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When school let out early for an unexpected half-day, Craig did the only reasonable thing: rush home to drop Jessica off and head to the Creek.
Unfortunately, both pairs of house keys sat taunting the siblings through the window. As much as Jessica didn’t want to play at the Creek that day, she reluctantly followed after the promise of apple juice from Kit and a message to Bernard telling him to pick her up from the Creek as soon as he got home.
"Kelsey!" Craig called out as soon as they got to the Stump. "Are you here?"
"Craig!" Kelsey yelled from inside the Stump. "Give me one second, I'll be right up." The pully whirled as Kelsey lifted herself out of the Stump.
"Is it alright if we head to the Trading Tree real quick? I promised Jessica a treat."
"Yeah, sure! I could go for some spicy beefers anyways." Kelsay said as she jumped down.
The trading tree was bustling, kids not only hungry for snacks and sugar but also attempting to trade unwanted snacks from the lunches that they hadn't had time to eat at school. The trio squeezed their way into line, digging into their pockets for things to trade. They came up with just enough for the chips and juice (some leftover Easter candy saving the day)
"So, what are we going to do today?"
Craig thought for a moment but came up blank. "I don't know. Maybe we should wait for JP and Omar to get out of school. Bernard should have been able to pick up Jessica by then as well."
"Well, I think we should go check out those rumors about a ghost hanging around the old--" Kelsey was cut off by a commotion from the front of the line.
"I'm telling you, I don't have any electrical doo-dads. You'll have to take that up with the Junk Lord if anyone." Kit was telling off a kid. The line moved forward a bit and Wren passed them by, muttering about radio waves.
That was pretty typical for Wren. She made her way back to one of the logs and sat next to Faraday. Maya, who was sitting next to the scientists, noticed Craig and gave him a friendly wave.
The trio managed to get their snacks and return to the Stump before anything unusual happened.
"Sorry, we're late!" JP called out, jolting Craig and Kelsey to attention. "We had to walk Maney over to the library."
"You're here already?" Craig asked.
"Yeah, they got us out of school as soon as the buses finished dropping all the elementary schoolers off," Omar said.
Kelsey ran over and started talking to Omar, but Craig stayed behind a moment. He pulled out his phone and sent a message to Bernard.
"They let middle school out before you? Is something going on?"
Craig went to put his phone away when a small red notification stopped him.
Message failed to send.
Something was wrong.
"Does anyone else have reception right now?" Craig called out, interrupting the conversation in front of him.
All of the older kids pulled out their phones to check.
Nothing.
"That's weird," Omar mumbled.
"Maybe the trees are just getting in the way. We'll probably have better luck in the neighborhood, come on!" JP grabbed Omar's hand and began leading the group out of the Creek and back to civilization.
When his feet hit smooth pavement, Craig tried to send the text again. It failed.
"Somethings not right," Omar said, glancing at the surrounding houses.
"Yeah, we're supposed to be on the best data plan in the nation! I saw it on TV." Craig grumbled, nerves giving way to frustration.
"Not that. Listen. It's way too quiet."
Omar was right. There wasn't any sound, not even the birds were singing. Cars were missing from driveways and a stiff tension in the air.
Something was really wrong.
Jessica tugged at Craig's hand and motioned for him to lean down. She whispered into his ear:
"Craig, I'm scared." He was too, but he couldn't admit that to Jessica. She needed a big brother to look up to right now. He would talk about his feelings after dinner with his parents.
In the distance, a figure caught Craig's eye. It was an adult, but no one he recognized. JP, on the other hand, lit up.
"Hey, guys, that's my neighbor! Maybe she can help." JP stepped forward, cupping his hands around his mouth before shouting "Mrs. Irving! It's me, John Paul. Is something going on?"
The figure, Mrs. Irving, turned towards them and started walking closer.
"Don't worry y'all, Mrs. Irving is the best. She makes these cookies with little peanut butter and chocolate bits at the center, they're the best." JP said.
As Mrs. Irving got closer the kids, minus JP, started to back away. Something was wrong. Her breathing was heavy and shakey, with eyes clouded in a sickening yellow and jaw slack.
"Are you feeling alright?" JP asked, right before Mrs. Irving growled and lunged towards him.
The kids screamed before running back into the Creel. Mrs. Irving tried to follow but quickly tripped on a tree root and fell face-first onto the ground. Kelsey let out a battle cry and swung at her head, knocking it clean off.
The Stump Kids frantically ran back towards the Trading Tree, trying to process what had just happened. Craig was carrying Jessica as they ran, clutching her tightly to his chest. Halfway there, they could hear screams.
Arriving at the scene, Craig took it all in. All the kids from earlier were hiding behind whatever they could, some had even climbed up to the Timekeeper's platform. All except Maya and Kit, that is, each holding onto a weapon. (A baseball bat and large stick respectively) They were standing over a body missing its head. The head in question was about six feet to the left, with the same slack jaw and clouded eyes Mrs. Irving had.
Chaos unfolded soon after.
They didn't stay long.
Inside of the Stump, Craig finally lets himself loosen his hold on Jessica. The group all sat down, and for a moment all was silent.
Then, Kelsey broke it. "What- What was all of that. They looked- They looked like-"
"Zombies," Omar said, voice distant and hollow.
"But- there's no way! Zombies aren't real, they're not!" JP said. He was shaking.
"Then what was that? People don't lunge at kids like that, and heads don't fly off like that. Zombies do that."
JP and Omar continued to bicker. Kelsey slid over to sit next to Craig, who took her shaking hand and squeezed it tight.
"Craig, is this why Bernard isn't back already?" Jessica's question sent the room into a frozen silence.
"Of course not," Craig answered. "He probably just got stuck in traffic near the high school."
"How do you know that?" She whispered, hiding her face in his shirt.
"Because-" Craig paused thinking through his next words carefully. "Because I'm going to go find him."
"What?" Kelsey and JP shrieked.
"It's not like I haven't been to the high school before. I know the way and it's not even that far. It's like a five-minute car drive from there to the Stump." Craig said, fake confidence masking the tremor in his voice.
"No, I'll go look for Bernard." Omar objected. "I'm older, you should stay here."
"Do you even know the way to the high school?" Omar was silent. "Why don't we both go? Safety in numbers and all that jazz."
"No!" Jessica cried, grabbing onto Craig. "No, you can't leave. It's too dangerous!"
"We'll be okay Jessica," Craig said as he knelt down to eye level with her. "I know this place like the back of my hand. We'll take the safest and quickest route possible."
"Besides," Omar added. "I've played more zombie games than I can think of. I know how to deal with these guys."
"Really? You're just trusting that this'll be the same as in a video game?" Jessica glared.
"Well, it's worked like one so far. All we're missing is a little pop-up achievement for Kelsey's first kill."
Kelsey gave them a weak smile, barely acknowledging the mention. The normally prideful warrior was shaken to her core. No doubt there was an inner monologue of epic proportions going on inside her head.
"You'll stay here with JP and Kelsey until we get back," Craig said. "We'll only be gone an hour at the most, and we'll be back with Bernard and hopefully a plan. There were only a couple of zombies anyways, maybe we won't have too much to worry about."
"And," Omar interjected, "In case more are on their way, it's safer to do this now."
Omar and Jessica stared at each other for a few moments, locked into a silent battle of attrition. Yet for however much sense and determination Jessica had, she was still only seven.
"If you don't bring them both back, we won't give you any of the snacks."
"Deal."
After seven extremely tight hugs each (two from each person, then one last group hug) Omar and Craig left the stump. Omar immediately made a beeline for the old plastic baseball bat that Kelsey had brought for her sparing partners to use. Craig fit the Stump's lid on; tight enough to hide the others securely, but loose enough so that they could get out if need be.
"Here's the plan." Omar said." You'll navigate and tell me where to go, but I'm staying in front and dealing with any zombies. If you see one, tap my shoulder and I'll handle it." His voice was calm and collected, treating the situation like a standard fetch quest, but the tightness in his jaw and trembling hands gave him away. "Let's get going. Which way first."
"We need to head over to the Vulture's Nest first. From there we exit the Creek onto-"
"Alright, let's go."
They make it only a few minutes into the journey before Craig can't stand the silence.
"Are you doing alright?"
Omar chuckled. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
"I think I'm in shock? We learned about that in science last year. Like, I'm scared, but it doesn't feel real?"
"Yeah, this is pretty real."
A moment of silence.
"You didn't answer my question."
"I'm about as alright as anyone can be right now. I've got no clue where my family or girlfriend is or if they're safe, I just left my boyfriend hidden but defenseless, there are zombies running around everywhere, and we have no clue what's going on." Omar took a deep breath. "I'm just peachy."
"Sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"No, it's not your fault Craig. I'm not upset with you. It's just stressful." Omar gave Craig a friendly punch on the shoulder.
They kept walking in silence, but not total silence. They could hear other kids running about, scrambling to figure out plans. It was unnerving, but enough white noise to keep Craig situated.
When they finally made it out of the Creek, Craig gave the next directions.
"It's this way about six blocks," He said, pointing to the left. "Then we make a right turn and go for ten, and then we should be able to see the school."
"Alright. Let's do this."
Approximately six blocks later, they almost got run over by a car. It came flying through a sharp turn, and the kids were barely able to jump out of the way before to ground to a stop.
The window rolled down and a familiar voice called out; "Holy crap, are you two o-, Craig?"
Craig lifted his head from the ground to see green curtain bangs and dark make-up.
"Courtney?"
There was no time for the witch to answer, as her girlfriend threw open the back doors, twisting around the passenger seat to do so.
"Hurry up and get in, we've got things chasing us," Tabitha yelled.
They didn't need to be told twice. Omar and Craig scrambled into the car, slamming the door behind them. Courtney slammed her foot on the gas and they took off right as the zombies came into sight.
It was about a dozen of them, shambling forward with just enough speed to be menacing on foot, but easy to stay ahead of in a car.
"What are you two doing out here?" Tabitha asked. "I saw school buses rolling out a while ago, I thought they evacuated the schools?"
Craig shook his head. "The teachers got an email saying today was going to be an unplanned half day. We all got sent home early, but not the high schoolers. My brother hasn't come to get me and Jessica, so we're going to the high school to find him."
"Well, that's lucky. We were on our way to the high school too." Courtney said.
"Yeah, we were trying to see if any buses were still left. Evacuation or not having a school bus in the apocalypse sounds epic. Plus, schools always make good bases in the apocalypse. It's like, zombie law."
Craig saw the high school out of the window, and a single school bus driving away from it.
A moment later, a familiar car came racing down the street straight towards them.
Tabitha yelled something that they definitely could not repeat and Courtney nearly ran off the road trying to avoid a crash. The other car swerved into a yield sign. Craig yanked his seatbelt off and burst out of the car, ignoring Omar's calls for him.
The other driver was climbing out of the car, surveying the damage to his car.
"Bernard!" Craig yelled, grabbing this brother's attention. Bernard wasted no time and met Craig in the middle of the road, crouching down and pulling him into a tight hug.
"Are you alright?" Was the first thing Bernard said.
"I'm okay," Craig said, face buried in Bernard's shoulder.
Bernard pulled back from the hug while still holding onto his brother. "Where's Jessica?"
"She's in the Stump with JP and Kelsey, they're all safe. But our phones weren't working and the middle schoolers got out before you did and I was really worried and-"
"Hey, you don't have to explain yourself, alright?" Bernard looked away and Craig turned to follow his gaze. Omar and the witches were making their way over to the brothers. "Tabitha?" Bernard asked.
"Wait, you're his brother?" She asked.
"You two know each other?" Omar interjected.
"Yeah, we have AP Chemistry together. When she shows up to school, anyways."
"Did the high schools evacuate?" Courtney asked.
"Yeah." Bernard stood up. "Apparently they wanted the younger kids to be able to evacuate with their parents, so they sent them all home. You know, because all the kids have parents at home and had a way to evacuate quickly. The high schoolers were apparently easier to just evacuate on our own. Because that makes sense." Bernard was furious, it was obvious in his voice. "Either way, I knew Mom would be supervising the after-school kids today, and Dad was at work, so I convinced them to let me stay to get to you two. I had to wait for all the buses to leave though."
"Well, case closed. Glad to see you two back together, we'll be making the school into an epic zombie base now." Tabitha said.
Omar loudly cleared his throat. "Or you could give us a ride back since you made Bernard crash his car."
"Or that. We could do that."
While the group had managed to lose the zombies chasing them from earlier, there were still plenty beginning to populate the empty neighborhood. They roamed around, occasionally some tried to grab at the car, but none of them were as threatening as when they were on foot.
"These are some pretty weak zombies. They're not even smashing through windows." Omar said.
"Don't sound so disappointed," Tabitha said.
"I'm not disappointed, just sucks that we got stuck with the groan and shamble zombies. If we have to go through an apocalypse we could at least go through a cool one."
"Dude, I don't want to live through a Left 2 Die game. I'll take the less threatening zombies thank you very much." Courtney added. "The less cool they are, the less deadly." The last word hung in the air of the car. No one else had said it aloud yet, but it was true. And it was terrifying.
Out of the corner of his eye, Craig saw a zombie stumble over a lawn gnome and fall to the ground.
"The zombies seem pretty clumsy. They trip a lot. Like Mrs.- like the one from the Creek."
Omar nodded. "Yeah, she fell over almost as soon as she stepped foot in there. Maybe it has something to do with their eyes? It looks like they all have really bad cataracts but for their whole eye. Not just the middle."
Bernard snapped his fingers. "That's it!"
"What's it?"
"They can't see! Or at least, they can barely see. I was wondering why they seemed to be sticking to sidewalks and roads, but this would explain it. Those are smooth, easy to walk on, whereas the creek is probably littered with random branches or rocks."
"Congratulations, you want a medal?" Tabitha asked.
"Can you tell me what the chemical composition of hair is?"
"She didn't even teach that in class," Tabitha grumbled, slumping down in the passenger seat.
Craig led the teenagers through the Creek to the Stump. Once there, he knocked against the lid four times, spacing them out in a code only the Stump Kids knew; letting those inside know they had arrived. Then, Craig lifted the lid off and Omar lowered the chair.
Jessica came up first, a ball of anxiety who quickly threw herself into Craig's arms. Then, just as quickly, ran away from Craig and towards Bernard. Craig didn't mind, he followed right behind her.
Once secured in a hug between her brothers, she whispered "You're okay."
"Of course we are," Bernard said, voice firm and defiant. "You needed us."