I fall hard onto the porch, landing on my back and groaning in pain. When I open my eyes, I see Hardin fighting off the zombies at the window.
He turns to face me. "Are you okay?"
The gigantic footballer zombie grabs Hardin from behind. He elbows it in the jaw, knocking him back, but he reaches for him again. I swing my leg, sweeping Hardin off his feet and out of the zombie's reach just in time.
Hardin falls to the floor with a loud thud, his face contorted in pain.
I sit up, rubbing my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
He rolls onto his back and winces. "Ow, my freaking back!"
I flip my legs into the air and jump to my feet. "Quick, get up."
I reach down and grab his wrist, pulling him up. An ear-piercing screech rings out from the yard, and I look up to see dozens of zombies coming towards us. A greying old zombie in a torn dress comes towards me, her evil eyes sending a chill down my spine.
I stick my sword upwards into her open mouth and it cuts straight through, protruding from her skull.
Hardin and I run around the side of house to the front yard, only to be greeted by even more zombies. Hardin takes my hand and pulls me back inside the house and up the stairs. We jump over newly devoured corpses in the hall and run into his bedroom to hide. Hardin turns the lock behind us while I tip over a large bookshelf and we slide it in front of the door.
The door shakes under the force of someone, or something, banging on it repeatedly. We wait for a minute or two, and it stops. And then I let Hardin have it, shoving him forcefully. "Why the hell did you pull me out the god damn window?"
He takes a step back, rubbing his chest where I pushed him. "You were trapped. I was trying to help."
I roll my eyes. "I didn't need your help. I was about to jump out myself, and I wouldn't have almost broken my back doing it."
He glares at me. "Fine, then. Sorry for saving your life."
"You didn't save my life because it didn't need saving. Especially not by you."
He clutches a hand to his heart, pretending I've wounded him, and I can't help but laugh.
I sit down in front of the bookshelf, placing my sword in front of me on the floor. "I hope Steph and Molly make it out alive."
He walks over and sits next to me, resting his arms on his knees. "They'll be fine. I've seen them take on more zombies than that and survive. I'm more worried about where all those creepers came from. Two surprise attacks like that in one week is bad, really bad. Either the military has made some colossal errors, or there are just too many zombies to fight off outside the borders. Or both."
He leans against the bookcase but flinches when his back touches the shelf.
"You okay?" I ask.
He nods, adjusting his position on the floor. "Yeah, just bruised from the fall. You've got a mean scissor kick." I wait for him to add 'for a girl' at the end of his sentence like I've heard so many people do before, but he doesn't. I'm pleasantly surprised.
I smirk. "Sorry for saving your life."
He narrows his eyes at me. "I could have taken that jock zombie."
"Doubt it," I say. "Did you see the size of him? The only thing taking him down is the army."
He laughs and rests his head on the bookshelf. "I can't believe zombies crashed our party. And just when it was getting interesting." I give him a confused look, then remember what was happening when the horde attacked: we were about to kiss. He shoots me a sideways glance and I look away, clearing my throat awkwardly.
I lean forward and pick up a book lying open on the ground from when I tipped the shelf over, straightening the pages. "Sorry about your books."
"It's okay. They're still readable. And it's not the first time I've used this bookcase as a blockade."
The adrenaline from the fight is starting to fade, and I stifle a yawn.
Hardin notices and gestures to his bed. "You can sleep if you want. I'll keep watch until the military arrives."
I shake my head. "I'm good."
We stay quiet for a while, listening to the eerie silence. I can only imagine what's waiting to greet us downstairs.
The quiet moment is interrupted by sirens, then gunshots. Lots and lots of gunshots. We jump to our feet and push the bookcase away from the door, then both pick up our swords.
Hardin takes hold of the doorknob, but pauses to look at me. "You ready for this?"
I nod. "Let's go."
He swings the door open and three zombies run in. He forces his sword into the skull of the first one, getting it right between the eyes. Blood spatters all over him but it doesn't slow him down. He takes the next one while I get the third, slicing the top of its scalp off, painting the wall with its brains. We're about to leave the room when four more come storming in, knocking Hardin to the floor. Two of them launch on him, and he kicks one away while holding the blade of his sword against the neck of the other, pushing it through its decaying flesh with both hands. One runs for me with hungry eyes, a rattling sound coming from its throat. I swipe at it with my katana but lose my balance and slip on the pile of books behind me, falling onto my side. The force of my tumble sends my sword flying from my hand and pain burns through my ribs.
I roll onto my back in time to grab the zombie by the neck, holding it at arm's length. Drool drips from its blue lips and onto my shirt as it snaps its jaw at me. I reach my other hand out and grab the closest thing I can find, a hardcover of Pride and Prejudice, and smash it into the zombie's head again and again. By the time I'm done, the book cover is stained with blood and scratched by bone.
Hardin kills the last zombie with the swing of his sword, then holds a hand out for me. I stand up, still holding the bloodied book, and he eyes it disapprovingly.
I shrug my shoulders and smile. "It's still readable." I drop it back onto the pile of books, pick up my sword and we step into the hallway.
The gunfire has died down and I hope it means the threat is gone. We creep down the stairs, cringing at every creak of the floorboards.
"Freeze!" a dark figure appears at the bottom of the stairs and I'm blinded by the bright light on his gun. Hardin and I hold our hands in the air, but don't drop our swords.
"We're not infected!" I shout, squinting at him through the light.
He lowers his weapon and waves us down. "Get outside. Is anyone else up there?"
Hardin shakes his head. "No one who's still alive."
We run down the stairs and out the front door, greeted by countless armored trucks, police cars, ambulances and people all over the street.
Paramedics pull a stretcher past us, and I recognize the person lying on it. I put a hand on Hardin's arm and he follows my gaze.
"Nate?" he says, chasing the stretcher and running alongside it. "Are you okay, mate?"
Nate gives him a thumbs up and a weak smile. "I tried, man. There were just too many." Hardin pushes his hands through his long hair as he watches his wounded friend get lifted into an ambulance.
"Tessa!" a voice calls, and I turn to see Steph and Molly sitting on a nearby brick fence. A paramedic is bandaging Molly's shoulder, but other than that they both look unharmed, and I let out a relieved sigh. I run over to them, sliding my sword back in its holster. "You guys okay?"
They nod.
"Fine," Steph says. "You?"
"I'm okay. Molly, what happened?"
She looks down at her shoulder. "This? No worse than a paper cut. I'll be fine."
I take in a deep breath before I ask my next question. "Any casualties?" My heart deflates when they avoid my gaze. "Who? Zed?"
Molly nods and puts an arm around Steph. "And Tristan."
"No." I step forward and put a hand on Steph's leg as a tear rolls down her cheek.
I blink back my own tears and look away, only to see Hardin standing in the street watching us. By the heartbroken look on his face, I can tell he knows about Tristan.
I clench my jaw as anger washes over me. "I hate zombies."
Three Days Later...
Molly and I stand on either side of Steph, our arms around her while we watch the remains of Tristan, Zed and almost fifty of our classmates burn. These bonfires are always hard, but this one is particularly painful.
All anyone in this town has done for the last week is cry or clean, sometimes both at the same time. Everything is returning to normal, all that's left is to dispose of the corpses. The bonfire for the zombie remains will happen later in the night once everyone leaves the fieldââwe don't mourn monsters.
I feel a hand take mine and glance up to see Hardin standing next to me. He keeps his gaze straight ahead, the flames reflecting in his green eyes. Nate appears next to him, his arm in a sling and stitches in his cheek. Hardin puts his arm around Nate's shoulder and pulls him in close. I didn't know Tristan or Zed long, but it was long enough to know they meant a lot to these people, so I squeeze Hardin's hand and hold it tight until the fire turns the flesh to ash.
By the time we leave, the flames have died down and most of the town has gone home. Steph doesn't want to fall asleep yet, so we all go back to our dorm room, turn on some music and talk for hours.
I wake up sitting on the floor against Steph's bed, with Molly asleep on one shoulder and Steph on the other. Hardin is sprawled out on my bed and Nate is huddled on the floor like a puppy. I slide out from under my friends and stand up, careful not to wake anyone. The sky outside the window is a soft purple, the smoke from the bonfire still rising in the distance. I check my clock to see it's almost five, and decide to take a shower before anyone else in the dorms gets up.
The hot water runs over my shoulders but it's not enough to soothe my sore muscles. I hear the door to the bathroom open and slam shut. A long groan echoes off the tiled walls and I freeze, all my senses on high alert. I turn off the shower and wrap my towel around me, listening, hoping I'm imagining things. I take my katana off the hook on the back of the shower door and slowly slide it out of its sheath.
Footsteps creep closer, and a shadow moves underneath my stall door. I hold my sword in front of me with both hands and call out in my strongest voice, "Who's there?"
The footsteps quieten and the shadow stops just outside my door. I grit my teeth. "I said who the hell is there?"
"Tessa?" the voice says back.
I shake my head and let my sword hang by my side. "Hardin?" I unlock my door and pull it open to see him standing there with his hair flattened on one side of his head from sleeping on it. He presses his palms into his eyes and lets out a long, loud yawn.
I take in a deep breath. "Jesus, you scared the crap out of me. I thought you were a zombie."
He chuckles. "It's just me." He drops his hands from his face and his eyes go wide when he sees I'm only wearing a towel.
I swing the door shut and hurriedly start getting dressed. "What are you doing up at this hour, anyway?" Hardin and the other boys from his frat house have been staying in the dorms since the attack. No one has been allowed off campus all week, and everyone is starting to feel cramped.
"What time is it?" he asks as he shuffles over to the sinks.
"Just after five. Usually I'm the only one up this early."
He's quiet for a moment. "I couldn't sleep."
I sling the strap of my sword over my shoulder and walk out of the stall. Hardin is leaning over the sink, splashing water on his face. I notice a small tattoo on his wrist, and when I get closer I see it's an infinity symbol with two hearts inside the loops.
"Why do you get up so early?" he asks, turning the water off and resting his hands on the sink.
I shrug. "Sometimes to study, other times to train with my sword." He watches me in the reflection and I notice his face looks pale. "Are you okay?"
He glances at himself in the mirror and turns around to face me, running a hand over his face. "I'm fine. Just tired. I hate sleeping in these dorms."
I use my towel to dry my hair and laugh. "Hey, at least once lockdown ends you can go back to the frat house. I'm stuck here."
He shoves his hands in his pockets and eyes my sword. "Do you need a training partner?"
I think about it for a moment before answering. "Sure."
He smiles. "I'll get my sword."