Chapter 3
I turn the cold metal doorknob and open the door. The room is quiet, the only thing you can hear is pencils sliding across the student's paper. I walk up to the wooden desk and place the folded piece of paper on it.
"Here's my pass," I whisper to my teacher.
"Thank you, go sit down and start your work." She whispers back.
I walk to the back of the classroom and sit in a seat behind a guy with short blond hair. He has on a green t-shirt that looks like it's been through the washer a couple of times. He's talking to the guy in the next row over, he has long black hair and a blue polo on. He's actually not that bad-looking.
I take out a piece of paper and a pencil. I couldn't help but overhear the guy's conversation.
"Dude, what happened to your arm?" The guy with black hair says while looking at the other guy's arm that was wrapped in gauze.
"I got bit by this dog when I was walking to my bus stop. It looked like it had rabies man. But I'm fine, it didn't hurt, that bad." He says trying not to let the teacher hear.
"Woah, dude. That's awesome! Did you go home after and get bandaged up?"
"Nah, I went to the school nurse." He says with pride in his eyes.
"They didn't send you home?" The kid with black hair says surprised.
"Nope, I told the nurse I tripped coming up the stairs and hit my arm."
"She believed you? She couldn't tell it was a bite?" He asked.
"Yeah, it definitely looks like a bite mark. That old hag couldn't see anything even if she had eye surgery." They both laugh just as the teacher gets up to the board and starts talking.
"Noah, Isaiah, stop talking." She demands.
"Yeah, Isaiah. Shut up." The blond kid says.
I'm guessing the blond kid is Noah and the kid with black hair is Isaiah. I've never paid attention to this class so I don't know anyone's name.
"Okay everyone, turn to page 148 in your books and answer questions 1 through 19." The teacher says.
The room is filled with the sound of pages flipping. I reach under my seat and pick up the book that was in the compartment. I turn to page 148 and start working.
I try to concentrate but Noah and Isaiah keep talking. There's no use, I'll just wait until they stop talking to at least attempt my work. Anyway, their conversation is pretty interesting. I tune in on what they're saying.
"How did you get bit by that dog, you didn't see it coming at you?" Isaiah whispers.
"I was walking by the Metro Lab and the dog jumped over the fence and bit me. I really didn't see it coming until it was already done." Noah says while looking at the pages that the teacher wrote on the board.
"How did you get the dog off of you?"
Noah doesn't answer. Isaiah looks puzzled.
"Noah, how did you get the dog off of you?" He says thinking that he didn't hear him.
Noah is just sitting there still looking at the board. It seems like forever but finally, Noah says something. A low moan escapes his chapped lips. The next thing surprised me. Noah's head smacks on the wooden desk making a large bang echo in the almost silent classroom.
"Dude are you okay?" I hear Isaiah whisper.
Isaiah looks at me with a puzzled look, I guess he knew I was listening to their conversation. I give him a shrug of my shoulders.
The whole class looks back at the sound. The teacher gets up from her desk and walks to the front of the classroom.
"Noah, you're not allowed to sleep in class."
There's no answer, he's just sitting there with his forehead on the desk not moving at all. The class is still staring at him. The room is silent.
"Isaiah, can you wake him up?"
Isaiah reaches over to Noah's shoulder and starts to violently shake him.
"Noah? Dude wake up. Mrs. Smith is going to rip you a new one."
There's still no answer. Isaiah looks back at me worried.
"I don't think he's sleeping." Isaiah whispers to me while shaking him one more time.
Isaiah looks back to Noah with a worried look on his face. The room is still silent, everyone's still looking at Noah.
"Noah?" Isaiah calls out.
In a quick second, Noah's head shoots up. His neck cracks at the jerk. Dark blue veins stretch down the back of his neck. With a swift move, he violently grabs Isaiah's arm and sinks his teeth into it. I can hear the bones crushing at the pressure of the bite. Deep red blood fills Noah's mouth almost instantly. Some falling to the floor in large globs. Isaiah screams at the top of his lungs. The scream scares me a little, I've never heard someone scream in such pain. You can tell Isaiah was terrified. His eyes close. His eyebrows clench up, and his teeth grind together.
Noah lets go of Isaiah's arm, chewing what flesh he has in his mouth. Isaiah drops to the floor in tremendous pain, curling into a ball and hiding his arm. Blood pores out of Noah's mouth and onto Isaiah.
Everyone in the classroom screams and jumps up from their desks and starts running out the door. Before leaving the classroom, the teacher pushes the fire alarm. Beeping bombards my ears, making my headache worse.
A girl with long brown hair is fiddling with her backpack in front of Noah and me. It gets his attention. Noah hurdles himself over his desk and rips the girl's flesh off her neck. Surprised, she screams in pain, hitting Noah's head with her fists.
I look over at Isaiah, he's curled up in a puddle of his own blood. He's barely screaming anymore, just twitching and jerking around on the floor.
I can't believe what's happening. It's happening right in front of me. Did he just go cannibal? What sick mind would do that, I mean at least wait until you're out of school and in the woods like that one movie. Anyways, how in the hell am I going to get out of here? I don't think he's seen me yet. He's still feasting on that girl's neck. I wish I could help her but I don't want to get a bit myself. I think I can sneak my way out.
I carefully reach down to grab my backpack. I grasp the strap in my hand and slowly lift it to my shoulder. I attempt to stand up, my knee connects with the wooden desk, making a small sound echo throughout the room.
"Shit," I whisper knowing he heard me.
Noah's head slowly rises from his latest meal. She's still squirming on the floor, now in a puddle of her own blood. He turns his head, looking straight into my eyes.
His eyes are the scariest thing I've ever seen. It makes a shiver go down my spine. They are yellow. Just like an animal's eyes.
I look around for an escape route. I can jump over the desk diagonal to me and run down the aisle and out the door. I attempt to run over to the desk and jump over. A hand grabs my ankle and I fall on top of the desk and crash to the floor. I look back and Noah is clenching onto my foot. I violently squirm and scream. Tears start to roll down my cheeks. Everyone is out of the classroom except Isaiah, which is silent, and the girl with the brown hair. She's sprawled out across the floor moaning in pain.
His chattering teeth are getting closer to my leg. I throw my backpack at his face and it blocks my leg just for a second. I flare around and finally, his hand lets go taking my flip flop with it. My other flip flop flies off as I'm trying to get up.
I run out the door, leaving Isaiah and the girl on their death bed. I run down the long hallway toward the stairs, my feet patting across the tile. The floor is cold underneath my feet. I still have tears falling from my face. My busted lip is throbbing.
Before I run down the stairs, I put my back against the wall under a sign that says "Third Floor". I look back at the empty classroom. The whole hallway is quiet except for the quiet whimpers coming from my mouth and the fire alarm that I try to blur out.
I almost got my leg torn off! I look down at my ankle. It's still red from the grip Noah had on me. I reach down and rub my irritated skin. My breathing is slowing, and I'm beginning to relax. Thank God that's over.
A loud bang brings me back up to my feet. I jerk my head toward the classroom at the end of the empty hallway. My eyes grow wide with fear. Noah, Isaiah, and the girl walk out of the classroom and start walking down the hall toward me. They're still bleeding from their wounds and their clothes are all bloody. All of them have yellow eyes and pale skin. When they see me, they start sprinting towards me growling and moaning.
I spin around and jolt down the stairs. I put one foot after another, making sure I don't fall. I've seen it in movies. You fall, it's all over.
"Help! They're after me! Help me!" I scream.
The hallway and stairway are empty, nobody is in sight. No teachers, no students, nothing. I feel a pulse of pain running up my leg. I fall to the floor before the second part of the staircase.
"Of course I fall, just my luck," I mumble to myself.
I rub my twisted ankle and scream for help. I hear their footsteps walking down the stairs. I crawl down the last flight of steps. Their footsteps getting closer.
I get to the bottom floor, my ankle still throbbing. I start crawling down the hallway.
The three of them are now down the staircase. They're moaning and shuffling towards me and they're about five feet away.
"Help me, somebody! Help!"
A hand grabs my arm and I'm dragged across the floor. I close my eyes, waiting for the pain of getting a chunk of skin eaten out of you would bring. I hear a huge slam. Everything goes dark and quiet. The only thing I can hear is my breathing and heartbeat.
I'm dead, I have to be. Well, I would rather be dead than out there.
"Are you okay?" A deep voice breaks the silence.
My eyes snap open at the sound of the deep voice. Bright blue eyes hover over mine and blond hair falls to the top of his ears. It was the most surreal thing I've ever seen, well at the moment. The sound of his voice made me feel safe and secure.
"Hi." The voice says cheerfully.
I'm too stunned to say anything. What just happened? I can feel my body easing up, my heartbeat slowing.
"Are you going to say something to the guy that just saved your life?" The voice smirks.
I could only force one word out of my mouth. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." He says joyfully. It takes me a minute to realize he's on top of me.
"Where are we?" I force it out of my mouth. I can barely see. It's almost pitch black. The only thing I can make out are the eyes of my rescuer.
"We're in a janitor's closet." He says, laughing while getting up off of me.
I sit up and look around. I can see the outline of a mop and a broom in the corner. We're sitting next to a mop bucket and I can smell the clean soap still in the water.
"Again, thank you for saving me. Things could have gotten bad out there."
"No problem." He says, smiling.
The room goes silent, I stare into his aqua irises. I can't look away, they're too beautiful. He sees me staring into his eyes and clears his throat. I look away embarrassed.
"Well, we can't just sit here. Those three aren't the only ones in this school."
"There's more... like that?"
"Yes, there's an outbreak going around the city."
"What happened to them?"
"They got bit by someone or something that had the infection."
"What infection?" I question.
"Apparently, the Metro Lab downtown made the virus. I heard they were trying to find a cure for cancer. But, what they wanted to happen didn't, and the virus killed all the cells in the bodies instead of cancer filled ones."
"How did it spread so fast and why are they bitting people?" I ask.
"I don't know. Maybe a test subject got loose and started biting people. I have no idea why they bite people. Maybe it's a symptom."
There's a loud bang on the door I just came through. Followed by moans.
"How are we going to get out of here?" I ask.
He looks around the room. Stopping at the air vent on the ceiling. He gets off the ground and steps onto a chair that was behind the mop bucket. He hits the air filter and it pops up and into the vent. Then he jumps down and holds out his hand.
"Follow me." He holds out his hand, and I take it. He helps me to my feet. A sharp pain fills my ankle. I fall to my knees, forgetting about it being sprained.
"Ow." I moan in pain.
"Are you hurt?"
"Yeah, my ankle hurts, I think I sprained it."
"Come here, I'll help you." I grab onto his red t-shirt as he helps me up and puts my arm over his shoulder. I can feel his muscles tense from the weight of me. He helps me step up onto the chair. He lifts me by my backside and hurdles me into the vent. I pull myself up and climb in.
My hair flows gently from the cool air passing through the vent. The thin metal feels cold to the touch. I crawl down the vent so he could get in.
"Coming up." He shouts from below. He shoots up into the air vent like he had no problem doing it.
"Keep going." She says while pointing down the vent.
"So, I didn't hear you mention your name." I hear from behind me.
"It's Summer, and what's yours?"
"Layke."
"That's an interesting name," I say while looking back at him.
"Thank you, so is yours." He says while smiling.
"Thanks." I blush.
"How old are you?" He asks from behind me.
"A woman isn't supposed to reveal her age." I start to laugh.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Seventeen... I'm seventeen. And what about you?"
"Eighteen, turning nineteen in two weeks ."
"Are you a senior?" I ask.
"Yes, I'm so happy to be graduating."
"I bet," I say.
If there's an outbreak doesn't that mean it's going to spread to the rest of the country or the world? What will we do?
"What's your favorite color?" Layke says from behind me.
"Purple. Yours?"
"I don't have one. I like them all." Layke's deep voice says from behind me.
"Even pink?"
"Yeah, it's a really pretty color. Just like you."
I suddenly stop when I hear the compliment. Is he really complimenting me? I don't think I'm that pretty. I can feel my cheeks turn red. I feel something bump into my backside. The feeling making me jump.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you stop." Layke says.
"It's okay," I say like it meant nothing.
He just touched my butt! Oh my gosh, he must be embarrassed. Wow, he's gotten farther in the last two minutes than anyone has.
I look back at him, and he smiles. "Thanks."
"For what?" He says confused.
"Saying I'm pretty."
"No problem."
I turn around and keep crawling. Soon we come up to another vent filter and the temperature begins to decrease.
"I think this is where we need to get out." I hear from behind me. I crawl past the vent so Layke can go out first. He pops the filter out and it falls to the ground making a loud crashing sound that echoes through the empty hallways.
He jumps to the ground with the sound of his black Converse echoing through the hallways. I stick my feet out to where I'm sitting with him under me.
"Jump, don't worry. I'll catch you." He says while winking.
I jump and land into his arms, and they stop me from hitting the ground. He lightly sets me down and puts my arm around his neck.
"Where to malady?"
"I guess the parking lot," I say while blushing.
We walk down the hallway and step through the large glass doors that lead to the parking lot. To our surprise there are people everywhere, screaming, yelling, and crying. There are about a dozen police cars and ambulances surrounding the parking lot.
Just as we step outside a girl with short brown hair, a huge hole in her neck, and a long, bloody, green sundress runs out of the building and lunges at Layke and me.
"Oh, shit!" I hear Layke shout.
Just before she grabs us a police officer shoots her in the chest. Nothing happens. It just slows her down, but not for long. She lunges at us again. Layke and I drop to the ground, him on top of me. I shut my eyes in fear. I hear gunshots, then it's silent. The only thing I see when I open my eyes is Layke's blue eyes.
We both smile at each other until a police officer helps Layke stand up.
"That was pretty brave, what you did for your girlfriend." The police officer says.
"She's not my girlfriend." He says blushing.
I can feel my cheeks turning red again. Does he want to be? I sigh while Layke helps me stand up again.
"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" Layke says with concern in his voice.
"No, I'm fine," I say trying to form a smile on my face.
Of course, I meet a decent guy and it's probably the last time I will see him. I should have seen this coming.
"Are you two okay?" The police officers ask.
"Yeah, we're fine," Layke says while tapping me on the back.
I turn my head to someone screaming my name. Monica and Cameron are running over to me. Cameron's brown curly hair bounces when he runs, the hood of his jacket bumping his back with every step. Monica's long black hair flys past her shoulders, her brown eyes focused on me. Her purple blouse hangs off her shoulders. A huge smile on her face. They stampede toward me and halt to a stop almost pushing me over.
"We thought you were dead! We didn't see you come out of school!" She screams while wrapping her arms around me and squeezing tight.
"No, I'm fine."Monica lets go of her death grip and looks up at Layke.
"And who is this hunk?" She says while looking at me with a smirk.
"I'm Layke." He says while holding out his hand.
"I'm Monica, and this is Cameron." She says while shaking his hand and pointing to Cameron.
"Nice to meet you Monica, and you to Cameron," Layke says politely. Cameron just rolls his eyes and walks away.
"What's his problem?" I ask.
"I don't know, let me find out," Monica says while trotting over to Cameron that's standing at the fire truck they were standing at before.
"Let's get your ankle checked out," Layke says.
"This way." The police officer says.
As Layke helps me walk to an ambulance the police officer's radio begins to speak.
"There's an outbreak at DC National Bank. We got more infected than we can handle. We have to evacuate the city." I hear over the radio.
DC national bank? That sounds familiar. Oh, wait... Mom!
"Oh no, my mom!" I scream and break free of Layke's grasp.
I hobble toward my car still parked in the parking lot. I'm about halfway when a voice stops me.
"Summer wait!" I hear Layke scream after me.
I stop and look back. Layke is standing at the ambulance truck, he's looking straight at me.
"I don't get a thank you for saving your life again?" He yells across the parking lot.
"Thank you, Layke," I yell trying not to blush. I turn around and keep limping toward my sparkling blue car.
"Maybe we can do it again sometime." I turn around and give him a huge smile.
"It's a date." A smile spreads across his face, his eyes start to shimmer. I continue limping toward my car. As soon as I get there I hop in and look in my pocket for my keys.
"Where are my keys!" I yell anxious to get to my mother. I must have left them in my backpack. I sigh. What do I do now? I quickly remember my mother putting a spare in the glove compartment.
I reach over the center compartment and open the glove box. Right on top of a couple of papers is the key. I grab it and shove it into the ignition. I start the car and pull out of the parking lot, speeding down the road.