Feb 3, 2011

New Zombies

Nicholai was sitting at the breakfast table when Damien said offhandedly, “I think we’ll have a co-ed contest tonight.” Nicholai felt his stomach tighten into knots.

The “contest” was how new Zombies were chosen and initiated. Normally, men were pitted against men, and women against women, but Wendy was the only woman who had not already survived the contest.

He’s doing this to punish me, thought Nicholai.

Those new to the group were rounded up and loaded into three vans. The other Zombies followed in a caravan of various vehicles ranging from vans to pickups to small sedans. They all arrived at an empty blue and white stadium, decorated with eagles, which had once been used for high school football.

The empty plastic bottles and paper cups littering the ground reminded Nicholai that things were once very different.

There were almost twenty new people, and Wendy was easy to pick out from the others. She was by far the smallest. Some of the men were easily a foot taller than her and probably twice her weight. When she turned and saw Nicholai she gave him a pleading look, but there was nothing he could do.

The rules of the contest were fairly simple. A pile of knives, baseball bats, crowbars, boards, and other simple weapons were placed in the middle of the field. Whoever was still alive at the end of the contest was allowed to become a Zombie. The contest ended when Damien said it ended, and all Zombies were required to watch. Those who refused or turned away would be punished.

Once the contest began, she managed to get her hands on a baseball bat and immediately knocked the nearest guy out cold. Wendy was fast, and she swung the bat like a champ. Also, the men seemed to ignore her at first, which she used to her advantage.

The weapons were soon covered with blood, and those still in the game had to navigate around the bodies of those who were not.

There were four left standing when the contest ended, and Wendy was one of them. Nicholai ran to her immediately. She was shaking and staring blankly ahead.

He eased the baseball bat out of her hands and led her to the bleachers where medics were waiting to tend to her injuries. She had a cut on her forehead and started holding her left arm, but otherwise seemed surprisingly intact.

All the medics all had medical training from before. The woman he brought Wendy to had been a nurse practitioner. Once Wendy was patched up, he led her to his van and drove her back to camp, instead of letter her ride with the other new Zombies.

The entire time, Wendy did not say a word, or show any indication that she recognized him. Nicholai dreaded telling her about the next steps in initiation.

1 comment:

  1. I like the idea that the girl was triumphant in the co-ed contest :-) Nice twist.

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