Trepidation by Chrissy Peebles Page B

darkness.
    “Dean?” I heard a voice call from behind me.
    “Val?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Get up! There’s something in here with us!”
    “Wh-where are we?” she groggily asked. “Something’s dripping on me,” she said.
    “Get up!” I said, repeating my command more sternly. “I know your mind is foggy, but there’s a zombie in here. I need you to fight. We’ve gotta take it down. Besides, I need your eyes!”
    “Dean...” she said.
    I followed her voice. “You’ve gotta get on your feet, sis,” I said, feeling around for her. When I felt her arm, I shook it. “Wake up!”
    “I can’t open my eyes. In my pocket. There are keys, with a little flashlight on them. Max gave it to me.”
    More footsteps shuffled around, and I almost threw up as they came nearer. “Val, you’ve gotta open your eyes and see how many there are!” I frantically said. “Do you see anything we can use as weapons?”
    She didn’t answer.
    At that point, I was sure she’d blacked out again, and I figured I’d have to fight the threat off by myself. I reached into Val’s pocket and grabbed the apartment keys, fumbling with my nervous fingers for the little flashlight. When I found it, I was glad to see that it let off quite an impressive LED beam for such a tiny little thing. I shined it around the dark barn, but I didn’t see any zombies. Of course, I didn’t see any suitable weapons either, nothing but hay and walls constructed of old and decaying wood. “Wouldn’t you know it?” I complained to myself. “In those Jason movies, there’s always a pitchfork or a shovel or something. Why isn’t it like that in real life?” I knew I had heard something, so I glanced around again. “They aren’t smart enough to hide,” I reasoned, “unless...” The thought of it being a hybrid caused me to sweat profusely, and I wiped by brow. 
    When the low growl pierced the air again, I knew I had to get myself and Val out of there in a hurry. I’d never been so scared and disoriented before. Even if it was only one zombie, being trapped in that dark, dank, unfamiliar place with no weapons was a nightmare all its own. The increasing dread only made it harder to suck in air, but I knew I had to push beyond the fear, for myself, for Val, and for the others. “Breathe,” I told myself.
    In a blur, something shot toward me.
    My heart stopped.
    It barked, and I let out a sigh of relief as the German Shepherd sat down by my feet, a friendly, furry beast who just wanted to check me out. I patted its head, still trying to get my breath back, and then I rushed back over to Val. I flashed the little light she gave me and gasped.
    It was at that moment that I caught sight of something so gruesome, so horrible that I would never ever forget it: dead human bodies dangling from meat hooks, like deer carcasses in a hunter’s garage. They looked fresh and were still dripping crimson blood that splashed the hay beneath them. It became instantly clear to me that Rita had lied about her family being away for over a week, because she couldn’t possibly have killed all those people and hoisted them up there by herself. I was horrified when I realized it wasn’t rain I’d felt dripping on me earlier; the thought made me gag, and I had to fight the urge not to vomit. Clearly, the barn we’d been thrown into was a makeshift butcher shop, and we were next on the chopping block. 
    “Val,” I said, “you’ve gotta wake up!”
    She didn’t budge.
    Just as I was considering throwing her over my shoulder to carry her out, the door creaked open. The beam from a flashlight poured in, and heavy shoes crunched on grit and rocks, carrying a group of armed men inside.
    I quickly shut off the mini-flashlight, lay down, and played dead. There was no way I could take on such a group by myself, so I just remained completely still, not even breathing. When a huge glob of blood dripped onto my forehead, I didn’t dare wipe it off. I opened my eyes just a slit