The Saga Of Tom Stinson (Book 1): Summer School Zombocalypse (11 page)

Five blocks down the street, Tom slammed on the brakes, and the police cruiser skidded to a stop on the wet pavement. There were hundreds of zombies crowded together, blocking their path to the school. The sight gave Tom the shivers. He put the car into reverse to try another way, but stopped when he saw that the zombies weren’t attacking. “What the hell?” he muttered.

The twins pounded on the back of Tom’s seat. “Drive. Get out of here!”

“
No wait, watch,” Tom said, “Left, right, right left, shuffle shuffle, turn and groan. They aren’t interested in us.”

Anidea pressed on the dash with one hand and the ceiling with the other, pushing herself deep into the seat. “Why aren’t they attacking?”

“
Where are they going?” Winston asked.

“
We can turn around and get out of town, right?” Anidea said.

“
The’re between us and the school,” Tom shifted the patrol car into drive and floored it. “We have to get through them to get there, hold on.”

Anidea grabbed Tom by the arm and shook him, “What are you doing? Don’t run them over.”

Batting her away Tom said, “They’re not people anymore. They would harm us without even a thought. Like your grandpa.”

The zombies gave bloody kisses to the police cruiser as they were bounced aside and run over. The windshield cracked and almost caved in from one that jumped up just before Tom hit it.

“
This is unimaginably the most horrible grossest thing ever,” Anidea tore at her face.

The twins shouted. “Get that one and that one.”

“
They’re having fun.” The side view mirror smashed off.

Anidea thrashed about then lunged over the cruisers work station at Tom. She grabbed the steering wheel and cranked it hand over hand. The cruiser swerved to the right. “You can’t do this. Something’s going to go wrong, something bad.”

“
That something is you. Let go.”

The nose of the cruiser steered into the thick of the crowd, and Tom fought her to regain control, but couldn’t manage both. It was no use, he let go of the steering wheel to pry her hands off.

The mass of zombies acted like a net, snaring the police cruiser. The engine raced, and the cruiser slowed to a stop, the wheels spun. Zombies piled onto the cruiser, and they were immersed it in a sea of bodies.

Tom pushed Anidea back as the roof dented in. “This is your fault.”

Metal snapped as the sirens were pulled free from their mountings. Anidea’s face went blank. The windows cracked. She rasped and pulled at the door handle. “We’re going to be eaten, run!”

The weight of the zombies made it impossible for her to open the door. She tried to roll down the window.

Tom grappled to gain control her arms. “The door opens out. It’s blocked.”

Winston reached through the cruiser’s partition window, grabbed Anidea by the back of her shirt and pulled. She flailed like a cat getting a bath. He held her tightly. Tom latched onto her arms and pulled her to him over the computer. He locked her head in his arms and floored the cruiser’s accelerator. “Stop it!”

Windows broke. Arms came through. It was Emmett’s turn to scream.

Winston fired. Tom cranked the wheel with one hand, left and right. The tires spun. The cruiser inched forward and pushed into daylight.

Two blocks away Tom stopped the cruiser and turned to her. “Get out.”

Anidea’s curls were puffed out like a clown’s wig and her face was red and twisted. “I’m sorry.” she said.

“
Get out,” Tom ordered.

“
Don’t make me go,” she pleaded.

“
You almost killed us.”

“
I can’t keep going on like this.”

“
Then get out. You want to get out of town. Now is your chance.”

“
You can’t leave me here, Tom Stinson. I’m sorry.”

“
Tom, we can’t leave her,” Winston interrupted.

“
We can’t take her,” Tom replied. “Not if she’s going to freak out like this. She’ll get us all killed. The plan is to find my dad. He’ll get us out of town.”

“
I’m right here. You can’t leave me.”

“
I can and will if you don’t get it together. This is your last chance.”

“
Would you really leave her like Jerrell?” Winston asked.

Emmett picked beads of broken glass out of his hair and clothes. “Leave her.”

“
She’s leaving,” Tom said. “She thinks my dad is dead. That’s why she keeps trying to get us to leave town.”

“
Everyone else is dead,” Anidea said.

“
Tom, don’t,” Winston urged. “If you leave her, it will be just like leaving Jerrell, and what I said is true. You would leave any of us behind just to get to your  dad. You only care about yourself.”

Tom drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and stared out the cruisers cracked window. He bit at his lip and shook his head.
Could he leave her?

Anidea watched Tom and pressed her body tightly against the door. “Alright, I do want to leave town, but if you leave me here I will die.”

“
We have to work together,” Tom stuck his finger in Anidea’s face. “You can’t freak out any more. Not once.”

“
I promise.”

“
Get out, and get in the back.”

Five blocks passed in silence before Anidea screamed and pointed out of the cruiser’s broken window up into the sky. “OMG, above the trees!”

Tom closed his eyes and let the cruiser roll to a stop. “You’re a life sucking force, Anidea,” He leaned over and pushed opened her door. “I told you, no more freaking out. Get out.”

“
Beams,” she cried. “They’re shooting above the trees.”

Emmett leaned forward in his seat. “I don’t see anything. We should eject her.”

“
What? No. There’s lights in the sky.”

“
Tom said no more freaking out.”

“
I don’t see anything either.” Winston said.

“
Get out, Anidea,” Tom said. “I gave you a chance. Go find a house and hide.”

“
But. . .”

“
Go!”

“
There,” Emmett pointed, “the beams are pulsing in short bursts up into the sky.”

Anidea sat upright in her seat. “See? I’m not freaking out.”

“
You’re lucky,” Emmett said.

Tom hunched forward, through the steering wheel the lights pulse across the sky. “Alright, stay.”

“
Isn’t that the direction of the school?” Winston asked.

Tom turned the corner. “It’s only a few more blocks to the school.”

Half a block away Tom slowed the cruiser. “The school’s gone.”

“
Whoa! That’s big,” Winston gaped.

Anidea stuck her head out the window. “I’m going to be sick.”

“
That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” Emmett said. “A giant metallic oval crushed the school. And listen. It sounds like a construction site, the way it’s rumbling.”

“
That shouldn’t be there,” Anidea said, “That’s where the school should be. We can’t go there; as usual, your plan sucks, Tom.”

Seeing it up close, Winston said, “I definitely think Jerrell was right about the aliens.”

“
B-but, that can’t be real,” Anidea stammered in disbelief.

“
This is a nightmare.”

“
My dad’s truck!” Tom shouted, forgetting about the space ship. He accelerated and raced to it. The truck was parked on the street next to the U-Mart.

He flung the cruiser’s door open and tripped as he got out, scraping his knees and elbows on the pavement. He sprung to his feet and ran to the truck. He pressed his face against the driver’s side window hoping to see his dad. His hung his head down.

Anidea and the twins got out of the patrol car and stood next to Tom. They stared at the spaceship.

Tom climbed up into the bed of his dad’s truck and looked up and down the street. “Dad! Dad!” he called. Then Tom saw the windshield cover was duct taped to the hood. Written on it in big black letters was a message. It read;

“
Tom, I have gone inside the ship for you. If you see this, go home. Get safe. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He jumped down from the truck. “I knew he was alive. We have to find him.”

“
What?” Anidea said.

Tom went to the patrol car and grabbed his pack, then started for the spaceship. “My dad came here and went in there to get me. We aren’t safe out here, and I need to find him.”

“
G-go in there?” Winston asked.

Anidea stepped in front of Tom, stopping him from going towards the spaceship. “Your dad wouldn’t go in there. That would be crazy. We don’t even know what that is.”

“
You don’t know my dad,” Tom said.

Anidea stepped closer to Tom. She waved her hands at him frantically. “First there are zombies and now a spaceship. I can’t believe it. There’s no such thing as aliens. Space is so big, and we’re too far away for anyone to come here, even if they did exist.”

Tom turned and faced everyone, “It’s a spaceship, it has to be. And they’re not zombies. The only logical conclusion is that they are people who are infected with something and are controlled by the aliens.”

Balling her hands into fists Anidea hit Tom on the chest. “I hate you Tom Stinson. This is unbelievably crazy. We need to run away as far as we can.”

Tom grabbed her by the wrists to stop her from hitting him again. She struggled to get away, so he held her even tighter. She kicked at him and stomped at his feet to make him let go. He turned her around and held her from behind with her arms crossed. After a few bursts of struggle she calmed. Relaxing his grip, he turned her back around to face him and stared into her eyes.

“
You're right, Anidea. I do have to try and make sense of this. But I don't have to tell you every little thought I have. Do you know how wrong the principal was? He thought it was terrorists and maybe in a sense he was right, but this is more like an old movie. Yes, that’s it! A movie where a virus infects the world and turns people into zombies. Some people survive. They may suffer personal conflicts and face other hardships, but against all odds they somehow make it through. End of story.”

He indicated the spaceship on top of the school. “Simple movie stuff, but our story has a twist.”

Tom let go of Anidea and walked past her, pointing toward the ship.

“
You can’t go in there,” she said.

“
It’s the last place they’ll think to look for us.”

“
What? Who, the aliens? We can’t go in there,” Anidea said, her voice winding up into panic again.

“
Don’t you understand the plan?” he stopped and turned. "Let me explain. We’re kids, and our parents hardly notice us when they are busy. So, if the aliens have kids maybe they are the same way and won’t notice us if we try to get in the ship. We can sneak in there and slip around unnoticed.”

“
You’re crazy,” Anidea said. “Just how do you plan on getting in there? Just walk in?”

Tom checked to see where the zombies were. “I think we have about two minutes before the zombies are here. We’ve avoided them before, and all we had to do was to stay out of reach. By staying one step ahead of them we will be safe.”

Silently he studied the spaceship, lost in thought.

Taking a gentler approach Anidea took Tom by the hand to get his attention and whispered into his ear, “We have to leave now.”

“
He’s serious,” Emmett said. “I know what he’s thinking.”

Anidea whispered to him again. When he didn’t respond she jerked his arm. “Are you even listening? Never mind, I’ll tell you. We have no idea how to get in there, so we better hide until we figure something out.”

“
May I remind you,” Winston said urgently, “that there are a lot of zombies right over there, coming our way.”

“
Okay, we’ll go hide,” Tom said, as he studied the spaceship.

“
Good. You’re coming to your senses,” Anidea said.

Tom walked toward the spaceship. “This way.”

“
We’re going closer?” Anidea screeched. “We should hide in the U-Mart.”

Bad memories returned. The store was left like a refrigerator with its door left wide after the zombies had torn the building apart. Tom and the twins shook their heads.

“
Okay, you go hide in there,” Tom said. “Good luck.”

Across the schoolyard, emergency vehicles were upended and twisted in a maze of destruction. Staying low and out of sight they sneaked towards the spaceship with Tom in the lead. They passed pieces of what Tom recognized as parts of the crashed airplane.

“
Great, this is exactly where we started from," Emmett said.

“
Tell me about it.” Winston opened a power drink.

Next to the spaceship, the air smelled sickeningly sweet like melted ice cream and locker room sweat, causing them to hold their noses and breathe through his mouths. Tom reached out and touched the spaceship. His fingertips tingled as he ran them across the gray metal.

In a nasal voice Anidea said, “Okay genius, so how do we get in there? Ring the doorbell?”

Winston raised his gun and piped up, “Shoot at it, that’ll get their attention.”

Panicking, Emmett pushed Winston’s arm down so he pointed the gun towards the ground, “No. Remember the helicopters? Do you want to be a dead commando?”

Tom spoke, “I have a good idea. We need to find the entrance.”

They spread out to the left and the right of the spaceship, keeping each other in sight. Winston found a hand hold in the side of the ship and climbed a few feet up. “I see something.” He pointed out over the playground and climbed down. “What a strange plant, purple and fringed like a turkey tail.”

Emmett ran towards it but stopped short. “Hey, it’s moving. What kind of plant moves?”

Anidea’s nose wrinkled, “It’s moving away on tentacles like it knows we are talking about it. I hope it’s not hungry. You better stay away from it, Winston.”

“
Forget the plant, here’s our plan,” Tom said, “We’re going to get in the ship, find my dad and get out.”

Dismayed, Emmett said. “We’re kids, not commandos.”

“
We can wipe them out, we have guns,” Winston smiled.

“
Did they leave the door open for us, unguarded?” Anidea asked. “What about the aliens, aren’t they on the attack? How will we get out once we are in? Especially because we don’t even know our way around in there. These aren’t hard questions, but someone has to ask them.”

“
Aliens torture and experiment on humans,” Winston pointed out to Tom. “It’s in all of the movies. Haven’t you seen?”

“
Seriously?” Anidea said with her lips twitching into a snarl.

“
Do you have to be so dumb? Everyone knows that.”

“
I’m not afraid of that,” Tom said, “You watch my back. I’ll watch yours.”

“
You’re going to trust us?” Emmett asked.

Winston climbed on top of a crushed police cruiser, “I don’t see anything that could be a hatch. It’s smooth all over the space ship.”

Anidea put her hands on her hips. “Hey, where’d that plant go?”

“
There it goes.” Winston pointed.

“
We might as well follow it,” Anidea said.

“
Why would we do that?” Tom asked.

“
You did say alien parents. Maybe that’s the alien’s pet. I think we should follow it and go in through its pet door.”

“
That’s not a bad idea, maybe you haven’t gone totally insane,” Tom said.

“
Our only idea,” Emmett said.

Winston jumped down from the police cruiser and motioned for them to follow, “Keep quiet, we don’t want to scare it.”

The rumble of construction became louder as they followed the plant around the spaceship. It disappeared behind a crushed fire engine.

Using the fire engine as cover, they peered around it to see where the purple plant had gone. They saw where all the zombies were going; they were moving in a long line that headed into a huge loading bay on the side of the space ship. They were being herded.

Anidea started to run away. Tom and the twins had to subdue her to stop her from giving them away. She screamed behind Tom’s hand over her mouth, struggling until her nose ran and she drooled. She shrank back into the wheel-less well of the fire engine, muttering, “Those can’t be real.”

“
What are they?” Emmett said, fascinated.

“
Aliens,” Tom whispered.

Their skin was striped green and red and they were wearing ornate body armor. Decidedly reptilian, they held long spears that had round balls on the end. When thrust at the zombies they emitted a green disk of light. It crackled and buzzed and smoke rose from the zombies when it hit. It must be some kind of force shield that helped to push the zombies along. It looked like cattle being herded.

“
Whoa,” Winston said in a hushed voice. “Not aliens. Lizardmen.”

Anidea muttered, sounding more confused than ever, “Alien lizard people, herding zombies?”

Tom corrected her. “People, but for your simplicity, zombies.”

The initial shock of the aliens subsided and Anidea replied in a shaky voice. “Well, okay. Not zombies, people that have been changed. I still don’t see how we’re ever going to get in there.”

Tom pointed toward the entrance and said sternly, “That’s a door they’re going through, Anidea.”

“
OMG! There is a way in! Don’t you want to re-think the plan? The note said for you to go home and wait. You have to change your mind.”

The sky above the ship was tinted green. “I don’t want to be out here at night. I think we only have an hour of daylight left,” Tom said.

Returning to herself Anidea said, “That’s cute, crazy, and stupid, Tom. Not wanting to be caught in the dark is your way of saying that we are going to break into an alien spaceship to rescue your dad because you are scared of being out here.”