After sitting in silence for what felt like eternity, but in actuality was 30 minutes, Lucas finally turned to the others and nodded.

“I think they must’ve given up on looking for us,” he finally told them.

“So now what?” Jerry asked him.

“Well, I think the most obvious choice is finding a way out of here.”

“How are we going to do that?” Chelsea asked. “It’s not like we can just walk out the front door safely.”

“Maybe we can,” Lucas replied. “We’d need some weapons to protect ourselves from the zombies, but the closest exit isn’t far from this room. If we hurry, we can get out of here.”

“That’s pretty risky, Harving,” Jerry pointed out.

“It’s also risky staying in a building full of brain-eating zombies.” Lucas replied.

“Well, for all we know, there are zombies all over Coston!” Becky argued. “Heck, if there were some in New York a while ago, they could be all over the country right now!”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Lucas replied sternly. “The best we can do right now is have faith that everything will be alright. Even if it may not be true, we still have to have faith.”

“He’s right, guys,” Phoebe slowly said softly. “Even if it’s no safer outside the building, we need to have hope that it’ll be better.”

There was a long silence after that. Finally, Ned just sighed.

“They’re right,” he told the others.

“But how exactly are we going to protect ourselves?” Jerry asked.

“I’m not sure,” Lucas replied. “Maybe we can make weapons in here.”

With that, they all decided to look around the lab to find something to construct a weapon out of.

“Maybe some of these chemicals could help?” Chelsea asked as she stared at the chemical closet.

“Good idea!” Jerry replied. He then turned to everyone else and asked, “Does anyone know which of these could potentially kill a zombie? Or anyone, for that matter?”

There was total silence as everyone looked towards Ned, who looked completely confused.

“What?” he asked.

“Aren’t you the only one in the chemistry class who got an A?” Lucas asked.

“Well, yeah, but I’ve never actually handled the chemicals without Mr. Ladelson’s assistance!”

“We’re not asking for you to handle them; we’re asking you to tell us which ones can help us kill a zombie!” Jerry snapped. Ned just sighed.

“Look, the truth is...I really don’t know,” he finally said.

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” Becky yelled.

“I mean...I just studied what I needed to study to pass the test. I don’t remember any of it now that I didn’t need it!”

“Well, I’ll be darned,” Jerry scoffed. “Ned Rike can actually relate to every other student in the school!”

Ned actually looked like he had an embarrassed look on his face. Maybe it had something to do with relating to the other students.

“So now what?” Phoebe asked quietly. “How are we going to protect ourselves?”

“Maybe we could build our weapons out of some of the supplies in here,” Lucas said in thought as he looked around the room.

“Like what?” Chelsea asked in a snotty tone.

“Well...Mr. Ladelson always has spare school supplies in here. Always,” Ned said with confidence. “And even the simple high schooler knows how to make a simple weapon with school supplies. Their lethality, however, is a problem...”

“Maybe not,” Lucas said suddenly. “If we work at it, we could make some deadly things out of this stuff!”

“Such as...?” Becky asked.

“Well...there’s a wooden ruler over there...anybody have a pocket knife or something?”

“I do,” Jerry told him. He then proceeded to pull it out of his pocket and extend the blade.

“You’re not supposed to have those on school property,” Ned pointed out.

“What are they gunna do?” Jerry snapped. “Suspend me? That’s the least threatening thing that can happen now.”

“Would you two stop bickering?!” Becky said sternly. “We need to get along if we’re going to survive!”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Lucas replied. He then extended his hand, signaling for the knife, which Jerry gave him.

“If we carve the ruler right, we could make a pretty sharp spear or something,” he explained.

“So you expect us to get right on top of a zombie that can kill us with its bare hands with a piece of wood that’s only a foot long?” Chelsea asked snottily.

“Do you have a better option?” Lucas asked with similar attitude. Chelsea just shut her mouth, but still stared at him with rudeness.

“She does kind of have a point, Lucas,” Ned pointed out. “We gotta use something long-distance.”

“Any suggestions on something like that?” Lucas asked all of them. They all sat silently, looking at each other.

“Are there any wire coat hangers in here?” Phoebe asked really quietly.

“There should be some with the lab coats,” Ned replied.

“What about balloons?” she continued, in a slightly louder tone.

“Of course! There’s still some from that helium experiment a few months ago!”

“Well, I think I can make a slingshot out of those things,” she explained.

“Really?” Lucas asked with shock.

“Yes... I saw it on YouTube.”

“Well, that’s a real reliable source!” Chelsea scoffed sarcastically.

“Can you please shut up!?” Lucas yelled at her. Everyone looked really scared; they’ve barely heard him whisper a sentence before today let alone shout one.

“Now,” he continued to Phoebe in a normal tone, “can you get to work on those? Try and make one for each of us, okay?”

“Okay.”

“What about ammo?” Jerry asked. “A slingshot is useless without ammo.” That was a really valid point.

“I guess that depends on the weapon’s size,” Lucas replied. “Well, their size and their power.”

“They should be as big as a regular slingshot,” Phoebe explained. “The guy in the video was able to shoot pencils at a box and they penetrated really deep.”

“Well, no offense, but a cardboard box isn’t exactly a decomposing human body,” Jerry told her.

“Maybe it is,” Lucas replied. “I mean, their bodies are rotting. There’s a chance a sharpened pencil could pass through them and kill them.”

“That’s only a chance, Harving.”

“It’s a chance we have to take, Jerry. It’s our only option to stop those things.” Jerry then deeply exhaled and nodded in agreement.

“Everyone grab some pencils and make sure they’re as sharp as possible! We need to make sure they can cause serious harm, if not death!”

With that, everyone ran around the lab looking for pencils. Ned found a few boxes in the supply closet, Becky found a few in some drawers, and Chelsea found one on the whiteboard. They then took turns at the handheld pencil sharpener. They almost used the electric one, but Ned pointed out the zombies could possibly hear it and run towards them.

In the end, they got a total of 72 sharpened pencils. They were fortunate enough to be able to split them evenly amongst themselves, each receiving 12 pencils. It wasn’t a whole lot, so they had to make them count.

“How are those slingshots doing, Phoebe?” Lucas asked.

“I’m almost done,” she replied. Lucas looked over and saw 5 slingshots on the table she was working at. She was able to bend the coat hangers into the frames of slingshots and cut the balloons and turn them into the sling itself. They looked very secure and tight, and a tighter sling meant higher power.

“And...done!” She held the sixth and last slingshot in her hand. Lucas couldn’t believe it, but it looked like she was actually smiling a little bit!

“Okay, so now what?” Becky asked Lucas.

“We plan our escape,” Lucas replied.

“How do we do that?” Ned asked. Lucas then walked over to the fire/tornado procedure map on the wall and used it as a map of the school.

“Right now we’re right here,” he explained to them. “All we have to do is go through the south exit of the room right here and make a quick left and head to the library hallway. Then it’s a quick right and there’s the exit at the end of the hallway!”

“Sounds easy enough,” Jerry commented.

“Well, it may just be,” Lucas agreed, “but when you add the possibility of zombies all over the place...”

“We get it,” Chelsea told him. “That’s what the slingshots are for, right?”

“Right,” he said with a nod. “Remember, though, you only get 12 shots.”

“That’s only if these things work,” Ned said, looking at his weapon.

“They’ll work,” Phoebe told him. “They will...”

“Good enough for me,” Lucas told her. “Now, whatever you do, be as quiet as you possibly can. Alright?”

“Alright,” they all replied. Lucas then unlocked the door and slowly peeked out. The hallway was completely clear of any sort of life.

“Let’s move,” Lucas whispered to the others. He then slowly and quietly walked out of the room and went towards the library to the left. He could hear everyone else walking behind him, but at least they were quiet enough as to not draw any unwanted attention.

When they got to the library entrance, he looked to the left and saw no zombies or humans. He then looked to the right and saw, at the far end of the hallway, the doors that would lead them straight outside. Again, there were no zombies in the area.

“Remember to stay quiet,” Lucas lightly whispered to them all. They nodded in response. They all then slowly continued to make their way down the hallway. Normally, the walk through that hallway would’ve taken a few seconds, but it seemed like it was lasting hours to the high schoolers. Finally, they reached the door. They all stared at it with glee, as if opening it would somehow make them millionaires.

“Let’s go,” Lucas whispered with a smile. He then grabbed the handle and turned it.

Suddenly, a loud siren blared and a huge metal door came down, covering the exit!

“What’s going on?!” Chelsea shouted in fear.

“I don’t know!” Lucas replied. He then noticed the area was getting darker. He looked around and saw it was because all the windows were being covered by metal doors, as well! Then, as if it couldn’t get worse, they all heard growling, the source being 10 zombies appearing in the hallway and coming after them!

“Aw, crap!” Jerry said in shock.

“We’re dead!” Becky squealed.

“No, we’re not!” Lucas told them. He then loaded a pencil into his slingshot and pulled back. It was pretty tight, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He then carefully aimed it at a zombie’s head and released!

PIF! The pencil flew out of the weapon and quickly disappeared! The only way they knew it still existed was the fact the zombie’s head seemed to explode as a giant hole in its head formed and it collapsed to the ground! The other zombies froze and looked at their fallen partner. They then looked at the humans with confusion. Without saying anything, the others loaded their weapons and fired, as well!

PIF! All of them simultaneously were fired, causing 5 of the remaining zombies to die and fall, as well! The remaining 4 looked around at the dead zombies around them, but then proceeded to walk towards the teens! Lucas, Jerry, Becky, and Phoebe all reloaded and fired.

PIF! The remaining zombies fell to the floor, dead.

“I’ll be darned,” Becky said with shock. “These actually work!”

“I told you...” Phoebe said quietly. There was a hint of a smile on her face.

“Well, now that that’s taken care of,” Jerry said, putting the slingshot away, “what the hell is up with this?” He then pointed at the metal doors in front of the hallways and windows.

“You know, I never thought this thing would actually be used,” Ned murmured to himself.

“What do you mean?” Lucas asked. “What is this?”

“It’s a security system Mr. Felchee bought a few years ago,” Ned explained. “Basically, if the school is under attack or something, someone in the front office would press a button that would arm the system.”

“You mean, shut the doors and windows?” Becky asked.

“Not exactly,” he replied. “When activated, the door and windows are set up to know when they’re being opened. When they are attempted to be opened, the metal doors close, thus leaving the attackers inside.”

          “That’s stupid,” Jerry said. “What’s the point of that? Leaving the attacker inside would cause more damage than good!”

          “Well, it also gives an alert as to where the attacker is,” Ned continued to explain. “Like here, for instance. The metal doors here closed first, and the alarm sounded only here.”

          “That’s how the zombies found us...” Lucas said quietly.

“I guess,” Ned replied.

“So now they know we’re in this area?!” Chelsea suddenly said with realization.

“That’s righ...oh,” Ned suddenly started, but then realized.

“We better move!” Jerry told them. “The only place they could come from would be the end of the hallway there.” He then pointed to the area where they came.

“Unfortunately, that’s our only way out of the area,” Becky murmured.

“Well, that,” Lucas pointed out, “and the restrooms to the left.” He then pointed to the restroom doors on the left side of the wall.

“That’s not exactly an exit, Lucas,” Ned told him.

“But it’s a hiding place,” he replied. “We still have ammo, so we should be fine, at least for now.”

“And then what?” Phoebe asked. Lucas noticed she was slowly starting to become more talkative and loud.

“We either wait until the zombies pass, or we find a way out through the restrooms. There may be vents or something we can climb through.”

“Well, it’s better than just standing here, being sitting ducks,” Becky said with a nod. “Let’s go!”

With that, the six teenagers hustled over to the restroom entrances; however, there was a debate over which room to go into.

“The men’s room has those urinal things,” Chelsea said with disgust. “Not to mention most men can’t pee straight!”

“At least the men’s room doesn’t have those machines with those...girl thingies,” Ned argued.

“Can you both shut up?” Jerry finally told them. “It doesn’t matter where we go!”

“He’s right,” Lucas agreed. “Let’s just go into one.” By a quick debate, they finally agreed to head into the men’s room.

They went inside and found everything pretty clean. Well, clean as a high school bathroom gets. But there wasn’t blood or corpses anywhere, so that was a good sign.

“I see a vent above the handicap stall,” Becky said while pointing upwards.

“Perfect,” Lucas said with a nod. “I wonder where it would take us, though...” Suddenly, they all heard moaning outside of the door!

“I guess we’ll just have to see!” Jerry told them. They all then ran into the stall to try and get the vent off. Like in the supply closet in the gymnasium, Lucas picked Jerry up and the quarterback pulled the grate off, allowing himself and everyone else inside, one at a time.

When Lucas was finally inside, they all then crawled west, looking for a way out.

“If I remember right,” Ned told them, “this should lead to the auditorium.”

“He’s right,” Phoebe said. Lucas wondered how she knew, but then he remembered she was presumably in spring play, as she couldn’t have been in the fall musical.

“Well, as long as there aren’t zombies there, we should be okay,” Jerry told them.

“Agreed,” Becky concurred. After another minute of quietly crawling, they finally saw light of the auditorium. It appeared to be empty.

“Alright,” Lucas said, “it’s a high drop from here. Any ideas how to get down safely?” Everyone slowly turned towards Ned.

“Oh, I see,” Ned said rudely. “You think just because I’m a genius that skipped 2 grades, that automatically makes me the guy that can figure out how to climb down a large drop.” Everyone looked at each other with embarrassment.

“Well, can you?” Chelsea asked. Ned stared at her.

“Of course,” he replied, “but I don’t like the profiling.”

“Just...get us down,” Lucas told him. Ned then looked through the grate while stroking his chin.

“Let’s see,” he murmured to himself. “It’s about a 15-foot drop from here, with concrete covered in hard carpet at the bottom.” He then turned to look at Lucas, and then Jerry.

“You’re both about 6 feet tall each,” he continued. “I’m just going to assume Jerry is the stronger of the two, seeing as how he plays football.” Jerry just shrugged with agreement.

          “The next strongest person, excluding Lucas, would most likely be Chelsea, seeing as how she has to lift people constantly.” Chelsea gave a small but confused nod.

“So I think all that needs to happen is Chelsea needs to lower Jerry upside down while he carries Lucas down right-side up. With the extended length of Chelsea’s arms, that’s another few feet, giving Lucas plenty of safe distance to drop to the ground, possibly Jerry, too, if caught right. Then all you two would have to do is find a way to get the rest of us down, too!”

“I guess it’s better than nothing,” Jerry said with a shrug. He then turned to Lucas and Chelsea.

“You up for it?” he asked them.

“Do I have a choice?” Chelsea asked sarcastically. Without replying, Jerry grabbed Lucas’s hands tightly and slowly lowered him down the grate.

Lucas looked around and didn’t see a zombie in sight, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. There was a brief pause before Lucas continued to be lowered. He looked up and saw Jerry being lowered, as well.

Finally, when he was about a foot away from the ground, he let go of Jerry and landed on the floor. He then looked up at the jock and saw him dangling upside down with two arms grabbing his ankles.

“Can you catch me, Harving?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” Lucas admitted. “I’ll try.” That, unfortunately, would have to do. He then signaled to Chelsea to drop him, which she did. When Jerry fell, Lucas held out his arms and barely managed to catch him in his arms! Immediately after being caught, Jerry got out of Lucas’s arms and stood up.

“Alright,” he called out to the rest of the group. “We’ll find a way to get you all down.”

“Be careful,” Chelsea called down, though Lucas suspected she was saying it mainly to Jerry and not him, as well.

“We will,” Jerry replied. They then began looking for any sign of a way to get everyone down.

“Let’s check backstage,” Lucas told Jerry. “Maybe we can find a ladder or something.”

“I suppose it’s better than nothing...” Jerry murmured in reply. The two then hustled into one of the side wings of the stage area and went down the narrow hallway into the backstage area. It was admittedly a small room full of costumes and props, as well as 2 tiny dressing rooms and an even smaller restroom, but it was good enough for a good amount of shows.

“Check it out, Harving!” Jerry suddenly called out quietly. “You were right!” Lucas hustled over and, sure enough, found an 8-foot ladder leaning along the wall in the back of the room.

“It’s not exactly tall enough,” Lucas told him, “but if one of us was on top, we could help everyone else get down and they could climb from there.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Jerry agreed with a nod. “C’mon, let’s get it back to the vent.”

Suddenly, they heard a noise that sounded like a piece of wood falling over. The two teens turned around and saw a familiar figure standing in the wing they needed to get down! The zombie had its back towards them, but it seemed to be looking around in front of it, as if looking for something important. Jerry pulled out his slingshot and loaded it very quietly. He pulled back, aimed at the zombie’s head, and...

PIF! The pencil disappeared from the weapon and the creature’s head exploded and the whole thing fell over. Lucas suddenly realized he was holding his breath. He quietly exhaled and turned to Jerry, who was putting his weapon away.

“Nice shot,” Lucas complimented. Jerry gave a quick nod in response.

“Let’s just get this ladder out there,” he told Lucas, who agreed and proceeded to help turn the ladder on its side. After each grabbing an end of the ladder, Jerry took the lead and maneuvered back out onto the seating area. When they got back to the air vent they came down in, they set it up and looked up towards the open grate.

“You guys still up there?” Lucas asked. There wasn’t a response. He and Jerry got really worried.

“Guys!” Jerry called, only a little louder than Lucas. Almost instantly, they saw Chelsea’s face appear in the grate with a smile.

“You’re back!” She squealed loudly.

“SHHH!!!!” Lucas and Jerry simultaneously told her. Her smile disappeared and was replaced with an embarrassed frown.

“Sorry...” she said without making eye contact. Ned then appeared in the grate, as well.

“That ladder’s too short,” he told Lucas and Jerry.

“We know that, Rike!” Jerry snapped. “It’s the best we could find!”

“Jerry, calm down!” Lucas told the quarterback with a raise of his hand. Jerry just sighed with frustration.

“I’m going to climb the ladder and help you all onto it so you can climb down,” Lucas continued to say towards the grate.

“Ugh, I’m tired of you picking me up, Harving!” Chelsea scoffed.

“Chelsea!” Jerry called out. “Just do it! If he tries something, I’ll deal with him!” He then gave Lucas a stern, threatening look.

“Believe me,” Lucas told him, “even if she wasn’t yours, or anyone’s for that matter, I wouldn’t try anything. She’s not my type.”

He then climbed up the ladder towards the grate. He had no idea how tall it would be, but he didn’t think THIS tall! Nevertheless, he overcame his fear and reached his arms towards the open grate full of his survival partners.

Chelsea lowered her legs and carefully slid down until Lucas had a good grip on her sides. As he was lowering her, however, he lost his grip a bit. She then suddenly slid down a little more and he then found his hands on the bottom of her breasts.

“Harving!” She snapped.

“My bad!” Lucas replied nervously. He could feel his face heat up.

“Just get me down...” she then said with a sigh. Lucas then carefully placed her on the ladder and she started climbing down. Jerry seemed to still be staring menacingly at Lucas.

Lucas then looked back up and saw Becky slide her legs down. He did the same as he did with Chelsea and made sure she was far enough for him to get a good enough grip on her. He made sure to keep his grip tight this time.

After Becky climbed down, he saw Phoebe and Ned both in the grate looking at each other.

“Ladies first,” Ned offered. Phoebe then exhaled and slowly lowered her legs. She was a little thicker than Chelsea and Becky, but he could still get a good enough grip on her. She was definitely a bit heavier than the other girls, but it was a good thing Lucas was strong, despite his scrawny appearance. He lowered her onto the ladder and she carefully made her way down.

All that was left was Ned. Lucas looked up and saw that he look really scared.

“C’mon, Ned,” Lucas told him. “Climb down a bit so I can catch you.”

“But...I’m afraid of heights!” Ned replied shakily

“That’s why I’m going to catch you!”

“I’m not sure, Lucas...”

“Hey, Rike!” Jerry suddenly called up. Lucas looked down at the jock. “If you don’t climb down, I’m gunna climb up there and personally throw you onto the floor!”

Lucas looked back up towards the vent and saw Ned’s legs right in his face. The nerd then continued to slowly climb down. Lucas managed to grab onto his sides and help him onto the ladder. Once he was on, they both climbed down slowly.

“Okay,” Becky said when they were all on the floor, “now what do we do?”

“Well, we need to find a way out of the school,” Lucas replied. “It’s gunna be hard to do with that security system, though.”

“I’ve been thinking about that, actually,” Ned told them. “As I said earlier, the way to turn it on is in the front office. Who could’ve possibly activated it since the zombies arrived?”

“Maybe it was Ms. Bines, the secretary,” Jerry suggested. “She’s always in the office.”

“But why would she possibly want to lock ZOMBIES in the school with us?” Becky argued. “It would be bad enough locking a gunman in the school, but ZOMBIES??”

“I honestly don’t know,” Lucas replied. “But maybe we can find a way to shut it off and get us out!”

“How?” Phoebe asked.

“We’ll just have to find a way to safely get to the front office and shut off the security system. The front entrance is right by the office. We can just make a quick run for it and be out of here!”

“Harving, the office is on the other end of the school!” Jerry told him. “Do you really expect us to get over there in one piece?”

“It’s all we can hope for,” Lucas replied. Everyone just stared at each other. It really was their only option.

“Okay,” Jerry told Lucas. “How exactly do you expect this to work?”

“Well,” Lucas thought aloud, “we need to get more ammo, for starters. You all saw how many zombies came out of those pod things.”

“Those things actually fascinate me,” Ned told them. “It’s as if somebody created a real-life TARDIS!”

“Only without an elegant transportation mechanism,” Becky told him.

“Whatever!” Jerry interrupted. “So, Harving, how exactly do we get more ammo safely? I don’t expect there to be the world’s largest pencil collection in our auditorium.”

“I suppose it doesn’t have to be pencils,” Lucas explained. “As long as it’s narrow, sharp, and can fire out of the slingshot, it should be fine.”

“Such as...?”

“Are there any nails or screws back here or something?”

“There should be some leftover from the play,” Phoebe suddenly spoke up.

“How many?” Lucas asked.

“About a few boxes’ worth.”

“Perfect! We can use those.”

“Okay, so we have more ammo,” Becky said. “Now what?”

“We’ll have to take the simplest yet safest route to the front office,” Lucas replied.

“I hope it can be that easy,” Ned said quietly.

“It’s either we do that or sit here and die. I personally know which one I’m doing.” Everyone else looked at each other and nodded.

“Alright,” Jerry told everyone. “Let’s get the hell out of this school!”