Carver Pike - Scalp

“Do you have the phones?” Lance asked.

“No, I dropped them when they came after us,” Nitsy replied.

She hated admitting it but felt she needed to be honest. She knew the second the words left her mouth that she should have lied.

“Just open the door,” someone else yelled. It sounded like Phyllis.

“I’m sorry,” Lance replied, “I’m sorry that you dropped the phones. I… uh… I can’t open the door. It’s too dangerous for us.”

“You fucker!” Robbie yelled.

They had no more time to waste. If Lance wouldn’t open the door, they’d need to hide somewhere else.

Nitsy banged on the door with both fists. “If you don’t open this door, I’ll lead them all to you and you can see how long this flimsy little door holds them back!”

Robbie pulled her arms away from the door. “They’re coming. Come on. They won’t let us in.”

“They can’t do this!” she screamed. “They can’t do this to us!”

“Open the door, man!” someone called from the other side. It sounded like Bradley. Then a struggle broke out. The sound of wrestling, an overturned table, shouting back and forth.

“You open that fuckin’ door and I’ll kill you, man!” Lance shouted.

“Let them in,” the other boy replied, breathing heavily.

“You open it,” Lance said, “and I’ll kill you. Try me if you think I’m lying.”

“Don’t do it,” Robbie yelled to the boys on the other side. “Don’t open it. We’ll survive on our own.”

“Nitsy!” Phyllis yelled from inside.

“Phyllis,” Nitsy whispered. “Robbie, where do we go?”

She knew he had no idea. How could she expect him to answer a question like that? She was supposed to be the leader here. It was why she’d gone for the cell phones in the first place. She’d been given a second chance at life, and she knew she hadn’t fought all those years in so many clinics and hospitals just to die here at a stupid leadership conference.

Robbie was looking around the campus, trying to come up with a place to hide. The creatures were too close for comfort. They’d be on them in seconds. Now, it seemed they were coming from more than one direction. They were coming from everywhere.

The cafeteria.

It was the only place she knew would be clear of the infected. Or, it should be anyway. It was the last place she and Robbie had been together before they’d stumbled upon the creatures in the dormitory hallway. They’d been inside the cafeteria and it had been empty.

“Follow me,” she told Robbie as she ran across the courtyard, stopping to grab the rake from the wheelbarrow. At least now she’d have some sort of weapon.

“Where are we going?” Robbie whispered at her back.

“The place where we shared our first kiss.”

Nitsy prayed the cafeteria would be empty when they yanked open the door and stepped inside. It was dark, the way it should be at this hour of the evening. Robbie looked through the small rectangular windows in the door to see if any of the creatures had followed them.

“Looks like we’re okay,” he said.

He threw the bolt on the door. It wouldn’t hold against a bunch of those creatures, but it might keep one or two out.

“Be careful,” Nitsy whispered. “We don’t know if any of them got in here before us.”

She considered turning on the light to make it easier for them to search but realized it might shine out the windows and draw the creatures to them. She was pretty sure they were more interested in sounds, but it wasn’t a risk she was willing to take.

“Hello? Anyone in here?” If they were attracted to sound, it would draw them out. She knew that, but she was more worried about accidentally running into one of them in the cafeteria. If one came thrashing its way out of the kitchen, they could flee from it.

She and Robbie remained silent, listening for any stray sounds. None came.

“Hello?” she said a little louder. “Is there anyone in here?”

“Shh, keep it down,” someone replied.

“Someone’s in here,” she said as she turned to Robbie.

From out of the kitchen, squatting down and duck-walking their way as if standing up straight might give him away, came a shadowy figure headed their way. He held a metal pole in his hands. It looked like it might have come from the side of one of the classroom desks. As he grew nearer, Nitsy realized she knew him.

“Eggo?” she asked.

The man stopped duck-walking and looked up at her. “Nitsy?”

“Eggo,” she repeated as she squatted down next to him and hugged him. “I thought you died in there with the others.”

“No, thanks to you guys,” he replied, looking up at Robbie and nodding in his direction.

Nitsy shook her head. “Nobody believed us.”

“Would you have?” he replied.

She wouldn’t have. Or at least she didn’t think she would have. She’d barely believed it herself when she’d run in there and made the announcement.

“No,” Robbie admitted.

“I believed you,” Eggo said. “Maybe not fully, but I knew something was wrong. I’ve been to enough of these conferences to recognize a prank when I see one. Nobody would go through such extreme measures to pull one over on their colleagues.” Eggo paused for a moment and then said, “I’m sorry I have to ask, but what happened to your hair?”

“It was a wig,” she admitted. “Those things jumped on it, so I had to throw my hair off.”

Eggo chuckled. “Damn. You don’t fuck with a girl’s hair.”

Nitsy laughed.

“Well, I don’t have any hair,” Eggo added, running a hand over his bald head.

“Why didn’t you have the door locked?” Nitsy asked.

“It was locked,” he replied.

“No, we walked right in,” she said.

Eggo stood and made his way over to the door. He jiggled the handle and the door opened easily.

“Shit,” he said. “It must be broken.”

He looked at her rake and said, “I’m sorry to ask you this. We can probably find something else in here to block this, but…”

Nitsy knew the rake would do the trick, so she handed it over. He slid the wooden stick through the two handles, locking it in place. Again, it might hold against one of the creatures, but not against the whole group of them. She only hoped they weren’t smart enough to track them down.

“Have you seen anyone else alive?” Nitsy asked.

He shook his head. “I went to try and check the auditorium for living people, but I got attacked outside.”

“Those bodies on the grass were from you?” Robbie asked.

Eggo nodded his head, but he wasn’t proud. It was clear he felt badly about what he’d done. “Yeah, they just kept coming.” He paused and asked, “Have y’all seen anyone else?”

“A few of the students are hiding in the music room,” Nitsy replied. “Bradley and Phyllis from our group—”

“Oh, I’m glad they made it,” Eggo said.

“And some asshole named Lance and a couple… uh… Beau and… uh…”

“Yasmin,” Nitsy finished for him.

“I don’t know most of the kids,” Eggo admitted. “I mean you were in my group, so I know you, but…”

“We went to get the cell phones you guys collected from us,” Robbie said, “at the auditorium, but we got attacked.”

“Any idea what we can do?” Nitsy asked Eggo.

He shrugged. “Stay right here and wait for help?”

They’d gone from one locked room to another. At least in this one, they’d have food and drinks. Maybe hiding out and waiting for rescue was the right answer. Robbie joined them in sitting on the floor, and she held his hand while putting her head against his chest. At least they had each other, from back home, to help each other through this.