The Ravaging

Chapter One

"With everything that has been shown on the news for the last week, class will be ending early today. Please make sure to clean up your lab space and return all of your unused chemicals to the storage room." The chemistry professor gives the students in her class a stiff smile before focusing once more on her laptop, dismissing us all.

"Well, that was fun," my lab partner, Haydee, grumbles before gathering all of her notebooks and shoving them into her backpack. "Can you take care of returning everything this time? I have a doctor's appointment across town, and with all the traffic, I don't know if I will be able to make it in time."

"Yeah, sure, it's fine," I tell her, giving her a smile while she slips her arms through the straps of her backpack.

"Thanks, Alden. See you next week?" She doesn't give me time to respond before she is walking out of the room, a wave thrown over her shoulder in my general direction as she pushes the heavy metal door open and leaves the room.

"Yeah, like we'll even be here next week," the guy who sits across from us mumbles under his breath.

Scrunching my eyebrows, I try not to dwell too long on his words, but it is hard not to with everything that has been on the news lately. Six months of government officials talking about how everything is under control hasn't been too reassuring. Especially since the attacks have been happening more frequently, gradually moving from the East Coast over to the West Coast.

Whole cities have gone dark, no more information coming out of them from the government officials, but it is not too hard to find some of the terrifying videos online. Most people think the videos are fake, something that was created by people trying to scare the general public even more.

Someone clearing their throat draws me out of my musings, and looking up, I see that the professor is looking at me over her glasses, a brow raised and a small smile on her face.

"Sorry," I mumble, so low that I don't even know if she was able to hear me. But, she nods her head anyway before returning her gaze back to her computer.

With all of the chemicals stacked on my tray, I slip my backpack onto my shoulders before walking out of the room. The hallway is mostly empty, only the occasional student sitting on the ground as they type away at their laptops or cell phones.

My converse slapping on the tiled flooring is the only sound I can hear, making it sound like I am the only person in this entire building. That theory is put to rest though when I trip over someone's legs just as I reach the counter where the lab storage technician is standing. Consequently, my arms start to flail as I try to catch myself, and the chemicals in my hands go flying everywhere.

"Holy shit!" a deep voice says, but I am too busy seeing my life flash before my eyes as I fall to the ground to face the guy. "Great, it had to be the acid that got spilled all over."

After spilling most of their contents, the glass beakers shatter onto the ground, and I am not coordinated enough to dodge the broken glass and the multiple acids we had used in class today. My shirt gets sopping wet as it soaks in the liquids I had managed to fall in.

"Come on, we both have to rinse off now."

A hand reaches down before my face and looking up, I see the lab technician standing over me. My face makes a smock sound when I pull it away from the ground as if it was suctioned to the cold floor. Grimacing, I push myself onto my knees before grabbing the guy's hand. Reading his badge, I see that his name is Finn.

The embarrassment really sets in when my eyes land on his face. Brown eyes framed by dark lashes, his nose a little small, but it is balanced out by his plump lips. A tingling starts in my chest, and before I can think too long on the sensation, it turns into a burning. Every place where my shirt is wet feels like fire pressed up against my skin.