Neither Alicia nor Michael could believe what had just been said to them. They stared into space, processing Darnell’s words. Alicia managed to utter while holding her head, “What- no- just like that?” Darnell nodded his head. Alicia looked at Vanessa and Vanessa reaffirmed it with another nod. “Oh no, no, no-” she began to utter, but suddenly, Michael collapsed to his knees.

Everything sunk in for him. Their behavior, their attack, their bloodlust, their lack of reaction to pain. It all began to make sense. Not really. This whole situation was beyond any sense. He never thought he’d think the words, “My parents were attacked by zombies.” But here he was. More tears poured down his face. He looked down at his hands, which were quivering. The memory kept replaying in his head, except now he realized he was even more powerless than he thought.

“Oh my god Michael.” Alicia muttered, she reached out to him, but stopped midway.

“What are we supposed to do?” Michael said to Darnell.

Darnell answered him without hesitation, “Survive.”

“How the hell do we survive that?” he sobbed, pointing back to his room, where the assailants most likely had broken in by now.

“By rounding everyone up as soon as possible.” Darnell said sternly, “Tristan is the next closest. We know Ryan is at the gym, Makayla and Raj are at Makayla’s, I know Teemo is fine, and Illyana… I’m not sure, but I’m optimistic.”

“So that’s it? We just, round up the gang and go zombie huntin’?” Michael snapped, flailing his arms about in a goofy manner.

Darnell remained serious, “If you tryna put it that way, yes. We goin’ zombie huntin’ partner.” he mocked Michael.

Michael dropped his hands, he couldn’t do it. “I’m not going,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Alicia nearly yelled.

“I’m not-”

Darnell cut off Michael the moment Michael opened his mouth, “We’ve already wasted too much time here. Tristan needs help. You ride with us and you keep breathin’. You don’t, then Imma just drag you with us.”

Michael just glared at Darnell, it was clear he was unable to form a response.

“Aight let’s roll.” Darnell finished the conversation.

Vanessa hurried towards Darnell to follow him. Alicia stared at Michael for a moment. She pitied him, but only to an extent. Alicia wanted to support Michael, but she’d rather just move along with Darnell. So she did. Michael looked at the three of them walking away. He looked back at his house. That was it. There was no going back. Not unless he wanted to die. He slowly picked himself up, and grudgingly followed along.

Darnell hustled the group a lot harder than when he was just with Vanessa. They needed to get to Tristan’s, and fast. According to Darnell, Tristan had his house broken into and he, along with his siblings, were trapped by a group of the monsters. Luckily, Tristan’s house was only a few blocks away from Michael’s. But that was where the luck ended.

The group hopped over two fences and were making steady progress. Vanessa and Alicia in the lead, Michael and Darnell taking the rear. They treaded along the third backyard. Nothing was spectacular about it. The yard was fairly large, with dead leaves and patches of grass blanketing it. There weren’t any trees or outdoor furniture occupying it. As soon as Darnell hopped over the fence into the yard, he gave them a nod and they began to move forward again.

As the four crept along, Vanessa felt a weird sensation. Like she was being watched. And not just because Darnell and Michael were behind her. She felt something more sinister. She didn’t have much time to comprehend this feeling. Everything seemed to be going as smoothly as planned. Her and Alicia crossed the midpoint of the yard. That was when she noticed a window on the back of the house, overlooking the yard. Vanessa eyed the window as it fully came into view. There was a figure, she couldn’t really make it out. Not until, they were directly across from it. It was a man, his mouth was hanging open while his hands pressed against the window. The glare of the Sun made it difficult to make out any other details. Then he vanished. Vanessa felt another eerie sensation crawl up her spine. What was about to happen? Was all she could ask herself, then she was answered.

“Move!”

Vanessa heard a shout behind her and the shove of a hand on her back. Her and Alicia launched forward at the same time, flying a couple of feet before sliding on the ground. As she hit the ground, there was a loud shatter of glass behind her. Vanessa immediately turned around to see Darnell standing directly under the flying path of another one of those bloodthirsty cretins. It soared through the air directly towards Darnell with its hands reaching outward.

“Darnell!” Vanessa screamed out to him. Darnell used the momentum from pushing Vanessa and Alicia to roll backwards just in time to dodge the falling man. Darnell had his monkey wrench at the ready, crouching on his toes, ready to fight. The man immediately recovered and got to all fours like a wild dog. It hissed and snarled at him. Darnell tightened his grip on the wrench. Michael, panicking, tried to run around the monster. It immediately noticed him. “Michael, no!” Darnell shouted.

The monster directed it’s attention to the terrified Michael and jumped at him. Michael screamed as it’s bloody hands and jaw reached out to take a chunk of his flesh. As it was mid-air, though, Darnell delivered a powerful kick directly in it’s side. The monster folded over as it flew backwards. It landed directly on its side and immediately recovered. Without a second wasted, the monster switched targets to Darnell and wildly charged towards him. Darnell stood firmly while reeling his wrench back. The monster repeated the same attack it attempted on Michael, by pushing with all of it’s might to fly in the air at Darnell. Darnell didn’t even flinch. His wrench came whirling in an underhand spin. The monster and Darnell’s wrench met mid-air and a satisfying bang was made as the wrench collided with the underside of its chin. The monster spun right back the way it came, its entire body going limp. It crashed directly onto its head, dealing even more damage.

“Holy!” Michael screamed as its arms and legs fell down with the rest of it. This time, it didn’t recover as swiftly, and Darnell didn’t waste the opportunity. Darnell jumped down onto the monster as it rolled onto its side. Darnell lifted the wrench high above his head then sent it directly into the side of the monster’s skull. It’s head planted into the ground from the force of the impact and blood splashed onto the grass. Now, it stopped moving.

“Well I’ll be-” Michael spoke just before being interrupted by Darnell who covered Michael’s mouth. Darnell put a finger to his own lips and looked around them. After a moment, it was clear they hadn’t attracted any attention.

Darnell whispered in a stern tone, “We survive.” Then took his hand off of Michael’s mouth and walked towards Vanessa and Alicia.

“Yall okay?” Darnell whispered.

Vanessa and Alicia nodded their heads. “Then let’s go.” he finished.

The four of them resumed their previous task, making as little noise as possible. They were on a mission and Darnell would not let anything get in the way. If it wasn’t clear before, then it was clear now.

As expected, it didn’t take long for the four of them to reach Tristan’s house. In fact, neither Michael, Vanessa, nor Alicia realized the journey was already over when Darnell didn’t move to the next fence. “There it is,” he said, pointing at a house across the street. The four of them advanced along the side of the house they had snuck into. Sure enough, it was Tristan’s house across the street. But it was not the sight they were expecting. Vanessa and Michael’s stomach churned.

Across the street, Tristan’s front door was wide open, the windows were broken, and worse of all dozens of those monstrous cannibals were patrolling around it.

“No way,” Vanessa uttered. She gripped onto the back of Darnell’s shirt and tugged it. Darnell, knowing it was Vanessa, turned towards her with soft eyes. Vanessa tried to speak, “Y-Y- You’re not-” she swallowed, “Please say you won’t.” her eyes were shaking as she spoke. Darnell put his hands on her shoulders, he whispered in a soft voice, “You don’t have to go in if you can’t Vanessa.”

“Who can!?” Michael went.

“We can.” Alicia retorted.

More tears flowed down Vanessa’s face to the point Darnell was surprised her eyes hadn’t dried out by now. Vanessa knew Darnell was capable of a lot of things. She’d seen him do a lot. But, there was just no way. One or two was already much. But dozens? Vanessa could only see Darnell charging in and… she grabbed his shirt and planted her face into his chest, sobbing. She couldn’t lose him.

Michael spoke up, “How do you even know Tristan is still alive?”

Darnell patted Vanessa on the back and turned to Michael, “Because he just texted me saying, ‘Where ya at???’” he said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket with the message open.

“What the…” Michael couldn’t believe his eyes.

Darnell continued, “Honestly, I didn’t think it’d be this bad. I have no idea how the dude still kickin’.” Darnell eyed the monsters across the street for a moment then uttered, “I’ll have to change the strategy. C’mon.”

Everyone followed Darnell to the back door of the house they were taking refuge behind. It was a glass door so he was able to peer inside. The door was in front of a dining room with a short wall to the left separating it from what seemed like a kitchen. Further down, Darnell made out a living room. From what he could tell, there was no sign of life within the building. Michael spoke up again, “Wait, are you about to break in?”

“Yep.” Darnell replied nonchalantly. He reached for the door handle. Alicia grabbed his arm while nearly exclaiming, “Wait!”

“What?” Darnell went.

“Don’t make too much noise.” she said.

“I’ll be as quiet as possible.” Darnell grinned as wide as he could.

“Darnell, seriously.” Alicia scolded.

“If you’re just going to break in we should do it somewhere farther from that herd,” Michael said, pointing across the street.

Darnell grabbed the door handle and, to everyone’s surprise, it slid right open. Darnell casually stepped into the house as if this was completely normal. All three of them stood behind Darnell, stunned. He turned around to see Michael, Alicia and Vanessa completely still. “Oh,” he finally went, “y’all would be surprised how often people just leave their doors unlocked.” Then he continued into the house. Vanessa ran in after him. Alicia looked at Michael, shrugged her shoulders, then stepped inside. Michael shook his head, “I’m not even going to ask how you know that.”

Alicia decided to ask her own question. “So what are you looking for?” she asked as they followed Darnell, who started scavenging through the kitchen.

“Depends,” he answered, ravaging through one of the lower cabinets. He looked at Alicia, “Are you fighting with me?”

Alicia hesitated before murmuring, “Will I get in your way?”

“Not if you follow the plan.”

“Make me part of the plan and I’ll follow it.”

Darnell smiled, “Bet. Look for any oil in this kitchen, olive oil, peanut oil, if it’s flammable, grab it.”

Vanessa jumped in next to Alicia, “Is there anything I can do?” with her fists pumped up.

Darnell turned to Vanessa, “Toilet paper. As much of it as you can find.”

Vanessa gave a salute while exclaiming, “Yes sir!” then ran off deeper into the house.

Alicia sprung into action herself, not wanting to be outdone by Vanessa. She bolted for the cabinets opposite of Darnell and started scavenging through those. Together they pulled tupperware, spices, bowls, plates, canned foods, and anything else that could be found in a disorganized home. “This is ridiculous,” Darnell complained as the floor became riddled with objects. The two continued to move along the entire kitchen until coming to the same cabinet. This was the last place to search, it had to be it. The two looked each other in the eyes and nodded. Darnell swung it open and sure enough, there were bottles of vegetable oil and peanut oil taking up the pantry.

“Perfect!” Darnell exclaimed, snatching the bottles.

And with perfect timing, Vanessa came rushing into the kitchen with cases of toilet paper rolls in her arms. “I found it!” she cheered. Darnell smiled when he saw Vanessa had completed her task.

“Good stuff V!” he cheered along with her, “Now let’s take this into the living room,” he began picking up the bottles of oil then turned to Alicia, “Alicia, can you find a blanket?”

“Of course!” Alicia jumped. She rushed past Darnell and Vanessa to run upstairs towards the bedrooms. Darnell and Vanessa exited the kitchen into the dining room. Darnell took note that the dining room led into a narrow hallway with two arch-like openings on each side. The closest opening on the left led to the upstairs and the living room, the farthest just led into the living room. The wall dividing the two arches was only a few feet wide. To the right, Darnell assumed there was a laundry room and another dining room. At the very end of the hallway was the front door. There were no walls dividing all four areas of the house.

Darnell dropped the oils at the front door then rushed back into the kitchen. Vanessa waited for him, and not a moment later, Darnell returned with sticks of butter. Vanessa, understandably, was perplexed at the assortment of material Darnell had arranged.

“So umm, what’s the plan, Darnell?” Vanessa decided to ask.

“That’s a good question.” Darnell said, staring at the items, “This could either go terribly well, or terribly… terrible.”

Alicia came running down the stairs with a large blanket. “Will this do?” she yelled from the staircase. Darnell turned around and gave her thumbs up.

“It sure will.” he answered, “leave the blanket there and come here.”

Alicia dropped the blanket and ran to huddle up with Darnell and Vanessa.

“So what’s the plan?” she asked with her hands on her hips.

“Good question.” he answered, “This could either go horribly well, or horribly… horrible.”

Vanessa chuckled.

Darnell continued, “First off, where’s Michael?”

Michael called out from the living room, “Right here!”

“What you doin’?”

“Looking for a remote.”

Darnell’s head shook in bewilderment as he mouthed, Why? “Well, come in here for right now. I’m bout to tell you how you gon’ stay alive for the next 24 hours.”

In a few moments, Michael came trudging around the corner into the hallway.

“Alright!” Darnell clapped, “Michael, you got your phone?”

“Yes…” he answered.

“Good. I need you outside then.”

“Now?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Nope, in like, five minutes.” Darnell nodded. Darnell pulled out his phone and called Michael’s number. As expected, Michael’s phone buzzed from his pocket. Michael pulled out his phone and answered it. “What are you doing?” Michael spoke into the phone while looking at Darnell.

“You’re recon for this mission.”

“Recon?”

“You tell us what you see from outside, so we know what to do, sound good?”

Michael stared at his phone then back at Darnell. He shrugged his shoulders and went, “Fine. Anything else?”

“Nah you good.”

“Ok then…” Michael ended the call then slowly backed away into the living room. Darnell just smiled and waved at him. As soon as Michael was out of sight, Darnell returned his attention to Alicia and Vanessa. “Alright!” Darnell clapped again, “Alicia, you and I will need to find some tape, brooms, or a swiffer, just two of any long stick. Vanessa, take this butter and oil, and spread it out all over the floor up to…” Darnell guided his finger along the floor as he walked backwards until he reached the staircase, “Here. Can you do that?”

“Mhm!” Vanessa nodded and immediately reached down to open one of the bottles.

“Bet! Alicia come with me.” he ushered her over back into the kitchen. Alicia chased after Darnell.

When Alicia reached the kitchen, Darnell picked up a roll of duct tape they had tossed onto the floor earlier. Darnell turned to Alicia with a grin on his face, “We boutta pop off.”