A low growling sound came from inside one of the nearby lockers. All of us jumped. Something thumped against the sheet metal. Then it thumped again, harder. Something was trying to get out. I put the EOTech on the center of the locker. Trip was saying something under his breath, repeating the same thing over and over, and I realized he was praying. “What is it?”

“Her name was Amy. She was on the softball team, sophomore, good kid. Bright future.” Trip’s whole body was shaking. “She was the only survivor outside. I came in here to call for help, but I could hear more of them ahead. This locker was open, so I told her to get inside. I closed the door and told her to stay real quiet…I didn’t know what else to do. I thought they wouldn’t be able to get to her.”

The locker rocked. The metal frame was bending around the latch. The zombie inside couldn’t get enough range of motion to break itself free.

“Don’t cry. Don’t cry. I’ll get help. Just stay quiet and they won’t know you’re here…” Trip whispered.

“She had already been bitten, hadn’t she?”

“I didn’t know what to do back then, Z. I did the best I could.”

Edward stepped forward, lifted his sword about head high, and drove it cleanly through the sheet metal. He wrenched it around then pulled out the blade, now coated in fresh blood. The moaning stopped. The locker was still.

There was a sudden bang as a door further inside the school was opened. Someone screamed.

“This is how it happened…Exactly how it happened,” Trip said. “This is exactly how it happened. They all died last time.” The screaming continued. It sounded like a young woman, high-pitched and terrified.

“Focus, Trip. Listen to me, man.” I grabbed him by the shoulder. “Don’t let him mess with your head. It’s not real.”

“What if it is? We don’t know who else is in here.” Desperate, he knocked my hand away. There was more crashing as furniture was knocked over, followed by the groans of the hungry dead. Then there was a chorus of screams. “I can save them this time.” Trip took off in a sprint.

I should’ve seen that coming. “Damn it, Trip!” I shouted after my friend. “Stop!” I couldn’t have tackled him if I wanted to. Trip was way faster than I was. “Hell. Come on,” I told the other two.