toward the exit, hands over heads. Soon only a handful remained, Dim, the man that stood behind Robert and Nancy, the girls with Jake and Howard along with the girl that looked so familiar behind them.
  “This isn’t over.” Dim smirked and then jerked his gun to the left, releasing the one last bullet as an unspoken promise. He turned and ran with his minions in tow.
   That’s when I saw her. It was her! Her long mousy brown hair fell down to her hips that could only have been made by heavens guardians. I could see her beautiful brown eyes that had always filled me with warmth and safety and love. It was her! And I called to her desperately!
  “SAMIA!”
   She turned instantly and her beautiful eyes found me at once. Her mouth fell wide and her eyes swam with disbelief. Samia’s plump and perfect lips that had once pressed against mine, the same lips I never thought I’d ever even see again, they tried to form words she just couldn’t find.
   We only had seconds, seconds of eye contact before Dim came rushing back and grabbed her by the arm. He pulled her to the door and she seemed to oblige unwillingly, holding my gaze until the walls broke our hold and she was gone; again. No. She can’t! Not again!
  “Samia!” I called once more and flew body forward, prepared for the chase. I couldn’t bare to lose her again.
 Until my footfalls stopped at the sound of heart shattering screams and the sobbing echoes of a grown man, as blood poured from Nancy’s chest.