17

You spin and raise your weapon. Mindy almost collides with you, but dodges at the last moment. Dave runs and spins, passing you like a back runner being chased by an entire football team. There's no other movement on the field, so you turn and run.

You break through the edge of the bush and run into a clearing. A big blue tractor is parked in front of you, and behind it is a brown and white building with bales of corn stacked outside. Mindy and Dave are beside him, bent over and breathing heavily.

As you round the tractor, a scene of carnage erupts around the barn. In a huge animal pen, cows are slaughtered, their bodies opened and fed. Flies cluster around the carcasses, creating a hum that hangs in the air. A mule is halfway out of the corral, its hindquarters ripped to shreds and a bloodstain trail ten feet behind it. The area reeks of ripe death, though decay indicates this was several days ago.

Scrambling sounds can be heard as you approach the barn. The brown and white doors, twice the size of a man, are ajar and only darkness can be seen inside.

"Did you hear that?" Dave whispers.

You and Mindy nod your head.

"We have to look inside," you say.

"I'm a good shot. Better if I back down and cover someone," says Mindy.

"I can't do this. I just can't. I'm claustrophobic," Dave says, his face sweating profusely.

You take a step towards the barn door, which is barely open enough to step aside and peer inside. Enough ambient light slides in to let you see the area. At least a dozen zombies are standing in the middle of the floor, heads tilted up, mouths wide open. Her eyes follow upward and see a loft area high above, with a man-sized figure lying down, partially covered by plain white bags. A ladder is on the side of the barn, which seems long enough to reach the loft. The zombies walk lazily in place, calmer than their normal states, as if accepting that they can't reach their victim and just waiting for them to leave.

You slide out and relay the scene to Mindy and Dave.

"So, let's get in there, guns blazing?" Dave asks, raising his AK-47.

"Either that, or we take them outside and someone runs to grab Carl," says Mindy.

"Maybe we can use that tractor?" Dave said. "Or burn the place down?"

"We can't set the place on fire with Carl inside," Mindy says in an irritated tone.

Both await your opinion.