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  She pointed to the paper.

  “Oh, right...sorry”. She’s being so bossy.

  “Are you mad at me”? I looked at her I was pouting. She looked back at me with a stern looking face. Said nothing and continued to walk forward.

  “I’ll take that as a yes”. I cleared my throat. The air had become rather heavy. Course I won’t blame Elise for this feeling but, the whole school’s atmosphere had changed in such short time.

  “You feel it”? Elise spoke.

  “Yeah”. I said back. The hallway looked deserted, we found no trace of the hallway monitors walking about.

  “They must have hurried to the speaker room”.

  “They’re just doing their job, but going there now won’t change anything”. I thought to myself, they must be dead.

  “How unfortunate”. I folded my arms around my head. But there’s nothing we could do about that, it’s too late. And I wouldn’t want to stray from the plan.

  STAYING ALIVE

  In all the silence, only the rough tapping of our shoes surfaced.

  My feet more specifically since I strut longer than Elise and I’m...

  heavier. I shook my head.

  “Don’t think about things like that in a time like this”. I told myself.

  “Think about what”? Elise asked me.

  “Hmm”! I sprawled my arms out trying to stretch. I cracked my elbows.

  “You’re talking to yourself again right”? She gave me one of those looks again.

  “And? What of it”? I crossed my arms again. Looking ahead.

  “You need to stop doing that or else people will think you’re a weirdo”.

  “I...am a weirdo already...I don’t need you to tell me something like that Miss awkward”.

  She punched me again, walking a little faster than I was. I seemed to have pissed her off more than I should have.

  “Elise...girl, I’m sorry. But if you get mad now we’ll be distracted about this. You need to stop getting angry so quickly”.

  She’s got a short fuse, I know this from past events.

  “Are we close to the sports department office”?

  “Here”. I looked above me, a sign which read: “Sports Dept.

  Office”.

  “Yay, we made it safe and sound”. I cheered us on. Elise gave me another cold stare.

  We walked into the office, I looked around first to check if anyone was around.

  “Coast clear”. Elise made her way into the room. We took our time, making sure not to make any loud noises. We wouldn’t want anyone to find us in here without passes.

  “Where should we look first”? I asked her.

  “It should be in one of the desks”. She walked over to the first desk that was closest to the door.

  “This is...Mr. D’s desk”. The desk was filled with different files, several dog bobble heads, and a wrist watch.

  15

  JOHN EDWARDS

  “Man, never thought someone would have dog bobble heads on their desks”.

  “It’s not that bad”. Elise shuffled through the drawers.

  “Huh, you would’ve thought they were locked”. Elise held out a paper clip, which was bended so that the tip stuck out.

  “No way, did you unlock it with that”?! She looked at me and nodded.

  “That actually works”?

  “Only if you know what you’re doing”. She gave me the clip and told me to put it in the bag. Might need it in the future I suppose.

  “Hey check if they actually keep marijuana in there or any drugs”. [Chuckles]

  “They wouldn’t be stupid enough to ke-”. Elise must have found something. She looked deeper into the drawer. She picked the object up and held it in the air.

  “Are you kidding me”?

  “Pfft”! I fell to my knees and started cracking up. I slammed my hand against the desk multiple times, while covering my mouth.

  My voice wanted to escape. It was too blasted funny I just couldn’t help myself.

  “The hecks wrong with this teacher, keeping this kind of thing in here”. We actually found a small plastic bag containing a small amount of marijuana. And a pack of cigars. (The crappy kind, it’s a real shame).

  “I was joking, I never thought that they would actually keep something like that...ha ha, oh lord. I can’t, that’s too...” I couldn’t breathe after laughing so much.

  “Need some help there, getting up”? Elise held out her hand.

  I grabbed onto it and slowly got up from my crouching position.

  My knees have gone numb. It’s been a while since I’ve crouched down like that for a long time.

  “Ow”.

  “Stop acting like an old fool you’re not that old...not yet”.

  Elise said.

  16

  STAYING ALIVE

  “Ugh but, it hurts”. I looked at her with pleading eyes.

  “If you’re thinking that I’m going to massage them for you, think again”! She pointed at me. We walked back into the hallway and made our way to the sports shed. Unlocking the shed, the room was filled with tons of equipment. Baseball bats, basketballs, tennis balls, rackets, cones, nets, soccer balls, etc. I walked over to the baseball bats.

  “These will do fine”. I grabbed one of the bats and swung it around the room.

  “I’m surprised they’re not wooden”.

  “The schools not that poor”. She also picked up a bat.

  “Should last us long enough to get out of here”. I swung the bat a couple of times in the air. I made a sound effect with my mouth, as the ball hit’s against the bat.

  “HOME RUN”!

  “You know that you could never even hit one ball right”? Elise smirked.

  “Have some faith eh”? The bat fell to my side.

  We made our way to the kitchen. It was odd. There was no trace of any people in the area. I thought this was pretty strange.

  During this period, you would have found a couple of the lunch ladies making food. (Rather, heating it up). Looking around we found no other usable weapons.

  “No knives, huh”?

  “It’s too bad”. I never would have guessed that they would use actual knives in this school. I was fully aware that the food they make here isn’t fresh. More like, shipped frozen and reheated in the oven or something. Aren’t most schools like that.

  “Wait, duck”. Elise crouched down behind the open window which faced the lunch room. She gestured me over and told me to be quiet. I crouched next to her. She pointed up. I poked my head up ever so slightly to get a glance.

  “Look at em”. I remembered it was lunch time. In an ordinary lunch room there are about a couple hundred students. Maybe less I wasn’t entirely sure.

  17

  JOHN EDWARDS

  “They seemed to have ignored it”. Elise pointed to some of the students in their seats. They ate their lunches as if nothing ever happened.

  “This feels strange”.

  “What does”? Elise asked me. I sat down and leaned against the wall holding onto the bat.

  “No one...knows the truth”. I gripped the bat.

  “This scene. It’s gonna get real ugly soon”. Elise said. And she’s right, with that many people in there it might just turn into a blood bath. So many people will get killed. And it just makes getting out of here a lot harder than it should be.

  “We should go now, before someone spots us”.

  “Y-yeah”. We crawled through the door into the hallway once again.

  “The atmosphere...it’s so heavy”. It was hard for me to breath.

  I couldn’t possibly be having an asthma attack could I?

  “No, that’s not it. It’s not a physical thing”.

  My heads all messed up.

  “Elise, besides anything else. Did you get in touch with your family yet”? I asked Elise.

  “She...Didn’t answer the phone. It’s like all the phones stopped working. But I know they’re all fine”. She paused, her face w
as dark. I knew she was worried but she can’t let that distract her.

  “What about you”?

  “Hm”. I swung the bat around gently. It made a whistling noise with each swing, the bat cutting through the air.

  “I...Don’t need to worry about my mom. Besides it’s...impossible to kill her”. Elise stopped walking all of a sudden, and looked at me with a disgusted expression. I looked back at her and smiled.

  “W-what do you mean when you said, “It’s impossible to kill her”? I spun around once and looked at Elise.

  “It’s exactly what I meant. No matter what you do that women will not die”! I spread my arms high in the air, trying to show amazement. Unfortunately, Elise thought differently.

  18

  STAYING ALIVE

  “Saying something so morbid with that nonchalant look, the hecks wrong with you”?

  “Oh? But it’s true dude”. She smacked the back of my head with force.

  “Ow”! I rubbed the back of my head, when she hit’s you it’s gonna hurt...it’s gonna throb for a good couple of hours, the woman’s a blasted psycho. (Course she doesn’t know this for I don’t want to die at 17)

  “She trusts me, and I trust her. But I’m telling you right now, she won’t die. I won’t let death take her now”. I paused and took in a deep breath. (This is when the heroin makes a grand speech in those heroic type anime’s)

  “I’m not gonna let her die nor will I allow you to. We planned this since the beginning, you and I are what’s left or those who oppose fear and death. So, I need you to trust in me”. I looked intensely into the dimmed hallway. (Man I feel awesome) “Kinda...sounds like you’re proposing to me”. My eyes grew wide, I was in shock.

  “I...didn’t mean it that way, you’re the only on thinking that.

  Idiot”. (Propose, what?)

  We stopped talking to each other for a while, that was what normal folks would call “An awkward situation”.

  Walking down the large hallway I felt a sudden presence.

  I squinted my eyes down the hallway. Lurking in the darkness a figure appeared. It was limping, as my eyes focused you can see the figure. Its skin torn from the muscle and bone, blood splattered to the ground leaving a trail. With each step it took you could almost make out a cracking sound. It walked aimlessly around the hallway. Searching for pray I guess.

  “Ja-”. Before she could speak I pulled Elise around the corner of a wall.

  “What”? I covered her mouth my hand.

  “You have to be quiet”. I whispered. She wanted to say something but her voice was muffled by my hand. I removed my hand.

  “What is it”? She asked me in a hushed tone.

  19

  JOHN EDWARDS

  “There’s one coming this way”. Elise poked her head around the corner. Once she saw the figure she rushed right back behind the wall. Her body shook.

  “Whoa”. She gasped.

  “Scary, yeah”? I grinned.

  “What, what’s with the grinning Jade”? She stuttered.

  “It’s started already”. I crouched down with the bat in my hand.

  “I call first dibs”. I stared at it, the figure grumbled and groaned.

  Like a wild animal.

  “C’mon get closer”. I whispered under my breath. I tightened my grip on the bat. Getting ready to swing at it.

  “C’mon just a bit more”. Everything was quiet, for that brief moment I stopped breathing. The figure was only a few inches away from me. Elise grew restless next to me.

  “Just kill the blasted thing”. She shook her head, pounding it against the wall. Once the figure was close enough I rushed out from the corner positioning my bat. Jerking the bat behind me I swung it around hitting it. In impact the bat cracked through the figures skull. The bat went through like nothing. It didn’t take much to smash its head out. Blood splattered all over the floor.

  Some ended up on the lockers. A dark red that didn’t look human at all.

  20

  Chapter 3

  “D idn’t take much to take you out, huh”. I pulled out the bat from the things head.

  “Um jade, you kinda got some on your cheek”. Elise pointed to my left cheek. Which had a speckle of blood from the thing.

  “Well now, luckily it didn’t hit my eye or mouth”. I took off my shirt to wipe the blood from my cheek.

  “Yeah”. Elise was still.

  “You look so tense, ease up will ya”?

  “Ease up? What if more of em come”! I gave her a small grin and chuckled.

  “If more of them come, then I’ll just have to...” I picked up the bat and hit it against one of the lockers creating a crater.

  “Smash every last one of em into smithereens”! I laughed. I turned to look at Elise who I presumed would be amazed by me once again, she gave me a quick smile and punched my back.

  “You’re...an idiot alright”.

  “What”!? She started to laugh but with all the distraction I felt another presence. Suddenly one of those thing appeared behind Elise.

  “Watch out”! With quick reaction time I threw my shirt at it covering its face.

  “Whoa”! Elise ducked forward. I was about to attack it with the bat until something awesome happened.

  “Sneaking up behind me...”! Elise leaped back, she jumped past it tugging on the sleeves of my shirt, and she used all her strength

  JOHN EDWARDS

  to pull the thing over her body, thrusting it down to the floor. It made a loud bang once it hit the floor. It struggled on the ground, using its hands to claw away the shirt.

  It coughed up blood, soaking the mouth area staining my shirt.

  “Is a big no, no”! Elise grabbed her bat and cracked its skull, crushing the brain in the process.

  “You sounded cheesy just then”. I told her. She looked at me and laughed.

  “Yeah I know”. I looked down at the ground were the thing laid. No longer moving.

  “That was a rather killer move, yeah”? I looked Elise who seemed satisfied with the situation.

  “I’ve always wanted to use it, never thought the day would come”. We both chuckled.

  I stretched again, waving my hands in the air. I grunted when a popping noise came from my left shoulder. We stayed in that area in the hallway.

  “At least no one’s coming out, I wouldn’t want to fight a hoard in this narrow hall way”.

  “Same”. I started to hear clicking. The sound of doors being unlocked and opened. From upstairs we both heard screams.

  “Curiosity...is a scary thing no”? I looked at Elise easing the bat on my shoulder.

  She looked at me confused.

  “We better, get moving now “They’ll” be here soon”.

  “What”?! From the far end of the hallway behind us, a crowd formed. About 20 students even more started running down towards us.

  “They’re normal”? Elise said.

  “No”. Behind them you could clearly see unidentified figures in the darkness. These people were being chased by them. Screams could be heard, they echoed against the walls, sending slight shivers down my spine. I was scared yes, but thrilled at the same time.

  “C’mon”. I started to run towards the stairs, Elise was right behind me. I jumped from the top of the stairs to the bottom, the impact numbed my legs for a brief second. It was painful but

  22

  STAYING ALIVE

  I continued to run. Course Elise took her time to run down the stairs making sure not to slip midway. Another flight downwards to the first floor. More people started to show up.

  “These people are skeptics, they didn’t believe me at first...now look at the mess they’ve created”. Elise looked at me. I could only imagine what’s going on in this building. People running wild in the hallways, trying to find a way out, pushing each other, losing trust. Many other things went through my mind.

  “Look”! Elise pointed towards the main doors that led to the outside. I looked behind us. The sa
me crowd still followed.

  Screaming. Since they found a way out should we, “Should we lock them up in here”? I asked Elise.

  “What are you talking about”?! She shouted.

  “Think about it, if we were to let out this many people it’ll spread faster”.

  “You’re not thinking straight, why would you leave innocent people to die in here”!

  “Innocent...”? We both looked at each other, I ignored the thought.

  “Chaos”. We pushed opened the door. The warm air touching my skin, the summer breeze felt good.

  “I wish to cherish this warmth”. I said.

  “Me too”. Thinking back on it, I never did like the summer heat. It would always be too hot in the summer around here, too hot to go outside. I would feel sluggish just reaching my hand out the window when I felt like it. The pool was also out of question, since it would be filled with too many people. Plus, pools are gross. (Do you know how many people go in there, they might have even peed).

  But there are some benefits from summer. On some days when the heat dies down in the afternoon I would walk around the neighborhood park. Get a tan. But what gets me each time is the midday’s warm breeze. It was neither too hot nor too cold.

  It wasn’t chilly either. It was absolutely perfect. I would want to stay outside until the sun went down. But now that this has happened I can no long cherish that moment. I cannot walk around.

  23

  JOHN EDWARDS

  We have to keep running and running, with no one else to trust but the people dearly close to us. We keep running until we find salvation.

  “How are we gonna get out of here”. I thought. We headed towards the parking lot.

  “A car”? Elise looked at me strangely.

  “Yeah...what’s wrong about it”? I looked at her my eyebrows raised.

  “I got a better idea than just a puny car”. Elise smirked. She tugged onto my tank top and moved me over to where the buses were.