Warren tried to squirm, and generally make the search as difficult as possible.
Franklin motioned for Wes and Jason to stop what they were doing. He pulled Warren close and whispered in his ear. Immediately, Warren’s struggling stopped.
“It’s a miracle.”
The three men meticulously turned out every pocket that Warren had on his clothing.
Sam couldn’t help but ask, as the remainder of the group looked on with curiosity. “Well what’s the verdict?”
“No key,” Jason replied.
“Well to be fair we didn’t search any body cavities,” Franklin turned to Nurse Van, “Are there still any rubber gloves in the nurse’s station?” he punctuated the statement by winking at Warren.
Warren’s whole body visibly tensed, eyes widening in a brisk display of fear.
“So he’s innocent?” Amy asked.
Wes wanted to head off that conclusion. “He may not have the key, but he’s definitely not innocent.”
Jackie, sounding frustrated, “Then who has the key?”
“I don’t know.” Wes rubbed his hand over his forehead.
Sam perked up again, “So what do we do with him?” nodding to Warren, “Let him go?”
“No!” Wes warned.
“Yes!” Nurse Van said at the same instant.
Wes, “Van? C’mon!”
“You can’t held him like that Wes, as far as the keys are concerned he’s not our guy.”
“But room 124…” Wes realized his statement didn’t hold much weight.
“Circumstantial, and without the key to prove he’s got bad intentions, you don’t have much to go on…”
“So we vote again?” Jason tried to clarify.
Franklin mimed a yawning motion, and peered at a wristwatch on his right arm that wasn’t there.
Wes, deflated, “Yes. All in favor of releasing Warren?”
Nancy, Jason, Jackie, Nurse Van, and of course Warren all shouted “Aye”. With some trepidation the stragglers of the group glanced around. Thoughts of being in Warren’s shoes must’ve dominated their thinking for after a moment Sam, Bernadette, Amy joined the aye camp.
Following a heavy sigh, Wes concluded, “There you go, opposed vote not needed.”
Franklin casually hefted up Warren’s wrists, removed a dagger from the satchel on his side, and cut the zip tie in twane.
“What about getting them off my wrists?” Warren complained.
Franklin just shrugged, tucking his knife back in the satchel.
Without speaking, Warren eyed the entire group, as he rubbed at his hands he then stormed from the cafeteria.
“What now?” Jason inquired.
“Now, we get on with the problem of your infestation in room 124.” Franklin redirected.
Wes watching the doors where Warren had exited from, “I still wanna know who has that key. And you can’t collect your fee if we can’t get to our food resources.”
“True,” Franklin conceded. “But I’ve got no fee to collect if we don’t do the work first. We’ll have to cross that bridge afterwards.”
“What’s the plan?” Sam asked quickly.
“Toss one of your sticks of dynamite under the door?” Nurse Van offered.
“Believe me I’d love to,” Franklin smiled, “but that could compromise the perimeter of your building since room 124 is on the outer edge of the structure. No sense in cleaning up the zombies in there, if we’re just gonna leave a opening for others to come in.”
“So what then? I don’t want to get near those things.” Amy clutched Sam’s arm at the thought.
The group looked to Franklin, with his smudged sweat-streaked face paint as though he was some kind of subject matter expert on the undead.
“Controlled chaos.” Franklin answered. “We have two person control the door. Two people doing ‘crowd control’ up front, one with a side arm. Someone with a blade. The door’s wide enough for two at a time. We get two others to work backup in case there’s overflow or…”
“Or what?” Jackie asked plainly.
“Or any of the children wriggle through any extra space by chance.”
Jason winced at the thought.
“When do we do this?”
“I’d vote now. Wes, we just need you to figure who’s doing what.” Franklin stated.
“No,” Wes corrected, “We volunteer, and if that doesn’t work we vote, or draw straws. Who wants to step up?”
Nurse Van and Jackie stepped forward. Wes nodded. Sam too raised a hand, followed by Bernadette.
Amy could be seen mouthing the words, “Please be careful” to Sam.
Franklin spoke up, “You know I’m in.”
“Thank you all. Ok, so Sam and Franklin you two will handle the door. Bernie and I will run back up. Van, Jackie if you two don’t mind?”
“Not at all, in my view we’re making it right.” Van said.
“Giving them peace, yes I agree.” added Jackie. “Where do we get weapons?”
Franklin grinned broadly, “I expect these back at the end of the adventure.” He handed Jackie the knife he used to cut Warren’s zip tie, and Nurse Van a Glock 9mm. The two women eyed each other briefly and then traded implements, they both nodded.
At the door the group lines up, the same intense look carved on their faces; adrenaline mixed with uncertainty. Franklin nods, and the group readies their weapons, and gets into position.
Wes looks to Franklin one last time before they begin, “What if-”
“What if this just all goes to shit?” Franklin offers, to Wes’s nod. “Then we run as fast and as hard as we can back to the cafeteria and barricade the doors, come up with a plan B.” Franklin looks to the other group members, “Got that?”
They nod, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
“On three, Jackie you give the count.” Franklin instructed.
Muscles tensed, jaws clenched, the group readies themselves. In the rear, Wes and Bernadette, armed with two hunting knives from Franklin’s bag lined up in their best defensive stances. Franklin and Sam dug in just to the side of the door, Franklin’s hand gripped the handle, waiting for the count. And lastly, Jackie and Nurse Van tried the best they could to stay loose up front.
Nurse Van could see the black-rotted teeth and grey mottled skin of one of the zombies. He pressed his mouth against the small window, gnawing at the thin glass pane. A primal growl worked its way up from the thing’s throat. It sounded both desperate and otherworldly.
“Whatever happens don’t stop swinging.” Jackie reminds Nurse Van.
“You got it. You take left, I’ll take right. Any get out of formation, call it or knock them off balance to feed them back to Wes and Bernie.”
As uncertainty threatened to overpower the silence, Jackie began her count in a deadly serious tone, “1...2...3!”
Franklin pulled back the door, as Sam helped him steady it against the weight of the dead. It didn’t take long before the bodies began to jostle and knock against it. Sam and Franklin held strong.
Jackie saw the full face of the lead zombie she had previewed through the window. It was a young EMS technician. She didn’t hesitate to put a bullet in his brain. The report of the Glock was powerful in the tight hallway, and Bernadette jumped at the sound.
Nurse Van reared back and slashed over and over with her knife. Thick black streams of half congealed blood streamed through the air. The sounds of flesh tearing was offset by the nearly rhythmic discharge of the pistol in Jackie’s hands. The two women could’ve been mistaken for battle hardened combat veterans, the way they methodically dispatched every decayed face that was put before them. In fact, things were going perfectly. It seemed the haphazard plan to remove the scourge of room 124 was destined to be successful.
That was until Warren, sporting a deranged look upon his face, appeared behind Wes.
