FULL LOCKDOWN (Book #1)

𝕾𝖎𝖝

"NO."

Huh? I look at our teacher.

"Absolutely not," she says again.

"But, Ms-" I start.

"Don't 'but Ms' me, Dean. We're all staying right here until it's safe enough to leave, whether you like it or not.

"We can't ju-"

"Yes we can," she says firmly.

"My sis-"

"Dean, enough! That man," she points to the speakers, "clearly said to wait until help arrives and that's exactly what we're going to do. Understand?"

First of all, that announcement was made hours ago. It's getting dark, fast. Secondly, I need to get my damn sister before she becomes the next meal of the day. And thirdly, waiting until help arrives is like sitting ducks.

I clear my throat, "Ms Mills, I get it, we're your responsibility but you saw what happened to Sam. My sister is next. And if that's not enough, know that they're evacuating everyone outside of this school as we speak. They're leaving us!"

"D-don't be so dramatic," Carmen says with fear. "The-the military is gonna rescue us, duh."

"No, Carmen, they are not," I tell her like it is. "How stupid can you be?"

"Dean," Ms Mills exhales, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Have you heard at least one gunshot in the past hour? Huh?" I continue, it seems like I'm the only one that's making any sense here. "Or the hour before that one? And even before that one? No, because they've left us!"

"Zip it, Dean!" Ms Mills demands. "Everyone's already frightened enough the way they are. I don't need you making matters worse."

"No, really, Ms Mills. My dad taught me that if an operation is a failure, then the next step is to be a step ahead – which in this case is to get out of this school before we get infected too."

"Could we.. be.. ground zero?" Brayson makes some sort of revelation.

"Possibly," I reply.

Ms Mills has a killer stare directed right at me, still not sold yet.

"M-maybe he's right, Ms," Jace pitches in for me, clearing his throat from the sudden attention on him now. "Think about it – if they were coming to save us, don't you think they would've probably been here by now?"

"What if they're being held back?" Ella questions.

"Could be but I doubt it," he replies. "My guess is that they're evacuating the easily accessible ones so that this place is ready for... Ready for.."

"Forrr?" Carmen urges him.

"For the nukes," he finishes off.

"Shiiiii.." Brayson runs his hands through his hair.

"That is just ridiculous!" Ms Mills exclaims. "You kids need to stop overreacting and get your heads out of those fictional films. What that 'thing' was was a very, very sick girl who needed some serious medical attention. Now quit jumping to absurd conclusions. It won't do you guys any good but spook you."

"This ain't a medical crisis, it's an apocalyptic one, Ms," I stress. "What don't you get? Please, we need to leave."

She thinks about it for a sec, "fine, you know what? Let me at least see what our coach has to say about this. We can't make decisions without the input of everyone," she goes over to the door. "No one moves a muscle. I'll be back before you know it."

"Wait, Ms Mills..." I hesitate for a sec.

But she's out the door already. She maneuvers around Sam's lifeless body. She almost passes him when suddenly he erupts with a seizure. A seizure? Sam isn't epileptic, not that I know of at least. Ms Mills kneels, trying to help him. Then he stops seizing. Ms Mills stops too. She positions her ear to Sam's mouth, listening.

Something isn't right.

It's too quiet... Too still... Too calm...

I blink a few times and on my 13th blink, Sam sinks his canines into Ms Mills' neck. Blood spurts out like fireworks and a blood-curdling scream escapes Ms Mills' mouth. It's fucking New Year's Eve, everybody! Ain't no way. Ain't no way this is happening again. Screams. Blood. More screams. I gotta help this time.

"Aye, yo! Bro!" Brayson gets in front of me. "What are you? Loco?!"

"She needs help, cuzz!"

I see Coach leaving his classroom to help her which stops me. He grabs Ms Mills' waist, hauling her away from Sam. The more he pulls, the more her neck gets torn apart. Her pearl necklace shatters and each pearl bounces off the floor in slo-mo. Coach eventually frees her, putting pressure on Ms Mill's neck. But his hands are so slippery with blood that they keep slipping off.

"No! Stay back!" Coach stops a student from helping him.

Ms Mills is losing too much blood and is becoming unconscious. Sam keeps trying to reach for them so Coach lets go of Ms Mills and bashes his knuckles into Sam's head. Again and again. Finally, Sam stops moving again. Coach slumps back, breathing heavily after the ordeal. Then, Ms Mills begins having a seizure. The chances of two people being epileptic in the same situation?

Wait...

She isn't seizing. She's turning – fast. Very fast.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12..." I whisper and on the 13th second, I close my eyes.

Chaos erupts once more. I do not need to open my eyes to know what's happening. 13 seconds. It takes 13 seconds for the seizure to finish until they turn. Multiple chunks are taken outta Coach's shoulder in the heat of the moment. His students rush out of their classroom, taking the most outta the opportunity to flee or help. My throat is desert dry. Right here, right now, this cannot be happening, but at the same time, this is it.