Zombie

Whenever I had watched horror movies of serial killers or war movies that the people fight with swords. There is always so much blood and gore. I absolutely love it. Well Mark and I do. Alice, not so much. But this was different. My hands trembled, I now felt the pain in my arms from swinging the metal pipe over and over. It was like I just did one thousand push-ups. I couldn’t lift my arms. My body was covered in this person, blood, skin, an eyeball. There was a mirror in the gym room we were in. I looked at myself. I didn’t see the same kid looking back. The same kid with brown eyes, black messy hair, with a goofy smile, and a slim body. No this was a different person. I had never seen it before. The blood slowly dripped down my bare chest to my jeans. When I lifted my foot off the ground it was simply dripping of the blood that is now covering me. I looked to the corner where Alice was staring at me. Her clothing was ripped, her pointy nose was broken, and her long dirty hair had dirt, oil and now blood in it. Even though she looked different than when I first met her. I looked down at the corpse that was once a classmate. I knew then at that moment. The world is not going to be the same anymore.

2 DAYS AGO

“WAKE UP LOSER '' said my tough as nails sister. She simply kicked me off my bed and started to drag me out of my room. I wished I had known she was going to do this. I would have at least worn underwear that did not have holes in it. With little effort she threw me into our shower. Hot water was for sisters that actually care for you. Mine, she wanted to torture me. Cold water it was. You would think that was the end of the torture, but she always has to one up herself. She had filled the tub with water and ice. I shot up in shock. Eyes wide like a meerkat looking out for predators. She pointed and laughed at me. This sister of a medium build, fierce look and a sinister smile. She wasn't taller than me. As I am 5 9”, she on the other hand is only 5 10”. But she never let me forget that I was her little brother and she had to take care of me. You would think that I would be yelling at her. I couldn’t do that to her. You see me and her had been on our own since she was in middle school. At that time she was only 13 and I was 10. Now I am 17 and in my last year of high school and she is an adult. Time sure flies. She took care of me and had worked to provide for both of us after dad left and mother killed herself because dad left. She didn’t have a problem with it at all. Besides, getting the enjoyment of torturing her little brother.

I leave the bathroom and rush to my room. All the while she is still laughing while walking to the kitchen and still yelling for me to hurry up. We live in a one-bedroom apartment. I said she is a sister that cares for me since she let me have the room while she sleeps in the living room. I remember her saying “I know how boys are and want their privacy. BUT if you start slacking off in school. I will put you on the balcony to sleep at. Even throughout the winter”. So, I took care of my grades and went with the treatment she does. I get dressed quickly for her sake, jeans, button up shirt, and my normal run-down sneakers. She looked at them and said she will get me new ones. I know she wants to. But I get that money is tight. I eat her usual meal, eggs and bacon. She gets them for cheap at the farm just outside of the city. She has to catch the train to get there but since we live in-between my school in the city and her job outside of it. It’s a pretty good set up. She had given that much thought when looking for a place to stay. She looked at me with her stare of you’re going to be late dummy, eat faster. I nod and scarf my food down my throat and rush to the door where she had placed my bag for school. She walked to me by the door and said the same things she always says every morning when I leave,

Be smart

Be respectful to others

Do not take shit from people who don’t respect you

You know that I care for you

If there is any trouble. Remember. I WILL COME FOR YOU.

She handed me my cell phone which I left on my night stand and kissed my forehead. This was the only part of the day that she actually smiled that sunrise kind of smile. She had stopped smiling like that after that incident that took place 4 years ago. I don’t blame her. I wish I was older than her and I would have done something much worse to them. But they went missing, so we will never know.

I headed out of our building. My sister is locking the door behind me. She doesn’t need to leave till later. Off to school. The ride to school was normal. Waiting for the train with the same business man, a smoker to my right and an old lady who loves cats. Due to her umbrella she carries pictures of cats, she has a cat handbag, and there are always cats crowding around her. I looked at the window as the world passed me by. Going into the city was always so surreal. From a country where there are fields and open space, to a place full of buildings that seem to be closing in on you. Very claustrophobic. We got to the south station. Two more stations till school when I hear her voice.

Why doesn’t she just walk to school like she always does. “heeeelllllooooooo JJjjjjjjaaaaacccckkkkk”.Said Alice annoyingly.

This girl never used to be around me until the middle of sophomore year. Now she is just always there. She came running to my side and moved my bag off the chair so she could sit. She wore her regular grey t shirt with jeans and tough looking military boots which she tucked the jeans in. As usual her hair was tied into a ponytail with her favorite blue ribbon tying it back. I had the face of utter defeat. No matter what I said she just stuck around. I never knew why nor I would ever get a real answer when I did ask her. It's always “why not?” or “cause can '' or “it's fun to be around you”. All so annoying. Don’t get me wrong. If I had seen her walking down the street, I would think that her body was nice and curvy and her blue eyes were like the ocean. To top it all off she had freckles on her cheeks which just made her even more attractive. The problem was that she was like a used gum on the bottom of my show that I just cannot shake.

“poke poke poke” Alice says playfully as she pokes me in the face to get my attention. I turn to her with my broody face and stare at her. “Oh no. Look who's grumpy today”.

“Why do you bother me every day? You only started taking the train to school because Mark blabbed that I take this train to school at this time every day.” I looked at her intently. Trying to get a read.

“It's a simple dummy. You’re just so much fun to be around. Also, your sister is my idol”. Alice only met my sister once and it was like two peas in a pod. They hit it off. Laughing, making fun of me, oh and violence. Lots of it. They wrestled and actually hit one another. Why are the two girls in my life brutes? My sister was not like that before though. She was not always a brute. Things happen, incidents happen that change people. After Alice said what she wanted to say, which was how she did not want to go to school because of our math test today, that she wanted to come over my house today to see my sister again, and that can we ditch Mark (my best friend) today because he is an annoying self righteous brat. My answer was simple. “NO”

Our school was three stories tall and it had an 8-foot wall surrounding it. There were front and back gate entrances and no other way in unless you jumped the wall. As usual there is someone at both gates. Most of the time our teachers, sometimes the students who get the duty. The student disciplinary club. Their jobs were to search people's bags and ensure they are not doing anything wrong or bringing in any contraband into the school. Today it is the math teacher Alice hates. Mr. Ester is a greasy middle-aged man who always has a burger and fries from any fast food he sees when he goes for lunch. Usually it's from Burger Haven. He was bald, yet he tried to cover his side hair to cover that fact. He wore long sleeves with a cotton sweater vest everyday no matter how hot it was. He also wore khakis which we can all tell where his underwear starts and ends due to him always sweating. He looked at me and simply brushed me off. That’s how everyone saw me. Not important. I simply was invisible to everyone. I got good grades, did what I was told, and went home. I walked past Mr. Ester, that’s when I felt something cut the air behind me. I turned and saw the Mr. Ester had stopped Alice. He smiled at her and you could tell he did not brush his teeth. He wasn’t even facing me and I could smell his breath. Alice looked disgusted but smiled and asked “yes Mr. Ester?”

He giggled and you could see his belly jiggle with it as he stared deep at Alice and said “You know if you fail this test Alice, then we would have to do after school studying.” he smiled like a pervert, eyeing Alice up and down “ would you like that?” Alice took a deep breath. It looked pretty tuff for her to do that since I could smell his BO and his breath from here. She then said “I am confident that I will pass today Mr. Ester. Now if you will excuse me.” she pushed past him and I could have sworn he took a deep breath of her as she passed. Now before I did not say Alice was pretty. But for her age, she is really pretty. Many guys flock over her and the male teachers stare at her constantly. This also was not the first time that a teacher threatened her with an after- school study session. Ever since she had been bothering me in sophomore year till now many teachers tried to do what Mr. Ester did. I guess they think she is an idiot. I believe she is somewhat smart.

She caught up with me and held her head in shame “I am going to fail. Jack, when I stay after school, can you be there to protect me?'' She looked at me with her puppy dog eyes. I knew she was afraid that Mr. Ester was thinking of something perverted to do to her. After all, everyone did think she was a pretty idiot. I saw her do this before when a freshman last week brought the last tuna sandwich from the vending machine. She gave those eyes and he gave it to her. She didn’t even have to pay. I looked at her and sighed. “if it comes to that. MAYBE.'' She smiled and loved that answer. She knew I wouldn’t let her be alone with Mr. Ester. That guy even creeps me out. When we entered through the double doors I glanced back to the entrance and noticed that there was someone walking funny to the front gate. Maybe it's just some crazy dude on something.

As we walk down the halls, I hear the familiar voice of my best friend. “You two look like a sweet couple.” He looked at Alice and said “you must be the man in the relationship” then to me “you must be the girl in the relationship” Alice smiled and tried to punch Mark in the face. They started to argue then and there. It was normal. My normal routine from my sister waking me up, to the cat lady and the smoking businessman, to Alice jumping on the train with me, to Mr. Ester being perverted. Now my best friend Mark is a super athlete that is on the soccer team, tennis team, and track team. You would think he did not have time for those teams. You would be wrong. He is a natural runner. He can run for long periods of time and his short sprint bursts are really fast. He also can recover from running a long time with a couple breaths. As you can imagine, unlike me who is not fit and just slim as a high school-er. On the other hand, Mark is well built, he has blonde hair, and green eyes, many girls flock to him because of his smile and his pretty boy face. He is standing at about 6 1” with long muscular legs. But don’t let that fool you, his torso is well built as well, showing off a 6 pack abs and tight pecks. You would think I am gay but I will tell you no. Mark is just a guy I could never be. As he is in the spotlight with many wins in all three teams thanks to him, girls falling over in love with him, teachers love him, his grades are all perfect, his parents are well off and support him. I, on the other hand, just want to go and build stuff. Build anything, make things, take things apart. Many things in my sister and I apartment were scraps we found in nearby dumpsters that I fixed. From the microwave that was made with 6 different microwaves, from the sofa that I had repaired with old towels and sewn together with string I had unstrung from my sister. I also built the bed I sleep on from makeshift pieces of wood from nearby dumpsters. Of course, the mattress my sister bought. I just want to find out how things work. The relationship I have with Mark I will never know, nor will I understand why Alice hangs with the two of us.

As Mark and Alice continue to bicker, I wonder who is really the couple here. I won’t say it. I try not to get in the middle of their little feuds.

First, second, then third period ends. I feel relieved that half the day is gone. Am on the roof like I always go for lunch. It was a nice cool day. Days like these make me melt away in the sun. The roof was simple. It was gated all around at eight-feet high to prevent kids from jumping. It also had a couple of benches and the gardening club had its shed filled with tools and some garden with potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes up here. I remember them serving it during one of the schools' events. That’s when I see the doors to the top of the roof open and out steps the two of them, Mark and Alice. Alice runs over to me and happily like a puppy explains how Mr. Ester didn’t show up for class because he got sick, and that the class was a study period. She also tells me how now she has more time to study for the test. I asked her what happened to Mr. Ester, all she could tell me was that he got sick earlier today. Mark walks up and sits on the bench next to me and starts eating a sandwich. Which was tuna. Then like clockwork, “is that my tuna sandwich?” Asks Alice. You could see her freckles slowly glowing red.

“You left it by the roof door. Finders keepers' losers are starving.” he simply took another bite. It was like he loved to torture Alice. I remember that he told me he was going to annoy her until she left. It seemed like that was not working as she stood up over him and slapped the sandwich out of his hand with her right and slapped him across his face with her left. It seemed like a normal routine for them. They always do this kind of stuff. But Mark was the first to act as he did.

He stood up and pushed her to the ground. He then started to say “So what princess, I ate your sandwich. Boooohoooo. What are you going to do? Make those puppy eyes again? Why are you even around us? Day after day you follow us without a care in the world. Your mommy and daddy make so much money and you brag about that all the time. You start to bother Jack on a daily basis. So, what do you want? WHAT???” Alice on her butt just stared at Mark from where she sat. The glowing of her freckles was gone. All I saw now was water coming from her eyes. She was crying. She started to shake and sniffle. It happened so fast that I just stood there. Mark didn't budge from her water works. He simply stared at her and said “WELL? I'm waiting” she looked up at Mark then at me. I didn’t know what to say. I would like to have it go back to the way things were. That it was just Mark and I, then I would go home alone to my sister.

She stood up and brushed off the dirt from her jeans. She took a deep breath and simply said “okay. I am sorry. You were the only people who were real with me. That didn’t want me for my body or my parent's money.” she looked at Mark and said “I thought we fought cause we were like siblings. I do not have any siblings, I figured it was like how we were” Marks face slowly softened and it seemed like he was realizing the mistake he must have made. Mark was not a person to explode like that. The finals for the tennis team must be getting to him. Alice then looked at me and said softly with the puppy dog watered eyes “I like you Jack. You aren't like everyone in this school. You make things work and fix things. You fixed many things around campus. No one noticed who did it. Not even the janitor or the teachers. In sophomore year you fixed a bench by the cafeteria I loved to sit at. When you sat there you could see the amusement park down in the town. Some boys came by one day and decided to break the old bench to see who could do the most damage. I don’t know if you noticed but you walked by me when I cried at seeing the bench broken. You wouldn’t take credit for it but I saw you fix it. Since then I thought you fixed it for me. A girls foolish dream I guess.`` She walked toward the entrance of the roof and said “I am sorry for being a bother.”

Mark and I sighed. We stared at the ground and didn’t say a word to each other. After 2 years, we finally got an answer as to why she hanged around us. All it took was for Mark to shove a girl, Mr. Righteous. Mark ran his fingers through his blonde hair and said “I’ll go apologize later. Get her ice cream from that place she dragged us to before”. I looked at him and put my hand to his shoulder. I know he didn’t mean it really. He did like having her around. Plus, him my sister and Alice love to torture me. It's like I was meant to be tortured by them.

Then we heard the first scream of the future screams to come. It was ear splitting. Like someone was scratching their nails on a chalkboard. We were on the roof of the school and it was like it was right next to us. Mark and I just shared a look and ran down to see what was going on. We skipped a few steps leading down from the roof. We kept going to the first floor. Then another scream. We were getting close. Mark had no problem running down the stairs. I on the other hand was already winded when I reached the first floor. There was a huge crowd gathered and that’s when we saw it. The first of the bodies to fall. It was the school nurse on the ground. On top of her was Mr. Ester. He was biting her. Biting her neck. Our P.E teacher came running pushing through all the kids when he saw the horrid bloody sight lie before all of us. He was a big man, which was all P.E teachers, and you could tell he lived at the gym. He walked up and grabbed Mr. Ester on the shirt collar and lifted him up with ease. He then started to say “Mr. Ester WHAT IN TH-----” he was cut off when the nurse jumped up and bit the P.E teacher on the leg and Mr. Ester bit down hard on his arm he was holding him with. All the students surrounding the scene either screamed or stood in shock. Everyone started running away once they realized what was happening. Mark and I just stood there, taking it all in. All the blood and gore. All the thoughts of those video games and movies we watched with blood and gore. Now we see it up close. I couldn't help it. I hurled, there goes my sandwich from lunch. Mark tapped me on the shoulder and pointed. Our three-faculty staff stopped attacking one another and now were sprinting to the students. Taking them down one by one. Biting them hard. Ripping through their clothing. You could see Mr. Esters belly fat jiggling as he was taking down student after student ripping through them like the burger, he eats every lunch. Now instead of burgers, its people. His eyes were glass white and his teeth were filled with blood and flesh. It was the face of a monster.

We didn’t wait. Mark and I ran outside. Of the building. There we saw how crazy it had gotten. There were people trying to jump the walls out of the campus and there were people by the gates trying to force their way in. Pushing their blood-soaked bodies at the gates. I scanned the area trying to take it all in. Students were running everywhere. Being chased, being pushed off the wall from people who were trying to grab on to them. Even girls who had cool, pretty boy looking boyfriends were thrown when a turned student was trying to attack them. He kicked her to the attacking student and ran. What a shitty ass human being. Our now flesh-eating Nurse didn’t wait to pray to eat as she normally did. She bit down on that girl with the pretty black hair as if it was normal. The girl yelled in a high-pitched scream. She was staring at the boy who left her behind. She started to curse and swear to him that she would get him for this. It was hell on earth. People trying to jump the walls not knowing what was on the other side. And then you have people trying to get to the gates, well not people, more like Mr. Esters. We stood there. Just stood and watched our classmates running around. That’s when I noticed that it didn’t take long before our Nurse stopped taking flesh off of that girl. She stood up and started running to the group of students who were trying to boost one another up the wall. The girl stood up and I should have intervened with all the knowledge I had of horror movies. I was simply too late. A boy that I knew that always watched these two couples came to her aid. It was sweet. She stood up on her knees. Her hair was covered in dirt and blood. That’s when you could hear the low moan of hunger and the teeth of a monster ready to attack. The boy didn’t move. Only thing she said before she bit down into his neck was “I’ll always be here for you.” with him holding his hand out to her. She jumped and bit down on his neck. He didn’t scream. Maybe that’s what love is? Let the person who you loved, now a monster, fulfill their needs. This need now was hunger.

It didn’t take long before the front gate fell over due to all the bodies of people pushing their way in. It also didn’t take long for the students to realize that they should run into the school. Mark and I nodded and headed into the school as well. We weren't going to watch anymore. It was like a stampede. A stampede of these running monsters taking down students, biting into them, ripping them apart. You couldn’t tell that the dirt or the floors of the school were actually not red. Mark and I knew it was time to go. We ran back into the school. Dodging students, pushing them aside so we can run past. Mark and I knew where to go, back to the roof. As always Mark led the way. He was amazing. Always seeing ahead of him knowing which way to avoid the people being toppled over. Avoiding the teeth of these monsters and pushing them aside. You would think that they would keep going for us when they tried to dive down from the top of the stairs, but they knew. They knew that there was more flesh around them. It was everyone for themselves. I didn’t speak, well I couldn’t speak. My slim body that made you think I was fit was a lie. I was breathing hard, sweating like a cold drink in the hot sun. Mark kept looking back at me and saying “LETS GGOOO. KEEP UP JACK!!”. All I could do was nod. And run after him. I guess it was shown that the weakest link, just like in the animal kingdom where the slowest gazelle gets taken out by the lion, always gets attacked by the predator. I reached the third floor, just looking up and was tackled to the ground. The air that I was trying to suck in was knocked out of me. I turned to see a blue-haired girl dressed all on black on top of me. I knew who she was, she was part of the group who likes to smoke behind the gym. She was usually always nice to me compared to her friends. I leaned up as she was on my chest. That’s when I felt it. The warm liquid is seeping through my pants. Mark was looking down from the staircase to the left of me. There were still so many kids running around. I stood there not knowing if she was alive or dead. Mark called out to me to get up and let's get going. As I put my hand on her shoulder, thinking to shake her awake and take her with us, is when I heard it. The low moan of the things that were attacking the students. I moved back more. Trying to get the distance from me and this person who was nice to me before. She looked up, her eyes white, filled with no life, but insane hunger. She lunged at me trying to go for my neck. Why the neck. I held her back by her shoulders, but she kept trying to bite down on me. I could hear her teeth chomping right by my ear. I couldn’t call for help, I couldn’t think. The only thing I could know for sure I could think of was to keep her away from me as long as possible. His weight was getting heavier. I thought of my sister, then Mark, then Alice, why Alice, wait where Alice is. That’s when I felt the weight free from on top of me. I blinked a few times and noticed that Mark had the trashcan near the stairs in his hand and he simply just slammed it into her. I looked at him more than to me. I could hear the screams of other students who were not so lucky as I was with a friend like Mark around. Mark picked me up by the shirt and lifted me up. He shook his head and said “we need to move”. I followed him up the stairs, as I turned back another student ran past blue hair and was not so lucky. Blue Hair reached up and tripped him, she then sunk her teeth into his calf. So, they can play possum. They seem to be very smart.

We reached the roof and slammed the door behind us. Students were running to other rooms below us. It was a relief to be outside, however how we would get down was a thought that came to mind. Mark scanned the area and knew that we were the only ones up here. I pointed to the bench, trying to catch my breath. It is so great to have a bestie know what you are thinking, Mark ran and dragged the bench to the door, a simple barricade. We sat on it and stood there. I couldn’t think of what to do or anything. I kept replaying the whole scene into my mind. Mr. Ester, our P.E teacher, our school nurse biting into our classmate, the boyfriend who left her, the screams of the students as they were being ripped apart by their friends and the faculty. The sound of the front gate being broken down as the ones who were trying to get in pushed and pushed. Running up those stairs, hearing more scream throughout the school, students running around as if they were chickens with their heads cut off. Then a Blue Hair girl tried to take a piece of my neck, but then she played possum waiting for someone or something to run by to get a snack from them. It was strange how fast people changed. That’s when we heard pounding from the other side of the roof's entrance door. We were lucky that this door was made of steel as well as the surrounding entrance. “Bam Bam” from the door. I leaned in and spoke “hello.” I just heard a loud bang. Then more and more as if there were dozens of hands just pounding the door. No voices to be let in. Just pounding. Mark ran for the other bench and pulled it to the door. He angled it on top of the other bench so that it would supply extra weight to the first bench. Mark was quiet this whole time. He only spent time reacting. I looked at him intently and simply asked “you okay?” his eyes were still wide as when he saw our school nurse and Mr. Ester bite into our P.E teacher, he was taking deep steady breaths. He then shook his head and said “What....the fuck.....is....happening?” he looked at me expecting me to have the answers. I know I rebuilt his computer and figured out what was wrong with his parent's DVD player and his sister's IPOD, but this was different. This was people, not things you can take apart and put back together. I mean you could, but you would be one of those mad scientists. All I could give him was the same thing anyone else would have said “I don’t know”.

The banging outside the door stopped as well as the screams of the students below us. It slowly started to get quieter. That is until my cell phone rang. I jumped to the ring tone of a semi-automatic handgun that went off in my pocket. Yes, it was the ringtone of a gun being shot, what a perfect moment. I grabbed it and saw it was my sister. As soon as I pressed the answer call the banging on the door started again this time there sounded like there were more hands.

“Hello? Sis, I need to tell you something” I said. It didn’t take long to realize that on the other end there was screaming as well. “SIS?” I thought I wasn’t going to get an answer. I thought that she called and was then attacked. Until I heard her voice that sounded distant from the phone “THAT'S RIGHT FUCKER, HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT IN YOUR HEAD?!?!?!?!” I could hear her pick up the phone and simply say “Jack its me your sister, you okay?”. Here I am scared shitless, covered in warm blood from Blue Hair, noticed that now I smelt piss off of my which must have been when Blue Hair was trying to get a little snack from my throat and my sis just asks “you okay?”. I start to yell on the phone, my voice cracking, telling her everything that has happened, not caring that me screaming is causing more and more aggressive pounding on the other side of the door. Tears running down my checks. I look and Mark and he doesn’t say anything. No sarcastic comment of me crying like a baby, he is simply just staring at me. My sister listens to all of my bitching. She listens and knows that I'm crying. When I am done venting to her she says with her cold, stern sounding voice which always makes me do what she tells me. “SUCK IT UP. There is a lot of shit going on outside of the city as well. The farm I work at is a mess and the transit systems are a no go, too many of those things in there. I know you should be somewhere safe right?”

I reply with a simple obedient “Yes”.

She continues “Good, I know you are a loner in that school so you must've run to the roof as Alice always says you eat lunch there. Stay there and be smart. I will try to find another way to get to you”. I start to try to tell her that the whole school is surrounded by their monsters and she cuts me off. “What have I always said? I will come for you, just stay there and wait for me. I will not stop trying to get to you”.

I start to tell her that it's 20 miles of a city filled with chaos and people who are just attacking one another. That I start to tell her that it is impossible, even for my crazy sister with brute strength. She cuts me off again and says “I am coming, so wait for me there, no matter how long it takes, wait for me there. If the power is still working, find a way to keep your phone charged. Be smart my little brother, I am coming for you”. My heart started to fill with hope, filled with happiness. My sister, my light, she is coming. She ends with something she hasn’t said in a long time to me “Be smart, I am coming for you Jack, and I love you”. As I was about to say it back, I heard a loud screech and my sister grunting as if she was fighting against something. I hear that the phone dropped and the call dropped with it. I know my sister won't go down that easy. She will come for me; she also loves me. I lift my head to Mark and tell him what my sister has told me. That she is coming. He nods and asks to use my phone. His hand is shaking and I can tell he is afraid for his little sister and parents. His little sister is in middle school on the other side of town. His parents are on that side as well. He always travels to school by himself, which he doesn't mind. I hand him the phone and he moves toward the fence on the side of the roof that surrounds the roof. The pounding on the outside of the door has stopped since we heard a scream downstairs. They must have been attracted to the sound. Mark is by the fence and I could tell he isn't getting through. He is dialing and listening and he kept this up for ten min. I walk over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. I ask “Anything?” All he did was shake his head. Mark has always been a tough, rational guy in my eyes. He has never cried in front of me, even when he lost one of the biggest tennis tournaments he trained months for. But this time I started to see tears coming from the corners of his eyes. We see that a lot of those things were running outside of the gates now, students that were once students were running to the screams outside of the school. It was like a wave of destruction had passed over this school, and no was just flowing out through the only opening it had, the front gate.

Mark looked at me and handed me my phone. He then said with his eyes closed to hold back his tears “Call Alice, she won't talk to me. But try to see if she is okay.”

Alice, how could I have forgotten about her I remembered her when Blue Hair was attacking me. I dial her number that she had my sister input into my phone. Alice would message me a lot, I wouldn’t answer it, but it was nice that someone of the opposite sex did text you once in a while. I pressed call and listened to the rings on the other end. It was on the third ring when I heard Alice's voice. I could tell she was crying and out of breath. She answered “Jack” the voice was ragged as if she was screaming the whole time it was happening. Maybe all the screams in the beginning was her. I asked her if she was safe and okay. She answered me that she was in the gym storage room. That she ran in there right before the fence broke down. One of our classmates Kevin grabbed her hand and led her there. I looked up and Mark and gave a thumbs up. His face looked relieved knowing that one good thing had happened today. I asked her if anyone else was there and she said no. i told her my sister is coming to get us. I could tell she smiled. But of course, even if you have one good thing happen to you, doesn’t mean that it would stay that way. I then heard Kevin's voice “hang up”. His voice was hard and filled with purpose. I could hear Alice arguing with him telling him no that her friends are going to come for her. I try have her tell me what was going on but she just kept arguing with Kevin. The last thing I head from Alice before the call dropped as “JACK PLEASE COME FOR----” the call then dropped. I stood there with my cellphone to the side of me, jeans soaked with piss and blood. Trying to figure out what was happening between Alice and Kevin. Mark didn't take long to realize that something happened and ask how she was. I told him what had happened during the call and Marks wide eyed face of shock turned to rage. I could see his muscles in his arms tense and he simply said “Did you say Kevin? She is with Kevin?” I nodded and asked what the problem was. His jaw clenched and his eyes were looking at me with determination. He then said “We have to go get her, Where are they?” I didn't understand what was happening. Confused, I asked, “What's going on?” Mark walked up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. He started to shake me as if it was going to jog my memory of what's wrong with Kevin and Alice being together. He then reminded me of who Kevin was.

Kevin State was a guy from our homeroom class. He didn't seem like a harm to anyone and he was like me, stayed out of people's business. What I didn't know was that he had an obsession with Alice. Mark didn't tell me this, nor did Alice. But, Alice had asked Mark to walk her home to school one day due to her thinking someone was stalking her. Mark didn't want to do it because he didn't like Alice, yet his righteous side told him to walk the lady home. Alice was right about the stalker. It was a block or two away from the school when Mark pushed Alice into an alleyway. He wasn't trying to do anything of course but he had told me that he felt someone was following them. Just one of those feelings. As they waited in the alleyway, around the corner came Kevin, Mark snatched him and slammed him against the wall. He then yelled “WHAT ARE YOU DOING KEVIN?” he held him there. Kevin didn't seem scared. It was like he was prepared for this to happen someday. He didn't answer Mark. He just looked at Alice and smiled. Mark punched him and told him to stay away from her as Kevin lay on the ground after taking Mark's righteous punch. Mark then explained to me that that was not the only time. Many times Alice had to call the police on him due to him being outside of her house looking into her window across the street. He was also caught stealing her gym clothes from the girls locker room by our P.E teacher. Mark kept breathing harder and harder, trying so hard to keep his emotions from controlling him. He looked at me intently and said “WE NEED TO GET TO HER, NOW”.

I know Mark wanted to get to her. But how? We have to go down four flights of stairs, across the track, then to the gym storage room. Filled with those monsters was impossible. I started to explain that to Mark and he shook his head harder and said “I am going even if you don't come with me. You can wait up her for your sister, am going. I need to do this Jack. I fucked up”. I looked at him and tried to say something to him. His head was hanging down now and I could tell he is beating himself over it. He continued “If I didn't get her all angry and run off, we wouldn't have been separated, and she would not have been with that FUCKING MONSTER DOWN THERE…..ALONE!!!” he yelled at the end of that, but I didn't hear and hand pounding on the door. Odd. I nodded to Mark and said “Okay. But what's the game plan?”. He shook his head and said, “you're the guy who comes up with stuff. You tell me.” I went into my squat position. This is the position I used to think in. I closed my eyes and pushed back all the thoughts of today. I pushed back what could have happened to my sister. I pushed back harder to what could be happening to Alice right now. I know she is a brute like my sister, but anyone can be caught by surprise. I I then thought, Mark can run fast, am quiet, there is 150 steps of stairs, no of the monsters were pounding on the door even when Mark was yelling, you get bit, you change fast, those monsters can play possum, there is a storage shed on the roof with us to use those tools as weapons, a lot ran out do to the sounds of the people in the streets, it's going to be twilight in an hour, hiding in the darkness would be our friend. Plus we would have some sunlight for ourselves and hide in the darkness. I stood up and told Mark the plan. It sucked to wait, but it was the safest and smartest. After all my sister always said “Be Smart”.

We were ready. We had broken the door to the shed of the garden club and armed ourselves. Mark had also watched how many of these monsters ran out of the school toward the screams and gunfire of the city that surrounded us. I looked at Mark and nodded. He had a large pickaxe as well as a sharpened stick he would use as a spear. He said he would use it first if it came to it. He had told me that he would save Alice from this creep show. He clenched his jaw not to yell or blow up on anything up on the roof. But I could tell the anger that was brewing in him. I on the other hand simply had a metal pipe with a ninety degree attachment at the end of it. I figured that one hit would be enough to take one of these monsters down. After all it was heavy to wield and to do practice swings with. Mark was determined. I could see it in his demeanor. It was like when he was trying to psych himself up during tournaments or competitions. He looked at me and said “I am ready. '' You?” I nodded even though I wasn't sure. Sure my plan was to go out and hide in the shadows during twilight, as well as being able to see during it. But we do not know how these monsters react or if they are hiding beyond this door waiting for us to open it. After all, if they can play possum, what more can they do?

We removed the benches from the only way up to the roof and I tapped on the door. I wanted to know if any were nearby. Never know after all. We waited a few minutes before unlocking the door. The smell of blood, piss, and shit hit us hard. Someone should open a window. I noticed that there were handprints on the inside of the door and many footprints all around the entrance. The stairs leading down were dark and questionable. Mark looked at me and simply moved past me. I knew he wasn't afraid. He was determined to save Alice. All I could think about is what Kevin could be doing to her. Alone, in that room. We crept down the staircase to the third floor. It was silent. We had to watch our step due to the blood on the floor, yet we haven't seen any bodies of anyone. It was like they all got up and left. It was pretty quiet even on the second floor. Of course we didn't look through any of the classrooms. We were on a mission to save Alice. We would have to think about what is going to happen after we save her, how long my sister would take to get to us. When we reached the first floor, we then heard something. It was like crunching, someone eating something like chips. We turned to where the school nurse's office was and froze. It was a pile of them hunched over crunching down on what I could only assume was a corpse. I looked at Mark and he gave me a nod toward the entrance door. I nodded, shaking in my sneakers. But I was with Mark, he would take care of things when it came to. As we almost reached the entrance to the courtyard of the school. I tapped a soda can that was lying near the entrance. How stupid of me. It was an echo through the halls and the crunching sound like chips stopped. I didn't want to look toward the nurses office. I knew I fucked up. I was shaking and my hands started to sweat around the steel pipe. I started to think of how Blue Hair attacked me, started to think that Alice would be stuck with him forever if me and Mark died. I started to think more dark thoughts when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I snapped out of it and seen Mark looking into my eyes. He nodded and simply said “Go get her. I got this. Meet you there slowpoke”. He stood facing the nurses office and smiled. I could tell he was scared, his left leg was shaking. That's when he started to make noise. Yelling and cursing at them. Calling them out, he started to whack his stick spear on the doors and railings near him to attract them to him. This was my opening. I opened the entrance door and dove into the bushes nearby. I waited and scanned the area. I could hear those monsters screeching and feet stomping on the ground. I then knew that Mark was running away. I looked down to the other side of the nurses office hallway toward the classrooms on the other side and seen him jump out of a broken window. He didn't stop, but he did turn to make sure they were following him. Oh and they were, it was like dinner on legs for these things. I moved through the bushes in darkness and made my way to the side of the building I kept going until I seen the track and the gym storage. It was quiet around me. Odd for after everything that has happened. I could hear screams in the distance but as if someone fired a gun in a group that was arguing, it was just silence. I slowly made my way through the track, trying to not make any noise. You don't realize how long a track is until you have to run it or stick to the darkness of it to avoid any monsters seeing you. I reached the gym storage and scanned the area around me. I was wondering how long it took me since I was covered in darkness now. I was trying to see if I could see Mark or anything running towards me. I hope he was okay. As I approached the door to the gym storage I could hear grunting. Like someone was lifting something heavy and making noise. I turned the handle and with luck it was unlocked, with luck they could have been attacked. Something to not think about. I opened the door and moved in all while closing the door quietly behind me. It was darkness, with a little light to make out some big objects. If something was in here, I knew it wouldn't be good for me. I was concerned that maybe we were too late and that one of those could be in here with me. As I moved closer and closer to the sound, avoiding the ball rack and the gym pads. It was like a maze. I remember people talked about couples or delinquints going to the back of the gym storage to have sex. I personally would never have done so. The grunts were getting louder and I could hear a slight weak moan. I readied my pipe in my hand and constantly wiped the sweat off my hands with my dirty jeans.

I approached and through the street light outside I could see someone on top of something moving in a motion that you see in adult shows. The pipe slumped to the side of me as I stared. I didn't know who it was, until I saw her face. Alice. Alice was laying on her back while this man was...was.. raping her. He moved back and forth, I could see the fight was gone from her eyes. Her nose was bloody, and he kept moving. She moved her hand toward me, as if it was something she was reaching for, some hope. Something in me, snapped. Me the boy who wanted to stay under the radar from everyone, to be invisible and stay in the shadows. I snapped. I ran toward them and with the hand not holding the pipe and pulled him off of her with all my strength and said “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER!!” I didn't care if those things could hear me. All I cared was this moment. Alice moved to the dark side of the room near the mirrors. She grabbed her ripped clothes that hung loosely on her and moved to the corner. She was shaking and I started to boil. I turned toward him, toward this monster. “ANSWER ME!!!” he looked at me and smiled. He got up and kicked his pants off from his ankles. He was only wearing his shirt and shoes. In this minimal light I could see him smiling. With his long black hair covering his left eye he smiled. He then started to laugh “You’re too late” he said. He kept laughing louder and louder. I couldn't take it.

I lost control

I swung my metal pipe into the side of his temple. But he kept laughing I yelled for him to SHUT THE FUCK UP. But he kept laughing. I jumped on him and started to hit him. Every hit with my fist shot pain through my body. I never knew it was this hard. In games the character you control seemed to last forever punching someone. I gave him a left and right across his face. He kept laughing. He then started to say “She hoped you guys would come” a right hook “She hoped you would save her in time before I did this to her” left hook “She begged me to stop as I took her first” right hook “It took so long for her knights in shining armor to come. Thanks for that” I couldn't take it. It's like my punches didn't faze him. I keep going right, then a left, then another right. He laughed some more. My mind was going darker and darker, going blank. He then said with blood coming from his nose, mouth after biting his tongue “I got what I wanted, she would remember…..me…..Fffffffooooorrrrr Eev Veeeeerrrr” I jumped up off him, picked up my pipe and said with the raging eyes of a hungry dog trying to tear apart its meal. Like the monsters that was going after Mark all hungry. I just yelled, no screamed “SHE WILL FORGET YOU!!!!”i swung down with my pipe hard as I could to the top of his skull. Kevin kept laughing. I lifted it up over my head and screamed again as I slammed it down with all my force “SHE WILL GET OVER THIS!!!” WHAM down on his head. I lifted it again and screamed once more “YOUR TOUCH WILL FADE AND I JACK ORDER WILL MAKE SURE YOU KEVIN IS FUCKING FORGOTTEN!!!!” WHAM down on his head again. I didn't stop. I stopped yelling to keep my momentum. Up and down. Lift and fall. I kept this up. I didn't stop even when his eyeball popped and flew on me. I didn't stop even when his skin and skull fragment flicked all over me. I didn't stop even when I could tell I was hitting concrete and not his head where his head had been. It was only until I heard my name spoken weakly in the corner of the room “jack...”

I stopped. I snapped out of it. I looked at this bloody mess of a classmate, a piece of garbage, a monster worse than those things that Mark had let them follow, and did not move anymore. He was dead. I had killed a human being. My hands were to my side and I couldn't lift them. They were so heavy, but the grip on the pipe proved that my hand was infused with it, so I couldn't open my hand to let it go. I held onto it so tight that I couldn't feel my hands anymore. I looked at Alice sitting in the corner, scared, bloodied, dirty, shaking, just watching me. She was like a cat who was abandoned on the street. But no she wasn't abandoned, she has me. Me who just killed someone. I looked in the mirror of that gym storage and knew, my world isn’t going to be the same anymore.