Generation Zombie

Chapter 14: Marathon Runners.

The zombies hadn’t even noticed the four people that had entered the room and were now holding their breath behind them. They focused on the child in their line of sight, and trampled upon each other to get to her.

Elham folded the sleeves of her black base-shirt and searched the room for something, anything. "We need to cause a distraction." She whispered to the others. It was only a matter of time until a zombie turns around and sees them.

"Ruby! You're the fastest runner here, and you're small enough to fit into corners the zombies can't get to." Arthur began, the plan in his head spanning out and falling into place.

Ruby’s eyes widened. "What the heck Halifax?!" She whisper-yelled, shoving her bangs out of her eyes only for them to flop back into their original position. Right away, she understood what his plan required her to do, and the thought thoroughly scared her.

Arthur’s eyes softened, and he placed a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, trying to somehow assure her. "You have to lure them out of the bakery so we can save her." He insisted. He knew how it felt to be scared. But if there was anyone among them who could outrun about thirty zombies or so, I’d have to be Ruby.

Ajax watched them back and forth incredulously. Were they really going to agree on this? It was madness. "No, we can't possibly use Ruby as bait." He whispered forcefully, gripping on to his fishing harpoon and keeping an eye on the zombies.

"I think that's the best option we have at the moment. He has survival mode brain for a reason." Elham reasoned. If there had been a better option, then she would’ve opted for it. But right now, she couldn’t think of any, and the girl they were supposed to save slowly slipped.

Ruby gulped. What if she trips? What if the zombies are fast runners too? Maybe even faster than her? What if Usain Bolt is among them? What if the plan doesn’t work out? "But..."

"She's slipping from the construction rod!" Elham warned, bouncing on her feet, ready for action.

The little girl yelped, then grabbed on to the rod tighter and continued to wail in an even louder voice. A rectangular green bar with a little arrow pointing at her appeared above her head. It read; ‘Objective: Save Dottie.’

"I'll go with you." Arthur said to Ruby, and then when he saw the skeptic expression on her face, added; "What? I'm a fast runner too." Or at least he had long legs, and with enough adrenaline pumping through his veins, could fairly outdo his normal running speed.

Ajax wanted to add that he was also a fast runner. He had ran marathons for charity, so a bunch of sick kids could get access to free healthcare. But the thought of him being chosen as bait kept him mute.

Ruby glanced uneasily at the zombies, then brought her sharp eyes back to Arthur. "Where are we supposed to lead them?"

"Out of the bakery, then back here again. It should give Elham and Ajax enough time to get her down and sneak out to wait for us in the van." Arthur explained. The hard part would be navigating the bakery and circling back with the zombies still in pursuit. But if they could complete that, the getaway would be a piece of cake.

Ruby shifted her weight to her good leg, the one she hadn’t sprained just yesterday. She wanted to mention that her ankle was still slightly sore —seeing as they had all forgotten she was hurt, but at the same time bringing it up felt like complaining or trying to escape responsibility. Plus, it was almost completely healed. Here was an opportunity for her to be a hero. Here was a sore ankle and a resolve shaken by fear. She bit her bottom lip. "Then we run back out again? That's a lot of running I don't think I can—"

"Help me, please!!" The little girl shrieked at the top of her lungs, as if noticing their presence for the first time. Her tiny body wildly wiggled up in the air, and the perspiration on her palms made the rod slippery. She inched towards the eagerly awaiting zombies below.

"Fudge! Let's do it" Ruby agreed finally, gathering up her hair and bunching it into a high ponytail.

Elham and Ajax slipped away and hid behind a rusted industrial oven. Their bodies blended into the shadows and they held their breaths among the cobwebs and layers of dust. Hopefully, the zombies don’t sniff them out; Elham thought. Hopefully, his skin doesn’t react to the cobweb that just grazed his cheek; Ajax worried.

Arthur signaled to Ruby for her to get ready and clanged his crowbar against the metal doorframe. The loud resonating sound made one zombie turn, and then another, but Arthur kept going because they needed every last zombie on their tail.

"I'll hate you forever for this idea." Ruby yelled over the noise, wringing her hands and getting ready to tear out the door like all hell had broken loose.

Arthur gripped his crowbar and took a step back as the zombies snarled and took to their decayed limbs towards the two juicy humans who just caught their attention. "If you get tired hop on my back." Arthur offered.

"Try to keep up." Ruby shouted back over her shoulder, already bolting out the door and rocketing through the hallways, towards the way they came from.

Arthur cursed under his breath and took to his feet too, just in time avoiding the outreached, peeling greenish hand of a determined and ambitious zombie.

Elham and Ajax waited until the thundering footsteps of the zombies faded. And then Elham beckoned for Ajax to follow her out of their hideout.

"Oh oh..." Ajax gasped, taking a step back like he was planning to bail out.

Two zombies had decided to focus on the task at hand instead of being distracted by Arthur’s banging. One of them, thin with hair falling out of her scalp was trying to jump high enough to grab Dottie’s leg. The other drooled uselessly until her blackened eyes landed on Elham and Ajax. She made a delighted gurgling sound, like the zombie baby that had gnawed on Arthur’s toe, and made for Ajax.

Elham was quick to act. Using the g*n would be easier, but she couldn’t risk the sound leading the zombies back. Instead, she dashed towards the zombie, and swung the axe she had grabbed as an afterthought, aiming for the head. It sliced through, but wedged itself into the skull and refused to detach no matter how hard she yanked.

The second zombie reached for her.

“Elham! Behind you!” Ajax warned.

She spun around and instantly armed herself with the baseball bat, bashing it into the zombie’s skull. Darkened blood spattered onto her face and clothes. The zombie went down with a dull thud. All those jujutsu classes as a child had finally paid off.

She glanced at Ajax’s expression of fear, relief, and pure awe as he held his fishing harpoon close to his chest. “You’re welcome.”

Elham walked towards the girl. "Jump down! I'll catch you." She called up to her, but the girl didn’t acknowledge her presence and simply continued sobbing and blubbering for help.

"Hey kid! Come on!" Elham tried again, putting her hands on her hips. They were short on time. Was it required for them to get up to her and peel her small pale fingers off the rod?

Ajax craned his neck and looked at the child. She peered down at him, blinking. "Are you okay?" He asked gently.

The girl shook her head no. "I'm scared!"

"There's no reason to be scared. We're going to help you and take you home, alright?" He cajoled, tossing his fishing harpoon away and raising both arms up to show her he was unarmed and clean, unlike Elham who had blood splattered all over her like a butcher.

Dottie gulped. "Ok... okay..."

Ajax gave her a huge charming smile and a thumbs-up. "Now, count to ten with me and then let go, alright? I'm going to catch you." He instructed.

"Promise?" She asked, sniveling.

Ajax showed her his pinky and widened his smile. "Pinky promise." He answered, wiggling his eyebrows to ease her nerves.

Elham watched with offended surprise as they counted to ten, and the child let go, trusting Ajax to catch her, which he did smoothly, placing her on her feet.

He crouched to her height and his teeth gleamed white with a big smile. "Wonderful. That was very brave of you." He commented, adjusting her sunflower-patterned dress and smoothing down her hair.

The girl beamed up at him, mesmerized.

Ajax met Elham’s glare and grinned. "It's the charms." He said, winking.

She rolled her eyes. Of course it was the charms. What else would make this programmed ball of whining and foolishness trust a dude who couldn’t even protect himself? She grabbed her baseball bat and attempted to pull the axe out again. It stubbornly stayed stuck. She gave up. "Let's go before Ruby and Arthur come back with the hoard."

Ajax held Dottie’s hand and they followed Elham’s lead out the door.

Ruby pumped her legs harder and tried to ignore the pain that shot up her leg with each step. She had given Arthur a head-start, but because of the pain in her legs, they were now running at the same pace. They circled back into the bakery. From the corner of his eyes Arthur caught a glimpse of Ajax’s head slipping into the back of the van and he felt immense relief that the plan had worked. Now, it was left for them to wrap everything up.

They barreled through a door and Arthur slammed it behind them, using his weight to stop the zombies from bursting through as he caught his breath. Ruby ran back to aid him press against the banging door. A zombie’s hand poking through the small space scratched the walls, grabbing madly at thin air. Ruby pressed closer to Arthur to avoid the decaying yellowed fingernails.

"I think... I think, I'm gonna pass... out." She panted with a hand clutching her heart. It slammed against her ribcage due to the exercise.

Arthur swallowed hard and panted loudly, his chest rising and falling rapidly. "I can... barely feel a thing." But it was obvious that he was just as fatigued as Ruby.

She inhaled sharply and momentarily closed her eyes. "You're a horrible, horrible liar." She breathed, pressing harder against the door, as it banged violently, rattling them.

Arthur licked his lips and flattened his palms against the hard metal of the door. "On three we run like hell."

Ruby nodded. "On three."

"One..." He panted.

"Two" She added.

"Three!"

And then both of them were on their feet again, tearing through the twisting hallways of the bakery. The exit and their ticket to freedom loomed closer until they burst through the door into the sunlight and gravel.

Elham revved the engine and waited in anticipation for them to get in.

They inched closer to the back of the van, which was wide open, Ajax urging them on with an extended hand. Ruby reached out her hand just as her ankle gave way, twisting in an odd, painful direction. But before she could crumble to the ground and become food for the zombies, Arthur swooped in and yanked her by the waist, before jumping into the van in time for Elham to step on the accelerator hard.

The tires screeched and hurled up a tornado of dust and smoke before the car lurched forward towards freedom leaving the zombies trying to run after them.