itec30xudfjkhmkk Page 3

  “A...bus”!? I was dumbstruck.

  “Yeah, it’s tougher than a car and it can hold more”! Elise giggled, I reached for my forehead covering it with the palm of my hand. A bus really. I sighed in frustration.

  “Well, c’mon”. She forced opened the doors. We jumped back in surprise when we found the bus’s driver still in his seat.

  “He’s...not moving Jade”.

  “Yeah, I know”. I reached over with the bat and poked him. I felt Elise flinch behind me. Oh, come on we don’t have time for this.

  “He’s dead”.

  “Dead”!? Now, now Elise should you be scared of a dead human being when you’ve already killed something identical.

  “I’ll go on this side, you come up here with me. We’re gonna push him out”. I needed her help, this man was huge (And not to offend other huge people) but he was big indeed.

  “Okay, on three”.

  “One...two...three”! We shoved the heavy man from his seat, he landed on the ground outside making a thud sound. I was out of breath.

  “You...drive okay”? I told Elise. (Not that I can’t drive but, it’s for the best). She started the bus, while I looked around for any unwanted passengers.

  “Clear”! The bus was in movement. As Elise closed the doors, I pressed my hands against the glass windows of the bus, watching those people scatter. I saw few being eaten already. These things

  24

  STAYING ALIVE

  weren’t fast but they were pretty strong, since once the brain func-tions shut down there is no restraint for the strength they use. I couldn’t possibly think of how they ended up this way, but I have a few theories.

  Elise drove fast. Almost past 50 miles an hour.

  “Turning left”! She screamed. I hung onto one of the chairs as she turned. The force was strong I didn’t want to fall over. I’d bump my head for sure, and that wouldn’t be good now would it. Getting farther and farther away from the school. I started to feel regret. I carefully walked to the front of the bus. I rubbed my head and sighed.

  I was stressed out, I would have never thought that this day would come so quickly. And unnoticed.

  “Hey, Elise”?

  “Yeah”? She kept her eyes fixed on the road.

  “What do you think happened, for this to...” I paused. Elise gave me a quick glance.

  “You know, in those zombie movies...the cause would most likely be an outbreak of a certain virus, or maybe when they were testing new ways to cure cancer something went wrong, or in most cases there was that one bad burger and one thing led to another...now this will come to reality”. I chuckled. She sounded sarcastic in a way when she told me this. But a few of those might be the reason.

  “Well, whatever it is...there’s really nothing we could do about it, only. .”

  “Run”. Elise said.

  “Yeah...and keep running”. I looked at the blood covered bat behind me.

  “Course we must fight right”? Elise grinned as she said this.

  “That was in the plan”. I patted her shoulder. We both laughed.

  At times like this I was glad that we were ready. Even when people thought that things like this would only occur in movies, I never stopped believing.

  “We need to get to the junior high fast, to save the damsel in distress”. I chuckled.

  25

  JOHN EDWARDS

  “I wouldn’t really call her damsel”. I paused.

  “Then...she’s just in distress”? I looked forward, my face a bit puzzled.

  “Yup”. How blunt. But all jokes aside, we needed to get there quick. Before those “things” get to her first.

  “I imagine many of them are there, like a hoard of them...like, a load”. Elise sighed.

  “Don’t jinx it now”! Ah, there goes her accent. (It’s so funny) “I’m not just thinking about it”.

  “How bout ya sit yo fanny back in that seat, and shut yo trap.

  Do ya wanna get in to an accident”?! She raged on, in her accent.

  (Up to this point I have no idea what she’s saying).

  I sat down.

  “Thank ya. Blasted, can’t I at least drive in peace and quiet”?

  She mumbled curse words under her breath.

  I am, quite twisted...if getting her pissed...makes me laugh aren’t I.

  26

  Chapter 4

  A s we approached the school, I shook in fear. The amount of those things were, scary. Probably most of the school had been infected already. Elise slowed the buses speed down.

  “Don’t get so close to the school, but just enough so that when we get out of there the bus will be close by”. I leaned over her shoulder.

  “Kay, its close enough let’s go”. I grabbed my bat and told Elise to open the doors.

  “Take the keys with you”. I said.

  “I know”! I jumped down from the open doors. And looked around.

  The infected did not notice our arrival. Maybe, “Hey Elise”?

  “Yeah”.

  “Remember that one Anime we watched”?

  “The one with all the explicit scenes, and boob action”? She said with a straight face.

  I held back my laugh, so as to not alert the infected.

  “Yes, with all that Elise”.

  We stopped walking for a bit. I pointed to one of the infected with the bat.

  “Wanna try something”? She looked at me confused. I looked around and found a small rock. Just big enough to make a loud noise.

  “W-what are you doing”? Elise looked at me.

  JOHN EDWARDS

  “Just an experiment”. I walked forward towards the scattered bodies. There was many of them all over the place. Infections like this sure do spread fast don’t they. Just like a zombie movie. I looked behind me, Elise looked concerned. I nodded to her telling her every things going to be fine. But how should I know that, if this “Experiment” fails I’m in trouble. I got close to a few of the infected. Gripping both the bat and the rock. Taking a closer look they looked horrid. If the infection just started today, why did their skin peel? Rotting bodies that moved in daylight and at night. Their eyes white...empty. Moaning as if they’re in pain.

  Though I doubt they could feel anymore. Trying to catch my breath, I breathed heavily. I was nervous, scared, I’m practically risking my life. But I mustn’t let it show on my face.

  It’s not as if I’m trying to impress anyone. Maybe it’s my pride.

  Under my breath,

  “To heck with it”. I stepped back and threw the rock far from where I was standing. It knocked against a car door. I waited for what felt like forever, they began to move. But not towards me, but to where the rock fell. Maybe 20 of them began walking towards the noise.

  I waited for them to be far enough. And I waved at Elise to walk over to me. Once she was near me, I rested my head on her shoulder and sighed.

  “I guess, the experiment went well”.

  “I was about to mess myself” She giggled lightly and patted my head.

  “Alright, let’s go. But quietly the rock is the distraction”. We jogged over to the school silently.

  “Are the doors locked”? I asked Elise.

  “They usually lock themselves once it’s shut. So may-”. I smashed the bat against the window of the door, reaching for the lock. The glass fell to the ground.

  “What are you doing”! She shouted at me in a whisper.

  “I don’t think they noticed...come on let’s go”. I heard her sigh behind me.

  28

  STAYING ALIVE

  “I’m surprised the alarm didn’t go off”. Elise looked around.

  “Well, this is an old school wouldn’t be surprised the alarm system broke”.

  The hallway was darker than our high schools. Much narrower too.

  “I hate having to come back here”. I said.

  “Yeah, same here”. I grimaced.

  Then I noticed that there weren’t any infected walking aroun
d.

  “Maybe most of the students got out using the other doors, or emergency exit’s”.

  “Which explains why there isn’t anything here...at least for now. Let’s keep moving”.

  We looked around in each classroom. Found a couple of infected. In one of the hallways, the light above us flickered. The perfect setting for a horror flick.

  “It’s kinda spooky in here”. Elise said as she stepped closer to me.

  “Well, it’s been like that forever. I don’t remember having a “sunshine and rainbows” type junior high life”.

  “Ha ha, sunshine and rainbows”. Elise chuckled.

  “So, where do we look for Nika”?

  “I’m not sure, I don’t know which class she was in”. Nika was Elise’s little sister. She’s got her own little personality. Me and her got a long pretty well. She was easy to understand.

  “D-do ya think she’s okay”? Elise asked.

  “Yeah I’m sure she’s fine...after all I did train her”. The secret behind our strength. A couple of years ago I studied Tae kwon do, plus some military combat training. Though I’m pretty good with a gun, I specialize more in swords. Especially a Katana. A Japanese sword.

  I only own two pairs of swords. Don’t ask where I got it from I wouldn’t tell anyone that. Since long ago, I was taken for a weak child. Because of my asthma it was a bit hard to move around. But during the training I grew stronger and running got a lot easier.

  But, I’d rather appear weak just to hear the stupid comments coming from my friends and teachers.

  29

  JOHN EDWARDS

  “Do you want to check the kitchen”? Elise asked me.

  “Yeah, let’s hope they have some useful weapons”. Passing through more rooms filled with infected, we got to the lunch room.

  “They seemed to have spawned here”. I said. As I gazed at the dead bodies that roamed the room. A few were teachers the rest were students. I remember the students here to be very short.

  Not to sound mean but that’s what I remember the last time I was here.

  “You know, I don’t remember being that short back then”. I said looking at the short infected bodies.

  “That’s because kids nowadays are shorties. Well, at least half of them are”.

  “You got that right”. We entered the kitchen. We looked quietly throughout the kitchen for any usable weapons. I rummaged through a box full of cooking utensils.

  “Hey I found something I think you’ll like”. I walked over to her and saw that she was holding two kitchen knives. I skipped over grinning widely.

  “Perfect, a chef’s knife. But, are there more than two”? I asked her.

  “Why? Do you need two knives”? This girl. Doesn’t she know?

  “You don’t know”? I asked her, I took both knives from her.

  And started to swing them around.

  “What”? She asked me, while backing away from me.

  “I mean, fighting with two knives, twice the power. It’s what makes the person using the weapon more awesome”. I kept grinning at her, she looked at me confused and sighed.

  “What”? I asked her.

  “Nothing” She said after she sighed again. She then took another knife to take along with her.

  “So you’re gonna use two after all huh”. I said to her.

  “I wanna look awesome”. She said with her back turned. I chuckled.

  It’s nice to make a few jokes now and then to ease the tension in the atmosphere. But right after the jokes comes the truth. I was still thinking about the infection. How did it really start? I wanted

  30

  STAYING ALIVE

  to know more about it, maybe more than Elise did. But thinking about that now would only distract me.

  “The infected huh”? I said. Elise slowed her pace down and walked beside me.

  “What”? She asked.

  “You know, Calling them infected...Don’t you wanna give ‘em a code name or something. Like they do in that show the walking dead”?

  She looked at me with cold eyes.

  “We don’t really have time for that Jade”. She shook her head sternly. She started to walk ahead of me.

  “No really, let’s call them something different”. She ignored me for a brief while, until she turned around and said, “Bodies then”. She said with a straight face. I looked at her while grinning but my eyes weren’t smiling.

  “B...Bodies”. I said. She nodded her head.

  “Bodies”. She repeated. We stopped walking for a while. I needed time to think this over. Was she really serious about that name or she was only joking

  “Walkers sound so much cooler, but you couldn’t come up with something even better than that? Bodies you say”. I detested her idea of calling them “Bodies”. It’s like their no different than normal humans. She raised one of her knifes and held it up pointing to me neck.

  “You wanted a code name for them, I gave you one. You don’t like it come up with one yourself”. She said coldly.

  I Gasped. (Dramatically of course) “Okay, okay we’ll use it then”. I back away slowly.

  “Good, let’s go then. We’re never gonna find Nika at this rate.

  And just standing here doesn’t help the least bit”. We continued our walk around the school. More infected started to show up once we got closer to the main gym.

  “Is it just me or we’re beginning to get more popular with the infected”? We started running.

  Elise looked worried. She doesn’t have to be, I’m sure Nikas alright. She’s tougher than she looks.

  31

  JOHN EDWARDS

  “Two of them ahead near the main doors”! I shouted. No use being quiet anymore.

  “I’ll leave them to you”! She shouted ahead of me. I grinned.

  I started to sprint. Faster. I took out both knives. Placing them against my lips.

  “Don’t fail me”. I whispered under my breath. Once I got closer I jerked back and stabbed the infected’s head dragging the blade across the skull, revealing bits of the brain. I took back the knife. Blood splattered against the walls.

  I whistled in excitement.

  “They sure sharpened this to perfection”! Elise was right behind me. Smashing the day lights out of one of them with a bat.

  I went for another only this time I used the bat. Knocking both its legs out it fell to the ground. Growling it tried to get up again.

  I clicked my tongue and crushed its head with the bat. Few more of them started to appear in front of me. One tried to grab my arm, I pushed it against the wall stabbing it in the eye with the knife. I cocked my head to the side, like in those old time killing action movies the blood sprayed out. I must have hit a blood ves-sel or something.

  “Be careful not to get it anywhere near your eyes or mouth Jade”! Elise ran ahead of me.

  “You don’t have to tell me that”! The knife was stuck to the wall.

  “Not now”. I took out the second knife, another one appeared behind me. I lifted my leg kicking it back. Once it was down I tried to focus on the knife.

  Getting a better grip on the stuck knife I pulled it out with ease. I turned around. The one I had kicked down tried getting back up.

  “Oh, no you don’t”. I threw the knife pinning its hand against the floor. It groaned. I walked closer to it. Getting a better view of it.

  “Wow, you sure are ugly”. I giggled. I raised the bat above its head. The only line going around inside my head was: Finish him!

  32

  STAYING ALIVE

  Since I tend to say that a lot when I used to play video games.

  Ignoring it I smashed its head into the ground. Staining the gray carpet with dark blood.

  I took a chance to get myself together, and ran after Elise. She was standing next to the main doors. She looked at me with anger in her eyes.

  “You’re Slow”! She said. Then that other word came up inside my head.

  “FATALITY”. I said in an
even deeper toned voice than usual.

  I looked at her and smiled. She smiled back, and hit me in the head. Ignoring my cries of pain she pointed to the center of the gym. Inside you could see many of them.

  33

  Chapter 5

  T hey roamed about.

  “There must be 30 of ‘em here”. Elise leaning against the wall.

  If you’re wondering as to why we are so carefree is because, since the infected only react to loud noises all we have to do is stay quiet.

  One of them passed beside me, but it didn’t attack. Even so I’m prepared for anything to happen.

  “So...where do you think she is”? I asked her.

  “She’s in here alright, but she’s hiding”. I looked at her. Her face was tense.

  “Where”? I asked her.

  “The only place left to hide in”. She said. Then she pointed to the supply closet next to the stage.

  I stayed silent for a while.

  “Why would she be in there”? I asked.

  “Course to hide, stupid”. I scratched my head.

  “So, what’s the plan”? I asked again.

  Elise stayed silent for a while.

  “We...get in there quickly, get out with Nika, then exit”. Was all she said?

  “Uh..Huh”. I looked at her with confusion.

  “What’s the matter”? She asked me.

  “Or. .like, we can throw something in the distance to distract them, get Nika, and then exit”. Elise knocked her head against the wall.

  STAYING ALIVE

  “It’s the same blasted thing, Jade”! She roared (In a whisper).

  “But I explained it better. You gotta be more specific”. She coughed and punched my arm.

  “So, what’s the distraction this time”? She asked. I thought about it for a while. Then I thought of the most brilliant of all ideas. I chuckled and beckoned Elise to come near. I then whispered in her ear.