Carver Pike - Scalp

Maybe we weren’t the only ones to survive.

It looked like this kid, this thing had tried to attack someone, and the attacker blasted him in the face with a pipe.

A few other bodies were in the same condition. Their skulls were broken open like someone hit them hard to finish them off.

The heads. Just like fucking zombies, man. You have to go for the head.

He’d always known he was right. They were zombies. Brain-seeking zombies. And here they were trying to find a bucket of phones. All it would take was one bite and they’d be goners. They couldn’t let these things get that close.

Robbie gripped the handle of his machete and followed closely behind Nitsy. His eyes were still on the dead body-riddled lawn when she stopped in place, causing him to bump into her. He unwittingly made an “umph” sound as their bodies collided. When he looked ahead of her, he saw why she’d stopped.

A figure stood at the end of the hall, past the auditorium door, silhouetted in the lamplight at its back, staring right at them.

“Do you see it?” Nitsy whispered.

He couldn’t miss it. It stood hunched over, long hair hanging down at both sides of its face, and its hands were out at its sides, fingers curled, like it was a feral beast waiting to attack. Its shoulders rose up and fell down with each strained breath.

“It’s looking at us,” she added.

“We knew we were going to have to take them on,” he said. “Now’s as good a time as ever.”

His words sounded tough and brave like he was a badass zombie killer, but inside he felt bile rise to the top of his throat. He was seconds away from vomiting all over the place. He knew they would face these things, but he hadn’t counted on seeing one this early, this clearly, and this calmly waiting for them to advance. He’d imagined them like they were in the auditorium, rushing the mob, growling, and screeching as they devoured their prey.

That’s what we are. We’re prey.

Robbie had been afraid several times in his life. Bad things had happened to him. He’d once gotten stuck at the top of a Ferris wheel. He’d been with a date, too, which only made matters worse. He’d never been afraid of heights, but he wasn’t very fond of them either, so when he looked down and saw the people in the amusement park looking up at them, he was scared. But, he’d known someone would eventually get them down.

Another time, when he’d hopped over a fence to swim in a neighbor’s pool with his friends, they’d thought the neighbor was gone for the weekend. It turned out the whole family left except the dad. He pulled a shotgun on the trespassing hoodlums. Robbie thought he’d shit his pants in that pool, but he didn’t. He was confident the guy would do nothing more than call the cops. Of course, he wouldn’t actually shoot them.

This time, standing there staring at the infected woman at the end of the hall, he felt none of that faith things would work out. He’d seen so many kids attacked in the auditorium, many of whom probably called out to their parents or God, and they hadn’t made it out unscathed. Robbie and Nitsy did because they ran.

If they ran this time, it would mean they’d failed.

“Walk slowly toward the door,” Robbie suggested, realizing they needed to go ahead and get this over with. The longer they stood in one place, the more likely they were to encounter more of the creatures.

As they stepped softly toward the auditorium door, the infected woman at the end of the hall didn’t come closer. It was like she wasn’t aware of their presence. The woman’s body moved in mechanical-looking jerks like whatever had possessed her body wasn’t capable of manipulating it in smooth motions.

Her head tilted and she stared up at the ceiling while raising her left shoulder. Then her shoulder fell and her right lifted. Each stuttered move seemed thought out, one right after the other, like someone was controlling her with a joystick.

Bizarre. And how isn’t she seeing us right now?

Nitsy continued down the hall, and Robbie followed with his machete raised. If the woman suddenly saw them and came running, he’d be ready.

She never came. Nitsy reached the auditorium door and leaned against it. Robbie nodded to tell her to go ahead. She closed her eyes and pushed the door inward. It opened smoothly, without any noise, and plunged them into darkness once again. Robbie closed the door carefully, and it let out an audible click as it secured itself.

Robbie squeezed Nitsy’s hand with the sound and stared into the darkness. If any of the creatures were in here, this would be the moment they would attack. But the room remained silent.

The only light inside came from the film that was still on pause. On screen, President Kennedy had his finger raised in mid declaration. Bluish light shined across the rows of scattered chairs where Robbie was sure he saw bodies strewn about.

Bodies of kids who’d actually died instead of being turned.

Some would have been trampled, a few might have broken their necks in the fall, or perhaps they even had fright-induced heart attacks. Robbie wasn’t sure if that were possible, but he’d seen the fear on the kids’ faces as the infected lashed out at everyone in the auditorium, and he imagined it could’ve stopped their hearts.

Now, the place seemed void of the creatures.

“Where did they all go?” Nitsy whispered to him.

He shrugged.

The place was empty of the infected.

Or was it?

The entire perimeter of the circular room was hidden in darkness. Robbie imagined the zombie-like students standing with their backs against the wall, waiting for the right opportunity to pounce on them. Were they that smart? Were these things intelligent?

“The phones,” Nitsy whispered.

He nodded and followed her to the spot on their left where Mrs. Price and her crew had set up shop. This was where they watched the students and waited for their turn at the podium. It was where the computer sat on a table that was now controlling the Kennedy flick. The bucket of phones had to be over there too. It was the only place that made sense.

Nitsy moved with purpose, stepping over the body of a fallen student and walking stealthily over to the laptop on the table. Robbie stood behind her and acted as a guard while she squatted down and searched the area around the floor for the bucket.

While she was busy under the table, Robbie thought he saw something at the rear of the auditorium, way back near where he’d sat earlier with Nitsy. Where they’d made their escape. It was so dark back there, but Robbie thought he saw a girl standing with her arms at her sides. Perfectly straight, as if she were a statue frozen in time.

Robbie tapped his foot softly against the floor to try and get Nitsy’s attention. He wouldn’t dare take his eyes off the shadowy figure at the back of the auditorium. Yet, he wasn’t sure if what he thought he was seeing was real at all. His mind could be playing tricks on him. If one of the creatures were back there, wouldn’t it have attacked them by now?

The one outside didn’t.

“Found it,” Nitsy whispered from under the table.

She reached up to the table and grabbed hold of it to pull herself up, and when she did, her fingers accidentally mashed the spacebar on the laptop. President Kennedy’s voice came to life, finishing his heartfelt moment, and throwing Robbie and Nitsy into the frying pan.

“Shit,” Nitsy said as she realized what she’d done and hit the space bar again to pause the video.

The sudden disappearance of sound seemed louder than the video popping on at full blast. Nitsy stood up, beside Robbie, with her arms hugging a big white bucket. Her shovel was on the floor. Robbie wanted to tell her to just grab a few of the phones, but what if those few were locked and were useless. It was better to bring the whole bucket. Robbie’s eyes were on Nitsy when he heard it.