twitching beneath Timothy and rolled over onto his stomach. His limbs contorted and he got to his feet. His face was smeared with blood and completely vacant of any human emotions.
I had to act fast or I would be their next meal. I spun around and ran towards the front of the class; grabbed the Bunsen burner and tossed it towards the jars of foetuses behind the two infected. The Bunsen burner crashed into a couple of jars shattering them and instantaneously setting alight the alcohol inside. The flames engulfed Mr Gibson and Timothy, but they did not scream in pain or even twitch.
Mr Gibson slowly inched closer to me and as he gnarled his mouth, I saw flames washing around inside his mouth – burning his tongue and gums. He let out a devilish screech and then collapsed to the floor. Timothy was down on his hands and knees, crawling towards me while he clawed at his flaming face. He too finally collapsed and stopped moving while a duvet of flames covered them.
“What the hell?” I asked myself
What was going on? I heard dozens of screams out in the hallway. Maybe it wasn’t the flu, but it was an infection of the undead?
Michelle! I gasped; I have to find her before it’s too late!
Just my luck; the day a girl finally notices me and all hell breaks loose. Where to start looking for her?
I stared at the two charcoaling bodies a moment longer to ensure they weren’t about to get up again and then walked over to the classroom door.
I peeked out into the hallway. There were blood smears everywhere and trampled students lying scattered along the hallway. The infection spread fast through the school and who knows how far. The only thing that mattered was finding Michelle.
I stepped out into the hallway, stepped over a pool of blood and made my way to the left of the hallway. The building was quiet, except for the occasional scream of horror in the distance. Hopefully most of the students got out before they got infected – what if they got out after being infected? We could have a pandemic on our hands!
I kept as close as possible to the wall as I walked down the hallway.
“Michelle?” I whispered.
There was no answer. She was probably hiding somewhere. I just had to find her.
One of the lights overhead flickered, making me look up. I was horrified to see blood smears up against the ceiling. What the hell happened here? Was someone dragged across the ceiling?
The light flickered and then went out completely.
Just stay calm, I told myself. I cautiously passed a boy lying motionlessly against the wall. His hands were stretched out in front of him as if he was clenching to the floorboards when he was attacked.
I continued down the hallway towards the girls restrooms.
“Michelle?” I whispered again, this time a bit louder.
Rapidly and without warning the boy’s one arm snatched me by the ankle and he growled at me. I tugged my leg, trying to free myself from his grip, but he had a powerful grasp.
“Let go!” I yelled at him.
I kicked him in the face and his grip loosened. I stumbled back, but kept my sights on him. The boy might have been dead, but he was not staying down. He slowly got up and I saw that his chest was just one big cavity. There were no ribs or internal organs in sight. Blood oozed down from the wound onto his pants as he staggered towards me.
Seriously? Why can’t you stay down? I don’t have time for this. I have to find Michelle.
The boy’s cavity heaved as if he was still breathing. He struggled the last few feet towards me and that was when I had enough. I balled my hand into a fist and hit him right in the centre of his face, pulverising the skull. My fist went right through the skull and into his warm brain. I was a bit shocked at the velocity of my punch and twisted my hand a bit. The brain matter squashed in between my fingers. It was probably the most disgusting feeling ever.
I pulled my fist free from his skull and he buckled to the floor. There was no way he was getting up again.
I stared down at the bits of brain still clinging to my hand. I just loved how powerful I was. It was amazing. I was awesome.
I wiped my hand on the boy’s shirt and then continued down the hallway. I had to be more careful. Who knew how many of the infected were still in the building. I kept to the wall again and was closing in on the girls’ restroom.
When I got to the restroom, I halted outside the door. Should I go in? Would she be in there? Boys weren’t really allowed in the girls’ restroom – but given the circumstances I was certain the school could make an exception.
I slowly pushed open the door but a crack.
“Michelle?” I whispered as I peeked inside.
The restroom seemed abandoned.
“Zac.” I head Michelle whisper behind me.
I spun around and was relieved to see her still in one piece. I grabbed her, pulled her closer and embraced her tightly. I was so glad that nothing happened to her. I was hugging her for what felt like an hour and then I realized that we could not stand around. We had to get out of the school.
“What is happening?” Michelle asked hushed.
“The dead are rising.” I whispered.
She seemed shocked, but nodded her head trying to comprehend what was happening. I could see that she terrified, so I reached out and took her hand. Her skin was as soft as a rose petal. I had to protect her at all costs.
“Come on.” I said, “We’re getting out of here.”
“Where are we going?” She whispered.
11
The world outside the school building was in devastation. Severed body parts lay scattered across the parking area. To the left a car stood crashed into a tree. It only took a few seconds for all hell to break out. The infection spread incredibly fast. Those who weren’t eaten alive and screaming ran for their lives while the dead rose from the ashes of the abyss.
Michelle and I stood in the main doorway of the school with our hands intertwined. Neither one of us could believe the desolation of our once peaceful neighbourhood. It seemed that the infection had spread throughout the entire town. Was there still a safe place left to go to?
All was quiet… too quiet. Every now and then a distant scream or siren would break the silence momentarily.
“I have to get to my mom.” I said.
Michelle nodded, but kept staring at the scattered limbs in the parking area.
“How about you?” I asked, “What about your parents?”
“My mom is on a business trip.” Michelle said, “And I haven’t seen my dad in years. He went out for a pack of cigarettes and never came back. I don’t know whether he is alive or not and I really don’t care.”
Michelle was damaged goods. She was not as perfect as she appeared – which made her even more beautiful. Flaws were what made a person unique.
“How far is it to your house?” Michelle asked.
“A couple of blocks.” I said
“Then let’s get going.” Michelle said.
We made our way across the parking area, taking care not to step on any limbs or blood pools. It was the most macabre maize I’ve ever been in. As we walked, I noticed that the fingers on a severed hand were twitching. Could it be possible that the limbs were still alive? Or rather undead?
Could be? If the body it was severed from was one of the undead, I guess the limbs could still have some life in them? Nothing seemed too crazy anymore.
We walked down the street, keeping watch as we walked. One never knows where the undead could be hiding.
We passed a house and I saw a Dalmatian munching on a severed human foot. I was not sure which thought was scarier; the fact that the dog might be eating its owner or a complete stranger.
The dog did not notice us at first. It was too devoted to the fresh flesh and the sounds of the bone crunching beneath its teeth.
I motioned for Michelle not to make a sound as we tiptoed pass the dog. I held my breath and tried not to make a peep, keeping my sights on the dog as we passed.
Once we cleared the house with the
dog, we approached the end of the street and turned left towards my house.
As soon as we turned into the street, we stopped dead in our tracks. The street was filled with infected people just wandering up and down without purpose.
I grabbed Michelle by the arm and we ducked behind a parked car. We both grasped the severity of the situation. We could not back down. I had to save my mother.
“Is there another way round?” Michelle whispered.
No. This was the only way to my house from school. We would have to somehow make it by them without being detected.
“No.” I whispered.
Michelle let out a sigh of distraught and scrutinized our surroundings. I peeked around the back of the car and assessed the street. Some of the infected were still feeding on human body parts they tore from the uninfected.
I even spotted an infected woman eating a new-born baby like it was a corncob.
This was a very dangerous situation. I might be fast, but Michelle was not and I was not about to let something happen to her – I mean, come on! We just started dating. Were we dating? I was not sure, but now was not the time to ask her about it.
“So what are we going to do?” Michelle asked in a hushed tone.
What did she want me to answer? I was not sure what we were going to do. Should we just turn around and abandon my mother? Should we risk getting to my house and finding that she was already infected?
“Zac?” Michelle whispered.
I looked at her and she motioned with her eyes for me to look down. I looked down and only then realized that I had crushed the bumper of the car in my clenched hand. The stress of the situation clearly brought out my strength.
I slowly let go of the bumper and stared at the imprint my hand left on it. Were there limits to my strength and what were they?
I glanced up at Michelle and got lost in her eyes for a moment. I had to test my strength for her sake. If I wanted her to get through this alive, I would simply have to have faith in myself.
I took a deep breath and pulled the bumper free from the car – it tore off like a piece of tape.
“Wait here.” I whispered.
“What are you doing?” Michelle murmured persistently, “It’s not safe.”
I knew that I would not be able to convince her that I knew what I was doing – I myself was not sure whether I knew what I was doing. Both of us would just have to see first-hand what I was capable of.
I stood up and held the bumper over my shoulder like a bat. I stepped out from behind the car and walked towards the first unsuspecting corpse. It was standing with its back to me and I could not tell whether it used to be a man or a woman when it was alive.
Its spine was crooked and its clothes covered in blood. I walked up to it, swung the bumper at it and bashed its head to a pulp. As soon as the lifeless corpse fell to the ground, at least four others turned around and faced me. These were the faces of people I knew since I was a boy. Some of them lived on my street. Some of them went to school with me. But they were not human anymore.
I tightened my grip on the bumper and swung it at the first oncoming corpse. The impact of the bumper completely decapitated the head, but there was no time to marvel at my accomplishment.
I noticed more and more corpses were approaching from further on up the street.
I counted at least sixty corpses making their way to us. It would be a mistake to try and take on all of them.
I quickly assessed the area around me; Michelle was hiding behind the parked sedan, a tree stood a few feet away to my left and then there were about sixty corpses between us and my house.
“Michelle!” I called out.
I kept my sights on the approaching corpses and tried to keep my confident poise – hoping it might intimidate them (which it didn’t).
“Yes?” Michelle called out.
“Are we dating?” I called back.
“What?” Michelle yelled confused.
“Are we dating?” I called out again.
“I hardly think this is the time to discuss this!” She called back.