Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Thriller

    My alarm was beeping, as it did every day. I rolled over and hit the snooze button, just like always, throwing my blankets on the floor. I never made my bed, or even straightened it. It was too much of a hassle. What’s the point of making your bed when no one is even going to see it? Is it to make yourself feel proud or accomplished or something? I never understood.

    I changed into my uniform, picking my hairbrush off of the floor where I had left it, with most of my other things. I grabbed my glasses of the table next to my bed, knocking my phone behind the table in the process. I sighed and pushed the table out of the way to grab it, knocking my bag of chips onto the floor, and spilling them on the carpet. I groaned and grabbed the phone, pushed the table back into place, and picked up the chips.

    I walked over to my door and picked up my backpack. I was looking for my other shoe when my dog pushed open my door, carrying a stuffed animal that belonged to my younger brother. She was a Chocolate Lab, Great Dane and looked the part. Her legs were too big for her body and her face was to small for her head, but she was still adorable in her own way. 

    “Rose, come here,” I called her, and she ran over and dropped the toy so that she could lick my face. I smiled and threw the stuffed bunny out of my room through the now open door. She ran after it and I followed, closing the door behind me. 

    Rose ran over to me again, holding the stuffed rabbit again. It was missing an ear, and I could tell she had been chewing on it. I pet her on the head and walked down the stairs, Rose following me and soon over taking me, almost tripping me on my way down. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw my little brother was sitting on the couch. He was already dressed, his backpack sitting next to him, open a little so that one of his folders was sticking out. 

    “Carter, your backpack is open.” 

I guess I had startled him, as he jumped a little and looked over at me. He zipped it up and layed down on the couch, obviously still tired. Rose was pulling on a loose string hanging off of the sweater I was wearing. It was extremely cold outside for a winter in Arizona, and we had just gotten back from Winter Break. The inspector was coming today, so we were all instructed to dress nice and be on our best behavior. I wasn't worried, the inspector came every year, though this year it was a little different. The inspector coming today was a higher level than the others that had come, and had traveled the world making sure schools were up to standard, so I guess he was more qualified or something, but to me he was just another inspector. 

    I walked over to my kitchen and grabbed a doughnut out of the pantry. I ate it quickly and then checked my cabinets for something for lunch. I grabbed an old, plastic Walmart bag from under the sink, the kind you get when you check out. I put an apple, water bottle and bag of barbeque chips in it and tied the top. I then filled my thermos with some Ramen and put it in the pocket of my backpack. 

    I looked over to the clock, and saw it read 7:53. My alarm went off at 7:30, but I guess I had taken too long getting dressed and making food, and I had forgot to wake my Mom up again. I walked over to her door and knocked on it until I heard movement inside. A second later, the door opened. My Mom was already ready, but hadn't seen the time either and didn't have her shoes on. 

    “Mom, come on! Hurry up! We're late!” I hurried her and she said, “I'm sorry, I didn't see the clock and my alarm didn't go off! Give me just a minute.”

    I groaned and sat down on the couch next to Carter, who was petting Rose. I smiled at him and he asked, “Are we going to be late?”  I nodded at him and he just sighed. A few moments later, my Mom came out, now wearing her shoes. 

    “You guys ready to go?” She asked, grabbing her keys from off the hook next to the door. We both nodded and she opened the front door. We said goodbye to Rose and walked out, heading for the car. When we got in the car, Carter said, “It's cold back here. The heaters still broke! Mom! I'm cold!”

    Not wanting to deal with his whining, we decided it was better to take my car, like we did when something was wrong with my mom's. It was a bit old, and was my Mom's old minivan, so we didn't use it often and I only drove it when my mom or friends couldn't take me somewhere, but the heaters worked. My mom wanted to drive, but I told her it was best that I do it, as I didn't trust her with my car, even if it was her old one, since I had been driving it almost longer than her, and it was extremely old and should be handled with caution. I hopped in the driver seat and my mom in the passenger's. Carter climbed in the back, and I started off for school. 

    I knew we were going to be late, even when we had just gotten in the car. School started at 8:15 and I was already 8:12. We lived a few miles away and there was still lights, so I knew we wouldn't make it. I didn't mind, but I thought my teacher, Ms. Vandling might be upset that we were late the day an important person decides to show up. I was speeding a little, but I slowed down when we got closer to the school, realizing I was going ten miles over the speed limit. Today was not the day to get a ticket.

    When I finally got to the school, there was a weird feeling in the air. The parking lot was full, but no one was outside. I kind of expected it, as school started ten minutes ago, but something didn't feel right. I was heading for the front entrance when I heard a weird groaning sound. I wasn't sure which direction it was coming from, but before I could comprehend the situation, I saw Ernie bolt out of the front office. He was in my advanced Algebra group, and the only guy at that. He was short, shorter than me at hardly five feet. We we're in our second year of high school, so that was extremely short for a guy, especially one older than me. I had skipped third grade and started kindergarten a year early, so I was notably younger than everyone else in my grade, even some in the grade below mine. 

    I was trying to comprehend the situation when I saw another person dart out the door, too. I didn't know who it was, but when I noticed the bright orange hair, I knew it was, Jackie, my best friend since fifth grade. Confused, I called out to her. 

    “Jackie! Ernie! What's going on?” I screamed, and they started to run towards me, not even stopping when they heard my voice. They looked as if they had seen a ghost. When they got near me, Jackie started to drag me towards my car, the doors still open. 

    “What is going on? Jackie, are you ok?” I started to ask, but Jackie said nothing and pulled me closer to my car and hopped in the back. Ernie had followed and was ushering my little brother and mom into the car, saying, “There's no time to explain! Get in the car!” 

    As I was panicking, I saw another group of people run out of the building. I was alert now, and I recognized them instantly as the rest of my Algebra group, Marysa, Alex and Hitzel, a few athletes, Xavier, a football player, Stephanie and Anna, volleyball players, and Victor, who ran track. They all ran straight to my car, Victor in the driver's seat, my mom still in the passenger's seat, Jackie and Anna in the bucket seats, Marysa, Alex and Xavier in the backseats and Hitzel, Stephanie and Ernie sitting on the floor, hugging my little brother, who was scared and crying. I could tell they were talking, but I was standing alone outside the car, expecting someone else to run out the door. I was confused, but I knew they were in trouble. 

    I saw my homeroom teacher, Mrs. Vandling, running out the door, followed by Mr. Gebbie, my Social Studies teacher, who was practically dragging Victoria, another of my friends, who seemed to be injured. Now, I knew there was trouble. 

    “Libby,” I guess it's a bit late to say that's my name, “Open your trunk!” It was Mr. Gebbie, screaming. 

    I ran to the back of my car and pulled the handle on the trunk. When it opened, Mr. Gebbie helped Victoria climb in, though she was shaking very badly, so he practically tossed her in. When I closed it, Mr Gebbie said, “Get far away from here. Warn everyone! Mrs. Vandling and I are taking my truck. Where do you live?” Here he handed me a pen and gum wrapper from his pocket, “I'll grab any supplies I can and meet you there. Just get there fast, and be careful with everyone. There lives are important now.” He finished talking and hurried me to finish writing. I gave him the wrapper, now with my address on it, and he and Mrs. Vandling ran over to a car I presume was his. 

    At this moment, I heard a loud clang, and I looked up to see a person standing on the other side of the gate that was on the side of our school. It led to more parking, and you could access the field behind our school from it, but I don't know why the person didn't go through the front office if something was going on. Suddenly, I saw a few more figures appear a bit behind the first, all heading towards the gate. I was about to walk over to open it, as it seemed they were trapped and there was definitely something bad going on. I jumped a bit when Jackie came up behind me and started dragging me to my car, shoving me into the back and hopping in after. She hurriedly shut the door and said, “What were you thinking? Don't go near them!” 

    When I looked back out the window to see what she was talking about, I saw another person running out the front entrance. Then, the engine started and the figure grew smaller.

    “Victor! Stop the car, there is someone out there!” I tried to get Victor’s attention, but he was speeding away. As we were pulling away from the school, the side gate swung open, and the large group of people that had started to swarm behind it headed straight for the figure. Even through the car walls, I heard the blood-curdling scream as the group of people seemed to cover the figure. I knew the scream too, which scared me more. It was my ELA teacher, Ms. Chapman.

    “Somebody tell me what is going on! Now!” I screamed, and everyone’s heads turned. There was ten others in the car, but for a while, no one said anything. Victor was going 90, the streets were empty, Carter was crying, and everyone looked traumatized. After a few minutes, I repeated myself. 

    “Mr. Gebbie is acting weird, he's never rushing, he asked for my address, and he said your lives are important! What. Is. Going. On.” I paused after every word, flustered. 

    “The inspector came.” Said Marysa after a minute. 

    “What's that got to do with anything!” I cried, about to break down in tears. I was still wearing my backpack, since I had grabbed it out of the car when we had pulled up. 

    “What happened to Ms. Chapman? What were you running from? What about the inspector? I'm tired and confused! Somebody say something!” I screamed, flustered and angry. After another pause, Victor asked, “Where is your house? I saw you give Mr. Gebbie that paper, so it must've been your address, considering what's happening.”

    “I'll tell you when you explain what's going on!” I shouted, no longer able to keep my temper. 

    “I'll explain. Just give Vic your address.” I heard from the back. I turned my head and realized it was Marysa who had spoke. I was anxious, and now that I had the opportunity to find out what was going on, I jumped at it. I told Victor my address, and turned to look at Marysa, though I had to look up a bit as she was sitting in the backseat and was higher than me. After a minute, she finally started to explain.

    “The inspector has been to many of the schools around the world, as you know. There's no hiding it, so I'll be as straight forward as possible with you. He's caught some virus, and he seems to have gone crazy. He walked in and attacked the front office staff, and then got into the classrooms. The Freshman went first. We're all Sophomores, so we are next closest to the front, and we barely got out alive-” Here, I really had to interrupt.

    “What do you mean by… go.” I asked, almost knowing, yet not. 

    “How do I put it…” Marysa started to explain, but Xavier cut in. 

    “He's a zombie. It's the apocalypse. I can't even explain it! We almost died. We all almost died. We joke about the apocalypse and what we would do, but this is different. We almost died. We only got out because a few of the Juniors ran out of their classes, screaming because one had gotten in, alerting the Seniors, who followed. The zombies ran after them, and I mean ran. They ran as fast as their legs could carry 'em, not limping like you think you think zombies would-” Now it was Marysa who cut him off. 

    “Should we really call them zombies…? They were people a minute ago!”

    “Maybe we don't know they are zombies. They could just be infected and violent. They aren't dead and definitely not undead.” It was Ernie. He sounded arrogant, though he didn't mean to. He talked like this all the time, but then he meant it. Xavier started again. 

    “Fine then. The Infected,” He gave the word a great emphasis,“Went after them, including the front staff. After a minute, we grabbed what weapons we could, mostly scissors and heavy books, and ran. One kid dropped a book and some of the Infected further back heard. They started to charge, and some of the slower kids got bit. Like, actually bit. I'm telling you, zombies. I guess they transmit the disease by saliva. It could work with other fluids, like blood and sweat too, but I didn't want to test it, especially not in that moment. Anyway, we had barely gotten halfway to the office when Mr. Gebbie ran out, carrying his flag. It sounds crazy, but he stabbed one with it. Then came Ms. V. She was quicker than all of us, and had caught up. Her meeting was running late, so we had just been sitting in class talking for those first few minutes of school. We found Victoria crouched under the front desk. She had been sent to bring the attendance sheet to the office, and was there when the inspector first showed up. She was scratched up from a confrontation with an Infected, though she won't tell us what happened, and was really exhausted. Mr. Gebbie grabbed her and we ran, bolted out the door. Ernie and Jackie had gone out ahead and planned to lead any Infected that had gotten outside away, while we ran to Hitzel’s car. When we ran out, you were there and we thought it was our best bet, as your car was already open. Now here we are.” Xavier finished telling the story, and I was shocked. I was lucky I had been late to school today, and I didn't know why the universe chose me to live. 

    After a few minutes of silence, we got to my house. We pulled into the driveway, and the street was deserted. Everyone must have gone to work. As we got out of the car, everyone grabbed their backpacks. I was confused and when I asked, they told me that they had dumped the supplies out and had filled them with all of the apples from the nurse's office, which was in the front office. Suddenly, I remembered the food and my backpack, and while it was useless now that we were at my house, I felt comfort in knowing that we may be able to survive. When we got home, we all sat down in my living room. 

    We decided it was best to take a headcount first and then divide into groups to collect all the food, board and block the doors and windows, and then come up with a plan. There was my mom and brother, who hadn't said anything the whole time, Victoria who had been helped out of the trunk and seemed to have regained some of her strength, Hitzel, Marysa, Ernie, Alex, Jackie, Stephanie, Xavier, Anna, Victor, me and my dog, Rose, who had decided now was an appropriate time to sit in Carter's lap. That’s thirteen people and a dog. 

    When everyone had settled down, we decided it was time to break into groups. After a few minutes, we came up with groups. Victoria, Stephanie, Anna and my younger brother were going to go and collect the food, and the sort it, Xavier, Jackie, Victor and my mom were going to board up the windows and block the doors with whatever they could find, and me, Marysa, Ernie, Hitzel and Alex were going to come up with a plan and a list of things we needed. 

    As I was sitting in the living room, next to Alex and Hitzel, across from Marysa and Ernie, I heard a bang on the door.

To Be Continued...