There were now three dead zombies littered across the commons. To his immediate left were the kitchens and to the right was the gym. Behind him was a set of doors which led out into the parking lot. The main entrance was on the other end of the hallway and slightly off to the right. Apart from the bodies, and the trail of blood the hallway was neat and in order. The two vending machines still hummed in their positions near the wall and the fluorescent lights outside the kitchen were still broken.
Roy contemplated knocking on the gym doors and meeting up with the group inside. Then he looked at the vending machine and realized how hungry and thirsty he was. Out of instinct Roy stuffed two dollars into the coin slot and devoured the chocolate bar that dropped out from the dispenser. Next he grabbed a can of coke from the second machine and gulped it down. Roy tossed the can next to the dead zombie and, now reinvigorated, headed towards the kitchen.
Now that he was out here he might as well obtain some food before meeting up with the guys in the gym. The food counter was empty, already cleaned up by the lunch ladies. Roy tapped on the counter hoping that someone might rush out and serve him. He leaned over the counter and looked left and right, there were a few boxes of cookies by the side, but apart from that the room was devoid of food.
Off to the side a door led into the kitchen. Even if that was empty there was always the cold store which held this week’s meals. Roy vaulted over the counter and picked up the box off cookies on the shelf. The aluminum counters shone under the lights, their surfaces spotlessly clean and devoid of food. Roy took his time flipping open cupboards and drawers; there were forks, spoons, plates, and trays. He even managed to find a packet of gum left over by the lunch ladies. Roy put the pack of gun into his pocket and approached the door leading into the kitchen.
Before trying the knob, Roy looked through the small glass screen on the door. There was blood everywhere, it was splattered on the walls and counters, but there was no sign of a body. Roy observed the ground and realized that there were foot prints and trails of blood. Someone, or something, had moved the bodies. The footprints were at least twice the size of his and upon closer inspection the tiles were cracked at certain spots. From his angle Roy couldn’t make out the entirety of the kitchen but the footprint and trails clearly led to the cold store off to the right.
Perhaps he could sneak in and kill whatever had rampaged through the kitchen, thereby liberating the food stores. Roy’s hand hovered over the door knob; did he really need the food? There were the vending machines which held enough to last the night and probably a few more days as long as there weren’t too many people. Roy didn’t plan on staying here for long and there was bound to be food in the houses in the neighborhood. Besides, there was a Walmart just outside the town, and there was enough food in there to feed the town for weeks, maybe months - or until it rots after the electricity goes out. Unless he could store the food for the long run there was no need to risk his hide. In fact the food might be safer in the cold store, where the refrigeration would keep the food from going bad.
Then something walked out from the storeroom, it didn’t need to open the door, Roy realized, the door was laying broken on the ground. The figure was easily over seven feet tall, maybe even eight feet if it stood up straight. It didn’t look remotely lanky though. Its muscles bulged out and formed great mounds; the sinew was clearly visible under its skin which held not a single strand of hair. A tattered skirt was secured to its hips by a ring of iron which was nailed into the things body.
It walked with a slump, shoulders hunched and knuckles dragging on the ground. Roy ducked down and prayed to whatever gods that had created this monstrosity that it couldn’t see through the black bag that was covering its head. Still crouching, he carefully backed away from the door and crawled over the counter. He could still hear the sound of the creature’s spiked mace scraping along the ceramic tiles.
The blue screen that had popped out after he had examined the creature was still there.
Deep Cavern Goliath LV 54 HP 3041 / 3041
He had fourteen rounds from two magaziness, one in the gun another in his inventory. Around three hundred points of damage if every shot landed. A tenth of that things HP, fourteen bullets, two magazines. Carefully Roy crawled on all fours until he was well away from the counter, then he huddled against the wall and waited, the box of cookies still secured in his lap. There was no way he was going into the kitchen with that thing lumbering around.
He could still hear the scraping of iron on ceramic and the periodic thud of its footsteps. It was growing dark outside by the time the sound had faded away and Roy and regained his nerves. Standing up from his position he carefully walked over to the gym doors. The, “Goliath,” lived in underground caverns according to its name. Creatures that lived in innards of the earth could hardly rely on their vision in such perfect darkness. The beast must have extraordinary hearing or some other sense to help it navigate the caverns. Mindful of this fact Roy cautiously pulled out the pack of gum from his pocket and slid it under the crack of the door.
Then he waited, the seconds ticked by and when Roy was ready to give up and try something else, he heard the gentle tap of footsteps on the gymnasium floor. Roy stood up and straightened his clothes on reflex. Then the footsteps stopped near the door, and a sheet of paper was slipped out from the crack. The other side understood the need for silence.
Roy reached into his bag and felt around for the pencil he kept alongside the notebook. He then quickly jotted down his name and class onto the paper, alongside a note that he was carrying food. Satisfied, Roy slid the sheet of paper under the door and awaited a reply.
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The footstep retreated from the door and Roy could make out hushed whispers that were carried across the expanse of the gym. A few minutes passed and the footsteps returned. This time there was a clicking sound as the door was unlocked and opened.
The girl standing there quickly waved him in and then closed the door, locked it, and set a baseball bat between the handles. On the far side of the gym a small group of six rested. Some were siting and others lying down, the arm of one boy was bound in bandages and he was asleep. The five who were awake shifted their attentions towards Roy.
He was about to head towards them when a sound from behind caught his attention.
“*cough* Hi, nice to meet you and all, but where’s the food?” Roy turned around and realized he had forgotten to greet his peer.
“Oh, sorry, I’m Roy Stone, nice to meet you,” Roy held out his hand as he introduced himself.
“Madelyn, Madelyn Karoly. Perhaps not the most well met,” then the two shook on it. It felt weird shaking hands during the end of the world like nothing was wrong. There was a bullet proof monstrosity just across the hall and a pile of dead bodies right around the corner. He realized he had been shaking her hand the whole time and released his grip.
He quickly placed down the box of cookies he held. Then he opened the first box and pulled out a clear plastic bag filled with a row of chocolate chip cookies.
“Got them from the caf a few hours ago,” Roy added as he resealed the box.
“We were in a hurry so we didn’t get the opportunity,” Madelyn replied as the two made their way to the group situated on the far end of the gym.
“You’re from the business classroom?” Roy inquired as he recalled the bodies splayed across the hallway.
“I’m assuming you saw then?”
“Yeah,” following that the two walked the remaining steps in silence, the scene of carnage all too fresh in their minds.
The group of six students was gathered around a stash of backpacks and sports equipment, the most notable member of the group was a squat looking boy with a spear rested against his shoulder. Roy didn’t personally know the boy but he had heard rumors, from Lyn, about him. According to said rumors the squat looking boy with the square face and short black hair was the nephew of the current boss of the Road Raptors, a local biker gang. Of course Roy dismissed this as fanciful conjecture.
As Roy and Madelyn approached, some of the less weary looking members of the group stood up. None quite knew how to start the conversation and one boy sat down again after a moment of strained silence. A lanky girl who stood a whole head taller than the rest of the group decided to break the silence.
“H-hi nice t-to meet you, my n-names’ D-Dakota.” Dakota awkwardly walked up to Roy, it seemed that that she was not exactly into sports and her towering figure seemed only to obstruct her own movements. She made her way around the pile of bags and extended her arm as a gesture for a handshake. Despite the great length of her appendages her sleeves still managed to cover her hands.
“I’m Roy,” then the two shook on it. The brief conversation seemed to break the ice and soon Roy and the group were swapping stories and comparing notes. Right after the timer ended a veritable army of frogs blinked into being right inside their classroom. None felt comfortable detailing the bloody demise of their classmates, so they concluded with the arrival of their group in the Gymnasium.
“And that’s how we got here, what about you Roy?” the boy, Lestrat, was fairly eloquent so the task of narrating their story had fallen to him.
“Well, uhh, I guess we had it much the same, except the frogs didn’t spawn in our classroom,” Roy thought about his experiences for a moment and resented the fact that he was alone and he couldn’t push the responsibility of telling the story to someone else, Roy was not a very eloquent speaker.
“We got the blue screens at first, then the timer, and when that ran out we kinda just sat there for a while. The frogs eventually came but Mr. Stenson had a rifle,” everyone shook their heads at that, Mr. Stenson had always been regarded as one of the more eccentric teachers.
“But, there were a whole lot of ‘em and eventually they got Mr. Stenson,” Roy paused for a second as the image of Mr. Stenson, mouth hanging agape and back slouched against the wall made an unwelcome appearance.
“Without Mr. Stenson things kinda got real tense, some of my class decided to head to the auditorium. I kinda blanked out for a second and when I realized my mistake they were already gone,” Lestrat and Madelyn seemed to be deep in thought, the kid with the spear was chomping down on a cookie, Dakota was doing her math homework, the bandaged boy was asleep, and the remaining two were sidled up together against the wall.
“I decided to head over here and check the caf for some food. Then I found your foot prints and here I am now,” Roy concluded.
Lestrat seemed like he had something to say, his head shifted from side to side as if the weighting of the options had possessed him. The rest of the group sat around as Lestrat deliberated. Roy himself was unsure of what to do next. Everything seemed to hinge on the circumstances. If it cleared up then heading out seemed like a no brainer, you could only survive on cookies for so long before it took a toll on your body.
From his vantage it seemed like a smarter idea to head out at his peak and risk it earlier, then it was to stay inside and wait until he was severely malnourished. Besides, the giant monster in the café was unlikely to stay in there indefinitely.
That was of course if the rain let up, there was no way Roy was heading out when there was a least a feet of water outside. Roy remembered hearing that just two feet of flowing water was enough to move a car. If he couldn’t leave then heading to the auditorium was probably the wisest decision, safety in numbers and all that. Roy was jolted out of his thoughts when Lestrat finally started to speak.
“I’ve been thinking,” that got a few chuckles out of the group.
“Initially I wanted to hole in here and wait out the storm, we have a few lunches and the vending machines are right across the hall so even if the flood persists we’ll still be in a tenable situation; however, now we know that there is probably a sizable congregation of students and staff in the auditorium, remember the elevens were having a meeting when this whole fiasco began,” a few nods here and there.
“If the storm ends soon then joining up with the rest of the student body would be the wisest decision. If the storm ends soon, if it doesn’t that means there will be a whole lot of mouths to feed and not a lot of food to go around,” if it were just Roy and the six of them the cookies, lunches, and vending machines could last a while, but if there were at least half a hundred grade elevens, plus a smattering of grade twelves in the auditorium.
“Joining up with them will be easy, leaving won’t be. I can imagine a few stubborn teachers insisting that we wait here for help,” a few more chuckles, it seemed that Lestrat wanted to keep the mood light, especially since the content was rather upsetting.
“Eventually, when help doesn’t appear to be coming and the food is running out they’ll give in. By that time we’ll all be hungry, and if we go out there weakened and with those frogs around,” Lestrat let that hang for a while.
Cob, the square faced boy, was the next to speak; his quick and concise sentences seemed to suit his overall appearance, “We stay here.”
Lestrat didn’t miss a beat, “I believe that is the most sensible course of action right now.”
“Sure,” grunted Cobb, voice a low bass.
Roy half expected the boy to up and leave after Lestrat’s response, but apparently the short sentences weren’t a sign of disagreement or sarcasm.
The rest of the group also nodded in agreement, except the boy who was sleeping, he didn’t really have a choice either way. Now that the group had decided to stay here for the time being they began to open some of the bags and dig out lunchboxes. There were only seven students here but more than double that number in backpacks, credit to Lastrat who had recommended that everyone take a few of the backpacks that their fallen classmates had left behind.