She was in a daze as the marine man-handled her into the harness and she lifted up into the air. The first thing that she registered was that their building was surrounded by dozens of zombies.
Another marine helped her into the helicopter with well-practiced efficiency. She made her way to Breanne and Steve. She thought about Dan, and his friendly disposition. How he had saved her life, and then helped save the lives of the two people sitting beside her. She thought about what was going to happen to him. She recalled the pistol that Mike had handed to him.
Before she knew it the three radio operators were on board, and the last marine was being lifted up. The helicopter did a couple more dips and jumps, and even over the incredible noise of the aircraft she could make out some swear words and that word ‘Emu’ again.
Then it was over. The mechanism swung back into the fuselage, and the door slid shut. It was still noisy, but decidedly better. Tammy stepped back towards the door and looked through the little window.
She couldn’t see straight down, but knew Dan was down there, looking back up at them. She looked around and was stunned at the sheer number of zombies. Of course, they had all come over, drawn by the noise of the helicopter. The numbers were overwhelming. There were hundreds of them approaching the radio building. She looked outwards and saw zombies everywhere.
Tammy wondered if there was anybody left alive in the camp. She hoped that people managed to find secure buildings to hide out in.
But then what?
The helicopter jerked into motion, almost knocking Tammy off her feet. She watched as they passed over the central area of the camp. The open area was also swamped with zombies. Tammy stared down as thousands of wide-open eyes stared back up at her. Arms flailed as the undead reached up to the evening sky in uncontrolled rage.
What makes them hates us so much? Tammy wondered, as the helicopter cleared the outer fence and continued over the darkened city on its way.
To where? She contemplated.
To safety. She hoped.
If there is such a thing. Tammy pondered as the helicopter sped away from the setting sun.
Chapter Thirty-four
Christine
October 30, 6:00 P.M.
The group had finished an early supper after a long, hard, but relatively uneventful day. All the materials from the gym had been organized and redistributed, and people had a chance to get their rooms in order. What that mostly meant was moving and stacking countless desks and chairs out of the way. John had hosted a couple of weapons training sessions already. Christine had attended both of them but was disappointed that she hadn’t gotten to handle a gun yet.
Both classes were all about gun safety and theoretical stuff.
Bla bla bla. Christine decided that she would not go tomorrow. She’d have Ethan let her know when the more exciting stuff started, at which point she’d drop in.
Surprisingly, she got a lot more out of the aikido class taught by Keith. Surprisingly also, he was a pretty funny guy. The class was all about stretching and warming up and some core strengthening. Keith demonstrated a few moves for the class and Christine could not wait to learn some of that stuff.
The sun was setting outside, and folks were preparing for their second night at the Ren. The day really had flown by, Christine realized, as she walked out of the library and towards the stairs.
Surreal.
The thought came to Christine’s mind as she got to the stairs and started descending. It did feel surreal. What with the locked doors and most windows being shuttered. It had given her a sense of detachment from the outside world. The way everybody had thrown themselves at tasks and classes had made the day fly by, but Christine felt that it was a rather futile and pathetic way to ignore the real world.
Well, you did too, so...
She got to the main floor and turned towards the cafeteria. It was the one place always buzzing with activity. The lights were on in there. That had been another lesson. Lowering those storm shutters meant the school was always dark, so they were forced to turn on certain lights.
Turns out the undead didn’t care about lights. It certainly did not attract them. So, the entire school was lit up merrily – until that Craig character warned people about using too much electricity. Something about straining the system and the threat of plunging them all into darkness. Christine wasn’t really listening.
So now, only a few lights were on. The essential ones.
Christine was pulled out of her daydream by the sounds of commotion. As usual, she heard her dad and mom’s voices in the middle of it all. She followed the noise into the cafeteria.
A small crowd was gathering. As she neared the group, she could see her dad and Craig in a heated argument. Jack was standing a few feet back, his mom standing directly in front of him as if to shield him. They were flanked by John, the hot guy with the prosthetic hand.
It looked like two groups were forming and facing off.
“Now hold on! We shouldn’t jump to conclusions!” Craig was saying.
Christine’s mom wouldn’t have any of it. “I will not endanger my babies for your sick son!”
Oh mom, you’re such a bitch!
Christine sidled up to track suit girl, who was watching the scene play out from a distance. What the hell was her name again. Ah who cares.
“Hey, what’s going on?” She prompted.
Track suit girl looked over at Christine. There was no emotion visible on her face. She turned back to the fracas before speaking.
“Sounds like Jack is having stomach problems. Your mom thinks he’s infected.” The inflection on the words ‘your mom’ made Christine’s temperature rise.
My mom is a bitch. Yes. But she’s my mom! “Well, if he is infected,
