The Monster Apocalypse Read online

  The teacher had just stepped out of the vehicle, but he was already back in again. He turned on the ignition and waited for Ash to push Brin into the middle, and Crispin up against the left window.

  “What are they doing?” Mr. Barker asked, ready as ever to speed back onto the road. But Valerie looked out of breath and needed assistance from Anaya. They barely made it to the passenger door, when Brin turned her head around to see the zombies marching closer and closer, a mere football stadium’s length away.

  She almost turned back to the front, when she heard a strange noise coming from the back. Brin moved over the seat and peered down to see Dylan and Brent kissing hardcore.

  Brin was right—the boys had been going at it. But she was still shocked. “Are you serious? You’re going to do this now, Dylan? There are children present!”

  “I’m sorry,” Dylan said, as Brent immediately pulled away. “I can’t help it. I’m so scared. I needed comfort. I needed—”

  “We weren’t kissing,” Brent said, scooting against the back door. “It’s not what you think.”

  “What?” Dylan stared at the sports editor in bewilderment. “Don’t go there, Brent. Not for one second would I believe you didn’t enjoy that—”

  “I’m not gay.”

  “No? Let me guess. You’re bi.”

  Dylan crossed his arms angrily and glanced out the back window. He stayed put only for a second or two, before he looked back at Brin.

  “Uhh, Brin?”

  “What?”

  “Is it my imagination, or are those zombies headed for the car?”

  Brin turned back toward the front, where Anaya was planting her butt on the passenger seat. Valerie was still outside.

  “What are you imbeciles doing?” Brin shouted.

  “Where should Valerie go?” Mr. Barker asked. “There’s no room!”

  “Your lap!” said Brin. “Anaya, put her on your lap!”

  Anaya nodded, leaned down, and pulled the miniscule Valerie up onto the passenger side. Brin was thankful the girl was tiny; if she hadn’t been, she would’ve had to sprawl out over her, Ash, and Crispin, and that would not have been fun.

  Anaya closed the door, and before it had even shut all the way, Mr. Barker slammed his foot against the pedal.

  “Everybody hang on!” the teacher shouted, just as the zombie at the front of the pack reached for the back window.

  The car pulled out onto the road, swerved around a hole in the ground, and zoomed forward, just in time, leaving the hundreds of zombies behind to fend for themselves.

  “That was close,” Mr. Barker said.

  “Too close,” Ash added.

  Brin planted her hands against her sides. “Do we really need to have all these close calls? Honestly, people!”

  Mr. Barker nodded at the new passenger. “Nice to see you, Valerie.”

  “Nice to see you, Mr. Barker.” Valerie glanced at Anaya, then turned around and looked at Ash and Brin, and Dylan, who had his head poked over the back seat. “Look at this. An Intro to Film reunion.”

  “It sure is,” Ash said. “You want to get caught up with what’s been going on?”

  “That would be great,” Valerie said.

  As Ash started to tell the girl, or the troll—whatever she was—everything, Brin leaned against the back of the driver’s seat and tapped Mr. Barker on the shoulder.

  “What is it, Brin?”

  “Are you getting on the freeway?”

  “I was thinking about it,” he said. “But I’m also wondering where we can get a larger vehicle. This car can’t fit eight people. If we’re going to be driving all the way to Bodie, we need something more sizeable—”

  “My dad has a van,” Crispin said, pushing against Brin’s side, obviously wanting to be a part of the conversation. “Well, he did.”

  Brin looked at the boy, not knowing what to say. She just kissed his cheek and patted him on the back.

  “How big of a van?” Mr. Barker asked.

  “Well, we have a big family. I’ve got one younger brother and two younger sisters. An older half-sister in college. My mom. Colin—” He stopped again, looking like he might cry.

  “That is a big family, Crispin,” Mr. Barker said.

  “Yeah,” he said, staying strong. “The van has eight seats total, I’m almost positive.”

  “That’s perfect,” Mr. Barker said. He pulled up to the freeway on-ramp but didn’t get on. “Do you know where we can get this van?”

  “Yeah. It’s parked on the curb in front of our driveway. We live in Diablo Shadows.”

  Brin grinned at the boy. “Really? You live there, too?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Well, we just moved there last summer. We used to live in Doom Creek.”

  “Small world,” Brin said.

  “Small town,” Ash specified.

  “OK then,” said Mr. Barker. “Diablo Shadows it is. Brin, can you tell me how to get there?”

  “Yes. Just go left here, and take Sharp Knife Way for about two miles. The entrance to the neighborhood is on your left.”

  “Excellent,” Mr. Barker said. “We’ll get the van, and then we’ll be on our way. Step one is to get out of Grisly—but step two? We’re headed to Bodie.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Barker. This means so much to me. You know… you really are the best teacher I’ve ever had.”

  Mr. Barker chuckled, then stopped talking—and stayed focused on the road. Brin sat back in her seat and put her arm around Crispin. She was proud of the boy. And she was grateful he was still alive.

  Brin looked at Anaya, who was making meaningless chit-chat with her new bestie, Valerie. Brin turned around and looked behind the back seat, to see Dylan and Brent having made up, right back to kissing again.

  “Am I the only one without a lover?” Brin whispered.

  Ash looked at her. “What’d you say?”

  “Nothing.” Brin looked out the window. Then she focused her gaze on Ash. She stared at him for a few seconds. She didn’t take her eyes off him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  While the once innovative and promising Grisly High School had become a dangerous zombie playground, the neighborhood of Diablo Shadows was as serene and soundless as the day Brin moved into it when she was six years old. The trees and grass were as brown as the dirt mountains above, but there was a charm to the winding streets and non-cookie-cutter two-story homes. Best of all—no one in the car could spot a zombie or a vampire, or even a traipsing troll, anywhere.

  “Make a left here,” Crispin said, pointing toward a small cul-de-sac up ahead that Brin had only frequented in middle school when she was in her avid biking phase.

  Mr. Barker pulled up to an impressively large house, only one of the few three-story houses in the entire neighborhood. A big white van, similar in size and shape of Sawyer’s brown van the group had taken to Bodie Ghost Town the first time, but in every way more modern, was indeed parked out on the curb, just left of the driveway. Mr. Barker parked behind it.

  “OK, here we are,” he said. “Crispin, do you know where the keys are?”

  “That’s kind of important,” Anaya said, with a sigh and a clucking of her tongue.

  “Yes, my mom should have it,” he said. “Or it would be on the key ring inside.”

  “Is your mother home?” Mr. Barker asked, but he didn’t need the kid to give him a response. A loud slam of the front door of the house gave him his answer.

  All eight in the car looked out the car windows to see a middle-aged woman running toward Mr. Barker’s 4Runner, a disheveled, panicked expression on her tired face. She was halfway across the lawn, to the car, when Mr. Barker stepped out of the car.

  “Who are you?” the woman shouted. “Who are you, and what do you want—”

  “Ma’am, calm down,” Mr. Barker said. “We have your son. We have Crispin.”

  “You have my boy?”

  Crispin was the second to leap out of the car. He raced around the back of it and ran
all the way up to his mom. She took him in his arms and started weeping uncontrollably.

  “Oh, Crispin. Oh, honey, I knew you’d be all right!”

  “Mommy, I was so scared…”

  “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she said, kissing him all over his face. In any other situation, Brin figured, the middle schooler wouldn’t have wanted his mom giving him such a public display of affection, but she knew in this moment, the boy didn’t care. He was just happy to have his mom back.

  “Thank you,” Crispin’s mother said, looking first at Mr. Barker, then over at the car. “Well, I don’t know who to thank, but thanks, nonetheless. I had no idea where Crispin was. I’ve been calling all day, trying to reach his father, trying to reach his older brother. I’ve been worried sick.” She kissed him on the top of his forehead, then pointed to the car. “Is my other son in there? Colin? Or did he get a ride with his father?”

  Mr. Barker just stared at her. He didn’t know what to say. “I’m not… I’m not sure…”

  “The last time I talked to everybody they were on their way to Macabre Golf Course. For that tournament. My friends called me and told me there was some attack out on the course, and I went and investigated. When I couldn’t find anyone, I came back home. I figured they’d find their way back.” She smiled. “And I’m so glad they have.” She hugged her son again, and Crispin finally turned back to the vehicle.

  Brin wanted to step out into the late afternoon air, where it was getting colder and colder by the minute, the darkness of the night sky only an hour away, and tell Crispin’s mother everything. But she didn’t know how. She didn’t know the words she could find in her vocabulary to let this stranger down easily.

  “How do I tell someone her husband and child were murdered by zombies?” she whispered.

  But she knew she didn’t have a choice. She rested her hand on the door handle and started to open the door.

  Ash grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

  “No,” he said. “Don’t do it.”

  “This isn’t your decision, Ash. I have to tell the woman—”

  “If you do, we’ll never get out of here. She’ll call the police. We’ll all be in jail, and we won’t be able to save your mom, who’s still alive, who still needs us.”

  Brin liked arguing with Ash a lot—but on this point, she agreed with him. She rolled down the window and looked at Crispin, who nodded back to Brin, like he knew what he had to do, later, on his own.

  “Mom?” Crispin said.

  “Yes, honey?”

  “This is Mr. Barker,” the boy said. “This is one of Colin’s teachers at Grisly High.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, shaking the man’s hand.

  “And in the car… are my friends. One of them… Brin… saved my life.”

  “She what? Are you serious?”

  “Her mother’s in danger. They have a long drive ahead of them. And Mr. Barker here needs a bigger vehicle to fit everybody into. I was wondering, as a thank you to Brin for saving me, if we could lend them Dad’s van?”

  “You need the van?” the mother asked Mr. Barker.

  “My 4Runner only holds five people,” he said, “and we have seven now—and counting. We have a long drive ahead of us. It would mean the world to me if I could borrow your van. I’ll have it back to you by tomorrow, I promise.”

  “Oh,” the woman said. She looked down at her son, who had an innocent, pleading look on his adorable face. “Well, yes, we won’t be using it until our trip up to Graeagle next weekend. I’d be happy to lend it to you. As long as you promise to bring it back.”

  “You can count on us, Mrs. Cleaver,” Brin said, stepping out from the car and brushing past Mr. Barker’s side. She didn’t take Crispin’s mother’s hand in hers. She hugged the lady with all her might.

  Brin tried not to cry. But the tears came. As soon as she rested her chin against the woman’s shoulder, all the nightmarish flashbacks returned, like the grisly death of Clyde Cleaver, and the gruesome return of a zombie-fied Colin. They entered her mind like a flourish of nauseating bad memories.

  “I’m sorry,” Brin said, wiping tears from her cheeks.

  “Sorry about what, honey?” the mother asked. “Don’t be. You saved my son’s life. You have nothing to be sorry about.”

  Brin backed away from the woman, then leaned down and hugged Crispin. “You did good today, little guy.”

  “Yeah? Well, I wouldn’t be here without you, Brin,” he said. “You’re my hero, you know.”

  Another tear trickled down her cheek. “You take care of your mom, OK? And all your brothers and sisters. I know they need you right now.”

  He nodded. “I will.”

  Mrs. Cleaver turned around and headed back toward the front of her house. “I’ll get the keys to the van. I apologize but I think it might be low on gas.”

  “That’s quite all right,” Mr. Barker said. “Thanks again for your help.”

  When Crispin’s mom disappeared into the house, Brin kneeled down and looked the boy in the eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want us to tell your mom what happened—”

  “I’ll tell her,” the boy said. “I’ll wait until after you guys leave.”

  Brin shook her head and rested her hand against his cheek. “You really are strong, you know that? A lot stronger than I am, that’s for sure.”

  “What are you talking about?” Crispin said, with a smile. “You’re the strongest one of them all.”

  “Got them!” Crispin’s mom returned to the lawn and tossed the keys to Mr. Barker.

  He caught them and nodded. “It was nice to meet you,” he said to Crispin’s mother. Then he glanced at the boy. “And you, too, Crispin.”

  “Be careful,” the boy said, as his mom wrapped her arms around him.

  “We will,” Mr. Barker said, and walked back to his 4Runner. He knocked on the side a few times and said, “All right! Everyone out! We’re transferring over to the van!”

  “Awesome,” Valerie said.

  “Great,” said Ash.

  “Can Brent and I still have the back to ourselves?” Dylan asked.

  Everybody stepped out of Mr. Barker’s car and walked over to the white van, which looked in need of a thorough wash.

  Brin looked back at Crispin one more time. “I’ll talk to you soon, OK?”

  “You better,” he said. “Come back safe. All of you, please come back safe.”

  “We will,” Brin said. She leaned over, kissed the boy on his forehead, and walked over to the van.

  The last of the group had already found their spots in the giant vehicle. It didn’t look like it held eight people—it appeared to hold twice as many. But Brin looked inside to see that everyone had a spot: Dylan and Brent in the back; Anaya, Valerie, and Ash in the middle, and Mr. Barker in the driver’s seat. The front passenger seat was available.

  “Anaya?” Brin said. “You don’t want the front?”

  “No,” she said, being extra touchy-feely with Valerie. “I’m fine here. You can have it.”

  “OK, thanks.”

  Brin went to reach for the door handle, when she caught her image reflected in the window. She looked awful—with the mix of tears and grime and golf course tumbles and zombie slashings all over her face, Brin didn’t think she even looked human anymore. She thought she looked like she was wearing a cavewoman Halloween costume, a complete mess of bad fashion, dirty skin, and wild hair creating the unfortunate get-up. Brin sighed as she looked at herself; Halloween was still another ten months away.

  She shook her head and started to open the door, when she looked at her hair again. It had gone nuts for sure, like she had tried straightening portions of it in a microwave for one too many minutes. But it wasn’t so much the volume, or the styling of the hair that bothered her. It was the color.

  “Ash was right,” she whispered to herself, gazing at the left side of her head.

  “Brin, are you getting in?” Mr. Barker asked.
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br />   “Yes,” Brin said, examining the strands of blood-colored hair. She didn’t understand it. But now was not the time for contemplating this unexplained (and apparently free) red hair dye apparently mixing in with all the black. “Yes, I’m coming.”

  She sat down on the passenger seat and slammed the door. She sighed, and leaned her head back against the headrest.

  Brin looked to her left. Mr. Barker was staring at her.

  “What?” Brin asked.

  “Your hair. It’s turning red.”

  “Can we not talk about this, please? Just go.”

  He opened his mouth to say more, but he stopped himself. He put the car in reverse and backed up into the driveway. Brin turned around to catch one last look at Crispin as he walked into the house with his mom. He looked sad that he wasn’t staying with the group as they continued on with their adventure, but also relieved to be finally home.

  Brin sighed. She already missed him.

  Mr. Barker exited the cul-de-sac and made a left, instead of going straight.

  “You’re going the wrong way,” Brin said.

  “Oh, crap, really? I thought we came in this way.”

  “No, but it’s fine. You can get out on this road, too. Just make a right at the stop sign up ahead.”

  Mr. Barker turned onto the thin neighborhood street and started making his way toward the front of the neighborhood. He didn’t speed up or look anxious to get out of the city; he drove at a mere 25 MPH, like he wanted to enjoy these last few quiet moments in Grisly, Nevada—like he knew he was never coming back.

  Brin looked out the window. They were about to pass by her residence, but she didn’t plan on asking her Film teacher to stop the giant vehicle. She knew they all needed to be on their way, that too much time had been already taken to get to this point.

  But Brin also didn’t expect to see the car in the driveway.

  “Mr. Barker?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Could you stop?”

  “What?”

  “Just for a second. This is my house up on the right.”

  “Brin, if you need to use the bathroom, can we at least get out of Grisly first? We can make a stop in Carson City—”

  “No, please. I just need a minute.”