9.

A Chapter by Kira

Tracy could see every separate bloodstain on Joey's hand, where he must have at some point attempted to stop his nosebleed. She saw every knifelike nail, remembering his bad nail-biting habit but noting his skin and nails were now more of a yellowed gray. And she took all of this in while his hand was hurtling towards her face, with--no question--an attempt to maim, or even kill. She must have been hyped on endless adrenaline since choir class, and she hadn't even noticed how much time seemed to have slowed down.

But she didn't move to attack in kind--she stepped back, feeling Dan's muscled form behind her and Joey's hand scything right in front of her. She'd had experience fighting (don't ask) and she knew from years of friendship that Joey didn't, but he was completely changed--no longer caring about her or his own life, just causing more bloodshed.

"Joey?" she croaked, while the zombie in front of her was still reeling from the fact that he'd missed. Then he lunged again.

Lucas swept in front of her, fast even for her hyperaware brain, already using his momentum to crash headlong into Joey, his fist snapping into the side of Joey's head as he fell. Tracy was so dazed by this sight that she hardly noticed that the rest of the risen corpses were lunging at their shell-shocked group.

One of the zombies crashed into her and she was falling, watching the carnage unfold around her. Her head smacked the floor (lucky it was carpet) and suddenly her view was obstructed by the bloody, rage-filled face of Desiree. Her friend's hands slashed at her, and she felt three white-hot lines suddenly etched across her face. Screaming, Tracy blindly swung a fist and heard something snap. Feeling Desiree's weight shift, she bucked hard under her attacker, snapping her leg out into the side of her neck and gaining a satisfied smirk as the zombie-Desiree crumpled away from her. She gained her feet, only seeing fists and claws and blood amid the crowd of fighting bodies.

Just then, an anger-leadened punch caught Tracy in the small of her back, and she fell to her knees, wheezing. In the same instant, an arm that reeked of death tightened around her throat and she was thrown face-first into the floor, slowly suffocating. She flailed all of her limbs, desperately trying to wriggle for freedom, but the zombie's body was holding her down like a stone weight and she could see black at the corners of her vision.

Then, just like that, she could breathe again. She tried to stand but she felt like she'd just had a piano dropped on her head, and it was all she could do was stare at the ceiling and gasp for air. Blood was dripping down her face and into her open mouth--she brought a hand to her nose, alarmed, but it was only coming from three deep cuts that slanted across both cheeks.

Finally, Lucas's horrified face swam into view above her. "Are you okay?" he asked urgently, pulling her to her feet--she felt like screaming at the pain in her arm, but it was somehow tingly at the same time.

"Just...fine," she gasped, cracking a weak smile. "Never...better."

She only just noticed that the room was now silent. No screams of fury or pain, but also no labored breathing of the hurt but still alive. She whirled around in a panic and saw only six bodies--bodies that had appeared to be dead when they came in. Four unknown students, Desiree, and Joey.

She felt her chest constrict as though she still had the zombie's arm around her neck.

Standing over them were Dan, Erika, and Jeremy, all covered in blood but looking vaguely satisfied. Jeremy's left arm was at a weird angle and Dan had a fat lip, but everyone seemed reasonably alright. It was a relief that her own cuts were the worst of the injuries.

Of course, then she had to notice the spreading dark red stain in the side of Jeremy's shirt. He looked up at her as though pleading, and was reminded in that split second of Clair. Jeremy tried to speak, and blood dribbled out of his mouth. Lucas noticed her stare, and soon everyone's eyes were on Jeremy.

Erika gave a shriek as he pitched forward, and Tracy knew nothing after that.

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