"They're here too. What are we going to do?" I demand, my face resting in the palms of my hand.
"Why don't we park, and head inside for some help, since we're already here" Drew suggests, and I like his idea. So, without any more talking, we take the roundabout, and find ourselves in front of the cafeteria, the medical lab, and the auditorium. We can find something in here. We should be able to get at least some help from one of these buildings. Drew pulls into the parking lot, and we all hop from the truck. I look around, fearing a repeat of the hospital, but we are alone. Thomas, and Ryan are helping support Kerry, as we walk up on the medical building. I turn to look behind us and see with fright that there are four diseased in the distance behind us.
I'm just about to pull the door open, and head inside, when I see him. He's standing maybe ten feet inside the building, and he's with a young girl. She has a packet in her hand, and a lanyard, and I recognize her. I know she’s the same age as Ryan, so I assume she's the one on tour here, but she isn't what catches my eye; he is. I stand there, dumfounded for a moment, before remembering the monsters closing in behind us. I pull the door open, and put my head down, as I brush past him. They seem to be scared of something, maybe they witnessed the same thing as us. I lift my eyes a fraction of an inch and see that we've almost made it to the corner, where we can turn out of sight from them. I’m almost there, if I can just make it around the corner, before he sees me, then it'll all be okay. I cannot handle this interaction right now, so I just need him to not look around. Of course, my luck was never that great.
"Ben?" I hear his voice, as he calls my name. I stop in my tracks, before turning around slowly. I have no idea how I'm going to handle this one, but here goes nothing.
"Paul?" I ask, as if I didn't see him, as if his presence isn't like a magnet to me. As if I didn't feel drawn as soon as I was in sight of him. As if I could walk by him, without noticing his face, or him at all.
"I didn't see you there, this is so weird" I say, but it actually makes things sound even worse. He looks between us, and the woman being supported by Thomas, and Ryan. That's when he seems to realize that we're fleeing from the diseased.
"Can I speak to you alone please?" he asks me. I look at him, and I can see the anger in his eyes. I know I'm about to get accused of something and yelled at; at the same time.
"I guess" I tell him, turning back to the others, as I take a step away.
"I'll be right back you guys. Make sure none of them get in the building" I say, before disappearing into a classroom with him.
"Did you follow me here?" he demands, as soon as I close the door and turn to face him. I feel my stomach pang with hurt, as he throws the accusation at me. I was expecting something bad, but not that he’d accuse me of literally stalking him hundreds of miles from home. Then I feel angry because we have much bigger things to worry about than this.
"Do you honestly think that I would follow you to a college tour?" I almost scream at him, looking back at the door. I hear the door slam shut in the hall, so I turn back to him quickly.
"What kind of person do you think I am?" I demand, before turning away from him to storm from the room. I rush out into the hall and see that they're all gone. Looking around, I see that the door is open now, but I hear it slam… They must've run outside. I look around confusedly, before seeing the eight diseased coming down the hall. This should be fun!
"Where'd they go?" he asks, as he comes out of the room behind me. I go to turn to him, and my hand brushes his. The feeling is something beautiful. I’ve always had such strong feelings toward him. We may have ended horribly, but my feelings haven’t changed, so seeing him here like this, is just weird. We both rush outside and see everyone running from a group of the monsters, so naturally I follow them. Paul follows behind me, as we run to the scene before us. Just as we make it to them, and the nine of us are all surrounded by the beasts, I hear it. There's a loud sound of voices, or screams. What the hell is that? Paul looks around too, so he must've heard the same thing. I look back and see that we're standing outside of the gym.
"Come on, let's see what's going on in the gym" he says, as we all follow him up the steps to the front doors. I turn back to see the group of infected following closely behind us.
Why can’t they just leave us alone? Can we not get a break? This is all just too much for me. Paul, being chased, the dead walking about hungrily, and everything that is coming down on me at once. I’m going to collapse under all of this pressure. I push the anxiety, the bad feelings from my mind. I push it away because right now, my life and the lives of those I love are in danger. I have to be strong. I have to be better.
“Yeah, let’s run toward the screaming. That sounds about smart” Riley says under her breath, as she walks by me. I have the urge to smack her. Why is she being so rude. I turn back to Paul, as we walk around the side of the gym. He is tall, just the right height for me. His sandy brown hair is a little overgrown, the curls beginning to show again. He’s wearing a dark grey shirt, the one I bought him on our trip last summer. I notice that he’s also wearing those skinny jeans, the ones I like so much. I look back down to my feet, as I follow him around the corner of the building.
SEVEN
We come to the front of the gym, and Paul tries to pull the doors open. After a second of struggling, he pulls away. I look at him questioningly.
"it’s locked; we need to get inside. Follow me" he suggests, and even though it's him, and I'm positively infuriated with him, there is no doubt in my mind, that I would follow him to the ends of the earth if I had to. I would trust him with my life, with my entire existence. I would follow him anywhere.
"Where's another door then?" I ask him, and he looks to everyone else in the group, aside from me. I feel the anger building up inside of me again. He's really pissing me off. It’s a strange feeling to be so grateful, so in awe of being near the person you love again, but also wanting to push them down a flight of stairs at the same time.
"Let's check around the side of the building, for an emergency entrance. We might be able to get inside" he says, looking to Drew this time. He stoops down to pick up an old hammer from the ground. Someone must’ve tried using it as a weapon and lost it.
With anger rising in my stomach, I whip around and run around the side of the building. There are about twenty of the beasts behind us, so we don't have that much time to find a way inside. I feel someone just behind me, but I don't even look to see who it is. I see a door on the wall, a few yards ahead of me, so I run to it as quickly as I can. I can hear the wave of noise much more clearly over here. It sounds like a noisy gymnasium, but some of it sounds like screaming. I look behind me and fall back in surprise. The person who was right behind me is actually a zombie. He's right there, and I watch as he stumbles closer, while I fall to the ground. The beast towers over me, as I struggle to scamper away from its heavily breathing form. I'm just gathering myself to jump to my feet, when the thing collapses on top of me. I fall back to the pavement.
Screaming out, I’m forced to watch as the thing struggles to find my skin with its teeth. I close my eyes, as it snaps at me. I can feel the saliva dripping onto my neck, and just when I know I'm about to get bitten, it falls to the side. I open my eyes and see with relief that the thing is lying there, limp against the concrete. I push the rest of the body off of me and stand to my feet. I look over at Paul, as he avoids my gaze. He saved me. I'm surprised he didn't let it kill me.
"Thanks" I say breathlessly, but he just turns away, gripping the gory hammer tightly, before muttering under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear.
"Whatever…” The words sting, they sting worse than anything he's ever said to me. He literally just saved me from being torn apart, and the most he can say to me is whatever? It's like he doesn't care that he saved me. Like he could've just as easily let me die, and not felt a thing. Was it really not a big deal to him? How can he be so apathetic? Did he ever really love me at all? Did he flip a switch a
nd erase everything we had from his memory?
"If you regret it so much, then why did you save me?" I demand, before storming off with tears in my eyes. I can hear him running after me, but I'm so hurt right now. I'm so upset with how he just saved me and made me feel like it was some unpleasant chore in the same moment. I close my eyes, to prevent the tears from escaping. Rounding the corner, I see the others are there at the back of the gym. They've found the exact door we were looking for. Paul rounds the corner at that moment and pauses beside me. I see him look up at me from the corner of my eye, but then he just turns to the door, and walks over silently. What was that look for? I follow him over to the door and watch as he pushes on the handles just like before. He takes a few steps back, and then races forward, and plants a strong kick against the frame of the door.
The door splinters, and then caves in on itself. We stand there in a semi-circle, as the sight unfolds before us. The gym is full of people. There are hundreds visible from here. Some are littered along the court, while others are slumped over in the bleachers. The rest of the people in the gym are diseased. I look around for the sight of any survivors, but there doesn't seem to be any. I spot one woman, crawling weakly across the gym floor, but then an infected spots her as well, and three of the monsters close in on her, and devour her in mere seconds. I avert my eyes, as she falls back to the floor, her eyes open but blank. Turning to the rest of the chaos before us, I watch as another survivor I hadn't previously spotted tries to run to the exit, we've now cleared for them. He jumps right over the head of a fallen diseased, and skids across the floor to the open door.
I nod to him, as he sprints past me. He doesn't go out of the door though. He turns back to survey the scene before me. I look over at him, as he searches the gym worriedly.
He is tall, over six feet tall for sure. His dark brown curly hair is all messed up. He’s wearing a black button-down shirt, tucked into his jeans. He looks maybe thirty at the oldest. I notice that he’s quite attractive. His strong jawline, his brown eyes would usually be alluring to me, but not now. Not after finding Paul. I’ll never feel that way about someone that isn’t him. Even after months of not having him, after all the nights I’ve been alone.
"Are you bitten?" I ask simply, not wanting another crisis on our hands. I look back at the woman we brought with us, as I ask him. I see him follow my gaze. He shakes his head. Kerry looks like she’s about to drop.
"No, but I gotta find my sister before they do" he says, and I nod understandingly. I look out as Paul, Thomas, and Ryan sprint around the building looking for anyone to help. Drew, and Riley have gone around the gym, and opened all the doors, for the infected to file out. I see a young girl, maybe eighteen years old. She's looking around with a confused look on her young face. She has fear in her brown eyes, as she searches the gym.
"You know her?" I ask him, as he scopes the other side of the gym. His head darts to the girl I was speaking of. He jumps forward and takes off running after her. He kicks a fallen monster in the head, before landing on the floor just beside her. She rushes into his arms, before turning to look in my direction. They stand in the middle of the blood smeared gym for a few seconds, and he gestures for her to head in my direction. I watch as she breaks away from him, and sprints across the gym. She seems very well versed in sprinting, so I assume she has some kind of athletic history. I look for Paul, just to make sure that he's still okay. He's across the gym with Ryan, and they're helping a woman climb over the railing of the bleachers. She was behind them somehow, so maybe there are more survivors hidden in little nooks and crannies. Maybe this doesn't have to be such a huge massacre.
Ryan leads her over to me, as I stay by the door to guard it. After another few moments, she joins me and the young girl. I turn to see Emily still standing beside me as well.
"Are you guys hurt?" I demand, as they both join me. The older woman looks at me with a little fear still heavy in her gaze. I reach out a hand and place a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"No. I think I’m fine, but what the hell are these things?" she wonders aloud, her face red, her eyes swiveling from me to the infected. She points over to one of the few remaining stragglers in the gym. I follow her gaze and feel a wave of nausea in my stomach.
"I'm not sure, but they're ferocious. I almost died from one earlier, but luckily Paul was there to bail me out" I say, and Emily's head turns sharply in my direction. Oh, that's right. I hadn't told her yet of my near-death experience.
"What happened, are you okay?" she demands, before hovering over me to inspect for any blemishes left by the beast. At that time Riley, Drew, and the guy that I talked to join us at the entrances. I watch as the other three cross the room. When we're finally all together in one group, I look at the gym behind us. There are dozens of people lying on the floor. They all look dead, and I assume that's because they are. I turn to Ryan as he walks up to me. He is rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, and looking down at his feet, as he approaches us. I can tell that something is bothering him. I look one last time at the gym, scoping for any last source of movement. At first, I actually think I've spotted one more survivor, but it turns out to be a flailing diseased, trying its hardest to get back to its feet. I turn away from the devastation before me and walk out of the gym.
“I’m Chase, and this is my sister Brooke” the tall guy from before says, his eyes scoping us out gratefully. I smile at him. At least we were able to save a couple people.
“I’m Ben. I’m glad we could help get you out of there” I say, looking from him to his sister. I notice it’s the brown-haired girl that ran so athletically through the gym. Her skin is tan, her eyes the same brown as Chase’s.
“I’m Grace” the older woman says. Her black hair has streaks of grey. Her smooth ivory skin is sticky with sweat.
I look out then and see all the beasts dispersed in intervals across the parking lot. The others follow me out of the building, and we stand there silently, on the steps of the university gym, looking out at what has to be the end of the world. This is the apocalypse. This is everything that those conspiracy theorists have been predicting for decades. I sadly take a step closer to the future, closer to the ominous incarnations of what used to be human beings. I try to picture the wanderers as normal college students, trying to race off to class. I am ever aware of Paul, as we walk down the rest of the steps. I can sense his body just feet from mine, but then I remember his reaction to saving my life. I try to push him out of my head, but it's no use. I'm just about to build the courage to look back at him, when I hear something behind me. I turn to see Kerry toppling down the stairs.
EIGHT
I turn around and run right back to the stairs. Everyone is gathered around Kerry, as she lies there utterly limp on the concrete steps. I stoop down beside her and feel for a pulse. I immediately feel the dull pulsing of blood in her veins, so I look up. The others are all looking at me with worry in their eyes. I nod my head.
"She's still alive, but her pulse is really weak. I think she might be gone, within the hour" I explain. A heavy cloud of anger seems to hover over us, as we stand around our fallen comrade. We all seem to jump back to reality. I help Chase pull her to her feet, and we begin to cross the parking lot, dragging the unconscious woman along with us. I keep looking back.
There are a few of the infected humans behind us. I count seven in total. As we slowly make our way across the parking lot, the others begin to talk. I try to ignore Paul’s voice, and continue to help support Kerry, but it's hard to concentrate when he's constantly talking.
"Why don't we go get our cars, while you stay here to watch her?" he suggests acidly, and I look up to see him talking directly to me. It's weird because it makes me feel even more alone. I guess he wasn't aware of the tone in which he spoke to me. He either doesn't hear the blades in his voice, or he just doesn't give a damn.
"I guess we could stay here with her, if you guys want to separate and go get cars" Emily answers for me, coming to s
tand just beside me. She is trying to protect me in some misguided attempt. Paul just nods, before his sister follows him in the opposite direction of the parking lot. I watch as he disappears around the side of the building.
I immediately feel my stomach relax. It was so tense, and I was actually having trouble breathing, but with him gone; it feels a lot better. I turn to Riley, and she smiles at me for a second, before her and Drew head off after Ryan to the truck we came in. Thomas and Brooke go with Chase, so that they can help with any infected lingering around. Grace, Emily and I are left alone with Kerry, so I guide her into the backseat of one of the unlocked cars near us. I leave her there, and head back over to Emily. It feels so weird to be here with a dying woman, and a bunch of roaming undead humans eating their way through Tallahassee. I lean against the building, keeping an eye out for any infected that might roam upon us. Right now, the parking lot is completely empty as far as I can see. To be honest, it actually seems creepier this way. There is nothing but silence, no animals, no people, no life.
"What do you think is gonna happen Benny?" Emily asks, after we stand there for a few moments of silence. I smile at the use of the nickname saved for her alone I close my eyes before turning to her. I have a massive headache, and the stress of this situation is just starting to weigh down on me, sinking in now that we have a moment of down time.
"I think that our lives are never gonna be the same again" I reply, and she looks down sadly.
“Do you think my kids are safe? My family? Your family?” she asks, her questions like deadly needles.
“Statistically, not everyone can still be alive after this” I say, using my math brain, as usual. She hates that.
We Are The Hunted (Book 1): We Are The Hunted Page 5