Outnumbered

Please, stay out of abandoned buildings. Do not go out at night unless it is absolutely necessary. The infected are wild and dangerous. The virus is spreading rapidly. You have to be cautious-

“Turn off the bloody television, mate.”

Matt Nicholls pressed the power button on the television, making the screen go black. He looked over his shoulder to his two best friends, Oliver ‘Oli’ Sykes and Matt ‘Vegan’ Kean, who were looking at him, silently.

“Wha’?” Matt said, rubbing his neck nervously.

“Yeh know wha’.” Oli said, seriously.

“Yeh don’ think we should watch? ‘S pretty important.” Matt said, walking over to his and sitting across from them.

They were all sitting on their tour bus. That’s where they heard the news about ‘The Infected’ and the said virus causing all the chaos. The boys tried the hardest they could to get on a flight back to their home in Sheffield, England but were immediately shut down. All flights had been cancelled and airports were closed. The American government didn’t know how big the outbreak was and they wanted to do everything they could to contain it. Well, that’s what the guys of Bring Me the Horizon had been told anyway. So now, they were on their way to San Diego, California, along with everyone else from the Midwest to the west coast, hoping to get some protection.

“I think it’s mental. Bloody fuckin’ mental.” Oli mumbled, taking a sip of his beer.

“I am with yeh mate, but don’ yeh think we should watch? So we know what to do?”

“Shoot ‘em. Destroy the brain. ‘S wha’ all films say…” Vegan said, quietly.

‘With wha’? We ‘ave no weapons. Wha’ ‘appens when we stop for gas? ‘Ave yeh thought of tha’ Oli?” Matt said, staring at his friend.

“Why are yeh so calm?” Oli said.

“I don’ wan’ to die mate, and I know yeh don’ either. So we need to fuckin’ think. We ‘aven’t made it to California yet.” Matt said to his two best friends.

“Yeh’re right. I refuse to be killed by a fuckin’ zombie.” Vegan mumbled.

The three guys sat silently at the table until the silence was broken.

“Mates, yeh should come look at this.” Lee said from the front of the bus.

They made their way to the front and immediately saw the hotel and gas station coming up on the side of the road.

“We should stop guys. The bus needs gas, and the hotel may have food….or people that can help or need help.” Their bus driver, Davie, said.

“Yeh, well, it could also have zombies, mate.” Jona said from behind everyone.

“Well, there are zombies everywhere, Jona. We’re going to have to stop sooner or later. I think it’d be better of it was during the daytime, don’t you?” Davie said.

“I ‘ave the agree with Davie.” Lee said. “I don’ think it would ‘urt to stop.”

“Pull over, Davie.” Matt said, walking down the stairs and standing by the door.

He pulled into the gas station and stopped the bus. The bus was so silent you could hear a pen drop.

“Yeh see tha’ van?” Oli said, pointing to a black 12-passenger van parked in a spot in front of the hotel.

“Yeh, maybe it’s abandoned?” Jona said.

“So, are we all going in or what?” Davie asked, standing form his seat.

“I think ‘alf should go and ‘alf should stay, just incase we need to make a break for it… or someone or something comes outside.” Vegan said.

“Well, who wants to go?” Lee said.

“I’ll go.” Matt said, first.

“Meh too.” Vegan said.

The bus fell silent again as no one volunteered for the third spot.

“I’ll go.” Davie said.

“No.” Matt said, looking at the 58 year old man.

“Why? I can go.” Davie said, seriously.

“Yeh’re older Davie. Yeh should stay ‘ere.” Matt responded firmly.

“I’m fine to go.” Davie responded.

“No, Matt is right. Plus, yeh’re the only one who can drive this bus. I’ll go.” Oli said, looking at Matt.

Matt nodded and moved to open the door.

“ ’Ey guys. Keep yeh phone loud.” Jona said.

“And if any crazy shit starts I’ll honk the horn so listen for it.” Davie said.

“Be careful mates.” Lee said.

“Yeh.” Oli said, as Matt opened the bus door. Matt, Vegan and Oli stepped off and closed the door behind them.

“Alrigh’ so wha’ is our plan?” Vegan said, looking over at the building.

“I think we should check out the front desk.” Oli said.

“Yeh don’ want to split up? We could cover-“ Vegan started.

“No. We stay together. No splittin’ up.” Matt said. “Alrigh’, let’s go.”

The three guys slowly walked to the front of the building and looked inside the broken windows.

“I don’ see anyone.” Oli said.

“Let’s check it out. Maybe we can use somethin’ ‘ere.” Vegan said, walking through the open door.

They looked around the trashed room and noticed the furniture was flipped and lights were broken. There were papers scattered all over the room and the room had an odd smell.

“I’ll look in here.” Matt said, walking into the side office. He walked behind the desk and began opening drawers. When he opened up the biggest drawer, his eyes widened. Inside of it were two hand guns. He picked them and noticed ammo under it.

“Vegan! Come ‘ere mate!” Matt yelled. A few seconds later, he heard footsteps walking into the room.

“Wha’-. Oh shit.” Vegan said staring at the guns in his friend’s hand.

“ ‘S ammo and everythin’. It was in this desk.”

“Should we take ‘em?” Vegan said.

“Yeh. I don’ think anyone else is usin’ ‘em.” Matt said, handing one to Vegan along with two extra clips.

“We should go check on-“

“HOLY FUCK!”

Matt and Vegan jumped at the sound of the Oli’s panicked voice and they immediately ran out of the room to see Oli backed up against a wall holding his chest.

“ ‘S the matter mate?” Vegan said, still holding the gun in his hand.

“A zombie. ’S dead though.” Oli said, nodding towards the floor.

Matt and Vegan walked over to the counter and looked over, seeing the thing that frightened their friend.

“Fuck me…” Matt said in awe as he jumped over the counter.

“Be careful Matt. It could be alive.” Vegan said.

“Look at this massive machete lodged in its head, mate. It’s fuckin’ dead.” Matt said, chuckling and pulling out the weapon.

“The hell are yeh doin’?” Oli said, looking at Matt in disgust.

“I found two guns in tha’ office. Yeh need a weapon in case somethin’ really jumps out at yeh.” Matt said handing the machete to Oli. Oli eyed it for a second before taking it, hesitantly.

“ ‘S not gonna bite yeh Oli.” Vegan said, smirking.

“Ha. Ha.” Oli said sarcastically.

“Alrigh’, let’s get out of ‘ere.” Matt said. The guys walked out of the office and towards the bus until they heard a crash.

“Wha’ was tha’?” Oli said.

A knocking noise made the boys looked towards their bus where they saw Davie and Tom, Oli’s younger brother, frantically pointing to the end of the building. The guys looked to their right towards a diner that was connected to the hotel. They saw shadows in the building and turned to look at each other.

“We shouldn’ go in there.” Oli said.

“People could be inside.” Matt said.

“Zombies could be inside.” Oli said, seriously.

“We should check it out, mate.” Matt said as he walked towards the diner, with Vegan and Oli following. They walked hesitantly towards the diner and stopped short when they heard a whimper.

“Is tha’ a kid?” Vegan said, looking down the alley between the hotel and diner.

“I don’ know. Yeh two look in the diner. I’ll look down ‘ere.” Matt said beginning to walk down the alley.

“Yeh said no splittin’ up.” Oli spoke.

“I’ll be righ’ behind yeh in a minute. Jus’ go.” Matt said

“Be careful mate.” Vegan said.

Matt began walking down the when he heard the whimpering again. He noticed it sounded closer to so he walked to the end and peeked around the corner of the alley. His eyes widened when he saw a small boy sitting on the ground in a ball, crying. Matt moved around the corner and made his way to the child hesitantly.

“ ‘Ey there little one.” Matt said softly.

The young boy looked up at Matt with big, watery eyes and moved closer to the wall.

“ ‘S alright. I’m not gonna hurt yeh. Are yeh okay?” Matt asked, moving a little closer.

“Charlotte…” the small boy whispered.

“Wha’?” Matt said. “Wha’ did yeh say?”

“I want sissy.” The boy said, sticking his thumb in his mouth.

Matt tried to think of something to say but his attention shifted to farther down the alley where he heard a loud noise. He looked up and saw two zombies stumbling his way.

“Noo!!” The kid cried, before jumping up and running behind Matt.

Matt immediately lifted his gun and shot at one of the zombies. It merely stumbled before continuing towards him and the young boy. Panicked, Matt quickly grabbed the child in his arms and began running down the alley. As he got to the parking lot, he saw Oli and Vegan running away from a group of zombies.

“MATT! FUCKIN’ RUN!” Matt heard a voice yell.

He remembered the boy in his arms so he rushed to the bus, where he was pulled on roughly, as Oli and Vegan pushed themselves through the door. Jona closed the door, hurriedly and Davie immediately pulled away.

“Holy shit.” Vegan said, breathing heavily.

Davie pulled back onto the main road before looking at the group of boys.

“Holy shit is right.”