High School of the Dead

High School of the Dead

The three of us stared in awe as they hit them, their metal bats making crunching sounds as they hit the heads of the zombies. One of the zombies grabbed someone's bat and pushed him to the ground. The guy screamed and called out to the rest of the baseball team as he tried to keep the zombie from biting into his face.
 
"HELP!!! GET HIM OFF ME!!"
 
We stood there in shock, as if this were out of a creepy horror movie. Someone finished bashing their zombie's head in and swung at the one trying to eat the guy's face. There was a loud crunching sound and the zombie fell on the ground next to him. We sighed with relief and saw that the baseball team had finished killing (again) the rest of the zombies that had chased us to them on the school's baseball field.
 
Sam was still clinging to the bloodied bat that James had given us before we were forced to leave him behind. He was swarmed by a group of zombies as he defended us on the football field only minutes ago. He looked B.A. and didn't make a sound as he was bitten and fell to the ground. A true hero in my eyes...
 
"So now what?!", one of the baseball players shouted.
 
"We get out of here and hurry home! I need to get to my mom and dad!", another yelled.
 
"We need to stay here and fight them off! We'll get killed if we go out there alone! Haven't you seen the movies?!"
 
After a few minutes of arguing, it was decided that most of the team would carpool to each person's house and find their families. Three of them said that they would stay with us and clear out the school. Each group went their separate ways after we got past the football field. We had to fight off the zombies eating James though - which wasn't exactly the prettiest sight, if you know what I mean.
 
Somewhere along the way, I was appointed the leader of the group, despite nobody telling me. We were surprised to find that the side entrance next to the gyms was unlocked and we went inside. We didn't really hear much as we started to walk around, but we began hearing their moans as we approached the gym hallway near the bathrooms. I peeked around the corner and saw a couple of zombified students and teachers wandering around.
 
"Crap...there's a few of them spread out down the hall. We'll have to take them out quickly so we don't alert any more of them to us."
 
The rest of the group nodded in approval and followed behind me as I slowly walked around the corner. One of the baseball players sneaked up behind the first zombie and hit its head with his bat. It fell to the ground and we moved on to the next one. Unfortunately, this one saw us and we had to rush it. It started making noises and attracted the rest of the zombies nearby - typical cheerleader.
 
We finished them off and moved a little faster down the hall. We got to the open area by the choir and band rooms, and spotted two more by the main hallway. We took them down with little effort and walked into the middle of the hallway. We realized our carelessness and just how dumb that was a second later, as a zombified student ran at us from the left and knocked down one of the baseball players. We let out a high pitched yelp as he fell to the ground and the zombie quickly bit his neck, ripping off chunks of skin and blood beginning to spill out all over the floor.
 
I heard loud footsteps and turned to see a large mob of zombies run towards us from the left, where this new one had just come from. We freaked out and ran as fast as we could to the right, down the foreign language hallway. The zombies were quickly getting closer, though a few stopped and joined the one in its feast on the poor baseball player, his pleading eyes staring into my soul as I looked back in horror.
 
We turned left and ran into the stairwell. We heard a girl let out a small scream to our right and we stepped back away from the sound. We saw a young girl - probably a freshman - huddled in a corner with a boy who seemed to be her boyfriend. We all stood there for a moment and stared at each other, a calm pause in the chaos going on.
 
 
"They're coming! Lets go!!", Sam yelled as the mob of zombies came into view behind us. 
Our group began to run up the stairs. The girl began to run and grabbed her boyfriend's hand. He didn't move and she tugged hard to get him to start moving. Sam helped her begin to pull him, but it was too late. The zombies at the front of the pack grabbed him and pulled him back into the mass of them. The girl cried out for him and Sam pulled her away. She screamed her boyfriend's name as she was forced to let go of his hand, watching him disappear into the mob and onto the floor. She turned away and ran up the stairs with Sam and the rest of us.

Sam made sure she was safe and hit one of the zombies on the head in an attempt to hold them off for us. The zombie went down as another reached for him. It touched his arm and he pulled it back quickly, though I could swear it looked like he was in pain. He turned and ran up the stairs and caught up with us. We rounded the corner and ran up the final set of stairs that led to the third floor.

"We need to find somewhere to hide! A classroom, something!!"

I saw the classroom in front of us and checked the door handle. It was surprisingly unlocked and we all rushed inside as the zombies began to round the corner and walk up the last few stairs. I carefully closed the door and made sure everyone was away from the door and windows. We huddle next to the cabinets and everyone caught their breath. We were dead silent as we waited for the large mob of zombies to pass, their moans taunting us and giving us all the chills.

They were gone a minute later and we all took a sigh of relief. I turned around and saw Sam resting on the floor at the back of room, resting against the wall. The girl was sitting next to him and holding her legs as she stared at the floor. She quietly mumbled something to him - probably thanking him for saving her - and he nodded. I walked over to him and knelt down in front of him.

"Sam...are you ok?"

He looked up at me and shook his head.

"I'm sorry..."

He held up his arm, which had a long scratch mark that looked like the skin was rotting. A small trickle of blood was running down his arm from the scratch and I understood immediately what he was trying to tell me.

"No...Sam...no. You're going to be fine! This...this isn't the movies!"

Sam shook his head again and he closed his eyes as tears began to well up.

"Dude...you know what's going to happen. We don't know how long it will take, but I'm already feeling hot and weak. I'm going to turn soon."

Tears welled up in my eyes and the girl quickly got up and walked away from him, looking at him in fear...like...he was some sort of monster...

I looked around at the rest of the group, trying to find somebody that would help me convince him - and myself - that he wasn't going to turn...to become one of them. The girl looked away while one of the two baseball players clenched his bat and walked up to us.

"Please...", Sam looked up at me and begged, "I want you to be the one who...kills me. I don't want to become one of them...I'm already scared enough!! PLEASE!!!"

I looked at him in shock and disbelief and the boy with the bat took another step closer.

"I'll do it."

I looked at him in horror and freaked out. I couldn't let someone else kill my best friend!

"No! I...I'll do it", I said as assertively as I could.

The boy looked at me for a second, then handed me his bat and walked away.

The bat felt heavier than any other bat I'd ever held. It pulled me down for a moment, then I mustered my last ounce strength and held it up a bit. I looked at him one last time with tears in my eyes and saw him looking up at me smiling, chuckling a little as a lone tear ran down his cheek. "Thank you" he whispered to me, then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath and relaxed.

I walked to his left side and raised the bat. He looked so peaceful it scared me. I aimed and brought the heavy, metal bat over my shoulder. I wiped my tears...

...then swung as hard as I could. The sound pierced the silence that had filled the room. I paused for a moment, then swung again and again. I didn't want him to suffer any more. I stopped after three or four more swings and I slowly dropped the bat. I couldn't see from the tears in my eyes and fell to the floor, sobbing in silence.
 

On the first day of the zombie apocalypse...I killed my best friend.