School Of The Apocalypse

Chapter 33/Sheep and Demons: Burning of the Barracks

I turned and saw Cheyenne singing. She was humming at first, then she began to sing. "No time for rest...No pillow for my head... Nowhere to run from this... No way to forget..." She kept on singing and people started to join in. Hailey, Sasha, Tony, A.J., Noah, Timmy, Zach, and even something inside of me began to hum along until I began to sing.

Soon we were all in a chorus and Graveyard was looking around, wide eyed, struggling to understand what was happening. We were defying him. He wanted to oppress us, but we couldn't be oppressed. We would do anything we wanted to do. Whether that was running, jumping, or even singing, we would do it without thinking twice. "Meet me on the battlefield...Even in the darkest night...I will be your sword and shield, your camouflage, and you will be-"Bang!

Everyone halted. I turned and saw Cheyenne crying, then she fell over onto A.J.'s lap. He struggled to push himself up and hold pressure on his eye at the same time, but he made it and dragged Cheyenne into his arms. He cried. It was the only thing that could be heard anywhere. Until gunfire rained down over everything. Graveyard's men dropped like flies and even Graveyard himself fell. I heard a scream to run and I did. I ran forward and grabbed A.J. He fought me with the little amount of energy he had left, but he couldn't overpower me as I dragged him away from Cheyenne's lifeless husk.

I almost threw us both into the house as gunfire raged to life behind me. I struggled to stand and drag A.J. behind me at the same time. A hand reached down and I looked up to see Autumn! My heart skipped a beat. I had never been so happy to see her in my life, honestly. She grabbed A.J. and hauled him up. I followed suit and we proceeded down the hallway. We made it to the end of the hallway and I turned around and saw the rest of the group hunkered down behind me. They were all here, I didn't have to count them, I just knew that they were all present. Autumn kicked out the back window and gazed over the drop, it was ten feet, give or take, but I saw the bus underneath so it was about a five foot drop now. I saw someone blast past me and dive through the window. I gazed outside at the person as they landed on the bus and stood as if they had just completed a flip in cheerleading. It was E.J. Go figure. Next Autumn went. People began to follow her out the window. I stayed, helping them out. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take them all to get out or how long it was going to take Graveyard and his men to recover and come after us. I turned around and a small object rolled down the hallway. I watched as Reece turned around and then it happened. Everything happened before I could tell what was happening. Reece flew toward me and I threw myself out of the way. He flew threw the window and out into the night. I struggled to stand and I saw as I felt a familiar heat resonating from the air around me. The building was burning. I screamed for people to get out, but everyone was in the same situation as I was, they were struggling to move. I picked up Zach as he laid next to me and hoisted him to the window. I caught sight of Autumn and immediately I threw Zach. She caught him and lowered him through the sunroof. I turned and grabbed William and proceeded to do the same with him as the rest of the group began to come together and regain their senses. I grabbed Timmy next and threw him to Autumn. She caught him as well and handed him to Hailey who was catching people through the sunroof. There were only a couple people left. Noah jumped next, carrying Gracie with him. A.J. went after him and the only people left now were Seth and Bailey. I turned to look for them, but as I turned, the building began to collapse. I covered my eyes and groaned as the heat was excruciating. I opened my eyes as the heat died down and saw Seth and Bailey a couple of feet in front of me. Bailey was caught under a piece of ceiling and Seth was trying desperately to pry her free. I moved toward them and placed a hand on the ceiling. I heaved and heaved, but I couldn't move it. I felt like I, myself, was burning as I turned to Seth. He smiled at me and spoke over the raging fire.

"Go, Josh." He handed me his machete and Bailey's katana. I shook my head since I was too shocked to speak and he placed a hand on my shoulder. "We'll be fine, Josh. We have eachother," he said as he clenched Bailey's hand. Bailey smiled up at me to.

"Get out of here, numbskull. Quit being such a third-wheel!" I laughed a small laugh and flashed a faint smile. I grabbed the weapons and proceeded to the window. I turned around one last time and they both waved at me. I waved back as a tear escaped my eye. I turned and jumped. I landed on the bus and I heard Autumn shout.

"Go!" The bus jolted forward and we flew through the woods. Autumn poked her head out of the sunroof. She didn't say anything, she just grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. I fell into the floor and gazed up through the sunroof. I didn't know how or what to feel. I had lost my home, I had lost my friends, I had lost my childhood. I grabbed the single baseball from my pocket and placed it in front of my view through the sunroof. The moon's embrace encompassed the edges and I knew one thing for certain with no second thought or hesitation at all.

"Their dead," I spoke into the bus filled with mourners. "Their all dead."

The bus remained silent, except for the sound of the engine, until E.J. spoke up in a solemn tone. "We all die at some point. What separates us from death when our destination is our enemy? Hope? Fear? The stubbornness to not accept our fate? Who knows? I just thought it was our job. Maybe we've just been let go. Perhaps that means a greater adventure awaits. Perhaps only more suffering is to be found. Why fight when we lose in the end? Maybe it's just to get TO the end..." E.J. let that thought settle as we all sat behind him and questioned what he had said. "...but maybe Squirrelly is wrong. I think hope, fear, and stubbornness all lead us to keep going. That's how I did it. You can all do that, too. We can fight today, live tomorrow, and die the day after. I guess you can just call me a procrastinator for not wanting to die today. Let's not die today. Shall we?" I stared at his reflection in the mirror as he watched the path before us. He was still crazy, but he was right. I stood and walked to the front. I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll die another day."