Last Man Standing: Chapter 18

XVIII

Malcolm Parker

The Zombie Survival Guide

Rachel kneeled next to the large crack in the ground, eyes narrowed. "We have to go down this way-we might not be able to find another entrance, and if we tried to go to LA, it would be so packed with zombies we'd all be dead in a second. But..."

"But what?" Leo said.

She scowled. "I know how we can get in, but I'm not sure what we'll see-if it's staires, some kind of portal, or a big hole that we would fall into. And I can't tell where we'll end up either-the castle? Fields of Punishment? Right into some zombie-infested pool? It's very risky."

"We risk staying alive," I said. "We risk standing out here. We risk doing anything. I mean, we're not exactly 'safe' at the moment, right?"

Rachel shrugged. "Good point." She stood up and took something out of her pocket. "It's rare times like these I thank rule books." She grinned and held up the object in her hand-a Swiss army knife. "Rule Number 33, Swiss army knife!"

"I never understood Swiss Army Knives," Jean muttered. "Weren't the Swiss, like, neutral?"

Rachel kneeled back down by the crack and seemed to be using the blade to try to hit something in it when-

SNAP!

As quick as lightning, the crack grew longer and opened up, bring an even worse smell of rotting flesh up into the air. Rachel swore loudly and tried to scramble back, but the ground opened up underneath her and she fell, screaming, "DAAAAMMMNNIIIIITTT!"

My eyes widened, and I started to run towards the crack, but the ground split open under all of us, and we fell.

Damnit.

It was freefall for a second, before we hit a steep, curving slide. What I guessed were torches lined the wall, but it was hard to tell because I was going by so fast. Screaming and shouting filled the air, and the slide was starting to go steeper and faster, and that's when we hit ground.

I swore under my breath and looked up, scowling, having landed face first. I looked around, and saw were in a cave. There were two torches on one part of the wall and strange marks I figured were some kind of writing-some ancient, lost language only the gods knew.

"F*cking army knife," a voice muttered behind me. "Messed up the entire damned tunnel..."

"Suppose you have to change the rules now?" I asked, turning to Rachel.

She scowled. "Oh, hell no! I ain't changing the best Zombie Survival rules in history." She shook her head. "Now come on! Let's get this over with."'''

"Oh, and how, exactly, do we get there?" Luke said, annoyed. "It's not like there's a clear path straight to the castle."

Rachel glared at him. "What, are you afraid?" She rolled her eyes. "Males," she muttered. "Always complaining."

"He's got a point," Kelsey said. "What if we're attacked or can't make it to the castle?"

Rachel sighed. "Guys, I have this all planned out! It's all in that zombie survival guide! I've got a back up plan and I know a way out-which are rules forty-nine and twenty-two!"

"The rules aren't even complete," I said. "And what back up plan? You didn't even know we were coming here until, what, ten minutes ago?"

"I'm working on it!" she snapped. "Can we go now?"