Escape - 3. Signs

Chapter 3
Signs

After the horrifying scene last night, I thought today would pass us by in slow motion. But I was wrong. Everything was a quick drag. Subjects rolled by. Our teachers rushed back and forth. I didn’t feel the tension I should have had during classes. The screeching of the chalk, the noise of the students, the teacher’s words, all a void of nothingness. It felt like the clock was ticking slowly. The tension was heavy and I could clearly hear myself huffing. Why am I so worried? That video is true but why did we keep silent. Shouldn’t we tell someone about it? I was so dazed and confused. I had no idea where to start. My only choice was to be calm enough to defend myself when the time was right.

Stephanie, Max and I sat together for lunch. The dead were rising and the media were keeping silent about it. Maybe they didn’t know, maybe they were hiding it, or maybe they were already dead. There were a lot of maybes but we weren’t sure. The tension around the three of us gave off an awkward, deafening silence. I couldn’t take it anymore. The pressure of being eaten alive troubled me.

A few minutes later more of our friends joined us. Fiona McHenry was tanned from head to toe. She was from a rich family so they got to go overseas without problems. She looked like an over-cooked human being. Pretty though, her long wavy red hair and hazel eyes could leave a guy defenseless. Her model-like body was sizzling but I never fell for her. I just can’t imagine myself staying under the sun for so long. Maybe it’s because I hate warm places. I liked the cold. Beside her was Steven Reese. We used to be best friends with Max. However, we drifted apart after a fight. There was a deafening silence but we still got be friends later on. There wasn’t a formal sorry but I didn’t care. As usual, he wore a proud smirk on his face with sandy blonde hair and brushed up hairdo. Those wide brown eyes of his were convincing enough but I knew better.

The six of us sat together around the table. But from the smiles on their faces, I didn’t think they had any idea at all. How pitiful. Should we have told them for their own safety? They could be the first victims. The thought itself sent chills down my spine. However, THANK GOD that they were excited and extremely noisy in expectation of their vacation. It relieved my tension, but I didn’t know if it had the same effect for Max and Stephanie. Beads of sweat rolled down their faces. Are they feeling the same? I’m not so sure about that even though they are my best friends.

“Hey, why are you guys so silent?” Fiona asked. She pointed her thin fingers at me.

Watch where you’re pointing at!

“You and Max are the noisy ones in the group. What’s gotten into you? Are you two sad that summer is over?”

“Sorry.” Max coolly replied with a slight sarcasm in his voice, obviously hiding his inner tension.

I was sure only Stephanie and I could see through his lie. As my best friend, it was usual for him to stand up for me. I never tire of it though. “I was thinking that you could have some of our spotlight. It’s always on us anyway. Shouldn’t you be happy about it? You always try to steal the spotlight anyway.”

“Ha-ha. Very funny of you Max. As far as I know, we’re just laughing for you so you wouldn’t look too stupid. That would have been hilarious.”

“Jeez, who was the one again who sneezed her pasta out of her nose from too much laughing from MY silly joke?” Max asked with more sarcasm in his voice. I giggled, and so did Steph and Steve. It was one of our unforgettable days. I could see Fiona turning into an oversized and over-cooked tomato. My mind was trying to resist the temptation to laugh out loud.

“Stop it you guys.” Stephanie finally stepped up. She usually did. She always played the referee when these two had an argument. They were always like this. I swear there were times that the sky actually darkened by just a little bit when these two made eye to eye contact. Don’t worry. They don’t get into serious fights. They would never be an item. “You don’t have to make it sound that bad Max.”

“Of course I should, it looked bad.” Max said, his voice more sarcastic than before with a raised tone. He enjoyed teasing Fiona. She, on the other hand, took it in her stride.

I laughed. “It’s what I’ve always told you, you use your mouth to throw up something you just ate. Isn’t that so hard to swallow?”

“Stop it Max.” Steven interjected, losing the smirk. He was Fiona’s loyal minion. I wondered whether he flossed her teeth too. It would be neat to record that and show it to everybody at school. Hilarious and embarrassing for them. “We don’t have to go that far.”

“So…let’s just change the topic,” Stephanie suggested. I agreed. It would have turned into a fight if it continued…or maybe not. Fiona believed that she would be the next top model and that getting frustrated would make her ugly so she always did her best to not lose her composure. She possessed the longest temper and believe me, I have never seen her loose her composure. Fiona was a lady to the tee…until the moment her pasta hung out of her nostrils.

“What do you suggest then?” Steve asked raising his right brow. The scar was still obvious. I’ll never forget the day I gave him that scar and every single time I see it, I remember the refreshing feeling from back then. It was a moment of victory and success…truly unforgettable. My fists made sure he’d remember not to mess with me ever again. “Amuse us with something interesting, not garbage.”

Okay, I’m not really sure why we were friends with them. There were times I couldn’t stand their snotty-like personalities. I’m fine with Fiona because she’s a girl and she could be a sweet muffin. She was a caring friend and my two best friends knew about it. She and Steven were inseparable. And Steven straddles the boundaries sometimes. I was affected by what he said to Stephanie. He was one mean son of a bitch at times. That’s one thing I’ll never forget about him.

“In that case, never mind.” Stephanie shrugged. “I don’t give a damn if one of those fucked up bastards bites your ass.”

I swear I saw Steven’s eyes narrow down in interest. Those brown eyes, I knew I was born to pull them out of their sockets. I could barely control myself doing just that. It was thrilling to see his face bloody and whatever. I wondered if he would scream in fear or in agony. I could hardly contain myself from thinking about it. My hands were twitching in excitement! That tingling feeling was partly refreshing. Oh wait, what am I saying?

“What do you mean by one of those things?”

“Oh I don’t know. It’s probably garbage.”

“I didn’t mean that. I take that back. So now, will you tell? What do you mean by one of those things?”

“Listen carefully, there’s a new virus the CDC has discovered out of the country but we don’t have much information yet regarding what it does to your body. All we know is that it brings back the dead and they would start acting rabid against other living people. We still don’t know how the virus is transmitted. I mean, we literally saw a video containing proof. Ask those two if you want.”

“No thanks,” I blurted. “I’m not in the mood to explain what happened. That fucking video scared my freakin brain!”

“Neither do I,” Max snorted, his eyes fixed somewhere. He didn’t take the insult to Steph very well either. Maybe he was trying to keep himself from punching the hell out of Steven. I could feel the familiar vibe. The tension revitalized my blood. “I ain’t speaking to that person.”

“No worries.” Steve said stiffly. I knew he was about to do something stupid. I could see it in his eyes. He was ignoring the boundary between the two of us. My fist had already curled up into a ball. I’m ready! Bring it on! “You don’t have to waste saliva by explaining bullshit to me. Be rational! You’re supposed to be the smart one here. They don’t have life anymore that’s why they’re called dead. A virus can’t simply bring them back to life. And besides, that doesn’t scare me at all. Now, I know that stuff did come from garbage…so did the person who told me about it.”

Okay, that’s it. I’m not letting him insult my best friend some more. Did I mention to you about me being eager to snatch his big brown eyes from its sockets? It’s because I’m dying to try it right now.

I curled my right hand into a fist and grabbed him by the shirt with my left hand. He reacted by grabbing my left arm. I stepped forward and swept his feet quick and hard, which quickly brought him down on his back and he winced with pain. I released my left hand’s grip on his shirt and quickly grabbed his neck as soon as he dropped. I sat beside him and pinned his left arm with my left knee. His feet kicked wildly and his free arm was trying to reach for a weapon he couldn’t find. You poor son of a bitch…you look pathetic.

“Listen pretty boy.” I said in cocky voice. The whole cafeteria was on us. “I cannot take any more of you bullshitting my friend so I would stop it if I were you. Lay one more finger on them and I swear to God I’ll open that scar I gave you before but this time bigger. I’m dying to pull out your pretty brown eyes from your sockets. A free eye transplant. You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

Damn. It was a shame. He couldn’t form one word. It had been a long time since I lost my temper on this guy. And I swear the next time I do, I’d be having trouble to find a nice place to bury a corpse. I loosened my grip and walked out of the cafeteria with the three following me. Steve never even bothered to stand up. I could see everyone’s eyes were dashing back and forth from him to us.

“Zach…” I clearly heard Fiona’s voice filled with guilt. I could almost taste it. She shouldn’t blame herself. It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t say anything to insult my friend. “I’m sorry for what he did. I don’t know what got in to him. It’s…it’s…it’s just I don’t know.”

“Relax.” I said. She’s was starting to lose her composure. Now this is a rare sight. Who knew hurting Steven could actually make her behave like this. It was funny for me actually. I never would have thought of this. I was trying not to laugh at her and make the situation worse. My mind tried to make the most logical excuse. “You don’t have to be worried. It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t you who insulted Stephanie. And it’s certainly isn’t you who I’m mad at so save your reasons. It’s annoying.”

I made sure to curve a smile to make her relax some more. Damn. I thought she would be mad at me for taking down her boyfriend that way. But seeing her reaction, I guess they weren’t an item after all. Wow, I made a really wrong hunch there. I think I would have to make sure the next time I make a hunch. Who knows, maybe my puny existence would hang on a hunch someday. My mind wandered back to that deadly virus lurking out there.

Come on Zach. You’re not supposed to think about that right now!

“Damn it man!” Max interrupted. His face was actually frowning at me. I couldn’t tell if he was serious or just making fun of me. He was flustered and I took that for granted.

Oh, come on! Don’t take it too seriously.

“You have the worst mood swings. You were like taking down people a few moments ago and now you’re smiling at the bad guy’s girlfriend. Just how whacked up are you? Huh? Why didn’t you tell me you were insane from the start?”

“For your information, he is NOT my boyfriend.” Fiona spat. Max and I were all giggles but Stephanie was silent about the whole thing. Afraid that she’d get into trouble. It must have been hard to be a straight A student. She was the smartest of the three of us and she’d think of a way to get us out of this. For a girl, I hoped she would soon realize that Max and I were the reason why she was not stepping up and towering over us. Maybe being too smart could turn you insane…and the two of us were like some kind of her capacitors so she won’t overboard. “I’d rather have Max even he keeps on bullying me.”

With that, Stephanie and I burst into laughter. Honestly, I never saw that one coming. Max and Fiona…the spoiled and snotty rich girl, plus Max…an idiot who couldn’t use even a knife right. You’re kicking my ass right? I even grabbed my tummy from the ache it was giving me. I just couldn’t stop laughing. The two of us were almost on our knees from snickering out of that bad joke. Max was right…I do have the worst mood swings. Suddenly, our laughter and snickers were interrupted by the speakers in the hallways.

[To all students, this is Principal Wilkins speaking…]

That was him alright. I didn’t hate him but I didn’t like him either. That little stubby man always waltzing in on our problems…for good or for bad. From the tone of his voice, he sounded serious…too serious. I’m getting a bad vibe. I think someone is in trouble. Are we the ones? Oh great.

[Due to a viral outbreak throughout all major cities in the United States, you are advised to collect your belongings and go home immediately. Curfew will be enforced and no one will be allowed to go outside. The United States is now under Martial Law under the jurisdiction of our President who is being transported to an underground bunker. I repeat, all students are advised to go home immediately.]

I saw the shocked faces of the students around us. Some looked happy that classes were suspended. Stephanie had lost her smile and laughter and looked pale, Max too. They looked pale and sickly. It was because we know what the virus does. Fiona couldn’t help but smile out of the blue. I suddenly heard a mad crowd of students coming from the cafeteria area. Each of them screaming loudly because of the suspension of classes. I stood aside with the others and let them pass. I didn’t see Steven in that crowd. Okay, he’s officially eaten by them…I hope.

“What are you three doing?” Fiona gawked at us. “We’re supposed to get our things.”

The four of us dashed towards our lockers. Students were scattered in the halls. Most of them with fixed expressions. All of them clueless. Some pulled their books from their lockers while others called their parents. As soon as I reached my locker, I quickly packed all of my books. The other three stared at me. I think it would be better to leave my things here. I’m pretty sure our teachers would consider if the virus had spread this far. As far as I know, the CDC is from Atlanta, Georgia and here we are in Odessa, Texas. It was almost halfway across the country. It traveled fast. My mind was spinning in circles. Something like this would have reached breaking news first before it could have reached here. Could it have been bio-terrorism? The virus was first sighted in other countries. There were a lot of logical explanations.

“Dude.” Max snapped at me. “What the heck are you doing? We have homework to do.”

“I think I know what he’s doing.” Stephanie said.

“Do you think we’ll be needing homework from now on?” I said. “If the virus got here so fast, then how much time do you think we have before it hits worldwide? I honestly think that it’s around the globe right now. Yesterday we looked at TWO infected people…now there are probably thousands out there to put the entire America into Martial Law.”

“I get your point.” Stephanie nodded, dropping her bag. She looked dead serious. I knew she was the smartest girl. Her instincts were literally refined and I was sure she could survive this. But, could I? Let’s see if I could put my battle skills on the line. “I’m heading straight for my house, what about you guys?”

“I’ll be waiting for my driver to get here.” Fiona said. She looked less worried than us. She had no idea how horrifying the virus was. However, she waved at us goodbye and left quickly. We should have told her. But, what the hell did we know? All we knew is that the virus revived the dead. We had no idea how it was transmitted. I hope it’s not an air-borne disease…otherwise we’re all dead.

“I have to look for Alex first.” I said quickly. My mind automatically drifted off to my family. And the closest was my little brother. I knew he would be trying to find me. I hoped we bumped into each other soon so I wouldn’t have to find him;, mom would kill me if I didn’t bring him home safe. He could really be a pain in the ass especially during moments like this. “Where will you go Max?”

“I have to get my ass home and fast. I’m sure my dad will be waiting for me.” He said. Max lived with his dad two houses away from us. His dad was more like my second dad. He was always traveling around the country because of his job so my brother and I hardly saw him. I hope he’s not a flesh eating monster right now. He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Good luck in finding your brother…I wish I could stay but I have to go.”

With that, the three of us went our separate ways.

I took the other hallway which led directly to the middle school area. Our school built the two foundations back-to-back. There were so many facilities I quickly got lost on my way when I first entered Middle School. There were frenzied squeals of children when I got nearer the end of the hall. As soon as I arrived at the end it split into two opposite directions. I wasn’t sure which to take. There were dozens of younger children. Most of them shouting wildly. Some gave me curious looks. They knew I wasn’t part of their community. I did not like being stared at by a dozen or so strangers. My brother’s name was too common so I might get a wrong response. Jeez mom, you could have given him a rarer name.

Out of the wild screams of the middle school students, there was a high pitch squeal coming from the other end of the hall. As far as I could remember, that was where the clinic was supposed to be. Damn! Thoughts were racing through my head. I couldn’t deny the fact that someone might have already been infected here. The other children were silent and all of us looked in that direction. I could see the clinic sign on top of the doorway. Another scream followed and a boy ran out through the doorway. He clumsily stumbled on the floor since he didn’t see where he was going. His clothes were stained with blood and there wasn’t any wound that I could see.

Then it got worse. Another boy his age bolted through doorway too. I knew it was one of the dead the moment I first laid my eyes on it. It had grayish skin and the pupils were awfully white. It had blood coming out of its mouth and was covered with crimson fluid. I could see it slowly chewing and something was inside its filthy mouth. There was a freakin’ huge wound on its neck covered in blood. The injury was dilated and sickening. Its clothes were a deep reddish color. I felt a chill that ran down my spine. I was petrified from seeing the virus first hand. The sight of it was truly terrifying. My stomach hurled when I took a good look at it. I was dumbfounded and I thought I was going to faint from the tension. Do I have to kill it? How? Everything was in slow motion in that single moment. One of the students bolted. The others were still in shock. Heck, I was too. It was a mind boggling experience. What the fuck do I now?

My instincts told me to cover my nose. I was afraid I might inhale the virus and ingest it. Now that’s something logical. Someone from the crowd of children screamed for her dear life and ran. The other children ran away from the clinic. Others were frozen in the exact position they were. Some had wet their pants with a puddle at their feet. I swear I saw one of the boys had his jog dropped dead on the floor. In short, the hallway was in chaos. Heck, they were children…it was understandable. I was the oldest one on that spot and I sure hoped someone older would pass by. I never asked for this responsibility. The dead kid walked clumsily towards the first boy who stood up and make a run for it. I couldn’t be mistaken. It was my brother, Alex. His eyes were filled with fear. So were mine but I didn’t think anyone would be looking at me in this kind of situation. He almost ran past me from fear but I grabbed him. He almost kicked me just to save his life. He practiced martial arts like I did so it was more of a reflex than self defense. I slapped him across the face to wake him up from his frenzied fear.

“Zach!” He gasped and clutched me like a baby. His arms were shaking in fear but so were mine. Both of us had been pulled into a nightmare. Pain in the ass or not, I loved him and I was ready to protect him with my life. Brotherly instinct I guess. I wouldn’t allow them to hurt a single strand of his hair. “Help me!”

He cried under my embrace and I hugged him for reassurance. He could have been bitten. The infected kid headed for the nearest boy who was still petrified from shock. His face went from bad to worse. Blue and violet from fear. He wasn’t making a single move which was understandable. Move it asshole! MOVE! He didn’t even flinch. The dead kid stared at him hungrily as if he was the last cookie on earth. I had this urge to take that last cookie from him. My arms softly pushed Alex away and I ran the distance between the prey and the predator.

“Stop!” I barked and raised my arm just like how the Terminator showed his ‘talk to the hand’ signature move. The dead boy moved towards me relentlessly. It tried to grab my arm but I pulled back and took its forearm with my right hand. I pulled it towards me and hit its face with my left elbow and delivered a nice punishing kick to its chest, sending it into wall. Okay, showing it my arm was a stupid thing to do. It was like I told it that dinner was served. I turned back to the kid behind me who was still trembling in fear.

“Go! now!” He ran for his life which was the smartest thing he could have done in this instance. And I thought I was smarter. I heard my little brother’s high pitch scream shouting out my name. An arm grabbed my shoulder and the fucking thing almost bit me! My heart skipped a few beats from the initial shock. The dead shit gnawed on my shirt. I quickly delivered another blow with my elbow to its chest. He flew backward with just enough space to give. With more effort this time, I executed a roundhouse kick to its head which made a loud and brittle cracking sound. It wasn’t knocked out by the first kick but this time it stayed on the ground. However, the head was still moving and trying to bite something out from me but the body had stopped in its tracks. It was obviously paralyzed. Just how do you kill this thing? My kick would have knocked anyone’s lights out. Its neck was broken but its head was still moving. Paralyzed for all I care and I didn’t think it would grow wings and detach its head to go after us. Damn it Zach…you watch too much horror movies!

Alex grabbed me by the waist and embraced me again. He was crying. I couldn’t blame him. Something like that was traumatic for a child. For the first time, my brother wasn’t a pain in the ass. I slowly realized how much I cared for the brat. We had to get out of here first and fast. I hoped there were still people out there to help us. I’m sure my mom would carry her gun. I hoped she knew how to take these things down. I suddenly felt guilty for the kid I almost killed. My eyes stared at it for a good second and saw it looking back at me with those dreadful eyes.

“Are you alright? Were you bitten? What happened to you? Why were you in the clinic? How long have you been there? Answer damn it!” I had so many questions. I sounded like my mom. But he was silent and kept shaking his head. I didn’t think he was ready to answer me. I had to make sure he was okay. Hopefully, he wasn’t infected by the virus. That’s the last thing I needed right now.

I grabbed his arm and we dashed for the nearest exit.

The whole school was silent. I couldn’t believe I actually missed the noise that living kids make. Hallways were empty and so were the rooms. It was a good sign there were no bloody marks on the walls warning me of the danger in the area. Not smart to hide inside here. Where the hell was help? We had to get out.

I dragged my little brother back to the High School area and ran for the main entrance. As soon as we got out, I was speechless. There were dozens of smoke trails rising up to the sky. I could hear sirens coming from all directions. People were running for their lives from dead people hot on their heels. I had thought it would be safer outside but I was wrong. It was pure chaos. I never thought I would see something like this. Cars crashed into trees but the drivers were waving inside. They were obviously infected. My body was still trembling from the adrenaline rush of my first encounter. I wished this was a bad dream. I slapped myself over and over again until my cheeks were red. Alex looked awkwardly at me but his eyes were quickly to the frightening scenery before us. No way…is all of this real? It couldn’t be. You can’t bring back the dead!

The wounds on some of them were surely enough to kill an average human being. Those broken bones and battered bodies were just too awful. It was like God had finally abandoned humanity and this impeding apocalypse was about to take every single one of us to the deepest depths of hell.

Oh God, I know I don’t talk nor pray to You that much, but PLEASE! I’m begging for mercy right now.

I hoped He heard my pleading. How many of us were trying to reach out to Him?

“Son of a bitch…”