Teen Angst & Zombies (Working Title) ---Chapter 2---

A group of High School friends find themselves in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. And you thought parents were the worst of your problems, right?

Chapter 2

 

 

Jeremy rolled out of bed and looked at the clock next to his bed. 7:00 was showing through his groggy, blurred morning vision.

“Thirty minutes early?” Jeremy said to himself, letting out a noise of complaint.

He muted the alarm set for 7:30 and walked over to his door, opening it.

“Hellooooo?” Jeremy yelled, “Mom? Dad?” When no one replied he shrugged and walked towards the MP3 dock/clock and scrolled through his music.

Without warning, the events from the night before played through his head. Jeremy froze for a second before shaking his head, trying to erase the thought and worries. Settling on Gigamesh, heavy guitar, synth and Japanese vocals filled the room. Allowing the music to distract his thoughts, Jeremy stood still for a minute, eyes closed. Once he cleared his thoughts Jeremy headed towards the bathroom. Trudging through his daily routines, Jeremy finally finished getting ready and headed downstairs, switching his music off, grabbing his dog tags and a black fedora on the way out of the room. Today he had decided on wearing another pair of black skinny jeans, his favorite belt, black slip-ons and a button up black and white plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled. As he reached the kitchen he grabbed his phone and checked the time.

Only 7:45?! I’m usually getting dressed right now! Unsure of what to do with his time, Jeremy went into the family room, turned on the television and started his Xbox.

Dark World started up and Jeremy joined an online public match. After a match or two of intense gunfights, his phone started vibrating. Jeremy set the controller down and picked it up. Seeing Tim’s number he answered.

“Hello? What’s up Tim?” Jeremy asked. About a second passed by before there was a response.

“Jeremy!” Tim shouted, “Where the HELL are you? It’s eight-fifteen!” Jeremy almost dropped the phone as he leaped off the couch to turn the T.V and game system off.

“Umm, I’m just leaving right now!” Jeremy fibbed as he quickly grabbed his keys and wallet off the kitchen counter. “I’ll be there in, like, ten minutes, ok bro?” A sigh was heard from Tim as he hung up.

Jeremy pressed the “End Talk” button as well and put his phone away in his pocket. Jeremy grabbed his backpack from the study and bolted out the front door, fumbling to lock it behind him. He unlocked his car and threw his bag in the back seat before hopping into the front. In one motion he started the car, rolled down the windows and reversed. Before long Jeremy was speeding towards the school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremy sprinted through the doors of his wood shop class with Mr. Kiersten. Mr. Kiersten was tall with short, brown hair, a rounder face and wore jeans with a plain polo. He was also a fairly young and new teacher, which created a fun and open relationship between his students and him. Shop was Jeremy’s favorite class and he respected Mr. Kiersten a great deal. As Jeremy entered the classroom he dropped his bag in the designated safe zone and grabbed a pair of safety goggles. When he went to grab his project, a vanity chair for Vivienne, Mr. Kiersten was waiting for him.

“Jeremy, it’s 8:45.” Mr. Kiersten looked Jeremy in the eyes, causing him to look away, embarrassed. “Honestly? I’d say that’s a new record!” Mr. Kiersten let out a laugh as he handed Jeremy the chair. Jeremy looked back and started laughing as well.

“Yeah, I woke up early and played video games to pass the time. Sorry about being late, sir.” Jeremy took the chair as he received a nod from his teacher and began work on one of the legs that he was having trouble with. Before long the bell sounded, ending class. Jeremy sighed and returned his work to the ‘In-Progress’ shelf. Removing his goggles, he grabbed his bag and left. His next class was English, with the  dreaded Mrs. Patterson. As he sulked through the halls he spotted a familiar sight.

“Hey, Tim! Amy!” Jeremy said in an obviously annoying tone as he put his arms around the lip-locked couple. The two pulled apart and sighed as their friend interrupted.

“What is it Jeremy?” Amy said, glaring at Jeremy, her arms crossed.

“Oh nothing. Just wanted to say hi is all!” Jeremy laughed as Tim pushed him back, baseball bag in hand.

“Real cool Jeremy,” Tim retorted, “Like I really need you butting in and bothering us.” Jeremy only laughed and puffed himself up into a self important pose. At this moment the warning bell for next period rang.

“S**t!” Jeremy and Tim exclaimed simultaneously. Tim gave Amy a quick kiss before he and Jeremy took off running.

"Why are we always so late to this class?” Tim asked, exasperated. Jeremy panted a little before taking a breath.

“Because we hate the class, duh.” Jeremy replied sarcastically. Jeremy and Tim sprinted down hallways and up a set of stairs before they finally reached their English classroom. The two boys entered the room hurriedly as the bell let out its monotonous beep. Jeremy looked over at Tim with a mischievous half smirk on his face.

“S**t, man. Too close. Another tardy and we’ll have Saturday school!” Jeremy chuckled to himself as he slipped his backpack to the ground and took his seat. Tim stopped at the seat behind him and dropped his baseball bag to the ground, a metallic noise coming from the bats inside. He set his backpack next to it and sat down with a sigh.

“Ya, I know. They need to make these passing periods longer.” Tim leaned back in his chair, catching the last of his breath.

Turning around in his seat, Jeremy leaned towards his friend and whispered, “Or you could just stop sucking Amy’s face like some sort of leech!” Jeremy laughed briefly before Tim’s fist connected with his shoulder, resulting in a loud smack.

Almost at a shout the two boys’ teacher, Mrs. Patterson, glared at the boys and scolded them, “Jeremy Horst and Tim McDowell! If you two do not wish to participate in my class I could very easily release you two to the AP’s office! I suggest you calm down and pay attention at once!” The white haired, clean cut woman of almost 65 was one of Jeremy and Tim’s most hated teachers. The three had taken an almost immediate disliking to each other from the start of the year.

In almost perfect unison the boys replied the usual, “Sorry, Mrs. Patterson. It won’t happen again Mrs. Patterson.” Sometimes, if the two were feeling mischievous, they would finish the other’s sentence, almost always getting a chuckle from the class and a disapproving glare from their teacher.

As the day droned on, the two boys went about their usual business. They finished second period English with Mrs. Patterson, U.S. History with Mrs. Lanhoff, then Algebra 2 with Mr. Yavin, Physics was with Mr. Surgis, then lunch; both had seventh period off, and then the two split for the second class they didn’t share. Jeremy went to German with Mr. Jutten, and Tim had Spanish with Ms. Alvarez.

“Alright class! Und now we say…” Mr. Jutten made a hand motion to the class, waiting for an answer. Leaning back in his chair, half-awake, Jeremy slowly raised his hand. “Ah, yes Jeremy. Do you know the answer?” Mr. Jutten had a piece of chalk against the board, ready to write the response as he waited for Jeremy.

With flawless pronunciation, Jeremy replied, “Was machst du zum Abendessen?” Before Mr. Jutten could reply, Jeremy placed his head on the desk and attempted to sleep.

“Yes! ‘What are you doing for dinner’ is the correct response to this situation.” Ignoring Jeremy’s sleeping habits; Mr. Jutten continued to teach the class until finally the bell beeped for the last time that day. Jeremy rose slowly from his desk, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He took the headphones he wore from around his neck and placed them over his ears. Picking up his backpack he exited the room, Symphonic Black Metal in his ears and one thought in his head.

Finally I can see Vivienne! Jeremy thought to himself. That lucky b*****d Tim gets to see Amy all day! Sucks when your girlfriend doesn’t go to your school…

As Jeremy walked through the school parking lot he spied Tim and Amy making out by Tim’s car.

“HEY! TIM!” Jeremy shouted. Tim stopped his kissing and looked over at his friend, “What do you want, man?! I’m kinda busy!” An annoyed look crossed Tim’s face as he glared at his friend.

“Oh, nothing major. You’re just going to be late for practice!” Jeremy laughed loudly as a look of realization washed over his friend’s face, a bit of profanity shouted and watched as he dashed off, baseball bag in hand. Amy walked over to her car with a sigh and started placing her bags in the trunk. Jeremy crossed over to her, music blaring from unequipped headphones, and unlocked his black Tahoe situated next to her car, throwing his bag in the back.

“You know,” Amy stated as she stopped by the driver side door of her yellow Volkswagen bug, “You really should just text him earlier. And please turn your music down some, it’s annoying.”

Jeremy looked over, a smirk on his face, “But if I did that, I’d miss all the fun of watching his realization!” Jeremy laughed loudly at the thought of his friend’s face, “As for the music. It’s so awesomely bad a*s that everyone should hear it!” Another laugh emanated from Jeremy as he reflected on his wit. Amy only rolled her eyes and got in her car.

“See you tomorrow Jeremy. Oh! And don’t forget! We need to be at the school on time tomorrow for the lock-in drill.”

Jeremy’s face sank as he remembered the dreadfully boring drill, “Right. Thanks Amy. I totally remembered that…” Jeremy let out a half sigh, dreading the two hour long drill, “S**t. It’s so boring. See you tomorrow then.” Amy backed her car out and left as Jeremy started his. Pulling out a cigarette, Jeremy then lit it as he backed his own car out. Leaving the parking lot he turned right and headed towards Vivienne’s school.

After a few minutes of driving through the back roads of the neighborhood situated next to the high school, Jeremy arrived at St. Joseph’s Catholic Boarding School. Jeremy took his last drag on the cigarette and flicked it out the window.

These damn uptight, church-types would kill Vivienne if they saw her with me smoking, thought Jeremy. He pulled in to the school’s parking lot and parked in an empty space. Jeremy glanced at the dash as he put the car in park. 4:00 was illuminated in green. Realizing that he was early, Jeremy reclined his seat, shut his eyes and waited for Vivienne to arrive. A few minutes later there was a tapping on the window and Jeremy opened his eyes. He looked up from his reclined position at the curly, red headed girl peering in to his car and rolled down his window.

“Hey Viv, how was Jesus school today?” Jeremy chuckled softly and grinned at Vivienne.

“Haha, Jeremy. You know I hate it here.” She said with a half annoyed look. In mock apology Jeremy sat up and gave her a quick kiss.

“Yeah, I know. I just like to mess with you some.” A nervous half-laugh escaped his lips as he looked at her, “Sorry.” Vivienne walked around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door.

“Yeah yeah, I know,” She said with a cute giggle as she sat down. “By the way, you have some lipstick on you!” This time she let out a full laugh as Jeremy quickly checked himself with the car’s visor mirror and wiped it off. Jeremy started the car as Vivienne buckled herself in.

“So, what do you want to do today?” He asked, putting the car in reverse.

“Movies and video games at your place?” Vivienne replied with a flirtatious grin.

Jeremy laughed heartily and looked at her as he put the car in drive, “Vivienne, I love you. My place it is!”

 

 

 

 

 

Tim had just driven his white Corvette into the driveway when he felt his phone go off in his pocket. He barely fished it out in time to answer the call before it went to voicemail.

“Bro, guess what I just heard on the radio!”

Tim let out an audible sigh, making sure that Jeremy heard his annoyance, “Dude, it’s 10:30 at night, what in the hell could be so important?”

“The government, man.” Jeremy continued with an excited tone, “They screwed s**t up real bad this time.” He paused to catch his breath, “Some experimental drug of some sort was being transported from one lab to another, right?” He paused, “Well---”

Tim cut him off before he could continue, “Another one of your anti-government speeches?” Tim said with an annoyed tone, “D****t Jeremy, I’m exhausted. Do we have to do this now?”

“Just shut up and listen Tim,” Jeremy snapped back. “Look, this drug, it was apparently some sort of health enhancer, thing.” He paused for a second causing Tim to become impatient.

“Annnd? Why does this matter to us, Jeremy?” Tim asked, perplexed by the relevance of the situation.

Obviously annoyed by his friend’s impatience, Jeremy continued, “If you would just let me finish. What I was saying is that there are some majorly bad side effects. The b******s won’t tell us anything except “the effects of the drug are still in development and could cause possible problems in some individuals”. That’s government lingo for really bad.”

Tim cut in again, “Again, what is the relevance of this Jeremy?”

Jeremy replied with utter exasperation, “Jesus bro! I’m getting there! The reason I’m telling you this is to help you, alright?” Jeremy calmed himself a little and continued, “Apparently, the plane that was transporting this drug went down near where the local water treatment plant gets its water. It’s in our drinking water! They told us that only a small percentage of the water could be potentially harmful, but not to drink any until further notice. That’s why I called.” Jeremy waited for Tim to process the information.

“S**t. Just s**t. How long ago was the crash?” Tim asked.

“They said it happened yesterday. So I’d put it at four or five days ago.” Jeremy replied coolly. There was a silence as the two boys registered what had just been said.

“S**T!” The two exclaimed in almost perfect unison. Tim recovered first.

“Let’s see,” he said as he trailed off in to thought.

Confused, Jeremy asked, “What, Bro? See what?”

Tim replied slowly, “Umm, I’m just thinking if I’ve ingested any tap water recently. I use Gatorade for practice, bottled if I drink any at home, and the school serves bottled as well.” Tim let out a sigh of relief as he realized he was unaffected.

“Well, I haven’t ingested,” he chuckled at the use of his friend’s word, “any tap water for like, three weeks. Coka-Cola for me, bro!” Jeremy laughed, but cut himself short. “Dude, you need to call Amy, like now!” he exclaimed. Profanity was cut short as Tim hung up. Realizing he should call Vivienne, Jeremy furiously punched in her number. He placed the phone to his ear as the dial tone began.

A few seconds later Vivienne answered, “Hello? Jeremy? What’s wrong? You never call me at this time of day.”

Jeremy took a quick breath and replied, “Viv, you haven’t drunken any of the cities tap water, have you?”

“Umm… I don’t think so?” Vivienne replied perplexed.

“You positive?” Jeremy asked again, worry lacing his voice.

“Yeah… The nuns here pump water from a well. It’s all old school here. All that ‘God gives us everything we need’ crap.” Replied Vivi sarcastically. “Why are you asking though? Kind of an odd question.” Jeremy sat in his car, a sigh of relief escaping his lips.

“It’s all over the news Viv. Just turn on the television and I’m sure you’ll get a much greater explanation than I could ever give.” A rustling was heard from over the phone as Vivienne searched for her television remote. While he waited Jeremy started his car and began his journey home. Suddenly, Jeremy could barely make out the chatter of a T.V in the background and waited for Vivienne to realize what was happening.

“Holy s**t. Jeremy, is this true?” Vivienne asked, worry ebbing into her voice.

“Every. Last. Bit.” Replied Jeremy as he pulled into his driveway.

“S**t Jeremy. I- I’m going to have to go. This is kind of a big deal and I need to call a few people.” Jeremy heard a small sigh from Vivienne as he entered his house. An awkward silence began filling the conversation.

“I’m glad you’re alright Jeremy,” Vivienne stated, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, same here. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Jeremy replied gently.

“I love you Jeremy, good night.”

Jeremy smiled to himself as he replied, “Love you too Viv. Night.” With that, Jeremy pressed the ‘End Talk’ button on his phone while he dropped his backpack to the ground. Letting out a huge sigh he started up the stairs to his room, glad to finally be able to sleep.

 

 

 

Jeremy awoke with a start to his MP3 blaring Unleashed Fury from its dock. He quickly glanced over at the time. As his eyes adjusted and focused on the clock, realization struck him.

“8:15?! D****t! School starts in 20 minutes!” Nearly flipping himself out of bed Jeremy threw himself into a cold shower that lasted two minutes. He then rubbed himself down with a towel and dashed back to his room. Grabbing a pair of his black skinny jeans and a black v-neck, he dressed himself in almost three. Nearly diving down the stairs, Jeremy grabbed a soda from the fridge, his keys from the counter and his black, buckled jacket off a chair all in one minute. Another two and he had left the house, locked the door and started his car.

“Time, time, what’s the time?!” Jeremy looked frantically for a time-telling device before turning to the dash, “S**t! 8:23!” He slammed his car into reverse and peeled out of his driveway. Seven minutes later he arrived at school and parked in his usual spot, across the street from the senior lot at the nearby office buildings. As Jeremy put his car in park he opened the door and tore his keys from the ignition, taking off at a sprint towards his first period class. As he exploded through the front doors someone called his name.

“Yo! Jeremy! Wait up!” It was Tim. He was just as late as Jeremy and so the two boys, with prefect understanding, nodded to each other and took off towards Mrs. Patterson’s class. After a short run Jeremy arrived at the classroom door and almost knocked it down as he entered the room, bell beeping simultaneously. Tim was right behind him, baseball bag swinging wildly from the sudden stop.

“Bro, I don’t even want to know what would have happened had we not made it in time for the lock down! Hell, seeing you even reminded me that we had to head to second period for the drill!” A chuckle came from Jeremy as he thought of Mrs. Patterson locking them out.

“Don’t even joke about that, man. It would have sucked. And way to go on the remembering.” Tim said sarcastically. The two quickly took their seats as announcements began. Everyone stood up for the Pledge of Allegiance and took a seat as the unimportant announcements began. The class conversed quietly as they waited for the dreaded lock down drill announcement from Principle Greere.

“Ahem. This is Principle Greere speaking,” a small sigh of disapproval came from the class as they heard the crackling voice from the P.A, “As you all know we will be having a lock down drill today.” A Pause, “I’d like to remind all of you that you are to remain silent and out of sight of any windows. Teachers, if you could gather your class into a single area, turn off the lights, and lock your doors, we will begin.” As the announcement ended an unfamiliar women went and locked the door and turned out the lights.

“Hey. Hey Jeremy.” Tim whispered faintly, “Is it just me or is that not Mrs. Patterson?” He pointed to the young, brown haired woman that was obviously their sub.

“Umm… Obviously we have a sub Tim. Don’t question the gods, just thank them.” At this, small laughter was heard from the students that were close to Jeremy. An hour or so passed by without so much as a whisper. Jeremy was in a corner sleeping, Tim listening to his Mp3. A few more minutes passed by before Jeremy was woken by a knocking on the classroom door. Assuming that it was the Assistant Principle running through the classroom check, he went over and nudged Tim.

“Hey bro,” he said, pulling Tim’s headphone out, “They’re checking our classroom. We’ll be done soon.”

“Thanks for letting me know,” Tim replied. Stretching his arms he stood up and placed his iPod with its headphones in his pocket. The knocking continued as the class stood up and prepared to pack up and leave. Jeremy stopped what he was doing and looked over to Tim, a perplexed look on his face.

“Hey,Tim.” He announced.

“What’s up Jeremy?” Tim replied.

“Uhh… How many times do the APs usually knock?” Jeremy asked. Tim looked at Jeremy and then the door.

“Not more than three usually…” he said while backing away from the door. He looked back over as the sub went over to door.

“Umm… Miss,” Tim looked at the board, unsure of her name, “Miss Webber?” He called out quickly.

The substitute stopped and looked over to him, “Yes, What is it?”

“I wouldn’t open the door. The APs never knock that many times.” Tim warned her. The substitute laughed lightly before she reached for the door handle.

“I think its fine. The Assistant Principle probably just needs to get someone from the---“ The sub was cut short as a hand smashed through the classroom window, showering her face with sharp bits of glass. It grabbed her face and smashed it into the door, splitting a little bit of the wood. A sickening crack was heard as her head connected and a low moan came from her mouth as she fell to the ground.

There was a suffocating silence as the students stared in horror at the woman who was lying on the floor, a puddle of blood pooling around her. The hand was flailing as it searched for the handle on the other side; a high pitched shriek was heard from the unseen body that it belonged to. The silence broken, a girl in the class let out a shrill scream. Jeremy was the first to fully recover from the class’s mesmerized state.

“WHAT THE F**K?!” He yelled.

“I- is she dead?” Tim chimed in, his voice shaky, “The f**k man? Someone just killed our sub! What the hell is going on?!” As the full impact of what had happened sank in Tim fell backward and pushed himself as far away from the door as possible. The hand continued to flail until it finally caught hold of the handle. As it began turning the handle, the rest of the class moved towards where Tim had ended up. Screaming and yelling the students fought wildly, trying to get from the front of the group to the back. Jeremy had slipped his headphones on with shaking hands and played his Death Metal Awesomeness playlist. He stood next to the group, against the wall, music blaring, attempting to make the horrors go away. His body was visibly shaking as he stared at the door.

Suddenly it was gone. It wasn’t like the movies where the door slowly opened. It was almost taken off its hinges as a drooling, crazy eyed, decaying Mrs. Patterson burst into the room letting out another shriek. The room went silent once more as the class stared at their teacher. The sight was gruesome. Before their eyes stood Mrs. Patterson, skin flaking, eyes darting as she took in ragged breathes, her chest heaving up and down slowly. Lying at her feet was the dead substitute and the door she entered through was barely hanging by its top hinge. A brave girl, who happened to be at the front of the fighting group, began inching her way towards her. Jeremy took his headphones off and turned his music down to a slightly audible drum beat, waiting to see just what exactly this girl was trying to accomplish.

“M- M- Mrs. P- Patterson?” She managed to stutter out. “A- Are you ok- okay?” As the girl moved towards the crazed teacher, Jeremy regained control of himself and moved slowly towards Tim’s baseball bag a few feet away. The girl took another step, bringing herself within a few feet of Mrs. Patterson. Jeremy opened Tim’s bag and slowly started pulling a bat out. As he did, it collided with another, letting out a small metallic ring. Jeremy froze as he heard the noise and Mrs. Patterson’s head snapped in his direction as another shriek was released. In one swift motion Mrs. Patterson grabbed a desk in front of her and swung it sideways, smashing the girl who had approached her. The girl was sent sprawling into the wall; another sickening crack was heard as she collided with the cinder stone bricks and then fell to the ground, her body lifeless. Bat in hand, Jeremy stared first at the girl on the floor and then at his teacher, who now had the desk above her head. Without thinking he turned his music back up, letting the music spill into the room and charged at the woman/creature/thing in front of him. Before he had taken two steps he saw the desk hurtling towards him.

“S**t!” Jeremy exclaimed as he dropped to the floor in a sort of half baseball, half power guitar slide. The desk flew inches above his face as he looked up. When he knew it was gone he came out of the slide in a run, bat raised. “Go to hell you old hag!” He yelled as he swung the bat with all the energy he had. The whole scene seemed to have gone into slow-mo. Jeremy watched the bat swing around and then connect with his teacher’s head. He felt the impact long before he heard the cracking of the skull. The blow knocked Mrs. Patterson backwards a few feet as everything returned to its normal speed. Blood dripped down the side of Mrs. Patterson’s decaying face as she stared at Jeremy, letting out another of her bloodcurdling shrieks. Before she could move, Jeremy swung the bat back in the other direction, smashing her jaw. Knocked back another foot or so, Mrs. Patterson stood rigid. Her jaw was disconnected and hanging loose on the side it was hit, blood dripping from her mouth. Her hair was matted from the blood on the right side where she was first hit and her skin was missing sections all over her body. Jeremy gagged at the grotesque image before him.

“I hated you Mrs. Patterson, But damn! I didn’t think you hated us anywhere near this much!” Jeremy exclaimed as he watched his former teacher take in more of her ragged breathes. Mrs. Patterson began another shriek, but was cut short by a bat to her face. Jeremy had seen her take in a deep breath. Assuming it was for another shriek he had quickly slammed the end of the bat into her face. A crunching noise, not unlike crushing crackers was heard and at that Mrs. Patterson crumpled to the floor, a puddle of blood quickly forming. Jeremy dropped his bat and had begun stepping away from the body, his body shaking as he leaned against, and then slid down, the back wall.

“What the hell did I just do?” He questioned. Tim stood up, his eyes wide, and walked over to him.

“You,” Tim started, “Well you did the only thing any of us could have done,” he placed a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder and turned his music down some. “She was crazy and,” he thought a moment, “decayed? Seriously, it looked like she was already dead.” He let out a small, half chuckle and continued, “Don’t fret man. It was self-defense, ok?” Tim turned to the rest of the class, “I think this constitutes a day off from school, what do you all think?” The class responded with small, nervous laughter as they started to grab their things and work their way around the horrific scene.

“I- I smashed her face in bro. She bled man. Nothing dead bleeds.” Jeremy whispered with a shaky voice.

“If something is recently dead it does. There was nothing else you could have done. If anything you looked pretty bad-a*s taking her out!” Tim laughed lightly at his comment.

Jeremy looked up at his friend skeptically, “Really? You think so?”

“Dude, you slid under a desk that she hurled at you and then just took her out in one fluid motion! Looked like some badass action movie or something!” Tim laughed at the thought and held a hand out to his friend, “Here let me help you up.”

“Thanks bro,” Jeremy replied taking his friend’s assistance. “Let’s just get out of here, ok? I just want to go back to sleep.” He chuckled quietly as the two grabbed their things and started towards the door. “Hey, can you wait a sec?” Jeremy asked as they reached the door.

“Sure? But what for?” Tim asked in response. Jeremy went back to the now dead Mrs. Patterson. He bent down and picked up the bat he had used, which now had a slight bend to it.

“This. If there’s one, there may be another, and this baby worked pretty well.” Jeremy paused a second, “You don’t mind if I take it, do you?”

 “Did you see me go back for it?” Tim laughed a little, “You deserve it.”

“Thanks bro.” Jeremy rested the end on his shoulder as the two headed towards their cars.

“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow Jeremy.” Tim announced as he opened his car door.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow Tim.” Jeremy called back as he opened his car door as well. He started his car and drove home, barely aware of the surroundings. A few minutes later he pulled into his driveway and headed inside, leaving everything except his new bat. He trudged up the stairs and collapsed on his bed, immediately falling asleep.

 

 

Jeremy awoke to a bright light shining in his eyes. As he rubbed them and sat up he realized there were two men in suits in his room.

“The hell?” He questioned, confused by the situation. As his eyes adjusted he saw his mom standing in the doorway, obviously nervous. He turned himself so he was on the edge of his bed. “Umm,” he looked from one man to the other. One was a tall skinnier blonde with dark sunglasses and the other was a slightly built black haired man. Both had crew cut hair. “How may I help you?” Jeremy asked, confused. The black haired man started talking first.

“Jeremy Horst,” he said, pulling a black wallet from his pocket, “I am Agent Samuels and this is Agent Jameson.” He motioned to the blond haired man, who in turn nodded. “We are from the F.B.I.” the two men opened the black wallets with practiced movements and revealed two F.B.I badges. “We would just like to ask a few questions about a,” he paused as they both replaced their badges, “Mrs. Patterson, if I am correct?” Jeremy nodded slowly and began to stand up. Agent Jameson stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I would like to ask that you stay seated please.” Jameson asked coolly. Jeremy sat back down and looked at the two men again.

“Ya, alright,” he said, slightly annoyed, “What are the questions?”

“To the point,” Samuels said, “Let’s get started.” Jameson pulled out a pen and notepad, preparing to take notes of the interrogation. “First off we have the basics. Where were you at 9:37 am on the 15^th of March, of this year?” Samuels looked him dead in the eyes. Jeremy crossed his arms and kept a straight face.

“I was in my English classroom, in the middle of a lockdown drill.” Jeremy replied.

“Well, you answered what you were doing, which was the next question, so we’ll move on.” he took a small step closer, making it so Jeremy had to look slightly upwards.

“May I ask what prompted you to beat your teacher to death with, one aluminum alloy bat, owned by a Mr. McDowell?” Jeremy’s mom let out a small gasp and looked downward. Jeremy set his jaw and looked the Agent straight in the eyes.

“Well, sir,” he started sarcastically, “she punched through glass, killed our substitute, picked up a desk, killed Lucy Kings with the desk and then threw the desk at me. I plead self-defense.” Jeremy’s mom left the room crying and the two agents looked at each other with slight confusion. A sigh came from Agent Samuels as he looked back at Jeremy.

“Mrs. Patterson, according to our report, was aged 64 years and you’re saying that she accomplished all of these physically straining actions?” Samuels asked slightly annoyed and confused.

“Well all except hitting me with the desk, yes.” Jeremy replied, beginning to worry they wouldn’t believe him. Agent Samuels stepped away and ran a hand through his hair, a bit exasperated. Agent Jameson put away his notepad and whispered something to Agent Samuels before taking his place as the interrogator. Jameson stood in front of Jeremy and crouched down so that he was eye level with Jeremy. Taking a breath he removed his sunglasses.

“Now,” Jameson started, looking at Jeremy, “Can you tell me what was,” he paused, “Different about Mrs. Patterson when these events occurred?” Jeremy let out a sigh, preparing for the disbelief the two men would have.

“Besides the inhuman strength and obvious disregard for pain that a woman of her age shouldn’t have been capable of having?” Jeremy said, annoyance lacing his voice. “She drooled non-stop, her eyes were wild looking and blood shot, she kept shrieking and,” Jeremy paused, not wanting to say the unbelievable part.

“And?” Jameson asked, interested.

“And she looked like she came from a grave. Her skin was peeling and falling off.” Jeremy let out the words quickly, waiting for a laugh of disbelief. Instead there was silence as Agent Jameson put his sunglasses back on and stood up.

“Well,” Jameson said with a smile, “It seems that you are perfectly innocent. Mrs. Patterson, according to the autopsy and your testimony, was affected by a lifelong disease. Very rare. You won’t be bothered again. Thank you for your time.” At this, both agents left the room and house leaving Jeremy utterly lost and confused. Once he had regained his thoughts he went downstairs and grabbed a well needed Coke. His mom kept glancing over at him and kept her distance. Jeremy let out a sigh.

“Mom, I’m innocent. They said she was crazy and that everything was in self-defense.” Jeremy explained to his mother.

“Y-ya. That’s nice. I-I have to head to work though, so you go ahead and s-stay home.” Mrs. Horst said nervously. Jeremy let out another sigh and went and sat on the couch in front of their television screen. As he turned the T.V on the front door closed as his mom left. Curious to see what the news was saying about things he turned to the local news channel.

-as been dealt with. For those just tuning in, a man in his mid thirties had been running around town early this morning biting unsuspecting victims. One witness said he was, “Missing his right cheek and kept yelling.” The missing cheek was, “A trick of the imagination,” According to officials. After an hour of these attacks, police were able to confront the man. With us we have Officer North, one of the many officers that were at the scene of confrontation. So Mr. North, what happened exactly?

Well Jenny, we were called out to arrest an alleged assault suspect. When we found him he was trying to bite the arm off of an old man. At least that’s what it looked like. My partner Officer Jim Carston immediately exited the car and went to tackle the offender. He was bitten, but was able to subdue him long enough for back up to arrive.

Did you have to use your gun at all?

Yes I did. Jim was only able to keep him down long enough for me to call back up. When he broke loose he charged me and I put 3 rounds in his chest. He kept running and hit m; I have a scratch on my arm fro-

Jeremy turned the television off, his mouth hanging open in complete and utter amazement. Quickly he pulled out his phone and sent a text to Tim.

U at school?

His phone buzzed and he looked at the text.

No

Jeremy immediately called him to discuss this morning’s events. The dial tone went once before Tim answered.

“Dude. The news.” Tim said quickly.

“I know man. That’s why I called. Sound familiar?” Jeremy replied with slight worry.

“Ya, it does.” Tim admitted, “I doubt it’s related though. I say we just calm down and forget about it.” Jeremy let out a sigh and tried to push the thought away.

“Ya, you’re probably right. We have today off and spring break starts tomorrow.” Jeremy took a second to process his own words. “Bro! We got spring break a day early!” Laughing, Jeremy continued, “Want to come over and play some Dark World?” Tim paused for a second and let out a hearty chuckle.

“Sure thing! Lemme shower and I’ll be right over!” At this Tim hung up and Jeremy ran upstairs to shower as well. A few minutes later Jeremy quickly changed in his room. Pulling on his boots he noticed something odd.

“Where is that bat from yesterday?” Jeremy looked around to no avail. Suddenly a thought hit him, “Those weird agent guys must have taken it as evidence. Oh well, I’ll just grab another.” Shrugging slightly Jeremy made his way downstairs and to his garage. Digging through the huge pile of junk that his family had stored, he finally found his old baseball bag. He quickly opened the end and pulled out his old bat. Throwing the bag back on the pile he exited the garage and jogged to the T.V room, throwing himself on the couch. He turned the T.V back on and saw the last bit of the interview from earlier. As he turned on his Xbox a knock came from the door. Jeremy threw his Xbox controller off to the side and got up to answer the door, grabbing his bat as he rose.

“Hey Tim!” Jeremy exclaimed as he opened the door. Tim looked at him and then down at the bat and let out a sarcastic sigh, rolling his eyes.

“I can’t believe you’re going to actually hold on to that thing.” Tim said as he entered the house, “But uhh, where is mine?” As the two boys went and sat on the couch Jeremy explained the appearance of the F.B.I agents and the whole interrogation from this morning.

“So ya, I suppose that agent Samuels guy took it while the Jameson guy was talking to me. Sorry for losing it.” Jeremy apologized.

“Dude, it was bent and useless to me.” Tim laughed, “More importantly, you were interrogated by the F.B.I! That’s awesome!” Tim’s excitement affected Jeremy a little as well.

“I guess that is pretty cool. Scary as s**t though.” Jeremy let out a chuckle as he grabbed his Xbox controller, handing a second to Tim. “But that’s beside the point. You ready to get your a*s kicked?” Jeremy asked, laughing.

“No. But I’m ready to kick yours!” Tim exclaimed in response. Soon the two boys were mashing away at the controllers as they played Dark World. A few hours later Tim’s phone went buzzed. He paused the game and picked it up, checking the new message. He let out a laugh as he began a reply.

“What’s so funny? Hurry up and un-pause. I’m about to snipe your head!” Jeremy announced.

Still chuckling Tim explained, “Amy just texted me asking where I was.” His phone went off again. He let out another laugh as he read the message. “I told her where and she just called me a b*****d!”

Jeremy began laughing as well, “I can’t believe she had to go to school!” The two boys laughed a bit more before Tim finally picked his controller back up.

“Come on, you’ll never get me!” Tim declared confidently.

Author's Note

Ugh... I wrote this back during my junior year of high school. I may rewrite it if anyone enjoys the premise. It honestly hurts to read this now though. Tear it apart and let me know what you think. Thanks!