The Undead Situation by Eloise J. Knapp

bloody—one of them had been missing most of his thigh. That was in the beginning of the apocalypse. I hadn’t noticed runners then because everyone was running. I’d probably seen my share of them, but hadn’t been paying attention. I had a feeling I’d be seeing another soon enough. Being surrounded by living people who had to be killed made that inexorable.
    As we barreled around a corner, I ran straight into a man holding a bayonet. A fucking authentic bayonet. My reaction time wasn’t fast enough, and the knife cleanly slid into the outer meat of my shoulder. I gasped and pulled back, the blade pulling out covered in bright blood.
    People found the damndest weapons when an apocalypse struck.
    I raised my rifle to shoot, but Gabe stepped in, shoving him against the hard wall. His head snapped back and she cracked his neck, then he slid down to the floor. Once he was down, she kicked his sides hard before popping a bullet in his head.
    That was another of Gabe’s redeeming moments.
    “I had a bone to pick with him,” she said as she sized me up with glittering blue eyes.
    He was a rapist and she was a woman. I didn’t need clarification.
    The sound of shots and screams echoed down the hall. I hoped Frank and Blaze were on the winning side of whatever was going on. Part of me wanted to help, but I had to rescue Pickle while I could.
    We made it to the kitchen. It was huge. It had to be to feed a building packed with inmates. Animals were caged everywhere. Cats, dogs, and some traditional farmhouse animals looked forlornly at us. I was a heartless bastard when it came to humans, but the sight of them all waiting to be eaten disturbed me. The mammals had a chance outside. Zombies didn’t eat them.
    I found Pickle first, caged with a couple other rodents, including a chinchilla. She was overwhelmed to see me, and eagerly scurried up my arm and onto my shoulder. I didn’t have a backpack on, and her being in the open concerned me. Holding her with one hand, I unlocked cages as fast as I could, cutting open the ones I couldn’t.
    Between unlocking the cages of a pig and a Labrador, I searched the kitchen for a way out. Based on the exit sign above the door at the end of the hall and our location, I decided the door was the other loading dock.
    Gabe unlocked the exit and herded the animals outside. The pig ran towards the light, and every animal we released followed.
    As I unlocked the last cage, the swinging kitchen doors burst open. Our missing comrades saw the open exit and ran for it.
    “Come on, Cyrus!” Frank said as he passed me.
    Faint shouts and voices were coming from outside the kitchen. We didn’t have enough ammo to take out the horde that must’ve been on its way. Their numbers would overwhelm us once we ran outside. I scanned the kitchen, looking for anything useful.
    Then I saw it.
    The footsteps of our enemy grew louder, echoing down the hall. They were yelling scriptures fanatically, screaming about avenging their lunatic leader’s death. All normal conversation for crazies.
    Frank and Gabe yelling for me to hurry up almost distracted me from unscrewing the propane tank. Since the door was open, we could’ve made a run for it, but they’d still be on our trail. If my plan worked, the kitchen exit would be unusable, and the crazies would have to deal with a prison on fire.
    Pushing my luck and ignoring my companions, I set the tank in front of the entrance and turned my back. Gabe was gone, but Frank moved towards me. Couldn’t he put two and two together? The explosion from the propane tank would be severe; no one who wanted to live should be anywhere near it went I shot.
    “What the fuck are you doing? Run!”
    They were behind me. I heard the entrance open, knocking the tank on its side. They were at the opposite end of the kitchen, but that didn’t matter to bullets. Frank finally disappeared through the door, but Blaze was yards away from it. I saw her bend down behind a steel counter,