Trey was panicking. Things weren’t looking good for any of them. A lot of people were dead and he was sure more people were joining them. And that was what he was afraid of. The more that died, the harder it was going to get for them.
They needed a plan. The one they had was obviously not working. The first mistake made was splitting up. He’d lost Shawn and Shawn was his comfort. How was he supposed to do this without him?
"They’re out there," Trey panted, leaning against a wall.
"Of course they’re out there. They’re every fucking everywhere!" Dylan exclaimed, sounding as if he were on the verge of losing it.
"What are we gonna do?" Trey asked.
Collin looked out the blinds. It was too hard to see. The black lights in the light fixtures had made sure to that.
"I can’t see anything," he mumbled before turning around and looking over his group.
Trey looked over at him, noticing how panicked he looked. He was supposed to be their leader. Nothing was official but he’d certainly taken it upon himself to give himself the title of group leader. And some job he’d been doing with the title too, as nearly three-fourths of their entire group was out there, walking among the rest of them.
Those undead creatures with the moans and the groans and the biting. They weren’t really supposed to bite but they were and once they had you, you were one of them.
"What are we just gonna stay in here?" Dylan asked.
"We can give you to them as a sacrifice and hope they leave us alone," Collin suggested.
"We already tried that, remember?" Dylan replied. "Didn’t work."
"We could try again," Collin said.
"Guys, are we gonna figure this out any time soon?" Trey asked. "I mean, there’s not that many of US left. They’re gonna find us in here."
"I know, I know. Just let me think," Collin spoke, clenching his forehead.
"I’ve been letting you think! And make decisions that got all our people killed!" Trey shouted.
"Guys," Dylan started, looking out the window.
"Somebody had to think for the group. We were a mess before-"
"And we’re still a mess. It’s just like before when you shoehorned yourself into something that WE were doing just so that you could keep an eye on me and Shawn!"
"What?"
"Guys-" Dylan tried again.
"Just admit that you don’t like me and you don’t like that I’m Shawn’s roommate because you know I don’t like you!" Trey shouted.
"Okay, that’s absolutely-"
"What?"
"Guys!"
Trey turned his attention over to Dylan who was now gone.
"Where did-"
"Up the stairs! Now!" Collin shouted.
"But-"
"Come on Trey!" Collin shouted, pulling Trey with him as the undead began pouring themselves into their little makeshift hideaway.
* * *
*15 Hours Earlier*
"If you want we can come with you if that’s what you need, Trey," Shawn said.
"Yeah, I mean, I don’t mind," Grace added.
Trey looked between his two friends before the strong scent of bacon and eggs flew through his nose, reminding him that it was barely 7 in the morning and how he wasn’t completely sure how talk of his issue with his mother had even come up.
"Can I just get through breakfast first?" he asked with a hopeful smile.
Shawn began to sprinkle salt and pepper on his eggs as everyone else did what they needed to with their food before eating it.
"I don’t know Trey," Zoey said. "This seems like something you’d wanna work out sooner rather than later. I mean you said so yourself that you want your life in total order for when Noah get’s back next month."
And that was true. Trey had decided that even though Noah had given up on him he wasn’t going to give up on Noah or their relationship. He was going to do whatever it was going to take to prove Noah wrong and show him that he could manage his life and be happy with it and thus show him that he could be happy in a relationship with him.
In the meantime though, he was going to just try to the best of his ability to try to do something that he had yet to do since starting college.
Be normal.
"So, topic change," Grace started. "I know finals ain’t for like three more weeks but I gotta keep my grades up. My mama told me if I came home with one C she was making me pay for that stuff I charged on that credit card."
"I thought your stepdad took care of that?" Zoey said.
"Uh, they ain’t married so his ass ain’t my stepdad," Grace replied. "And yeah, he took care of it. Don’t mean my mama ain’t gon take my money."
"Well you’re right, finals aren’t for a while so why worry about it now?" Shawn asked. "Why worry when you can bask in the glory that is college life and everything that comes with it."
"Oh you mean the fights, drama, breakups, makeups and all of the above? Like high school stuff?" Zoey asked.
"Okay so we’ve been a little trapped in a bad telenovela for a while," Shawn said. "Doesn’t mean we can’t live normal lives like normal people starting now."
That had to be the exact moment when Dylan arrived at their table dressed in an outfit that looked like something Rambo would wear, complete with headband, sleeveless button up shirt, holed jeans, and a tool belt with what looked like a bunch of toys and random things clipped around it.
"Or not," Shawn mumbled.
"Dylan, boy what is you wearing?" Grace asked.
"I’m getting ready for war," Dylan replied, banging his chest. "Those bitches in Statham think they can talk shit about us Ark-ites and get away with it? Naw, it’s on!"
"What are you talking about?" Grace asked.
"Statham’s been talking shit, saying it’s not fair that we’re over here living in luxury while they think they’re in hell or something completely forgetting all our shit burned up and we had to play homeless bum people for three months."
"Non rent paying, stuff replaced, homeless bums," Zoey said. "And you don’t even stay on one of the floors that burned down."
"So? The point is that they shouldn’t be talking shit," Dylan replied. "I mean sure we have new weight rooms, laundry rooms and an on-site Subway. It’s not like their hall built like five years ago is so much worse than some of the rest of these places that were built like in 1900 or something."
"So you’re gonna go fight them about it?" Zoey asked.
"I’m ready to kick ass and kill some bitches!" Dylan roared, obviously hyped up at a mere 7:15 am.
"Why because yo ass kill people now?" Grace asked.
"Guys, come on, you stay here. Well except for Zoey. You should understand that they don’t get to get away with calling us out," Dylan said.
"I don’t think I care one way or the other," Shawn said.
"Easy for you to say guy with the automatic flushing toilet and timer activated blinds," Dylan replied. "That’s some serious shit the rest of us would love to have but we don’t. Still, I’m standing by my fellow Arkie peeps. This is war!"
"No it’s not, boy. And sit down and eat some breakfast so you can calm your little ass down," Grace said.
Dylan sat down but obviously wasn’t thinking about eating anything.
"You guys really haven’t heard about any of this have you?" he asked.
"Maybe a few things," Shawn admitted. "But I mean, our rooms did catch on fire and we did have to live with other people for 3 months while they rebuilt them. I’d say we kind of deserve whatever the school decided to give us. It’s not like we asked for any of it."
"Yeah, well Statham is," Dylan replied. "They’re going to the school board about it later this week to talk about how unfair it is that they don’t have any plans to renovate the other dorm halls. Pussies."
"Well," Grace started, obviously uninterested in the conversation. "Now that that’s out of the way, how about we talk about something real college people talk about. Like what we plan on doing once Jesse get’s out of rehab. Amber told me she went to see him and said he was feeling depressed."
"You think maybe we should go see him?" Zoey asked.
"His letter from last week said he still didn’t want us to see him," Grace replied. "If he thinks it’s gonna help him recover, I can stay away if he says so."
"Yeah but Barbie Bitch gets to go see him whenever," Zoey said.
"You don’t even like the guy," Grace said.
"So if that’s true, why are we talking about him?" Zoey asked.
"Because I miss him and I’m wondering what his little ass is up to," Grace replied, sighing as she did so.
Despite how disagreeable a personality Jesse had, none of them were going to deny that he did add something to their little group and not having around was a bit strange. It seemed like everyone was leaving and people who had been gone were coming back. It was weird for everyone that noticed but not really something they wanted to dwell on.
"If I know Jesse, he’s probably off being his usual charming self," Shawn said. "Hey, when does he get out of rehab anyway?"
* * *
"Two more weeks? I was supposed to be out of here next week!" Jesse exclaimed, upset.
Rehab, while an interesting experience, hadn’t been something that he’d found to be so captivatingly wonderful that he lost track of the days and had no idea what was what. He counted the weeks like they were days and the days like they were hours all with the hope of knowing that come May 1, he would be free from the clutches of the evil Dr. Walker and all of her rehab goons.
Now he apparently had another week tacked onto his sentence, something he was not pleased with.
"This isn’t about us having escaped from here when we did, is it? Because I have to say that us being able to escape at all should be considered a problem on this facilities end, not the escapee’s," Jesse said, pacing around Dr. Walkers office.
"Jesse, why don’t you have a seat and we can talk about this-"
"I don’t want to talk about it. I want to know why everyone else that’s been here as long as I have and people who haven’t are still on track to leave when they were told while I’m getting an entire week stapled onto my lovely little stay here."
"Because, Jesse," Dr. Walker started. "I don’t feel like you’re ready to leave."
Jesse sighed, feeling entirely too upset to put anything into words regarding how he was feeling at that moment. It was like dangling the promise of the world in front of someone and then having that yanked away from them because the powers that be felt that they weren’t ready for the world.
"Why am I the only one being singled out?" Jesse asked. "David is leaving on time. Even Seth, rehab’s perpetual in and outer is getting to leave here early."
"Jesse, I’d like not discuss the issues that-"
"Issues? What issues?" Jesse asked. "I’ve been quite the saint if say so since our great escape."
"Yes, I’m we’ll aware of how much of a saint you’ve been recently," Dr. Walker replied.
Jesse, sensing some kind of negative connotation from the sound of her voice, figured he’d better question her on it.
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Well Jesse, I didn’t really want to get into this because I feel like there’s some sort of underlying reason for all of it-"
"Go on then."
"Since being admitted as a patient here you’ve tried to leave on your own accord three times when you know you can’t. You staged a fight with another patient while coercing another to set off the fire alarms so that the three of you could escape."
"Only half of that is my doing," Jesse admitted.
"You’ve also bribed several of the orderlies-"
"Faults I must say lie within your hiring process if they can be so easily bought off."
Realizing that Jesse was still in defense mode, Dr. Walker stopped.
"Jesse, regardless of all that, there isn’t a timeframe that decides when you get to leave rehab," Dr. Walker stated. "The two months was the minimum but you still need to be assessed and determined whether you’re fit to leave and I don’t feel that you are."
"I don’t believe this," Jesse said. "It’s like the disclaimer companies fail to make people aware of before being suckered into buying their product. Had you told me I was doomed to spend the rest of my life here before hand, I would have-"
"What, Jesse?" Dr. Walker asked. "Because I really feel like there’s some underlying issue that we have yet to get to the bottom of that’s keeping you from fully and truly rehabilitating like everyone else. And until we discuss what it is, I don’t feel comfortable releasing you back out into the world that had you down enough to use drugs to begin with."
Jesse stopped pacing and looked over at Dr. Walker.
"Are we really going to place aspirin on the same shelf as crack cocaine?" he asked. "And if you ask me, I don’t think I was ever really abusing it to begin with. I mean, is it even possible to be addicted to aspirin? Something tells me no."
"Well something tells ME that whatever issues you had before coming here-"
"Being brought here not of my own accord. Major difference."
Realizing that he didn’t seem to be persuading Dr. Walker any, he decided to finally have a seat, pulling his chair closer to Dr. Walker’s desk.
"Level with me, will you Molly?" he started. "What is it exactly that you don’t see as having progressed in me that you do in everyone else that’s leaving?"
"Jesse, it’s not about what I don’t see in you," Dr. Walker replied. "Everyone is different. You all possess entirely different qualities and reasons for being here."
"Then what is it?"
Dr. Walker sighed.
"Jesse, since you’ve been here you’ve refused to let me in. Rehab isn’t just about sticking you someplace that is not going to give you the thing it is that you abused before coming in. It’s about helping to give you the tools you need to stop yourself from ever doing it again. And without letting me in on the reasons that possessed you to use in the first place, I can’t really say that I’d be doing my job very well if I just sent you along because two months have passed."
Jesse could tell that there was no way that he was going to be convincing Dr. Walker of anything anytime soon and sighed, lowering his head.
"My suggestion is that you say your goodbyes to everyone that you’re close to that is leaving," Dr. Walker spoke. "Because you won’t be leaving with them."
Jesse was extremely upset. He thought he’d figure out a way to cheat the system. He knew rehab was about talking about feelings and getting to the bottom of problems but he figured that not talking about them and avoiding it as long as he had to stay would be the best thing for him. Truthfully he never thought he was addicted to the aspirin. He hadn’t wanted to take any in over a month. He realized how stupid he’d been for taking any in the first place. The way he saw it, he just had a lot of stressful things in his life. Things that he wasn’t going to let stress him out once he was out.
And he’d thought that was happening soon.
Now he was trapped and Dr. Walker thought telling him this would get him to open up. If anything it made him feel like being worse than he had before.
If she wasn’t going to let him leave then he was going to do everything he could to get her to force him to leave.
* * *
"So have you decided how are you’re gonna deal with your mom, yet?" Shawn asked.
Shawn was at his computer, doing his usual IM’ing people thing while Trey was on his bed trying to get a bit of homework done.
For the most part Trey felt like he was doing well. His boyfriend of course had broken up with and left him all in the same day but he was thinking counterproductively and working to fix what it was that caused Noah to break up with and leave him in the first place.
His mother had discovered that he was gay and had pretty much the reaction that he’d been expecting her to have regarding it. But he had faith in strong support system of his friends, who ultimately had more or less become his new family over the course of the year, and had every hope that he’d be able to find the strength to deal with his mother.
He just didn’t know how or when.
"I don’t know," Trey replied, looking up and at nothing in particular. "It’s not like I wasn’t expecting her to act the way she did. I’m lucky all she did was throw me out. I mean, she could’ve stopped paying for school or cut me out of her life altogether."
"Isn’t that kind of what she’s doing though?" Shawn asked, turning around. "I don’t know your mom or how it is in your family but it almost seems like the one good thing she’s doing for you, paying for school, is just to keep you away."
"I told her I was gay, Shawn. Of course she wants me away. I’d wanna be away if I didn’t understand. She just needs to understand."
"And how is she gonna ever understand if she wants you away and you stay away?" Shawn asked.
Now Trey was a little peeved. He knew, logically that Shawn was only trying to help him. But it almost seemed as though Shawn was trying to talk to him as if he were speaking from experience, which Trey knew that he was not.
"She’s my mom, Shawn. And I’m her only kid. How is she supposed to feel?"
"Like losing her only kid would be the worst thing in the world," Shawn replied.
Trey sighed, hoping to gain a bit of hi composure back so that he wouldn’t bite Shawn’s head off.
"You haven’t been through this Shawn," he said. "It’s me dealing with coming out to my family, not you. You can’t really say what’s really right at all because you haven’t been through it."
Shawn was only just now starting to realize that he had come across a bit strongly to Trey and knew that Trey was right. He did sound like a hypocrite when he had yet to come out to his own parents, not that the thought to do so hadn’t come to him many times before.
"I’m sorry," Shawn said. "I just want things to be right for you so bad. You’re dealing with all this crap with Noah I just want you to at least have your mom too. I guess I was making her the bad guy."
"It’s okay," Trey replied, realizing something.
Noah probably would have done the same thing Shawn had just done. The only difference was, Noah usually had his way and was one of those ‘right, not wrong’ people while Shawn realized he was wrong and apologized. He didn’t think it was a bad thing on Noah’s part, just something that he noticed.
"Yeah but I’m still up shit creek with this," Trey sighed. "I mean, I have no idea how to make this right with her. Like, at all. And the more I feel like I want to, the less confident about doing it I feel."
"But are you? Gonna talk to her, I mean?"
Trey sighed.
Honestly he knew that he needed to he just didn’t know when that was going to happen. He was hoping he’d have been able to figure that out by now.
"I was gonna come out. To my parent’s I mean," Shawn started. "It got to the point where I was having nightmares thinking about the end result of it."
"Is that what stopped you?"
"I did some reading around. Most people that have done it say that you should be in a place in your life where coming out to the people you care the most about feels right to you. Anything else would be cheating yourself. And I realized that I’m not in that position yet. Only you have it the worst kind of way because someone else outed you and not in a good way either."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"But those same places do say that having a strong support system works in any case. And you do know that you have Grace and Zoey and me, right? All of us are definitely gonna be here for you even if your mom decides..."
Trey looked over at Shawn and smiled. That was something he really did feel. Even if his actually family turned their backs on him, he’d still have another family willing to stand by him. And something like that meant the world to him.
"Ark SUCKS!" both Shawn and Trey heard people shouting outside their door followed by the distinct sound of some kind of liquid splashing against their door, that followed by people running away.
"Yeah you better run! And don’t think you can just dry off and be okay cuz that’s bleach on those clothes bitches!"
"Is that Dylan?" Shawn asked jumping up to open the door while Trey stood up on his bed and looked out the mini window into the hallway.
Shawn opened the door, amazed at the sight he saw. Firstly there was the paint, which was splattered all over the floors and walls, not to mention their doors. Lots of it everywhere in several different colors. Then there was Dylan, who also seemed to have been hit with quite a bit of paint. He was also still wearing the garb from this morning, holding a huge plastic water gun in his hands.
"Dylan, what the hell man?" Shawn asked.
Dylan turned, only just now noticing Shawn standing in the doorway.
"I tried to tell you all this morning. We’re at war man, can’t you see that?" Dylan replied.
"I see you and paint all over the floors," Shawn replied before noticing people beginning to come out of their rooms. "Here, get inside."
Shawn pulled Dylan in and shut the door. Both Trey and Shawn looked him over. Dylan did look as if he’d been participating in some kind of intense bout of war. Besides the paint, he looked frazzled and sweaty.
"What the hell just happened out there?" Shawn asked.
"I was chasing those Statham punks away," Dylan replied. "You saw the paint right homie? That shit was all them."
"Them?" Trey asked, sitting back on his bed.
"Yeah, them. I don’t know their names but I know it was Statham. Those punks are really making this thing global. But I was prepared like ya’ll should’ve been when I told you this was happening."
"All I see happening is everyone on this floor being questioned and probably charged for the paint mess outside," Shawn replied.
"Naw, I told you it was Statham," Dylan replied. "The heads from that hall want to talk to the school board about getting their hall renovated like next week or something."
"That’s crazy," Shawn said.
"Yeah, I mean even if they started renovating it’s not like they’d finish before the end of the semester," Trey added.
"It won’t matter if Statham get’s to the board. They’re gonna bring up everything. The extra parking spaces. The arcade room. The Jacuzzi outback. I mean, they didn’t just rebuild this floor, the renovated the entire building minus the floors that didn’t burn down."
"In other words, the people from Statham actually have a point," Trey said.
"Yeah well that ain’t how I see it. I see it as them thinking they’re better than us and should get better than us," Dylan replied. "Of course, I’ve got a plan."
"Which is?" Shawn asked.
"See, I talked to some of the R.A.’s and they agreed to talk to the people that are putting together their board meeting presentation," Dylan replied. "They’re gonna see if they can get Statham to reconsider."
Shawn and Trey exchanged glances.
"Why would they do that?" Shawn asked.
"They won’t," Dylan replied. "Not without a fight at least. And I’m hearing Humans vs. Zombies."
"What?" Trey asked.
"It’s a college game some schools play kind of like tag where some people are zombies and some people are humans and the goal is to outlast the zombies after 72 hours," Dylan replied.
"That sounds...interesting," Shawn said, glancing over at Trey.
"It’s wicked awesome. They play this shit everywhere. Usually it’s to be the last human standing but most games don’t last 72 hours. But dudes, we’re talking EPIC shit here. I mean this is gonna be the thing that proves once and for all that Ark Hall doesn’t play around and that we don’t take anybody’s shit."
"You wanna start a war instead of trying to work things out peacefully?" Trey asked.
"I didn’t start the war, they did. I mean, you guys saw all the paint right? They were doing that shit on every floor not just the ones that got rebuilt. They went around throwing that shit on people’s cars too. I mean, this shit is already on it’s just a matter of them telling us go."
"Why would anybody but you and those assholes that threw the paint play this game?" Shawn asked.
"Because if we win, Statham has to quit bitching and suck that shit up," Dylan replied, proudly.
"And if we don’t win?" Trey asked.
Dylan looked over at Trey, a little peeved and almost not wanting to think of the possibility but decided to respond anyway.
"Then they get to go to the board. With our blessing. Which we don’t want. Right?" Dylan asked, hoping to have converted Trey and Shawn to his side. "Right?"
Trey and Shawn exchanged looks, both feeling the whole thing to be just a bit ridiculous.
"I just wanna know who the hell’s gonna get that paint up," Trey asked. "They try to make us do it and I swear I won’t."
"Yeah well what better way to suck it to Statham then to get them to shut up and come clean up all the shit they messed up," Dylan said.
"Whoa, whoa," Shawn started. "This thing is happening today?"
"Why wouldn’t it be?" Dylan asked.
"What makes you think it’s happening at all?" Shawn asked. "I mean, you don’t even know do you?"
"Look, you guys are my boys. Would I lie to you?" Dylan asked. "And you know I wouldn’t. Trust me, this shit is happening today which means we need to be gathering everyone we can to participate. The more people we have, the better chance we have of kicking Statham’s asses."
"Because you look so ready to do it all on your own, Rambo-lite," Shawn chuckled.
Although he did feel like the game sounded fun. It had been so long since he’d been the wild party boy that he’d been before college and it had been a long time since he did actual fun college stuff. Lately he’d been so involved with drama and his new boyfriend that he hadn’t had time to do that kind of stuff.
"You’re dripping," Trey said, looking over at Dylan. "On my bed."
"Oh my bad," Dylan said, hoping back.
"Clothes are in the closet, towels and shower are in the bathroom," Shawn said, without even turning away from his computer. "You know what to do man."
Dylan sighed like a little kid being told to go get ready for bed.
"Fine. But when those pussies from Statham come back and I can’t do anything about it cuz I’m in the shower and can’t hear them just remember whose fault it is," he said before retreating to the bathroom.
Shawn looked over at Trey.
"You in?" he asked.
The way Trey saw it, he needed a distraction from his current problem. Anything to show him that he could still have fun every once in a while was definitely a good thing. And if Shawn was doing it, he definitely wanted to do it too. They’d already missed out on building a great friendship. He didn’t want to do it again.
"I’m in."
* * *
"A party?" Seth asked, skeptically.
"Will you keep your voice down? David could walk back in here any moment and I don’t want him to know it’s for him," Jesse said.
He and Seth were in their room while David was taking a shower. Jesse had decided that the first major thing he could do to cause all kinds of pandemonium would be to throw a huge party, which would be bad for several different reasons.
For starters, the patients weren’t allowed to throw any sort of party. They weren’t even supposed to have people visit other than certain designated times. But this wasn’t going to just be any party. This was going to be the biggest most elaborate thing that Jesse could throw together in as short amount of time that he had. There was going to be celebrities, lots of alcohol and every drug from ecstasy to cocaine readily available.
The best part about it was that even though the party would be his idea, he’d make it so that no one else but Seth knew that. Dr. Walker would assume only he’d be capable of something like it and force him out. He did after all feel like rehab had served his purpose. He had no more use for aspirin and was ready to prove it to people. If throwing an insane party that would seek to undo all the good that Dr. Walker had done for everyone would be the only way to do it then so be it. The way he saw it, she could have prevented everything by agreeing to let him leave in the first place. Now everyone had to suffer for it.
Everyone except David.
"Whatever happens, David can’t know about this being my idea. And I don’t want him around any of the drugs either," Jesse said.
"Drugs? Jesse how the fuck do you think you’re gonna get drugs into a rehab facility?" Seth asked.
"Come on Seth, you come from the same ilk of life that teaches us those with money can do anything they want," Jesse replied. "At least ACT like you know it."
Seth watched as Jesse scribbled various things onto a sheet of paper. Things that he would need in the shortest amount of time possible and things that only someone who would be able to leave the place would be able to get for him.
"Which one of the orderlies haven’t I bribed yet?" he said aloud. "I’ll have to check into that."
Seth took a seat on his bed next to the small desk in the middle of the room that Jesse was sitting at. He watched as Jesse mumbled to himself, scratching things off his list and replacing them with other things before cursing and mumbling some more.
"You’re not high are you?" Seth asked.
"How would I be high in rehab, Seth?" Jesse asked. "My roommate is leaving and I want to throw him a party before he goes."
"You know, I’m leaving too," Seth said.
"Not before David," Jesse replied. "Besides what reason would I have to throw you a going away party? Those are normally thrown for people you’ll be sad to see go. You can’t be out of my life fast enough as far as I’m concerned."
"Well thanks for the warm regards," Seth replied sarcastically. "How do you think you’re gonna pull this thing off, by the way?"
"My experience with planning last minute parties is quite excellent if I must say so myself," Jesse replied. "This is going to the biggest best thing you’ve ever seen in your peanut sized little life. Amazing, brilliant stuff."
"And with drugs," Seth said.
"Yes. Especially with drugs."
"That you don’t want David to know about."
"Exactly."
Seth grinned, nudging Jesse’s back with his arm.
"Methink’s you’re a little soft for David," he said.
"What? No, absolutely not. I don’t go soft for anyone or anything."
"Come on, we all feel like David’s like the little brother around here. We’re all gonna miss him. Admit you’re going to miss him."
"He will be missed, yes of course but I have a party to plan and no time to dwell on silly little emotions like that," Jesse said. "Besides, you’re supposed to be helping me brainstorm the best places to set each thing up. I’ve already called and had someone hired to be a problem for long enough that Dr. Walker will be distracted so that the decoration and set up crews I hired can set up."
"Wow, you really aren’t fucking around with this are you?"
"Everything has to be just so or else my entire plan will be thrown off."
"Plan? What plan?"
"Don’t worry about it. Get a phone book in here and look up fire breathers and snake handlers. Oh and see if there’s some place around here that rents exotic animals. I’m on a tight schedule."
"Whatever you say Captain Asshole," Seth said.
Jesse gritted his teeth. Seth had been very generous in winning the rehab election. The only thing he’d wanted was to be allowed to call Jesse whatever names he wanted without any lip from him. Quite honestly not verbally putting someone in their place was hard for him to do but it was what was agreed upon before the election and he just had to deal with it.
Fortunately he was too busy planning for his future to be concerned with something as small as that.
* * *
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Grace rolled her eyes in disgust at the group of guys all huddled around the floor television cheering at a school football game from two years ago that they already knew the outcome of.
"Ugh, why we gotta be in here again?" she said. "Let’s just go back to one of our rooms and order some Chinese. They owe us after that shit they pulled with that cat hair last time."
"For the last time Grace, Chinese people don’t put cat meat into their food," Zoey replied. "That was probably your hair you found."
"You think I don’t know what my hair look like?" Grace said. "And how you know it wasn’t a cat hair? Shit, for all I know it could’ve been dog hair."
"We’re in here because all we do is hang out in the same places," Shawn lied. "I figured a change of scenery would just be nice."
"There’s a reason those places we always hang out in are the places we always hang out in," Zoey said. "We like our familiarity."
"And quiet," Grace replied, throwing a pillow into the back of one of the three guys cheering who also happened to be her boyfriend, Josh. "Be quiet boy or yo ass ain’t getting none tonight."
"Ya’ll shut up!" Josh barked, instantly shutting not just his two friends up but the others in the room as well.
"Thank you baby," Grace said in a fake baby tone.
"You’re welcome honey," Josh replied.
"Man, I guess he really wants sex tonight," Zoey said. "Please, remind me again what that’s like. My boyfriend falls asleep five seconds after his head hits the pillow. We haven’t had sex in-"
"Ever?" Shawn asked, jokingly.
"Boy, don’t be doin that," Grace said. "But we need to be calling somebody because my black ass is hungry and I need to eat."
"They say you don’t think about food when you’re angry," Shawn said.
"And what would I have to be angry about boy?" Grace asked. "You bringing me in the ugly room with a bunch of people doing nothing?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of the rivalry between Statham and Ark hall," Shawn replied.
"Boy, ain’t nobody care about that shit," Grace replied. "That’s boy stuff. Don’t a single girl give a damn about any of this."
"So you’re telling me you didn’t walk out your door and find paint everywhere?" Shawn asked.
"Not my door but I saw it, yeah. And so what, I’m not getting that paint up and in a month I won’t even be here. None of us will so I don’t care," Grace replied.
"Still for now it’s gotta piss you off right? I mean they just get to do whatever and say whatever about us? You know they said everybody that stays here is on their shit list," Shawn said.
"A shit list with 950 people on it. That’s a big shit list," Zoey said.
"What’s wrong with standing up for yourself? Fighting for things you believe in?" Shawn asked.
"Nothing, when there’s a point. Since when do a bunch of crying frat buddies complaining about the automatic blinds and shower they don’t have worth fighting over?" Zoey asked.
"Trey, do you hear this fool?" Grace asked.
Trey shrugged, looking over at Shawn before Zoey and Grace exchanged looks.
"What’s going on?" Zoey asked, suspiciously.
"Yeah, ya’ll is looking like Flava Flav getting back some paternity test results or something," Grace replied.
Not a moment more after that did the door to the common room open and several people begin pouring into it including Dylan and most of the floor R.A.’s.
"You guys are having a floor meeting?" Zoey asked.
"Why is my R.A. here?" Grace asked, now paying more attention.
"Okay people," Brent, Shawn and Trey’s own R.A. spoke up. "The time for war is upon us."
"What the-"
"Dylan, boy get over here," Grace whispered, pulling Dylan over to their group as everyone stood up.
"Statham has agreed to participate in the Humans vs. Zombies extravaganza. For any of you that have no clue what I’m talking about, the rules are simple. Be the last human from our hall standing and win bragging rights for all eternity," Brent spoke.
"What is this fool talking about?" Grace asked.
"I think what Brent is trying to say," Michelle, Grace’s R.A. started. "Is that we have a reputation to uphold. You know we can’t let Statham get away with all the crap they’ve been pulling. Humans vs. Zombies is the perfect game that everyone can play to prove who can outsmart, outwit and ultimately out survive who."
"You have got to be kidding me," Grace sighed. "Ya’ll dragged us into this stupid little war."
"Come on Grace, it’ll be fun," Trey said.
"Yeah, if anything you’ll know what to do when the real zombies come," Shawn said.
"Real zombies?" Zoey asked.
"Everyone take one of these," Brent spoke as he passed around brightly colored sheets of paper to everyone. "The rules are on them. Make sure you know what you’re doing before you start. You don’t wanna screw this up and lose it for us because you don’t."
Zoey, Shawn, Grace and Trey each looked over the sheets. Dylan already knew how to play.
"What the hell do we need socks for?" Grace asked looking over the sheet.
"No realistic looking weaponry? Seriously, is this for real?" Zoey asked.
"You two non believers are ruining the mojo," Dylan said. "You just gotta go with the flow and relax. Freak out and it’s a sure way to have the undead turn you out."
"It’s been decided that Ark Hall players will be humans and Statham people will be zombies," Bret started after all the sheets had been passed out. "Your sheets list all the designated safe zones. If you choose to hide out in any of them just remember that you must surrender your weaponry at one of the pre determined drop off zones."
"Wait, we’re gonna be out there defenseless?" Dylan asked.
"Only if you punk out and hide," Brent replied. "For all the real players, that won’t be an issue. Michelle is passing around index cards and our team color bandanas and Mike is handing out the Nerf guns. Everyone needs to wear the bandana around their arm or leg at all times. If you get tagged and turn into a zombie then you have to wear it on your head."
"Right and you don’t want that," Mike started. "Because it means you have to help Statham win."
Many people, including Dylan began booing.
"It’s simple. Everyone playing will be wearing either a blue or red bandana. Humans around their arm or leg and zombies around their head. Look for the people with the red bandana’s around their head, those are the zombies. If you see them shoot them with the Nerf gun or throw a sock at them to stun them for 30 seconds. Remember that since they’re zombies, it means they’re already dead and there’s nothing we can do to get rid of them so they’re already at an advantage."
"Are we talking Resident Evil shuffle zombies or 28 Days Later marathon runner zombies?" Dylan asked.
"Zombie players can walk or run as fast as they choose to," Michelle said. "It’s up to them since they already have the advantage of being permanently unstoppable."
"So basically, we’re fucked already," Dylan said.
"No, don’t talk like that freshman," Brent said. "We’re smarter than they are and we’re faster than they are. Seriously, we can pull this off."
"Some of these safe zones are on the other side of campus," Zoey spoke up. "Where exactly are we playing this at?"
"Ark and Statham halls," Michelle replied. "If you choose to hide in one of the safe zones you have to leave your weapons here and then go there."
"Yeah so if I were you, I wouldn’t use a safe zone," Mike spoke. "Try not to be little pussies and hide."
"We’re gonna start in about half an hour. Everyone that wants to play needs to sign this inventory sheet and then go get ready. Don’t forget socks. When you hear a police siren going off in the halls that means it’s time to start. Statham people are starting 2 minutes before we are so be ready."
With that the commotion in the room began as everyone, obviously excited, began strategizing and planning their win.
"Hey, baby, you playing?" Josh asked, joining the group.
"I guess," Grace replied, still sounding skeptical of the entire game.
"It’s fun right? It’s fun," Josh said, hoping to get Grace a little more excited.
"I’m bout to go change," Grace said. "I need to coordinate with this bandana."
Zoey, Josh and Grace each headed out of the common room while Dylan turned to face Shawn and Trey, putting his arms around their shoulders.
"Well boys, you ready for war?" he asked.
"Sure," Trey replied.
"Socks," Shawn started. "We’re gonna need socks. Be right back."
Shawn quickly headed out into the hallway and had only just started back towards his room before he heard Collin calling his name.
"Shawn!"
Shawn stopped and turned around, greeting his boyfriend with a surprised smile.
"Collin? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Well," Collin started, barely missing bumping into a crowd of people heading back to the rooms to get ready for the game. "I thought I’d come see if you wanted to go get a bite to eat. What’s going on?"
"Uh...we’re going to war," Shawn replied.
"Really?"
"Yep," Shawn replied. "Wanna join us?"
* * *
"Ah yes, you can set that right over there," Jesse said.
"What are you doing?" Seth asked, entering the cafeteria.
"Setting up the food area. I want the ice sculptures as far away from the fire breathers as possible because if any of them slip and break their necks, they are NOT suing me," Jesse replied.
"No, I meant," Seth started, moving back as a table full of food was carried in between him and Jesse. "I meant what are you doing with this party? You said Dr. Walker was supposed to be distracted and this was supposed to go off without a hitch."
"Yes and your point?" Jesse asked, looking over a clipboard of items that he’d been checking off over the course of the day.
"My point? Jesse, you have a dozen guys out back putting together some kind of sauna or something," Seth said. "This is going so above and beyond everything that is you and more into my category. I have to say, I’m weirdly proud but disgusted. How do you manage that?"
"I do what I can," Jesse replied. "Listen did you hear from the tiger wranglers? I want to get them put into their cages before people start coming in."
Seth sighed.
"Yeah," he replied. "They’re already out there."
"And you spread the word about the party around the center?" Jesse asked.
"Didn’t I win the rehab election? How am I working for you now?"
"Seth, haven’t you learned by now that only the greatest minds spring into action when necessary?" Jesse spoke. "David, and of course some other people are leaving. Thus, a goodbye party is most definitely necessary."
"A goodbye party is one thing but this place is starting to look like the MTV Movie Awards after party or something," Seth said looking out the cafeteria window at the tigers in their cages.
"No, this party will be incomparable to none," Jesse replied. "It’ll be the single most greatest thing to ever happen to rehab centers everywhere."
Seth just stared at Jesse skeptically neither one of them noticing as David entered the room, looking around at everything.
"We’re having a party?" he asked.
Jesse quickly threw his clipboard to the side and walked over to David.
"You and everyone else were still supposed to be at the movie theater," he said.
"Yeah, um, we were there but most of us figured we could probably watch Adam Sandler play exactly the same character just in a better movie," David replied, still in awe at the way things were shaping up for the party he didn’t know a thing about.
"Well that honestly doesn’t surprise me," Jesse said. "But everyone is back here with you, yes?"
"Yeah. When did Dr. Walker decide to throw us a party?" David asked.
"Dr....Dr. Walker?! Dr. Walker?" Jesse started before Seth put an arm around him and pulled him to the side.
"David isn’t supposed to know, remember?" Seth asked through gritted teeth.
Jesse took a moment to calm himself down before returning to David’s side.
"Well, I suppose she just wants to give you a proper send off is all," he said.
"Well this looks like it’s gonna be awesome. I wonder where she is?"
"Come on Little D. Let’s go see if we can find her," Seth said pulling David away while mouthing something back at Jesse as they left.
Jesse sighed, feeling just a bit stressed as someone approached his left side.
"You the guy?"
Jesse looked over at the washout.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You the guy with the cash?" the guy asked, looking around nervously.
"Depends. Are you the guy with the drugs?" Jesse asked.
* * *
The game of Humans vs. Zombies was officially on and most everyone was excited. Several groups had been formed and these groups all headed off en route for Statham Hall to do their best to hold off the zombie flood while other groups had already decided to spread themselves out just in case.
For Trey and everyone else, however, not knowing what to do had been the first thing on their agendas.
They were all among a rather large group of people that were standing around in the lobby of Ark Hall looking completely like they had no clue of what to do or who was supposed to be in charge.
They’d wasted enough time as it was just standing around doing nothing. For all any of them knew, things at Statham had gone belly up and they were next.
"Maybe we should split up?" Shawn suggested.
"And do what? Walk around until we find a zombie?" Zoey asked.
"I say we sit right here, wait for them to come to us and throw a bunch of socks at they asses," Grace said, feeling comfortable right where she was at.
"Grace, there’s like 600 people playing this game. We can’t just sit here," Shawn said.
"Yeah and the socks and foam bullets only last 30 seconds a piece, 2 minutes tops depending on where we hit," Dylan replied. "You really think we can last 72 hours that way?"
"Well I’ll tell you right now if somebody hit me upside the head with some dirty ass sock we gon be boxing, plain and simple," Grace said.
"Um, excuse me. What are you doing?" Sierra asked, surprising everyone.
She was dressed from head to toe in pink camouflage gear complete with matching pink bandana. Amber was with her, wearing some kind of mask.
"Yeah, there’s like, a war going on," Amber spoke. "People could die. We have to protect ourselves."
Sierra positioned herself so that she was promptly blocking Amber before she spoke.
"Don’t any of you care about this place even the least little bit?" she asked.
"I care," Grace replied. "Not enough to get off my ass but I care."
"You stay here?" Dylan asked.
"Yes Short One, I stay here," Sierra replied, slightly annoyed.
"But Amber’s ass don’t. And what’s with all that pink. Our team color is blue," Grace said.
"I saw that and thought, it’s gonna clash with my outfit so I threw it away," Amber replied.
"First zombie I see, I’m sacrificing her," Dylan whispered to Trey.
"Look, I know this doesn’t seem like that big a deal to you but some of those assholes from Statham egged my car. They’re lucky this is a Nerf gun and I’m not using the hand to hand combat my dad taught me when I was 12," Sierra spoke.
"Aren’t we all," Zoey mumbled.
"You know she has a point?" Collin spoke up, surprising everyone.
"She does?" Shawn, Grace and Zoey all asked simultaneously.
"Yeah I mean normally I’m against these kinds of things. Simulated war exercises are useless if you aren’t joining the military," Collin replied. "But this whole thing is essentially about standing up for yourselves, and that, I’m definitely in endorsement of."
"Shawn, did you know your boyfriend was a nerd?" Dylan asked.
"He’d kick YOUR ass," Shawn chuckled.
"Great, you’re our leader then," Zoey said.
"Fine," Collin replied. "I think we needed somebody to step up anyway."
"Uh, shouldn’t we put that to a vote?" Trey asked hesitantly.
"What’s to vote on? We need a leader, Shawn’s boyfriend is it," Sierra said. "Sounds ideal to me."
Trey and Collin looked eyes, each one probably thinking the same thing in that moment that they really didn’t like each other.
"Fine then leader," Grace spoke, sounding bored. "Where to first?"
* * *
Jesse stood admiring the fruits of his labor. His party was a success so far with so much going on all over the place he could barely focus his attention in one direction.
People were definitely getting wild and crazy with the D list celebrities he’d managed to get a hold of on such short notice with the promise of stories in any of his father’s magazines. As Jesse was beginning to realize there was definitely a reason why no one liked Tara Reid or Lindsay Lohan.
"Happy now?" Seth asked, joining Jesse at his side.
"What?" Jesse asked, looking over at him.
"Everyone’s either high as a kite or drunk of their pathetic rehab asses," Seth replied. "Lucky for me I’ve been to enough ragers in my lifetime to know when not to drink the punch. Or apparently the water. Just how much drugs did you get?"
"Enough," Jesse replied. "And if Dr. Walker really is doing her job half as well as she apparently thinks that she is, then everyone would have been able to resist temptation and stay away."
"Hey, where is Dr. Walker anyway?" Seth asked.
"I told Fakey Lakey her boyfriend was trying to jump off the roof of some building downtown and just like I figured she would, she went after her," Jesse replied.
"You know Lake’s boyfriend doesn’t exist right?" Seth asked.
"Exactly, which means they could be gone a while," Jesse replied. "Oddly enough I have experience dealing with people with imaginary boyfriends."
"Well, gotta say Captain Asshole, for a guy that claims not to care about David, you really did go all out for the guy," Seth said.
What had started out for Jesse as a simple set of plans for revenge against Dr. Walker had definitely turned into planning what he hoped was the best party David had ever been to. He no longer cared if Dr. Walker knew he was behind the parry or what happened to him. All he cared about was David having a good time. Which was an odd feeling having that kind of family bond with someone. He didn’t even feel close to his own family. Probably because they were each varying degrees of insane that annoyed or ignored him.
His friend was leaving and pretty soon after that the friend he loved to hate was also leaving and he’d be back to having no one, just like before. He’d been telling himself for years that that was the way he wanted things. But the past year of college life had threatening to get him to see otherwise and his recent experiences in rehab definitely had him thinking twice about the concept of friends and family.
"Let’s not mistake fondness for caring now," Jesse spoke. "This party is just as much for David as it is everyone else."
"Speaking of Little D, that’s not him I see hanging upside down from the ice luge is it?" Seth asked, pointing straight ahead.
"I knew I shouldn’t have made it so big," Jesse mumbled. "And how did the monkeys get loose."
"Come on," Seth said dragging Jesse towards the chaos.
"I told you not to give him those shrooms!"
* * *
"See, if we would’ve just stayed put, then we probably would’ve found somebody," Grace complained. "My feet hurt. Baby can you carry me."
"We just walked half a block to Statham not half a mile to Save a Lot, baby," Josh said. "You’re not even wearing heels."
"That’s two," Grace said, before crossing her arms and walking so that she was completely away from Josh and now walking alongside Zoey.
"Anybody notice how....quiet it is out here?" Sierra asked.
"It’s Friday. As in let’s go see what movie Johnny Depp is in this week day at the sorority," Amber said. "By the way, this game is kinda boring. I feel like I spent more time being told how the game works than seeing it in action. Bring on the blood!"
"I’m thinking we should split up," Collin suggested.
"What?" Grace asked.
"It only seems boring because we’re all together. We know we’re safe-"
"Exactly. In case you ain’t noticed, my ass is black. I’m not looking to die first," Grace said.
"Grace, it’s a fake game where no one is killing anyone," Zoey said. "I don’t think you have anything to worry about."
"Still, when have the words ‘let’s split up’ ever meant anything good?" Grace asked.
"Well if we stay together were just gonna stay bored," Shawn said. "I think Collin’s right. We should split up when-"
"Guys, look!" Dylan shouted, pointing back at the large group of Statham and newly turned Ark zombies that were heading their way.
"Okay, just stay calm. I’ll handle this," Amber said, turning around, Nerf Gun in hand.
"Great, take her. Lets go!" Dylan shouted, pushing Amber towards the group.
Everyone started away, Zoey tripping over Amber’s fallen body. Realizing they had been abandoned and forgotten about Zoey helped Amber up.
"Come on," Zoey said, looking back at the group growing ever closer to them.
"What? No, I’m not going anywhere with you!"
"Unless you wanna die, come on!"
Zoey pulled Amber away as the group of zombie players headed towards everyone else.
"This is still too big of a group," Collin said as everyone headed back towards Ark Hall.
"Perfect. More guns and more socks. We’re set," Sierra said.
"Fine, but I really think this is a bad idea," Collin said. "If we’re all together and they find us that’s it. We’re out and we ALL have to help them find the rest of the human players."
"What you don’t think any of us get that?" Trey asked incredulously.
"Ya’ll going to fast...wait a second," Grace whined, stopping completely to take off her shoes.
Josh stopped with her.
"Just keep going guys," Josh said. "I’ll take care of her."
Without even thinking twice about it, everyone else continued on their way, another two members of their group having dropped off.
"I don’t see anyone else from the game around here," Sierra said, sounding a bit panicked.
"Maybe we’re the only ones left," Dylan said. "How awesome would that be?"
"So not awesome little munchkin man," Sierra said. "I was happy to play this game when I didn’t think it all depended on me to be won. Now I feel like Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby."
"Oh that’s funny. A satirical pop culture reference defense. I so wouldn’t have guessed that about you," Dylan mumbled.
"Okay, we don’t have time for this," Shawn said, breaking up the sparing of words.
"He’s right," Collin added. "We need to find somewhere to wait this thing out until it’s over."
"Yeah, let’s all play follow the leader. See where that gets us," Trey mumbled as everyone headed inside Ark Hall.
* * *
"I’m stuck with you, again. Awesome," Zoey mumbled as she and Amber took a seat on a bench behind Ark Hall. "They’re gonna find us and it’ll gonna be your fault."
"Were sitting on a bench out in the open," Amber replied. "Which by the way was your idea."
"Being a pinheaded moron was all your idea," Zoey said. "I can’t believe I tripped over you and they left us."
"Yeah well if you guys had just let me handle the situation like I said I was going to-"
"By doing what, socking it to them?" Zoey asked. "God, you’re such a complete joke. I don’t know why we put up with you."
Amber scoffed and sighed, watching as Zoey tried rubbing some dirt off of her pants before shaking her head and sitting back.
"So says the girl with the imaginary boyfriend," she mumbled off handedly.
Zoey stopped and looked over at her.
"Are you serious right now?"
Amber didn’t reply.
"You seriously wanna go for round two here?" Zoey asked. "Because I absolutely can and will kick your little bony ass-"
"Hey, I have a great ass, thank you very much," Amber replied. "Of course you probably noticed being the closet lesbian that you are."
"Okay my boyfriend is not imaginary and I am not a closet lesbian. Not that I have to explain any of this to you."
"Well you need to explain it to somebody because everyone thinks you’re a dyke," Amber said.
"Everyone?" Zoey asked, worried.
"Everyone," Amber replied. "Maybe not Jesse but the last time I saw him we didn’t exactly do a lot of talking."
Zoey looked over at Amber.
"Wait....you two..."
"Yeah," Amber replied. "It was nice. I wish I could do it again but I don’t know how Jesse feels about it. He’s still in rehab for another week apparently."
"Wow," Zoey said, sitting back. "Who would’ve thought?"
"Yep," Amber sighed before letting a brief silence air between them, prompting Amber to get serious. "Why do you hate me?"
Zoey, taken a bit off guard, looked over at Amber.
"What? I don’t, I don’t hate-"
"It just seems like you do. I get that we’re two completely different people and I may have told a lot of people that you were a carpet bagger-"
"You what?"
"What I’m trying to say is why can’t we be friends? I don’t know a lot of people that don’t like to go out partying and shopping and talk about boys constantly. It’d be nice to know someone normal for once."
"And I’m supposed to take normal as a compliment right?"
"It’s what we all aspire to be whether we want to be or not."
"Surprisingly, I actually agree with you. Spooky."
"Yep."
"Hello ladies," came the greeting of a pair of Statham Hall zombies that were now standing in front of Amber and Zoey, ready to turn them.
Zoey and Amber exchanged glances.
* * *
"What is this place?" Sierra asked as everyone searched around for some kind of light. The ones in the halls had been replaced with black lights that made everything glow but didn’t exactly make it easier to see.
"We called it the office under the stairs," Collin replied. "Back when I stayed here."
"You stayed at Ark Hall? I didn’t know that about you," Shawn said.
"There’s a lot you still don’t know about me," Collin smiled before giving Shawn a kiss that Trey rolled his eyes to.
The room that Collin had brought them to was only a little smaller than their dorm room and contained nothing but a desk, a bookcase and a few chairs. The door had a clear paneled window that was easy to see in and out of while the back part of the room led towards a staircase that led to the next floor.
"Why didn’t I know about this staircase?" Sierra asked, looking it over.
"Did you know about this room?" Dylan asked.
"Point taken," Sierra replied.
"Look, I think while we’re here we should keep our voices down," Collin said. "We don’t want them to hear us and turn us."
"Yeah, wouldn’t want that," Trey mumbled.
"Well, I wanna see where this leads," Sierra said, obviously fascinated with the idea of a secret staircase she never knew about.
"Me too, actually," Shawn replied, just as enthralled.
"Are you serious?" Collin asked.
"I’ll be right back," Shawn assured Collin who just sighed, watching as his boyfriend and Sierra headed up the stairs together.
"You sure he’s not going off to fuck her right?" Dylan asked sarcastically before they all heard a loud crash that came from outside of the room followed by the sounds of a lot of voices.
Dylan opened the door and took a few steps into the hallway Trey behind him as they watched several members of their once rather large team being turned into zombie players. Both of them ran back into the room shutting the door behind them.
"They’re out there," Trey panted, leaning against a wall.
"Of course they’re out there. They’re every fucking everywhere!" Dylan exclaimed, sounding as if he were on the verge of losing it.
"What are we gonna do?" Trey asked.
Collin looked out the blinds.
"I can’t see anything," he mumbled.
"What are we just gonna stay in here?" Dylan asked.
"We can give you to them as a sacrifice and hope they leave us alone," Collin suggested.
"We already tried that, remember?" Dylan replied. "Didn’t work."
"We could try again," Collin said.
"Guys, are we gonna figure this out any time soon?" Trey asked. "I mean, there’s not that many of US left. They’re gonna find us in here."
"I know, I know. Just let me think," Collin spoke, clenching his forehead.
"I’ve been letting you think! And make decisions that got all our people killed!" Trey shouted.
"Guys," Dylan started, looking out the window.
"Somebody had to think for the group. We were a mess before-"
"And we’re still a mess. It’s just like before when you shoehorned yourself into something that WE were doing just so that you could keep an eye on me and Shawn!"
"What?"
"Guys-" Dylan tried again.
"Just admit that you don’t like me and you don’t like that I’m Shawn’s roommate because you know I don’t like you!" Trey shouted.
"Okay, that’s absolutely-"
"What?"
"Guys!"
Trey turned his attention over to Dylan who was now gone.
"Where did-"
"Up the stairs! Now!" Collin shouted.
"But-"
"Come on Trey!" Collin shouted, pulling Trey with him as the undead began pouring themselves into their little makeshift hideaway.
Collin and Trey started frantically up the stairs meeting up with Shawn and Sierra just as they were headed back down them.
"What’s going on-"
"Go, now. Just go," Collin barked as they all started running down the hallway.
As they ran, the various dorm hall doors in the hall opened and several players who were obviously zombies began chasing after them.
"What floor is this?" Shawn called out.
"It’s only the second floor," Collin replied.
Which immediately registered in all their minds one thing. This was one floor with a dead end hallway.
"We’re trapped," Sierra said, admitting defeat.
Everyone watched as they were cornered into a wall.
Collin grabbed Shawn, putting his arms around him protectively.
Trey looked over at them.
"Well, we had a good run," Collin said.
"Yeah," Shawn replied.
"I’m glad I did this with you," Collin said.
"Me too," Shawn replied.
"I’m not," Trey mumbled, just loud enough for Shawn to hear and realize that their roles had been reversed and for the first time, Trey was the jealous one in their relationship.