When Alice woke up that morning, a few minutes later than usually, she immediately rushed to her window. Mr. Darkow wasn't there. He wasn't out walking his dog as he did every morning. Alice opened the window and peered her head through, to make sure she hadn't missed him. Mr. Darkow's dog was there, rushing up and down the neighboring drive way, but Mr. Darkow wasn't.
She changed quickly into her school uniform and rushed out of her room.
"Mom!" She shouted to the kitchen, "Mr. Darkow isn't out walking his dog." She pulled up her knee highs and went to the kitchen.
"Oh, I know hunny." Her mother gave a calming smile, "he's right here." She turned handing her daughter a container with fresh lunch meat. "He was beginning to get a bit suspicious, plus I figured you could use something for lunch." Her mother smiled again and returned to her work.
"Alright! Thanks mom." Alice smiled, taking the container. Her friends at school would be excited to try a new meat. Last week it had been a young police woman, and now it would be her beloved neighbor. She could just picture her friends passing around the different thin slices, and nibbling jubilantly. Her friends excitement over the police woman was more than Alice could imagine, and sharing this new meat would be just as fulfilling.
"But remember hunny," her mother turned holding the butcher knife high in her hand, "don't share any of that with your friends. They won't be able to handle it."
Alice dropped her smile, "handle it? Maybe you should have told me this earlier."
"Oh Ally." Her mother sighed and turn back to cutting the meat on the counter, "well I'm sure you'll learn your lesson soon enough."
"Thanks mom." Alice muttered as she left the house.
"Is that Mr. Darkow?" The father appeared behind his wife.
"Yes, hun." The woman smiled.
The man took hold of the frozen arm on the counter, and peeled of the few pieces of partially cut meat. The woman took hold of the end of the arm, and her husband kissed the dead frozen hand gently.
***
The school seemed empty when Christina entered the building. She pushed open the glass door and peered into the open room. It was furnished with lunch tables and chairs, but no one was there.
"Hello?" She dropped her book bag at her feet, and stepped forward. Her eyes widened with curiosity as she neared one of the brown tables. The brown plastic had a large red stain across its surface. She looked at the other tables, nearly each one had a grotesque red splatter spread across their surface.
Christina touched a finger gently to the red on the table beside her. It was wet. She brought the tainted finger to her nose and sniffed it curiously.
"Is this a joke?" She shouted scornfully. She shrugged and turned, it didn't matter to her. If it meant a day without school she might as well go home.
There was a noise in the building. Christina turned, ‘shuffling feet?' she thought. She strained to hear more. The only sound she could hear was the furnace from the janitors rooms, the school seemed empty. She then turned once more to the door, and let out a struggled gasp. She tried to hold her breath to contain a scream.
"Rissa?" She whispered, but the figure that stood before her did not appear to be her classmate. This human figure appeared to be something else. The thin body of whom was once called Rissa looked sickly, and thin. Shreds of the school uniform barely clung to the body, and it's face and skin appeared to be a pasty white. Intricate patterns of veins intertwined just beneath the skin like a blue thread. The eyes were blood shot, and tinted with yellow, and Rissa's lips appeared to be covered with the same red elixir Christina found upon the brown lunch tables.
The thin figure stumbled closer to Christina. It's mouth opened and released a low drawling moan. The creature reached out a hand towards Christina's face, and Christina felt her feet shuffling backwards toward the door. The creature lunged forward, landing limply on Christina's falling body. Sharp fangs within the creatures mouth latched onto the side of Christina's neck, and red blood spewed from the torn skin.
Christina felt her body grow limp. The creature was grasping hold of her, sucking the blood hard like a parasite. Then something in Christina changed. She felt her body losing heat and weight, she could feel her skin thinning, and her eyes began to burn. There was a strange craving erupting within her. She wanted flesh, her vegan morals seemed to disappear, and she knew the moment someone entered the building, she would devour them.
***
Elizabeth was sitting quietly at her locker, a large biology book sat open in her lap, and she tried to continue studying. A loud moan sounded through the school, and she heard the sound of movement from the other side of the building. This had been going on for several hours. When she entered the school, there was no sign of anyone, so she decided to study and wait for someone to turn up. Every few minutes or so she would hear someone, or something, move throughout the building, and strange moans echo throughout the corridors. But, she had a test coming up, she had to study. She figured it was just some seniors destroying the school.
She turned the page in the book, and looked slowly at the page. The word ‘Virus' was written in pencil across the page. Another loud moan sounded down the hall. She sighed, and closed the book. She stood, and opened her locker, several books and papers came tumbling out, spilling onto the floor. Her biology book slipped from her hands and crashed loudly onto the floor.
The moaning grew, and she heard foot steps nearing towards her. She turned to see who was coming, and she felt her stomach twist at the sight.
"Alex?" She said quietly. The figure moved lethargically closer. It limped as its body moved closer, a pearly white bone was sticking out from the side of the leg. The figure held tightly onto a partially detached arm.
"What happened?" Elizabeth shouted, her voice echoing in concern. The thin figure moved closer, and it's arm fell to the ground. Large dark lesions formed on the remaining shoulder. The creatures mouth opened widely, the jaw moving slowly from side to side, and a raspy moan sounded. The body began moving quicker and closer to Elizabeth. It's still intact arm reaching out eagerly.
Elizabeth moved quickly out of the way as the creature lurched forward, falling roughly to the floor. She ran to the closest door she could, entered the room, and slammed the door quickly behind her. She felt her breathing grow faster, and the feeling of a panic attack coming over her. She jerked her body around and felt her arm hit hard against the bookshelf beside her.
She was in the English room. Paintings from student projects hung along the walls, and the shelf beside her was covered messily with rows and rows of books. The normally organized desks and chairs were now in ruins. They were laying on their sides, and on their surfaces, toppled here and there all over the room. The teacher's messy desk was in the middle of the room, its drawers were open, and the contents were thrown across the floor.
Elizabeth could feel her panic attack rising faster into her chest. Her throat began to close, and tears began falling slowly down her cheek. She looked out the long window that was parallel on the wall beside the door. Three of her classmates were pressed up against the glass. All of them with similar sickly features. They were thin, and their skin was white laced delicately with blue veins. They pressed reddened yellow eyes against the window staring wantingly at her.
She heard a slow deep groan sound behind her. She felt her body stiffen and her breathing stop as she turned slowly to face the room.
"Chris . . . Chris. . . Christina?" Elizabeth forced the name from her closed throat.
***
Alison let out a small sigh as she put the paintbrush back into the paint can. She took the ear phones from her ipod out of her ears, and twined the cord around the electronic body. Standing, she pulled off the painting apron and straightened her uniform skirt. She then placed the ipod into her pocket, and walked across the play stage. She looked up at her finished creation. She had taken all of her free time to paint the stage settings for the upcoming play, and she could now proudly say that it was finished.
She walked up stage to her book bag, which was sitting lonesome near the edge of the stage. She pulled the bag open, and took out a container. She opened it, and joyously began eating her rewarding salad. She had been craving it since she came into the school early that morning, and she was not willing to wait until lunch.
She looked slowly down at her watch: nine o'clock. Where was everyone? She strained to hear voices from the lunch room outside of the auditorium, but it was silent. She sat her salad on the stage, and climbed off the platform. She walked up the slopped aisle lined by rows of seats. She went to the doors to the lunch room, and opened them slowly, expecting to see people sitting at tables doing homework, and chatting. But no one was there. She looked at the rows of tables in the large room. Their brown surfaces looked to be stained with. . . blood.
She cleared her throat, and turned back to the auditorium. Her thoughts now focused on getting home. She ran to the stage, and climbed the stairs on to the stage. She went to her book bag, and put the salad container back in the bag's compartment.
A loud moan sounded from back stage.
"Hello?" Her voice quivered a bit as the word released from her throat. The moan sounded again. She put her bag back onto the stage and turned towards the curtains. The curtains were moving vigorously, their ends sweeping quickly against the stage floor. She took hold of the curtain and pulled it open quickly. A hand flew from where she opened the curtains, and took hold of her ankle. More moaning began to sound.
***
"It was only nine o'clock, I'm only half an hour late." Alice said to herself loudly as she entered the school building. She walked into the lunch room, and made her way past the tables. She didn't notice the red stains upon them. "Sister Maria," she tried to say calmly. She cleared her throat as she went through the doors leading to Sister Maria's office.
"Sister Maria," she said again, "I'm sorry I'm late, normally my neighbor wakes me up, and. . ." She quit rambling and looked around the office. "Sister?" She looked around slowly, no one was in the room. "Absolutely Sister Maria.," She shouted loudly, trying to sound as if she actually talking to the vice principal, "I'll go straight to class!" She looked around the office a little more, waiting for a condescending reply. "Alright! I'm going now!" She could hear her voice echoing as she backed out of the office.
A loud moan sounded from behind her as she backed into the hall way. "Ok, Sister, when can I serve my detention?" Alice said with a hint of embarrassment in her voice.
The only reply was another loud and deep moan. Alice turned questionably to the sound.
"Oh! Beth!" She shouted when she saw her friend. Alice flung her arms in the air, almost ready to hug the classmate before her. "Wait a minute. . . what's wrong with you?" Alice dropped her arms, and looked at the figure before her. Elizabeth stood before her, but her body was now sickly thin, pale and trails of blue and stains of red were plastered along her skin. The creature moaned once more.
"Oh. . . right," Alice's voice dropped as the realization came over her, "thanks for the warning mom. . ." she said slowly to herself. The creature reached toward her, and took a step forward. "Sorry Beth, I gotta go!" Alice turned in a slight panic, and ran up the hall.
She could hear more loud moaning, and she saw several of these creatures coming out of class rooms, and nearing towards her. All them with their arms outstretched with hopes to grab hold of her. She ran through the hall, passing class rooms, and dodging creatures as she made her way by. She made a left down the other hall, toward her locker. She dropped her book bag in front of it, and ran pass the other lockers.
Alice let out a harsh scream as she felt her ankle slip from beneath her. Her foot had landed on a large biology book, and she landed roughly on her bottom. She looked up at the messy locker beside her, "thanks Beth. . . thanks a lot."
A loud moan sounded from beside her, and a creature was crawling towards her. It's legs were twisted at odd and grotesque angles, and the creature was reaching out only one thin arm. Alice let out a sigh, and kicked as hard as she could at the creatures face. "Sorry Alex," she said as she stood. She limped quickly down the hall, passing a few other creatures. She looked at the glass door leading to the lunch room, several other creatures were pressed up against the glass.
She turned to her right, and pushed open the door leading to the janitors room. It was pitch black, and she couldn't see where she was going.
"Who's in here?" A deep voice sounded in the room.
"Janitor?" Alice said slowly, "it's Ally C. I'm a sophomore."
A light turned on in the room. "Yes, I know who you are. . . I know who everyone is. . ." an old man was sitting in a chair, he as rocking slowly back and forth in his seat. "I know everything there is to know. . . I know. . ."
"You know what?" Alice sat down on the floor before the man.
"I know that all of this. . ." he cleared his throat slowly, "is all your doing."
"Well I didn't know if I gave my friends human flesh they'd turn into zombies!" Alice shouted, a slight hint of laughter in her voice. "I guess that's what I get for letting my friends become cannibals. . ."
"Damn right that's what you get," the man said gruffly, "now you need to stop them."
"How? I don't want to turn into one of them? Plus if they can live with out arms, I'm sure they can live through anything else I may put them through."
"The only way to kill them, is you must eat them," the man cleared his throat again, "before they eat you." The man stood slowly, and made his way towards the exit. "Is it chilly out?" He grumbled as he went outside.
"Thanks Mr. Wise Janitor man!" Alice said sarcastically.
***
"I love chili! Yes I do! I love chili! How ‘bout you?" Alice sang joyfully in the school kitchen. She looked at the watch on her wrist, three thirty. She was standing over the warm stove, and large pot filled with chili sat boiling on top. She was holding a severed hand in her own hand. She took a knife and began carving the thin pale flesh attached to the thin bone. She took the carvings and threw them into the pot of chili.
She took the remaining bones, and threw them on top of a pile on the floor. A large heap of white and red stained bones, and skulls was sitting up against the wall. Another large pile of long strands of hair sat beside the bones. On the other was a box, this box was filled with gleaming red and yellow balls of eyes.
Alice checked her watch again, three thirty-five. She turned off the stove, and put a lid onto the large pot. She picked it up, and tried to keep it's weight balanced her arms. She left the kitchen, turning off the light, and closing the door behind her. She looked around the lunch room, the tables were still stained with red, but there was no zombie to be seen. She listened patiently, but she didn't hear a single moan.
She went out of the school building, and smiled as she neared her mother's car.
"Mom! I made dinner!" Alice said with a large smile.
-Christie
