text: [Themes: sci-fi, horror, science fiction]
  
  "I don't have a weapon," you say; "But I still think our best chance of getting out of here is to fight our way out."
  
  Frank nods. Christie shakes her head.
  
  "It's better than being trapped in a classroom," you say.
  
  Frank pulls a pair of knives out of his pockets, handing one to each of you. "Here you go," he says. "Now lets kick some zombie ass." He starts moving toward the smaller group, the one blocking the path back to the portal in room 413. He is raises his blade up preparing to strike when he notices something in the distance. "Look," he says to you and Christie, bringing his knife down into the skull of the nearest zombie.
  
  A lone figure appears around the bend behind them. He is tall and muscled and carries a baseball bat over one shoulder. It's James. He moves with a silence that belies his size. He moves in and swings his bat hard, the bat whistling through the air. It strikes hard, smacking off the skull of a zombie and knocking it to the ground.
  
  "Nice one!" Frank says, dropping to the ground and stabbing the fallen zombie in the head. You and Christie wok together to puncture eye sockets and temples with the blades of your knives while James swings again and again, knocking the zombies aside and freeing one of its jaw.
  
  Eventually the last of the zombies falls dead. James is breathing heavy, his bat covered with gore. All of you, you realize, are covered with blood. You are tired and sore and miserable. Everyone is breathing heavy.
  
  The hoard behind you is getting closer. "Let's move," Christie says.
  
  James nods. "Go. I'll bring up the rear."
  
  The others nod and start moving down the hall, Christie taking your hand and pulling you along while Frank runs along beside you. As you make the turn on the hall toward the hall you hear Christie swear.
  
  "There's more up ahead," she says. "If we hurry we can make the hall and move to room 413."
  
  "Lets do it then," you say.
  
  "We need to move," James says. "No more jogging. Run!" He breaks into a run to the abandoned hall. You and Christie try to keep up, keeping a wary eye ahead and praying that you are able to beat the zombies to your destination.
  
  As you reach the toppled trash cans, the zombie hoard is closing in. You try to make the turn hard and end up slamming your shoulder painfully into the wall. James trips over one of the trash cans and you hear a terrible snap as he goes down.
  
  "FUCK!" he screams, clutching at his leg. You can see the bone of his shin pressing awkwardly against the skin.
  
  "Go!" he tells you. "There's no time. Save yourselves."
  
  Frank and Christie nod. "We'll leave a circle on the board for you," Frank says. The two of them rush to room 413.
  
  You take a moment to stare down at James, then to the closing hoard of zombies. They're just outside of spitting distance, growling and moaning in their approach.
  
  "What are you doing?" James asks, trying to prop himself up against the wall. "Go."
  
  > help him up.
  You hold your hand out to him.
  
  "What are you doing?" James asks. "Get out of here. Save yourself." He looks over his shoulder to see the zombies are nearly upon him. He looks back to you pleadingly. "Just go, man."
  
  You shake your head. "You came back for us," you say. "I'm not leaving you here."
  
  James lets out a frustrated laugh and reaches out to take your hand. You help him up onto his good leg and lend yourself to him as a crutch. Fingers brush and scrape at your backs. You and James share a momentary look of shared terror as you can feel them moving more quickly than the two of you are able.
  
  Then you navigate through the toppled line of trash cans and gain some breathing room as the obstacles prove effective against the unthinking dead. They stumble and fall over trash bins and one another as you pass room 407.
  
  409. Some of them are starting to get to their feet.
  
  411. They are moving again, gaining on you.
  
  413. You open the door and James hops inside, leaning on the wall as he moves to the board. You start to push the door closed but a hand reaches in and stops it from shutting.
  
  "Shit!" You cry as a few more hands dart into the door. They are snarling and growling on the other side. "I can't hold them much longer," you tell James as the pressure from the other side becomes more and more intense.
  
  "Come on then," James says, sliding a chair before him like a walker as he makes his way over to the chalkboard portal. Above the portal were two hastily drawn ugly little circles.
  
  "You first," you tell him. "I'll hold the door as long as I can."
  
  James grimaces and nods. "You're still an idiot," he tells you. "I'll see you on the other side." He hops over, knocking over the chair he'd been leaning on; and disappears into a safer place.
  
  Your feet slide back a little more with each push at the door. You look at the last sloppy circle above the portal and take a deep breath.
  
  It's time.
  
  You give the door one fine shove and push off of it, using their weight to help propel yourself to the board. You charge forward as the zombies spilled into the room behind you, the first wave of them falling face first to the ground. Your adrenaline spikes. Things appear to be moving in slow motion with absolute clarity. Your heart pounds in your chest like your feet pound the ground as you surge toward the portal.
  
  The zombies behind you are starting to get to their feet as more spill in through the door. You jump into the board and smack against the slate, your shoulder jarring with the impact. The old board falls from crooked from the wall. Why didn't that work? You rub your shoulder and look at the crooked board. The zombies are moving closer, the first of them already halfway across the room. They make sad hungry sounds as they close in. You look at ugly circle, the imperfection of the symbol. It is an open circle.
  
  You spot the chalk on the ground, having rolled from the tray on the board. It's just a few feet from the zombies. You need to close that circle to get through the portal. Time is of the essence, but can you get there and back to the portal quick enough?
  
  > get the chalk. MOVE!
  You need to run to the chalk, grab it, and completely reverse your momentum in the other direction. Coach Luntz used to make you race other kids in these kinds of drills in gym class. That was back in 5th grade but you were pretty good at it.
  
  You start running as fast as you can toward the chalk and, subsequently; the zombies. Your heart is pounding, you are all nerves. There are a million ways this can go wrong but what choice do you really have?
  
  You slide to a sneaker squeaking halt over top the chalk. You scoop it up with one hand and push off with the other. You feel fingertips brush at your shirt, feel the pull of one grasping it; and you are gone. You cover the ten steps back to the board in no time. You take the chalk close the circle. You try to step through the portal but find it solid against your foot.
  
  "What the fuck?!" You cry out in frustration, searching the portal frantically for what is amiss but finding nothing. The zombies are just a few steps away when you spot it. After you'd slammed sideways into the chalkboard you erased a section of the portal with your jacket.
  
  You draw in the missing section of the portal as they try to grasp at you. There is a shimmer before you as the portal is activated. On the other side you see your friends waiting for you. You close your eyes and step forward.
  
  You are stopped by a pair of strong hands on your shoulders and more tugging at your clothes. They pull you near no matter how you struggle. You try frantically to escape. They take you to the ground and fall upon you in a feeding frenzy.
  
  What will they tell your parents, you wonder absently as your life fades to black.