Mark pulled the door open and Alex took a step forward. Suddenly, Mark shoved Alex into the dark interior and shut the door on him with a vicious laugh. He blocked the door with his foot.
Alex immediately started screaming and pounding on the door.
“Mark! What are you doing?!” Steve yelled as he stepped forward. Mark pointed the end of his metal pipe at Steve. “You stay there!” All the while they could hear the muffled sounds of the younger boy screaming and crying on the other side of the door.
After a few more seconds, Mark opened the door. Alex came barging out, crying and sputtering. He collapsed onto the hard-packed dirt a few feet away. Steve walked over and knelt beside him.
Mark looked over with cold eyes. “Never threaten me again, kid.” He said. He swung the door to the hut open wide and had a peek inside. “Nothing in there.” He stated, and casually leaned against the wall of the hut as the younger boy tried to collect himself.
After a minute, Alex had stopped crying. He glared at Mark with red-rimmed eyes, wiped his nose with his sleeve and got to his feet.
“You dropped your weapon.” Mark said, indicating through the doorway of the hut with his head.
Alex collected his weapon, looking at Mark with hate-filled eyes as he walked past the bigger boy. Mark was already looking somewhere else though. Steve and Alex followed his gaze and saw a large building.
“There’s got to be some good shit in there...” Mark said. His feet were already taking him towards the building.
Steve and Alex followed. They crossed what must have been a well-used roadway. Deep ruts were stamped in the dirt road. The boys stopped and looked up at the building in front of them.
It was a warehouse. Steve could see a couple of loading bays around the corner. The boys walked towards the first door they could see. It was up some metal steps, on a small landing made of metal grating.
Mark did not hesitate and ascended the metal steps to get to a small landing and the door. The other boys followed. Steve was at the top of the steps, and Alex was still a few steps further back, when Mark let his curiosity get the better of him and he tried the door.
They all knew something was terribly wrong as soon as Mark pulled that door open. They heard loud crashing and banging noises coming from inside. Mark jumped back with a shriek.
Mark turned and shoved his way past Steve, launching himself down the steps. Steve got one quick look into the dim interior of the building. He could see the colourless bodies of several zombies scrambling towards him, appearing out of the dark and into the light cast by the open doorway. Without a second thought, he ran away.
Steve had just made it to the bottom of the stairs when he heard Mark yelp in pain. The bigger boy had stepped in one of the tire ruts in the road and tripped. He’d gone down hard. Steve was running past him when Mark screamed in pain again.
“AHHH!” He had tried to scramble to his feet but fell again. He looked at Steve’s retreating back. “Help! I can’t run!”
Steve skidded to a halt and turned. He saw that Mark had injured his ankle. He was trying to get to his feet but could not support himself with his right foot. Mark finally stood up, balancing himself on one leg.
Steve took a step towards Mark, then looked over Mark’s shoulder to the warehouse. Several zombies were pouring out of the open doorway. One had reached the top of the stairs. Steve felt a warm sensation down his leg as he lost control of his bladder.
He turned and ran for his life. He ran straight past Alex, who stood in shock for a few seconds. The zombie had slowly navigated down the first step. It looked up when it heard the clank of Alex’s pipe, which had slipped though his nerveless fingers.
Alex shrieked and ran after Steve.
Mark couldn’t put any weight on his right foot. The first zombie had missed the next step, and unceremoniously tumbled down to land several yards from him. Mark cried out in alarm and hopped away on one leg. The zombie was already getting back to its feet. Mark hopped away as fast as he could, trying not to let his right foot touch the ground. But it was unavoidable. Every time he did put his right foot down, he was almost blinded by the sharp pain that shot up his leg.
Mark cried as he hopped away. He looked over his shoulder to see several zombies behind him. They were gaining on him. He looked ahead, whimpering from a combination of pain and panic.
Mark changed his direction to the nearest building. His only chance was to get in the door and shut it behind him. They were close now. Only a few feet away.
“Please don’t be locked. Please don’t be locked. Please don’t be locked.” Mark kept repeating the wish like it was a mantra.
The door was not locked. With a small sound of relief Mark threw the door open.
He was speechless as a zombie stood in the doorway. In the next second, Mark was swept off his feet as the zombie lunged at him. They were quickly joined by several other zombies.
Mark’s high-pitched screams could be heard by all nearby. Except there were no living people nearby – only the dead. Steve and Alex didn’t hear Mark’s screams for all the noise they were making themselves as they ran for their lives. Unwittingly, they were drawing undead towards them. They ran straight to their homes.
The boys did not alert the authorities. They were scared out of their wits and fearful of being in trouble. Half an hour later, inevitably, the first zombies appeared in a populated area of the camp.
People
