The university’s gym building was large and very spacious, yet from what Grey recalled, it only had two ways in and out.
It was a perfect place to hide from the horde... And also not a very good place to be trapped in, if the horde decided leaving was not on their itinerary.
Grey hoped not.
Mrs Blossom had instructed Richard and Taylor to assist Grey in the inspection of the gym building.
The reason, no one needed to explain to understand.
Grey turned to Bolt and patted his loyal hound along its soft, roughened fur. "Stay here and protect the group."
Its tongue rolled out as its tail wagged, two proud barks escaping its maw in agreement with its master’s command.
Richard watched from a few feet away, a wet napkin in hand, running it along the body of his bat with careful precision to wipe off the lingering stains of red.
"Wow, I don’t know if that should be considered amazing or troubling." His voice was anxious, mostly hopeful, and it caught Grey’s full attention, who met it with a skeptical look.
Richard pulled back a little, lips curling crookedly. "I don’t mean it any... uhhh... bad way, I just—" He dropped the rag and scratched the back of his head.
"You know, the mutated so far attack to kill us. How does your dog still have its... uhhh... I’m not good at biology, but how does it still have its brain?"
{Ding}
{Bloodline System: Form a bond with Richard to copy his ability}
{Progress: 1%, Richard is curious}
Grey did not spend too much time staring at the notification. He raised an eyebrow instead and stared at Richard for a moment. "His name is Bolt. He won’t kill anyone unless he feels they’re a danger to me. I don’t know if his mutation is something to be worried about, but he’s my dog, and I take full responsibility for him."
Richard’s face squeezed itself, as though trying to hold back a smile. "I like that. I’ll acknowledge that, Mr... Dagger. I hope you show us as much hospitality as you show your... uhhh. Bolt."
"Let’s go, we have little to no time to waste," Taylor finally interrupted, moving to the front of their sights, as though cutting between their stares.
She had her eyes on Grey, scanning him from head to toe, then Bolt, a smile forming across her lips as she hefted the newly crude weapon in her grasp — a wet piece of bone, a femur she had carved, without a doubt, from a zombie that had been killed. "Nice mutt."
Grey’s shoulders shrugged with a shiver from the cold, then he huffed out through his lips, "Let’s get this over with."
’Before we all freeze to death...’
The three reached the door of the gym building, meters from where the group had been, finally shielded from the sheets of rain pouring down from the horrid, unforgiving weather.
Now under the canopy of the gym building, the three lined themselves up before the large steel double doors of the gymnasium.
Richard was in the lead, his massive, explosive strength giving him the obvious advantage — and the obvious choice — to be the front line.
Grey watched from behind him, his dagger grasped firmly, while Taylor stayed at the rear, a white, glistening coat of ice running along the surface of the femur, making it thicker and far more dangerous.
Grey only spared her a short look, but he could tell she was growing stronger from her repeated use of her ability against the zombie horde.
Finally, they made their move on the gym.
Richard sprang forward at the doors with full force, his monstrous strength forcing the large double doors, locked until then, open with a horrible thud.
Then the three of them rushed into the massive structure, ready for the worst the world would throw at them.
But almost as soon as they took a few steps in, they froze.
The gym building was surprisingly... empty.
Grey stared past the vast basketball court, which consumed a fourth of the gym’s space, untouched, then past the gym equipment — weights, bars, and other machines — toward the four corners of the room....
There was absolutely nothing...
"It’s empty." Richard stated the obvious, straightening himself and letting his bat drop to swing loose from his arm.
’We came through the back door, this should be expected... But... still,’ Grey did not want to let his guard down. He scanned through the entire place once more, in search of anything out of place.
But no, there was nothing...
If anything, it looked more than in place — arranged, well kept, even warm compared to the freezing cold of the endless rain outside.
Which should have all been normal, Grey told himself.
Taylor sniffed once, then again, her eyes flicking toward Grey as four words quickly escaped her lips.
"Why is it warm?"
The hilt of his dagger groaned as his grip tightened over it. Grey’s stance formed again, and so did Richard’s.
Yes, he couldn’t be wrong about it... His gut feeling had been screaming it at him, and now even Taylor sensed it too.
’Why in hell would a large, spacious room be warm, even without the slightest influence of electricity.’
And then, his answer came...
Wham!
Wham!
Then a deep, guttural growl rolled across the room.
Their gazes turned, and there it stood.
A zombie?
No... Something far worse.
Something none of them had ever seen. It was a large form that looked human, but wasn’t.
It had two heads. One belonged to a woman — large, busty, her body so massive it looked as though it could swallow three of Grey whole — her arms unnaturally long, long enough to drag their knuckles across the tiled ground with every lurching step. Then it had another head... or, more appropriately put, another body attached to its being.
A boy, skinny, about the same age as Grey and the other two, his upper body down to his torso rooted deep into the underbelly of the woman, flesh melted into flesh as though something had fused the two of them mid-transformation and never bothered to finish the job.
Grey felt his entire body convulse, his face contorting, something thick and violent climbing up his throat at the sight of it, like he might throw up everything inside him.
’Oh God... Dear God...’
What was this abomination?
They watched the monstrosity drag its body across the floor, slow, uneven, and clearly painful, trying to reach them. Both heads snarled, the boy’s hands — still rooted into the woman’s flesh — stretching out toward them, yearning for the taste of the three standing before it.
Whatever this was... whatever the calamity had left behind... this. Grey stared into the eyes of both zombified beings and shook his head. This was a painful curse to look at.
Richard was not reacting to this any better than he was. He stepped back, eyelids faltering, his bat slipping loose from his shaking hands.
Grey and Taylor turned to stare at him, and for a brief moment no one said anything.
The only things that filled the gym were the monstrous growls from the zombies, the low, wet noise of flesh dragging across the ground, and the sound of rain crashing into the roof of the structure.
Then Taylor spoke. "What... is wrong, Richard?"
Richard lingered for a moment, bit his lip slightly, and then he spoke. "That’s the cafeteria lady. She served lunch to us when we visited the gym."
Grey nodded, taking a look at the cafeteria lady, who was now an obese lump of flesh dragging itself across the ground. ’Makes sense, Richard’s a sports person... still...’
What was the story concerning the other zombie, planted within the woman’s abdomen?
Was she pregnant? Grey was curious.
"That’s Tim..." Richard’s voice was shaky, his eyes fluttering as he took two hesitant steps back.
Grey turned back to the woman once again, and a sigh of understanding left his lips. ’I see... he was doing it with the cafeteria lady...’
Fwoom!
The glacier-covered femur tore through the air.
The creature didn’t even have time to react.
Crack!
The frozen weapon punched through one skull and buried itself deep into the floor behind it.
The two snarling heads went still.
Then the entire mass collapsed with a wet, heavy thud.
Everything went silent at that moment. The sound of the dragging, the snarls from both zombies... all gone.
All that remained were the sounds of rain crashing into the roofing of the gym building.
No one moved, save Taylor, who turned around, sighed, and left with a few words to the two.
"I’ll get the others."
Her footfalls receded from them both.
Richard, at this moment, collapsed to his knees, his teeth grinding, yet he did his best to keep a straight face.
Grey, on the other hand, exhaled through his lips, and closed his eyes as he whispered to himself, ’I survived.’