We bust into the street and run headfirst into a crowd of zombies. The creatures are moaning and groaning so loudly that I can't even think. There are way too many green freaks to count. I have a brief flashback and I'm in the school cafeteria. Too many people... Just too many people all jammed into a terrible, terrible place my brain flashes. For a brief moment, I freeze up, unable to move or think.
"Come on Erick, I need ya to kill me some zombie!" Lenny yells as he pelts baseballs towards the mob of creatures. I snap out of it. In one movement I place my backpack down in front of me and unzip. I fumble for rocks in my pack and hurl them at the swarming mob of creatures. Most of the stones don't inflict death blows, but they daze and injure the howling mob. Unfortunately, there are far too many bodies to destroy with just baseballs and rocks, the crowd of monsters swarms us.
Once the mob comes into melee range, Lenny pulls out Zombie Smasher Extreme 5000 and I whip out my machete and we go to work. Lenny is an unstoppable force. He tears down countless zombies with each swipe of his massive pipe. He plows through the corpse-strewn field, tearing through crowds of zombies like they are flimsy paper.
While Lenny is deep in battle rage, I'm vigilant to keep my distance from the zombies and swing for the head. At first, I'm moving nimbly, dashing in and out of the crowd, chopping undead left and right. I'm like a quick, killer-bunny. Err, I mean killer-rabbit. Like the one in Monty Python?
Like a freakish Killer-Rabbit, I'm lunging in for the kill, dodging blows, and retreating every now and then.
After a few minutes of battle, my breathing became labored and my sword arm starts to ache. Out of nowhere, a crooked arm closes in on my face. Startled, I fumble backward and drop my sword, slicing my calf open with the loose blade. Screeching in pain, I crawl away from the zombie, leaving a potent trail of blood for the zombie to follow. The monster rushes towards me and lunges for the kill. I grab the zombie at the wrist and violently shove it towards Lenny. Lenny greets the creature with a crippling blow to the skull, knocking the thing senseless. I take a few deep breaths and think that Z90X strength works. Thanks again Lenny.
For the rest of the skirmish, I fight more defensively. I have enough adrenaline so that I can hardly feel the wound in my leg, but it's oozing too much blood for me to just forget about it. If Lenny was any less of a monster, than we would be in trouble, but at the moment it was Lenny vs. a horde of zombies, and Lenny was in complete control. I cover his back, killing a few zombies approaching in his blind spot, but for the most part, I just try not to get in the way.
Zombies start to thin out quickly. Lenny smashes one in the skull. Then, like a miracle, they are gone. We've done it. Cleared out street number eight. I take a moment to survey the wreckage. There are way too many corpses to count, but I had to estimate that there are at least 80 bodies strewn across the pavement. Lenny starts to calm down, the wild look fading from his eyes. Then, it's gone. Peace. He smiles and says "Alright Eric, we darn right beat the shit out of them zombies".
I check my leg. Crap. Blood everywhere. It's covered in blood. This is bad.
After a few moments, I calm down. I jostle through my backpack, finding a roll of medical tape. I start wrapping with trembling hands, so I don't tape cleanly, but the bleeding stops. I take a few steps and wince. My eyes water, I try not to whine because Lenny would just make fun of me.
The street-zombies are gone, but we still have to delve into the surrounding buildings if we want to rescue anybody. Lenny drops Zombie Smasher 5000 and draws his baseball bat. The massive lead pipe is too bulky for indoor use. There is only one house on the street that isn't wrecked. Best case scenario we find survivors. At the very least there will be supplies.
Lenny approaches the house, me following closely behind. Just to be polite, he knocks on the door. No answer. Lenny smashes down the door with a sharp kick. I peer into the house, hoping to catch a glimpse of a form of life that is not trying to eat me, but it is all darkness. Lenny clicks on a flashlight and enters the darkness, ready for action. I follow.
The house is trashed, but not in the way that a zombie would smash the area. It looks more like a group of teenagers had a week-long slumber party. There are countless soda cans littered on the floor, towers of moldy pizza boxes, video game and CD cases cluttered on tables and couches. While Lenny is exploring the kitchen, I pick up one of the CDs. It is Greenday's hit album "American Idiot". "Lenny, something is wrong here..." I start to stay. Then I hear a shout.
The noise comes from a room directly to my left. I hobble towards the source of the sound, gripping my machete firmly. Through the dim lighting, I make out the figure of a door. I try the handle and it's unlocked.
I glance at Lenny, heart pounding. He nods. My gloves clench the metal door handle. Slowly, I edge the door open, holding my machete in a ready position.
"Stupid game! Lame man! That camper kills me every time! Wow, really?" yells a frustrated teenager tossing a mane of wild black hair. He sprawls back on a couch, eyes fixated on a game of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The teen glances backwards at the sound of the door. Without even dropping the controller he says, " Eric! Dude, what's up!" It’s Dominick Costa.
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It looks like the zombie assault has hardly phased Dom. He’s still dressed in punk rock clothes; a black, flaming skull T-shirt and gray skinny jeans. His wild black hair is messier than ever. Dom has grown a bit pale, but besides that he looks normal.
"Dominick!? What! I mean, how!?" I stutter as Lenny enters the room. "Is that Call of Duty!? Wait, are you playing online-" Lenny whacks me on the head. "I mean, how are you even still alive? What have you been doing?" I ask, in complete shock.
"I dunno dude, chillin'. I've got a generator, and my Dad owns a pizza company, so we have a whole industrial freezer full of pizza in the basement," Dom says with a burp "Want some?" Dom gestures towards a half eaten pizza. I take off my nasty gloves and try a slice. It tastes delicious.
"Woah dude, pizza..." I mumble through a full mouth.
"Kill streak! Totally cool man." Dom yells as his soldier chucks a tomahawk at an unsuspecting victim.
"Is that online?" I ask again.
Dom nods his head "Yup".
I scratch my head in confusion. How can there be online gaming during a zombie apocalypse? This probably means that there is some safe zone out there... "Hey Dom, can you send them a message and ask them where they are?" I ask hopefully.
Dom shakes his head. "Nah dude, I've already tried, but I never get any replies." I sigh, but hope blossoms in my chest. Even Zombies can’t kill online gaming. But why won’t they reply to the messages, though? Maybe they are Europeans... That would explain it...
The game ends and Dom finally drops his controller. "Alright dudes, I'm tired of ridin' solo, let me crash your pad " Dom comments as he a yawns obscenely. Dom stands up, and for the first time notices Lenny. How he had gone so long without even seeing him is inexplicable, especially when considering Lenny's size. "Who's the big guy?" Dom says, stifling a laugh.
"The names Lenny, Lenny Rodgers." Lenny says with an outstretched hand and a glare. Dom settles for an awkward knuckle bump and coughs, "Peace".
With that, Dom directs us towards the remaining food supplies. There is only a few days worth of pizza left. Why is Dom so chill? He was only a week away from starving. It's fortunate that we came when we did.
While Lenny and I stuff our backpacks with the remaining pizza, I ask Dom where his parents are. An empty look enters Dom's nearly black eyes and he replies. "They were on vacation in Germany when this all went down. I wish I knew dude...." I make a mental note not to mention it again.
With another yawn, Dom grabbed a makeshift spear that had been fashioned from a mop and a knife. He also grabs a pair of roller skates.
Lenny gawks at the skates. "Why are you bringing yer skates? We only have room fer what we need."
Dom laughs darkly. "Ahh Lenny-dude. These skates are my zombie fighting compadres. I glide on these babies and I stick zombies with my spear. It's just my swag bro. You'll get it when you see me in action."
Once we fill our bags to the brim, we head out of the house. Luckily, we don't run into any zombies on the way to Lenny's truck. There is an inaudible sigh of relief as we entered the car. I feel like I just finished the most grueling race of my life, and then was forced to complete a session of Z90X. My eagle shirt is soaked with blood. The blood is not coming out, but I think the red stain looks pretty cool.
Once Lenny hits the pedal, and Dom yells "Road Trip!" Lenny glances at me with hidden laughter. We had forgotten to tell Dominick where we were going. Lenny starts "Dom, we's just been stayin' in a Texaco bout thirty miles out"
"Oh yeah dude, I totally knew that. " Dom replies mildly. Lenny then flipped on his Britney Spears CD. I knew Dom wasn't going to like that. Before Dom could even speak up, I mouth "Don't even try". I had only seen Lenny get mad twice. The first time was during lunch when a kid stole his corned beef sandwich. Lenny got his sandwich back, and the kid was then fished out of the dumpster. The second time was when a teacher ridiculed Britney Spears during a history lecture. To be honest, I have no clue how the topic came up. How the heck would Britney Spears come up in a History Lecture? But I do remember having to forcefully stop Lenny from throwing his history book at the teacher. Lenny then stormed out of the class, fuming. When Lenny gets mad, it's scary.
Yeah, I've always thought it was pretty weird that he’s so into Britney Spears. But, I've kind of learned to accept it.
Dom gets the message, and before I know it I see the giant flashing T in the distance. "We're here," I tell Dom, as Dom sits up. Gas station, sweet gas station.
Lenny parks and we get out of the car. Dom takes one look at the station and says "Dude, this is your safe house? Totally bogus, dude. I expected at least a fence or something. I mean, sure you barricaded the doors and windows, but come on man." Dom comments.
Lenny hollers, "Comin' from the kid who was too darn lazy to clear the zombies right outside his house!"
Dom snaps back. "Well Dude, there were like fifty billion of them. And I didn't have to man, they were like, totally not interested in eating me." Dom jokes as he flips his hair. I glance at Lenny and we rolled our eyes.
Once we enter the station, we show Dom around. I mean, there isn’t a whole lot to show him, just the food, drink cooler, Lenny's La-Z-Boy, and the rack of T-shirts.
Dom surveys the station and says. "Shah dude, so you haven't like found any chicks or anything? Lame, I expected at least one or two. Your guys zombie fighting party sucks. Every zombie movie I ever watched had at least one hot babe in the surviving group. No fair."
"This ain't no movie Dom" Lenny replies, while I poorly concealed a bout of laughter.
The sun is about to set, which means it's time to celebrate the successful raid the best we can. I'm browsing the shelves for my favorite candy bars when Dom suddenly comes wheeling around the aisle carrying a mountain of powdered donuts. "Donut eating competition!" Dom yells. Nobody argues, so I guess it’s settled. We are starting our first night as a crew with a donut eating competition.