Prologue
It was July 20, 2009 when it all started. The first day of school and my first day as a senior. People were getting their new classes and freshmen were getting used to their new environment. Returning students finding their friends and hanging out in the same spots they hung out in last year. Nothing really changed, even this new feeling as a senior. I was able to find my friends Bazz, Carlo, Taylor, and Erick. I would go into detail, but they won't be so important. Just your average crazy group of irregular people.
The clock hit 12:10 and the bell gave a ring announcing it was time for lunch. I met up with my group and we waited in our usual line at the usual spot for the usual food that we bought every single day last year. It never got old.
After purchasing our semi-moderate cafeteria food from the stand, we began our walk, as always. Our group is probably the most nomadic out of all the groups at school, we never stay in one spot for too long. Every now and then we'll see a friend as we pass by and yell at each other in playful craziness.
"So Ronald, you heard about that new flu that's going around?" Erick said, cutting the silence.
I answered back, boringly, "Yeah, yeah. I'm not so hyped about it this time. I mean the swine flu was supposed to start a zombie apocalypse and stuff... even though it might have not been possible... Still, I'm not gonna go all 'zombie theory' on this one."
Carlo, with a mouthful of low-fat hot cheetos added in, "Ha ha, I remember that!" *crunch crunch crunch* "You were so excited about the" *crunch* "swine flu turning people into zombies." *gulp* "I told you nothing was going to happen! It's just like the normal flu..."
"... Whatever... It could've been possible... You know how much I want a zomb-"
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK
A scream came from somewhere on campus. But we chose to ignore it. Other people around us began running in the direction of the scream, hoping to catch sight of a fight.
Bazz chuckled. "Oh hey Ronald! Maybe it's a-"
"Shut up fat man... you just keep eating your chicken sandwich." I replied.
"Y-you're just jealous..." Bazz inquired. "Hey Taylor, you're not talking as much as you usually do, something wrong?"
"Huh?" Taylor looked up from the ground as if he just came back from a different land. "Oh, yeah... no, nothing's wrong. Just kinda standing here listening. Why?"
Minutes passed by and our conversations somehow ended up on the subject of bunnies ruling the world. I began to take notice to a crowd not too distant from us. A pretty large crowd with people huddling and trying to look over each others' shoulders to get a view on the situation.
My curiosity got to me and without saying anything, I turned our group into the direction of the crowd. We were stopped by Tyler (white man) who just left the crowd after spotting us.
"Dude, some crazy shit's goin' on right now. Some crazy bitch just took a fuckin' bite out of one of the teachers! Freaked the shit out of me!"
I stopped him there, "Wait a second, what? Slow down, what's going on?"
Tyler began again, "Well this girl had a seizure and some teacher came over to help her to the office. But then she like woke up and just bit the fuck out of the teacher's neck man! There's some people over there restraining her and I think the teacher just bled to death!"
No way, I thought, this... is... actually happening? There's only one way to find out!
I ran towards the crowd, hoping that it was indeed, real.
"Wait, Ronald! What the hell are you - Ah, God dammit!" Bazz shouted.
I reached the back of the crowd and forced myself towards the front. People cussing and questioning the situation. Man did you see that? That bitch is crazy! What the fuck was that?! That's all I could hear from the bystanders. I finally made it to the front and found three guys holding down a girl whose mouth was lathered in dry crimson and a woman lying on the ground with blood oozing from the left side of her neck.
It wasn't long before the crowd had been broken up by the Assistant Principals. They came in and told everyone to back away and make room for them. We were then confronted by staff security who kept us away from getting any closer to the situation. One of the APs pulled out their walkie-talkie and started to talk through it. I couldn't make out the words that were going through, but it caused something we don't usually use at our school.
The intercom came on. "Attention all students, you are to report to the nearest classroom. We are having a lockdown. Please report to the nearest classroom. This is not a drill. We are having a lockdown."
I met up with the others and they were just as shocked as I was when they saw what was there before them. I told you so! I thought, but held back the words.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go to a classroom! See ya!" Bazz creeped away and we followed.
We found a classroom with a ton of people we didn't recognize, just socializing in giddy fright. Somewhere along the way Tyler broke off and went to a different classroom, probably one with people he knew. I was still kind of shocked. I mean, I didn't actually see the teacher "reanimate" and attack someone else, but why would that student just bite her? Sething tells me this could possibly be that situation.
Taylor had to break the silence between us. "So, why would we have a lockdown if it's just one student who is already being restrained? I mean it's not that bad."
No one said anything and we were quiet once again. The only noise was the chit chat between the other students in our room and the newscaster on the television. Our school was on almost every news channel as the teacher switched through the channels and stopping on Fox 6 news.
"-situation at Otay Ranch High School in Chula Vista. There has been an assault on a teacher by a student who had been carried after having a seizure. Staff members suspect that it could have been a violent reaction caused by the seizure and ended up with the displacement of the teacher's neck. Yes, the student actually took a bite out of the teacher's neck, causing her to choke to death. We were informed that other students jumped in to help restrain the female as others went to the Assistant Principals for help. I think we have a helicopt-"
I tuned out and began to think again. I remember coming up with a plan almost two years ago. Back when I was a super zombie fanatic with my friend Patrick who moved to Texas after the school year ended.
"-at's this? This can't be possible!" The helicopter reporter exclaimed in unbelievable excitement. "Zoom in over there! Yah! Over there! It looks like the teacher who was presumed dead is sitting up now! Oh my god! She's getting up on her feet! Amazing! After an injury like that you'd think she'd be dead!"
I got the goose bumps as I averted my eyes back to the tv. Holy shit, no way! I tuned the reporter's voice out and focused only on the footage. The teacher was standing up, her head tilted and neck bleeding still. She seemed to lunge towards one of the APs there. Sure enough, her mouth latched onto the victim, tearing a chunk so large out of the body that it was visible from the helicopter's camera.
"What the FUCK?!" the teacher yelled in confusion.
The camera focused in on cop cars rushing in and quickly parking their cars in a barricaded fashion. Cops opened up and pulled out their guns, shouting and telling her to stop. But she didn't and continued to attack those around her. The three students restraining the girl made a break for it. She in turn got up and chased for them in a sluggish motion.
"We will be forced to fire if you do not stay way you are!" Announced a cop. "You have five seconds! One... Two... Three-"
Due to the usual young-adult girl panic, a female student made a run for it out of the classroom. She made it on camera which caused influence to other people in the other classrooms. And chain reaction set off. Class after class emptied out in panic. Students ran with no sense of direction towards exits or their cars.
"Dammit!" The cop turned to his partners. "We can't shoot until we clear this out!" He turned back to the panicing mess. "Please calm down! We need to have stability!" But no one listened.
I was still in the class, zoned out when Bazz came up to me. "Dude! Come on! We have to get going! To the library, right? That was part of your 'zombie plan'."
"Right... the library..." I replied lamely. I was sick to my stomach. I thought this would be fun, but now I'm scared shitless. Damn it, what the hell...
I ran out the room, following Bazz and Carlo. "Hey, where's Erick and Taylor?" I asked.
"They went ahead and made sure the library was okay, we'll meet them there." Carlo replied steadily.
We continued on and I took notice to a certain section of the paniced crowd. Students bloodied up on the ground and two female bodies reaching for passerbies to satisfy their hunger. I'm happy they're the shamblers and not the sprinters... I thought to myself as if trying to find some relief in all of this.
Bazz and Carlo made it to the library first, pulling out their cell phones and started making calls. My guess was friends and siblings that went to this school. I made my way over to Taylor who seemed to have an expressionless face. Something wasn't right, and I think I knew what it was...
"Hey Taylor... where's Erick?" I asked, already assuming the answer.
"Sh-she... grabbed him and... he... bitten... I couldn't do anything!" Taylor cried out.
"Shit! Fuckin' Erick, stupid ass!" Bazz interrupted, overhearing Taylor.
There was nothing we could do, so I put that aside. Fuck, already lost someone? Who's next? I pulled out my cell phone and began making calls too.
We rounded up a number of people, none with any bites and decided over a destination to go to. Everyone wanted to go home and see their parents, but that wasn't and option as the roads were blocked off by the authorities. The votes led up to one place, my house. It was the closest and easiest to walk to and the zombies probably haven't gotten out of the school yet. Unless, of course, we weren't the only ones to experience this dilema.
"Alright, it's settled, we'll go to my house. Bazz, Taylor, Carlo, you guys lead them out the back door, I have to check something."
"What the hell man, if you die, we all die. You're the man with the plan... man..." Bazz complained.
"I know, I'll be careful. I'm not a stupid as Erick... god damn Erick... Alright," I motioned to grab the attention of our group of people (about fifteen or so, I was surprised we were able to reach so many), "on the way to my house, make sure you call your family and let them know what is going on and where you are. Let them know you are okay and that you will be okay. Now go!"
They left through the back door and I left through the front.
It was July 20, 2009 when it all started. The first day of school and my first day as a senior. People were getting their new classes and freshmen were getting used to their new environment. Returning students finding their friends and hanging out in the same spots they hung out in last year. Nothing really changed, even this new feeling as a senior. I was able to find my friends Bazz, Carlo, Taylor, and Erick. I would go into detail, but they won't be so important. Just your average crazy group of irregular people.
The clock hit 12:10 and the bell gave a ring announcing it was time for lunch. I met up with my group and we waited in our usual line at the usual spot for the usual food that we bought every single day last year. It never got old.
After purchasing our semi-moderate cafeteria food from the stand, we began our walk, as always. Our group is probably the most nomadic out of all the groups at school, we never stay in one spot for too long. Every now and then we'll see a friend as we pass by and yell at each other in playful craziness.
"So Ronald, you heard about that new flu that's going around?" Erick said, cutting the silence.
I answered back, boringly, "Yeah, yeah. I'm not so hyped about it this time. I mean the swine flu was supposed to start a zombie apocalypse and stuff... even though it might have not been possible... Still, I'm not gonna go all 'zombie theory' on this one."
Carlo, with a mouthful of low-fat hot cheetos added in, "Ha ha, I remember that!" *crunch crunch crunch* "You were so excited about the" *crunch* "swine flu turning people into zombies." *gulp* "I told you nothing was going to happen! It's just like the normal flu..."
"... Whatever... It could've been possible... You know how much I want a zomb-"
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK
A scream came from somewhere on campus. But we chose to ignore it. Other people around us began running in the direction of the scream, hoping to catch sight of a fight.
Bazz chuckled. "Oh hey Ronald! Maybe it's a-"
"Shut up fat man... you just keep eating your chicken sandwich." I replied.
"Y-you're just jealous..." Bazz inquired. "Hey Taylor, you're not talking as much as you usually do, something wrong?"
"Huh?" Taylor looked up from the ground as if he just came back from a different land. "Oh, yeah... no, nothing's wrong. Just kinda standing here listening. Why?"
Minutes passed by and our conversations somehow ended up on the subject of bunnies ruling the world. I began to take notice to a crowd not too distant from us. A pretty large crowd with people huddling and trying to look over each others' shoulders to get a view on the situation.
My curiosity got to me and without saying anything, I turned our group into the direction of the crowd. We were stopped by Tyler (white man) who just left the crowd after spotting us.
"Dude, some crazy shit's goin' on right now. Some crazy bitch just took a fuckin' bite out of one of the teachers! Freaked the shit out of me!"
I stopped him there, "Wait a second, what? Slow down, what's going on?"
Tyler began again, "Well this girl had a seizure and some teacher came over to help her to the office. But then she like woke up and just bit the fuck out of the teacher's neck man! There's some people over there restraining her and I think the teacher just bled to death!"
No way, I thought, this... is... actually happening? There's only one way to find out!
I ran towards the crowd, hoping that it was indeed, real.
"Wait, Ronald! What the hell are you - Ah, God dammit!" Bazz shouted.
I reached the back of the crowd and forced myself towards the front. People cussing and questioning the situation. Man did you see that? That bitch is crazy! What the fuck was that?! That's all I could hear from the bystanders. I finally made it to the front and found three guys holding down a girl whose mouth was lathered in dry crimson and a woman lying on the ground with blood oozing from the left side of her neck.
It wasn't long before the crowd had been broken up by the Assistant Principals. They came in and told everyone to back away and make room for them. We were then confronted by staff security who kept us away from getting any closer to the situation. One of the APs pulled out their walkie-talkie and started to talk through it. I couldn't make out the words that were going through, but it caused something we don't usually use at our school.
The intercom came on. "Attention all students, you are to report to the nearest classroom. We are having a lockdown. Please report to the nearest classroom. This is not a drill. We are having a lockdown."
I met up with the others and they were just as shocked as I was when they saw what was there before them. I told you so! I thought, but held back the words.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go to a classroom! See ya!" Bazz creeped away and we followed.
We found a classroom with a ton of people we didn't recognize, just socializing in giddy fright. Somewhere along the way Tyler broke off and went to a different classroom, probably one with people he knew. I was still kind of shocked. I mean, I didn't actually see the teacher "reanimate" and attack someone else, but why would that student just bite her? Sething tells me this could possibly be that situation.
Taylor had to break the silence between us. "So, why would we have a lockdown if it's just one student who is already being restrained? I mean it's not that bad."
No one said anything and we were quiet once again. The only noise was the chit chat between the other students in our room and the newscaster on the television. Our school was on almost every news channel as the teacher switched through the channels and stopping on Fox 6 news.
"-situation at Otay Ranch High School in Chula Vista. There has been an assault on a teacher by a student who had been carried after having a seizure. Staff members suspect that it could have been a violent reaction caused by the seizure and ended up with the displacement of the teacher's neck. Yes, the student actually took a bite out of the teacher's neck, causing her to choke to death. We were informed that other students jumped in to help restrain the female as others went to the Assistant Principals for help. I think we have a helicopt-"
I tuned out and began to think again. I remember coming up with a plan almost two years ago. Back when I was a super zombie fanatic with my friend Patrick who moved to Texas after the school year ended.
"-at's this? This can't be possible!" The helicopter reporter exclaimed in unbelievable excitement. "Zoom in over there! Yah! Over there! It looks like the teacher who was presumed dead is sitting up now! Oh my god! She's getting up on her feet! Amazing! After an injury like that you'd think she'd be dead!"
I got the goose bumps as I averted my eyes back to the tv. Holy shit, no way! I tuned the reporter's voice out and focused only on the footage. The teacher was standing up, her head tilted and neck bleeding still. She seemed to lunge towards one of the APs there. Sure enough, her mouth latched onto the victim, tearing a chunk so large out of the body that it was visible from the helicopter's camera.
"What the FUCK?!" the teacher yelled in confusion.
The camera focused in on cop cars rushing in and quickly parking their cars in a barricaded fashion. Cops opened up and pulled out their guns, shouting and telling her to stop. But she didn't and continued to attack those around her. The three students restraining the girl made a break for it. She in turn got up and chased for them in a sluggish motion.
"We will be forced to fire if you do not stay way you are!" Announced a cop. "You have five seconds! One... Two... Three-"
Due to the usual young-adult girl panic, a female student made a run for it out of the classroom. She made it on camera which caused influence to other people in the other classrooms. And chain reaction set off. Class after class emptied out in panic. Students ran with no sense of direction towards exits or their cars.
"Dammit!" The cop turned to his partners. "We can't shoot until we clear this out!" He turned back to the panicing mess. "Please calm down! We need to have stability!" But no one listened.
I was still in the class, zoned out when Bazz came up to me. "Dude! Come on! We have to get going! To the library, right? That was part of your 'zombie plan'."
"Right... the library..." I replied lamely. I was sick to my stomach. I thought this would be fun, but now I'm scared shitless. Damn it, what the hell...
I ran out the room, following Bazz and Carlo. "Hey, where's Erick and Taylor?" I asked.
"They went ahead and made sure the library was okay, we'll meet them there." Carlo replied steadily.
We continued on and I took notice to a certain section of the paniced crowd. Students bloodied up on the ground and two female bodies reaching for passerbies to satisfy their hunger. I'm happy they're the shamblers and not the sprinters... I thought to myself as if trying to find some relief in all of this.
Bazz and Carlo made it to the library first, pulling out their cell phones and started making calls. My guess was friends and siblings that went to this school. I made my way over to Taylor who seemed to have an expressionless face. Something wasn't right, and I think I knew what it was...
"Hey Taylor... where's Erick?" I asked, already assuming the answer.
"Sh-she... grabbed him and... he... bitten... I couldn't do anything!" Taylor cried out.
"Shit! Fuckin' Erick, stupid ass!" Bazz interrupted, overhearing Taylor.
There was nothing we could do, so I put that aside. Fuck, already lost someone? Who's next? I pulled out my cell phone and began making calls too.
We rounded up a number of people, none with any bites and decided over a destination to go to. Everyone wanted to go home and see their parents, but that wasn't and option as the roads were blocked off by the authorities. The votes led up to one place, my house. It was the closest and easiest to walk to and the zombies probably haven't gotten out of the school yet. Unless, of course, we weren't the only ones to experience this dilema.
"Alright, it's settled, we'll go to my house. Bazz, Taylor, Carlo, you guys lead them out the back door, I have to check something."
"What the hell man, if you die, we all die. You're the man with the plan... man..." Bazz complained.
"I know, I'll be careful. I'm not a stupid as Erick... god damn Erick... Alright," I motioned to grab the attention of our group of people (about fifteen or so, I was surprised we were able to reach so many), "on the way to my house, make sure you call your family and let them know what is going on and where you are. Let them know you are okay and that you will be okay. Now go!"
They left through the back door and I left through the front.
Whoa... All hell had broken loose so fast. The shambling corpses were able to overtake the cops in such little time. Blood drenched the windows of the cars and the ground itself. Students, cops, staff members, all walking around for something fresh. Some were huddled over in a group consuming copius amount of flesh like a hungry fat ass being treated to a free for all buffet.
My attention was then focused towards the cop cars. Surely there had to be a shotgun or pistol left inside one of them, right? Well I knew it wasn't going to be easy with all this commotion going on. I chose the car furthest away from those brainless bodies and ran for it. I opened up the passenger side and scrambled as fast as I could, going through the contents of the car. I looked up to see what was around me. Three bodies made their shuffle towards my direction. Shit, I better hurry! ...Aha! I found a standard cop pistol. I don't know the technical terms like 9mm or 12mm or whatever those gun experts say, but it was a pistol none the less. I found ammo where it lay and stuffed them into my pocket. I've got 4 clips, awesome!
As I reached for the door handle, one of them popped up at the window. "HOLY SHIT!" My heart leapt. I looked back up at the zombie as he scratched at the window. "No way... god damn it, why the hell does it have to be you?" It was Erick, his cheek had a gaping hole in it and a chunk of his shoulder was missing.
Alright, One... Two... Three!!! I open the door, pushing dead-Erick away and made a run for it. Wait a second, I can't just leave him like that... "Gah, I hate you Erick..." I turned around and aimed the pistol at him, trying to aim for the head. I center it and... click! ...What the hell? ...click! click! click!
My attention was then focused towards the cop cars. Surely there had to be a shotgun or pistol left inside one of them, right? Well I knew it wasn't going to be easy with all this commotion going on. I chose the car furthest away from those brainless bodies and ran for it. I opened up the passenger side and scrambled as fast as I could, going through the contents of the car. I looked up to see what was around me. Three bodies made their shuffle towards my direction. Shit, I better hurry! ...Aha! I found a standard cop pistol. I don't know the technical terms like 9mm or 12mm or whatever those gun experts say, but it was a pistol none the less. I found ammo where it lay and stuffed them into my pocket. I've got 4 clips, awesome!
As I reached for the door handle, one of them popped up at the window. "HOLY SHIT!" My heart leapt. I looked back up at the zombie as he scratched at the window. "No way... god damn it, why the hell does it have to be you?" It was Erick, his cheek had a gaping hole in it and a chunk of his shoulder was missing.
Alright, One... Two... Three!!! I open the door, pushing dead-Erick away and made a run for it. Wait a second, I can't just leave him like that... "Gah, I hate you Erick..." I turned around and aimed the pistol at him, trying to aim for the head. I center it and... click! ...What the hell? ...click! click! click!
The safety was on. "Stupid ass safety!" I told myself.
I found the safety switch and turned it off, "All right, now I can shoot!" I take aim again and bam! Right through the left eye socket. His body immediately stopped and he fell on his knees and then face flat on the ground, bleeding a pool onto the pavement. Huh, I guess all those shooting games paid off. Or I just got lucky. Either way, it worked. And with that, I turned and ran home, thinking about how the rest of life would be from here on out.
I found the safety switch and turned it off, "All right, now I can shoot!" I take aim again and bam! Right through the left eye socket. His body immediately stopped and he fell on his knees and then face flat on the ground, bleeding a pool onto the pavement. Huh, I guess all those shooting games paid off. Or I just got lucky. Either way, it worked. And with that, I turned and ran home, thinking about how the rest of life would be from here on out.
