Generation Zombie

Chapter 3: Savior.

The screams echoed and bounced through the walls as Arthur got closer to the room it was coming from. He tried to open the door but the doorknob came apart in his hands; years of rust and decay making it useless. His body, fueled by adrenaline was moving faster than his brain. He took two big, hasty steps back, and charged at the door with a yell and elbows akimbo.

The door gave way under his weight, and Arthur plodded into the room, almost twisting his ankle and falling to his feet.

The person screaming carried on, like a fire alarm that just wouldn’t stop, and when Arthur saw the thing of their fears, he had to suppress his scream too. Boys don’t scream. But what do they do when they see a zombie with one eye dangling out of its socket?

He haphazardly searched around the room, looking for something sharp, something sturdy, something capable of penetrating a decayed skull.

His eyes landed on a shiny crowbar.

What a crowbar was doing in a hospital room? He had no idea. But neither was a zombie supposed to be there, but there it was. Quickly, he ran to the table and seized the crowbar, knocking off a plethora of syringes and blood-bags.

The zombie turned; a mass of walking dead and decaying human being that must’ve once been a teenage girl who loved wearing pink, judging from the color of her grimy jacket. Arthur raised the crowbar, and in his mind, erased the fact that zombies were once humans, before mercilessly bringing the weapon down on her skull.

A sickening c***k and the squelch of a brain later, the zombie sank to the floor. It made agonizing, screeching noises, and then it went silent; dead, truly dead this time, or at least Arthur hoped.

“Halifax?!”

Arthur focused on the person he had saved. He stared at her cow-print pajamas and unruly bun before her face clicked into place and recognition lit up his face. “Ruby? What the... ?”

From the floor, she glared up at him, surprise and confusion written all over her face. “Is this a prank? If this is a prank I swear to God...”

Arthur cut her off defensively. “What are you talking about? What prank? I got sucked into the game. I think?” And here she was too; lying on the floor, propped up on her elbows, a crazed expression on her face. It was all so confusing to him.

“People don’t get sucked into games, Halifax! It’s not how physics works!” She yelled.

Arthur felt a tug of annoyance pull at his usually calm exterior. He glowered back at her. “Okay miss know-it-all, where are we then? What’s going on?” He demanded, crossing his wiry arms over his chest.

Ruby looked at him like he was the dumbest person on earth. And in that moment, she was sure the dumbest person in the room couldn’t be anyone but him. “If I knew what was happening, I wouldn’t be screaming my ducking head off!” She screamed again. What’s with all the screaming? She didn’t have an answer, but she could feel the onset of a panic attack, and she blamed it on Arthur Halifax’s stupidity.

He stared at her in disbelief. “I just saved your life.”

“Ten minutes ago I saw you running back home in the rain and now you’re in this unknown place with me, out of nowhere, using a crossbar to kill a zombie like it’s nobody’s business so excuse me that thanking you for it isn’t the first thing on my list!”

He stalled, watching as her sandy cheeks turned red, then proceeded to a subtle shade of purple. “Dude, you’re turning purple...” Was she having a concussion?

Ruby threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly. How stupid could a single person get? “Of course I’m turning purple! I said fifty words in a single sentence without a full-stop, what do you expect?!”

He furrowed his brows, eyes narrowing. “You counted your words?”

Ruby huffed. She needed to calm down, but getting down from the high horse of her anxiety was something she found always challenging. And this black haired, tall, ocean blue eyed i***t wasn’t exactly helping the situation. “I count when I’m anxious, okay?!” Her voice sounded high-pitched and squirrelly; like a rodent high on drugs.

Arthur sighed, and crouched to his knees, getting on eye-level with her. “Okay, just calm down...”

“I am calm!” She snapped. Her bun bobbed left and right, then resolved to lean limply forward, tired of her wild movements.

He raised his hands in mock surrender and rolled his eyes. “Jeez...” Who could’ve guessed that Ruby Bancroft; the Ruby Bancroft, with a perfect attendance, perfect grades, and a guaranteed future scholarship to some prestige university could get so snappy.

It was un-Ruby-like; Arthur concluded. Very un-Ruby-like...

Ruby scampered to her feet. She was about the side of an overgrown eight year old child, with small spindly limbs, and fast movements. Next to Arthur, her messy bun stopped where his ribcage began. “I need to get out of here. How can this happen? I have a test I need to study for. I haven’t told Dad about my B-grade, God! He’s going to kill me... Am I hallucinating?” She paced the length of the grimy hospital room.

“You got a B-grade?” Arthur asked, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

“Everybody failed Chemistry.” That wasn’t necessarily true. Her best friend Avery had gotten a B plus. Which was ridiculous! How could Avery Cortez be smarter than her in Chemistry?! She studied all night, for three days straight, just for the stupid test!

“I got an A plus.” Arthur said, shrugging. He wasn’t meaning to brag, but was simply letting her know the he, at least, didn’t fail Chemistry.

Ruby stoped her pacing and glared at him.

His throat began to dry out, her eyes making him slightly uncomfortable. “Not that it matters or anything, you know...” He stammered.

The intensity of her glare increased.

Arthur shifted from one leg to the other and tried to hide his discomfort. “Grades don’t define a person’s...”

“Ugh!” Ruby groaned, cutting him off. If there was anything she hated more than an Arthur Halifax with a better grade than her, it had to be an Arthur Halifax with a better grade than her, trying to be modest about it. She stomped her foot in annoyance, then got more annoyed with the action because it seemed childish. She turned and headed for the door.

Arthur followed her with his eyes. “Where are you going?”

“To find a way out!” She yelled back, disappearing through the door, into the eerie corridor.

“Wait up! There could be more zombies.”