A Rational Zombie

Chapter 7

I had a nightmareas usual. Its always the same one, repeating every night since the day the world was flipped on its head and the outbreak occurred. In this nightmare, my mother comes into my room while Im reading with blood dripping down her chin. When I look up, her empty eyes always make my blood run cold, goosebumps rising on my skin. Behind her, my father lies facedown in the hallway, soaked in a pool of blood. The door to my sisters room opens, and she lets out a scream. Im frozen in fear, unable to do anything as my mother gets closer and closer. And just as she bites down on my neck, I regain my senses and shriek. The vision goes away and everything turns black.

Thats when I find myself sitting in my bed or, in this case, the bundle of blankets on the floor that I call my bed. But normally, after I stop screaming, theres only silence. Sometimes, a roommate will wake up and reach for one of the bats resting against the wall, but other than that, theres normally only silence. But not this time.

Up! Everybody up! Theres over a dozen infected fucks outside!

Thats James. He was on watch tonight, keeping an eye out on the little chair above the RV that we call the crows nest. If hes shouting, that means the infected have already noticed us and its too late to avoid drawing their attention.

Chris, its your turn to bat.

A wooden bat was shoved towards my face. It has nails hammered into it like how delinquents used to do it back in the 80s. Its not very helpful for killing infected since all it does is scatter their blood around, but its great for deterring other humans. No one wants to be hit by an infected bat. I grabbed the handle and rose to my feet. Thanks.

Jen nodded at me, and I adjusted my eyepatch. I closed my other eye and waited. A moment later, my vision turned red as a light shone on my face.

Ready?

Ready. The light was pointed away from my face, and I opened my eye. We all wear eyepatches at night. It was Jens idea, inspired by some pirate movie. Fighting in the dark is dumb but being blind after losing your light can kill you. The eyepatch prevents that; something builds up in our eyes to help us see in the dark, but it goes away after being exposed to light. Id search it up on the internet to find the specifics, but the World Wide Web went down two weeks after the outbreak. My sister would know how it works, but shes dead. Anyways, if we need to see in the dark, the eyepatch saves our vision in one eye. All we have to do is flip it up.

Jen shone the light around the room before shining it onto the door. As the one with the bat, it was up to me to approach it. I tapped on it and waited. I didnt have to wait very long.

Clear! Get your asses out here! Hurry!

I opened the door, and Jen adjusted the light, raising her hand over my head so it shone over me. Loo and Joe were waiting by the open door, a bat in Loos hands and a flashlight in Joes. Swinging a bat while holding a flashlight is a lot harder than it sounds. If you keep the light fixed on your target, then you arent twisting your body enough to swing the bat with full force. If you swing with full force, then your light goes off target and that brief moment of not knowing whether you killed the infected or not can cost you your life. Zooey actually died that way, tragic, really. So, learning from her mistake, we work in pairs: a batter and a spotter.

An infected stumbled through the open door, and Loo swung his bat, striking its head and killing it instantly. The idea behind the open door is similar to how the Spartans held off the Persians in that famous battle that everyone has heard about but cant name (its the Battle of Thermopylae by the way), holding off a large number by guarding a chokepoint. If the door remained shut, the infected would spread out and surround us. If they cant get in, that isnt a problem, but when morning comes, who knows, one of the infected may have fallen and gotten stuck under the RV. Then, when one of us steps outside, itll bite us. That happened to Wilson, Zooeys boyfriend. An unlucky couple they were. But its not like we keep the door wide open; we have a tripwire set up that works surprisingly well.

An infected tripped, and its head fell right into my striking range. I swung my bat before it could lift its head. I hate looking into their eyes before killing them, so if I have the chance to kill them beforehand, Ill take it. There was another wet smacking sound, and an infected tumbled backwards out of the RV. Loo spat onto the wall and adjusted his grip on his bat. Apparently, he used to play baseball for a living. I dont believe him, but you dont call out someone who has an infected bat. If he told me he raced snails and won millions of dollars, Id ask him to teach me how to find the best snails.

Loo swung his bat again, but the infected he hit didnt die. Two more infected pushed it from behind, and it tripped over the wire. I finished it off while Loo struck the infected trying to come in. Were lucky the entrance is so narrow. It almost feels like were cheating with how easy it is to fend off a herd.

James! Joe shouted. How many are left?

A shit-ton! Keep swinging! Why the hell are there so many of these fucks?

Arguably, James is in the safest spot even though hes exposed to the elements. The infected dont know how to climb. I dont think they can swim either. They can only walk, claw, and bite. They cant even run. Well, to be fair, if humans werent smart and didnt develop tools, we wouldnt have been on the top of the food chain. Lions would slaughter us and zebras would kick us to death. The only advantage the infected have over us is their ability to stay up without sleepand the fact that they can infect us.

Ah! Fuck! What was that!?

James? What happened? Joe shouted. You alright up there?

Am I alright? Of course, Im alright. Its just that something hit my head. The hell was it? Its wet.

Owl poop maybe? Well, James should be fine. I have to focus on killing these infected. Just because only one can come in at a time doesnt mean I can take it easy. If Loo doesnt kill them in one hit, I have to make sure they die. Even if he does kill them in one hit, it doesnt hurt to doublecheck. Lily died when an infected that we thought was dead bit her.

Hey, guys. Theres something weird, Joe said.

Shut up and keep the light steady, Loo said. He grunted and swung his bat, decapitating an infected that had an apparently very weak neck.

No, Im serious. Its weird, Joe said. He was staring out the window of the RV. Theres an infected standing over there.

Theres infected everywhere, you dumbfuck, Loo said and spat again while adjusting his grip.

No, no, this ones different, Joe said and shuddered, the light on the door trembling. Its just standing there. Its staring right at me. Its creeping me the fuck out.