So I know I haven't posted anything in almost a year and promise I'll catch all y'all up on the random happening of life (if anyone even still reads this haha), but for now I HAVE to share my EPIC ZOMBIE DREAM!! I woke up and was like "holy crap that was awesome!!!" and wrote this (I know it's choppy and seems kinda pieced together, but that's because dreams tend to be like that):
The Game
The object of the game: to get from point A to point B and last through the night without being turned into or eaten by one of The Infected. The prize: a lot of money and, of course, your life.
Point A was Lee Theater, point B the Fine Arts Center. The game started at sundown. There were hidden checkpoints all over campus we had to reach before completing the game. Rumors flew about where these checkpoints were located, but none of us knew for sure. We were forced to search every inch of the college campus knowing full well what we would find in the dark. There were groups of people who decided to stick together- form teams to make the first few hours of the game easier. In my opinion, teams were pointless. There could only be one survivor. Teams would have to turn against each other in the end.
I was at the fifth checkpoint (out of seven) when I ran into some trouble. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops up to this point. I had had to rip up my sweater to cover some open wounds I had gotten (the blood attracts The Infected) and I had to weasel my way out of a few sticky situations. But checkpoint number five was a different story. The checkpoint was located in one of the glass offices on the second floor of the administration building. I could see the glow of the tablet from outside. I quickly made my way into the building through a side door. My stealth seemed unnecessary- as far as I could tell, there wasn’t a soul around.
It was nearly four a.m. and inside the building was pitch black. Luckily I found some road flares an unfortunate player was forced to leave behind at checkpoint three. I hadn’t used them yet since the light would draw too much attention, but stumbling around in the dark was never a good idea. The faster I can sign off on this checkpoint the faster I can get out in open air. I lit the flare and immediately saw three or four of The Infected lumbering towards me. They were pretty easy to dodge as long as you were out of arms reach. I ducked around a corner and up a flight of stairs. Stairs were good. They had a hard time climbing stairs.
The glow of the tablet through the glass walls made it easy to spot the checkpoint. Right in the President’s office. I slipped inside and signed my name on the tablet. Easy as pie. My suspicions rose immediately. Nothing in this game was supposed to be easy.
All my senses alert, I left the office looking for another way down to the ground floor. The Infected I spotted before would be almost up the stairs by now, blocking the way I came in. It wasn’t hard to find the main staircase leading to the lobby where the front doors would be. I crept onto the landing and peered down the stairs. Blackness. I cautiously dropped the lit road flare over the edge and immediately regretted it. The lobby was literally crawling with The Infected and I had just announced my presence. They converged onto the staircase, slowly but surely making their way toward me. I turned around and ran to the stairway that I originally came up, thinking three or four of them would be easier to get around than three or four dozen. As I got to the stairwell I lit another flare and nearly ran smack into one. There were a bit more than three or four now. The stairs were congested with The Infected. While I was occupied with signing the checkpoint they came out of hiding and blocked all the exits. Crap. Apparently, they not only eat brains, they use them too.
I dashed through the nearest door hoping it was a room with a window. I slammed the door behind me and locked it. I turned around and was immediately hit in the face by… a broom? I started to panic. How could I have missed the sign outside? The big one on the door that read “janitor’s closet”? There are no windows in the janitor’s closet. The Infected began to bang on the door, moaning and scratching, trying to get to me. I tried to psych myself up for what was about to happen. I wasn’t going down without a fight.
There’s still a chance, I kept telling myself. Still a small chance that I can fight my way through to an exit, or a window at least.
There’s still a chance. The banging and scratching was louder now. There were more of them. You couldn’t kill The Infected; they were already dead.
There’s still a chance.
All I had to do was knock a few of them over. Create a domino effect. It was difficult for them to get back up on their feet once they were down. More scratching. More banging. More moaning.
There’s still a chance.
The door was about to give in. There was no sense in prolonging the inevitable. I might be able to somehow push past them without being bitten…
Please, let there still be a chance.
The door burst open. The first one in was big. A male. He turned his glazed, dead eyes on me, squinting at the light from the sputtering flare. I kicked him, knocking him back. The plan worked! He knocked over a female behind him and blocked the doorway, giving me time to think about my next move. I could jump over the fat one and bulldoze my way into the room across the hall. It would be a good plan if the room was empty. Not likely. I dropped my flare and pressed myself against the back wall. I would need a running start. I took a few deep breaths and… something grabbed my ankle. It was the female the fat one knocked over, still trapped under his weight. Her grip was vice-like and bony. I tried to kick her off, but she held fast. With her free hand she crawled closer, her matted dark hair dragging on the carpet. She was working herself free from under the fat one. I couldn’t get her hand off of me. She dug her nails into my skin, drawing blood.
More of them were clamoring in the doorway. I had to get out, but there was no way. The female was stronger than I thought and the hallway was thick with them. The female was nearly free of the fat one, her mouth inching closer to my leg. She was going to bite me. She was going to infect me too. I kicked harder but it was no use. This is it, I thought. My last moment was spent fighting off corpses backed into a janitor’s closet. I closed my eyes, waiting for the bite. Another hand grabbed my shoulder… my shoulder?
I opened my eyes and looked up. There was someone there! A real live person reaching for me from a vent in the ceiling.
“Come on,” he said, “grab my hand!”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. I reached up and the man in the ceiling pulled at the same time the female with the death grip on my ankle went in for the kill. Her nails dug deeper into my skin, but she was slipping. She lashed out with her other hand and let out a blood-chilling scream. The man in the ceiling pulled harder and I kicked the female again. Her grip loosened just enough for me to wiggle out of her grasp. The female screeched again as the others in the doorway finally made it over the fat male, clawing to get a hold of my dangling feet. The man in the ceiling gave one last pull and I was safe. There was no way The Infected could climb up after us.
I followed the man through the vents and we eventually made it to the roof of the building. Outside, there was no sign of anyone, dead or alive. Without a word he ran to a ladder on the side of the building and climbed down to the ground. I was right behind him.
The next 30 minutes were spent in relative silence as we tried to find a safe place to rest. We found shelter, more people, and the sixth checkpoint in an empty classroom under the fine arts center. I suspected that the 20-or-so people in the room were the only ones left in the game. None of us wanted to risk going to the upper levels just yet. Chances are it was packed with The Infected. I tried to keep to myself most of the time, except to thank the man who saved me in the administration building. I didn’t want to mingle with the people I knew I would have to fight against later. But for now this place was safe and I needed to rest.
I noticed a man sitting in the corner of the room, also keeping to himself. His eyes swept over the room as if he were taking inventory of all of us. His eyes met mine and the look on his face sent a chill up my spine. I couldn’t quite tell why. His gaze was cruel and calculating. He was definitely planning something. But why would he be staring at us like livestock? He couldn’t attack us. That was against the rules. That was what The Infected did. I watched him as an old woman bent and offered him a candy bar, probably stolen from a vending machine. He gave her a twisted smile as he pulled something from his pocket. What happened next was so unexpected I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. In a flash the man jabbed something into the old woman’s side. She dropped to the floor instantly, convulsing and coughing up blood. I’ve seen something like this before. She was turning into one of them. One of The Infected.
Before everyone else in the room could make out what had just happened the man pulled what looked like gas canisters out of his coat and threw them in the middle of the crowd. They exploded and released a cloud of gas that made everyone who inhaled it collapse, just like the old lady. I quickly covered my mouth. I had to get out. Within moments everyone in the room would become infected. I looked for an exit and noticed a hallway across the room. Staying low to avoid the gas, I made my way to the hall, slipping on blood and tripping on convulsing bodies as I went.
I ran down the hall, but one glance behind me told me I wasn’t alone. The man who had infected everyone was following me. He had a smug smile on his face as he stalked toward me. I ran harder. My mind was racing. Who was this man? How did he get his hands on those gas canisters? He wasn’t one of The Infected. His eyes were too human, too alive.
Eliminating the competition, I thought.
What a friggin jerk. I turned a corner and ran smack into a locked door. Crap. It was a dead end. The man caught up to me and let out a vicious laugh. He said he didn’t mind that I had gotten away. He said he would rather be up against me in the end than some of the other heavy-hitters. He said he might even let me live for a while. Until he got bored with me. I just glared at him, not sure to believe him or not. He kicked down the door behind me and stepped aside, as if to let me pass. I looked over his shoulder into the room he just opened. I saw the glow of the tablet that marked the seventh and final checkpoint. I eyed him warily. He just smiled that smug, twisted smile.
I took a step and he lunged.
I tried to dodge the syringe, but he was quicker than I thought. I felt the needle enter my stomach, but oddly felt no pain. I could feel my insides convulsing and blood coming up my throat. I fell to my knees, suddenly weakened, the pain finally setting in, but I kept a steely gaze on the man. He stared down at me, smiling his twisted smile. I was overcome by a surge of anger and energy. I took a knife that was strapped to his leg, and slashed at him. The man laughed. But then the twisted smile faded into a look of surprise. He didn’t realize that I had cut my own arm before cutting him. My blood was in his system. He was infected too. He fell to the floor, clutching his stomach, blood spurting from his mouth.
Before I lost consciousness in a pool of my own blood, I looked the man square in the eyes and said, “See you on the dark side.”
