Children of the Apocalypse

CHAPTER I: OUTBREAK

It was a particularly cold November evening for the students of Daisell high, though most had gone home by now. Only about 12 remained after school, including one tall sophomore. She sat, bored as ever, in front of an awfully small underclassman. He sat there shuffling a few papers before he finally spoke.

"So, uh, I'm supposed to tutor you?" He laughed nervously.

"I guess." the older girl muttered.

"But your grades are well above average, i don't understand why you need me to tutor you- uh,"

"Carnation." she gave a sarcastic smile before continuing. "Yeah my mom is really strict about grades, so even though i have an A-, she gets on me about it."

"O-oh. Sounds rough." the freshman said. He couldn't imagine his mom being strict. All she does is sit around and drink. He suddenly felt upset.

"Anyway, not important. What's your name, kid?" Carnation prompted.

" Owen. Uh- Owen Bradley." He anxiously adjusted his big glasses. His braces gave him a slight lisp that Carnation didn't point out. She studied the boy before responding. His black hair fell in waves across his forehead, and his blue glasses covered the few freckles on his dark skin.

"Owen..." Carnation said sadly. "I used to have a friend named Owen. He looked a lot like you. But nowhere near as smart." she smiled. "Well now that i'm here, might as well start studying."

"You really want me to tutor you?" Owen asked quizzically.

Carnation was confused as to why he was shocked. "Sure."

"It's just... the last girl i tutored didn't even listen. She just scrolled through her snapchat the whole time." Carnations smile dropped.

"Blonde bob? Expensive looking clothes?" Owen nodded at her description and Carnation groaned. "Natasha. She's allegedly the most popular girl in school. Actually, I think she's in the gym right now." they snuck out of the abandoned classroom and silently trudged to the gym, where a whole group of students were. When they peered through the door, Carnation recognized some, like the blonde she described earlier, and her bobble headed friend whispering something to her. She noticed a few kids playing a three man game of basketball, but couldn't make out any faces.

" That's Bess," Owen pointed to a short brunette girl, one of the students playing basketball. "She's in my grade." Carnation squinted to see the other two.

"I think that's Conner, the most annoying kid in my grade, and the black haired boy is Terren. I'm pretty sure he's dating Natasha." they both sighed in unison. Unsatisfied, they walked back to the classroom. Carnation suddenly stopped. "I think I left my backpack in the library." They changed course, now heading there.

Both of them snuck in, careful not to disturb the two people reading. One of which they both recognized as Mary, the student council president. Owen wondered how she read with glasses so thick he could barely see her eyes. Another kid, sat all the way on the other side of the room, was one neither of them knew. He was thin, and his dark hair nearly covered his eyes. He had purple headphones on that were blaring so loud Natasha could probably hear it in the gym. His looks were almost completely opposite of Owen's, which threw her off a bit.

After scanning the room, Carnation found no sight of her lost bag. She approached Mary, hopeful she could help. "Hi, sorry to bother you, but have you seen-" without even taking a second to glance up, Mary pointed to a green backpack decorated with flowers, hidden under a stack of books next to the headphones boy. "Ah, thanks."

As she went to reach for it, the boy suddenly spoke. "Touch that, and the stack will come crumbling down." he gestured to the enormous pile of books.

"I know, but my backpack's under there. Hey, why did you decide to throw your books onto someone else's bag anyway?" Carnation threw back, her frustration rising suddenly. All he did was shrug, before calmly and strategically pulling the bag out, leaving the pile untouched.

"Here." He muttered quietly. Carnation scoffed before snatching the floral pack from his pale hands.

Out of nowhere, and before anyone registered what was happening, the sirens began.