CHAPTER SIX
When Becky walked through the doors of East High School, she was met by an army officer on each side. Dressed in fatigues, with guns at their sides, they looked more menacing than helpful, but they guided her through the check in process. Once a group of twenty or so was formed, a young man in an EMT uniform escorted them towards the classrooms. His skin was dark, smooth and shining, Becky watched him as he lead them to the holding rooms. When the group reached room 312, Becky moved towards the door. Her eyes met with the young EMT and he smiled. Quickly he moved in front of her, opening the door. Becky couldn’t say anything, her lips refusing to part, so she smiled and nodded. She walked through the door and leaned against the wall, chastising herself for not thanking him. She must have looked stupid, unable to form words because a cute boy had shown her some attention.
A tall army officer with reddish hair stood by the door. Becky wondered why there were so many guards. They were the uninfected, the sane, so she assumed the guards were there to protect the crazy things from getting in, but a part of her wondered if they were in place to keep them from getting out. There was no telling if she had been exposed to the sickness that had broken out on campus. If it was airborne, she didn’t stand a chance. When the thing, whatever it was, had grabbed her, it surely would have been close enough to infect her. If it was airborne, thousands of people could be affected by now, depending on how long it took for a human to be completely overtaken and deteriorate to that kind of condition. But if it was blood born, she more than likely was safe.
In a moment of panic, Becky began to check over her body. One scratch could be enough to infect her. It could be just like Hepatitis or HIV, blood born pathogens she had learned about in a boring training video at work. If it was blood born, one scratch, one open sore, could be the gateway to infection. If the thing’s blood had mixed with her own, she could be doomed to become one of them. She took her jacket off and looked over her arms. Then she ran her arms down her legs, feeling for any spots that caused her pain. In a room full of strangers, she wasn’t about to start pulling her leggings up or down, so instead she pushed her hands against her legs and felt for any sign of injury. A sigh of relief escaped from her when she realized there didn’t seem to be any wounds.
After the panic had passed, Becky sat down in the corner of the classroom. The hardwood floor of the classroom made Becky’s ass hurt after just a short while. She could have sat on the chairs, like most of the others were doing, but instead had chosen to curl up in a ball in a corner of the room. Leaning her head against the wall, she watched flurries starting to fall from the cloud covered sky.
It was the first snow, something that she had always equated with magic, but this snow fall didn’t feel magical at all. This was the first time the snow was falling and Becky was away from her home. Growing up, her mother had always taken her outside on the first snow. Even it it was the middle of the night, they would sit by the window and watch as it fell, the world silent around them. It was one of the few times Becky always looked forward to each year. But now she was in college, going to school hundreds of miles away from her mom. She had planned to FaceTime with her mom during this moment, even if it wasn’t snowing at her childhood home. It wouldn’t be as special as sipping hot cocoa with her mother in person, but it would be as close as they could get. Becky had even decorated her dorm room to help keep her head in the holiday spirit, to the dismay of her jewish roommate.
In her hand, Becky held her phone. It was practically useless at this point. People were trying to get ahold of their loved ones and the lines were overloaded. No calls were going through for anyone. On her way to East High School, Becky had tried to call her mom, but she kept getting a busy signal. Her fingers expertly clicked out a few text messages as she was walking. They had all been delivered, but she hadn’t gotten a reply from her mom yet. It made Becky wonder if she was okay, dread rising up from her gut. What if this was happening all over the country? There was a chance that her mother might be in just as much danger as Becky was, or had been, until she reached the safety of the school.
Gazing around the room, Becky began to notice the people around her for the first time since she walked into the classroom. There were no young children, just people around her age and older. She counted twelve of them in all, including the guard standing by the door. He looked young to be in charge, probably no older than her, she guessed. His skin was pale, striking against his red hair and light brown freckles that danced along his cheeks like the stars did on a clear night. The standard issued uniform was a little big on him, reminding her of a toddler who’s mom bought his clothes a little big to give him room to grow. She wondered if the army planned it that way, though she doubted it. The army didn’t seem like the kind of origination to think like a mother would.
Some of the people in the classroom were crying clear tears. Others just looked worried, some pacing the floor quietly, others sitting as still as a cat waiting on it’s prey. Most had phones in their hands, trying to call or text someone, anyone they loved to see if they were still safe, or to tell them that they were safe for the time being.
Becky’s fingers instinctually traced through the screen to call her mom again. She had such little knowledge of what was going on, she couldn’t help to worry about her mom. This could be happening all over the world, meaning that no one was safe. Hope rose inside her, pushing her to believe that it was just an isolated incident, even though there was no evidence of that. If it was as she believed, then her mother would be safe, even if she wasn’t.
Sobs coming from across the room caught Becky’s attention when her phone failed to put a call through to her mom again. A girl with long brown hair, wrapped up in a comfy looking sweater was crying. Her manicured fingernails were bright pink and shown brightly against the white case of her phone. She quickly kept typing on her phone, which was plugged into an outlet next to her. Like Becky, she was sitting on the floor, concentrating on trying to get her phone to work too.
Beside the girl, sitting in desks like students would, were an older man and woman who looked very similar to the girl concentrating on getting her phone to work. Becky guessed that they were probably her parents. That was difference between the girl on floor across the room from her. Her loved ones were with her. Maybe not all of them, but some of them. She had people, family probably, who had made sure she was safe and cared for. Becky didn’t have that and she longed for it in that moment. She started to dial her mom’s number again, pressing the phone to her ear when she finished, and that’s when she heard it begin to ring. Once, then again, and again, but her mother didn’t pick up. Instead she heard a click and her mom’s voicemail message began to play.
It felt good to hear her mother’s voice, even if it was just a recording. The familiar message played through. Becky knew every word, by heart, and loved to hear the cheerful tone of her mother’s voice. Right before the voicemail beep sounded, signaling for Becky to start her message, a scream rang out from the hallway. The others in the room stood up, pressing towards the door, worried looks on their faces.
Becky had missed the beep, listening to the scream coming from the other side of the door. The sound of a running stampeded headed past their entrance, continuing past them. More screams and yells were coming toward them, creating panic in all of everyone in the classroom.
As the others began to move toward the door, talking to the solider, Becky remembered she had called her mom.
“I love you, Mom. I hope you’re safe.”
Quickly, Becky ended the call. The crowd was growing more and more restless, feeling trapped. Only one wooden door kept them away from the chaos outside and now everyone was questioning on whether or not they should open it. The man that she assumed was the girl’s father began to move towards the door, like he was going to force it open, but the officer stood in the way. His back was pushed up against the door, but not for long. The door opened and suddenly screams were coming from inside the room.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Frankie pushed the door open, knocking Palen out of the way with such force he fell to the ground. His hands hit the floor first, breaking his fall and causing his wrist to twist in an awkward way. Pain shot through his wrist and arm, causing Palen to cry out. The door slammed shut behind Frankie and he locked it.
“It’s a madhouse out there.” With his hand reached out, he looked at Palen on the floor, “Sorry, man.” Frankie helped Palen up off the floor, grabbing the same wrist he had just hurt, causing him to feel more pain.
Before the door was pushed open, Palen had busied himself with knowing who was in the classroom. He watched and listened, figuring out who was with who and what their names were. They were crowded around Frankie, listening to him talk about what was happening outside the classroom walls.
“What is happening?” A tall man approached Frankie, a worried look on his face. Palen knew his name was Mike. He was there with his wife and daughter. Palen knew the wife’s name was Nina, but he hadn’t caught the girls’s name, Sara, he thought. She had spent the majority of her time in the classroom trying to get her phone to work and had barely spoken to anyone. Frankie stopped talking, hesitant to tell civilians what was going on. The Captain had told him that civilians were on a need to know basis because they were likely to panic and make things worse. But there was no way to prepare them for what was happening outside of that classroom without telling them the entire truth.
“Either the medical exams aren’t going fast enough or they missed some people, they started turning.”
“Turning?” Palen questioned, “What does that even mean?”
“The virus, or sickness, whatever it is, more people were infected than they thought. Now those things are running through the school. It’s chaos,” Frankie looked dead into Palen’s eyes and he could see the terror overtaking his friends, “They’re eating people.”
“Eating?” The group of civilians looked horrified. A scrawny, nerdy looking guy turned pale and looked like he might be sick. Palen couldn’t blame him, the idea of cannibals running through, killing people made his stomach churn.
“What do we need to do?”
“I don’t know. The people in my room ran out, I couldn’t get them to stay put.” Frankie’s eyes fell to the floor, a look of shame washing into his features. Palen knew that with each person that got hurt under his friend’s watch, he would hold himself responsible. He could try and convince him that it was his fault. They hadn’t listened to him when he was trying to keep them safe. He couldn’t blame himself for that.
“We have to get out of here.” The man who had questioned Frankie began to pace, talking to himself. Clearly he wasn’t able to handle this kind of stress.
“Sir, that is the last thing you’re going to want to do. We are safe in here for the time being and we need to come up with a plan. The best thing might be to stay here and wait for things to die down out there.”
Gunshots echoed towards them from beyond the door. Screams and yells were over taken with growls. The noises made Palen shudder. He hadn’t even seen what the enemy was, but hearing what was happening on the other side of the door terrified him. Frankie touched his shoulder and pulled him away from the group of fearful civilians.
“We have to come up with a plan of action. These people won’t sit here for long, even if it is the safest option.”
Palen nodded, racking his brain for an idea, standing facing his friend, his back to the door. They were on the third floor of a school building, with just a few windows but no other exits besides the one door. Leaving through that door was clearly not an option when there were thirteen people and only two weapons. Palen and Frankie couldn’t protect them all.
“We need to leave.”
The lady who spoke was a petite blonde woman who was holding the hand of a man who appeared to be her husband. “We’re sitting ducks in here. Our best chance is to go and try to make our way out of the building.”
The others started to voice their opinions about leaving or staying. Palen noticed their were a few who stood back. The younger ones in the crowd were quiet, letting the adults figure out the plan with Palen and Frankie.
His friend kept telling them that they were wrong, but nobody wanted to listen. Helplessly, Frankie looked at him, wanting him to speak up.
“They’re right.” Palen said, not looking his friend in the eye. “We can’t keep them here and we are clearly outvoted. The only thing we can do now is help them stay as safe as possible when they leave.”
“Yeah, alright.” Frankie was reluctant, but he agreed because if he didn’t, he knew that they could have an angry mob on their hands. If it came down to it, they couldn’t keep them in the room against their will but they could try and keep them safe when they left. It was their job to protect them.
“We need to form a group and stick together when were out there. Like a chain, everyone is a link and you can’t break it. We also need to find as many weapons as we can. All of you need to be prepared to defend yourself.”
“Even if you think they are humans just like you, they aren’t.” Palen’s voice didn’t sound like his own. He was trying to prepare them for what they couldn’t imagine they would see, something he himself hadn’t even seen. He walked over to a closet in the back of the room and opened the doors.
“Look for anything you can use as a weapon.”
Everyone started searching the room for things to use. Some gathered up their things. Palen wanted to tell them not to bring their things with them. If their hands were free they would have a better chance of fighting off the things that would attack them, but he couldn’t. The items that they brought with them were all these people had, maybe all they had left in the world, and Palen couldn’t bring himself to tell them to discard them.
“Laura!” The woman who had talked them all into fighting their way out of the classroom, suddenly collapsed. Her husband yelled out, shaking her, trying to get her to respond. Frankie ducked down beside her, holding his ear next to her mouth.
“She isn’t breathing.”
He pulled up his sleeves and began to administer compressions. Her skin was clammy and pale. No matter how many times Frankie tried to revive her, she didn’t start breathing again. Her husband was sobbing beside her, holding onto her hand.
“What happened?” The others crowded around her body, looking down. It was odd, she had seemed just fine only minutes before.
“I don’t know.” Frankie’s voice drifted off as he wondered aloud, “She seemed fine.”
“It could have been the bite.”
The words came from her grieving husband and they set alarm through Palen.
“What bite?”
“She was bitten,” Her husband pulled up her sleeve, revealing a white bandage that had spots of red on it. Blood had soaked through. He peeled medical tape back and exposed a wound, deep and bleeding. It was oval in shape and edged with marks. Palen bent down to get a closer look. The marks that surrounded the wound were teeth marks.
“She’s infected. That’s why she died. When did this happen?”
“Before we got here. We were trying to get back to our car when we left the mall. A guy came out of no where with these eerie yellow eyes. I tried to fight him off but he bit her before she could get her car door closed.”
“Has anyone else seen them? Do we know how long it takes them to turn into those creatures?”
Palen looked at the man who spoke, the same man who was wanting to leave. He seemed to calm down a little which Palen thought was odd. If there was a time to panic, it should be now. One of them was in this room and could turn at any moment. But with her husband kneeling down beside her, quietly crying as he brushed her hair out of her eyes, it humanized the whole thing to him. She was a person, she loved and felt, and how could a virus or disease take that away from her.
“It depends, umm, uh, what’s your name?” Frankie began to stumbling to remember the man’s name.
&nbs
p; “Mike.”
“Mike, right, I don’t have the information to accurately tell you how long its safe for us to be around her.”
“Could she be infecting us now?”
“We don’t know.” Palen offered, still watching Laura and her husband. He pulled his eyes away from the couple, to continue his thought. “We don’t know if its airborne. In all honesty, we know just about as much as you do.” Palen tried not to sound grim about that, but the lack of knowledge was affecting their safety and possibly, their lives. Palen exchanged looks with Frankie, trying not to feel defeated and helpless. He went back to watching Laura’s husband, who was now standing at the window, looking lost. It went against Palen’s oath to protect civilians to leave them in this room with the threat Laura presented, but what was he suppose to do? Wasn’t he suppose to protect her too?
“She appears to be moving,” said the geeky looking, pale boy with his back pressed against the wall.
CHAPTER EIGHT
A scrawny kid, whose name Sada didn’t know, pointed at the woman on the floor. Laura’s eyes had opened and she slowly rolled over to her stomach. They watched, as she pushed herself up and got on her feet. It was odd, that her eyes were no longer the same color as they were before. She had yellow eyes now, just like the thing that had attacked her.
“How is that even possible?” Sada asked, not believing what she was seeing. “She wasn’t breathing or moving before.”
Instead of standing up completely, Laura was bent over, bracing herself on the ground with both her hands and her feet. Her neck twisted, causing her head to roll in ways that looked almost painful. Then, in a split second, her head snapped up, revealing her yellow eyes to the others around her.
Alive Page 8