Last Man Standing: Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four
XXIV

Kelsey FIsher

Kidnapped 

The trip up the stairs was, in fact, a really long trip. To me, it seemed like we would never even make it to the top, but eventually I was starting to see daylight. Rachel was in the front of the group leading us up the stairs. I was just somewhere in the middle of the group. Finally, I could see more daylight, and it was kind of blinding after being in the dark Underworld for a while. I shielded my eyes with my hand so I could see. Staring up at the exit as we continued to ascend the stairs, I faintly saw a shadowy figure cross just outside the exit. My first thought was that it was a zombie because it didn’t look big enough to be a werewolf, and it probably was a zombie since there were about seven billion of them.

When we finally reached to top of the stairs after who knows how long, there was nothing but lifeless, abandoned city streets and the wind, but that silence was soon broken by the sound of moaning and growling. I turned in a circle looking all around me to see which direction the sound came from and I could see that many of the others in the group were doing the same. It wasn’t just one side that the sound came from though, it was from all sides. The army of both zombies and werewolves was quickly closing in on us.

I turned to the group and asked, “So, um, what do you guys think we should do?” I glanced back at the army. We didn’t have much time before they got close enough to attack, and I was sure all of those zombies and werewolves were pretty hungry. I pulled out my sword in case the zombies attacked before we came up with a plan and looked at the others. The undead army was too close now to try and make a plan, so I just swung my sword and sliced off the head of the nearest zombie. I guessed that was an unspoken plan because everyone else started slicing at the zombies and werewolves too.

Soon, I was just slashing and slicing right and left, not truly paying attention to how far I was getting from the others. That was probably because I was focusing hard on not being turned into one of the undead. I’m not sure at what point in time I realized it, but I couldn’t see anyone that I knew was still living. At least I hoped they were still living. I continued my part in fighting off the undead army, but there were too many. I was sweating hard, I was out of breath, and I just wanted to drop down to the ground on the spot and sleep for a long time, dreaming about anything but this nightmare. I knew that I couldn’t though. To give into that want would mean to be turned into one of the undead, and I really didn’t want to do that.

Off to my right, I suddenly heard a scream, and it was definitely a girl’s scream, but it was quickly cut off by who-knows-what. That brought me back to the reality of exhaustion that continued to build on me with every zombie and werewolf I killed, and because of that I let myself slip into limpness. My mind was filled once more with the great need to slip into the unconsciousness of sleep. I knew I couldn’t fight forever and it still seemed like the undead army had hundreds upon hundreds more. I was worn out, but my adrenaline spiked when I felt a hand clasp over my mouth and something poke into my left arm for a couple seconds. I squirmed and kicked and punched, but I suddenly got drowsy and the world started to spin. I had been tranquilized. The world stopped spinning for just a split second, and in that time I was able to see my kidnapper, a boy with brown hair and blue-gray eyes, and then the world went black.

The next thing I knew, I woke up. The first thing I noticed was that I was in a cage of some sort. Then I looked over and saw that Rachel, Elicia, and Denise were here too.

“Do you guys have any idea where we are?” I asked them.

“We’re in a cage at a zoo in New York, I think,” Elicia answered.

“Um, ok then, why?” I asked. I must’ve been out longer than they had been.

“We’re being held hostage or something like that, I guess,” Rachel replied. Wonderful, I thought, We’re being held hostage in a zoo possibly in New York while the world is infested with zombies. I had no idea how this whole situation was going to get any better, but I also didn’t know how it could possibly get any worse.