8th chapter

Part 14 The Peril We all Face


Major Bury atop the Franklin School continues to report the ongoing event: General, the LHS just took out the Westwood and the Hess station and is coming right up Walnut, right towards Franklin school.

The General from inside Franklin can hear the explosion of the gasoline tanks from the Hess station one short block away. He takes a few steps back and yells into the mike: Watch yourself. Major Bury, time to get down off that roof!

Major Bury stands up and grabs his telephoto binoculars, but it is too late. From the south side over the parapet, the LHS peers down on the Major.

Franklin school for all of its 3 stories height, with attic and including the additional 10 foot high hillock it was built on only has a total height of 80 feet. With the LHS at 110 feet, 30 feet of the horrid LHS looms over the parapet edge. With steam still coming off the scales from where the ink doused the creature near the parkway, the searing green eye spots its prey-Major Bury!

Major Bury drops his equipment and makes a break for the roof stairwell, a sudden huge roar being emitted from the cavernous hole in the front of the LHS pushing him forward;
DUUUUUUUUHHH.
The LHS spews out the stream of dark green blather. Bury grabs the doorknob and swings himself inside slamming the door and falling down the flight of stairs into the industrial arts room. He could hear the splash of the thick goop against the stairwell cover. Bury rolled hard, gets up and runs toward the stairs across the hall, heading with fury down toward the first floor. He thanked the stars and the tightly fitting mask and clothes that he escaped without a vestige of blather on his person.

With the arrival of the LHS into the courtyard the blithering dimwitted zombies become even more agitated, the banging on the building gets louder. But Franklin School built back in 1910 out of solidly poured reinforced concrete holds them back. The General is getting reports from his men inside that Franklin is nearly surrounded with minor resistance in the eastern front portion. The General considering this yells into the mike to the walkie-talkies on the men's belts: all hands, head fast to the basement and toward the east side of the building. We will regroup there for the escape. The men pour down the stairwells into the basement and toward the front of the building. They throw open the doors of the large room. There becomes a stark realization of why there may be minimal resistance near the front of the building.

Professor Dotcom yells out: Of course, the library! They are staying away from the front of the building because the library is right here. That proves my theory for sure.

The Professor turns toward the General: General, I must go upstairs to the radio.

Professor, that is sheer suicide, you won't make it.

General, I have to radio orders out to a station I had set up previously, based on my thoughts when we were outside in the tents.

Professor, its your life, better take one of my men with you for protection.

No, I'll go alone; I don't want to sacrifice anyone else if I fail.

The Professor lunges toward the door passing the men crouched behind the rows of wooden bookshelves, their drawn weapons at the ready for a possible imminent breech and orders to fire for their lives. He heads up the staircase to the first floor classroom. He could see thru the basement windows at grade the rows of moldy feet of the zombies as they banged against the first floor windows and doors. He must make it before Franklin is breeched. He must not fail against the Peril that will take them all down.

The Professor heads into the first floor classroom where the radio is set up. He grabs the mike, and adjusts knobs to the preset frequency; then speaks the words: Bristol 1, Bristol 1 this is Franklin. Do you copy? Are you at the ready point?

The crackling emission comes across the speaker. We read you clear, Franklin.

Suddenly, he feels a presence behind him at the door. He turns. A zombie got in! The blithering idiot was at the classroom doorway. He lost his breath in fright.

As the zombie took its first step into the class toward the Professor, 5 shots ring out forcing the zombie to stagger back into the hallway. It was Major Bury from the second floor stairwell. As the zombie fell backward, Major Bury dives into the classroom, past the zombie, weapon in hand and slams the door giving them both some safety.

Major Bury, bullets won't stop them.

Well Professor, it sure looks like it won't tickle them either.

The door starts shaking. The Professor yells to Major Bury: If that zombie breaks the door, start throwing those books at him. Don't ask why, just start throwing if he gets in.

The Professor turns back toward the mike and gives the command: Bristol 1, we need you... now!

Roger, over and out, Franklin.

The window in the classroom broke, with the zombie hand reaching through.

Major, throw those books. We must push that zombie back and get down into the basement.

They start throwing books and the zombie falls back. They make it out the door, into the stairwell, more zombies they encounter, but they throw the rest of the books they carried and make it by, down the stairs into the basement. They break thru the door back into the library, and to safety, however fleeting it may be.

The troops could feel the vibrations from the LHS stomping in the courtyard. They could hear the collapse of Lincoln school. They can hear the banging of the zombies as they throw themselves at the walls of Franklin school. The huge roars of duhs coming from all directions. This was an attack on their last sanctuary. Surely it will hold only for a short time since there is overwhelming numbers of the enemy. Even if paper was the true weapon, what the library holds will never be able to stop this many. And the zombies backed by the force of the LHS will overcome any impediment by sheer numbers alone. Left here the valiant soldiers, the professors, the General are certainly doomed.

The General considered giving the order to have his men fight their way out to safety through the gauntlet of zombies and the LHS. This could also be the end of them all, though, but what recourse? The Professor put his hand on the General's shoulder which stopped him from giving that ill-fated order.

General, there should be another plane anytime soon. My plan is in motion.

The General turns, but before he could respond, there comes the heavy drone of jet engines low overhead. A whistling is heard... no! A thousand whistlings! A bump, bump, bump could be heard as many things are hitting the ground outside, also bumping and bouncing against the windows and roof. The zombies outside emit horrendous duhs but suddenly are quieting down. The many bumpings continue. The windows being rattled by the zombies stop rattling. The bumpings continue. Moments pass. It becomes quiet. The bumpings stop. The crouching men inside the library are looking around. A pervasive silence outside leads them to wonder.

After a long 5 minutes, the Professor gets up slowly and whispers to the General. I think it just may have worked. General, you can give your men the order to stand to.

The General got up and commanded: Men, gather up, we are heading outside. But keep your weapons drawn.

Apprehensive, the troops are being led upstairs by Professor Dotcom and the General. They file up the stairwell, out the exit into the courtyard. One by one they timidly go outside, their weapons still at the ready; and stand in a huddled bunch looking around not knowing if the zombies will attack again.

There they behold a sight. Among broken branches, crushed plants, shards of glass, shoes and ripped clothing were many, many books, thousands of books, disheveled, broken open, spread across the courtyard, up Second Avenue, Walnut and Third, fully covering the ground like the autumn leaves. Lincoln school was half collapsed nearby. But no zombies or the LHS were in sight!

The General cried out: The books! Paper and ink! It was as I thought at the beginning of this Peril. But professor, how did you arrange it. There were no orders.

The Professor explained: General, while we were outside in the tents and after the failure of the first plane, I came to a realization. And I set a plan in motion. I radioed to Bristol Air Force Base in Delaware. I have connections with some high ranking officers there when i did propulsion studies for them. I explained the situation we were encountering with blithering zombies and the LHS. They, knowing what New Jersey has become, agreed to help me. They loaded up a B-52 with all the books from the campus Library of Delaware University near Bristol. They were flying on standby above New Brunswick waiting for an order from me. I gave them that order when we were trapped in the library in our final stand. They dropped the thousands of books on the hordes. It appears to have worked.

The General looked confused. Professor Greevy nearby sputters: But the books are simply made of paper and ink. Paper and ink is exactly what we dropped on the nuisance in the first place. It didn't work then, so why should it have worked now?

The Professor continued: Yes, books are made of paper and ink, but that's not the whole answer. It is the way the ink is on the paper....it is written in words, in thoughts, in ideas...all written as information. This is what finally did the LHS and the blithering idiot zombies in. Knowledge and information. That was our only weapon we could use against them. That’s why our final line held inside the library. We were surrounded and engulfed by knowledge. The LHS was a creature born out of error, cultivated only by a climate of political rhetoric, it fed on ignorance and with its blather had total control of those who have no real thirst for knowledge. From those in the public who feel no concern for information they were easily swayed by that blather, and the LHS formed an army of dimwitted zombies by its side.

Just then a yell came from across the courtyard. It was Captain Monarch. He was safe. He runs to join the group.

The Professor was glad to see his friend. How did you escape? Your men said you were a goner.

Professor, I escaped the zombies when I was pulled up into the curtains above the stage. There was a platform up there. The zombies tried to get to me by the one stairway up to the platform. At that point on the platform I placed the one book I had left, and it held them back. Until the LHS partially crushed Lincoln school and then I fell onto the stage. I rolled into cartons of glee club song books and covered myself in them so the zombies wouldn't get me. They then left to head toward your position. The school partially collapsed but I was safely left inside an air pocket formed by roof debris. After hiding there for a while it got quiet so I came outside and saw the troops.

The Professor nods to Captain Monarch and says: That was quick thinking. Songbooks, of course, contain rhyming ideas set to music.

The General looking around then turns to Professor Dotcom. Do you think this Peril of Onion County is gone for good?

The Professor sighs: General, we may have thwarted the blithering zombies for now. They may have returned from whence they came. But from what Captain Monarch has told us of his encounters with the zombies, they were being controlled by not only political blather but from political bosses around the area. And they certainly are still here. Without the public sharing in continual knowledge while being truly informed, dimwitted hordes can return. And unfortunately it looks like it could be next week.

The General flinched and asked: Why is that? Why next week?

The Professor responded: General, why Election Day is next week.

THE END...........duh, possibly for all of NJ.