Аманда Хокинг - Hollowland

Beck stared down the hall towards the stairwell, debating whether or not he should go help them, or if he should stay to help us. If I’d been a more selfless person, I would’ve sent him up there. But I needed his help, and I didn’t want him on a suicide mission.

“You’ve got to get out of here,” Beck said. He nodded in the other direction and put his hand on my back to usher us away.

“Where are they taking Max? I need to go with him.” I looked up at Beck, but he didn’t answer. He was too focused on getting us out of the school alive.

Three zombies stood by the exit. They hung out there, as if they were waiting to stop people from escaping. Since there was only three of them, Beck shot them down quickly.

“What are they doing?” Harlow asked, referring to the zombies’ unusual behavior.

“I don’t know,” Beck said, his voice cracking.

I looked up at him, sensing something more than the trauma going on around us. In the months I had known him, I’d never seen anything rattle him.

The glass doors had been broken in, blood staining the remaining shards poking out from the frame. Beck leaned out first, but I heard the death groans. I looked past his shoulder, and I could see them, massed around the outside of the school, moving like a very slow mosh pit.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked.

“It’s like they were drawn here or something.” Beck straightened up and looked at me. “They’ve trampled the fence for the most part. If I distract them, you can make a run for it.”

“You can’t stay here,” I said. “Zombies have overtaken the place.”

“It’s my job,” Beck brushed me off. “I’m not entirely sure where they took your brother. There is another quarantine near Wyoming, so maybe there. If you keep going north from here, you’ll find something.”

“I don’t even really know where north is.” I was only half-lying. I wasn’t great at directions, but I didn’t want to leave Beck behind to die here.

“When I open these doors, I’m going to run towards the zombies, shooting,” Beck said, ignoring me. “The three of you need to run for an opening in the fence and keep running. You can’t stop, no matter what happens.”

“No, you can’t do that,” I shook my head.

“I have to stay here.” Beck eyed the zombies outside.

I could hear soldiers, somewhere on the lawn outside of my vision, and a lot of the zombies were busy trying to take them out. The rest kind of wandered around, occasionally fighting amongst each other.

“They might not even notice if we’re real quiet,” I said.

“No, I can’t go with you.” He looked down at me gravely.

I still didn’t understand, so he pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the crescent shape of teeth marks in his arm. My heart clenched but I tried to keep my face blank.

I stared at him, trying to reconcile this. He’d been invincible since I met him. Without him, Max and I never would’ve survived. He made sure we were both safe and helped us as long as we’d been here. And through everything he’d seen and done, he always had an easy smile.

“They’re getting restless.” Harlow pulled me from my thoughts. The gaggle of zombies seemed to be making their way towards the door.

“You’ve got to go,” Beck said emphatically.

“You’re not infected yet,” I said. I did not want to leave him, and I wasn’t even sure that I could.

“Go.” His eyes were moist. “You don’t have any more time if you want to make it out alive, and Max needs you.”

I nodded, unable to think of something to say. I knew this would be the last time I’d ever speak to him, but I had nothing. I just turned and pushed open the shattered doors.

His gun started blasting, and I couldn’t look back. I ran as fast as my legs would move.

Mangled fencing and barbwire bent all over the ground at the edge of the lawn. I stumbled on it, but I caught myself before I fell. Tears threatened my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Zombies growled behind me, and I didn’t have any time to waste on emotions.

The school lay on the edge of town, and nothing but desert stretched out before us. My feet pounded on the dirt, and my legs burned from running. A pain shot down my side, and I felt like throwing up.

I didn’t stop until I heard Harlow yelling my name. Even then, I only slowed down.

“Remy!” Harlow yelled. “Remy! Wait!”

Reluctantly, I stopped and turned around. I gasped for breath, but I liked that better. I liked it when my body hurt so bad I couldn’t feel anything else. It was almost freeing.

In the moonlight, I saw Harlow and Sommer trailing behind. Way off in the distance, I could see the quarantine. I’d run much farther than I thought.

The only reason I could still see the school was because it was on fire. To contain the infection, they'd burned it to the ground, and burned up any survivors who might still be in there.

I was so mesmerized by the fire and trying not to think about Beck that I didn’t notice the shadow creeping up behind Harlow and Sommer. We were all breathing too loud to hear anything.

I didn’t see anything until the zombie dove at Sommer, and she started to scream.

By the time I raised my gun, he was already on her.

Sommer tumbled to the ground with the monster clinging to her back. His claws raked down her arms, and his frothy drool spilled over her. Just before his teeth sunk into the soft flesh of her neck, I fired at him.

Gelatinous blood sprayed out from the wound, and his head tilted back. He slumped down, drooling and bleeding all over Sommer’s fresh cuts. She was still screaming when she scrambled out from underneath him.

But it was already too late.

“Sommer, you’re okay!” Harlow ran to her aide.

Harlow’d been standing off to the side, stricken and shocked while the zombie attacked, with her gun forgotten in her hand. As soon as my gun had gone off, she burst into motion. She dropped her gun and rushed over to Sommer.

Harlow put her hands on her shoulders, mindful of the scratches, and tried to snap Sommer out of it. When Sommer finally stopped screaming, she just stared vacantly, and I’m not sure how much better that was.

The zombie made a hollow breathing sound, so I walked over to make sure it was dead. I had blown off half its face, thanks to the close range, and it stood no chance of getting up again. It kept breathing. Part of me really wanted to shoot it again, but I couldn’t waste the bullets.

I stepped back and scanned the darkness. The land around us was barren, save a few shrubs and rocks. The whole world felt more deserted than ever before, and the vegetation seemed happy to accommodate.

The flames from the quarantine billowed higher, making it easier to see that nothing was coming. Most of the zombies had been in a hurry to get there. The one that had gone after Sommer had been a straggler, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

“Are more coming?” Sommer asked.

“I think they’re all at the barbecue,” I said and lowered my gun.

Harlow had let go of Sommer, and she wiped her hands on her skirt, getting the blood off. Sommer looked around to make sure we weren’t surrounded. She didn’t realize the bigger issue at hand.

“Do you have any cuts on your hands?” I asked Harlow quietly. It occurred to her what I was asking, so she started wiping her hands more roughly.

“No, I don’t,” she shook her head but kept her eyes locked on Sommer, the sadness setting in.

“Come on. We have to keep moving.” I started walking away. Harlow shot a confused look between me and Sommer, then picked up the revolver and followed me.

“Where are we going?” Sommer jogged after us, but I stopped. Swallowing, I turned back to face her.