Title: The Survivors Club
Genre: Teen horror
Rating: R (for graphic violence, gore, language)
Story Type: Novel - complete
Word count: (chapter) 3,993 - (novel) 60,328
Summary: Five teens come together to survive when a zombie apocalypse breaks out and forces them to depend on one another. Through their travels we learn that, in extreme situations, some people become better than they thought, some become worse, and some just don't change, at all.Author's Note: This is part of a complete manuscript.
Chapter 1
“Are you crazy? You can’t go out there!”
“Somebody has to go out there! We can’t just stay in here forever!”
Lissa Grady jerked free of her best friend’s grip and stood up. She didn’t want to go out there, but somebody had to do it. If nothing else, someone had to see if it was over. If help came by and didn’t see anyone, they would keep going. There were only five of them left in the school, and they were pretty well hidden. They had to get out in the open, else they’d never be rescued.
Out in the open wasn’t the safest place to be, though. There were… things… out there, things that Lissa could easily give a name, but didn’t want to utter. To say the name would mean they were real, and those things weren’t supposed to be real. The whole situation was supposed to be a nightmare, or better yet, someone’s bad movie.
“They could still be out there!” Jessica shouted. “They could eat you!”
“Then—“ Lissa gulped hard enough that her dry throat ached. “Then, I guess I’ll just be eaten, huh?”
“Well, that’s not the way that heroes are supposed to think,” Eli grunted. Lissa tossed a glare his way. Like Eli was much of one to talk. He was huddled in the corner, his knees touching his chin and his hands shaking.
Lissa didn’t know Eli all that well. They had been in a few classes together, but they certainly weren’t friends. Eli hung out with the gamer crowd; not the ones that were cool because they had an Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3 and they could get the coolest, newest games talked about on G4 the second they came out. Eli was part of the group that swore the only good games were computer games. They were the ones with the tricked out computers lived World of Warcraft or whatever the current PC game obsession was. Lissa didn’t play video games outside of her few attempts at tennis and bowling on the Wii.
Eli was kind of short for a boy, barely pushing above five feet and six inches. His hair was currently cut short, not buzzed, but prickly on the top. A week ago, the last time she’d seen him trudge late into class, his dark brown hair had been long enough to brush his collar in the back and flutter his eyelashes in the front. He always wore band t-shirts from Hot Topic, and his ripped jeans straddled the line between cool and tacky.
Eli sat like a quiet lump, truthfully the same as everyone else, for the last two hours and now he had something to say?
“Never said I was a hero,” Lissa told him. “I’m just going out to find help.”
“It’s the zombie apocalypse,” Eli muttered, “there is no help. They’ve all been eaten because nobody believed that it would happen.”
And there was that word, the one that Lissa didn’t want to say, didn’t even want to hear. Zombies. Zombies weren’t real. They were part of pop culture, like vampires and werewolves. Zombies lived, er, un-lived in books and on movie screens. They didn’t lurch through the hallways (or run like that one) of high schools late at night eating brains (or chewing on jeweled fingers like that other one). Why did Eli have to say zombies?
With the word in the air, Lissa was afraid. What if she went out there and one was waiting for her? What if they were smart like in some of the movies and books, just waiting for the hapless girl to come stumbling out?
There was too much lore out there for Lissa to be able to guess what could happen. She liked to believe that zombies were the shambling dead, hollowed out husks that didn’t have the brain function or motor capacity to lift up their knees and run. She wanted to believe that she could leave them in her dust if she just took off running. But, what if they weren’t like that? What if they ran with the speed of gazelles and could overtake her faster than Jason Voorhees after a half-naked teenage girl at camp? What if there was a broken one on the ground that could take her by the ankles and hold her down, chomping on her legs while she screamed and cried?
Lissa shook her head. That was just—Well, she would have said it was stupid, but the whole thing was stupid. Zombies, for crying out loud! It was stupid, but that didn’t make it any less real, and since this was real, she couldn’t really rely on movies to save her skin. She just had to think of them as a wounded, rabid animal. Avoid at all costs. Run like there were wild dogs snapping at her heels. Get the hell out of dodge and to safety before they came back.
Lissa looked down at Jessica. She was tall and willowy, had the look of a model on her best days and the look of the hot girl on a TV sitcom on her worst. She was a tough chick, a brawler hidden behind smooth, creamy skin and long silky mahogany hair. Jessica had stood up to the bullies when they were little. She had gotten her ass kicked pretty good, but she didn’t back down from Donna’s mob just because she was a tiny waif and Donna was a giant wildebeest on the loose. Lissa wished that Jessica had that strength in her now. She could have used someone to stand beside her, to hold her hand when she opened that door.
She didn’t blame Jessica, though. Lissa was pretty surprised that she had the guts to go out there. Lissa was the one that ran for the teachers when Donna was punching Jessica in the gut. Lissa was the one that kept her mouth shut instead of speaking up when debates in class turned into full blown arguments. But Eli… damned Eli… His incessant whining was getting on her nerves, and she’d rather face ravenous zombies than listen to anymore of Eli’s whining. Or Tamara’s whimpering. Or Collin’s reassurances that they would be alright. At least Jessica hadn’t said anything in the last two hours. She’d only sat there, holding her friend’s hand, staring at the door.
“So, you get outside and then what?” Eli uncurled himself and, for a minute, Lissa thought that he was going to come with her, that he was going to stand up and be tough, be strong. He was just stretching his legs, though. He pushed his toes out as far as they would go, twice, and then pulled his knees back up to meet his chin. His arms went back around his legs. “We wait ten minutes, and then come after you? Not happenin’, sister.”
Lissa gave him the finger. Jessica’s laugh was so unexpected that Lissa jumped. A laugh was good to hear. Maybe if they’d sat inside and cracked jokes or something they would have had a better time of it. Instead, they listened to the slaughter on the other side of the door, and then listened to the eerie quiet when the howling and the smacking sounds stopped. The silence only bred the fear, let it fester inside of them until no one could move. If Lissa didn’t go out and do this now, then she never would; no one would ever venture past that big metal door. They would die inside, and a clean-up crew dressed in HazMat suits would find their mummified corpses whenever they got around to the school.
“I’m going,” Lissa said. She took one last look around the room. Tamara and Collin didn’t move, but she hadn’t really expected them to come after her. Tamara was a mess and Collin proved that being on the football team gave one neither brains nor balls. “Okay,” she said, taking in a deep breath of stale air, “if I don’t come back, that means I was eaten.”
Lissa turned to the door and took two steps. “Wait!” She turned around and Jessica was on her feet. “You don’t have to do this alone,” she said. “I can… I can come with you.”
“No,” Lissa said with a soft, pitying smile, “you can’t. You’re scared.”
“I am not scared,” Jessica said. It was the first real force that Lissa had heard in her voice since they got inside of the room; just another thing that made this whole moment surreal and out of place. Jessica had taken charge until they’d gotten into the room. She was the one that had pulled Lissa on when she couldn’t go any further. She was the one that said they should get to the school, and she had even taken off one of her silver high heels and thrust it straight into an attacking zombie’s eye. She had been the strong one until they had the time to sit and listen, until they had the time to sit and think and really be afraid.
“I have never been afraid of anything in my life.” Jessica thrust out her chin, much the same way she had when she knew that Donna Morley was going to strike and strike hard. “I am not afraid.”
“Yes, you are, and it’s okay. “ Lissa laughed, a short bark of a sound. “That’s what makes this whole thing so funny, in a way. For once, I’m the one that’s being tough, and you’re scared. It’s cool,” she said, “really, it is. You just stay here. I’ll try to find help. I’ll bring somebody back to help us.”
“And if you can’t find anybody? What then?”
“Then, I’ll come back anyway. I’d rather die in here with you than out there with the zombies. Believe me, Jess, I’m coming back.”
Lissa patted her best friend’s cheek, gave her a huge hug, then walked to the door. She put her hand on the knob, willing it to turn. Fear seized her, and she had to fight to push it down. She couldn’t be afraid. She couldn’t turn back. Lissa had stood up, declared herself the hero, and she had to go out there and be just that. She had to put on her big girl panties and walk right out that door.
“Lissa!” She threw her head over her shoulder and gave a weak, shaking smile to Jessica. Thank goodness it was dark in there. Maybe Jessica couldn’t see her terror. “Thanks, Lissa.”
That was all that it took. Lissa turned the door knob, pulled the door open a crack, just enough to fit her body through, and slipped outside.
Jessica and Lissa
"This isn’t going to work.” Lissa leaned to the side and looked up toward the front of the line. “That dude is huge, Jess. He’s gonna pick me up and throw me down the street when he sees this thing.”
“Calm down, huh?” Jessica rubbed her friend’s arms briskly, shoulders to wrists, then back up again. “The IDs are golden, Lissa. All we have to do is look the part, and we’re in.”
“We’re in,” Lissa groaned. “Like it’s just that easy. Ya know, sometimes, I don’t know why I let you talk me into these things.”
“Because you love me, obviously, and you know that I’ll show you a good time.” Jessica threw an arm around Lissa’s shoulder and brought her in close for a tight hug. “We’re going to have the best time!”
Lissa had been following Jessica around since Big Donna tried to yank Lissa’s blonde hair out by the roots in the sixth grade. They didn’t know each other at the time. Lissa had just moved to West Des Moines with her family and didn’t make friends easily. It wasn’t for lack of trying, though. She just didn’t fit in with the others. She was quiet, and though she wished she could be more outgoing, Lissa didn’t know how to accomplish that goal.
Jessica had come out of nowhere. She flew at Donna and connected with an elbow to the bigger girl’s head. It was a sneak attack and it served its purpose. The attack gave Jessica the chance to grab Lissa’s arm and pull her out of the circle of onlookers. The two ran straight into the safety of the school, and when school was over, Jessica promptly got a black eye before the teachers broke up the fight. Jessica and Lissa had been attached at the hip, ever since.
Through the years, Jessica had slowly pulled Lissa out of her shell. She included her in everything, and turned almost any conversation around so that Lissa bore the responsibility of keeping it alive. Lissa had friends because of Jessica. She also had a pain in the ass that wouldn’t go away.
This club was Jessica’s piece de resistance. If Lissa could make it through tonight, her goal was accomplished. Jessica feared that something would separate the two of them, college, life, whatever, and the second Lissa was on her own, she’d revert to that quiet girl that was bullied. Tonight, Jessica planned to sneak off after about half an hour in the club and leave Lissa to mingle. Jessica would be nearby, just in case she was needed, but she had a feeling that Lissa would be fine. She was going to hold her own, and Jessica didn’t need to fear that she would stumble and fall without her.
“I still don’t know,” Lissa said softly. She tried to lean out again, but Jessica jerked her back in. “Hey!”
“If you keep doing that, you’ll get yourself noticed. Just chill, it’ll be fine.”
“You talk like you’ve done this before.”
“You didn’t think I’d let us go in with these IDs blind, did you? I went with my brother last weekend, and it went smooth as hell. Flashed the ID, the bouncer looked me up and down, and then I was in.”
Lissa looked at her with downcast eyes and Jessica knew what she was thinking before she was fully able to form her pout. “I didn’t even stay that long,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure that the IDs were good. I wasn’t trying to go without you.”
Sometimes, Lissa felt pathetic, leaning on Jessica the way that she did. Some of Jessica’s strength should have rubbed off on her by now, but she rarely felt confident enough to really feel it. Jessica always shook her out of it, though, told her to stop being so silly. Friendships were built on differences, and theirs was no different. Jessica wasn’t going to abandon her just because she couldn’t handle a big crowd. In fact, that was exactly why Jessica wouldn’t abandon her.
The line moved and the girls moved with it. All around them, people were talking about any and everything. Someone mentioned that there were a ton of hot guys in line that didn’t have girls with them. Someone else said that the bouncer was a hardass, and that person was told to shut up; he only thought that because he was the idiot that got himself tossed out of the club for being an asshole. There was talk about the weather, how the night was getting cold, and a jacket would be nice. There was talk about the music being so loud they could hear it outside every time the doors were opened.
And then, there was no talk at all as the doors came flying open. Someone screamed, and that scream was contagious. A high-pitched scream sailed through the air, and the girls had only a moment to realize it was the big bouncer at front that was screeching in fear before they saw it. As Jessica and Lissa huddled against each other, holding tight to ensure that they didn’t lose one another in the stampede of freaked out people, they watched a girl in a black mini skirt and glitter-covered halter type ride the bouncer to the ground and tear out his throat. The girl’s teeth sank into his neck as the bouncer writhed on the ground. He grabbed her arms to push her off, and when she went flying back, she had the skin and meat of his throat in her teeth.
Between the blurs of running bodies, Jessica and Lissa watched as the girl used her French manicure to shove the bits of flesh into her mouth. The screaming and heavy footfalls of the runners covered the smacking sounds as the meat was pushed down the girl’s gullet, but Lissa’s imagination let her hear it. The sound was like someone smacking on a wad of gum. Blood and spittle flew out of the girl’s mouth as she ate greedily, and Lissa felt her stomach lurch. She jerked away from Jessica quickly and turned to the side. The dinner that Lissa’s mother had forced the girls to eat before going out came back up and roared onto the pavement. A few kernels of corn were still whole.
A loud roar tore through the night and Jessica’s head whipped around. There were more of them, now, standing at the entrance of the club. They rose their heads in unison and shouted, a hungry, animalistic shriek cutting through the noise of panic.
Their heads fell down.
Their mouths shut and then stretched into a grimace.
They took off running in all directions.
Jessica grabbed Lissa by the arm before she even had time to wipe the spittle and remnants of vomit from her chin. “Let’s go!”
Lissa stumbled on wobbly heels as Jessica pulled her through the crowd. People ran in all directions in a swirling mess of panic and insanity. The screams were deafening and Lissa put her free hand up to her head, only managing to half-muffle the sounds. And, God, the sounds got horrible.
Jessica came to a skidding halt and Lissa fell down hard, pulling Jessica with her. Just a few feet in front of them, in the only path that would have been completely clear for them to get a straight shot to anywhere, two people had been tackled. Police officers were straddling two men on the ground. The officers’ faces were coated with blood and bits of flesh hung from their chins. They must have felt Lissa staring at them because their heads turned.
The sounds of the panicked masses cut off abruptly, and the only thing Lissa could hear was the sound of blood falling down the gullets of the deranged policemen. The one on the right was thick, whether from fat or muscle, Lissa couldn’t tell. His uniform stretched across his torso and when he arched his back, lifting his bloody face to the sky, two buttons popped on his shirt. A chunk of meat in his mouth slithered down his throat and Lissa would swear that she could hear the slick sounds as it slid down.
The other one was thin, rail thin, and his uniform hung off of him. His eyes were black and dead. His skin was gray, and his veins were green worms bursting to break free of his skin. He had a sharp nose and thin lips. Lissa thought she recognized him. He looked like the cop that had pulled her mother over for speeding through Radar Heights. He had let her go with a warning. As he pushed the body he’d been eating away and went to hands and knees, Lissa didn’t think that she would get that same reprieve.
“Stop gawking, let’s go!” Lissa looked up and Jessica was already on her feet. The sounds around her came back to life as Jessica jerked her up. “We have to go, now!”
“Where are we going!”
“The school’s closest.” Jessica’s words were heavy, falling on hard breaths as she cut them through the crowd. “Maybe we can find out what’s going on.”
“Looks like the world’s endin’ to me,” Lissa muttered. “So much for 2012.”
The balls of Lissa’s feet burned as they ran through the streets, weaving and bobbing through the melee. She really wished she had worn her ballet flats. They didn’t go with the dress, though, and Lissa thought the heels would make her look the twenty-two years that her fake ID put on her. And thinking of the dress, she would have preferred jeans, too. Her legs were scraped from her fall to the ground, and the night air was cold.
They ran for so many blocks that Lissa lost count, and she only realized where she was when she saw the school. Had they really run more than a mile? “Jessie, wait!” Lissa pulled her arm away and stopped. The second she stopped moving, her lungs and legs both reminded her that, though she may have been a size 8, she sure didn’t get that way by working out. Her calves throbbed, pumped, felt like they were going to burst out of her legs. Her lungs burned and the fire grew hotter with each breath that she took.
Lissa bent over, hands on her knees. Jessica tugged on her elbow, but Lissa pulled away. “I can’t,” she wheezed. “I… I can’t breathe. I’m tired. I…”
“You’ll be dead if you don’t come on. Those things are out here, and they sure ain’t gonna stop comin’ just ‘cause you’re tired.”
“Those…” Lissa looked up with wide eyes. Sweat made her hair cling to face in thin strands. She pushed off of her knees and forced herself to stand. She was weak and tired and she just wanted to curl up in her bed and go to sleep. Yeah, like that was gonna happen. “What are those things!”
“I don’t kn—“ She stopped, and Lissa knew why. Jessica knew, sure as Lissa knew. She just wasn’t going to say it, and neither was Lissa. They weren’t going to say it, because damn it, those things weren’t real!
“Jessica—“
“Oh, shit!” Jessica grabbed her arm and practically threw Lissa behind her. She kept her arms out, protecting her, and only when she looked around her shoulder, pushed her eyes past Jessica’s chestnut hair, did she see what she was being protected from.
One of those things limped toward them. Its jeans were torn, and the flesh of the right leg was gone and Lissa could see straight to the bone that glistened with blood in the moonlight. One eye was missing, and three fingers from the right hand. The neck was just a bloody mess. Lissa screamed, because, well, what else was she supposed to do?
Jessica didn’t scream. She muttered a few choice curse words, but she didn’t scream. Jessica kicked off her right heel and scooped it up in her hand, the heel jutting out. Lissa looked around them, and there was only the one, thank God, but that one was bad enough. Jessica didn’t look around at all. She just muttered a few more curse words, then ran forward.
“Jessie, no!”
Jessica screamed with rage as she brought the shoe forward. Her heel dove into the thing’s good eye and it screamed so loud, so fierce that pieces of its mangled throat shook. Jessica didn’t let that stop her, though. She pushed as hard as she could, until that thing went to the ground with her on top of it. She yanked the shoe out of the eye only to drive it in two more times. The thing’s legs twitched beneath her, its hands batting at her, but she held on. Jessica held on until that thing was perfectly still.
Jessica jumped up and kicked off her other shoe. She didn’t even give Lissa time to tell her how awesome that was, how totally badass that moment had been. Jessica grabbed Lissa’s arm and said, “Let’s get to the school. Now!” And then, they were off and running, again.
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