ZombiePalooza - Anthology

#TeamFantasy Pt. V - @Pixee_Styx's "Field Trip Undead"

"Field Trip Undead"

by Pixee_Styx

I hated riding the school bus. My friend Rachel loved it. It was always loud and people got rowdy, which was frustrating to me, but exciting for her. Riding the bus on this day was unavoidable if I wanted to go on the class field trip. We were going to a science building a few hours away, an excruciatingly long ride. I weighed the pros and cons. I loved science, but since my parents didn't have a lot of money, and only a sometimes-working car, this field trip looked like my only chance to visit such a cool place.

At the end of the day, on our way back, I was happy with my decision. Night was falling, everyone had even calmed down a bit, and it was nice to spend some extra time with my best friend instead of being at home doing chores or studying like a normal school night. We were forty minutes from home and it was nothing but a curvy country road and forests from here on, until we reached my hometown.

I glanced over at Rachel. Her short black bobbed hair was swaying with her head in sync with the music from my old iPod. We weren't really supposed to have mobile devices at all. They were banned on the trip, but I managed to sneak it by, because Mr. Arenette--the accompanying teacher--knew I didn't have a cell phone and didn't check me. I wasn't wealthy enough to have one. I didn't even have the new model of iPod, or even the one before that, but my old third generation worked just fine for music. Rachel had been pried from her new iPhone, but I shared my music with her to ease her separation anxiety. It worked great, because we always listened to the same bands anyway. One earbud string dangled from my ear and connected to the other in hers, and The Fear by Skindred blared within.

The students murmured amongst themselves, collectively tired after a full day of touring the science building. I admit, it was nice to lean my head back on the cushioned seat while the bus rumbled on and the music flowed through me. I was feeling quite all right until some idiot thought it would be funny to fling an open grape juice bottle over us. The bottle flew over our heads and it splashed in my face and hair. The foul smelling juice dripped down Rachel's face onto her new Thirty Seconds to Mars tee shirt. Her face morphed into pure rage. She pulled the earbud out of her ear. Some girls behind us squealed from being splashed as well. I put my phone away and tried wiping juice out of my hair with my sleeve.

Cain Yeary burst into laughter, looking back at us from a few seats ahead. He was the kind of slightly overweight kid that was called 'hefty' or 'big boned' by his mother. I had never had the impression that he had much going on upstairs. Throwing things haphazardly in closed settings seemed like the exact kind of moronic thing he would do.

"Stupid jerk!" Rachel said.

"What are you going to do about it?" he said, laughing harder. His laugh sounded like a hyena's. Beside him, a completely average boy named Trey guffawed. The two boys in the seat behind him--who were in front of us--joined in.

"Oooh, she's going to beat you up now!" Trey mocked.

"She doesn't have the guts," said Cain.

That was the wrong thing to say to Rachel. She watched a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and was sure she could kick the crap out of about anyone. She was puny, but she had the confidence of a heavy weight champ. I used to tease her by calling her chihuahua, because she was tiny, brave, and her wild ambition usually outweighed her abilities. I kind loved that about her sometimes, but I could quickly see that this was not going to be one of them.

She went for Cain, just like I knew she would. I was ready to hold her back as she tried, pulling at her small waist as she struggled.

"No, Rach! He's not worth it," I said. "You got one more strike, remember?"