Day 33 Finding Freya

Freya didn’t live that far away but, when you’re on foot and dodging packs of infected it seemed like a world away. She shared a house off campus with some college friends. It took us almost five days to get to there, and we were very close. Somehow, it was like we were always just ahead of some massive horde of infected. But, there were so many packs everywhere who knew where one ended and another began. We hid, and we ran, we hid, and we ran some more. The road leading to my sister’s community was filled with infected. There was no way in from this side. However, if we enter the high school and make it to the adjacent middle school we could jump the gate and enter the community that way, that was our only option.

We entered the High school through the open fence of the baseball field. In the distance, we could see many infected, so we had to cut through the high school to avoid them. We proceeded quietly and carefully. The hallways were empty and littered with trash and blood splatter. As we walked through the halls, a loose pile of newspapers exploded at our feet. We were both startled when a cat that was hidden underneath took off as we walked too close. It rattled cans and made other noises as it dashed down the hall and around the corner out of sight. Shortly, after that we heard the first low moan, then another, and a few more. We picked up the pace leaving the moans behind us and followed the exit signs out. As we turned the corner to head toward the main exit, we found a large group of infected blocking the exit. They saw us as well and started moving at us. Our retreat was cut off by the group that was following us all the way here. In a last minute effort to escape, we pushed open a set of double doors into the gym. There were infected all over the bloody floor of the basketball court that turned towards us as soon as we entered. We ran under the bleachers that extended out to get past them all and make it to the emergency exit on the other side of the gym. We felt the thunderous stampede as many climbed the bleachers over our heads while much more chased and stumbled right behind us. As we exited the bleachers, Russel saw a large red switch on the wall near the exit. He shouted “Keep going; I’ll be right there” as I ran to the exit. I pushed on the horizontal bar to open the door and held it turning back towards Russel. He held down the large switch that started closing the bleachers. The metal bars and crossbeams under the bleachers started crushing and smashing the massive group chasing us stopping them cold. As Russel turned to run back to me, I can see a huge smile on his face. That was the last thing I saw as ten to twelve bodies came crashing down on top of him as the infected on top of the bleachers just ran off like lemmings. He was instantly buried under them as more stumbled around. I tried to scream but couldn’t. I tried to look for him, but all I could hear was his cries of agony as they tore into him. With his last breath, I heard “Go, Runnnn!” as an infected grabbed my left arm. It was bringing its head down with a wide open mouth as I brought my right hand up to press the front of my gun right up to the front of its head. I turned my head as I pulled the trigger. The grip on my arm released as the explosion of my round removed the back of its skull. I left the high school and headed toward the middle school.

Unlike the high school, the middle school was much cleaner and mostly untouched. It seemed like only the high school was being used as a shelter. However, there were a few roaming outside as I crossed the middle school field toward the back gate. I had nearly a dozen start to follow me as I reached the gate. I quickly climbed over and landed on the ground as they slammed up against gate causing me to stumble back and on my ass. I picked myself up and ran into my sister’s community.

I heard noises all around me as soon as I arrived. The infected from the school brought attention to infected in the streets causing a chain reaction. I ran along the backyards and made my way to Freya’s house, but there was a massive horde of infected on the way. I tapped the barred windows and doors hoping someone was inside. I was frantic and loosing hope as I got no answer. Suddenly, a corner of the curtain pulled back, and I saw my sister held up inside with a few friends. It took some time, but they knocked down the barricade to let me in. They were out of food and low on water. They asked about rescue, police, and the military. I told them nothing was coming except thousands of infected. I helped them gather their things, and we evacuated just in time. We left the community through the south side as much of the horde moved in and swarmed my sister’s block. I found Freya and three of her friends: Alex, Kathy, and Michelle. We were a small group of five, with one gun between us, traveling together trying to survive. We were in for some hard times if we didn’t have a plan or find somewhere to survive.

Missing pages…