Just Another Tuesday

Stereotypical nerdy teen comes to terms with the popular girls? I think not. Includes floods, zombies, and shotgun-wielding serial killers driving beat up Volvos. Enjoy...

So, Nico and I wrote this a while ago. Originally, it was supposed to be a teenage girl coming to terms with bullying and the popular girls in her grade through music...then it morphed into this. 

                          CHAPTER ONE

“My decision is final.”

“What!?!”

“No if’s, and’s, or but’s.”

“But I don’t want to!!”

“Terra, you need to hang out with other girls.”

“There’s a girl in robotics.”

“Yes, you.”

“Hmph.”

“What if I don’t make tryouts?” I asked. My dad thought for a moment.

“You can play the accompaniment.”

“But I don’t like playing in front of other people.”

“You play in front of Artemis.”

“Artemis is a cat, I meant other humans.”

“Well, too bad.”

“What if I don’t?”

“I’ll take you out of robotics.”

“Jeez, that’s harsh.”

I trudged down the Arts hallway, dreading the school year ahead of me. The long, turquoise walls were plastered with music posters and art pieces. There were charcoal sketches of people and buildings everywhere. And the floor was covered in a fluffy pink carpet.

“Aaaargh,” I groaned, “Kill me now.”

I stopped in front of the Art room for a minute to watch the kids sketching on thick canvas. I would have rather been there. Next I passed the drama room and saw a couple guys practicing a fake fistfight. That would’ve been cool. Finally I reached the end of the hall and what I’d been dreading...the Chorus room.

Don’t get me wrong here, chorus is worse than you’d think. It’s full of prissy snobs who think they’re better than everyone else. I always feel a strong urge to punch every single one of them whenever I’m near them. If they see a nerd like me they’ll latch on like leeches sucking any self-respect and pride I had away. It’s horrifying. And to add insult to injury, I’m the baby of the grade. Everyone is at least a year older than me, so what do I get? Ding ding ding! More torment! Yay!

I put my hand on the obnoxious, nausea- inducing lime green painted door handle and pulled.

What I saw in front of me I will never get out of my head. Girls and boys were singing, for pleasure!! I almost passed out there. But I was given another chance when the most popular, and mean girl, Laura stepped toward me. She flipped her sleek-black hair behind her shoulders.

“Nerd club is that way,” she sneered pointing down the hall. But that’s when the overly-peppy chorus teacher, Ms. Smith, made it even worse.

“Oh, Terra, there you are!” she said

“What!?” Squealed Laura.

“Terra will be playing the accompaniment for the year,” She said, a little too happily. “Come in, make yourself comfortable.”

I walked through the couch-filled room painted with that lime-greenish paint, avoiding all of the angry stares. Finally I sat down at the piano bench and looked at the music on top of the it.

“We’re singing The Bells of Christmastide for Christmas this year,” Said Ms. Smith “Do you need to study the music before we start?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Alrighty then…one...two...three…four…” She said. And then I lost myself in the music.

 I came out of my little musical coma at the last G.

“I’ll see you later.” Threatened Laura as she walked out of the room with everyone else. I winced a little.

“Good job, you are an excellent sight reader.” Praised Ms. Smith.

“Thanks,” I said walking out the door.

“Oh, Terra?’

“Yeah?”

“This time every Thursday.” She said

“Yes ma’m” I said and then I walked out the door.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the next few weeks I went to the chorus room every Thursday and played The Bells of Christmastide. It started to get effortless; and everyone had started to not shoot daggers from their eyes (not literally) every time I walked through the room. I had begun to listen to the lyrics and actually sing them quietly to myself sometimes. But December 5th everything changed. It was solo tryouts and of course Laura tried out. And her other goons. It was kind of painful to listen to some of them try to sing. Emphasis on try. I’m not sure how any of them got into chorus in the first place.

After playing Carol of the Bells around 20 times every one began to leave. Laura prissily skipped out of the music room. She had auditioned today, and she was sure she would get the part. I mean, she always does.          

Soon everyone was out of the room.

“And in despair I bowed my head” I sang quietly. “There is no peace on earth I said”

I began to pick up my books.

“For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth good will to men” I sang a little louder

I shut the lid on the piano.

“Peace on earth.” I belted out, this time very loud.

“Very good” came a voice behind me

I whirled around to find Ms. Smith with an impossibly large smile on her face. I sprinted as fast as I could out of the room down the hallway and all the way into the robotics room before I looked behind me.

I sat there and panted, wiping sweat off of my brow. Suddenly I looked up. All of the robotics boys stood there staring at me. All five of them. Brandon, Scott, Robbie, Zach, and Preston.

“Sorry I’m late guys, what did I miss?” I said standing up, trying to act casual. The boys kept staring.

“Come on guys, I mean it’s not like everyone just walks through the door.” I said. Scott shook himself out of his trance.

“What are you running from?” he asked

“Nothing” I lied.

“Uh oh” said Zach.

“What?” I asked

“They’ve gotten to her, the Zombie Apocalypse has started!” Yelled Zack. All of the boys screamed, ran, and gathered reinforcements from under the robotics board. And that’s why I spent an hour quarantined in the broom closet bound and gagged.

When they finally opened the door and deemed me not infected they unbound me and leaned awkwardly against the wall.

Brandon cleared his throat. “So, um…”

I sighed. “Just forget about it,” I said, “The competitions in a few days. We need to get this robot working.” 

We all turned around and eyed our robot, a behemoth of Lego and wire. It lay next to the computer we had the programming software on, so close to being finished, with just more command to be entered. Unfortunately, the gyro sensor was acting up, responding to the most random motions and leaving all of our commands pretty much useless.

We had all attempted to fix it, but we couldn’t understand what was wrong. The program was correct and we had downloaded it right, there was just something wrong. But finally I got it.

“Guys, check the port number.” I said.

“It’s 4, why?” asked Scott.

“Check the program” I said. They all gathered around the computer.

“It’s 2.” said Robbie.

“Then that’s our problem,” I said triumphantly, just as Mr. Roseman, our robotics teacher walked in. Mr. Roseman was a tall, slender man with salt and pepper hair.We tossed some hellos at him, too caught up in the robot to start a conversation, but we turned to look concernedly at him when we saw his solemn face.

“Mr. R?” Scott ventured, tentatively taking a step forward.

“Kids,” Mr. Roseman said with a deep and heavy sigh, “The school is cutting the funding for robotics. There will be no competition this year, or any other year to come.”

There was a horrible bitterness to his words and we turned to look at each other as we were hit by their extreme weight. Silently I prayed this was just a sick joke.

But Mr. Roseman never made jokes.

“Didn’t see that coming” said Preston, who never liked robotics much anyways.” Oh well.” Then he turned and left.

 “Traitor,” Robbie muttered.

Scott opened the door and yelled out at Preston. “Have fun at knitting club!” Then retreated back into the room.

“Does knitting club exist?” I asked shyly, too shocked to really care.

Scott didn’t answer. He just sadly stared out the window, not seeming to hear the question.

Zach shyly spoke up. “I like knitting club.”

We stared at him. 

“Nevermind…”

I focused my attention onto Mr. Roseman.

“Why’d they cut the funding?” I asked, knowing it wouldn’t help, but I always need to know all the information. It’s just part of who I am.

“Apparently the music fund is more important than ours, so they’re cutting us and giving them ours.” he said.

“Everyone who walks that hall should be thrown into Azkaban!” yelled Brandon. I found myself blushing. No one knew I had anything to do with the music jocks.

“Well, don’t blame them! Blame…” I quickly tried to think of someone. “Preston!”    

Now they were staring at me. We do a lot of staring at each other in Robotics.

Scott brightened up. “Yeah! Let’s go beat Preston up!”

All the guys ran out of the room, whooping and cheering, leaving just me and Mr. Roseman. I felt a trickle of warm blood run from my nose. Whenever I experience lots of emotion It bleeds.

“I’m sorry, Terra,” Mr. Roseman said, as I heard Preston squealing out in the hallway, “But there is just no way to fix this.” He walked slowly over to the door and grabbed his coat. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand, leaving a trail of blood.

“But, but…” I stuttered, trying to think of some solution to this, anything!

“You can’t solve everything, Terra,” He said quietly. “You’ll learn that soon.”

He left without another word as the guys dragged a bound and gagged Preston past the doorway and my life started crumbling around me.

CHAPTER TWO

I sat on the piano bench glancing at all the faces that had once been sort of kind to me. Now I saw them as traitorous. They killed my hobby, and for that they would pay.

I realize that sounds morbid, but you have to understand. Robotics is...was my life. There is nothing else to frikkin’ do. Who cares about computer games. Let’s go program a robot sounds a lot more promising.

Ms. Smith bounced in to class, her blonde hair flying up and down.

“Have you decided on the solo yet?” asked Laura innocently

“No, there’s just too many beautiful voices, it’s hard to choose.” she said sweetly. 

Yeah right, I thought. My little brother Joey could sing better.

“Terra, can you start at the top?” she asked, with her normal impossibly large smile.

“Yes” I said through gritted teeth. Her happiness was funny then, now it’s just irritating. 

I began to play the music, but this time I missed so many notes I couldn’t go into my usual music coma.

“Aaargh.” I yelled slamming my fists on the keys.

“Terra, are you okay?” asked Ms. Smith 

“No!” I yelled standing up from my seat to face the entire chorus. Normally I would have been scared out of my mind, but not now; not after they killed my favorite hobby.

”Just because you think you’re popular doesn’t mean you are. Just because you think we’re so insignificant you can bully us whenever you want doesn’t mean you can. In fact, we’re probably more important than you. We can contribute math, and science to the world. What can you? Not everyone can be a famous pop-star, or a famous sports player. I bet you have a better chance of being shocked by lightning than becoming one. We do matter. You are not more important, remember that!” I yelled, and then stormed out of the room. My nose was gushing blood. It ran down my face and had begun to splatter on my shirt.  

Silence, silence was all I heard behind me as I stomped down the hall. Let them be silent. See if I care. But it was surprisingly saddening to not hear the voices echo through the halls.

I passed Preston’s face imprints in the hallway wall and held back tears of anger, snatching my backpack up and slamming the door hard as I left the building. My sneakers rhythmically slapped the sidewalk, stirring up dust in my wake as I passed the school gates and headed home.

My rage continued in full vigor until I reached my front porch and smacked into one of the wooden pillars. I rubbed my head and carefully looked around to make sure no one had seen me. I had been so caught up in my anger that I had been oblivious to the world around me.

Blushing, I ran inside, sprinted up to my room, and threw myself onto the collection of bean bags I had in the corner. After a while, when I had sunk in enough to make a clear outline, with a heavy sigh I got up, slunk over to the corner, and pushed hard on the wall. Part of the wall popped out and swung outward. I crawled into the room behind and pulled the ‘door’ shut behind me.

Now, let me explain. My dad had built the little fort for my older brothers. After they moved into middle school they all wanted more room, and didn’t use the fort anymore. So they got the guest rooms, and I got theirs. It worked out perfectly. For me. That was, before my mom died.

Immersed in complete darkness, I ran my hand over the wall trying to find the light switch. Finally I felt the familiar shape between my fingers and pushed the switch up. A fluorescent light flicked on, blinding me. As my eyes adjusted I slowly made out my workshop. The room was filled with tables of NXT bricks and lego parts, and also a big computer. 

This is my special place to go when I’m upset. It is surprisingly calming if you’re asocial. On the floor was a fluffy dark green carpet, and hundreds of pillows (that Zach made me from knitting club). I sat down in my giant desk chair and stared at my computer. Its familiarity comforted me.

My cat Artemis slunk out from under the desk and rubbed against my legs. I laughed and said, “Hey, Artemis.” I shoved him aside and walked to the computer.

I brushed a strand of thick, blonde hair out of my eyes, and clicked on what I had been working on. Notepad opened up and my lyrics spilled across the page. It was a song I had begun to work on, not that I would tell anyone about it.

“Tryin’ to find my way,” I sang “Never thought that I could change.”

All of a sudden the door squeaked open. My little brother Nicky stood in the doorway.

“Dad said it’s dinner time,” he said.

“Nicky! Get out!” I yelled, tossing a pillow at him. He dodged it.

“Come on, I’m not leaving ‘till you come out!” He said, in his annoying baby voice.

“No, leave!’’

“Do you want me to get Jake?” He asked, taunting me.

“No,” I said, groaning and hopping out of the fort then, after a moment of annoyance aimed at Nicky, running down the stairs. Jake was the most athletic, no-nonsense kid in high school. He was the most affected by our mother’s death. I remember when he was loud, obnoxious and fun. After she died he just retreated into a shell and never came out. He was kind of scary.

Dinners in our house are rather strange. We all sat around our tiny table and ate in silence. Well, except for Nicky. He just talked, and talked, and talked to no one in particular. It was also weird being the only girl at the table. I have four brothers.  Nicky, who is 5, Joey, who is 3 and the twins, Jake and Charlie who are both 17. So that makes me the awkward 12 year-old in the middle. Some people laugh as we walk by, the six skinny blondes. It used to be seven.

My dad, the proud Ricardo Shire, always sits at the head of the table. He silently watches us eat, and its sort of a tradition for us to tell him about our days, one at a time. And I’m always last.

“So, pops,” Charlie said.

“Yes,” replied my father.

“I had that trigonometry test today.” he said.

“How do you think you did?” He asked. When my father talked at dinner he always just used short phrases, never long sentences.

“I think I aced it, all the questions were ridiculously easy.” said Charlie getting excited. He was a kid genius. They offered to let him skip a couple grades but he said he wanted to stay back  with Jake.

“What about you Jake?” he asked

“I don’t know.” he grumbled,expressionless,  then returned to eating in silence. His glasses hid any facial expressions he might have anyway. I told you he was scary.

“Oooh, ooh, me next me next!” exclaimed Nicky, jumping up and down in his seat.

“Okay, Nicky.” said Dad.

“My,teacheryelledatmeagain!”he shouted. Nicky didn’t quite get the concept of spaces.

“Ah, yes I got an email. What did you do this time?” Said Dad. He only ever used full sentences when he asked about Nicky’s many antics.

“Igluedtheteststohertablebutsheshouldn’tgetmadatmeforthatitwasreallyherfaultforkeepingthemtherethatandtrustingmewithgluesowhyshouldIgetsilenttimesheevenpulledtwoofmysticksitisn’tfairsheshouldhavesilenttimenotme!”He yelled. 

Charlie and I turned away and smiled. Joey just stared at my brother.

“Spaces please.” said my Dad, very used to this routine.

“I  glued  the  tests  to  her  table  but  she  shouldn’t  get  mad  at  me  for  that  it  was  really  her fault  for  keeping  them  there  that  and  trusting  me  with  glue  so  why  should  I  get silent  time  she  even  pulled  two  of  my  sticks  it  isn’t  fair she should  have  silent  time  not  me.” he repeated a little too slow.

 Nicky was a genius too, in a different way.

Finally, my dad’s accepting gaze fell upon me. My eyes lowered to the table and I found myself tracing a pattern in the dark mahogany.

Dad cleared his throat. I looked up with a scowl and tossed my fork onto one of our cheap plastic plates. Everyone looked up, surprised.

“Would you like to know what happened today,” I asked, slamming both my hands palms-down onto the table. “Would you. Like to know. HOW MY DAY WENT?!?”

I kicked my chair back and stood. “My life is OVER!” I screamed the phrase aloud, noting how good it felt to just scream out in rage like this. It was almost therapeutic. 

“Uh, Terra?” said Nicky

“Not now!” I yelled.

“Robotics is cancelled and I’m stuck in that STUPID chorus full of people I hate!” I walked out of the dining room and over to the front door, throwing my hands up in wild gestures. 

“And it’s all your fault!”  I yelled again.

I grabbed my jacket and threw open the door, turning to my family one final time and concluding my outburst with a single phrase. 

“I loved Mom more than any of you.”

“Terra!” Yelled Jake.

“What!” I snapped.

“Your nose…” said Nicky. I looked down and saw my nose gushing more blood than ever. It ran down the side of my face and splattered down on my jeans.

I sprinted out the door, shoving my arms violently into the jacket as the wind whipped my golden hair back, trailing behind me like the tail of a comet as I shot through the night to get anywhere that wasn’t home.

    *                                   *                                  *

The first thing I realised as soon as I cooled down a bit and wiped some of the blood off my pants was that I had neither the money nor the knowledge to run away. The second thing I realised was that the one night I had chosen to leave my house in a burst of anger was one where rain started pouring down as soon as I hit the town’s main square.

Ducking into an attorney’s office, I looked around quickly to make sure no one had seen me yet. Satisfied, I made a break for the restroom and slammed the door behind me as soon as I got in. I stopped to breathe for a second, wrung out my jacket over the sink, and then proceeded to sit under the hot-air dryer for an hour.

I hate to admit it, but I began to cry. The tears rolled down my cheeks first slowly, then they gradually got faster and faster until my shirt was soaked all over again. Why had I left in the first place? My family didn’t do anything, Ms. Smith did. Do I dare go back home and apologize? No, I couldn’t risk that. I lay slumped under the hot-air dryer all night and eventually drifted off to sleep.

I was awoken by a yelp. My eyes fluttered open to see a businessman in the door frame, his mouth hung open. I shot up from the ground, smacking my head on the dryer on the way up.

“Sorry mister.” I said, already halfway out of the door. Wrong restroom. Sprinting out of the hallway and into the main office I was faced with at least 20 grownups, full clad in suits, ties, and skirts. 

“What is this?” I muttered, “A lawyer convention?”

I shoved my way through the crowd, spilling starbucks and knocking briefcases to the ground, until I finally burst through the wide, glass doors and fell back onto the street. The rain worsened.

Cries of outrage came floating through from the law firm, and my eye caught a policeman standing in the back of the linoleum-floored room. I watched him through the large glass windows embossed with the law firm’s logo, as he quickly made the connection between me and the small chaos in the room. I saw one man smack another with his leather briefcase, and the man rolled up the sleeves on his tweed jacket and pounced.

The policeman started towards me. Quickly, I sprinted back down the street, but my foot slipped in a puddle of water at the curb. I crashed to the ground, sliding into the street, just as a young man in a Volvo came screeching around the corner.

I screamed. His eyes widened. His foot crashed down to the brake so forcefully, I heard it  through the car. 

I came to my senses and flipped to the side just as he flew past, one of the tires snatching at the edge of my jacket and grinding it to shreds, pulling me towards it before it screeched to a stop a few feet later.

The man got out, and he said something, but I was too in shock to figure it out. I heard sirens in the distance. Maybe it was an ambulance for me…

“Alright,” The man said, pulling me up and bringing me back into consciousness, “If you’re gonna stay a mute, you have to come with me.”

I looked at him blearily. “Why?”

He pointed down the sidewalk. “Well, it looks like we’re in pretty much the same predicament, here.” I leaned to the side and caught a glimpse of the law firm policeman running towards me.

“Oh, man,” I said, and cursed under my breath as I got into the man’s car and shut the door behind me. I’d learned a lot of swearing techniques from Jake over the years. Oh, shoot, Jake, I thought, but I threw the sentimental thought aside for the moment as I turned to the young man, who had jumped into the drivers seat beside me.

“What did you mean by the same predicament,” I asked, but he merely stuck his thumb out, pointing behind us. I turned to look, realising what he meant mid-turn, and saw multiple police cars coming around the corner, straight for us, through the dirty back window of the Volvo.

Everything I had ever learned about being honorable and ethical went out the window in my panic.

“Go!” I screamed, and he jammed his foot with relish to the gas pedal as we screeched forward into the ever-raining world.

                                    CHAPTER 3

When I awoke, it was dark out.

“Wha...how long have we been driving?” I asked

“10 hours.” he replied, not taking an eye off the road. The man had shaggy, muddy blonde hair, with stubble all over his chin. It was evident he hadn’t shaved for a while. He wore an old, wrinkled plaid shirt, and jeans.

“Where are we going?” I asked

“Away.” he replied. The rain had begun to fall harder now, large puddles were forming in the road.  The windshield wipers were rhythmically flopping back and forth. You could only see about 4 feet ahead of you, and the rest was just fog.

“You got a name?” The man questioned, his tired eyes never leaving the road.

I paused. “Victoria,” I answered, “You?”

He sighed. “Warren.”

The car was silent again.

Warren looked over. “That isn’t your real name, is it?”

I looked over at him surprised. “Well, um...yeah...of course it-” I gave up and sighed deeply. “No.” 

“Ah. I could tell.” 

“How?”

“Your voice cracked.” He stated matter-of-factly. “You really need to work on your lying skills.”

“And you,” I shot back, “Need to work on your driving skills.” We both laughed.

Suddenly a man appeared in the middle of the road.

“Aw, not again.” said the young man, jamming his foot on the brake pedal. The car stopped inches away from the man. I noticed then that he was wearing all black and  a ski mask. 

The man walked over to the other Warren’s car door and knocked. Warren rolled down the window. 

“What?” he asked.

The masked man made a fist and punched him as hard as he could in the nose. Warren recoiled in pain. My car door opened. I whipped around to find 3 other masked men. 

“Get out of the car,” One ordered.

I didn’t move. But my nose had started to bleed.

One of them reached in and grabbed me by my collar, yanking me out into the rain. Their ski masks must have been soaked.

“Let go!” I screamed.

“Make me.” Said the man chuckling.

The three men all picked me up together and hoisted me in the air. I screamed, and bit, and kicked, and none of them even flinched, though one cupped their beefy hand over my mouth.

“Warren!” I screamed. The first man walked away from Warren’s car door and joined the rest of us.

“What about me?” yelled Warren.

“We only need the girl.” replied the man. I replayed that sentence in my head a few times. We only need the girl. Why me? My family isn’t rich. I’m not that helpful in any way really. Just confused. One of them placed a sickly sweet smelling handkerchief across my nose, and I sank into unconsciousness.

    *                                *                               *

I woke up in a dark cement room held down to a chair with my ski-masked captors. It was dimly lit and smelled sickeningly like blood. Maybe that was because of the caked blood on my face. One of the men walked forward, clutching a large glass bottle.

“Hey, she’s finally awake.” he said to the other three. I had planned on saying something cool, like, let me go if you know what’s good for you. All that came out was…

“W-w-ww-where am I?” 

He smirked. “That’s for us to know,”- He swigged a mouthful from a bottle of whiskey- “And you to never find out.” He threw his head back and laughed like he had just said the most clever thing in the world. His three goons laughed with him.

“Why’d you t-t-take me?” I stuttered

He opened his fat-lipped mouth to speak again, but then his face screwed up in concentration. He thought for a moment. He belched.

“We wanted ta’... ” He trailed off. One of his goons slapped him on the back and chuckled.

“What are you going to do with me?” I said gaining confidence.. They ignored me and laughed at the man’s drunkenness. 

“Jesus, Phil, ya’ had one too many of those drinks?” The rest of them laughed.

“What are you going to do with me?” I repeated, louder. The one man pulled his ski mask off, revealing an ugly face and loose strands of dirty-blond hair. I looked around quickly. I was in some kind of a chair, bound by...metal shackles? They were attached to the arms of the metal chair, and there wasn’t enough room for me to wriggle my arms out with. 

The man stuck his ugly mug right in front of my face. His breath smelled like old cigar and bad hygiene. 

“Well, you’re a pretty one, aren’t you?” he said brushing my cheek with his beefy hand.”Too bad.” I shuddered. Lesson learned...don’t run away from home. Ever. My nose started to trickle.

I tried to kick him, but my legs were bolted down too. I wriggled in frustration. What was I bound in?

When it hit me, a few seconds later, I became more scared then I ever had been before. Sweat ran down my face and I suppressed tears of fear.

I was in an electric chair.

One of the goons picked up a small box with a large red button on it, and a knob.

“Let’s start low voltage, eh?” he said turning the knob up and jamming the button.

Pain exploded everywhere. I faintly remember screaming, bits of laughter. Everything went numb and my vision went red and foggy. I saw the goon crank up the knob and press the button again. My whole body ached and I felt like I was going to die. My nose bled, and bled, and bled all over the chair.

Just as I was about to let the darkness close in over my vision, an explosion rocked the room. The man with the button fell to the ground, and the rest opened their mouths to scream.

Another figure, with no mask or black clothing, slammed one goon over the head with something. Another one fumbled at his belt for a handgun, but was slammed against the wall a few times by the figure. I could see it better as it walked forward. Tattered hiking boots, a dirty, checkered shirt and...a familiar face. 

Warren!

My vision cleared completely as the young man walked up to the drunk goon and rested the combat shotgun on the man’s forehead.

“Please…” The man blubbered, “Pleasepleasepleaseohgawd…”

Warren looked the man in the eyes and pulled the trigger.

There was nothing but a click, but the man fell back anyway, his tears streaming as his eyes closed. Warren grinned at me. “Was only one in the chamber,” he said, and nudged the man’s body. “He fainted from fright.” 

I laughed out loud, or at least choked out as close of a laugh as I could muster. Warren used the butt of the gun break the locks on the cuffs, slamming it down until we heard a satisfying crack.

I jumped out of the chair, but my feet were shackled down too, and I fell to the ground with a thump. Warren broke the shackles around my ankles and picked up my half-conscious body in his arms. I managed a weak smile. 

“Jeez kid, ya’ gotta stop gettin’ into trouble.” he said,cracking a smile.

I probably said something real intelligent like “mmmmmm.”

He carried me out of the cement cell and into a better lit area. I looked around and realized I was in a police station, probably an abandoned one.

“What did they do you you?” he asked. I had started to regain little bits of sanity, but I was still a little woozy.

“They electrocuted me.” I said.

“All the blood…” he said.

“Oh, that...that was my nose.” 

“Did they punch you or something?” 

“No, it bleeds when I get too excited.” 

“Oh.”

“Yeah it’s kinda’ weird...” I said slowly drifting off to sleep.

I woke up in his Volvo, slowly driving down the road. The rain had, if possible, begun to fall harder. Rivers had begun to flow down the road.

“I feel like I dropped a rock on my head too many times.” I groaned.

“Yeah, you did something like that.” said Warren. I blearily rubbed my eyes.

“Where are we?” I asked

“Dunno” he said.

“Cool.” I said sarcastically.

“What can I call you?” he asked

“What do you mean?” 

“Well Victoria obviously isn’t your name, and you know my name. So what can I call you?” He said. I thought for a moment.

“Demisemihemidemisemiquaver” I replied.

“What is that?” he asked

“A two hundred fifty-sixth note.” I said

“A what?” he asked.

“Just call me quarter-note.”

“No.”

“C’mon.”

“NO.”

“Hmph. No one cares about  music facts.”

“Exactly. I’ll call you R.K.” he said.

“R.K.?” 

“Road Kill.” he replied.

I scowled at him. He laughed and reached behind his headrest into the backseat.                                     

 “You must be hungry,” he said, and tossed me a backpack with police initials on it.

I looked at Warren questioningly and he replied. “The whole station wasn’t abandoned. I found some officers unconscious in the back, and I just left them there with the...kidnappers? Anyway, I had enough time to get some stuff from their pantry. Necessities, y’know? Food, water-” 

I pulled a handgun out of the backpack.

“-And some protection. Take a taser.”

“I don’t know how to use this!” I said

“Oh, I have a manual in here somewhere.” he said reaching into the bag and pulling out a police badge. He stuck it back in and pulled out a billy club. He shoved that back in and zipped the bag shut.

“I think you just push this button here.” he said 

“No!” I yelled

“Right.” Warren scratched his head and scrunched his light brown eyebrows together. “Oh, forget it.” He turned back to the steering wheel and swerved around a telephone pole.

“So, R.K., where to next?”

I considered a lot of things. My family. My friends. My schooI. How little l was getting out of my Iife there. And I turned to Warren and said, “As far away as we can get from here.”

He grinned his large, cheshire grin and I smiled too. Anywhere would be better than here. And, to be honest, with random ski-masked kidnappers after me, it was probably best to stick with a guy who could fire a shotgun.

This, of course, was before the tsunami.

  

                                                CHAPTER 4 

What tsunami, you ask. I’ll tell you what tsunami. 

“R.K, is there another taser in there?” asked Warren

I turned around and looked in the police bag Warren had stol- “borrowed”.

“No” I called, swiveling to face the front.

“Dang, I guess I’ll have to...what the heck?” he said

“What?” I asked.

He looked at me.

“I can’t control the car.” 

“You what!” I yelled, freaking out.

“Just look out the window and see what’s wrong.” he said.

“Okay.” I said, peering through the thick glass.

“What is it?” asked Warren

“I can’t see anything.” I said straining my eyes.

“Well, roll down the window and look.” he said.

“I’m not sticking my head out there!” I said 

“Do it.” he said rolling down my window.

“Fine.” I said sticking my head out into the rain storm. The water drummed on every exposed part of my head, I felt like I was being stoned. Finally the car moved toward a street-light and I saw why we weren't moving. I stuck my head back inside the car and rolled up the window. The rain had turned my blonde hair to a muddy brown.

“Well,” said Warren.

“We’re not moving, because we’re floating.”

“What?!” yelled Warren rolling down his own window to look. “Oh HOLY SH…....we’re going to die.”

“That’s reassuring.” I said unbuckling my seatbelt. Water was beginning to pool at my feet.

“What are you doing?” he asked 

“Bailing.” I said flinging open the door. ”You coming?” 

“Sure.” he said opening his. 

“One...Two...Three!” I said jumping out of the car, Warren followed suit. My impact with the water was not very pleasant to put at least. I felt as if I had jumped onto concrete. But the shock of the water was worse. It being late November, the water was icy cold. It took a while for the word Hypothermia to clear out of my head.  Sharks don’t swim in rivers, do they? Because my nose was gushing. I bet if I could see there would be a ring of blood around me in the water.

The street-lamp we had passed earlier was no where in sight, and neither was Warren. The sky was so dark I couldn’t see him even if he was next to me.

“Warren!” I called. Silence followed.

“Warren!” I tried again

“Road Kill!” came a soft cry. 

“Warren!” I yelled. There was no response.

And then it was over, and I was swept away in icy darkness.

Darkness.

Cold water, everywhere, filling my mouth, nose, and lungs as I dog-paddled for dear life. I reached out and my fingers scraped against some thin, metallic object, but the current wrenched me away before I could get a grip. I vomited water out from my body, but another wave slammed against me and flooded my organs again.

Dark spots tore at my vision.

Everything went black. 

“Terra?”

“Terra!”

“TERRA!!!”

The water rushed  out of every possible crevice as I was yanked on to an overturned car, swaying slightly.

I hunched over and spewed water out until I could finally taste the air, and I took giant gasps of breath before slumping back over to puke some more.

“Terra! Man, where have you been?”

I held up a finger to stop the person for a moment then wiped the water from my mouth and the blood from my nose dry with my sleeve. I turned and reeled back in shock at the person beside me.

“Scott?!”

“Terra!” He grinned at me and sat down, wiping his hands on the one dry part on his jeans. His black hair was slicked down to his head with water. 

“We thought you were dead!”

I laughed. I’m pretty bad at handling these kinds of situations.

You know, when you’re sitting on an overturned minivan in the middle of a flood with your friend who you probably assumed was dead too, as the wind throws broken-off branches at your face. Those kinds of situations.

“Wait, ‘we ’? Who else is with you?”

“Umm…” he mumbled.

“What is SHE doing here!”came a familiar prissy voice.   

“Laura!” I yelled, instantly reaching for the taser in my back pocket.

“Why is she here!” I yelled again turning to Scott.

“Why are you here!” she yelled. 

I reached out and tazed her arm. She fell to the ground with a loud Whump!

“Stay out of this.”

Scott stared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“You’ve changed.”

“How so?” 

“For one, you have a taser sticking out of your back pocket.”

“So?”

“And you used it.”

“Well...yeah.”

“...on someone.”

“Only lightly.”

“What have you been doing for the past day?!”

How do you tell your best friend that you had run away, almost  arrested, almost hit by a car, kidnapped, electrocuted, rescued and almost drowned?

“Stuff.” I replied

Scott sighed and glanced down at Laura, slumped in the road.

“Where are we?” I asked looking around.

“The school, or what's left of it.” he said

“Why?” I asked “ You picked the one place for refuge that every kid dreads going to in the morning.”

“It was the highest ground in the city.” he said shrugging.

“Great.” I said.

“Owwwwww…” said Laura getting up and rubbing her head.

“Mornin’ sunshine.” I said smirking.

She glared at me and stood up, her long black hair in tangles. She probably was not going to be happy when she saw a mirror. Oh well. Her problem.

“So what are we going to do?” asked Scott “It’s not like we have anywhere to go… and I’m pretty sure we’re the only ones left.”

I thought about that, we’re the only ones left. All my friends and family, gone. I felt trickle of blood run from my nose. Almost like a tear. Okay, that sounded morbid, but you get the point.

“Um, I don’t want to be a burden…” said Laura

“That’s a first.” I muttered. Scott smirked.

“But this storm looks like it’s getting worse.” She finished. 

I looked at the sky. It was dark, and sort of a greenish color. Think Wizard of Oz right before the tornado, and that should right about cover it. Just not in black and white.

“Could we hide in the school?” I asked.

“Look at it and ask again.” said Scott.

The school was in shambles. Walls were torn down, and windows were shattered. Broken glass was everywhere. I didn’t really want to see what...or who was in there, but it was our only refuge.

“What about Mrs. Smith’s room?” I asked. It’s in the basement. And there aren’t any windows.”

“I guess.” Said Scott. “But we still need to get down there without getting creamed first.”

“There’s a staircase in the drama room we use to get down there faster.” said Laura.

“Why didn’t I know about this? I had to go all the way around.” I said.

“Dunno.” said Laura smiling a bit.

“Staircase it is.” said Scott. I huffed in spite of myself.

We slogged through the surprisingly thick water into the building, and made our way into the drama room. 

“Where is this so called staircase?” I asked, looking around. There was nothing leading downward whatsoever.

“Right here.” said Laura, opening the closet door, and sure enough there was a staircase leading down into the basement.

“Ok, so it does exist.” I said, still not happy I was not told about these. Do you know how hard it is to walk down there outside when it’s raining! It’s not fun.

We walked down the stairs right into another closet. Laura opened the door to reveal the music room.

I immediately walked over and sat myself down to the piano bench.

Laura and Scott just stared at me.

“What? We’re going to be here for a while.” I said trying to cover up my tracks.

Then I realized they weren’t staring at me, but at the board behind me. I turned around. Scrawled across the board was: Soloists for Christmas recital Laura and Terra.

Something welled up inside me but I didn’t have any more energy for that level of frustration. I instead yawned and flopped back onto the bench, tired beyond belief all of a sudden.

“Scott…” I called out sleepily, “Take the first watch…” I closed my eyes.

“What?” I heard him reply. The water in the room sloshed as he walked over. “What do we need to watch out for?”

“I dunno…” I flopped my hand in his general direction. “Just take the first…….watch…”

Blearily, I could hear Laura complaining that I hadn’t even tried out as I fell asleep.

CHAPTER 5

I woke up, and Scott was asleep. Well, that wasn’t really a surprise, but the fact that the door had been ripped off its hinges and Laura was gone was.

“Scott!”

He flopped over and grabbed an aluminum baseball bat, struggling to get to his feet.

“What what?!?! zombies?” he yelled.

“Scott!” 

He turned to me, wielding the bat clumsily. “Yeah?”

“Shut up for a sec, okay?”

He smirked and tossed a heavy wooden bat to me. “Just take one. Courtesy of the Westwood Public School’s gym program.”

I caught it and set it to the side, leaning against the wall. It sloshed in the giant puddle of water on the ground. “Scott, what do we need baseball bats for?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. Aliens. zombies. Giant gargoyle-beasts from Pluto. Really, Terra, read more comic books.”

“Sorry for having a life.”

Scott waved me off and crossed the room to the shredded doorway, pausing before carefully craning his neck around the corner.

“Terra, you may want to see this.”

Carefully I walked to the door, picking through shards of wood. At one point I was so tired I tripped and fell face first into the foot of rising water on the ground. That woke me up. I picked myself up and walked to the door.       

“What?” I said.

“Look.” he said pointing out the door. 

Outside the door was shards of glass, cement, wood...you name it. But one thing I saw was the worst of all...blood. It was everywhere. 

“Um… Terra what’s that?” asked Scott.

“What?” I asked looking around.

“That.” He said pointing to a small lump on the ground.

“Scott, I believe that’s an..an...ear.” I said.

“Ewww… it’s oozing.” He nudged it with his toe to annoy me.

“I’m gonna hurl.”

He gave me a wide grin.

“So why would there be an ear laying in what used to be our hallway?” I asked a bit freaked out.

“Dunno...maybe it’s Laura’s.” he said grinning.

“Ugh…you’re disgusting. Besides it doesn’t have an earring in it.”

“Well, maybe next time. So, you wanna just stay here with the ear or foIIow that ominous blood trail?” He pointed at the droplets of crimson that dotted the water.

“Neither.” I said. “But… I really don’t want to stay with the disembodied ear. l...l just want to go home.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Well, then click your heeIs three times, Terra. l’m going this way.” He started forward, trudging through the muck and down the haII.

“Fine.” I huffed, going after Scott. We walked through the blood stained halls wondering what had happened. The lights above flickered on and off occasionally, casting strange shadows against the walls. 

Have you ever heard the phrase “jumping at your own shadow”? Well, that’s what we, well, I was doing.

Scott glanced back and laughed. “Scaredy cat!”

“THERE’S BLOOD ALL OVER THE WALLS!”

“Still…” He muttered. Then he screamed.

“Hypocrite.” I teased.

“Terra…” he stuttered. 

“Scott, what is it?” I sprinted to catch up but tripped over some dark shape in the water, flew past him, and smacked into something with a loud, Thwack! I hit the water and sunk deep in the water from the weight of the police backpack.

“Owwwww…” I groaned. I looked up at the object I had hit, and recoiled in shock. It was Robbie. Or what used to be him. Half of his body was a sickeningly pale color. Think dead body and you’re good. 

“Robbie, what...what happened?” I asked, slowly inching back toward Scott. The disfigured creature that I used to spend two hours a day with let out an inhuman screech and dived forward, mouth agape and broken, sharp teeth flashing from the fluorescent lights above us. 

Yelling in terror,I kicked myself up from the water and sprinted back down the hallway, Scott right on my heels. I whipped my head around for a quick look at where Robbie was to find him only a yard or two away, stumbling and lurching with a sort of cheetah-like speed.

The hallway passed by in a blur and I blocked every other noise out, only kept staring at Robbie’s bloated, screeching face, unable to tear my eyes away.

Scott yelled out to me. “Terra, we’re running out of hallway!” 

I pulled off the police bag mid-run and unzipped it, hoping to get a weapon. I had dropped the bat upon my fall, I realised, and I cursed under my breath. Suddenly, Scott stumbled, slamming into me and knocking us both to the ground. There was a sickening thump as I turned and saw Scott’s forehead collide with the wall and smash into the floor, knocking him out cold. I turned and saw Robbie almost upon us, and I looked frantically around for the bag, tears brimming in my eyes and bile rising in my throat. 

“Oh god someone HELP ME!!!” 

Tears of desperation broke out from my face as I splashed around the shallow pools for the bag. My vision darkened and blurred and I sobbed loudly, crawling backwards to get from this horrible beast. I flipped my head around, my blond hair flowing behind me in soakin’-wet strings, and saw the open chorus room we had just come from, the door ajar and only a few feet away. The growls grew in volume and I whipped around one last time to see Robbie right in front of me, his grotesque face torn open by his wide lips and bloodstained mouth.

Laura stepped out from the Drama room next to me.

She pursed her lips. “Do these shoes match my dress?”

I would never get to answer that question.

Robbie slammed into her, jamming his teeth into her shoulder and latching there like a leech, Laura screaming louder than any of us, her voice, toned by years of chorus, echoing out into the hallway like a siren. I stumbled to my feet and grasped Scott’s arms, desperately trying to block out her screeches of pain. Crying harder than ever now, blood gushing from my face and adding to the blood in the water, I dragged Scott back into the chorus room and slammed the door as hard as I could, my hands fumbling with the lock desperately as I wiped the blood and tears from my face.

I slumped against the door and screamed for the final time, my voice mixing with Laura’s until I faded back into unconsciousness, my last sensory detail being a horrible chewing noise. The zombie apocalypse had started.

                           CHAPTER SIX 

I woke up to crying, screaming and a whole lot of blood. Normally I don’t really care much about blood, but if you wake up, and the person next to you is covered in it, you tend to freak out. 

“Rrr-r...r-Robbie...w-where is h-he?” I asked, looking over at Scott who was slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.

“Gone.” he breathed.

“Where?” I asked suspiciously.

“Don’t ask.” he said. I thought for a moment...something didn’t seem right.

“Wait a sec...where’s Laura?” 

“Ummm...in the closet.” he said.

“Why?” I asked. “I’m not complaining, but why?” 

“Because she got bitten...remember?” he said looking worried.

“Yeah..glimpses, I’m trying not to though.”

“Anyways, we can’t risk getting bitten.”

“It takes 20 hours for the virus to fully set in, right?”

“24.”

“So, how long have I been out?”

“...about an hour.”

“So, she’s not a zombie yet.”

“Why are you so concerned for her?” Scott asked. “I thought you hated her.”

“I’m concerned for us...if she turns into a zombie, she’ll bite us.”

“But she’s in the closet.”

“She’ll be a zombie, she won’t feel pain, or ever give up.” I said. “ We need to think up a cure...fast.”

Scott woozily put his hands to his temples. “Alright, blood from a virgin sheep...Cure made from the teeth of the master zombie...”

I stared at him. “‘Scuse me?”

“I’m trying to think of the cure from every zombie movie I’ve ever seen. Uhm, transfusion from an immune person…”

I groaned loudly. “Scott, this is not the movies.”

He stopped for a moment and scowled at me. “Alright, let’s think of a RATIONAL cure for a zombie APOCALYPSE, Terra.”

I put my head in my hands. “Alright, Scott, we’re both a little high-strung because of this. Just...let’s just calm down for a second.”

Scott sighed. “You’re right.” He reached over to a broken shelf beside him and slid one of the few dry school text books off it. It was our seventh grade biology book. 

“Maybe science has the answer. It’s already given us automobiles...computers...hovercrafts.…”

“Yeah, like hitting all the zombies with a car is going to solve the problem.”

“Well, maybe-”

“Wait!” I cried out, suddenly struck, out of nowhere, with a plan. I heard a dull thump from the closet.

Scott turned to me blearily. He had dark circles under his eyes. “Wha?”

“Hold on...I just got an idea.”

“What is it?” he said tiredly.

“Well...what if we make the antidote out of the weakened zombie pathogen...like a vaccine!”

“I guess that would work… but think about the already infected parts of her...that could be an issue.” he said, thinking now.

“Ummm...we could do a blood transfusion.” I said slowly, the gears already turning in my head.

“What?”

“Y’know...we use certain medical tools remove the tainted, or infected, blood cells that are host to the zombie virus. Then we transfuse the healthy cells, giving the procedure its name, and insert the vaccine into the healthy cells, whereupon the red blood cells containing the vaccine will rid the body of the infected ones, and the system repairs itself!”

Scott stared at me again. 

I sighed. “We take out the bad stuff, put in the good, and the healthy blood battles the bad cells until the body is aaaaaaaaaall better.”

Scott smirked. “Fine. Where do we get the healthy blood? 

“I volunteer yours.”  

“Why mine?”

“You’re bigger...you ought to have more of it.”

Scott shakily rose to his feet, his hands against the wall for support. He began speaking as he lightly picked up the textbook and set it back on the shelf.

“And what will we do, huh? Cut into my jugular with a pair of safety scissors? We need medical equipment, Terra. And an actual healthy blood sample.”

“Well...we could always hope that the nurses office wasn’t crushed.” I said hopefully “And we wouldn’t cut into a jugular, I was thinking more of, y’know, sticking a giant needle into your arm.”

“Thanks Nurse Terra, I’m sure you’re plenty qualified to stick a needle INTO MY ARM!” 

I gave my innocent, cute little smile I used to give the teachers when I got picked on and I “hurt” the bullies.

“No, we need the stuff from somewhere else. C’mere…”

I took his hand and he pulled me up from the water pooled on the floor.

I brushed most of the water droplets off my filthy shirt then ran a hand through my tangled blonde locks.

“So where do we find the equipment, huh? And more blood?”

Scott went over to the door, checked if it was locked, propped a chair against the doorknob, and checked one more time before turning back to me. “I dunno. Why don’t you come up with an idea, Little Miss Straight-A’s.”

I blushed. He knew I hated talking about my grades around him. The truth was, Scott was failing almost every subject. I had figured he would repeat the grade.

“Um...the hospital?”

Scott sighed in disgust. “You really need to read more comic books.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with that idea?”

“It’s a bad idea because it’s a HOSPITAL in a zombie apocalypse. Do you know how many people will flock to there when their little Susie looks like she got the sniffles? Long hallways...small rooms...constricted maintenance corridors. It’ll be a bloodbath…”

“Alright! Alright! Jesus…”

“That’s why you shouldn’t go to the hospital during a zombie apocalypse.”

Frustrated, I threw my hands up. Faintly, I could hear Laura stirring in the closet. “Alright, you’re the expert, where do we get healthy blood and transfusion equipment.”

Scott rubbed his chin lightly and paced. His eyes traced the walls, falling on the music posters, then dazing over to the whiteboard that announced me as a soloist. He paused in front of the bulletin board.

The bulletin board was a large sheet of cork that everyone around the school, and I mean everyone, pasted their stuff on, whether it be cool doodles, club sign-up sheets, general announcements. I walked over and gazed thoughtfully at a robotics competition sheet I had designed.

“Oh my god.”

I pulled away from the board and looked over at Scott, who lifted a finger that directed me to a smaller paper, tucked in the corner and partly covered up by a drawing of a sheep. Contribute to your society!, it read. Stop by the HS gym! 

 My jaw dropped open as Scott voiced the thought running through my head.

“Yesterday was the blood drive.”

                     

                                                                   CHAPTER SEVEN 

“Hurry up Scott, we’re running out of time!” I yelled behind me.

“I’m trying!” he panted, dragging at least 10 bags of blood behind him.

“You’re a boy...shouldn’t you be in front of me?” I teased.

“Alright, you try dragging 40 pounds of plasma behind you and see how you like it!” he said defiantly.

“I've already got 10…”

“Oh shut up…”

“Why don’t you...I think your jaw would enjoy a break from the constant activity.”

“Terra, I swear I will hurt you if you don’t shut up.” he grunted

“Ahh, but you would have to actually catch me first.” I taunted picking up the pace.

“I give up” he yelled throwing his hands into the air...dropping the blood bags.

Finally we arrived back at the chorus room, which had turned into sort of a refuge for us. Scott and I dumped the bags of clean blood into the corner and gathered in front of the closet. 

“We need to take her out of the closet so we can get a sample of the zombie virus.” I said

“It’s too risky...couldn’t I just find Robbie and take his?” said Scott pushing me away from the closet.

“No, it has to be fresh.” I argued.

“Yeah...but…”

“.....it has to be….not too dangerous…”

“...is too…Terra, no…”

“...what are you? Charlie….”

“No…..I forbid you…”

“Forbid her from what?” came a voice through the closet interrupting Scott and I from out heated debate.

“Oooohhhhh craaaappp.” I said.

“The beast has awoken” murmured Scott

“So that is why I need to take a small saliva sample..” I said to Laura.

“N-nno way...this is like...way too freaky y’know.” She said.

“I know, but if you want to live, and not become one of the walking dead...you have to.”

“W.D.Y.M.B.T!!!” she screamed

“Ummm...Scott, translation please.”

“I believe that means “what do you mean by that”.”

“Oh………….it means that you have been infected with the zombie pathogen...if it is not removed from your system, or you are cured..which would only take a vaccine made out of the zombie virus and a blood transfusion...you will be transformed into one of the walking dead...therefore condemned to walk aimlessly around until you stumble upon your next unlucky meal.” I said matter of factly.

“Mego…”she replied.

“Scott, some help wouldn’t suck.”

“Mego means…” he said looking through wikipedia on Ms. S.’ computer. “My eyes glaze over.”

“What! Scott that’s not funny.” I said.

“He’s right.” said Laura

“Yeah Terra,...mego” he said.”

“Okay Scott Summers, care to explain to our guest here? You may interact better considering you share the same I.Q” I retorted.

“Ooooh a geek reference and an intelligence test joke….man Terra, you are just too cool for school.” 

“F.Y.I Scott we’re in a school, so deal with it.” I said flopping onto the piano bench.

“I.D.K what you just said.” said Laura.

“Ditto.” I mumbled

“Basically..” said Scott ignoring me.” you have been bitten by a zombie...so if we don’t get a saliva sample and make a cure you’ll turn into a zombie.” 

“O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!!...”She screamed

“To put it bluntly.” I said raising my voice over Laura’s panicking.

“O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!!...”she continued to scream.

“Just calm down...you’ll be fine, if you just let us help.” soothed Scott.

“O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!! O.M.G!!!...” She screamed still.

“SHUT UP!” I yelled. She abruptly stopped. “Just sit still, spit on what I tell you, and about an hour later let me stick a needle into your arm...and it will be OVER!”

“Oh...I thought saliva was something else.” she said, picking herself up and sitting on the couch.

“Can you get any more stupid.” I muttered to myself.

20 minutes later I was observing the DNA of a clean human, and of a zombie by looking at them through the microscopes I borrowed from the science lab. A human’s DNA looks like a twisted rope ladder...a bit like this.

zombie DNA looks like that same twisted ladder, except there aren’t any of the nucleotides. A bit like this.

So I have concluded, since the DNA is missing the nucleotides...that zombies have no genetic traits. I mean which is kind of obvious...but I have scientifically proved it. SO HA! 

Wow...I just realized how pitiful that sounded. I do need to get a life...but in due time.

“Um, Terra?”

I had set up a little area in the chorus room where I was studying the virus with my microscopes and petri dishes. Laura was fiddling with her earrings in the corner and desperately trying to ignore the giant chunk of her shoulder that was missing. It didn’t seem to hurt her, though, which puzzled me. I filed that away for future experimentation and mulled it over for a minute. Maybe there was some sort of numbing agent in the zombie’s bite, or even the saliva…

“Terra!”

I jerked up from my lab station and looked across the room at Scott, who was still at the computer. Earlier, he had attempted to contact the county police, but, as he had filled me in on fifteen minutes ago, a large “Server is busy” window had come up before the entire server had shut down. Scott then had proceeded to play video games on it until now, when he had apparently started to work.

I scribbled my idea onto a thick pad of paper, then turned to him. “Yeah? What?”

“I’m looking at this website, and I’ve got a few articles up, too...Terra, the shortest amount of time we could ever hope to make a vaccine in is-”

He stopped. I raised my eyebrows at him but then saw Laura. She was staring expectantly at him.

“-is...a couple hours!” Scott shoved an awkward grin onto his face and nodded at Laura.

Laura beamed and stood up from the couch, pulling some lip gloss out of her pink miniature purse and striding over to the door.

“Fan-TASTIC! I’ll be in the bathroom.” She twiddled her fingers at Scott. “You, um, ‘took care’ of that greasy little nerdbag, right Scottie?”

Scott glanced down at his bloodstained shirt. “Yeah. Just...don’t open any of the hallway closets.”

“Great!” Laura turned and clicked her pink heels into the hallway, swinging the door shut behind her.

My face was red with anger. And some nose blood. “Nerdbag?!?!? She can’t...How could...GOD I HATE HER!!!!”

“Well, you won’t have to deal with Laura for long. 6 WEEKS, Terra. That’s how long it would take. We might have to abandon her.”

“God, I hope so. She didn’t even know his NAME!!!” Tears mixed with the blood now. “And now...oh man, oh god Scott Robbie’s DEAD we can’t make it, our families are dead, everyone we’ve ever met is dead dead deaddeaddeadDEAD DEAD DEAD DE-”

Scott slapped me across the face. Hard.

There was some silence after that.

Scott cleared his throat. “We WILL make it out of this, Terra. I mean, maybe we could...ugh. I dunno.”

“What about Laura though?”

“She will Zombify…”

“Uh yeah, that’s my point...she’s in our hideout, everything else is flooded, and this is the highest ground.”

“Well what do you want to do? Shoot her?”

“I still have my tazer…”

“Where did the rest of the stuff go?”

I blinked. “Um, it’s probably still in the hallway.”

“And you just carried the taser with you this whole time?”  

“Well, yeah.”

“Jesus frikkin’ christ, I’m surprised you haven’t named it yet.”

“Actually…” 

Scott sighed heavily and went back out into the hallway.

“I was KIDDING!” I yelled out the door behind him. 

Scott came back with a slightly soggy police bag and tossed it to the ground.

“Hey..careful…” I trailed grabbing the bag and looking through it. We had two pairs of handcuffs, a knife, a handgun, a police badge for Gerald Highsmith, an outdated krispy kreme coupon, two police zip-up hoodies, a billy club, a revolver, some packets of ammunition, a bulletproof vest, a 20 ft. paracord, a police uniforms, and a beanie.

“Dibs on the beanie.” I yelled.

“Dibs on the guns!” Scott yelled giddily.

“I want it!”                              

“You can’t even fire a gun!”

“Can too!”

“Can not!”

“Can to-”

BLAM!

I looked quietly at the large bullethole in the ceiling. Scott glared at me. 

“Yeah, I’m taking the guns.”

Grumbling, I stuck the billy club in one of the back belt loops on my jeans. I shoved a pair of handcuffs into my left pocket, checked for the taser in my right, and stuck the beanie low down onto my forehead so my eyes peered out from under the wool. I started to shove my arms through one of the bullet proof vests.

Scott glanced over at me. “Why are you putting that on?”

“What?”

“The vest. The zombies aren’t very well going to be firing bazookas at our chests, now are they?”

“It’s extra protection!”

“The undead aren’t going to target the middle area of your body as much. It’s mainly shoulders, arms, especially the legs. If you were wearing shorts you’d be screwed.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Did you see Robbie? He might’ve made it had he not been wearing those god-awful short pants.” 

“What?”

“That’s where the bite was. Shorts are the worst fashion choice ever! They leave your legs completely open to bites, the elements, thorns. Pants offer at least some protection and comfort.”

“I swear, you have some sort of obsession with pants.”

“Just saying. That’s dead weight.”

The vest actually wasn’t that heavy and I kept it on, partly to annoy Scott, partly because I felt a little safer in it. I zipped up one of the police hoodies over it and Scott threw one on too.

“Where are we going again?” I asked slightly confused.

“We’re leaving.”

“To where exactly?”

“Anywhere but here, she could zombify at any moment.”

“Speaking of which...where is she?”

“Ummm…”

“You let the hostage go!”

“She’s not the hostage.”

“Yeah, well it’s pretty close.”

“I’m sure she just took a walk.” he said walking to the open door way. “Laura?”

He gave a strangled yelp and jumped back toward me.

“Wuss.” I said

“L-l..Laura..” he whimpered.

Suddenly it was as if the beauty queen from “you know where” stumbled into the room.

Laura was as white as a sheet and her skin was folded into grotesque rumples that peeled and scabbed.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.” I groaned, averting my eyes from her revolting silhouette.

She gave an ear-splitting screech and launched herself towards us. Luckily she missed and nailed the piano instead, creating the strange sound of wood splitting, ivory snapping, and wires being undone. 

“The closet! Go in the closet!” yelled Scott jumping towards the small broom closet we had kept Laura in.

I sprinted as fast as possible towards the closet and shut myself in with a boom. Scott opened the small door in the back and we sprinted up the twisting staircase until we reached the remains of the drama room. 

We continued to run out of the ruined school until we got out in front of it. Scott stopped to catch his breath.

“So..no cure?” I asked.

He glared at me.

Suddenly we heard a strange rasping noise coming from in front of us. We both looked up. At least 50 zombies poured out of the small, fragile remains of Westwood Middle.

“What now?” I asked, removing the billy club from my waist.

“Now, we run.” he said. And so we did...we ran as far as we could away from our beloved school.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“OH MY GAWD!!”

I hated myself for it. I hated myself but I broke down and cried right in front of Scott. 

My house was completely ravaged, destroyed and filled completely up with water. Hundreds of my family’s possessions floated past me in the water and I saw no signs of life.

We were there, about twenty yards on the top of an overturned VW, floating slowly past. Scott stood awkwardly to the side and looked away nervously as I sobbed uncontrollably and blood streamed from my nose. I regained some composure and looked at my devastated reflection in the rippling water before it was clouded with red. 

I felt woozy so I layed down onto my back and stared up at the clouds. The rain had stopped for the moment. 

Everything was ending.

In my head I took stock of everything I knew. It was almost nothing. Kidnappers. The main driving factor in my life, destroyed. A manic, shotgun-wielding convict in a Volvo. One of my best (well, one of my only) friends ripped apart and reanimated.

My family, presumed dead.

I sighed tiredly. Who was I fooling with that. We lived at one of the lowest points in the entire town and even though my brothers were at school, well, the schools…

I put my hands to my face and breathed deeply. We had drifted all the way from school, Scott desperately kicking a kid from my math class in the face as she tried to bite him. In the chorus room, he had thrown the guns in the backpack and sprinted right with me, and we had made a leap of faith off of the roof of the auditorium complex, after scrambling up there in our race from the horde, and we had landed safely in the clear parking lot water next to the Volkswagen.

Scott pulled the revolver out now. 

I turned my head sideways to look up at him as he clicked the barrel out and inspected the casings inside with a flick of his wrist. He took some potshots at an obese zombie in an apron floating near us then stuck it into his belt loop.

“We should probably switch cars.”

I nodded solemnly as I felt the car lurch underneath us, water flooding most every cavity of its inside.

He pointed at a faded green pickup truck near us and I nodded once again before gripping my baton. I looked in the water, relieved that it was just clear enough to see what lay beneath. There weren’t that many zombies near us, in fact near all of them we saw were usually pushed up against buildings and stuck there from the current in large masses.

Suddenly a meow came from behind me. I whipped around to find my small calico Artemis jump toward me. 

“ Awww...are you alright?” I asked the cat, scooping her up in my arms. she gave a small meow. 

“What is that?” asked Scott.

“It’s my cat.” I said. “Hey that rhymed..”

“Why do you have it?”

“Because she’s coming with me.” 

“No he’s not.”

“If she doesn’t, I don’t, and then you won’t know how to cure it.”

“Fine…” he said.

“Just a second.” I quickly stuffed her into the pack, tossed it to Scott, who slipped it on carefully, and gripped the baton in club-wielding form.

I turned my back to the ruins of my home, picked out a mostly clear patch of water, and jumped. 

The water was freezing cold soaking into my clothes immediately and dragging my hair down. The bulletproof PD vest gave me only the smallest amount of warmth and I shivered miserably and started towards the truck, always making sure to check the water for debris.

I  trudged through the last of the thick, slow-moving water towards the pickup truck. 

“We should probably go for supplies.” I said, pointing to a Costco nearby, on a hill.

“Yeah, but we’re gonna lose the truck if we do that.”

“No, we can anchor it to that tree.” I said pointing at one around 50 feet from the truck.

“We need an anchor.” He said.

“How about a paracord?” I asked.

“We don’t have paracord.” He said.

“Yes, we do.” I said. “It’s in the backpack.”

He pulled it out, and Artemis stuck her head out of the backpack and yowled. Scott shoved her head back in and zipped it shut. Immediately he understood what I was saying. Tossing the paracord to me, he ran and stood by the light pole. I ran behind the truck and attached the cord on the trailer hitch, waiting until it got close to the pole. 

“Now!” I yelled, tossing the rope to Scott.

He caught it and tied a bowline knot onto the tree. The tree bent a bit, but the truck stopped immediately.

“To Costco we go!” yelled Scott, running in the direction of the building. 

I sprinted after Scott, trying to catch up as he giddily ran to the store. 

“Dude, hold on!” I yelled, slowing down.

“Why?” He asked. “We’re getting food! We’re getting supplies! “What could go wrong?” He asked.

“Um, maybe because it’s one of the only dry parts in town.” I said.

“So?”

“Zambies, Scott. Zambies.”

“So, I’ll take the gun.”

“But what about ammo?” I asked. “You’re almost into the extra.” 

“I’ll find some at the store.” 

“I don’t think Costco sells ammo Scott.”

“Maybe.” 

“I seriously doubt it.” 

Turns out, Costco doesn’t sell ammo. 

We arrived at the small whitewashed store, and looked in the windows. It was completely dark, but I couldn’t see anything moving.

“Think it’s safe?” asked Scott.

“No.” 

“Let’s go in.” 

We walked into the Costco, and I knew, once I passed what I think were  the checkout aisles, that something was very wrong. Suddenly out of nowhere six Zombies exploded from the bread aisle. 

“SCOTT!” I yelled. I knew we shouldn’t have gone in there.

“Shut up!” he whispered. “Zombies are attracted to noise.” 

Just then, four more ran out of the frozen goods aisle.

“I told you!” He yelled, shooting a zombie in the stomach.

“We would’ve found them any way.” I said, whacking a zombie over the head with the billy club.

“Yeah yeah yeah…”

We went into a mass spree of beating the crud out of the 10 zombies running toward us. I beat them, Scott shot them, etc. etc…

“Hey, Scott?” I asked.

“I’m kinda’ busy Terra.” he replied shooting another in the head.

“Can I have a better weapon?” I asked, ignoring him.

“No.” he replied.

“Why?” I asked, attacking a zombie with a “haters gonna hate” belly shirt. I don’t think it was supposed to be a belly shirt. Let’s leave it at that.

“Because, you would manage to hurt yourself in some, crazy, stupid way.” He said, slamming a zombie into a rack of Little Debbie items. “Crap! Not the ding-dongs!”

“I have a taser, and have done fine with it!” I retorted. “Wait...ding-dongs?”

“Nevermind...heh heh heh…...just find something when we kill these guys.”

“You mean re-kill.” I corrected.

“Whatever.”

 Soon, all the Zombies were laying face-down, in the middle of the pets aisle. I surveyed all of our options. The power had gone out when the flood started, so probably a few days ago. I guessed everything that was frozen, or refrigerated was probably not safe to eat. Weapon wise, I could probably find a kitchen knife or something. I could also find some rope, or string too. Some firecrackers couldn’t hurt either. We would also need some, small, lightweight non-perishable foods, we could eat the heavier stuff here. Stocking up on batteries, flashlights, rain ponchos, rope, weap-

“I’VE DREAMED OF THIS DAY MY WHOLE LIFE!” yelled Scott, running through the aisles like an excited 13 year-old that hasn’t eaten in two days. Oh, wait...

“Why are you so happy?” I asked, curious.

“Everything we want, like candy and sweets is FREE!” he yelled.

“Scott, sugar is BAD!” I instructed. “It gets you so hyped up you can’t think straight, and then you crash.”

“Hey, Miss Practical and Reasonable,” he said, “You get what you want, I’ll get what I want. Besides, they have COOKIES AND CREAM BARS!!!!”

I let out a small squeal of joy. I LOVE cookies and creme bars. If you’re thinking…

A) I love them too,

 B) What the heck is a cookies and creme bar?, or 

C) Those are disgusting…

 A is right. Everyone is entitled to their opinion,…….(but A is still right). Now, if you answered B, (as they say in the south) bless your heart. A cookies and creme bar is like they mined out little bits of heaven and delicately laid it into a pristine creamy white wrapper, careful so it doesn’t lose its perfectness. 

“Terra?” Came a voice, jolting me out of my chocolate bar fantasies. 

“What?”

“Were you dreaming about them again?”

“No…”

“Terra, you have an obsession.”

“No, I don’t.” I said. “They just taste so good, and perfect and so….so….”

When I came out of my fantasies, Scott was already gone. I walked through the store finding equipment and things such as flashlights, some rope, a set of kitchen knives, bottled water, batteries, some more rope, a lighter, a baseball bat, a small battery powered alarm clock, and a small tool kit.

“Scott!” I yelled.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?” 

“In the candy aisle!” 

“Scott!”

“You get what you want, I’ll get what I want.”

“Fine” I sighed, making my way over to him.

Scott had his arms full of of candy bars and food. It ranged from peanut butter crackers to...COOKIES AND CREAM BARS!

“Scott! I told you rational things!” I said.

“And I never agreed to that.” he said, shoving a twinkie into his mouth.

“Meh” I said, tossing my stuff into a bag I had found too.

“Hmph.” He said, a bit muffled because of the cake and filling spraying out of his mouth.

“Scott, close your mouth.” I said dodging a bit of the cakey substance.” Put your “supplies” in the bag.”

“Yes, mom.” he groaned.

We sat down at one of the outdoor displays and ate some of the edible food we had found. As a treat we even popped out a few sodas to drink. (I drank one to show Scott I wasn’t a buzzkill)(I wish it was a sprite, because warm coke is disgusting)

After we had filled the bag and finished eating, we both left the Costco and walked down the hill. Scott untied the paracord from the tree, and I untied it from the truck. 

Scott opened the driver’s-side door and hopped in. I did the same on the passenger side. I slammed the door just as Scott tossed Artemis and the backpack into the back of the truck.“Hey, careful!” I said, retrieving Artemis from the backpack and setting her on my lap. 

“So, what do we do now?” asked Scott, putting his feet up on the dashboard.

“We float.” I responded.

“Yeah, but what do we do for the rest of our lives? Apocalypses don’t end, apocalypses are the end. I mean, we could be the last two human beings on the world!” 

“Yeah…” I said, thinking forlornly about Warren.

“What do we do?” 

“We just float.” I said, hoping Scott would just be quiet for a while.

“We can’t float forever!” He said. “We need action, we need a cure, we need-” 

“Scott.”

“Yeah.”

“Shut up.” 

“Yeah, but-”

“Shut...up.”

“Fine.” 

Finally I was allowed to sleep, for the first time in forever. At some point I leaned on the window, causing Artemis to sleep on my ch

est.

CHAPTER ---------------  

4have a big plan that involves Warren Make them drift for a sec before she falls asleep and hen get out etc.

I had a somewhat rude awakening this morning. I had slept like a rock for, I estimated, about twelve hours. I had just opened my eyes, shoved Artemis off my lap, and stretched. Then, we slammed into a pole, the airbags went off, and the car alarm blared with the sound of a million suns exploding all at once.

Scott burst up from where he had been laying in the backseat. Water pooled around our knees, and I figured about a foot had seeped in since we had rested, such a small amount due to the truck’s large wheels elevated base. Although the water could smack into the base in ’waves, the exact diameter of the truck’s wheels were enough to keep it mostly safe. See, math is fun! 

Back to the shards of glass in my face, though.

“WHWHHH! WHHWHWHWHW!”

It’s kind of hard to scream through airbags.

I heard Scott rustle behind me and the airbag was ripped away from my face, leaving me gasping for breath and shoving bits of glass off my now-ripped cargo shorts. Scott pulled me out of the passenger seat and into the back, and I turned to him, my mouth open with a yell almost past my lips, when he fell back in surprise.

“Wha-” I began, before realising that something was very wrong with my face. I reached for my cheek and found a thick piece of glass stuck right through, clipping against my teeth.

“PUH IT OUT!! PUH IT OUT!”

“I’m pulling it out!!!”

“GUHHHHHHAAAAAA!!!!”

There was some silence as I wiped the blood pouring from my cheek (and nose) with the PD vest.

I cleared my throat and tried to talk over the blaring horn. “So, what now?”

“Terra?”

“Yeah?”

“Look out the back window.” 

“I don’t follow-”

WHAM!

I yelped and jumped a bit. Artie came sprinting from under the gas pedal and shivered beneath my feet. Then he clawed Scott.

“Good boy.”

“I hate that cat...” 

“I like him, he’s really sweet if you get to know h-”

“Terra! They’re surrounding us!”

As I looked out the truck windows, my heart sank. Scott was right. About five zombies began hammering away at the steel sides of the car, with several right. the current swept around us and them, carrying hundreds of belongings and trash, but we weren’t going anywhere. The hood was completely crumpled in, black smoke seeping out from the broken metal, wrapped around a steel lamppost. I suppose we should have found a way to steer before we set off on our merry way. We had probably bounced against another car, which had directed us-

“Gah!”

Artemis yowled and her claws went flying, leaving a long rip in my shorts and a soon-to-be-scar in my leg.

“Alright, I have an idea.”

“Lay it on me.”

“We-” I was interrupted as the back window behind us exploded in a shower of glass and zombie moans. An undead hand grabbed my long blond hair that, up until this point, had been splayed on the back dashboard. I couldn’t even choke out a scream as I was yanked backwards, back into the rotten, gnashing teeth of those beasts.

“HY-YAHH!”

I was at just the right angle to witness as Scott yanked the police knife from his hoodie pocket and sawed through ten inches of my golden locks. 

I fell back, clutching at my head. My hair barely reached past my ears now, uneven strands running, soaking wet, down the back of my neck. Before I could scream at Scott, more glass rained down from my left, and another rotten hand descended towards my left leg and grabbed me by the ankle. The arm led back to a thirty year-old with tattoos across his face, jaw opening and closing as he jammed his rotten head through the gap in the window he had smashed.

“Scott!” I screamed.

“Little busy!” I glanced over and saw him desperately shooting out the window at the distant zombies, drawing ever closer with each passing moment, and stabbing at the nearer ones with his other hand, that clutched the knife.

“It’s grabbing my leg!”

“So what? If it’s through the window it’ll be at such an angle where it won’t be able to properly bite through the protection of your pants and infect you.”

“I’m wearing SHORTS!”

“What did I tell you, Terra?!?”

“Forget it!” I reached over quickly and grabbed the billy club from where it had fallen in the front seat and slammed it forcefully onto the zombie’s arm. I heard a satisfying snap and kicked the groaning figure back out the window.

Sitting up, I saw that Scott had taken out most of the back window zombies, and now tossed two small, empty cardboard boxes back at me.

“I’m out of ammo.” He held up the police handgun and revolver in each hand.

“Use the other one!” I yelled at him.

 “With both guns.” he yelled back.

Panicked, I swiveled my head around, trying to find a place to escape to. Zombies were coming from all over  now, staggering in packs out of alleyways, buildings, even coming up through the sewer, swarming us like a hive of bees ready to sting.

There were two floods now. One, of water and destruction, and another, of undead monsters.

The hood burst into flame, and I screamed again, the rip in my cheek bursting into a fresh batch of pain, and I desperately grabbed Scott and jumped through the direction most clear of zombies; the back window.

We fell and tumbled off the bed of the truck. Glass shards fell down upon us like the rain that came down in spades now, as the clouds broke through and poured down water across the entire town, contributing to the flood. I struggled to stand up and, breathless, cuts all across my body, a billy club in one hand, a taser in the other, my best friend at my side clutching a knife and the Costco supplies, I felt bolts of adrenaline flow through my body. I had expected, after all this time, after discovery and loss, comfort and pain, tears and blood, I wouldn’t have been able to take it.

But now, I felt stronger than ever before. 

I smacked the nearest zombie across the head with the club and Scott descended upon it to finish it off with the combat knife. I looked up at the town square around us for shelter, reading the fizzling neon signs of the shops and buildings with desperate quickness. I glanced over at a few buildings behind us, and found the best option for now: the town hall. 

“Quickly!” I yelled out the words, struggling to be heard over the constant drone of gallons of water hitting the pavement. “Scott, the town hall!”

He understood and retreated from the few zombies he had been holding off to look at me.

“Alright,” He said, “Let’s run.”

The rain smacked into us as we sprinted, leaving us freezing cold as the wind howled around us. We struggled to make our way through the flood, dodging around debris, the elements assaulting us. I stumbled and in my desperation to keep the Costco supplies the billy club flew into the current and disappeared. I cried out, scowled, checked if my taser was still in my pocket, and continued on. Finally, we hit the large wooden doors of our destination. Scott opened his mouth to say something but before he could we both whirled around as an explosion rocketed throughout the square. The truck, flipped over, flaming, and with every freaking window broken, had exploded, shrapnel flying all around and blowing half of the horde clean up into the air.

Scott took a step back and threw himself into the door and it burst open, knocking aside an antique desk that had been barricading it. I didn’t question it, though. We just staggered in exhaustedly, and Scott threw the door shut behind us. We sat there for about a minute, catching our breath, drying off, and letting ourselves wash in the pain that emanated from almost every pore.the wall for support, and shoved the desk back in front of the doors, along with a few other pieces of furniture around us. Someone had spent a while forming a pretty worthy base, boarding up the windows, barricading every exit, and generally transforming this little city staple 

After a little bit like that, Scott stood up, leaning against into a apocalypse-grade Fort Knox.

Scott pulled out a few of the Hershey bars he’d stolen from our little shopping spree and I graciously took it.  I felt like I hadn’t eaten for days (which, I kinda hadn’t) and devoured it within five seconds. Scott took a large bite of his.

“Hey,” Scott said, around the chocolate. We were both standing now. “Who do you think built up this pl-”

            !!!BOOM!!!

A gunshot rocketed throughout the entire room and Scott went flying back, slamming against the barricaded door in a cloud of splinters and red mist. I had barely started to yell his name when the impossibly loud, rather familiar gunshot resounded throughout the entire room and crashed into me like a train. 

The world went dark as I slammed my head against the wall in mid-air flight and slumped over next to Scott.

   CHAPTER KJDHFKLJFSHKSJD

Was I dead?

I couldn’t be. I was still thinking, and if I concentrated extremely hard I could feel myself breathing. I couldn’t really sense anything around me other than that, though.

Was I a ghost?

I didn’t think so. I couldn’t move any of my limbs, but I could feel the presence of my own body.

Was I in heaven?

I had to see. I concentrated as hard as I could and slowly pried my eyes open. 

“RK!”

“W-W-Warrren?”

“Oh, Jesus! Roadkill!”

Warren stood before me, grimy, soaking wet, and loosely holding the police shotgun, smoke trailing from its dark gray barrel.

It only took a second to put two and two together.

“YOU KILLED SCOTT!”

“Look, look, just calm down-”

“And-and-” I looked down. The hoodie was ripped open, exposing the bulletproof PD vest. It was in tatters from the shotgun shell that was blown into my chest. I yanked off the destroyed vest and threw it at Warrens feet. “You tried to kill ME!”

“I thought you were zombies, alright, RK? Honest mistake.”

“Honest mist-you’re a MONSTER!” In fell onto my knees next to Scott’s body. For some reason, the expected tears didn’t come. Not even a drop of blood ran from my nose. I was past all that. Now, I could only stare at the corpse before me and be filled with sorrow and rage.

“Alright, just calm down. Forget about it! I’m trying to keep a low profile here. If the cops find me…”

“I will NOT calm down! I’m not going to FORGET ABOUT IT! YOU BLEW A HOLE THE SIZE OF NEBRASKA IN MY BEST FRIEND!”

Warren slowly, deliberately, cocked the shotgun. “I was afraid of that.”

“Afraid of what? The zombies? They’re all more civilized and human than you could ever be!”

Warren chuckled. “No, not the zombies. Terra, do you know what I was arrested for?”

I shook my head slowly, continuing to stare him down with hatred.

“To put it bluntly, three charges of murder.” My eyes widened as Warren slung the shotgun over his shoulder, his index finger wrapped relaxedly around the trigger. “My bosses’ family. I worked in construction. Did I ever tell you that? No, we never got past the names, did we, Veronica. Anyway, my boss was a terrible person. He gave me minimum wage, piled on the workload, and sat in his office all day growing ever fatter and duller. After work, he would go home to his mansion and his swimming pools and I would go back to my rundown shack and my Volvo.”

Warren started pacing now. I backed up against the wall and fumbled in my pocket. Warren didn’t even notice, too caught up in his own story.

“So one day, I say, hey, my life is completely crappy.” He threw his hands up. “Horrible. My life, I say to myself, is completely worthless. What could I do? I wasn’t qualified for any other jobs, and I would rather die than move back in with my parents. So, I decided to take a little...revenge. I got a drill and a sledgehammer  from the construction yard and I drove over to his perfect mansion and I-”

“Stop!”

Warren smirked at me. “Alright, I’ll skip the details. Anyways, I lived the good life for about three days. I ate the gourmet food, wore the extravagant clothes, and slept in beds that were as soft as silk and bigger, even, than my own bedroom.”

His eyes darkened. “Then the boys in blue decided to find out why my boss hadn’t been coming to work.”

My heart wrenched. This wasn’t the Warren I knew. I guess I had known he was a criminal but...he had saved me twice before, right? He wouldn’t hurt me. I felt sure of that.

“And you know the rest, Roadkill. But, I mean, when this whole apocalypse thing blows over, the cops will continue searching again. And I can’t go jail.”

I finally built up enough nerve to speak. Shakily, I said, “But, Warren, even with the...murders, they might forget about you, right? That police unit is probably dead right now, with the infection and all.”

Warren smiled that familiar but now horrible cheshire grin. “Oh, I know they’re dead.”

“I...I don’t-”

“You know those supplies? We got them at the police station? You’re friend there seems to have’m.” He gestured towards Scott. The anger rose in me again. “Well, turns out, that station was the same one that those cops who were chasing me belonged to.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. “You didn’t!”

His grin grew wider. “Every single one. Pop, pop, pop. Their heads were like little fleshy balloons.”

“OH GOD YOU DIDN’T!”

“And once the rest of the state finds out, I’ll go to prison! And you know what’s there? THE ELECTRIC CHAIR! That’s right, I got the death sentence baby! That’s what those officers told me at first, and so I ran right outta the mansion and into my car. But if I’m caught, that’s it! I’M DEAD! And since you can’t seem to just let this little incident go, I’ll have to add you to my growing body count.”

My hand was still poised in my pocket, gripping my only chance of escape. I had to stall, but so many conflicting feelings streamed through my head. “Warren, no! I won’t say anything, swear to god!”

“I can’t afford promises, Roadkill! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THE ELECTRIC CHAIR WOULD FEEL LIKE?!?!”

“Probably something like this.”

With that statement still hanging in the air, I kicked off the wall, ripped the taser from my pocket, and jammed it into Warren’s neck, a horrible sound screeching through the air as I jumped up on an oak desk off in the corner and leapt up to one of the balconies that lined the circular main room.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!!!!! 

ZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!! 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!

The water around him electrified and he clawed at his neck, dropping the shotgun and falling back to hit himself on another desk. I found myself unable to look away from the horrible spectacle before me and just swung slowly from the wooden bars of the large balcony overlooking the entire room. The doors to the town hall bulged and then burst open, letting in the mob of zombies, some scorched and blackened from, I reasoned, the truck explosion. The flood streamed in after them. The water filled up the room quickly, spreading across the elegant marble floor in wide waves.

I quickly climbed up and tumbled over the wooden railing onto the balcony. Past there was a long, turquoise hallway that led to an old oak door. It looked a lot like the chorus hallway, from all that time ago. But before I left the main hall, I needed some closure.

I turned back and rested lightly on the balcony, like some ancient queen surveying her subjects from above. Well, my subjects were zombies, a murderer, and the corpse of my best friend, but that’s a good enough analogy for now. 

The pack had drifted over to Scott and one undead woman crept, animal-like, over and gave a tentative bite into his arm before falling back, hissing and growling, in with the rest of the horde. Warren still convulsed and yelled in the corner, electricity all around him.

It wasn’t long before they heard Warren and fell upon him. His screams echoed throughout the building, but to be honest, and this is probably the most cold-hearted thing I’ve ever said, I kind of missed the taser more.

Once Warren fell silent, the only trace a murderous, Volvo-driving lunatic had ever been here being the lone shotgun in the middle of the room, at the bottom of the foot-high pool of water, I turned back and walked slowly and solemnly down the turquoise hallway.

But not without taking one more look back at the shotgun shell-blasted corpse of my best friend, Scott Thatcher.

The clouds were still cold and grey, high in the sky and pouring down gallons of rain by the minute as I stepped out onto the outer main outdoor balcony. Cars, trees, and even chunks of buildings had clumped up and formed a sort of dam over the four streets that led to the square. The marble balcony I stood on, overlooking the entire town, I slightly remembered was only a decoration piece, meant to look like a big, professional platform that the mayor could stand on and give announcements, which he never did. We had gone on a field trip here once, and I faintly remembered there had been a flood once before, with the deaths and disappearances of over a hundred people. 

Yet, they still hadn’t bothered to flood-proof the square.

The water rose higher and higher, breaking the glass window of buildings and filling them, flooding everything around me. I gave a small sigh, drenched in rainwater, looking over the entire town. It was almost over.

Everything was almost over.

All of a sudden I heard a faint but heavy whir, the noise coming somewhere through the clouds. I peered up into the gray mass, forming an umbrella with my hand for my eyes as I looked up. I could hear something drawing closer and closer, loud, powerful, and...strangely mechanic.

Before I could move, or even react, two jet-black helicopters burst through the clouds, rotors whirring, and flew right towards me. The clouds shifted and a lightning bolt cracked down from the sky, decimating one of them, sparks exploding like firecrackers from its every surface. My eyes widened and I leaped to the left just as the copter rammed into the town hall and exploded, shrapnel cutting my face and fire nearly burning me to death. The blast rattled my bones and hurled me off the side of the balcony just as it was caught in the wave of molten fire that poured out from the burning metal husk now jammed in the mayor’s office at town hall.

Luckily, I had managed to grab onto the flagpole that jutted out from the side of the building, but fire had still burned me deeply and I lifted my arm to find raw, pink skin exposed from under the peeling black top layer.I choked down some vomit and concentrated only on grabbing the pole and staying on. My ears rung and                               I realised that I couldn’t hear anything. The water, even though I was hanging from the third floor of an intimidatingly tall building, reached my legs now, and I let out a scream that I couldn’t hear.

I was burning, drowning, and hanging on for dear life at the same time.

I whirled around, my arms still firmly wrapped around the pole, the american flag it had been holding now long ripped from its post, and saw the second sleek, black helicopter about ten yards above me. I tried yelling for help, but I felt my voice crack and die down. All I could do was watch silently as my body screamed with pain from the inside.

Suddenly, a section of the side popped off and slid back, and a man in a black suit and ski mask tossed down something towards me. I instinctively flinched and nearly fell off the pole, before realizing two things: One, it was a black rope ladder, and it splashed against the water (up to my chest now) and hung in front of me. Secondly, the man looked exactly like my kidnappers had, from, it seemed like, days ago.

Suddenly, the wind picked up and I fell, floundering with newf ound pain in my burns, back into the water behind me. The flood, more powerful than anything I had ever seen before, slammed me around as everything began to go dark. Just as I started to fall under, accepting my fate, accepting that everything would finally end, I saw something in my darkening, blurry vision, masked with blood and shrapnel.

The ladder.

I made a choice right then. Take the easy path and just drown, slowly falling unconscious, peaceful, like falling asleep, or live, grab the ladder and escape, without anyone I’d ever known, into something that could just as easily be worse than this.

I grabbed the ladder.

  *****************************************************$$$$$$$$$$$$*************************************************

I woke up in a small metal room. It was sort of square shaped, with a small, opaque window at the back. Immediately I knew, from my many cop shows, that I was in an interrogation room. 

My hands and feet were shackled to a large oak table.  My wounds were all, mostly, healed, and bandages wrapped around my burned arms were damp with a clean-smelling ointment. And surprisingly, my clothes were dry. How long had I been here? 

Suddenly I heard a faint click, and the door squeaked open. A very large man, about 7 feet tall, with a black suit and broad shoulders walked in. He had tan, almost red skin and buzz cut black hair.

“Terra Malcolms.”

“Mhm” I groaned, not really feeling in the mood, or strong enough to argue with this guy.

“This conversation is being recorded. Anything you say or do will be held against you.”

“Oh yes, because putting me on trial during the FRIKKIN’ ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE is a good idea!”

“HEY!” He yelled slamming his hands on the table. “Don’t talk back!”

“What are you going to do? I mean it’s not like my life isn’t in mortal danger already, you can’t make it much worse.”

“We have methods.”

“Non-legal ones I suppose.”

“Just shut up, or you’ll learn how I deal with incompetent children!”

“Just shut up, or you’ll learn how I deal with incompetent children.” I mocked.

Suddenly I felt the sharp pain of the man’s knuckles whip across my cheek. A small cut appeared in my skin and blood started to slowly run down.

“Just shut up and listen.” he said menacingly.

I didn’t reply.

The man sat down at the table, across from me, his tinted sunglasses showing my reflection.

“Now Ms. Malcolms, you are a smart girl, a very smart girl actually. So smart, that, if I’m correct, you almost figured out a cure to this apocalypse.”

“So?”

“So, we want you to make this cure.”

“Why should I?” 

“Because, you could save the world.”

“Whoop de dooooo.”

“I know there’s someone else you may want to save…”

“And who would that be?”

“Mr. Thatcher.”

My blood went cold. 

How did he know about Scott?

“I-I don’t know a-anyone named Thatcher.”

“No? Scott Thatcher? Born November 13, 2000, black scraggly hair, kept a grade average of a D-, fast on his feet, on the robotics team, 1 older sister, her name is Crystal, blue eyes, and kept you alive during this apocalypse.”

I stared at him.

“No Scott Thatcher?” He said, a smirk creeping onto his face.

“H-how do you know that?” I asked

“We know things.”

“How do you know about HIM?”

“Terra Malcolms, born September 6th, 2001, average grade of A+, smart as a whip, star on the robotics team,  deceased mother, 4 brothers, Charlie, Nicky, Joey, and Jake, blue eyes, blonde hair, and a survivor of the apocalypse, also, future creator for the cure.”

“Tell me how you know that!”

“We’ve been monitoring you for the past year.”

“What?! How!”

“We have our methods.”

“Who’s we?”

He paused for effect.

“The O.D.R.C.”

“Oderk?”

“ The Organization for Disease Research and Containment.”

“Okay, I’m gonna pretend I know what that is.”

“We look at all the recent populus epidemics in our country.”

I faintly remembered a couple commercials about some disease control thing.

“Oh, like the ZOMBIE epidemic? What are you doing about THAT? Huh?”

“We have already done something.”

“And what is that?” 

“We have found you.”

“Make your own cure!”

“Well we would, but we don’t share the same intelligence level.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“In science and math.” He quickly added. “Anyways, we would’ve gotten you sooner if you hadn’t been so...unreasonable.”

“Wait, that was you!” I yelled. “You were the ones who put me in that electric chair?!” I had all my energy back now.

“Not exactly.” He said. “Those were hired men, we thought they were more professional...and sober. We needed you then, that was the start of the Apocalypse. If you had just come with us, than we would’ve stopped this thing before it started.”

“How do you know when it started?”

“We um... had a bit of a mishap with some testing.”

“You started this thing!?” I yelled.

“Well, yes.”

“I’m gonna-” 

“Remember Mr. Thatcher.” He said, placing a laptop on the table. On the screen was a zombie in a cell. A rather familiar zombie with a hole the size of Nebraska in its chest. It was Scott.

I stayed silent.

The man tilted his head. “You really have been through a lot, haven’t you? Look, I’m just the spokesperson, but I do know a few things about the O.D.R.C.”

He backed up a bit, towards the door.

“They’ve sent out several teams of trained professionals to comb over your town. Some undead they find are just for testing, but there are a few subjects that they’re looking for specifically.”

He reached back into a pocket lining the inside of his jacket and pulled out a few manilla folders. He tossed them onto the desk in front of me. I picked them up with shaky hands.

Slowly, carefully, I opened each file and slowly set it down in front of me, until every folder lay open in front of me, each with a name stamped over a blurry photo, looking as if it was taken afar.

Nicky. Joey. Charlie. Jake. 

Charlie’s was double-stamped with a “Found” print in red ink. Below it was a green stamp proclaiming; “Infected”.

It was the same with Joey. My other two brothers didn’t have anything stamped on theirs. I could guess that they hadn’t been found yet. My dad didn’t even have a file. I could guess what that meant too.

I set the files down and stared past the man at the concrete wall, thinking.

The man in the black suit retreated to the door.

“I’ll...give you a while to the think about this.”

He turned to leave.

I reached up and brushed a droplet of blood from my nose. 

“I’ll do it.”

The man turned, puzzled, and looked at me, halfway out the door. “Excuse me?”

I stared at the files. I thought of the school. I thought of my town, flooded. I thought of Chorus. Of Robotics. Of Laura. Of my brothers. Of Warren. 

Of Scott.

I looked the black-suited man straight in the eye and spoke.

“I’ll do it.”

                   

                                                THE END

            (Nico sucks at satisfying endings, sorry)

Author's Note

We wrote this a looooooooooooonnnnnggggg time ago. Enjoy....

Reviews

[MajorMysterious]

So yeah. Both Nico and I are aware that the whole teenage girl/zombies/floods thing may not be exactly the most interesting thing in the world to some people, but to be honest, we enjoy doing new stuff. Thanks for reading our work, and we would appreciate any comments you could give us. Thanks!