89.4 Zombie Radio

Jessie was texting me almost every hour. Texting was one of those things I just never saw the point in. It usually took me a good three minutes to type a word in. After a few texts asking where we were, I just decided to hand the phone to Layla and let her take care of it. If anything it would distract her from Trevor whispering sweet nothings in her ear. I still wasn't sure what it was I didn't like about Trevor. Maybe it was the way he talked, or the fact that I hated a guy in high school with the same name. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

We backtracked all the way down the road we had been traveling for roughly two days. The sun was starting to go down, and we found a little house to stop and stay the night at. Roxy and I got in through the window and made sure everything was clear. Layla gave me back my phone, which was nearly dead now. There would be no way to charge it for a while either, so I told Layla all phone responsibilities were now her's. The house wasn't very big, it was only two bedrooms, one bathroom. So the girls got the bedrooms and the rest of us piled into the living room. It was late, and everyone was pretty exhausted, so it didn't take much for everyone to fall asleep.

The next morning we searched the house for things we could use. There wasn't much, the most valuable thing I had found was an open pack of double A batteries. We didn't waste much time in leaving that morning, we knew that the situation we were walking into was not good. Layla had been keeping us updated on the situation through Jessie, and we knew we didn't have the time to mess around getting there. These people were counting on us. This morning Randle opted not to drive. He wanted to take shotgun, just in case things went to hell as soon as we pulled up. So I volunteered to drive the van, since I pretty much knew where I was going.

We were about ten minutes away and I told Layla to make the call and tell Jessie we were almost there. We needed to know what building they were in, and what floor they were on. Layla called and put Jessie on speaker.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hi Jessie!" Layla said, as enthusiastic as I'd ever heard her. "We're almost there, we just want to know what building you guys are in and what floor?"

"Also whatever other sort of intel you can give us," I added.

"Well, I don't know what building, but I'm pretty sure we're on the third floor," Jessie told us. "All I know is we're surrounded and we can't get out. So hurry up and get here because I have to pee."

"Okay Jessie, just hold it as best ya can, we're really close," I said. "I need you guys to hang something out of the window, so we know what building you're in. You're room is toward the front or back?"

"Well I'm staring at the street, so I'm guessing its in the front," she answered. "Dalton's hanging a sheet out the window, will that be okay?"

"That's more than fine Jessie," I replied. "I can see the school now, so I'm going to let you go."

"Okay, bye." she said.

"Bye Jessie!" Layla shouted. "See you in a minute!"

"Bye Layla!" Jessie replied, and then she hung up the phone. Now we needed to think up exactly how we were going to go in. I knew it was going to be impossible to think up exactly how we were going to pull this off until we got there, and seen what the situation was with our own eyes.

"Well, I've got an AK-47 and five grenades, I'm thinking that's enough to take out anything that comes our way," Randle said with confidence.

I slowed down when we got to the campus, just trying to find a sheet hanging out of one of the windows. Randle spotted it before I did and we pulled up right in the front. Everyone piled out of the van with their weapon of choice in hand, we were ready for anything at that point. Randle and I led the way, and we opened the doors. There was nothing on the first floor, but I could hear the screams and banging just a few floors up. It was only a matter of time before we ran into trouble.

"Listen, let's play it quiet until we find the main swarm," I told everyone. "Then, we'll toss some grenades and shoot the rest down." Nobody said anything, but I knew they were with me. I was getting used to this whole leader thing, even though it was a role I never asked for, or wanted. I hated telling people what to do, but in this situation, it needed to be done. We slowly made our way up the stairs, and onto the second floor. There still wasn't anything going on. No activity at all, but the noise was getting louder now, it wouldn't be too much longer before we encountered something.

I wasn't even halfway up the stairs before I seen the swarm that was guarding the room Jessie and the others were trapped in. It must have spanned throughout the entire floor of the building. Suddenly five grenades and an AK-47 wasn't seeming like nearly enough.

"So what's the plan now boss?" Randle asked. I could sense the sarcasm in his voice, he knew I didn't have a plan. It was time to improvise again, but this time nothing was coming to me. Then I thought to myself, fuck it, who needs a plan? Sometimes in life you just have to go with it and hope for the best. There was no solid plan here that was going to prevail, we just needed to start shooting and blowing shit up, and hope that we were the last ones standing in the end. It was time to rally the troops.

"Well guys, I don't really have a solid plan here," I admitted. "But I know we're going to get through this. I'm just going to make things up as I go."

"Seriously? That's the plan?" Randle asked, a little irritated.

"Hey fuck it. That type of shits worked for us so far. Let's fucking do this shit Bob!" Roxy said, taking my side. I was glad somebody was with me.

"Randle, on the count of three, I want you to toss three of those grenades into that pack," I instructed. "After that, we'll just go in guns a blazing."

"This is fucking retarded," Randle said. "We're as good as dead."

I just ignored the comment and started counting down. You'd think I'd be nervous, but these situations were getting to be so common that I was actually starting to get used to them. I felt like no matter what I did, we'd all make it out okay.

"Wait!" Layla shouted. "Make it ten!, I'm going to text Jessie real quick and tell her to get away from the doors and walls just in case."

"Good thinking!" I replied. I'm glad somebody thought of that, because that might have severely backfired on us. We might have ended up rescuing a bunch of corpses if she hadn't thought of that. I'm sure they would have been fine, but you can never be too careful. I waited until Jessie sent Layla a response, and then started my count again. Everybody seemed to stop breathing when I got to about eight. When the count reached ten, Randle pulled the pin on one of the grenades he was holding and threw it into the swarm.

"Two more! Don't stop!" I shouted at him.

"Fuck! I know that!" he yelled back at me. The first grenade went off, leaving a cloud of bloody mist behind it. Randle pulled the pin on one more and threw it in roughly the same spot. He didn't hesitate to throw the last one a little further than the one before it. They both went off not too long after, I could feel the foundation of the building shake, and my ears were ringing from the sound of the blasts.

"Charge!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, and ran up the stairs firing at anything still moving. Everyone came in right behind me, and we cleared the hall in a matter of seconds. The people with guns fired every shot they had and the people without them stayed back and got anything that was too close. It was almost too easy.

"I told you it would work," I said to Randle.

"We got lucky," he said. "You're lucky I had those fuckin' grenades, or your ass would be grass right now."

"Duly noted," I replied. I told Layla to text Jessie that it was all clear, and they could come out. She did as I told her. It took them a few minutes, ut they finally got all the stuff cleared away from the door and managed to make their way into the hallway where we were. There were six of them, just like she said, one girl and five guys, seven if you counted the dog. The girl made her way up to me.

"Thanks, I'm Jessie, I'd stick around for longer, but I really have to pee," she said. I had to laugh, hell of an introduction if I say so myself. Afterwords she rushed into the bathroom. Another guy walked up to me, this guy dressed in a police uniform.

"I'm Jack, its nice to meet you," he said.

"I'm Bob, the pleasure is all mine," I told him. "She's quite a handful, isn't she?"

He laughed before answering, "You have no idea." Roxy didn't waste time in approaching one of the people in the group.

"Brock! You motherfucker! What the fuck are you doing here?" she yelled at the stranger. it was apparent the two knew each other from somewhere.

"Oh shit! Roxy? I guess I could ask you the same thing," he told her. "Just hanging out with these crazy bastards, trying to stay alive."

"I know how that goes," Roxy replied. "Oh shit, Bob, this is Brock, Brock, Bob. Brock used to work on my bike and frequent the bar I worked at. The last I saw him, he beat the shit out of some dude who was hitting on me and got arrested. He's like my older brother I guess. He used to work for my dad."

"It's nice to meet you," I said.

"You too," he said in return. "Do you still have the bike?" he asked Roxy. She didn't say a word, she didn't have to, her face said it all. "That sucks, I know how much that bike meant to you. Its all you had left of..."

"Just shut the fuck up, I don't want to talk about it right now," Roxy snapped.

Jessie made her way out of the bathroom and I decided it was time to cut the introductions short. We would have plenty of time for introductions later, but right now we needed a plan to get out of here. That was a loud fight, and if there were any more zombies on their way, we didn't have much time.

"Okay everybody! We need to get out of here. We're going to need a vehicle to fit all of us, so I'm proposing that we take a little trip to steal another school bus," I said.

"No! I am not riding in a school bus!" Jessie shouted. "I came here in a beautiful 69 Impala and I will leave in a beautiful 69 Impala." I couldn't help but laugh, this girl was as stubborn as they come. I had to try and compromise with her somehow.

"Okay, well, I think we should all go in one vehicle. We'll use less gas, and it will take more to separate us," I tried to explain.

"No, you're an idiot. We'll be fine. I'm sorry if the van you came here in sucked, but I'm taking my car with me. Unless, you can find something better for us to ride in," she said. I had absolutely nothing in mind. What was it going to take to convince this girl? This was a hard argument, and with a girl this stubborn, I knew I wasn't going to win.

"Well, there was a concert tour happening on campus before all this happened. I know the tour buses were out behind the auditorium last time I was out that way. They were really nice buses, maybe we could take one of those," said one of the new people. Jessie got excited upon hearing the news.

"A tour bus! I've always wanted to ride in one of those!" she shouted in joy. "Thanks Dalton!"

"Will that get you over the car? I asked her.

"Yes, that would be awesome!" she answered.

"Then its settled, we need to find the keys for the tour bus and get out of here," I told everyone. "How do you suppose we find those?"

"Oh no need, I think I can get it started without them," Brock answered. "Just lead the way and I'll take care of the rest." Things were certainly looking up. I was trying to think of anything else I needed to do while I was here. Then it hit me. My CD's were about a ten minute walk away. I missed them. I missed them so much. I couldn't stand not having my music around me. It was starting to drive me insane. I knew I could probably recollect all of them eventually by looting a few record stores, but why do that when they're so close at hand? It was settled, I was going, but I didn't want anyone to know. If they found out, they'd think I was some sort of idiot lunatic. I would have to do this one alone.

"I'm going to go on a little side quest, I'll meet you all out by the buses in about forty five minutes," I informed everybody.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Roxy asked.

"Somewhere to get something, I'm going alone. Like I said, I'll meet you all down there, I promise. If I'm not back after forty five minutes, leave without me, because I'm zombie food."

"What's so important that you have to go get?" Jessie questioned.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," I replied. "Its just something I have to do."

"Whatever," she said back. "But we're seriously leaving without you if you don't come back."

"She's not kidding, I'm not waiting for you dude. You're cool as fuck, but if you don't come back, I'm going to assume you're dead," Roxy added.

"I understand completely," I told them. "I'll be fine though."

"I'm coming with you!" Layla yelled. "Don't try and talk me out of it either." I laughed, somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that was coming.

"Me too," said another voice. It was Trevor. "Fuck," I thought to myself. Not this asshole, anyone but him. I wanted to say, "No, fuck off," right then and there, but Layla looked at me with those eyes, and I couldn't say no. Damn I was too nice, and It was backfiring once again.

"Fine," I told them. "I wish you guys wouldn't, but I'm guessing there's no talking you out of it."

"Nope," Layla said. Trevor didn't say anything. I wasn't stupid, I knew why he was going. I wasn't happy with it, but then again, if the need for a human shield arose, I knew who I was using.

"Well let's do this," I said. "I'm leaving, I'll meet you guys at the bus." I started to walk away, and everyone else started following the new guy, Dalton to where the buses were.

"Forty Five minutes!" Roxy yelled. "I'm not fucking around Bob! Be there or I'm leaving!" I didn't respond verbally, I just threw a thumbs up in the air and kept walking. I was more worried about them now. Hopefully nothing happened to them on the way out to the buses. That was a loud gunfight, and I knew there were probably zombies on their way to our position right now. I figured where I was going, I'd probably miss all of them, but I knew they might not be so lucky. If I was wrong, then Layla and I would be in for some bad times. Trevor I could care less about.