Day 18: Deadly Secret

“Liz, hand me that shovel,” Fadil groaned as he struggled to keep the doors shut. She rushed over to the wall and snatched the gardening tool from the rack. Fadil shoved it between the handles of the door and quickly backed away. “We have three maybe four minutes tops before whatever’s out there gets inside. Look for something, anything that can be used to fight them off.”

“What about the riding mower?” Liz suggested. Fadil took a look at the gas gauge and sighed.

“Low fuel.” His eyes zoned in on the tool bench in the corner. Fadil shuffled several large tools around the drawers looking for anything he could use as a weapon. “Hand me that leaf blower.” Liz did as told and watched Fadil go to work. Using a set of plastic zip ties, he applied a propane torch to the front of the blower and inverted the tank.

“How do you know how to do this?”

“YouTube,” he replied and stepped in front of the door. “Alright, when I say go, open the doors and be prepared to move.” Fadil cranked the engine on the blower and nodded to Liz. The doors swung open and a large football player greeted the two with loud, crazed snarls and an opened mouth teeming with maggots and blood.

Fadil aimed the torch for the zombies head and watched him shriek and fall back. He and Liz quickly moved out of the shed and Fadil lunged forward, igniting another part of the zombie’s body. The fire consumed him fast. His body fell to the ground. Skin melted from his rotting bones and his screams resonated through the courtyard. Fadil looked up to see two more running in their direction. “Liz, you might want to move it,” he warned and rushed after her. 

“Reggie!” she yelled as she sprinted for the door. “Reggie open up!” She saw him peer through the window and felt her heart pound harder. Something was wrong. “Open the door!” she shouted again. Still he refused. Confused, Liz turned back to Fadil, her eyes opened wider and a scream caught in her throat as he hurried her way. “Fadil, watch out!” Liz screamed. He turned in time to see another zombie football player headed his way.

The zombie tackled him to the ground and Liz rushed towards him. Grabbing control of the leaf blower, she lit the player up. His back exploded in a bright burst of flames and Fadil managed to kick him away. Liz squeezed the trigger again and sparks flew towards the next two zombies. A large fireball erupted on top of them and their visceral screaming blared though Fadil’s eardrums as he got to his feet. “Come on, keep moving them,” he said as he ran to the door. “Open up, Reggie.” 

Reggie watched and waited until the last zombie fell to the ground in a molten ball of heat before he unlocked the back door and let the two inside. “What the hell was that?” Liz shouted, pushing her finger into Reggie’s chest and backing him into a counter.

“I had to be sure they didn’t get in with you! What did you expect me to do? Let them all inside? The point is to keep them out there and us safe in here!” he groaned in return. “Is everyone ok?” Reggie asked taking the two in. Johnathan had gone to work boarding up the exit and window.

“Yeah,” Fadil exhaled loudly. “I’m—we’re fine. But man that was a close one.”

“You’re bleeding,” Liz said, pointing to Fadil’s arm.

“Oh, yeah, I scraped it when I fell. Stings a little but it’s fine,” he smiled and moved over to Johnathan to help nail up slats of wood.

“Ok. So what’s next?” Liz asked, handing Reggie a box of nails.

“Now we keep our heads down and pray we get through this in one piece,” Johnathan replied.

“Doesn’t the National Guard handle these kinds of situations? Do you suppose someone’s contacted them somehow?”

“Daddy,” Nina called as she moved out of the employee’s lounge. “I think you should see this.”

Johnathan, Reggie and Liz moved back inside the room and looked at the monitors. There on the screen in vivid color was a huge beast. Unlike the other zombies they’d encountered, this creature was deformed, monstrous and heading right for the restaurant. “Jesus what the hell is that thing?!” Liz exclaimed.

“Something tells me you haven’t been telling us the whole truth,” Reggie replied and glared in Johnathan’s direction.

Continue----> (Clicking this continues the story in order. If you would like to move to the next part of this group’s story. Click the # below.)

#6---->

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...it seems Liz might not make it through the night!
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