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Post by haruhi on Feb 22, 2009 15:59:11 GMT -5
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THE OUTBREAK
Author: Chii - Haruhi
Words: 2,600
Genre: Horror/Adventure/Romance
Summary:
Leah Emerson never imagined she would be facing a viral outbreak of this magnitude; with a friend who wears nothing but black, an overly-intelligent brother and her hormonal ex-boyfriend, will this lass be able to face the horde of flesh eating creatures or die trying?
COPYRIGHTED TO CHII(HARUHI) // DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION
. O . U . T . B . R . E . A . K .
.P.A.R.T. .O.N.E.
.I.N.F.E.C.T.I.O.N
The night before it happened, I was sitting in the park with my friend Zach. There was a meteor shower over at Willows Park in the center of Point Crystal, a town somewhere near the edge of Oregon. In fact, if you drove south for three hours you would reach the state border leading into California. Things around here are hardly exciting but we have some fun, a movie theater, bowling alley and a mall. That night though, we watched the meteor shower. We weren’t alone either, there were a lot of couples and families out there, laying on blankets and staring at the beautiful sky, as several shining sparks flew across it. It was like a dance, a graceful dance. I wouldn’t be able to appreciate it later though...
When everything ended.
On May 4th I woke up to the sound of the most popular radio DJ around Point Crystal, DJ Deets who blasted whatever kind of song people called in for. Rock, Ballad, Punk, R&B or even Rap; ye asked and ye received. My battery-powered radio/alarm refused to shut off even when I squirmed and cursed at it from my twin bed, under my gray comforter. Eventually I decided it would be best to just get up and greet the day. I growled inwardly when I noticed the date on the calendar pinned to the back of my door. A Monday. It was another stupid Monday. Dear God, how I hated them! They signaled the end of a good weekend and the start of another dreadful week of school.
My routine continued as normal: take the radio/alarm with me to the bath, shower, change into clothes for school, grab my bag and some breakfast. In my house things were simple and everyone did everything at their own pace.
Today I decided to go with a black top, with the image of a crying fairy, some ‘Flirt’ jeans from Old Navy and my white converse sneakers. To balance out the outfit I ‘borrowed’ one of my brother’s jackets, which was still under my bed, where I hid it beforehand. It was gray with black stars. My brother had stitched several letters to it, forming words. They read: ‘Property of My Sick Little Mind’.
“Good morning mom.” I stopped at a portrait of a gorgeous brunette in the living room; she sat on a couch, with a little girl and a boy at her side. A tall man stood behind her, hands on her shoulders; they all bore smiles. I reached out, letting the tips of my fingers touch the painting. Georgina Mary Emerson (nee Oak), my dearly deceased mother. I missed her more than I let on and sometimes I wished she could come back. Somehow, in the five years we’ve gone without her... I never once felt alone. That was nice.
My brother, Maxwell, trudged down the stairs, and opened the fridge in the kitchen, pulling out some breakfast hot pockets and milk. He set carton of milk on the counter and placed two hot pockets in the microwave.
“Good morning Maxi-Pad.” He glared at me and I smiled brightly in turn. Maxwell was only thirteen but he was pretty much a genius. He was top of his class, winner of the Science Fair for four years in a row and Spelling Bee Champion for six. I was proud of him.
Not that I show it.
“What ridiculous prank have you planned today?”
“Oh... That hurts me Maxi!” I feigned a hurt expression, grabbing the hot pocket he pulled out of the microwave. It was extremely hot, causing me to drop it on the counter and blow on my hands. Maxwell continued glaring as I picked a napkin, my breakfast and ruffled his hair.
Without another word I opened the door to the front porch and closed it behind me. A familiar figure waited for me at the bus stop near the stop sign. Zach was swaying from side to side, singing ‘Shake It’ by Metro Station. It was obvious he was listening to his Ipod Video. He wore a black jacket, with a gray shirt underneath and skinny jeans. His converse shoes were worn and tattered but still somewhat cool. His hair covered half his face, straightened out and smooth. It was black.
Sometimes I wondered if he tried so hard to fit his ‘Emo’ reputation at school.
“Zacharias.”
He didn’t answer, obviously.
“Now, if she does it like this. Will you do it like that? Now, if she touches like this. Will you touch her right back?” He continued to sing loudly until I sighed and punched his arm. At that he turned and smiled when he noticed it was me. Zach continued singing, even louder, as though I was not there. For good measure, he started dancing as well. Not 'dancing-dancing' more like break-dancing. I couldn’t help laughing. He was such a dork sometimes.
I grabbed his left ear phone and put it in my own ear; pretty soon we were both dancing and shaking our butts. People passing by didn’t say much since we were pretty notorious in my neighborhood for being weird. The moment would’ve stayed perfect if it wasn’t for one little factor.
That was a car. A Mercedes SLK 55. I recognized the person inside before he rolled down the window. What a jack-
“Leah! Baby, what’s up?”
“Cain, don’t you have an ego to go inflate?”
“Ouch, that hurts babe. Come on, can’t we talk about this?”
“No.” Zach was still singing softly under his breath since he wasn’t allowed to intervene in things like this. Otherwise he would risk me punching him. I just didn’t want things to escalate more than they needed to.
Cain Knowles was the biggest player in Point Crystal, and he could be because his father owned half the town. He had ties with the Mayor and the Governor of Oregon, which made the Knowles family practically celebrities. They were rich too. I glared at him as he got out of his car, a gaggle of other boys as well. They were his ‘posse’, part of the rich families that hung around the north of the town. His blond hair swayed slightly while his blue eyes stayed, fixated, on me. I wasn’t going to let him sway me though.
He was just a stupid jerk.
“Ah, before you speak, here’s a poem for you.” I smiled. “Roses are red, violets are blue, Sugar is sweet and so are you...”
I moved my hand and he, being the moron he was, seemed to think he would ‘humor’ me and stood in front of me, face to face.
“..But the roses are wilted and the violets are dead, the sugar bowl is empty and so is your head!”
Cain groaned and fell forward, having been on the receiving end of a well aimed kick between the legs, by me. Before I knew what was happening, one of his pals grabbed my arm and pulled it forcefully. He let go, though, when someone’s fist made contact with his face. I was pulled back and before I knew it I found myself on the morning bus to school. Zach nudged me so I’d move and sit down next to the window. My breath was a bit on the harsh end so I decided to take stick to some deep breathing, then turned to the guy next to me pulling out some 5 Brand gum.
“Did you just punch that guy?”
“Yeah. Momma says it’s impolite to grab girls like that.” Momma McGill, as almost everyone called her, was a rather strict if not forceful woman. Hell, she thought I was going to marry Zach when he brought me over to his house. She still drops hints like mad.
“You didn’t need to do that.”
For a moment Zach gave me this weird look, like he thought I was retarded or mentally deficient. He then grunted and stared forward. My mouth was shut so no words came out, my tongue feeling a bit dry too.
As the bus stopped in front of a red brick building I wondered if there was something else to my friend’s odd expression. It wasn’t that weird that he defended me but he wasn’t a really physical person. It took me by surprise. I stared up at the sign of the building as I walked towards the entrance. Lake-View High, one of the three high schools around the area. It wasn’t far from my house but I didn't want walk, although that could be because I’m lazy.
Zach called out to me and said we’d meet up later. He took homeroom on the first floor while I did on the second. The only classes we had together were Chemistry and AP English though. I trudged off through the hall, greeting some people and sneering at others. My school was too stereotypical and cliquey sometimes. I waltzed into Mr. Whitfield’s Geometry Classroom, placing my bag at a desk next to the windows, near the front of the classroom. People around the room chatted while I stared out at the clear sky, streets and buildings visible from my current position. Other students checked their homework, studied their notes for tests or gossiped about the latest scandal that involved a cheerleader, the football coach and, oddly enough, maple syrup.
The school announcements came on, Mr. Whitfield told us to settle down and listen then began his lesson on reviewing the geometric figures and the postulates. My mind was somewhere else completely...
“Mr. Whitfield.” I did, however, noticed when the assistant principal came to our classroom, along with the Chemistry teacher and the P.E teacher. He asked us to stay calm but once he left the room was abuzz with whispers and curious questions.
“Hey Leah, what do you think happened?”
“Don’t know...” I stared outside again and frowned. Some of the school guards were calling out to a man who was just standing out in the school courtyard. From what I could see he was wobbling slightly. The guards came closer and one placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around. After some seconds of nothing the man lunged forward at the guard who put his hand on his shoulder. I sat up, my chair falling back and clanging on the floor.
“What the hell?”
The man didn’t seem to be punching or clawing, more like... biting? My breath hitched as I saw the stranger take a couple of bites out of the guard’s arm. The other was pointing a baton at him, then whacked him over and over. The stranger lunged at him and overpowered him, while the other guard was holding his arm and screaming. We could hear the muffled sounds but no one had paid attention until I had fallen down to my knees.
“Leah? Hey Leah, what’s wrong?!”
“Hey, Whats up with Emerson?”
They stared out the window and began getting up, watching the scene in the courtyard unfold. Mr. Whitefield and the other teachers ran over to the three men, some of the other students gasped as the strange man lunged for the assistant principal. The first guard had gotten up, his arm still heavily injured and bleeding, then lunged right for Mr. Whitfield who was taken by surprise. From my place I watched as he aimed right for our Geometry teacher’s neck.
“Oh my god! Oh my god!” My mouth released the chant over and over and over again. Several of the other students were screaming and crying at the bloody scene that was playing out. We couldn’t believe it. It was like something out of a horror book. The door to the room slammed open and Zach came in, along with some other students who were looking pale and distressed.
“WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!” He screamed, coming forward and pulling at my arm while some of the other students moved to grab their bags, other were still watching out the window in disgust and horror.
"Zach! Z-Zach, whats going on?!"
"Its the freaking Apocalypse!"
I stumbled, when another student pushed past me yelling these words. I felt as though I couldn't move, and I found myself being pushed and shoved in a sea of people, all panicking and screaming. I looked back at my classroom.
The others students who came in through the door were moving inside the classroom, clamoring around their friends or watching out the window. It was the last thing I saw before I was pulled out of there, Zach moving and pushing people in front of him so they would let us through. We stopped at the stairs and began going down, all the while I screamed at him to stop and explain. He froze and stretched out an arm for me to stay behind him. Some students were coming up the stairs to the second floor. They weren’t normal though, but slower.
Their clothes were bloodied and ripped, tattered and torn. Several of them had scratches on their arms, faces or legs. They were seeping blood, missing chunks of their bodies. They were moaning and groaning horribly. I thought I would throw up. A group of students from the second floor ran down and Zach pushed me back so we were against the wall. The kids screamed and yelled out in pain as the ones coming up the stairs attacked them; I realized they were being eaten, eaten alive! Wasting no time, I ran up the steps along with Zach. People were running around and screaming now as we headed down the hall, pushing past people and reaching the door for the fire escape. Zach pushed against it and punched at it but it would not budge.
“Dammit!” He ran a hand through his hair and then spotted the fire alarm nearby, he pulled it and a loud warning tone ran through the hall. It only seemed to make everyone panic more, but the door to the fire escape opened and we rushed out, down the ramp and steps quickly. I noticed a lot of other students followed as well, once they saw the exit. It led down and into the school’s parking lot. While we ran I noticed Cain, stumbling over himself to open his car. Pulling Zach with me, I stopped by Cain.
“We need to go with you!” I said as he opened the car and got in. He glared at me and I just couldn’t believe he could be thinking about leaving us here. I slammed my fist on the hood of the car and he responded, unlocking the passenger and backside door. Zach and I stumbled inside, closing the doors as Cain turned on the car. One of ‘them’ had reached us and was pounding on the hood of the car now, screaming shrilly. I noticed it was Mr. Whitfield, with blood spurting from his neck and other places. Cain froze in fear until Zach punched him and he hit the gas, moving forward and taking Mr. Whitfield with us. He drove and our teacher fell off and onto the ground.
“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god.” It became my mantra as I squealed and cried; gasping when strong arms wound their way around me and my face was pulled into a chest. Zach was holding me tightly. I could still hear the screams of people on the streets and the feral noises those creatures made.
“It’s going to be alright Leah, just calm down...” He patted my head and whispered reassuring words while my nails dug into his arms. It was a good thing he had a jacket on.
Little did we know it wasn’t going to be alright...
The end of the world had begun.
.T.O.
.B.E.
.C.O.N.T.I.N.U.E.D.
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