I go into the hallway by the art room. It is nice to have more light. I feel a little safer. I take a deep breath to evaluate my plan and right when I feel relaxed I hear a loud bang! They must have reached the door I just closed. I hear pounding, scratching, and odd vocals. They are not talking. It almost sounds like they are fighting over the right to the door. I am perfectly happy with them staying right outside that door while I look for Lila.
Walking into the sunlight I feel warm and energized. I cannot be careless. I still don’t know where Lila or Milledge are located. I can still hear the three pounding outside the door but this doesn’t mean I can make as much noise as I want. I walk to the end of the hall to exit the building. The horizontal bars on the doors that release the latch to open the door are chained together. I typically don’t enter the school itself on the weekends. Is this door always chained shut when there is no school? Regardless, it seems odd. It already latches shut and takes a key from the outside. Why does it need to be chained and padlocked?
I have to turn back. I have to get past three fine-tuned athletes scratching, clawing, and pounding at the door to get inside, in the dark. I’d rather not have to backtrack, but it’s my only option. The noise at the door stops, I stand at the line on the floor where the light stops and the darkness starts. I let my imagination get the best of me and take off running. I forget about the blood on my shoes and the puddle on the floor. As I turn to exit the front door I slip. I hit the floor hard and slide another 15 feet down the hall. I hear a scream as I get next to the front door. It sounds far away. It is probably from the back side of the building, the weight room; it’s a woman’s scream, Lila!
I run around the building to the main entrance to the weight room and see something even more strange. There are four guys, teenagers, all extremely athletic, and they are fighting. They have very odd behavior. They yell at each other, but not in English. They are not speaking any language. They just yell and scream like the loudest one wins. The yelling quickly turns into a physical altercation. It is four of my teammates, Ford, Curry, Delaney, and Milledge. Each of them is a different height, weight, and strength. They start to fight one another.
This is unbelievable! Milledge is covered in blood. It looks like he is bleeding from his arms, legs, and even his head. They don't fight like boxers or mixed martial artists. They fight like wild animals. They puff up to look big to one another, claw for each other’s necks, and snap their jaws like they want to bite one another.
They face one another and pace around a little. They are all watching each other like they are patiently waiting to attack. Before I finish the thought in my head Curry lunges at Ford. The collision knocks them both down and Delaney jumps on top of them. Milledge uses this opportunity to attack Delaney. He is easy prey with his back to him. Milledge leans down and bites his neck. I hear a scream. I think they can still feel pain. Milledge pulls his head up and has a bloody piece of flesh in his mouth. Delaney rolls off the pile and stands up to Milledge. He isn’t even covering the wound in his neck. Milledge looks like he is chewing. I think I am going to throw up.
Delaney swipes his right arm sideways in front of Milledge as to claw him and I see a spray of red. Delaney has something in his hand that is dripping blood. He is the strongest of the group, I would expect him to win but he is wounded badly. Milledge stumbles and spins toward me as if he is giving up and trying to leave. I see what Delaney did, he ripped out his throat. It is gushing blood and Milledge cannot breathe.
The fight seemed to fatally wound them both. Milledge falls to the ground, and Delaney turns back to Curry and Ford still fighting on the ground but he looks weak. He falls on the gravel parking lot before he can get to them.
Ford and Curry are still going at it. It reminds me of a dog fight. I catch a glimpse of Curry as he rolls once, he has an eyeball hanging out of its socket and appears to be missing an ear. I don’t want to watch this anymore. It’s sickening. These are my best friends!
If they are all out here, maybe Lila made it back inside. I use this distraction to try to get into the weight room while they are busy with each other. I will just stay along the wall and go into the front door. The door is propped open, like usual, since there is no air conditioner in the weight room. I can hear music playing as well. Whatever happened to these guys, happened after they started lifting. So far, I have only seen these four. I have no idea how many teammates came to lift today.
I get into the weight room and I don't see anyone. At least I don't need to be quiet in here with the music blaring. I check the bathrooms. She is not in there. I check behind every machine that she may be able to hide behind. I don’t see her anywhere. There is only one more place I can think to check. Under the desk in the corner. It’s where Coach usually sits to plan our practices and create new football plays. I walk over there and peek around the corner. Before I can get too close Darr pops out from behind, holding an empty curling bar in both hands. He swings it at me and I duck under it!
“Whoa! Darr! It’s me!”
“Where are they? What are they?”
“They are outside fighting each other. I don’t know what they are. They’re acting very strange.”
“No shit! Milledge tried to kill me but got distracted by something and took off in another direction.”
“I saw him chasing Lila. Have you seen her? Who is here today?”
“Just me, Ford, Milledge, Curry, and Delaney. And no, I haven’t seen her.”
“Where the fuck did she go?” I ask myself out loud.
I want to tell him about Ayla. Being my best friend he has always loved her as a sister too. Maybe that is something he doesn’t need to know about. It will be as hard on him as it is me.
“Get home, stay low, I will find Lila and we will meet at your house to try to figure this out.”
“Ok.”
We walk to the door to go back outside. Before I can step outside I am face to face with Ford. He is calm, like he is tired. His clothes are frayed and ripped in places, he is dirty, and covered in blood.
He has his head down like he is inspecting his shoes. He leans into the threshold of the doorway with most of his weight. He is not breathing hard. Even as a great athlete I would expect him to be breathless from fighting. Behind him I see the other three lying in the gravel parking lot. They are motionless, bleeding, and do not appear to be alive. I prepare for him to attack me. I take a slow step back. He looks exhausted from the fight.
I see him sniff, either because his nose bleeding or he is smelling me like Ayla did. He looks up and sees me. His expression goes from calm to rage in a split second! He reaches for me, his upper body moving toward me quicker than his lower body. He has an injury on the leg he tried to step forward with and his knee seems to buckle. His body falls to the floor and his head bounces off the rubber mat that covers the room. His body seems to be completely worn down like the soreness I typically feel the morning after a game. I know he would kill me if he could, I assume he can if he is proportionally stronger than Ayla was when she was in the same state, but I still do not want to hurt him. I jump over him to get out the door. He rolls over from the face down position and lets out a long, slow, groan as he reaches for me. I feel sorry for him. He is one of my best friends and I would never wish this on anyone.
Before I even have a chance to look around I see a car leaving the parking lot. It’s Lila's car!