Resident Evil: Epidemic - 9. Chapter 9

::Waiting Game::

My head hurt. The little mark from where the bat hit my forehead had blossomed into a bump the size of a golf ball. It didn’t help matters that Bobby kept staring at me as if I had the plague. Asshole. But all I had to do was take one look at Lucas and I knew everything would be alright.

He’d dozed off after a few hours. I’d come pretty close myself. We holed ourselves up in the teacher’s lounge. There were quite a few comfy chairs and tables, and a coffee machine for the adults. And Travis. He drank more coffee than any boy I’d ever seen. I was just starting to snooze when a gentle shaking of my right shoulder woke me up. I sat up with a start, as you would if you just had that dream where you’re walking and suddenly fall in a hole.

I looked over at Dan, who was smiling at how I woke up. “What’s up?” I asked.

“Tyler and I were gonna go get some food from the cafeteria. You and Lucas wanna come with?” he asked.

“Sure, I’ll wake him up and we’ll join you guys in a minute,” I said. When he’d gone, I gently started shaking Lucas’ shoulder.

“Mmm…yes…ohh Kieran…” he whispered in his sleep. I was slightly embarrassed. I looked down and noticed he was totally tenting his pajama pants.

“Babe, wake up,” I said gently. His eyes blinked open, and after a moment focused on me.

“How long was I out?” he asked.

I giggled, and said, “Pretty much since you joined the GSA.”

It took him a second, then swatted my arm. “No, silly, how long was I asleep?”

“About two hours,” I said. “Tyler and Dan are going to get some food. I told them we’d come with.” As if on cue, his stomach rumbled loudly.

He giggled, stood up, and stretched. He looked so cute right then, I couldn’t resist hugging him. He looked like a cat stretching after a nap. He leaned into my arms and smiled contentedly.

“What was that for?” he asked when I released him.

“Just because. You looked cute,” I said with a blush.

“Don't I always look cute?” he asked with a fake pout.

“Of course,” I said, and kissed his nose.

“Gag me,” the Coach said as he passed.

I winked at him and said, “Kinky.” I wasn’t going to let him spoil my mood. He rolled his eyes and walked away.

Lucas’ eyes were downcast, and he was looking away from me.

“What's wrong babe?” I asked.

“N-nothing…” he said. I gave him a look that said I wasn’t buying it, and he said, “I just hate it when people make me feel like that. Like it’s wrong.”

“When my arms were around you, did that feel wrong?” I asked in a gentle voice.

“No…” he whispered.

“How about when I kiss you?” I asked.

He smiled. “No.”

“Then don’t pay any attention to them,” I said.

He smiled his beautiful smile at me, and after making sure to bring our weapons, we were off to join Tyler and Dan in the cafeteria. As we walked down the deserted halls, Lucas kept moving closer and closer to my side, but trying to do it so as I wouldn’t notice. I didn’t mind, if he was scared I wanted to do whatever I could to help him. I eventually put my arm over his shoulder and pulled him tight up against me. He looked up at me and smiled.

We got to the cafeteria and found Tyler and Dan standing outside the door, Tyler leaning against the wall, Dan fiddling with the handle.

“What’s up, Tyler?” I asked as I got closer.

“Door’s locked,” he said. “Dan’s trying to pick it.”

I looked at Dan. “Have you ever done this before?”

“I saw it in a movie once…” he said.

I looked around at the door and its frame. It was a simple set of double doors, made of wood with a metal frame. The frame connected to a portion of wall that had large windows in them, so the students eating in the cafeteria could look out. As Dan fiddled with the handle again, I noticed that it was fairly loosely locked.

“Dan, stand back,” I said. He looked up at me, seeing me bracing myself for a good kick. He got the message and stood back.

I kicked the door on the left with as much force as I could muster, and the door held, but was obviously weakened. I gave it another kick and it crashed open, hitting the wall on the inside.

“Well, that was easy,” Dan said, grinning.

“Speak for yourself,” I said as I rubbed my foot. I should remember not to do this again in bunny slippers. They laughed at me and we entered the cafeteria.

It was ominously quiet. Have you ever entered a room that is usually full of people when it’s deserted? It’s a strange feeling to say the least. The tables that were normally spaced evenly throughout the room were folded up and pushed aside. There was a bucket and mop near the front of the cafeteria and it looked as if the janitor hadn’t finished mopping.

Along the back wall were a few vending machines. A Pop-Tart and a Coke weren't the most nutritious of meals, but at least it was edible. We walked over to the machines.

After staring dumbly at them for a few minutes, we realized we’d need money to get anything.

Tyler looked at me, “Kick it open, Norris.”

I glared at him in response. My foot still hurt.

“We have to find something to break it open,” Dan said helpfully.

Tyler suggested shooting it open, but that was vetoed pretty quickly. Lucas reasoned that we might need the bullets.

So we all started looking for something to break it open.

“Hey, how about one of the legs of a table?” Dan asked.

“You got a screwdriver to take it off the table?” Tyler asked sarcastically.

“Oh…right…” Dan said.

“Hey, Kieran,” Lucas called from the other side of the room. He was holding the mop that the janitor must have left behind. “Will this do?”

“Genius,” I said with a smirk. “That’s why I keep you around.”

“Nah, it’s my cute butt,” he said with a grin. He was so cute.

“Can’t argue with that,” I said. Dan and Tyler made some obnoxious noises, so Lucas and I glared at them.

Five minutes and a bleeding finger later, we had some snacks. I cut my finger on a piece of glass that fell into the bottom of the machine. My packet of Pop-Tarts landed on it. Luckily it wasn’t a deep cut, so it was really nothing to worry about.

I’d just started eating my second Pop-Tart, when Dan said, “Norris, you think you can kick open the coke machine?”

I glared at him. “Don't you start that too. My foot really hurts,” I said in what I hoped wasn’t too much of a whine. It probably was though, I've been told I'm kind of a whiner.

Lucas leaned over, and grabbed my foot. He took off the slipper, and started inspecting my sole. “There doesn’t appear to be any damage,” he said. “At least, no bruise.”

I lifted my other foot. “It was this foot.”

He giggled, and blushed. “Oops.”

When he pulled off the other slipper, we both gasped at the huge blueish purple spot on my sole. He started to rub it, but…okay…here’s a little secret about me. I'm ticklish. VERY ticklish. So the whole rubbing my sole thing didn’t quite work so well. Just don't go spreading that around, people might use it against me.

“Hey guys!” Tyler exclaimed in a panicked voice from the other side of the room. I looked up and saw him retreating from the kitchen door. “Run!”

Not even a second later, three zombies followed him through the door. But there was something off about these zombies. They were moving fast.

And I mean, fast! They were nearly running! Their eyes were blood red, nearly glowing, and their faces had a very red tint to them, almost flushed. Drool dribbled disgustingly down their chins, and instead of the inhuman moans we’d heard all day, they were growling like feral beasts.

Without thinking, I pulled out my handgun. I aimed and fired off a shot, still without thinking. It seemed to work. The not thinking, that is, because I hit the first zombie square between the eyes. I heard a loud crack from beside me, and saw a flash of light. Lucas had just dropped zombie number two.

I tried aiming without thinking again, and fired off a shot at zombie number three. I effectively solved the problem with the Coke machine, as the door popped open after the bullet hit it. Damnit, that wasn’t even close!

Lucas fired again and killed the last one just in time. A second longer and it would have reached Dan, who was frozen in terror.

We were all breathing heavily after the shooting stopped.

“What the hell was that!?” Lucas yelled, making the rest of us jump. “How can they do that?”

Tyler just shook his head. I was at a loss too. He looked over at Dan, who was still frozen, eyes glued to the last zombie. Its disgusting hand outstretched, as if reaching for him. Tyler walked over to him.

“You alright bud?” he said gently. Dan seemed to shake himself out of his trance.

“When…” Dan started. “When the hell…did you guys become fucking commandos?” Dan asked Lucas and I.

Lucas’ dad rushed into the cafeteria, followed closely by the coach, Bobby, Becky, and Mr. Bosley.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Mr. Thomas said when he caught his breath. “What were you shooting?”

Lucas, Tyler, Dan and I pointed at the lumps of zombies. Or…whatever the hell they were. All of the zombies we’d encountered were the slow, lumbering idiots, and these were by no means slow. And what was the deal with the red faces? I didn’t think things could have gotten any crazier, but once again I’ve been proven wrong.

“More zombies? That’s all?” Coach Reynolds said in an annoyed tone. “That’s what you’re pissing yourselves about?”

“They weren't just regular zombies…” Tyler started, but was cut off by the coach.

“Jesus, you probably wasted ammo we’ll need! That’s it, give me your guns!” he yelled at Lucas and I. Tyler and Dan weren't armed.

“Shut the hell up, you old bastard,” I said into the coach’s stunned face. “Regular zombies don't chase after you like a fucking Olympic runner! These things aren’t normal by any means!”

“Still, I don't think you’re mature enough to carry guns,” he said, his ego deflated a little.

“No, Kieran’s right. He and Lucas have already saved my life once, and they obviously just saved Tyler and Dan just now,” Mr Thomas said. “What have you done with yours? Aside from threatening me when we first got here?”

“I don't have to stand here and listen to this!” he yelled. “If you all want to stay here and be led around by these pansies, fine, but I’m not doing it any more.” He stormed out of the cafeteria. After a moment, and a glare in our direction, Bobby followed him. After glaring at me, checking out my boyfriend, and then watching Bobby’s ass as he walked away, Becky followed too.

We settled into a kind of stunned, yet relieved silence.

“Shit, it’s about fucking time,” Tyler said.

“Language,” Mr Bosley said, with a grin. Tyler flipped him off and we all shared a laugh at it.

Except for Dan. He seemed to still be shaken up over our close call. I took a look at him, and noticed that in his fright, he had pissed himself. It didn’t look like he’d even noticed. But when he saw where I was looking, and as the rest of the group followed my gaze, he looked down at himself.

His eyes snapped up and his face was burning with shame. Tears formed in his eyes.

“Ex-Excuse me…” he stammered as he rushed out of the cafeteria towards the bathroom.

We all obviously felt terrible for him. He must have been terribly embarrassed, and the fact that we were all staring at him made it worse.

After a moment, Tyler said, “I’ll go after him,” and left the room.

“Lets go see if there’re any work pants or something in the Janitor’s Lounge,” Lucas said to me.

“We’ll be in here when you get back,” Mr Bosley said.

It took us a while to find the lounge. After doing some searching in the few unlocked lockers, we found a pair of jeans that didn’t look too big, and a belt. It was better than nothing, and I’m sure their previous owner won’t be missing them.

When we got back to the cafeteria, Tyler was there, but Dan wasn’t.

“He’s too embarrassed to come out with piss all over his pants,” he said. Lucas then handed him the jeans. “Thanks, I’ll take these to him,” and Tyler left the room again.

“Why don't we get those things out of here and into the kitchen,” Mr Bosley said, pointing to the red-faced zombies. “They’re starting to stink up the place.”

We walked over to them. As I got closer, I could make out the details of their faces clearly. They looked like any ordinary zombie (wow, isn’t that a strange phrase?) apart from the red eyes and faces.

Then I took a closer look at the one that nearly got to Dan. And I screamed. Literally. Like a big freakin’ girl.

It was my father.