The gym is situated at the back of the school. There are several buildings behind it, shops and a factory. No direct way through, except for a narrow alley included at the insistence of the local authorities.
Trev's ducking through a small door when I catch up. The others have gone ahead. He looks back as I rush after him, afraid I'm a zombie. He smiles fleetingly when he recognizes me, then stands aside and lets me pass.
"This way!" he yells, waving his arms over his head.
"What are you doing?" I snap.
"We've got to help the rest of them," he pants.
I study the scores of students fighting with those who've been turned into zombies. Lots are trying to escape through the main doors. Some are trying to climb the walls, to get to the skylight windows that lead to the roof, but they've no hope - too smooth, too high, no ladders or ropes. Others have collapsed mentally and huddle on the floor, weeping, praying, shaking their heads, hoping the zombies will leave them alone or that they'll wake up and find out this was just a dream.
"Forget about them," I tell Trev.
"But we can't just - "
"If you keep on shouting, you'll alert the zombies. You want them coming after us?" He stares at me, tears in his eyes. "Best thing we can do is get out and call for help, Trev. It's their only hope."
Trev looks around the gym, then curses and shoves through after me.
We're in a small corridor, me, Trev, Ballydefeck, Suze, La Lips, Elephant, Meths, Linzer, Copper, Stagger Lee, Pox, Dunglop. Tyler's with us too, and a few others, two black guys, an Indian, three Muslims, a white kid called Rick.
"Where's Kray?" Trev asks.
"One of them got him," Suze sobs. "It cracked his head open. I saw it... his brains... it..."
"What the hell's going on?" the tallest of the black kids roars. "How'd they get in? Where'd they come from? I thought they only came out at night."
We stare at him in silence. Then I shrug. "We'll ask questions later. Let's get out of here before the brain-munching bastards find us."
We hurry down the corridor. The emergency exit's at the end. It opens out into the alley that runs between the two buildings behind the school. I've been through it a few times during fire drills. Never thought I'd have to do this for real, or that I'd be running from zombies, not a fire.
Ballydefeck gets to the door first. He slams down on the access bar and pushes.
Nothing happens.
"Out of the way," the tall black guy snaps. He bangs the bar down and shoves hard.
Nothing happens.
"Everyone," I shout. "Push together."
We crowd around the door. I get some fingers on the bar. It slides down smoothly when we push but the door doesn't give, not even a crack.
"Forget the bar," Trev says. "Focus on the door."
We strain, silent, red-faced, sweating, shoving with everything we have.
The door doesn't move.
"It's jammed shut," Ballydefeck says.
"Can we cut through?" Tyler asks.
"With what?" Pox yells. He got his nickname because of the spattering of facial scars left behind when he had the chicken pox. The scars aren't normally very prominent, but now that his face is scrunched up with terror, he looks like a rabid monkey. I almost make a joke out of it, but this isn't the time to be a wiseass.
"We're all gonna die," La Lips wails.
"Shut up," I tell her. "Trev?" I look to him, hoping he'll have an answer.
"There's another exit to the alley on this side of the building, on the floor above," he says. "Or there's the front door."
"Which do you think we should - "
A scream stops me. My head whips around. A small girl is dangling from Pox's right arm, teeth locked on his flesh, chewing her way down to the bone.
Pox screams again and slams the girl into the wall. She doesn't let go. He jabs at her face with the fingers of his free hand. In a swift movement she releases him and snaps at his fingers. Catches them and grinds down. Pox screams louder and falls to his knees.
I start towards them but the black kid who beat me to the bar beats me to the girl too. There's a flick knife in his right hand. He slashes the blade across the girl's chest. She loses interest in Pox and pushes her attacker away. Looks at the gash in her chest. Gurgles, then throws herself at the teenager with the knife.