Burner and I gathered all of our group members into the cafeteria and told them of our plans which we swiftly put together.
There were roughly twenty people of all different ages and genders. Amongst them, I spotted the blonde-haired girl once again, who sat with a solemn expression on her face.
I need to talk to her again and figure out why she believes that my brother killed hers...
"So," Burner started, as he stood before the group with a confident air to him. Only I knew that he was far from it. "Here's what me and my brother Frost plan to do."
The plan was relatively simple.
Jake would open one of the barricaded windows on the left side of the southern building and slam pots and pans together, drawing the zombies to the left side of the field with sound.
Afterwards, me and Burner would exit through a door on the right side. With the distraction, we should have a clear line towards the northern building. If we ran into any zombies that refused to be drawn towards the sound, then we would either dodge past them or kill them.
Once inside the northern building, we would hurry over to the cafeteria and fill our bags with as much food as we could before eventually returning.
It was a good plan, but it still left many dangers.
For example, we didn't know how many zombies were in the northern building.
The field was only full of zombies because there was a Saturday school on the day of the outbreak. During their free time, they often played in the field.
Those that were unable to escape were turned...
Outside of that, there were still many other risks, but we had to accept that some would be impossible to avoid in a world like this.
We had to have faith in ourselves and our abilities to do what was necessary.
We had to trust our new bodies.
"And if we don't come back..." Burner said softly, after explaining the plan. "Then—"
"We will come back."
The entire room looked at me as I cut my brother off. I wasn't going to allow those words to be spoken.
"And when we do, we'll have two backpacks full of food."
I spotted many hopeful faces staring at me. It felt strange to be relied on.
Me and Burner stared at each other and nodded our heads resolutely.
"We're gonna make it." He said.
I agreed.
———
After eating a light meal, me and Burner made our way to the right side of our building. Burner slowly worked at removing the barricades that he had placed on the door with nervous sweat beading down his face.
Before we went outside, there was something I needed to make sure that he understood.
"These... zombies. They aren't all the same."
Burner pulled the barricade free, leaving only one chair leg through the handles. He would remove that when we heard the pans clanking, which would be our sign to start running.
"I know. The Croucher outside that you dealt with was clearly different from others. The fucker was creepy."
He didn't have to tell me that twice. I knew first-hand.
"We have to assume that they can get even creepier. Even stronger... We know nothing about this virus, or what it can do, but assuming the worst could save our lives."
Burner shivered at the thought of a beast creepier than the Croucher, but still nodded his head in agreement.
"After this, we should try to get our hands on a radio, or even better, a live broadcast. If Queen Maria lives, she must have some idea as to what's going on. Or at least a plan."
I struggled to have as much faith as he had.
The fact that even two weeks into the outbreak, no military support had been sent to our town was a good enough reason to assume it had spread to all corners of our country, Varia.
The monarchy must have been too focused on the survival of the major cities to worry about any of the small towns.
I didn't mention it then, but our next plan should have really been to evacuate Lenton, and head to Sun City. The capital of our country, and home to the Queen's parliament.
There would be time later to express those ideas.
For now, I had to focus on the current mission, as it was about to start.
CLANK CLANK CLANK
CLANK CLANK CLANK
CLANK CLANK CLANK
The sounds of pots and pans crashing together sounded from the far side of the building.
Jake had started off our mission, and it was time for us to finish it.
Burner gripped tightly around his shotgun and I clenched my fists around my brass knuckles. In my left hand, I held onto my fully loaded pistol.
Without a second wasted, my brother removed the last wooden barricade and kicked the door open.
The fresh air of the daytime flesh against my face, followed by the pungent smell of rotting flesh.
"AUGHHH."
Ten... Twenty... Thirty....
There must have been at least fifty zombies in the field, much more than we could ever imagine dealing with.
Luckily for us, our plan was working. They were heading towards the sound of Jake crashing the pans together.
Only a few refused to be drawn, standing between us and the large northern building ahead of us.
"Right through them!" Burner shouted. "We push right through!"
BOOM
The sound of a shotgun blasted through the air, as Burner removed the head of a zombie in front of him.
I cursed as I sprinted to catch up with him. "Are you fucking stupid? The sound!"
BOOM
He shot again, and I watched as a zombie's head exploded into a mist of blood. Burner didn't even acknowledge me, as he continued to sprint, firing bullet after bullet towards zombies that weren't even standing in his way.
I turned my head to the left and spotted the zombies in the field. Many were still heading towards Jake, but others...
"The fucking gunshots, Burner. They're attracting the—"
BOOM
Another shotgun blast.
A zombie began to close in on me from the side. My frustration and fear was making my heart race. My skin began to itch, and my head was sweating.
Its pale arms reached for me as its rotten mouth hung open. It wore the old uniform of Chestnut, meaning it was a student.
I didn't care. I clapped it on the head with the butt of my pistol, followed by a right punch, sending it falling to the ground with bits of its fragile skull missing.
I reached the northern building without having to fight any others. Not because of luck, but rather because my brother had cleared them all out haphazardily.
Jake continued to slam the pans together, drawing as many towards his side as he could. As he noticed Burner's foolishness, he banged them together harder.
I think I even spotted others joining him.
Without them, all fifty of the zombies would have been drawn towards us.
Burner was climbing through a window, and I finally caught up to him. Before I entered, I grabbed hold of his shoulder.
"Are you insane?" I growled, spinning him around to face me. "You could've—"
My words were cut off as I caught sight of my brother's face.
His skin had begun to turn pale, and blue veins had started to budge through the skin of his face. His eyes had gone dark, and he glared at me with a menacing look, as though I were prey.
Something was wrong with my Brother.
He no longer looked human.