Resident Evil: Epidemic - 8. Chapter 8

Part 2

Chapter 8

::Predicament::

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Bobby snarled at me. My eyes must have been the size of saucers. Of all the obstacles I expected to run into, he wasn’t one of them. I just…couldn’t deal with this right now. I mean, as if my mom dying, that creepy man in the gun shop, mutant dogs, zombies, and the END OF THE FUCKING WORLD weren’t enough to deal with, now I get to deal with an asshole homophobe that wanted to rape me. Amazing. Fucking amazing.

“Leave us alone,” Lucas said from my side. I looked over at him and saw cold fury in his eyes. I shuddered at how…murderous he looked.

“Aww, how cute,” Bobby snarled sarcastically. “But you should’ve seen your boyfriend in the bathroom the other day. He wanted me so bad I practically had to beat him off me.”

“If I remember correctly, the only one who got a beating was you,” Dan said, as he came over to my side as well. Tyler joined him a moment later. “And my fists tell me I’m right.”

Bobby’s tough demeanor deflated slightly as he looked at all of us. “You just watch yourself, pretty boy.”

With that, he pushed his way past us and walked over to join the coach and Becky, who looked about ten seconds away from having sex, as bad as she was flirting.

“What was that about?” Lucas asked me. I quickly filled him in on our sordid past. I purposefully left out the incident in the bathroom, hoping Lucas would let it go.

“And then the fucker tried to rape him yesterday!” Dan said. Well, there goes that plan. Lucas’ eyes got so large I was almost afraid they’d pop out of his skull.

“It wasn’t as bad as it sounds…” I tried, not wanting to worry Lucas.

“Bullshit!” Dan exclaimed. “He had his nasty dick out and was pushing your face toward it!”

Lucas’ face was so red at this point, I thought a blood vessel would pop. He literally was fuming, so overcome with rage that it was almost scary.

“If…if I don’t cool down…I’ll hurt him…very badly,” Lucas said through clenched teeth. “I’ll be back,” He walked away, over to join his dad. I glared at Dan.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Trying NOT to upset the boyfriend!” I hissed at him. “Damnit, did you have to open your mouth?”

“I…” he started, then got a strange look on his face. “Boyfriend?”

“Well…I think so,” I said. we’d all but dedicated ourselves to each other, but hadn’t actually used the word boyfriend yet. “I mean, I hope so…”

“Oh…huh…” Dan said with a slight dejected tone in his voice.

“Yeah, so next time, shut the fuck up!” with that, I turned and walked over to Lucas, to try to calm him down.

Lucas saw me approach, and turned his face away from me. But it was too late, I’d already seen the tear tracks running down his face. He was terrified for me, that was obvious. I could read it in every fiber of his being. I could understand, though, because if our roles were reversed, I knew I’d be just as terrified for him. In many ways, I was already.

“Hey,” I said when I got within a few feet of him. His dad saw me, and then politely gave us our space.

“…Kieran…I…” he started. His crying was making it difficult to speak. I embraced him from behind.

“It’s alright Lucas,” I whispered into his ear. I lay my head on his shoulder. “I’m alright.”

“I k-keep h-having this…fear of losing you t-to those…things outside,” he said, stuttering as bad as I’d ever heard him.

“Well, I know I’ll be fine,” I said. “I’ve got my gun-toting badass boyfriend to protect me.”

He giggled a bit shyly. “I’m n-no b-badass.”

I laughed. “Could’ve fooled me! You’ve already saved my life and your dad’s, all in one day! You are SO a badass!”

He playfully hit me in the arm. “Shut up,” he said through a giggle.

Clutching my arm, (Shut up, it DID hurt a bit. I’m SO not a pansy.) I said, “And if you were in a movie, you’d be on the poster in a dramatic pose with your shirt unbuttoned and your manly chest glistening with sweat!” In reality, he wasn’t any more “manly” than I was. Seriously, it looked as if a third grader could kick our asses.

He was outright laughing now, trying to stop it, but failing miserably. When he’d finally calmed down, he said, “And you’d be the damsel in distress, clutching at my leg. And your boobs would be popping out of your shirt.”

He lost it again, and when I pictured the movie poster for “Army of Darkness” that he was referencing, I lost it too.

“All right everyone, gather ‘round,” Mr. Bosley said. “We need to make sure the school is secure.”

Tyler, Dan, Lucas, and I looked around at each other. We all thought this was supposed to be the safe place.

“We’re going to split up into teams, and search the school for any danger. We’re looking for anything from unlocked doors and broken windows, to live electrical wires,” he said.

“And zombies,” Becky said.

Mr. Bosley glanced over at her, and said, “Yes, and zombies too.”

“We’ll split into three teams,” he continued. “Since there’s nine of us, we’ll need three teams of three.”

What proceeded then was a long and very annoying argument about who each team should consist of. Finally, after about ten minutes of bickering, Mr. Bosley decided we’d draw straws. Where he got the straws, I have no idea.

Team one ended up being Tyler, Dan, and Mr. Bosley.

Team two ended up being Mr. Thomas, Becky Reilly, and Lucas.

That put me on team three, with Coach Reynolds and Bobby Gibson. Gulp.

“You’ve gotta be freaking kidding me,” I said when I realized who I was teamed up with. “No fucking way.”

“There’s no way I’m letting him go with them!” Lucas shouted. Another round of bickering ensued.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Coach Reynolds yelled over our voices. “We all agreed on drawing straws, so everyone just man up, and let’s get this over with.”

“Why can’t I just switch places with Becky?” I asked.

“I don’t want to be on their team!” Becky said, obviously acting. “They’ll probably molest me in some abandoned classroom!” She was lying. She’d probably love it if they molested her. But the way she was looking at Lucas had me worried. Like he was a piece of meat.

“Fine!” I said, exasperated. Lucas, Tyler, and Dan were looking at me as if I’d lost my mind.

“Are you sure?” Mr. Thomas and Mr. Bosley said at the same time.

“Let’s just get this over with,” I said in what I hoped was a reassuring tone. They nodded, still looking apprehensive, but finally after a moment, turned to gather their respective teams.

I looked over to Lucas, who looked more terrified than ever, and said with a disarming smile, “Don’t worry, babe. They can’t do anything to me. If they do, they’ll have to face my big badass boyfriend and our friends.”

After a few more minutes of reassuring him, we parted ways, and I joined my group. It felt like I was walking the last mile, down to the electric chair. The sneer on Bobby’s lips didn’t help matters too much.

“Finally!” Coach Reynolds said in an exasperated tone. He turned and started to walk down the hallway. Bobby’s sneer became slightly more malicious, then he winked, and followed the coach into the hallway.

Apparently we were to search the history hall, and the gym area. That made sense, him being the coach and all. The gym was just off of the history hall on the left.

We started searching classrooms. The first one I came to was locked, so I moved on down the hall. The next two were empty, and had the lights off. When I turned the lights on in the second one, I almost peed my pants. There was a big coat rack next to the door with a jacket and hat on it. Totally thought it was a zombie. At least I didn’t shoot it.

I continued on. I reached Mr. Jackson’s room, my US History teacher from last year. My god, was that guy boring. It was incredibly hard to stay awake in that class. Most of us didn’t, and that’s probably why I almost failed it. It’s sobering to think that he’s probably dead now. Or, undead. Whatever you want to call it.

I left the room, feeling suddenly queasy. Everyone is dead. What a mind-job.

I entered my government classroom. Mr. Macy hadn’t looked too good the last time I’d seen him. He’d been all pale and sweaty, and was muttering to himself. As I entered the room, the smell was awful. Smelled like a zombie had diarrhea on the floor. I turned on the light.

And came face to face with Mr. Macy. He was no more than three feet away, and as dead as any of those monsters outside. I fumbled for my gun, but he lunged at me, grabbing my shoulders and leaning in to bite me. I grabbed his forehead and struggled to keep him away. His grip was like iron, causing so much pain I cried out.

I kicked at him, trying to dislodge his disgusting fingers from my shoulders. The harder I tried to get away, the more frantic he became. My arms were getting tired. Wouldn’t be able to hold him off for too much longer.

“HELP! HELP ME!” I screamed as loud as I could. It came out rather raspy, but I hardly noticed. I still kicked at him, but it was in vain. This thing was just too strong for me.

I saw and heard the baseball bat connect with his head at the same time. His skull caved, and his lifeless eyes rolled up into his head. Finally, the thing’s grip loosened, and I was able to pry his nasty fingers off of me. I turned, leaned over, and threw up.

When I was finished, I looked up at Bobby, menacingly holding the baseball bat and looking at me with wild eyes. He raised the bat.

“NO! WAIT! IT DIDN’T…” he hit me with the bat. I moved my head out of the way just in time, but it still connected solidly with my neck and left shoulder. I crumpled to the floor, writhing in agony.

He raised the bat again.

“STOP!…It didn’t…didn’t bite…me…” I panted.

“You sure? There’s a lot of blood on you,” he said, in a frighteningly calm voice.

“The…blood is from…when you hit him,” I said. “It sprayed on me.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t take any chances,” he said with a sickening glint of madness in his eye. He lifted the bat again, and swung it down sharply. I moved away as fast as I could, but wasn’t fast enough. He hit me right on my left hip. The one with the stitches. I screamed, as I felt the burning hot fire of pain shoot up my side.

He lifted the bat again, and I knew he was going to kill me. I raised my arms, and waited for the impact. It didn’t come.

I heard what sounded like it could only be a football tackle, and the bat fell on me. Not hard enough to do any damage besides leave a knot on my forehead. Better than having my brain leak out.

Holding my forehead, I looked over to see Coach Reynolds pinning Bobby. He was on his stomach, and the coach was holding his hands behind his back.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Coach asked Bobby. Bobby was silent. “Answer me!”

“I thought he was bitten,” Bobby said. “Look at him, there’s blood all over him!”

Coach looked at me, and his eyes widened.

“Of course there’s blood on me!” I said. “You cracked his skull six inches from my neck!”

“All right! Enough of this. Let’s get back to the lobby. It’s time to head back anyway,” Coach said.

I stood up, a bit wobbly on my legs. I stumbled a few times as I went to the door. I glanced back toward the room. Mr. Macy lay in a lump on the floor, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. I noticed a small glint of light. I looked closer, and saw that it was the light reflecting off of a small card about a foot from him. I went over to it.

I leaned down, despite the pain, and picked the card up. On one side, there was a magnetic strip, like a credit card, but no writing. On the other side had the logo of the Umbrella Corporation. Nothing else was written on it. I put it in my pocket, and noticed a spray can on a desk. I picked it up, and read the label. Aqua Cure™ First Aid Spray. This might come in handy.

“COME ON!” I heard Coach yell from the hallway. I left the room, and saw that they were already halfway down the hall. Assholes. I followed, trying in vain to catch up. My leg was hurting very bad now. I hobbled as fast as I could. When Coach and Bobby got to the lobby, I heard Lucas ask, “Where’s Kieran?” with a hint of desperation in his voice.

“His slow ass is taking forever,” Coach said. I finally entered the lobby, and everyone’s eyes were fixed on me.

“What the hell happened to you?” Dan asked. Lucas’ eyes were huge and filled with tears. I hobbled over to him. Tyler was glaring angrily at Bobby.

“Had a run in with my government teacher,” I said. “Mr. Macy’s dead.”

“Bobby didn’t do this to you?” Dan asked.

“No,” I lied. I really didn’t want to upset Lucas, or have Dan and Tyler get hurt trying to get revenge on Bobby. “He actually saved my life. Killed the zombie just in time.”

“Is that why there’s an ‘MLB’ logo imprinted on your forehead?” Tyler asked, looking accusatory.

“Shit. It imprinted on my forehead?” I asked, busted.

“No. But now we know how you really got that bump,” he said, glaring once again at Bobby. Shit! Damnit…why does he have to be so freaking smart?

“Okay, guys, don’t overreact,” I said. I then explained to them exactly what had happened, and made sure they understood that he thought I’d been bitten. I had to stretch the truth a bit on that part. I don’t think he really believed that.

“Anyone find anything?” Mr. Bosley asked.

“The bad-luck charm over there found a zombie,” Bobby said, gesturing in my direction. “I killed it though.”

“Oh,” I said, remembering what I found with Mr. Macy. “I found this.” I held up the card for everyone to see.

Mr. Bosley took it, and looked it over. He was looking as confused as I had when I first looked at it.

“Huh, that’s strange. Where’d you say you found this?” he asked me.

“Mr. Macy had it. It fell off of him when he hit the floor,” I said.

“Why would Rick Macy have an Umbrella card key?” he asked.

The pain in my hip flared up, and I walked with Lucas over to his dad. I took the First Aid Spray out of my pocket, and showed it to him.

“I think my hip is bleeding again,” I said. “You think this will help?” I asked.

“This is good stuff,” he said. “You could probably take three or four bites from a zombie and feel fine after spraying this.”

I was going to take his word for it. Didn’t want to test out that theory. The pain in my hip made me proceed with caution, but I was ready to try anything to stop it, even a wacky wonder spray from the Umbrella Corporation. I hoped he was right, and I’d feel fine afterwards.