- Previous Episode: The Last Curse - Episode 4
I couldn’t die like this. I just couldn’t! Being eaten by Mrs Ibe was so not a cool way to go.
I jerked my body, trying to throw her off me, but she held onto me. My panic stained mind searched for a weapon, a stick, a pen, anything. There was a broken mop stick lying not far from me but my hands couldn’t reach it. I dragged myself towards it, even with Mrs Ibe’s weight on me. Finally, I got a hold of it. Just as Mrs Ibe was about to take a bite from my shoulders, with full force, I shoved the sharp end of the broken mop stick into Mrs Ibe, not noticing where I’d shoved it into until I’d gotten her off me and moved away from her.
One end of the mop stick stuck out of her neck. Black blood bubbled in her mouth and dribbled down her chin. She paused only a moment to notice the stick through her neck. But then she started towards me again. The broken stick protruding out of her throat had been just a momentary distraction; Mrs Ibe the Zombie was not flinching or crying or in pain or better yet, dead.
She came at me in full force and just when I thought, “Oh, shit, she’s going to eat my face,” someone slammed into me from the side and we both landed heavily on the terrazzo floor. For a second I thought it was another flesh eater and started struggling but then I heard Frank’s voice saying, “It’s ok, it’s me.”
Mrs Ibe slammed into the wall where I’d been standing just seconds ago. The impact made the wall crack; paint and plaster crumpled off the wall.
“That could have been me.” I whispered hoarsely. Frank got to his feet and pulled me up.
We barely had time to gain our balance when Mrs Ibe attacked us again, mouth snarling, spittle and blood flying. This time she concentrated on Frank. I looked around hoping to find a weapon and when I realised we were standing beside the Introductory Technology lab, I sent a prayer of thanks to God. I ran into the lab and grabbed the first weapon-like thing I saw, a hammer. When I got back out into the hallway, Frank was lying on his back, his arm protecting his face as Mrs Ibe tried to rip into him.
She grabbed his arm and sank teeth into it. Frank screamed out loud and for a moment it seemed like everything had frozen into place, like everything had paused. I saw Mrs Ibe’s teeth dig into the sleeves of Frank’s jacket and my heart slowed down. My fear receded and a kind of calmness descended on me. There was only one absolute fact in that moment. There was just one thing I had to do.
Kill that thing.
I strode closer and with a two arm grip, slammed the hammer into the head of the thing that had been Mrs Ibe. She released him and fell to the ground. I hit her head again with the hammer. And this time I heard the sickening and sucking sound of her skull caving in. Blood and white particles splashed on my face. I slammed the hammer into her head again and again to make sure she was well and truly dead.
Someone grabbed my arm and I jerked the person off.
“Mimi, she’s dead. You’ve killed her. She’s already dead.” Frank said quietly. My breath was coming out too fast, so I tried to slow it down. My arms were trembling from holding up the hammer, so I dropped my arms to my side but never let go of the hammer. I blinked several times and looked around me in confusion until things got clearer.
The mess I’d made of Mrs Ibe’s head lay squashed at my feet. It reminded me a lot of a clay doll’s head that had been squished by a child before it got the chance to be baked in the oven. Minus the blood and brain parts of course. I looked away from the mess and thought no further of Mrs Ibe. I’d add her to my bag of nightmares that was already overflowing. Right now I was awake and didn’t have time to deal with my conscience. I couldn’t afford to think of my actions. Because if I did, I’d break down and never get up.
“Are you ok?” I asked Frank as I grabbed his arm to inspect where he’d been bitten. He smiled at me and then rolled up the sleeves of his brown leather jacket to show me the part of his arm where Mrs Ibe had bitten. There was only a deep indentation of teeth mark on his dark chocolate skin but no blood had been drawn.
“How is this possible?” I gasped.
“Quality leather is hard to bite through.” He said smugly as he rolled the sleeves back down. I breathed out a sigh of relief and looked up when I heard approaching footsteps.
Craig and Sara walked towards Frank and me with shock on their faces. I couldn’t blame them, the sight of Mrs Ibe’s mashed head was gruesome. Wole sat huddled in a corner, far away from me. I didn’t care what Wole and Sara thought, but the look in Craig’s eyes nearly made me start crying.
But of course I didn’t. I could cry later, when I become safe. Craig started reaching out for me but then stopped. He looked sick, almost like he’d swallowed a pregnant toad.
“You killed her.” Craig whispered. It was almost an accusation. No, wait, it was an accusation.
“She was dead already.” I stated flatly.
“But still, she was our Igbo teacher. How could you…how could you have killed her so easily?”
“I had no choice.”
“But still-“
“Shut up Craig!” Frank yelled. He grabbed my free hand and squeezed tightly. “She saved my life and that’s all that matters. It’s a choice between being eaten alive or killing to survive. And it’s not killing if the person’s already dead. Now we can’t stand here all day philosophising about our morals. We have to get out of this school and hope the rest of humanity is still human.”
Craig’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. He wouldn’t understand. He was different from Frank and I. He was innocent and that was why I loved him. He had never had to fight for his survival before.
He had never had to kill his father, but I had.
“Yeah we’re leaving this school, but not without a weapon.” I heard Sara say. She surprised me. She was usually the one with the perfectly perfect appearance. She was the girl who wore lip gloss and painted her nails a light shade of pink. She had her nose in the air most of the time and she walked with her shoulders straight. She baked cakes in the Home makers club and contested in the school’s beauty pageant. I could not have heard her right.
But I watched her stalk into the Intro Tech lab and come out with a chisel. It had a wooden handle with about seven inches of steel. I wondered how much damage that could do. She held it tentatively in her hand as if unsure of how to handle it. Frank and Wole shared a look, nodded and then went into the Intro tech lab.
Frank came out with a broad-axe that had a long handle. He weighed it for balance and swung it around a few times before he nodded his head in approval. Wole held a metal pole of about four feet. He held it loosely on his left hand, as if not completely sure he could use it. We all turned as one to look at Craig.
“What? I’m not using any weapon. I won’t harm anyone. They’re people we know and I can’t harm them.” He said defensively.
“Suit yourself, pretty boy.” Frank told Craig as he moved past him towards the stairs that would lead to the ground floor. It was not the stairs that led outside. That one would be crawling with flesh eaters. Wole and Sara followed after him.
“Aren’t you coming?” I asked Craig who stood glaring at no one in particular. There was determination on his face. He ignored me and began walking towards the stairs.
I stayed behind him to watch his back.
- Next Episode: The Last Curse - Episode 6
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook
Do not leave without a comment.
Your comment will be highly
appreciated.