Death's Awakening

Chapter Fifty-One: Crash

Crash pulled the Hot Pocket out of the microwave and tossed it onto a paper plate. Dang, those suckers got hot. He blew on his fingers to cool them off.

It wasn't the healthiest meal, but he'd become addicted to these things when he'd started gaming.

If only the zombie fight he was watching on his screen now was a game.

He took a bite and sauce oozed out onto his desk.

"Damn," he muttered, jumping up to grab a paper towel from the kitchen.

"Everything okay over there?" Noah's voice shouted through the speakers.

"Yep," he said, wiping up the red sauce and tossing the napkin in the trash. "Just had a minor food accident, but all is well. How are you guys doing? Is the room clear?"

"Yeah, the office is cleared out. We're about to head back into the street. Can you see anything on any of the security cameras or infrared? Or are we clear?"

Crash sat down again and studied his live video of the streets surrounding the office building where Noah and the others were hiding. "Actually, it looks like you've got a pretty clear shot right now. All you have to do is head back out onto Florida Avenue and look for Trinidad Avenue somewhere to your right. You're still a couple blocks from my apartment, but if you hurry, you should make it here before the sun sets completely."

"I'm not going back out there. Why can't we just stay in here for the night? We already cleared the room. We could lock the doors and wait it out. I do not want to risk going outside with the sun already starting to set. Look how dark it is out there."

That was Barbie talking. She always had some objection or complaint.

Spoiled little rich girl.

"It's up to you guys what you wanna do," Crash said, leaning back in his chair. "You'll just be a hell of a lot safer here in my apartment where there's food, water, electricity, and most importantly, sturdy locks."

"We're on our way," Parrish said. "Even if I have to drag Karmen there by her ponytail. Just stay on the phone and help guide us to your place. If we stay here, we might not make it through the night."

Crash chuckled. He was starting to like this Parrish girl.

"Fine," Karmen said, obvious distaste in her tone. "But if we die, don't say I didn't warn you."

Crash took another bite of food and watched his new friends on two different security cameras as they came back into view on the street outside the building. They had taken quite a beating from their fight with the Z's in the office. Noah looked like he had taken a bath in blood. And Barbie? Well, her perfect blond curls were matted together in sticky clumps. She was definitely going to need a shower when she got to his house. He briefly considered the thought of putting a secret camera in the bathroom. That girl might be a pain, but she was smokin' hot.

Crash laughed and shook his head, finishing his dinner and throwing the plate in the trash can under his desk. He couldn't really do that to her, but man, the thought of seeing her naked sent his temperature up a few degrees. Too bad she was so annoying. Especially since she was likely one of the last women on earth at this point.

He grabbed a bottle of soda from the mini-fridge and took a long hard drink. Out of the corner of his eye, something lit up on the infrared scanner. Just a second ago, it had been completely blank except for the three of them. Now, besides his friends, there were five distinct figures.

And they were bright. Like, impossibly bright. Crash moved to the edge of his seat, his toes tapping. Something had to be wrong. He reconnected with the infrared in his mind to run a diagnostic, but everything seemed to be functioning fine. He leaned in to study the images more closely.

Their shapes looked basically human, but there was no way a human could be that hot unless they were literally on fire.

He needed to pull up the spot with his regular satellite feed or a camera so he could see exactly what it was.

"Hold on a second, guys. There's something really weird on the infrared."

"What is it?" Noah asked.

"I told you," Karmen said. "Just wait. We're all going to die, and it's going to be Parrish's fault. I told you we should have just—"

"How would it be my fault? I'm not the one who destroyed the military convoy," Parrish said. "Besides, I never forced you to come here."

Crash was only half listening to their conversation. He could move the satellite image around with his mouse, but pinpointing the exact location of whatever was giving off the heat signature wasn't easy. Whatever was out there had disappeared inside the building and he couldn't get a good look at them.

But their images were still showing up on the infrared even though they were deep inside the stairwell. Holy crap.

They were headed downstairs. Fast.

"Guys," he said, trying to keep his voice calm so they didn't panic. "I think you need to get out of there."

"What is it?" Parrish asked.

"I don't know exactly," he said. "Zombies maybe, but not like anything we've seen so far. They're giving off a crazy high heat signature."

"Wait," Noah said. "I thought you told us that the zombies don't give off any kind of heat signature."

"They don't," he said, tapping his foot nervously. He didn't have time to explain, not that he could anyway. He needed to get them out of there before they got killed. "But these do. I don't know why, and right now, I don't care. Just get your butts moving people."

He zoomed the satellite image back out so that he could watch his friends and make sure they were on the move. The tightness in his gut had him seriously regretting the Hot Pocket.

The bright hot infrared images kept moving downward. One of them so fast, it was like watching lightning streak across his screen. He clicked from screen to screen, trying to make sense of what was happening. Had the fast one already reached the ground floor?

"Oh, my God," he heard Karmen yell. "What is that?"

"Holy shit, everybody get back in the building. Now!" The raw fear in Noah's voice sent a chill up Crash's spine.

He watched as the strange zombies separated and made their move. Over the other end of the line, he heard the sound of gunshots and his insides churned. He couldn't just sit here and watch his friends die. He had to do something.

"Try to find a safe place, barricade yourselves in," he told them. "I'm on my way."

He stood fast, knocking the chair over behind him. He searched through the mess on top of his desk, looking for the keys to his truck.

Then, something caught his attention on the screen in the top left. Another heat signature. This time, a human one. Someone small and curled into a ball in the corner of one of the rooms in the building.

He swallowed, his eyes growing larger.

"The fifth," he whispered.

He'd dreamed this.

His hands grew sweaty, his breath shallow.

He moved a stack of papers out of the way and grabbed the set of silver keys. Turning, he nearly stumbled over the chair as he ran toward the garage, his heart racing.

This was it. Everything he'd been preparing for. Everything he'd been dreaming about. It all came down to this night. He had to save his friends and then he had to save the fifth.

Thank you for reading Death's Awakening!