“Wow, where did that come from?” Aaron asked, turning to Lacey.
“He’s been bugging me. I guess it kind of, you know, just slipped out.”
Johnny released a laugh. “It just slipped out?”
Lacey nodded.
“Any suggestions?” Aaron asked after a moment of studying their surroundings.
“No,” Bucky replied. There was nothing to see in the poor light. “We’re going to have to ad lib this one out. Just see what you can find when we’re out there. If they’re all blind and track us by sound, the best thing to do is be quiet. That’s the only thing we can do.”
“What about us? Do we stay together?” Aaron asked. It was a good point and one that Bucky didn’t want to answer.
He shook his head. “No, Aaron, not this time. If they find one of us, they’ve found us all. This is one thing we’ll have to do by ourselves. We need to split up and take our own path through this place. If we don’t, we’re gonna be a risk to each other.”
Aaron sighed. “Damn. This is the first time we’ve been separated, you know?”
Lacey nodded. “Yes, but it’s going to be the last time.”
Johnny took a step toward the factory. “You know, I think this the most scared I’ve ever been. Are you all scared?”
A moment of silence occurred between them. The muted sound of laughter and merriment from the criminals emerged in the distance.
“Terrified,” Bucky replied.
No one answered. Lacey looked to her feet. Aaron looked away.
“Hey, come here,” Bucky ordered. They huddled in a circle, each placing an arm around one another.
“We escaped a car wreck, right?” Bucky asked them. “We escaped the clowns and killed Lawro before he did the same to us. We even escaped from being tied to the tractor. We sat in the middle of five thousand zombies migrating right past us. We escaped the football stadium when it became overrun. Those assholes up there don’t know what we’ve been through. They’ve been playing this game with people who haven’t experienced everything we have.”
Johnny sighed. “But they were adults in the film. I know what we’ve done, but we’re just kids. How can we complete this game if adults can’t do it?”
“It’s not about your age,” Bucky replied, “it’s about your experience and I would bet my life that no adult has been through the shit we have been through. Let’s get in there and prove all those idiots wrong. Let’s show them we can take anything they can throw at us. Lacey already started that.” Bucky looked across to her and noticed the smile. “Yes, I’m scared of having to face those zombies in the dark but remember one thing, they’re still only zombies. I’ve not seen an intelligent one since Day Zero cracked open its hair ass and shit on this country. These are zombies that have been thrown into a game, that’s all. Just like us. We need to walk in silence and stop when they approach us.” Bucky looked up from the huddle and scoured the factory in the poor light. About halfway down he noted a platform reaching over one of the central tracks. Ladders existed on both sides allowing people to climb up and down. His mind kicked into gear. He could climb to the platform and move across it. Moving was not his aim, it was the elevation he was interested in.
“Guys, I have an idea. We need to be separated for it to stand a chance. I also need for you to keep moving forward, not running back. I may be able to give us some time.”
Eleven
Office windows overlooked the factory. Bucky watched as Seth slid open a window and leant out. An air horn rose into the air.
“Okay, kids. Now is your time. Try your best not to die. Go and make me some money!” With that the air horn blasted through the abandoned factory. The long, airy squeak pierced the silence before coming to a halt. “Go!” Seth shouted. Bullets popped through the air and struck the floor behind Bucky, forcing them to move. He peered up and noticed the gunner on the platform.
“Alright, this is it. Not a sound, you understand?” he then whispered. The kids nodded. Bucky returned the gesture. As he looked into their frightened faces, he knew deep down that this would be their end. All the prep talks and motivation couldn’t pull them out of this no matter how hard he tried to sugar coat it.
Lacey waved to him. “Boots,” she mouthed in silence.
Bucky smiled. Of course. He leant down and undid his laces, removing the boots with little sound. The rest of his group followed suit. The floor chilled his feet through the standard cotton socks he’d been issued. From the far reaches of the factory a screech emanated.
“Go,” Bucky mouthed, pointing a finger into the darkness. He watched as the three friends moved into the factory, almost silent to his ears. Bucky then leant down and grasped a pair of boots under his right arm and in his right hand. With the left he grabbed another pair, leaving his own behind. The amount of sweat he’d discharged into the material may fox Snitchers. Perhaps the zombie would sniff them out first if it was indeed tracking him like he suspected.
Bucky stepped into the factory. He hadn’t given the building enough credit. It was huge, stretching far away to his right before vanishing into darkness. The muted sound of scraping rolled from the depths. At that moment, he knew the key would be down there, on the farthest wall. That would also be where the zombies came from. That way both the zombies and the kids would have to cross paths, giving Seth the conflict he needed to stream across the internet and make his fortune. Refusing to dwell on the latest
