She had told him about her situation and he had explained to her that sometimes people grow apart and that there was really nothing you could do about that. It was a part of life that was difficult. Of course, he had followed his explanation with the required speech about how she would have other friends but that she would always treasure those memories of when she was younger. It was then that she decided that, in no uncertain terms, growing up could really suck. “Maybe that’s what keeps me from having new friends here,” she thought.
“Everyone here must be happy to be older, wiser and on their own. I still want to be a Toys-‘R-Us kid.”
“I miss being at home,” she said, laughing at herself a bit. “I know that sounds ridiculous. After all, you’re supposed to have more freedom at college and more fun.”
“Here? At Mountain Valley?” Ewen asked.
“Yeah. Where was that in the brochure?”
“Right after the part about no televisions,” he said.
Jennifer laughed, her smile lighting up her face.
“You have a pretty smile,” he said, admiring her.
Suddenly he realized that what he had just said was kind of abrupt.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I probably shouldn’t have said that right then.”
“Don’t apologize,” she said, continuing to smile. “It’s perfectly fine. Besides, it doesn’t give me that awkward, first date kind of moment where one of us is wondering what the other is really thinking.”
“Well, I have a knack for saying things when I should probably keep my mouth shut. My timing’s a little off,” he said, embarrassed.
“I doubt that,” she said, squeezing his hand a little.
“Tell that to the people in my classes.” he said, He looking doubtful.
They approached a sign for the restrooms and Ewen stopped.
“I’ll be back in a second, okay?” he said.
“Sure.”
Jennifer looked around and saw a Spencer’s Gifts shop.
“I’ll be right next door,” she said.
“Cool. I’ll meet you there,” he said, walking off and disappearing through a set of metal, double doors.
As he entered the corridor that led to the restrooms something strange washed over him. He could hear his footsteps echoing down the hall and he concentrated on the floor for a moment. At first it was just a game, trying nonchalantly not to step on the cracks of the tiles, and then he realized what it was that felt so strange about this place. He stopped, looking down the corridor as chills spread out across his arms and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. This is my dream, he thought. And as it came to him so did the sound of something thick and wet rolling along the floor just beyond the corner that led to the restrooms. He found himself unable to move, just like in his dream, and then the slow, dragging footsteps began.
Jennifer found herself walking down one of the aisles that held the Halloween masks. The faces of demons with big horns and sharp teeth as well as funny rubber molds of several presidents stared back at her, hanging from the wall. She started to wish she had chosen another store to venture into while she waited for Ewen. The masks all looked so real. Sure, they were rubber but some of them didn’t look so fake. How could anyone wear one of these? she thought.
What made it worse was, for some reason that was unclear, no one was manning the register in the store. Anyone could walk in, break the drawer open and steal all of the money. No one would even be here to call the cops. Except for her, of course. But she wasn’t sure she wanted that terrifying responsibility.
She finally reached the end of the aisle and began walking along the back of the store. She passed a life-sized butler with a few wisps of gray hair and a crooked, evil smile on his face. He was holding a silver platter out, as if waiting to serve her. She stopped, staring at it for a moment. It’s eyes glistened in the light and looked incredibly life-like. The more she looked at it, the more she wanted to run so she kept walking and scanning the aisles.
Suddenly, something moved. She saw it out of the corner of her eye and turned, quickly. The butler stared back at her, still holding the platter and still grinning wickedly. She watched it, swearing that it had moved. After a few moments she shrugged. I’m losing my mind, she thought. She turned around to continue walking along the aisle and came face to face with a young man. She screamed out, backing up a little, and then realized the young man was wearing a name tag and a vest that had Spencer’s embroidered on it. She calmed down a little and smiled, nervously.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I guess this place has me a little on edge.”
She forced a small laugh and then her eyes fell upon the blood flowing from the young man’s neck. The young man’s jaw dropped open and he let out an unearthly hissing sound as he lunged for Jennifer. She screamed again, this time at the top of her lungs. She turned and started to run out of the store but the young man reached out for her, grabbing one of her ankles as he fell to the floor. Jennifer fell with him, landing on the palms of her hands, as if doing a push-up. Instantly she felt shooting pains through her wrists as they wobbled, threatening to give. She kicked at the young man, struggling to get away from his grip. Finally, after several tries, she landed a kick to the young man’s forehead. It pushed him backward and she quickly got to her feet and ran out of the store.
Ewen stood in the corridor, watching as the pool of blood began to slide around the corner and spread up against the wall. The thick, slow footsteps became louder, getting closer to him until, finally, he saw the creature turning down the hall and coming toward him. Suddenly, he found himself able to move again. He turned, running for the metal doors that lead back into the mall. Just as he reached out, placing his hands on them, an opposing force pushed them open and sent him to the tiled floor.
A crowd of The Dead pushed the metal doors open, snarling and reaching out for him. He quickly looked back and saw the creature much closer now. Jennifer’s out there, he thought. Oh, God. Please keep her safe. He got to his feet and did the only thing he could do: run. He ran as fast as he could, charging at the crowd by the metal doors. He hit them, ducking his head as if using it for a battering ram. He could feel their cold, muddy hands clawing at his back and trying to grab him. Through some miracle he broke through them and found himself almost colliding with Jennifer in the mall. She looked to him as though she had been running as well. Her cheeks were a little red and she was trying to catch her breath.
“Run!” he yelled at her.
They both took off through the mall as fast as they could. Jennifer couldn’t be sure but it now seemed to her that the people they had seen when they had first entered the mall weren’t really people at all. Every one of them seemed to be after them, no longer content with walking the mall. After a few minutes some of The Dead began to fall back, leaving the rest to continue after them. They weren’t as fast as Jennifer had thought and as she looked back she saw that she and Ewen had at least an eight-store radius on them now. They reached the end of the mall and disappeared inside a department store.
CHAPTER 14
On better days the courtyard had been the place for students to hang out or study in between going to their classes. Now, in the pale moonlight, it was completely desolate. The fountain was still running, giving off some semblance of life, and the speakers were still playing music from the campus radio station’s satellite feed. The voices of worship seemed to be whispering through the courtyard as the wind rustled a row of nearby bushes.
Robert emerged from the woods and made his way along the side of one of the academic buildings. He stopped at the corner, scanning the area and watching for any movement. After a few moments he decided to venture into the courtyard, the sounds of the waterfall and the music getting louder the closer he came. When he reached the darkened, glass doors that led inside of the radio station he reached down to open them but they wouldn’t budge. Suddenly, he heard what he thought were footsteps. He turned around, scanning the area again
for movement. Nothing. He looked back at the entrance to the radio station in frustration. He turned to his left and saw another set of doors, these leading into one of the academic wings. He hesitated at first and then sprung into action, running to them and heading inside.
Robert entered one of the hallways to the English building, the glass door behind him closing shut. He turned back to it and examined the lock. It was a glass door, so even if he locked it he knew it would still be possible to get inside. Finally, he decided he didn’t really care at this point and flipped the lock anyway. Maybe it will buy me some time, he thought.
He made his way down the hallway, just as carefully as he had into the courtyard. His eyes were wide open, focusing on every small detail that surrounded him. The carpet was a stale green, speckled with maroon, and as each of his shoes landed on it he could tell that it had been laid down without even so much as an ounce of padding. It was carpet on concrete, most definitely. Cork board hung from the walls with announcements, grade sheets and classifieds for roommates or “for sale” items pin cushioned into it.
The hallway branched off to the right, sharply, and Robert followed along—but not before running to the other end of the hall he was on and locking the adjacent doors. As he walked through the smaller hall he found it dumping him out into an indoor study area. On the walls were plaques with names all over them and various dates. They must be graduates, he thought, examining a few of them. A fountain, much like the one outside, flowed, and the sounds of the water falling echoed through the study area.
Resisting an urge to call out for someone, just to know for sure whether anyone normal was still inside the building, he continued through the study area to another hall. Immediately to his right he saw a gold placard on the wall. It read, “WCLR: Campus Radio Station.” Robert saw the door next to it and immediately reached for the doorknob, expecting it to be locked. To his surprise the door opened fast, revealing the body of Terry Lubscomb—the snotty senior he met before—laying on the floor of the radio station.
Robert jumped back, startled. His book bag slid off of his shoulder and onto the hallway floor as he watched the flies lighting off of Terry’s corpse. A sudden wave of nausea hit him and he covered his mouth, trying to keep it inside. The sounds of the flies somehow became louder to him, making him unable to control his stomach from churning. He turned and vomited into the hallway and as he did another corpse appeared in the doorway to the radio station—only this one was moving toward him.
It reached out, grabbing Robert by the shoulders. Robert screamed out in pain, the creature’s grip tightening on him. He twisted his body, breaking free, and took off running back the way he came. He ducked behind the water fountain, out of breath and holding one of his shoulders. Suddenly, he heard the corpse growling and moaning. It entered the study area, searching for him. Robert crept slowly around the fountain, watching the corpse as It moved on to the other hallway. As soon as It did Robert ran back toward the radio station. The corpse saw him and ran after him with surprising speed. Robert reached the doorway and slammed the door shut just as the corpse appeared in front of it.
Robert twisted the lock as the thing began to pound on the door from the other side, shaking the frame. He looked around the station entryway, searching for something to use as a barricade. His eyes immediately caught a glimpse of a podium sitting off to the side near the glass doors. He ran over to it, lifting it up as the adrenaline surged through him, and shoved it against the door. After a few minutes the pounding stopped. It seemed quite abrupt and Robert remained still, listening carefully for several minutes more just to be sure the creature was gone.
The sound of the flies flittering and lighting off of Terry Lubscomb’s dead body hit him again, along with the beginning stages of decay. This time he managed to suppress his nausea, even though he knew he was going to have to do something about the body.
Ewen and Jennifer, out of breath and looking extremely paranoid, made their way through the department store. They were now entering the Men’s Clothing section on their way through the Jewelry department.
“What’s going on, Ewen?” she asked him, knowing he knew as much about it as she did.
“I don’t know, but we’ve got to find a clear way out of here,” he said, scanning the perimeter.
Ewen had a firm grip on Jennifer’s hand and was leading her along with him as he searched, frantically.
“There’s got to be an exit door somewhere,” he said. “I should’ve known there’d be a reason to go to the mall more often.”
Suddenly Ewen stopped, forcing Jennifer into an abrupt halt as well. She looked at him, beginning to get scared again.
“What?” she asked, nervously.
He turned to her, a strange look on his face. It didn’t look like fear to her. It looked more like a sort of crazy excitement. To put it plainly, it looked as though Ewen had just had a brilliant idea. Given their current situation, that scared her.
“What if those things are outside?” he asked.
Jennifer recoiled instantly, not wanting to think about that at the moment.
“Come on,” he said, leading her deeper into the store.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Sporting Goods.”
CHAPTER 15
Hordes of flashing blue lights descended upon Mountain Valley University. The police cruisers, sirens wailing, entered through the gate checkpoint without regard to the two security guards, Danny and Boyd, who sat in the small booth watching them race past them. A strobe of blue light filled the campus as the police rushed to the scene, finding themselves unable to get too close to the Romero Center.
The first cruiser pulled in as close as it could and a middle-aged officer threw open his driver’s side door and immediately aimed his pistol at one of the creatures from atop the roof of the car. The creature had one of the students, a blonde-haired girl, by the shoulders. Her screams were so loud and high-pitched that the officer almost shuddered. He had never heard anything like that before, especially not in Mountain Valley. Although he seemed to be doing a bang up job at acting as though this was a typical situation—to keep his nerves in check and take the right precautions—he had absolutely no idea what was happening.
“Let the girl go!” the officer yelled, trying to make himself audible over the young girl’s screams.
There was no reaction from either the attacker or the young girl. The attacker was a tall, bearded man with a husky build. He was wearing filthy overalls and his bare feet were covered in mud and appeared to be bleeding. As the officer readjusted his aim he noticed that the blood on the creature’s feet was not his own. The creature had bitten the young girl. The officer fired the pistol, sending the creature to the pavement. The young girl’s screaming now turned into a sort of hybrid somewhere between weeping and agony as she held the palm of her hand to her open wound. She stumbled and eventually collapsed, only feet from the creature who was lying on the ground staring strangely at the officer. Slowly, and with purpose, the creature got to It’s feet and snarled at the officer, drool mixed with blood running out of the corner of It’s mouth.
It’s still alive, the officer thought. That can’t be. I shot it straight on.
The creature reached out for the officer, heading toward the police cruiser. The officer aimed again and fired, landing the slug right into the creature’s chest. Once again the creature fell, only this time It managed to get to It’s feet even quicker. As It began to reach out for the officer once more he fired the pistol again and again, emptying the entire chamber into It. Still, the creature got back on It’s feet, riddled with bullet holes, and pursued the officer.
The officer pulled the trigger and heard an empty click as he watched the creature come toward him, smart enough to make Its way around the front of the vehicle. The officer struggled to reload and as he did the creature grabbed hold of him, baring Its teeth and hissing. The officer screamed out, stumbling backward, and then raised the pis
tol in the air. With one fell swoop he brought the butt of the gun down onto the creature’s head. The creature collapsed to the ground, stunned. Finally realizing Its weakness he aimed the newly loaded pistol at the creature’s skull.
The front of the Romero Center was filled with corpses, both moving and lifeless. Gunfire filled the air as the police officers took aim, trying to free the students that were still outside from the grip of these rotting creatures. A few of the officers tried to free them by hand, getting bit in the process, while others simply wasted all of their ammo and were attacked. Mountain Valley’s finest were no match for the creatures and eventually they had devoured their way through the officers and returned their efforts to getting inside of the Romero Center.
News Report Broadcast from WHRH - NBC Affiliate 15 miles outside of Mountain Valley:
Breaking news tonight outside of Mountain Valley where students at the university are reportedly being attacked by unknown assailants. They are reportedly unarmed but are considering extremely dangerous. So far the authorities have not been able to contain the attacks as reports from just outside of the university have more assailants—