High School Hell

by Eve2

High school sophomores discover that Umbrella experiments hidden in the school have gotten out and are attacking their school. Now they must find a way out...or die trying. Please R&R. :)

High School Hell

by Eve

Disclaimer: Umbrella Inc. and all Resident Evily type references and characters, ect., are
property of Capcom, Minority is a song by Greenday, MST3K is property of Best Brains, the theme
song written originally by Joel Hodgson and Josh Weinstein, I believe. Don't sue, really. I'm
more than broke. I've got nothin' you want. I do this for no profit whatsoever, 'cept for self
satisfaction or something. Enjoy.

"Well, it's that time again. And no, I'm not talking about the 'Wheel Of Morality' or an
invention exchange. Time for me to introduce another one of my little stories. Or big, depends
on which one you're reading. It's taken me quite a while to get around to writing an
introduction for High School Hell. Mainly because I didn't think about introductions until a
few months ago when it became appearant I needed one for Sleepy Hollow. People just didn't get
the point of that story. Anyways, more to the point; High School Hell was the second RE fanfic
I ever started and is still one of the only ones to not feature any STARS members, or characters
from the series itself. That makes it special. All the characters are really mine, and based off
of people I know...to a degree. I started it right after IOTB, but wasn't able to give it the
time it deserved and still really haven't. It's ended up as a half assed approach. People will
end up loving it. People love things I put less effort into, and dislike the things I put more
effort into. Weird. Hill Side is sorta the same as the elementary school I went to for
Kindergarden and the first part of second grade. The general layout is taken from my high old
high school, and some of the names, are taken from kids I've encountered in the past school
years. By chance, someone that's known me might run into this story and see a familiar name.
But, who cares, right? They're just names, not the personalities...'cept for maybe a few. ;)
Now, I am on the verge of creating my own online comic site, and I felt the need to complete my
works of fanfiction before delving into my own world of fiction. Happily, both my comic and
this story are based on high school, so it's not much of a change for me to go back and forth
between the two. Maybe someday I'll make a logo for this one, using the picture of the middle
school hallway I took as the backround. I knew I took that picture for a reason. Ah well,
there's been enough blabbing from me. The story in this is simple, kids find truck from
Umbrella, creatures and virus are loose in the school, now they must either escape or find
classmates of theirs and then escape. Ignore the lack of detail and general bad writing style
towards the beginning; I did start this three years ago, after all. ;) Now, enjoy! I said now!
C'mon, I said so!" - Vanessa "Jade/Eve/Fury/Vira" Cohen, September 18th, 2001

Chapter 1

Judy Fox and Nathan Belmont, sophomores at Hill Side High School, were walking down the
outdoor hallway arguing, as they usually did, over homework.

"Oh, come on. Four bucks plus I'll never ask for anything for the rest of the year."
Nathan pleaded.

"No fuckin' way, Nathan. Do your own damn homework. Besides, my services are worth more
than four dollars." Judy tossed her long dirty blond hair back as she talked.

"Pleeeassee! I'll never ask again. I swear." Nathan begged. He was using his puppy dog
look. His short blond hair and big blue eyes reminded Judy of her Golden Retriever, Mr.
Bigglesworth; named after the cat in Ausin Powers. She couldn't have a cat. Her mom was
allergic. Judy was getting off the subject with her thoughts.

"Yeah, you do swear. Sometimes a little too much. Go ask Kara or Zach. Just leave me out
of it." Judy made it clear she wanted no part in doing his homework.

"Good idea. Hey, what's that truck over there doing?" Nathan asked as he looked at the
truck unloading some kind of science equipment.

"I think they're, like, from Umbrella Incorporated or something. They're giving stuff to
the science department. I dunno a lot about it. Go ask Kara, she's the science girl." Judy said
as she opened the door to the cafeteria.

"Yeah, I'll do that. Where is she this period?" he asked as he followed her inside.

"In the chem lab. Not hungry for lunch today?" Judy asked. It was not like him to leave a
lunch period just to get some girl to do his homework.

"I'll grab something on the way out. See ya next period." Nathan turned around in the
direction of the deli line to get a sandwitch on his way to the chemistry laboratory.

"Just like him to think with his stomach, and not his brain." she said to herself as she
walked to the lunch table to usually sat at.

Scott Banks and Alicia Marsh were arguing as they did almost all the time, and always
over the same subject, the process that the cafeteria food went through before the students
were allowed to eat it. Scott had short strawberry blond hair that had went through repeated
dyings, and he was short for his age. Alicia was the opposite in size, she was very tall for
her age. She had very short blond hair that she never did anything to so was usually mussed up.
Judy sat down next to Alicia and was ready to play peacemaker again.

"I'm telling you they deep fry everthing before they serve it to us." Scott said while
taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"And I'm telling you they can't do that because the sandwich you're eating now is not
deep fried, and neither is the pizza or pasta." Alicia replied after putting down her Snapple.

"Look, some if the stuff is deep fried, some is not, and the cheese sandwich has been
lying around since 1974." Judy said to stop the fight at that point.

"Yeah, who knows how old the french fries are." Scott said as he picked up a limp fry,
and looked at it with a disgusted face.

"Where's Nathan, Judy?" Alicia asked after taking another sip from her Snapple.

"He went to the chem lab to see if he can get Kara or Zach to do his homework." she
replied while taking a book out of her backpack, "He offered me four bucks to do it, but I said
no. I have no time to do his work as well as my own, and I'm not a hired helper."

"I wouldn't have done it either." Scott said while biting into his sandwich.

"He wouldn't have wanted you to do it because you get such bad grades." Alicia commented.

"Yeah, I guess. Have you seen that chemical truck outside?" he asked after finishing his
sandwich.

"I saw it while I was talking to Nathan." Judy answered.

"What's it for?" Scott asked leaning forward in his chair.

"I don't really know. I think it's from Umbrella Incorporated, and they're giving the
science department some stuff or something." Judy explained while putting her book back.

"Wish I knew what was in that truck." Scott said thoughtfully looking out a window on to
the concorse.

* * * * * * * *

"Hi, Kara. Hi, Zach. I gotta ask you guys something." Nathan said as soon as he entered
the relatively small chem lab.

Kara Miller and Zach Sullivan were a couple. They were both really bright, and into
science. However, Kara had a lot more energy than Zach did towards work. He was very lazy, and
usually tried to get Kara to do it for him. They were both brown haired, but Kara's was really
dark. She had bangs that came down to her eyes and always got in the way, and her hair reached
down to her shoudlers. Zach's hair was a lighter brown, and was parted in the middle. They were
both looking at a test tube that had some chemical that was fizzing in it. Kara had forced Zach
to put on goggles even though they didn't fit. Zach was taller than Kara and, despite his
laziness, was in pretty good shape. Kara was in good shape as well, but slightly stronger than
Zach, which bothered him.

"Here, put these goggles on." Kara ordered Nathan before he could ask them anything.

Nathan put on the goggles, and wondered how the school could have goggles that wouldn't
fit on anyone in the world, "What is that?" he asked after securing on the goggles as best he
could.

"An acid of some sort, I think." Zach answered.

"You didn't come to ask us if we would do your homework for you, was it?" Kara asked
while Nathan cringed at how precise Kara was with her question. "If you did the answer is no. I
have enough to do myself, thank you very much."

"Zach?" Nathan turned to him in desperation.

"Sorry, dude. I can't." he replied.

"You're too lazy?" Nathan asked.

"Yep, and besides, as Kara said, I got stuff of my own to do. Sorry." Zach explained.

"Do you know why an Umbrella chemical truck is outside unloading stuff?" Nathan asked,
ready to change to subject.

"Umbrella Incorporated?" Kara asked looking up with surprise.

"Yeah, those guys. You know what they're doing here?" he asked.

"No, I have no idea, but I would like to see what they're unloading." Kara answered
taking off her goggles.

"Zach, what about you?" Nathan asked.

"I have no idea what they're doin' here. Like to find out though." he replied while
taking off his goggles. Nathan then did the same.

A loud bell noise disrupted their conversation. All of a sudden there was a loud clamor
from the hallways as other students pushed and shoved their way to their next class.

"What do you guys have this period?" Nathan asked.

"Free period. Why?" Zach asked.

"Let's go see what they have in the truck." Nathan suggested.

Chapter 2

Nathan, Kara, and Zach made their way to the outdoor concorse hallway before the last
bell rang. The concorse could be seen from the cafeteria so while the three were on their way
to the truck, Judy, Alicia, and Scott saw them. Waving, the other three teenagers ran over to
Nathan, Kara, and Zach, about to ask where they were going. Judy reached them first.

"Hey guys. Where you going?" she asked almost out of breath.

"Remember that truck we saw earlier? We're gonna go see what's in it." Nathan explained
as Judy and the other caught their breath.

"If you guys get caught you could be suspended." Alicia commented.

"Yeah, but we think it's worth the risk." Zach said half into the conversation.

"Why don't you go ask one of the science teachers if you can go help them unload the
stuff from the truck for extra credit?" Scott suggested as a legal way to do it.

"I guess we could do that. We can go ask our chem teacher, Mr. Jontson." Kara said
already on her way to the classroom.

Mr. Jontson was at his desk, grading the last class's tests. He was a small, stout man
with bifocals on the bridge of his nose. At the moment the six sophomores entered the room, he
was thinking about how the test scores were lower than they had been in years. Perhaps he
wasn't teaching as well as he used to, but his thoughts had to be put on hold for the six teens
standing over his desk.

"What can I do for you? Would you like your test scores? I have them right here." Mr.
Jontson started looking through the pile of papers for the six tests.

"Um, actually we would like to help unload that truck outside for extra credit." Judy
said putting her hands behind her back.

"What truck in the back?" he looked up at them startled.

"The Umbrella chemical truck. Isn't it unloading science equipment?" Scott asked.

Mr. Jontson stared blankly for a moment, then he looked like he had remembered something
that he knew he shouldn't have forgot. His look then turned to panic, and he said, "Of course
you can! I completely forgot they were coming here today so I don't have anyone to unload the
truck. It would be a great help to me if you did that. Go right ahead, but be careful." He
suddenly rubbed his hands together nervously, hoping that they would do it, and not catch on
to what he was really thinking.

"Okay, we'll go there right now, then. Thanks Mr. Jontson." Judy said as she and the
rest of them left the room.

Mr. Jontson stayed perfectly still and still for a few minutes after they left, like he
was in deep thought, and that what he thought was frightening. He then relaxed a little and
went back to the tests remarking, "I hope they didn't put in there what I think they put in
there."

* * * * * * * * *

The six finally reached the truck only to find no one there. The driver was no where to
be seen, and most of the truck was still full. The air had a strange smell near the truck, and
it was very pronounced. As they walked by the truck they could see that a container, a fairly
large one, that had broken open. From the looks of things they could tell something was not
right.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Kara asked as she walked to the front of the truck.

"Maybe the driver went to tell someone 'bout the open case over there." Nathan suggested,
walking closer to it.

"And about the smell. It's like something died here." Zach said, walking next to Nathan.

"I wonder what was in that case." Nathan said as he got close enough to see the label.
What it said was, No. 2901563-35786: Licker series. Handle with care. Stage: 5. "What the hell
is a licker?" he next asked.

"Why would they send something like that to a high school?" Scott said thoughfully.

"We don't even know what that is." Judy commented.

"Do you think it's some kind of animal?" Kara asked, still not having reached the front
of the truck.

"Why would they send an animal to a school?" Alicia asked.

"Maybe a lab animal or a dead one for biology." Zach suggested, staying close to Nathan.

"Wouldn't they put the name of it on the front instead of "licker"?" Judy asked.

"Ohmigod!!" Kara almost screamed from the front of the truck. The others ran over to see
what was wrong. They now knew where the driver had gone. He was, or what was left of him,
was slumped over in the passenger side. An arm was missing, and appeared to have been torn
off in a brutal way. One of his eyes had fallen out and was on the floor of the truck. His
intestines were all over the steering wheel, and there was blood everywhere. For a moment, no
one could do anything; caught in the horror they had just seen. Then Judy screamed, Nathan
turned away, Zach put his head down, Alicia closed her eyes, Scott stared at it in complete
shock, and Kara ran to find a place to vomit.

"What the hell could have done that?!" Alicia said in extreme panic.

"I have no idea. That's the most sickening thing I've ever seen." Scott replied quietly.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Judy exclaimed.

"I can't believe something could do that to a man." Kara made out while bending over in
nausea.

"What about that licker thing?" Nathan asked.

"Huh?" Alicia sounded out.

"That thing that got out of the case? Do you really think it could do something like that?
We don't even know what it looks like." Zach commented.

"It's the only thing that could've done it. No person could do that." Nathan said.

"We gotta go tell the principal." Scott exclaimed nearly running to the door to the
inside.

"Good idea. Someone has to know about this!" Zach said following Scott. Everyone else
followed.

They were almost to the door when they stopped. They could hear a hissing sound close by,
and the clacking of hollow nails on the ceiling. All of them looked up at the same time to see
a creature the size of a man walking on the ceiling. The thing had long claws, and no skin.
They could see it's brain on the outside, since it had no skull. The color of it was a sick
pinkish-purple, and it opened its mouth to reveal a immensely large tongue, that wouldn't stop
coming out, and a two rows of sharp, pointed teeth. The creature walked forward, opening its
mouth as the tongue kept rolling out. Then all of a sudden, it dropped off the ceiling, did a
flip, and landed on it feet. As they backed up, they all realized that the creature must be
the licker that had broken out of the case. The licker lunged forward, and sliced Alicia's
head off her body. It went rolling on the floor, and came to a stop in front of Scott's feet.
Alicia's body fell on the ground, and formed a pool of blood where her head should have been.
The licker then began to devour her as the others made a mad dash for the door. The licker was
too occupied on Alicia's corpse to go after the others, and they made it inside the school.

"That thing defies the laws of nature!" Nathan shouted while panting.

"Maybe it was just a trick of the eyes." Kara tried to say.

"That was no trick! Alicia was just beheaded by a licker-type thing, you idiot!" Judy
yelled at Kara.

"We've got to warn somebody! That thing can't be allowed to kill people like that! It's
illegal!" Zach exclaimed.

"Tell that to the licker in there." Scott said pointing back to the door.

"We have to go tell the pricipal." Judy ordered.

"We'd better hope no other lickers are in the school." Nathan said grimly.

"How could there be?! Did you see any other cases broken?" Kara asked.

"Umm..." Nathan hesitated.

"Well?" Judy demanded.

"Yeah, I can't remember how many, but there were others." Nathan finally said, hanging
his head down.

"Come on, we don't have any time to spare here. We gotta tell the principal!" Judy
started running for the stairs to the main floor of the school, and everyone followed.

The five of them finally reached the gym, which was on the same level as the garage.
Inside the gym was a bunch of kids taking their gym class, but there was something wrong with
the way they were walking and the way they looked. They were all in gym clothes, but they were
ripped in many places, and some shirts had big gaping holes in them. The skin on every student
was rotting, in some places falling off, and some had large gashes on their body. The students
stagered toward the five sophomores, and in a clearer view they could see that some were
missing arms or hands, and some were even missing eyes. However, the gym coach in the back
looked the most disgusting with his instestines hanging out as he stagered with the rest of the
class. This was something that caught the teenagers by surprise. They hadn't expected dead
people, much less people they knew from other classes, to be walking toward them as if they
were drawing to them. As the class got closer, the smell of death got more pronounced.

"This is just not right." Judy said quietly as she starred at them.

"It's just like 'Night of the Living Dead'." Kara commented.

"And you guys remember what happened in 'Night of the Living Dead'?" Scott asked as he
started to back away to the stairs.

"Yeah, those thing ate everbody they could get their hands on." Nathan said as he
followed.

"Uh-huh, which means, let's get outta here!" Zach yelled while he beat both Scott and
Nathan to the stairs, and flew up them as fast as his legs could carrry him.

"Oh we had a good laugh when we saw that movie, didn't we? It was soo funny to see
people being eaten by those disgusting things. Not so funny is it now, is it?" Kara said
sarcastically while running.

"Shut up, Kara. Just shut up, and keep running." Judy said as she ran.

They had finally reached the top of the stairway that led to the regular classroom
hallways. They had expected to see tons of people running around, and zombies wandering the
hallways, but instead there was an eerie silence and the stench of rotting flesh. They started
walking to the principal's office, but were very uneasy at how quiet it was. Most of the
classrooms had no lights on, which was unusual, and the blinds were down in all of the rooms.
There was not one classroom that could be seen into which made them even more nervous. Every
now and then they could hear some shuffling in the distance, and there was always the feeling
that they were being watched.

"This is even worse than downstairs." Judy turned the corner, making sure to stay alert.

"Yeah, and a lot more creepy. Who knows what's in those classrooms." Nathan followed
Judy around the corner.

They had just turned the corner when they spotted the first person they had seen on that
floor. It was Bobby DeLuca, another sophomore. He was haunched over on the floor, but still
moving.

"Hey, it's Bobby. He's in my history class." Zach walked closer to Bobby.

"Yeah, but he's also they biggest idiot in your class too." Kara commented as she walked
closer.

By closer inspection they could see a pool of blood under Bobby. They could see him
moving, but were unable to tell if he was breathing or not. They could not put their finger on
it, but there was something wrong with the way he was moving. They all hoped he hadn't turned
into a zombie.

"Hey, Bobby? It's Scott." he wispered as he put a hand on Bobby's shoulder. Bobby turned
his face to them to reveal a decayed, bloody face, his eyes clouded over, and a huge claw mark
on his forehead. Scott backed away as Bobby stood up, showing the large claw marks on his chest
that revealed his muscles and bones in his body. He started to move toward the group, but they
ran around him, leaving Bobby in the hall alone.

"He was one of them!" Judy exclaimed.

"Hey, he was always as smart as a zombie. This isn't much of a difference." Kara said.

"Except now he will eat you instead of try to cheat off of you." Zach replied.

"We're almost to the principal's office." Nathan pointed down the hall.

"Yeah, we gotta keep going. Someone has got to know what's going on here." Scott said as
he started in the direction Nathan's hand was pointing. he others followed.

The principal's office seemed completely unaffected by what was happening. Everything was
in order. Not a paper out of place, not a drop of blood anywhere, which made them really uneasy.
The only thing that was missing was the secretary, but she was rarely there on regular days.
The door to the principal's office was closed, and there was no noise coming from inside.
Apprehensively, Scott opened the door as they all stepped in. The chair was turned towards the
window, as if he was looking outside. Still nothing was out of place in the office. The others
looked at Judy and motioned her to go up to the principal. She walked up to the desk.

"Um...Principal Ralston? Hello? There is a really big problem here..." Judy turned
the man's chair around. All that was left of the man was his suit. His face was totally bashed
in, and half of his skin was missing. Judy turned away in horror. The others stood silently
for a moment.

"He's dead." Kara choked out.

"Duh." Judy replied.

"What did that to him? It doesn't seem like one of those lickers." Scott looked at the
principal's body.

"I think the more important question is, what do we do now?" Nathan asked.

Chapter 3

The five teens were standing outside the principal's office; discussing what they should
do.

"Come on! We have to get out of here! The fastest way possible!" Judy exclaimed.

"Are you sure we shouldn't find someone who might know more about this? Like, Mr. Jontson
or someone?" Kara asked.

"It's very easy to get out of here, Judy. We gotta find out if there aren't some people
here that need our help." Nathan said.

"Nathan's right. The door's out are always open. We gotta do what's right. That's
finding people." Scott replied.

"I know you guys are against this, but I wanna find a way out too. Who cares about
everyone else. We could die in here! We gotta get out, and get the police before this stuff
gets outta the school." Zach chimed in.

"Okay, how about this? Judy and Zach find us a way outta here, which shouldn't be too
hard, while the rest of us look for people who are still alive. Does that sound alright with
everyone?" Nathan proposed.

"Fine." Judy answered.

"Same here." Kara said.

"I got no problem with that." Scott replied.

"Yeah, ditto." Zach said.

"Okay, let's get started then." Nathan nearly ordered to everyone.

Nathan, Scott and Kara started down one of the halls, while Zach and Judy started down
another. Zach and Judy walked towards the front of the school; to the main entrance.

"You think they'll find anyone?" Zach asked.

"I dunno. Think they'll die in here?" Judy replied.

"God, I hope not. We got the easy job didn't we?"

"Yep."

"I feel like such a jerk." Zach hanged his head down a bit.

"Hey, if we find a way out, we can get the police. That should help things. Those
policemen have got to do something besides eat donuts." Judy said as they neared the main
office.

"I hope the front entrance is open." Zach commented.

"It's always open. How could it not be open?" Judy asked.

The two made it to the front entrance and could see that outside the doors were more
Umbrella trucks parked in the lot, and men in army type suits were coming out of them.

"What the hell is that all about?" Zach looked out the door's glass.

"Damned if I know. I'm no pyschic. They're probably here to help get this stuff under
control. After all, it was from their stupid company. I hate those guys." Judy tried to
make an educated guess.

When the two pushed on the doors, expecting them to open up, nothing happened. They
looked at each other with extreme panic, and tried to get a handle on what was going on.

"How can they not be open?!" Judy yelled.

"How the hell should I know?! They've gotta be open! It's the main entrance!" Zach was
in full panic.

"Wait! There's still other ways out! Come on! We can get out by the music hallway!" Judy
ran at full speed past the main office, and Zach followed.

They entered the four way intersection where to the left was the cafeteria, to the right
was another exit, and in front was the music hall. Running as fast as they could they reached
the music hall exit. Their only problem were the zombie classmates that were blocking the exit.

"Oh my God! It's the Band!" Zach exclaimed.

There, in front of the doors were the high school band. All of them from Elizabeth Rizza
to P.J Berman.

"Oh, I hate those two girls!" Judy said.

"I don't think it makes a difference now." Zach replied.

Some band members were still holding their instruments. One kid had is oboe in his
right hand, his left one was missing. A pool of blood had formed from the door they came from.
Some of the band members had lost their eyes, and Christine Martin had a violin bow stuck in
one of them. Robert DeGrath had his tuba rapped around his neck, and a part of his brain was
exposed. To the only two living teens, it looked like they couldn't get out that way.

"There is only one way around this." Zach said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Judy asked annoyed.

"Remember, I was on the football team last year. It's time for some tackling!" Zach
charged at the zombified band, and managed to knock all of them out of the way. Judy made a
small squeal of joy, and ran to join him.

As the two reached the doors they saw another bunch of Umbrella trucks stationed outside.
When they tried the doors they found that those too were locked.

"This just can't be! They have to have one exit open! It'd be illegal to not have one
open!" Judy screeched at the top of her lungs.

"I know! I know!" Zach yelled back, "We have one chance left, the auditorium exit!
Quickly, follow me!" Zach managed to puch the zombies out of the way once more, but as Judy
ran by Beth Rizza bit her on the shoulder.

"Oww! That hurt, goddammit! That bitch! I never liked her!" Judy said in pain.

They rounded the corner to the auditorium, and luckily didn't run into any monsters. Judy
was exhausted, and bleeding, and hoped that this exit would lead them out. Zach wanted out,
plain and simple. He could not stand one more minute in that death-trap. All he wanted to do
was go home and eat lunch. Making a desperate attempt at the door, Zach launched himself
at it and fell down as it opened. After getting up, he looked at Judy, and she gave him a look
of great relief. They walked out into the inviting sunshine, and saw more trucks and men in
front of them. As soon as they were spotted, the army type men came rushing up to them.

"How long have you been in there?" One man asked.

"Since this morning." Judy replied.

"Have you seen anything?" Another man asked.

"What do you think? Of couse we've seen stuff! We've seen zombies, and this licker thing,
and our dead principal, and a licker killed our friend, and a zombified band, and one of them
bit her, and we've seen that it all came out of your cases!" Zach yelled.

"That's all we needed to know. Please, come this way. We need to run tests to see if
you're infected." The first man said.

As the two walked with them, a few stayed behind, and if Judy and Zach could've seen what
they had in their hands, they wouldn't have followed them into their trucks.

Chapter 4

Kara, Scott and Nathan started down the hall towards the art hallways. They all walked in
silence, trying to not make any noise with their footsteps. Then in the silence, Kara decided to
say out loud what she had been thinking.

"Y'know...I think we should arm ourselves."

The two boys were surprised at the sudden break in the silence and looked at Kara.

"What do you mean, Kara?" asked Scott.

"I mean, shouldn't we find something we can use as weapons? We'll never be able to help
anyone if we can't kill these things...right?" Kara looked from one boy to another, trying to
figure out what they were going to say.

"She's right. We've got to find something to use that can kill those things." Nathan
agreed.

"Yeah, but where are we going to find weapons in a high school?" asked Scott.

The three of them stood in silence again for another few minutes until Kara put up her
left index finger and got a somewhat enlightened expression on her face.

"Where's the place in the school where you're allowed to cut things with sharp objects
like scissors and knives?" she asked the two.

They both stood there deep in thought for another minute, until Scott's face lit up.

"The art room!" he exclaimed.

"Exactly! They always have the kids using exacto knives and scissors to cut their
drawings and such." Kara said.

"What about the science room? Don't they have scalpels in there for dissections?" asked
Nathan.

"That's right, they do. So...do you think we should split up?" Kara asked Nathan.

"Yeah. How about this, I'll go to the art room and you two go to the bio lab?" suggested
Nathan.

"Works for me." replied Kara.

"Yeah, me too." said Scott.

"Okay, we'll meet back here in five minutes. Does either of you have a watch?" asked
Nathan.

"I do." Scott answered.

"Good. Okay. Remember guys, five minutes." Nathan said.

"Right." Kara and Scott said in unison while Nathan walked towards the art hallway.

The two stood still for a few seconds and then Scott turned to Kara.

"I just thought of something." He said.

"What?" questioned Kara.

"What if there's something in the bio lab? How are we gonna get the weapons? And what
about Nathan? What if he runs into something before he can get the knives and scissors?" asked
Scott.

"Whoa...I never thought of that..." replied Kara.

"Yeah..." Scott's voice trailed off in thought.

"I guess we'll just have to fight whatever we come across...or run away from it." Kara
said.

"Yep, there's always that." He agreed, then turned towards the science hallway. "C'mon,
let's get this over with."

"Right." said Kara, following Scott down the hallway.

The door to the art room creaked opened slowly and the next second Nathan's head came
from behind it, looking around the room cautiously. Not seeing anything inside except various
art supplies and pieces of student artwork, Nathan crept inside quietly. His eyes darted around
the room quickly, looking for the exacto knives and scissors, but instead, his eyes met something
else. In front of him, slumped over the teacher's desk, was what looked like a S.W.A.T team
member, but with an Umbrella sign on his uniform, decapitated. Clutched in his hands was a sub
machine gun. Nathan's eyes widened seeing this weapon and he reached out to grab it. He would've
succeeded immediately, if a single drop of blood not had landed on his outstretched hand. Looking
up, Nathan saw the source of this dripping blood as the man's decapitated head landed on the
desk, making a sickening splash as it did. The head rolled off the desk, onto the floor, making
a streak of blood as it went. Nathan watched with disgusted horror and then heard a familiar
hissing sound from above. He looked upwards towards the ceiling to see another licker hanging
from it, blood and saliva mixing together in its mouth, dropping onto the desk. Thinking quickly,
Nathan grabbed the sub machine gun and backed away from it, just as it fell off the ceiling and
flipped over, landing on the desk.

The licker hissed at Nathan in a hungry manner, getting ready to leap and take off
Nathan's head. Sensing this is what the creature was going to do, Nathan aimed the sub machine
gun at it.

"Well, never shot a gun before...but, here goes nothing..." he said quietly to himself.

The sub machine gun suddenly came to life, firing lots of bullets into the licker and
also some into the desk, as well as the Umbrella soldier and the artwork behind it. The licker
started hissing madly, and painfully as it kept being hit by the barrage of bullets. One finally
hit it in the head, making it fall backwards onto the wall, and then onto the ground, dead. For
a few moments, Nathan stood shocked at what he had just done, the only noise coming from the
dripping blood onto the desk and floor. Then suddenly, Nathan shook it off, going back over to
the Umbrella soldier. Looking around the man's body, he found a pair of handguns, some clips for
them, and holsters. Taking all of these weapons, Nathan headed towards the door with an almost
pleased expression on his face.

Opening the door cautiously, Scott peeked his head into the biology lab. He motioned to
Kara behind him that the coast was clear, and the two stepped inside the room. The lights were
off in the room, making it a little hard to see with all the blinds shut. Kara fumbled around
for a light switch and finally found one. All at once, the room lighted up in artificial,
florescent light, illuminating the fact that there had been a fight recently in the classroom.
The walls were covered in blood, the dark red liquid oozing down the walls, dripping onto the
floor from the ceiling, and smeared on the desks. More Umbrella soldiers were in the room,
slumped over desks, and leaned against walls, as well as several students. Some had been
decapitated, others had been gutted, their intestines strewn about nearby, while others had been
partially eaten. Scott and Kara looked at each other in a shocked way.

"You think we would've heard this, wouldn't you?" Kara asked.

"Hell yeah. I mean, we would've heard gunshots, screaming, and other assorted painful
noises." answered Scott.

"Then what the fuck do you think happened here?" Kara said.

"I have no fucking clue...buuut...you think those army looking dudes might have some
guns or something on them? Sure, scalpels are great, but guns are better." Scott replied,
walking over to one of the Umbrella soldiers.

"You've never fired a gun, Scott. And neither have I." commented Kara.

"First time for everything, Kara. This is a life and death situation. We gotta use them."
Scott said.

"Hmm...good point. Find one for me, will ya?" answered Kara.

Kara stood in the middle of the room, trying not to touch any of the blood covered desks,
or walls. Scott carefully walked over to one of the soldiers, checking to see if he had any guns
on him. The soldier had his intestines half on the floor and half inside of him. The ordor coming
from them made Scott become a little nauseous, but he continued to check the body for any
weapons. Soon Scott found a small handgun, with a clip still in it.

"There's only one gun here, Kara." Scott commented as he inspected the body.

"Fine, just take it. I'll find another one somewhere else." replied Kara quickly, with
almost an impatient tone.

Carefully Scott picked up the handgun and held it in his right hand. Then he looked at
Kara, who was still trying to not touch anything. They two just stood there for a moment in
thought. The moment of silence was broken by a low hissing sound coming from behind the
teacher's desk. It did not sound like the hissing sound of a licker, more like the sound that
came from...a lizard. Scott backed away from the soldier and went over to Kara as she was
beginning to back away.

"Kara...was there a lizard in the bio lab?" Scott asked slowly as he backed away.

"Yes...but I don't remember it sounding this hostile..." she replied.

From behind the teacher's desk emerged a large lizard, larger than a regular lizard in a
classroom would be. Its long body featured light green scales, all looking very pointed and
sharp. Its claws made a clicking sound as it slowly walked towards Kara and Scott. It opened
its mouth, revealing a long tongue, similar to the licker's, hissing at them meanly. It drooled
with another hiss, this time sounding more hungry. The ravenous look in the lizard's glowing
red eyes confirmed the hunger it had, as it leaped for the two teenagers. Kara leapt to the
left while Scott leapt to the right. The lizard missed the two, but rebounded quickly, going
after Scott.

Scott ran towards the door, but was quickly knocked down by the lizard at him. Its weight
held Scott down as he struggled to get up. The lizard almost smiled as it opened its mouth,
letting out the long tongue. The wet tongue slithered all over Scott's right cheek, almost as
if it was tasting him to see if he was good. With incredible speed, the lizard retracted its
tongue, seeming pleased with Scott. It hissed one more time, letting its claws dig deep into
Scott's back, him screaming from the pain. This seemed to please the lizard even more, as it
opened its mouth wide, readying its tongue to pierce into Scott. Out of nowhere, Scott heard
a loud shotgun blast, or at least what seemed like what a shotgun blast would seem like, him
never actually hearing one before. He felt the heavy lizard fall off his back, a stinging pain
accompanying, due to the lizard's claws being suddenly ripped out of his back. Another loud
blast was heard, the lizard screeching in pain. One last blast silenced the creature, its
screech slowly dying out. Scott first looked at the body of the lizard, bleeding profusely,
resembling more of a bloody pulp than a lizard. Then he looked to where the shotgun blasts had
come from. Looking up and to his left his eyes met Kara, carrying a large smoking shotgun she
had picked up from one of the soldiers. She had a small smirk on her face, it looking overall
satisfied. Kara took the shotgun and held it one hand, reaching out to Scott with the other.
Looking at the hand for only a second, Scott took it as Kara began to help him up. Once his
feet were both firmly planted on the ground, he stared at Kara in a way he had never looked at
her before. To Scott, Kara had always seemed timid, shy, someone who would never pick up a
shotgun out of nowhere and kill a creature. She had not known how to fire a gun ever and just
picking up one and shooting, without thinking at all, was not something Scott had thought of
Kara doing. Nonetheless, there she was, standing right in front of him, a smoking shotgun in
one of her hands, and a pleased expression on her face. Scott shook off his thoughts quickly,
bringing himself back to the present moment.

"You okay, Scott? Looked like that thing had you good." Kara asked, her expression
turning more sympathetic.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just gots some claw marks in my back." he replied, trying to look behind
himself to inspect the damage.

Kara turned Scott around immediately, inspecting the holes in his shirt and the bleeding
coming from his back. "Once we find Nathan we'll have to get you to the infirmary. There
should be something there to take care of that." she ordered.

"Uhh...yeah, okay. How about we go look for Nathan now, huh? It's been about five
minutes now." Scott suggested.

"Yeah, good idea. Let's go." agreed Kara.

The two quickly made their way to the door, exitting, shutting the door hard as they left.

Chapter 5

Nathan cautiously walked down the hallway, getting back to the meeting point his friend
and him had agreed on not too long ago. He held the submachine gun tightly in his hands, acting
as if it was the only thing keeping him from dropping dead that very instant. Down the hall, he
spotted his two friends. Scott, holding a handgun and looking a tad pained, and Kara, brandishing
a shotgun, looking worried yet pleased all at the same time. He ran to catch up to them, the two's
eyes lighting up when noticing him.

"Thank God, you guys are okay!" Nathan exclaimed when he had arrived.

"Injured, but okay." replied Scott, trying to touch his back gingerly.

"What happened?" inquired Nathan.

Kara glanced at Scott quickly, then looked at Nathan. "This lizard creature in the lab
attacked Scott. Caught him from behind, digging its claws into his back."

"Goddamn fucker." Scott added, still trying to touch his back.

"I killed it with this shotgun here. It's a lot harder to fire guns than I thought it
would be. You shoulda seen the lab, man! It was covered in blood. Floor, walls, desks, everything!
I'm beginning to doubt we're gonna find anyone in here alive. I mean, think about it. By the time
we got up here from the gym, soldiers came in and got killed by these creatures. Maybe it'd be
better if we just got the fuck outta here." Kara said.

"C'mon, Kara. Do you think your classmates would leave you to die in this situation?"
asked Nathan.

"Yes." she answered quickly.

"Oh....anyways, guys, we gotta find someone. Not everyone's dead. There has to be some
students alive and I say we find them and get them outta here. Hell, we could be put on the news
as fucking heroes, guys! Heroes! Think about it!" Nathan said.

"I'm for saving people, but I don't know how much more my back can take." commented Scott.

"How about we look around for a half hour, and if we don't find anyone, we leave? Okay?"
proposed Kara.

"Fine with me." replied Scott.

"Yeah, sure. I'm for it." added Nathan.

"Well....where should we go next?" Kara asked as she adjusted her hold of the shotgun.

"How about the....freshman hallway? There's gotta be someone alive there." suggested
Nathan.

"Oh, yeah, right. Like this year's freshman could handle on onslaught from the undead."
Scott said sarcastically.

"You were a freshman last year, Scott." replied Nathan.

"Yeah, but this year's isn't as tough. Think about it." said Scott.

Kara began walking towards the freshman hallway, shotgun in hand. She turned back to her
two friends. "Guys, c'mon. Let's just get this thing over with."

"Right." the two answered in unison, following her.

* * * * * *

It had been the worst day in Shane Atlas' life. Not only was being a freshman hard enough,
dealing with peer pressure, schoolwork, sleep deprivation, and the constant nagging from his
parents, but now there were the walking undead and...strange creatures running around the school,
killing all his friends and classmates. The day had went from normal horror, to chaotic terror
that even Shane did not believe he'd escape from.

Zombies of former classmates had stormed into his history class not long ago, eating and
tearing apart everyone they could get their hands on. Anne Marie Carroll had been grabbed by her
shoulders by some upper classmen, one of them taking a huge chunk of flesh off of her shoulder.
Anne Marie had screamed at an ear-piercingly loud pitch, but not even that had helped her escape
from her death. Most of the rest of the students in his history class had been brave, and stupid,
enough to fight off the onslaught. Adam Blankfort rushed towards the group of the undead, yelling
and punching them with all his might. Unfortunately for Adam, his small size and slight power
allowed the zombies to quickly overpower him, terrible ripping, chomping sounds made as they tore
the flesh from his body and devoured it. Shane wasn't stupid, he wouldn't fight the undead
without a weapon, so he ran. He ran as fast as he could out of the classroom, shoving Nicholas
Arnold into several undead upper classmen. As Shane had ran, he heard Nicholas' screams, feeling
a twinge of regret for what he had done, but more relief that he, himself, had survived. Quickly,
Shane had taken refuge in the empty freshman English classroom, hiding himself in a small corner,
locking the door, and staying as quiet and still as he could for as long as he was able. There he
had stayed, frozen in terror like a statue, for hours. Afraid if he moved he would be dead.
Outside he had heard gunshots, screams, and roars. Above him he had heard strange hissing sounds
in the ventilation, unearthly growling and at one point, he had thought he spotted two green
glowing eyes, staring at him, searching him through. Shane was petrified. He wanted more than
anything to get out and live, but he was too scared to run to the windows, afraid something was
waiting for him out there, too scared to look out into the hall, afraid something would get him
there. So Shane sat in the corner of the classroom in the back, rocking back and forth slowly,
trying to keep his sanity in tact. Slowly, Shane slipped into an uneasy slumber, dreamlessly
sleeping with his face full of fear.

A sudden loud hissing noise woke Shane from his sleep, jolting upwards to his feet in a
flash, looking around. From out of the ventilation shaft came three moderately large lizard
creatures, looking like they had escaped from one of the science labs. They dropped to the floor
with amazing speed, staring at Shane with blank, glowing eyes. For a brief moment, they stood
there, motionless. The creatures, looking through Shane, sizing him up for attack, Shane looking
to see if it was possible for him to make a mad dash for the door. One of the creatures crooked
its head to one side, opening its mouth with a hungry hissing noise. Shane slowly began to back
away, bumping into a desk and stumbling in the process. When another creature hissed in the same
manner, Shane screamed as loud as he could, hoping someone would hear him, but almost feeling it
would be the last sound he'd ever make.

* * * * * *

Nathan, Scott, and Kara wandered down the freshman hallway slowly, occasionally looking
from side to side as they passed classrooms. Some of the windows being completely blocked by
splatters of blood. The hallway itself was much worse than the rest of the school had been. It
almost had seemed like there had been a shoot-out in this one. The bodies of several zombified
students laid across the cold floor, blood pooled around their headshots, getting on Nathan's shoe
as he walked past. Some of the other students looked like they had been shot by accident, their
death face being one of surprised terror. Also littering the hallway were some of the soldiers
that had been all around the school. Some of them looked like they were missing limbs, some sans
heads, some having being gutted completely. The hallway was literally a mess of blood and gore.
The three teenagers cringed and looked a little sick as they slowly walked by the mass of bodies,
the foul smell of decay hanging in the air. In silence the three walked down the hall at a snail's
pace. Then, out of nowhere, a loud scream echoed, slightly muffled, from a classroom at the end
of the hall. The noise cut the silence as a knife would, the deafening sound making all three
teenagers wince deeply, turning towards the end of the hall.

"Did that just come from the English room?" asked Scott.

"Yeah." replied Kara.

"I told you there were people here." Nathan announced, slightly proud.

"C'mon, let's go." Scott then said, rushing down to the English room, the other two
following him quickly.

Reaching the door before anyone else, Scott turned the doorknob, expecting it to open, but
finding it immovable. He grunted at the door angrily, pulled out his handgun and fired at the
doorknob. The blast echoing off the walls of the hallway. Quickly, Scott kicked the door with his
left foot, making it fly backwards with incredible force. He then proceeded to run inside,
keeping his gun handy, Nathan and Kara quickly following suit.

Inside, Shane was on the floor, trembling from intense fear as the the three lizard
creatures were about to leap at him. Scott took aim first, shooting off one bullet, hitting one
of the lizard creatures in the leg. It screeched in pain, turning its attention from Shane to
Scott, hissing evilly at him. Scott took another shot, this time hitting it in the other leg.
Again, it screeched in pain, black blood oozing from its wounds profusely. During this time, Kara
aimed her shotgun at one lizard that was jumping in midair for her. The shot blasted the
creature in the head, splattering brain matter and blood in all directions, some of it hitting
Kara, who gave a disgusted face at it. The dead body of the creature fell to the ground hard,
making more of its blood splatter, then pooling on the slick linoleum floor. Nathan looked down
at the trembling Shane then to another lizard creature, opening fire with his submachine gun, the
creature screamed in agony, bullets pounding the thing into a bloody pulp. When Nathan's fire
stopped, the creature was almost just a pile of dark blood goo, oozing on the floor. Meanwhile,
the wounded lizard made one last attempt at Scott, slicing his leg with its hard claws. This
made him wince in pain deeply, as he aimed the handgun at the lizard's head, killing it
instantly. After it was dead, Scott breathed out deeply, looking down at his now injured leg.
He then looked over to Kara and Nathan who were already trying to calm down Shane.

"Why the fuck am I the only one who gets hurt?" he asked painfully when he had walked
over to the other three.

"Maybe it's because you suck at fighting." replied Kara, not looking.

"Shut up." Scott snapped.

"So...what's your name?" Nathan asked Shane.

"Shane Atlas. I'm....a freshman...my class..." he choked out, frightened.

"You're the only one left of your class?" asked Scott.

Shane nodded and then added, with his voice more calm, "My history class...was attacked
...by those..."

"Zombies." Nathan finished.

"Yeah...zombies...like outta a fuckin' horror movie...they killed my class...people out
there...screaming...dying...I thought I was the only one left..." Shane said, still trembling
slightly.

"Well, you're not the only one here now. My name's Nathan Belmont, this is Kara Miller,
and Scott Banks. We're sophomores." Nathan introduced, nodding to both Kara and Scott, the two
nodding at Shane in greeting.

"Why didn't you guys leave?" asked Shane.

"Nathan figured it's easy to get out, so we should try to help out anyone left in the
school." explained Kara.

Shane looked at Nathan strangely, then back at Kara. "That's pretty unusual for a
teenager or a person for that matter." He turned to Nathan, "You actually care about others?"

"Well...yeah...kinda...I mean, we get to be heroes and everything. I dunno...just doesn't
seem right to just leave everyone in here to die." Nathan answered, thoughtfully.

Shane's thoughts turned back to Nicholas Arnold, how he had pushed him in the path of
zombies, not caring whether he lived or died, just about saving himself. He know realized how
selfish it was of him to do such a thing, and his face turned one of shame. The three other
teenagers looked at him puzzled, then at each other. Kara held up her watch to Nathan, pointing
at the time. He nodded back to her as she pointed to Scott who looked at Nathan angrily and
hurt. He forcefully pointed down at his leg wound, and then to his back. Once again, Nathan
nodded back and turned to Shane.

"Look, we'd better get going now. Scott here has a wounded leg and back. Is there anyone
else that you know is still alive?" asked Nathan.

Shane shook his head and stood up. "I don't think there is, but I wouldn't really know.
I saw my class get killed and that's pretty much it. I've been here for a long while, I think."

Nathan reached into his pocket, pulling out one of the small handguns he had found in the
art room, handing it to Shane and instructing him, "Take this, y'know, for protection. It might
be better if you came with us..."

"Where're we goin', Nathan?" Kara asked.

"Upstairs. The junior and senior hallways. There might be some of them left alive. We
gotta check and see since my half hour isn't up yet." Nathan answered, then continued, "You
can come with us if you want, or you can try to just get out. It's your choice, Shane."

Shane looked at the small handgun, and once again his thoughts turned to Nicholas. This
was a good way to redeem himself. He could make up for the terrible act he had done, he could
feel like he somehow made it up to Nicholas, and to the rest of the school. Shane Atlas
clutched the handgun in his hand, looking up at the three older teenagers with a determined
face.

"I'm coming with you."

Chapter 6

After a quick stop at the infirmary for find bandages for Scott's wounds, the four were
off towards the stair up to the second and third floors. The dead quiet in the halls made
everyone uneasy, like the monsters and unspeakable terrors in the building were biding their
time. Waiting, watching, sizing the four teenagers up and then when they were ready, these
monsters would leap out into sight. Attack with brutal force unknown to the four and they would
all be dead. Withing the dead quiet of the halls, the four teenagers had the sinking feeling
that they would not live to see another sunrise. Adorning the walls on the stairways were
bloody handprints; omens or signs saying to not go any further. This was the last time to turn
back and be safe, this was their last chance. No heeding the warning of the crimson handprints
and smears on the walls, the four reached the top of the stairs and took in another place of
massacre. Again,they had come across a hallway drenched in deep red blood and severed limbs, as
if the hallway had always looked like that. The fight had been so bad that blood was dripping
slowly from the ceiling, making an ominous splashing sound as it hit its cousins in the puddle
on the floor. Scott cringed at this sight, still not used to the copious amounts of gore and
blood. And while Nathan and Kara just stared dead-panned at the sight, Shane became nervous and
nauseous at such a horrifing sight. Seeing the poor kid's reaction, Kara patted him on the back
comfortingly.

"Don't worry, it was like that when we first saw this kinda stuff." She said.

It was amazing how quickly they could become used to such horror, such brutal destruction.
But the fact that the entire school was now just a bloodbath of gore could not be igored. Sad
as it was to now be jaded to such atrocities, it had to be done to survive the nightmare they
were now in. The four teenagers could take little consolation knowing that it was their choice
to come to the upper levels, that they themselves were the ones responsible for exposing
themselves to whatever they came across from then on. There was no time to stand in awe at the
carnage. They had to move on quickly. Scott looked at Nathan with weary eyes and asked in a
sarcastic tone, "Where to now, Fearless Leader?"

Nathan glanced down the hall both ways, taking in everything and all the surrounding
rooms. "Well, Badanov, I think we should head down to the right, the library's down there.
There could be some people there."

"Dah, Fearless Leader," Kara replied with a Russian accent.

Nathan shook his head. "Don't start vith me, Natasha."

In response Kara chuckled a little, while Shane stared puzzled at the other three. "I
don't get it. You guys got nicknames for each other?"

Scott laughed a bit, realizing that Shane had probably not have even heard of Rocky and
Bullwinkle in his entire life. "Nah. It's from an old cartoon from the 60's. It was about a
flying squirrel, named Rocky and a moose named Bullwinkle. They were constantly being hunted down
by agents Boris Badanov and Natasha Fatale, lead by Fearless Leader and Mr. Big. They were from
the small country of Pottsylvania. It was sorta a commentary on the Cold War at the time. But,
hell, it was a funny cartoon," He finally explained as the four walked towards the library.

"Oooh, I think I might've heard of it," Shane answered, his face looking more enlightened.

"It was very popular. My dad really liked it," Kara said, then adding, "Though I hope
you all realize how morbid talking about Rocky and Bullwinkle in a hallway full of blood and
severed body limbs is, right?"

The three boys looked at each other, then all quickly responding, "Yes," in unision.

"Good, I'm glad we're all clear on that," commented Kara. She lifted her shotgun a little
higher, almost as if she was readying for attack.

A large bloody handprint on the glass on the library window was the greeting the four
teenagers recieved when they had finally reached the doors to the library. Another ominous sign.
But it was too late to turn back. Too late for all of them. Without saying a word to each other,
Nathan pushed the library doors open, trying to hold it open for the rest of them while looking
around the room.

It was no different than the hallways, except that the smell of decay was much more
potent and the intestines from the poor unfortunate victims were strewn all over the place.
Kara held one hand over her mouth by reflex, while Nathan and Scott briefly closed their eyes,
and Shane forced back the urge to vomit. This place was smaller and the carnage worse, if that
could even be possible. Intestines from students laid over the plush chairs with defiance. As
if to say, 'Yes, I don't belong here!' The stench of death hung in the air heavily, the feeling
of it being all around them. The Librarian herself was slumped over the front desk, her face
eaten off. All that was left was places of bright white bone and some crimson colored muscle.
No one was alive inside. There was no possible way anyone could have survived that. Blood
covered the windows, the plush seats; turning the color from a sea foam green to a deep reddish
brown. Victims of these horrible crimes were strewn around like trash, just leftovers from a
Thanksgiving Day dinner. Scott looked over to Nathan with sympathetic, tired eyes. "Nathan, I
think we should get outta here. There's no way anyone could've survived this."

Nathan walked over to one of the computer terminals. Sitting in a seat was a girl that
Nathan might've known, but he couldn't remember. Her face was fixed in a permanent scream of
terror that comes with the savage death she was dealt. Large bitemarks were all over her arms,
revealing the tender muscle therein, with spots of bone sticking out. More bite marks on her
shoulders, the girl's short auburn hair being caked with drying blood, the carpeted rug beneath
her doing the same. Nathan couldn't help but feel bad about it. Even if he hadn't known this
girl, didn't know what her personality was, her name, her life, he still felt that she hadn't
deserved this kind of death. No one did. Now that he had seen all that he had, he felt that
he'd never again wish death on someone he disliked, knowing that it could end up this brutal.

Scott began walking over to his contemplating friend to console him, and to get the hell
out of that death-trap. He passed by the Librarian's office, the windows slick with blood from
the inside. Not knowing what was held beyond that red window, Scott continued walking. The next
few seconds seemed like an eternity for the four, especially Scott. Glittering shards of glass
adorned the air, flying in all directions. Out from behind that red window came the Librarian's
assistant, but now just a demon, a zombie, of her former self. The middle-aged, heavy set woman
lunged herself at Scott, knocking him down with brute force she contained. Siliva dripping from
her half missing lips, the woman dug her teeth into Scott, a shrill scream coming from his
mouth. Lifting her head up, it was clear that the woman had pulled an entire chunk of Scott's
shoulder from him, and she began devouring it in devilish pleasure. Before anyone could shoot
her, the woman dug down again, taking more flesh from Scott's body. He screamed and protested
with all the strength he had left in his body, but it was not enough. The Librarian's assistant
was too heavy for him to fight off, his pain just increasing, his strength decreasing with
every bite the woman took. It was almost like witnessing a demon taking the soul of a living
person. Inch by inch, bite by bite, piece by piece, the boy known as Scott Banks was becoming
less and less of himself. Every single bite got him closer to the cold hand of oblivion, the
demonic woman taking his soul with her. Scott's shrill loud scream was beginning to fall to a
gurgle as blood began to fill his mouth, the scream becoming just a slight plea of the damned.
Kara aimed her shotgun at the large woman and fired twice, as soon as she had conquered her
shock. The two blasts knocked the woman over, a large gaping, bloody hold now occuping her
chest. She moaned in hungry protest, but began to bend over to finish the boy off. Nathan then
let a barrage of gunfire from his handgun fly forth to the woman, one finally hitting her in
the forehead. Blood and gore splatter all around, raining down like a summer shower as the
woman fell to the carpeted floor. With a big thud the woman was down, the zombie of the
Librarian's assistant was gone and hopefully the woman's soul was now put to rest. The three
teenagers quickly ran to their compatriot's side, to check for any signs of life. Kara put her
hand on Scott's wrist, checking for a pulse.

"Nothing...we were too late..." Kara whispered.

Nathan hung his head down low with the shame of losing his friend. "I should've done
something earlier. I should've helped him. I could have...but I was too shocked...I can't
believe it...first Alicia...and now Scott."

"I'm so sorry...I should have done something, but I'm just not prepared for something
like this," Shane lamented, now hanging his head down, as if in prayer for forgiveness.

"I don't think any of us are really prepared for this..." added Kara, morosely. "Do you
still think we should go looking for anyone else?"

Closing his eyes, Nathan let one solitary tear form in his eye, dropping down on Scott's
now bloody t-shirt. He wasn't sure what to do now. What was he to do? Leave? What would Scott
have wanted? Nathan could not answer these questions that he posed to himself, but he did know
one thing; he needed redemption. He needed to find a way to clear his soul of guilt or Misery
would eat him alive until the day he died. Deep down inside he knew Scott didn't blame him for
his death, it was something no one could have truly avoided, but he also knew that if he didn't
try to save just one person before he abandoned the place he had come to call Hell, the dark
angel of Misery would hunt him down and kill his heart with guilt. Nathan needed to try, just
once more. To prove that he could be a savior to someone and to aliviate Misery from his path.
He turned to Kara and looked at her, seeing her eyes watering from this terrible twist of fate.
Nathan answered her, but doubted she would agree with him. "I still want to go on."

For a minute, there was nothing. No answer. Just the silence that came with the death of
so many. Kara thought deeply about the simple answer her friend had just given her, knowing
that deep down, he was probably right. Maybe Scott hadn't wanted to be there at that moment,
but he had come with them, attempting to save someone's life. And he had. The three had saved
Shane. To Kara, Scott died a hero; a role model for the human race. Sacrifice yourself for
someone else and you'll never feel empty was the way Kara was beginning to see things. Without
trying to sound sappy, Kara knew Scott would have wanted them to carry on without him.
Silently, she hoped that his soul was now free from pain, and he had found eternal paradise.
"Okay."

Shane looked at the other two elder teenagers closely, seeing the deep thought they had
put into their decisions and how much they had cared for their friend. He couldn't leave them
now. Not now. Their loyalty to their friend was something so admirable to him, something that
he rarely saw in anyone. Shane needed to go on not only for that reason, but to still repent
for the abandonment of Nicholas. Atone for his cowardly behavior in some way. Yes, Shane Atlas
was not a quitter. "I'm gonna stay with you guys."

The other two nodded silently in response, all three now rising from their spot. All took
one last look at Scott's body, wishing him a last farewell, and began back out into the hallway.
Back out into a place of unspeakable horrors, horrors that would follow them until they died.

Chapter 7

For a long time, none of the three spoke. Scott's death had taken the breath from their
crusade, so to speak. They had been across the second floor, and now down the hallway towards
the math classes, yet they hadn't come across anyone, undead or alive, since the altercation in
the Library. The silence hung heavy, blanketing them, suffocating them. Every moment that
passed, every moment that the silence stretched, every body and severed limb they saw, it all
was now just a backdrop to the horror. Somehow, Scott's death had been the trigger for Nathan
and Kara. Alicia's death seemed...so unreal. Even now they didn't quite believe it. But, Scott
was different. It broke the ability for them to detach themselves from the horror. Now the
horror was all around them. And it got heavier by the second.

"Maybe we should try to go..." Shane finally said. The silence shattered into a million
fragments.

Nathan looked up from the locker he had been looking at, staring at Shane with tired eyes.
"Maybe. But we haven't found anyone yet."

"Your half hour is up, Nathan..." Kara added quietly.

He sighed, relenting. "I guess...all right. We won't find anyone else here...it's like
everyone died or disa-"

Kara snapped her fingers, interupting Nathan's statement. "The bomb shelter!"

Shane and Nathan looked at her, Shane's eyes wide with confusion as Nathan's eyebrows
knitted downward in disaproval. "What?" they both asked in unison.

"Yesterday I ran into this girl, a senior, Alice-"

Nathan chuckled suddenly. It sounded odd and hollow against everything around them. Almost
an unhealthy noise. "The girl who's doing her TV Production project on shoes?"

"Yeah. It's better than a Drag Queen Barbie/Bobby doll."

Shane sighed slightly. "Could you continue?"

"Right, right," Kara nodded and continued. "Anyway, she was telling me that there's a
bomb shelters underneath the school. Y'know, from the missle crisis in the '50's and all that
shit. She said they're connected by tunnels that run all around the school and that there're
several entrances."

"Where?" asked Nathan, his interest growing.

"There's one in the Gym, one in the freshman hallway, one in the Library and one at the
main entrance, right under the big school logo."

Nathan nodded slowly, processing the information. "So you're saying...maybe some people
decided to head down into the bomb shelter, thinking this was some sorta crazy teen attack?"

"Something like that," Kara answered. "Shane, where did most of your class go?"

"They're dead," Shane answered, obviously hurt. His voice came out as small and choked.

Kara shook her head. "Sorry. I meant the ones that got away. Didn't someone get away?"

Shane stopped to think for a moment, scratching his head in thought. "Uhm...I think I saw
some of the other classes heading towards the main entrance."

"Exactly. They probably went to the bomb shelter."

"Or the exit," Nathan added under his breath.

Kara shrugged at the comment. "At any rate, there could be some people under there, trying
to get out. You never know. Nathan, you said you wanted to stay and help some more people. This
is probably the place they all went. It's our best shot. You wanna check it out?"

Nathan and Shane shrugged. Both of them didn't seem particularly enthused by the prospect,
but they didn't feel like protesting either. Yes, the energy out of all of them had left, but
there was still one last shot. One last place for them to check.

"Okay, let's go. Maybe there is someone there," Nathan said, automatically taking the lead
towards the stairs.

Kara followed, with Shane trailing behind, sighing again. Maybe leaving the second floor
would lift their spirits. Or find some cops on the first floor. Anything that would give them
hope. That was what really was missing. Their hope. Whatever they were running on now was just
like automatic pilot. The need to stick to their commitment, their routine. Maybe this bomb
shelter would have some people in it. Their classmates, their friends. Someone. Anyone. Anything
to restore the hope they had lost at the hands of undead killer.

After another long stretch of silence, which had really only lasted a few minutes, the
three were standing at the front entrance. The main hallway was still cleaner than the others
had been, but the front doors were locked. Typical. The school wouldn't want their students
leaving during an attack, now would they? Umbrella trucks still occupied certain parking spaces
in the front lot, but there was no one around them. If there was anyone there, they had to be
inside the truck; out of sight.

Nathan spent a good minute swearing about the doors, complaining that without something
extremely heavy, the glass in the doors wouldn't give and they'd really need to find another
way out. Another moment of silence. A thought dawned on them.

Weren't Judy and Zach supposed to find a way out?

And how long ago was that? An hour? Longer? Time seemed to slip and extend in odd ways
now.

Shane stared at the two, not being able to share in their contemplation. "What?" he
shrugged. "Something wrong?"

Nathan shook his head. "Nevermind. Our friends were supposed to find a way out. They
probably did-"

"Better hope they didn't head for the hills without us. Zach should know better than to
run out on me-" Kara started, her voice suddenly turning angry.

"Who?" Shane asked.

"Her boyfriend," Nathan answered. He looked around the main entrance. To the right of the
glass doors was a small dark wood display. The small sign on the display case read, "Student of
the Month." Behind the thin glass door were bad polaroid pictures of various students, each
with their name cheaply printed underneath. One read, "Ean Bates" and another as "Amanda
Sosonna." Both names were vaguely familiar to Nathan, but the rest were just random students in
grades above him that he didn't know. To the left was the vice principal's office, or more
appropriately, the secretary's office that lead to the vice principal's. It was framed in the
same cheap dark wood and thin glass that was used on the displayed case, and also mostly hidden
by dusty looking venetian blinds. A matching desk and overturned chair could be seen from the
open door, a happy school going cartoon character decoration hanging limply from a clear
suction cup stuck to the glass. In front of them was the giant mat that displayed the school's
initials, "HSH", surrounded by the mascot for their sporting teams in the school colors. A red
and white ship with large masts was formed with small plastic rings, the colors becoming faded
after years of wear and tear from the student body. Once bright crimson was now spotted with
brown mud tredmarks and faded in spaces; the once shining white had since dulled to an off
white. The kind of white of when the winter snow had been driven upon repeatedly, taking on the
dark murky waters around it, mushing into an off white, eventually into a gray. It really showed
the years the school had seen. Amazing how little you could notice something like this, but knew
it was there everyday you walked there. The interlocking plastic mat was of a square shape, set
into the hard floor by an indentation, to keep the whole floor level. It didn't look secured by
anything. Hill Side wasn't the type of school that would spend money to keep their cheap plastic
mats in place. The indentation seemed to have been enough for all those years. "Well, let's get
this over with."

Kara and Shane nodded, both taking places at ends of the mat. Each of them spent a few
minutes in deep concentration, digging their fingernails in as far as they could go to gain some
leverage in the mat, somehow being able to lift the entire thing up. Kara, her fingernails being
longer than either of the boys, had gotten her end up first. The two boys joined her, all three
lifting the surprisingly light mat. It folded over onto the floor quickly, making a squeaky
plasticy noise as it hit the floor. Nathan, Kara and Shane shoved the mat to the side and then
turned their attention to what they had unearthed.

An entrance.

The senior, Alice, had been correct about the entry. It was there, most definitely. The
large, flat door was made of a rusty looking metal, held on old hinges. A round handle was laid
into the door itself, and looked as old as the rest of the door. There it was. A last hope to
find anyone in their school alive. Yet, none of them jumped at the chance to open the rusted
door. Apprehension was in all of them. Maybe a sense of the unknown. They all thought back to
what they'd seen, the lickers, the lizards from the science lab, the zombies. Nathan remembered
something he hadn't before; lickers weren't the only thing in that truck. His eyebrows fell,
his eyes squinting as he tried to concentrate. Yeah, there had been something else in the truck,
something still caged, but looked like it could break out at any moment. He had only seen it for
a split second, more occupied with saving his life rather than gawking at a steel cage. That's
what it had been; a steel cage. A box, all metal, with a small window on the front door, lined
with bars. A label for the thing inside had been there, in clear view for Nathan to see, but
for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was. All he remembered was that it seemed big
and angry, hearing unearthly noises from behind the veil of metal. As unlogical as it sounded,
it was possible that the unknown creature that he had seen in the truck got loose as well,
roaming around the tunnels like a shark, awaiting its next meal.

Ridiculous. Nathan dismissed the thought immediately. How the hell could it get into the
bomb shelter tunnels? Creatures couldn't open doors. They're brutal, they're fast, but they're
not too bright. Right? Of course. There was no way that they could've found their way in there.
Yes, Nathan convinced his mind that all that was down in those tunnels were classmates he hadn't
seen in what felt like ages, and teachers that would repremand him for holding a live gun. Oh,
what he wouldn't give for a teacher to do something like that. Something so...normal. That's all
that was down there. People he knew. The thought took away the fear of the unknown for him.

Nathan put his gun down, using both hands to lift the heavy metal door. It was obvious
that the door hadn't been used much, or kept in good condition; screeching of metal on metal
sirened louldy through the hall, almost like fingernails on a chalkboard. Kara and Shane covered
their ears until the screeching had stopped, Nathan looking at them apologetically, as if he
was responsible for the upkeep of the door.

A set of old metal stairs led down into a dark hallways, illuminated with a single,
fading, yellow light bulb. The walls were made of an uneven dark stone, the floor slightly more
smooth. Beyond the dim light of the yellow bulb, there was only darkness.

Nathan looked to Kara and Shane. "Weeell...who's first?"

Chapter 8

"I wanna be the minority...I don't need your authority...down with the moral majority...
'cause I wanna be the minority...I pledge alliegence to the underworld...one nation underdog...
there of which I stand alone...a face in the crowd...unsung against the mold...without a doubt
singled out...the only way I know 'cause...I wanna be the minority...I don't need your-"

"Kara, would you shut up? You've been singing that goddamn song for at least five minutes
now," Nathan growled.

She shrugged apathetically, falling quiet. Behind her, Shane just stared at them, not
wanting to get involved in the arguement.

For the last half hour, the three had been traveling through the dark, murky tunnels of
school's bomb shelter. It had become painfully apperant to Nathan that bringing a flashlight
or a map would've been a good idea. When he had voiced his opinion, Kara had asked him where the
fuck would they get a map to the bomb shelter's tunnels, a question Nathan didn't have an answer
to. In all actuality, it wasn't so dark they couldn't see. Several dim lightbulbs hung from old
fixtures down the halls, but they were going fast. Some of them would flicker from time to time
and others would just die completely. All that the three had found the whole time was nothing
but these empty halls. These creepy empty halls. Creepsville, thought Nathan angrily.

Patience of finding anyone alive, any person who'd be happy to see them, was dwindling
fast for Nathan and with each second that passed he became more disgruntled towards this entire
endevor. What the fuck had he been thinking in the first place? Save people? He couldn't even
save himself, much less some kid he didn't know well. What were the odds he was going to find
someone alive, and greatful, for what he was trying to do. He was putting his ass out on the
line for kids who probably would've made fun of him on a normal day of school.

Fuck this shit. He didn't need that. He hadn't found anyone alive, with the exception of
Shane, and he wasn't the best of company either. In fact, the kid seemed downright meek.
Probably a case of freshmanitis or whatever, but Shane kept out of almost every small
converstaion he and Kara had, and went along with whatever he said. On a normal day, Shane Atlas
would've been a doormat for kids to wipe their feet on.

And as for Kara, well, her attitude wasn't helping things much. The more they walked on,
the more Nathan wanted to yell for Kara to shut up. Every few minutes she would start humming or
singing, as if she had some compulsion to fill the void of silence between the three. It had
been her idea to come down to the tunnels in the first place, so Nathan had no idea why she
wasn't leading them instead of him. And, God, was her singing annoying. Not that her singing
voice was bad, but Nathan wasn't the type to be able to stand five straight minutes of
"Minority." Kara was his friend, but, goddamn, she was annoying the hell out of him. They all
were. This whole thing was. Nathan felt like he was beginning to get to the end of his rope.

Kara began singing the theme from Mystery Science Theater 3000, the Joel Comedy Central
era quietly to herself.

Nathan reached the end of his rope.

"Goddammit, Kara!"

She stopped suddenly, looking at Nathan with a surprised looked. He whirled around to face
her, his expression furious, borderlining some sort of mad insanity. As much as she didn't want
to admit it, Nathan's face was intimidating, if not downright scary.

"What?" she asked. "What is it?"

"Can't you go for more than one fucking minute without breaking into a fucking song?!"
Nathan was turning red in the cheeks with anger, the vein on his temple beginning to throb
slightly.

Kara shrugged, looking back at him apologetically. "Sorry, Jesus, don't have a fuckin'
fit, Nathan. I just can't stand the silence, okay? It bothers me. And we shoulda found someone
by now and it's botherin' me too."

"The silence isn't that bad, and is definitely not bad enough where you have to sing every
single second!" Now his face was beet red.

Shane stared at the two fearfully, then adding, "Well it wasn't-"

Nathan turned on the freshman. "Shuddup, I wasn't asking you!"

Shane fell quiet, but his eyes said, "That hurt."

"Look, don't get on Shane because you're havin' a stupid hissy fit! Quit your bitchin' and
let's get this over with. There has to be at least one person down here-" Kara started.

"What if there isn't? What if you led us on some wild goose chase to have us end up
finding no one and then dying because we ran outta food and can't find our way outta here!"

Kara rolled her eyes. "God, Nathan, get a grip. You're the one who wanted to save some
people. 'Let's be fuckin' heroes!' you said. Well, that's what we're doing. Don't chicken out on
us because you've let this whole thing get to you. You hear me, Nathan? Get. A. Fucking. Grip."

Nathan finally stopped, the vein in his temple receding back into its proper place, and
his face turning from scarlet back to its normal shade of peach. He took a deep sigh in and then
slowly let it out, putting one hand on his forehead at the same time. "All right, all right.
I'm sorry, but this really is getting to me. We could be running around here, only to find some
asshole we knew who isn't even greatful for what we're doing..."

Shane piped in again, albeit quietly, "That's what I said before. Not many kids would be
doing what we're doing. Nathan, you just gotta keep goin'. I came with you guys because I felt
I needed to make up for some bad stuff I did. You guys were just doing it out of genuine concern
for others, even if they didn't like you. That's...that's...special, y'know? Like, that in real
times of crisis, you can put away your petty differences and pull together to get outta
something. That is bein' a hero. And I stayed with ya because I thought that. If you think
turning back is a good idea now, then you're just being a fucking hypocrite. A bastard
hypocrite. I don't know you that well, but I didn't think you were like that."

The thought stuck in Nathan's head, repeating as badly as Kara's neverending chorus of
"Minority." "You're right-"

(Just being a fucking-)

"I just lost it. People lose it all the time in movies and shit. It happens. It's been a
real tough day to say the least. I've watched some of my friends die here for no good reason at
all, and that shouldn't have-"

(hypocrite.)

"-happened. Not at all. What I said wasn't right, though. Shane you've got a point-"

(A bastard-)

"-we've gotta put our petty problems aside to help people. No matter what stupid shit
they've done in the past, they don't deserve to die down here. I'm sorry. I'll try not to let
it-"

(hypocrite.)

"-happen again, okay?" Nathan finished, eyeing the two other teenagers carefully. Kara
nodded solemnly, Nathan knew she understood how he felt. Alicia and Scott were her friends too.
Shane just stood near Kara, almost looking past Nathan and down the impossibly long tunnel ahead
of them. It was the best respose Nathan could get, he guessed.

"It's okay, Nathan. You've gotten a grip. That's good. So let's move on, okay? We'll find
someone...sometime..." Kara quietly replied.

Shane was still looking past them, down to where the long tunnel intersected. The tunnels
had a tendency to do that from time to time. Each time Nathan had picked to go right
instinctively, to which Kara had suggested the next time they go left.

Up ahead, the left fork of the intersection looked just like all the others. Identical.
Shane wondered if they would get lost and not be able to find their way out. Then a shape
lurched into view. A familiar shape. Someone that Shane knew. He was sure of it.

An old lightbulb near the intersection gave precious lumination to the figure up ahead.

Impossible, Shane's mind cried out. Absolutely fucking impossible.

Nicholas Arnold staggered across the intersection, walking in an awkward, drunken pace.
Shane could barely tell it was him, but it was. The design on his maroon colored t-shirt was
unmistakable. It had to be him. A stone that Shane had felt on his chest since he pushed
Nicholas into the sea of undead fell to the ground in a heavy thump. His soul felt ten times
lighter. Somehow, Nicholas had managed to get away. Shane couldn't belive it, and never had felt
so happy to see his fellow student in all his life.

"Nicholas!" he cried out, running at a quick pace to join him. Nathan and Kara, taken by
surprise, were left behind, yelling out to Shane to come back. When he didn't, he heard their
clunking footsteps follow him down the tunnel. Sound vibrated heavily and loudly in the tunnels.
Muffled, but loud all at the same time. It reflected the murky atmosphere of the tunnels, and
the smell of mold that stung Shane's nostrils as he ran to Nicholas.

Nicholas didn't answer. He only turned to Shane. To the noise that Shane had made.

That's when Shane saw what he hadn't before.

That Nicholas Arnold was only a shadow of his former self. That Nicholas Arnold hadn't
gotten away from the zombies Shane had pushed him into.

That Nicholas Arnold was dead. No, correction, undead.

Shane could see Nicholas' hand reaching out, pallid and white, already having lost their
grooved skin specialzation. It was like staring at some sort of white noodle dish Shane had once
had at a chinese resturant. He couldn't remember the name, but he remembered the dish well.
It was rubbery, and white. Almost transperantly white. Smooth. Sticky.

Nicholas' skin was beginning to rot and peel, a sweet and sour stench of death radiating
from him. He had been bitten in so many places, it was hard to even recognize his face. Patches
of already maroon colored tissue and muscle portruded rudely from what was remaining of
Nicholas' white skin. His eyes were clouded over, milky white film taking over the once dark
brown eyes he had. Shane saw a bit of gleaming white bone protruding from Nicholas' right arm,
and noticed the patches of flapping white skin from a bite mark close to it.

Then he noticed Nicholas' mouth, as it slowly opened, the smell of sickly sweet death even
hotter and more overpowering as he did. And the clear siliva that dribbled and drooled down
Nicholas' mouth and chin.

He wasn't Nicholas anymore. He was dead. Nicholas was dead.

Goddammit, he was a zombie. A zombie after Shane Atlas' flesh. Not out of spite, not for
revenge for his own death. Only for the sheer fact that Shane was there, and was a warm, fresh
meal.

And it was too late for Shane to aim his gun or run away. The shock of Nicholas'
appearance had kept him frozen in place for too long.

Nicholas reached out, touching Shane's shoulders as he pulled him in to bite his neck-

Shane knew he was done for. That he had come to the end of the road, and dimly noted the
irony of the situation itself.

-instead to limply bite into Shane's ankle instead. Shane yelped in pain, but fell over,
onto Kara, who had pulled him back at the last second. He was numbly aware as Nathan quickly
aimed his gun at Nicholas Arnold's head and pulled the trigger. In a loud blast of gunfire,
Nicholas' brain was splattered onto the wall behind him, blood spruting from the bullet wound.
His corpse fell to the ground with a thud, dark liquid forming underneath him. That's when
Shane realized he was bleeding too. But he wasn't the only one that noticed.

"Jebus, kid, what the fuck did you think you were doing?" Nathan demanded, looking down at
him with a half disgusted, have intrigued expression.

Shane clutched his ankle, seeing the bright scarlet blood seeping through his fingers
already. "I don't know. I pushed Nicholas-" he nodded to the corpse. "-into a buncha zombies
earlier today and I felt terrible about it. When I saw him I thought...I thought..."

"You thought he had made it away from them okay, by some miracle, huh?" Kara said more
than asked as she moved out from under him, helping him prop himself against one of the grimy
walls.

He nodded. "Yeah. It was stupid."

Nathan agreed wholeheartedly. Of course it was stupid. "Yeah, you almost got yourself
killed. As it was he got you on your ankle."

All three of them stared at Shane's ankle, the blood now covering his fingers, brighter
than expected. Nathan and Kara exchanged a glance, both of them thinking the same thing:

"In a zombie movie, when you get bitten by a zombie and live, you turn into one of them
after a while."

They looked back to Shane, who's expression now looked different. Sicker. His face was
already more pale than it should be, and slick with a sticky cold sweat. His eyes looked
frantically from one kid to the other. "What? What?"

Kara knelt down beside him, talking in a gentle, but wary, voice. "You ever see the movie
'Night Of The Living Dead'?"

He nodded, almost scoffing at the question. "Of course I have. That's the one where all
the people are coming back to life, trying to eat people and there's this farmhouse where those
people were trying to live through the night."

"You remember the girl in the movie, Sarah?"

"Sure. She had been bitten by a zombie and was sick for almost the whole movie until..."
Oh, shit. The realization hit Shane like a ton of bricks. He was like Sarah now. "...she..."

Nathan nodded. "Turned into one of them. That's what happened. Now, so far, everything has
been the same as it was in that movie. Zombies are after human flesh, they die when you shoot
them in the head. Now, you've been bitten, and you look sick already."

"I feel like shit."

"Exactly. So...what do you want us to do here? We can bring you along as far as we can.
The ankle wound isn't so bad that you can't limp, and lean on one of us. But..."

"I could turn into one of them."

Nathan nodded again. "Yes. There's another option, but I don't know if we can do it."

Shane looked up at Nathan, fully aware of what he was saying. He could either tag along
with them, on his busted up ankle, until he became one of those monsters, or they could kill
him now, while he was still human. Death was his only choice it seemed. Not right. It was just
fucking not right. "But...there's a chance I might not turn into one of them, right?"

Nathan and Kara looked to each other. Kara shrugged to him, but both didn't seem too ready
to accept it. "I guess so...it's possible..." Nathan started.

"Then I'll come with you. For now. If I get too much to handle, just leave me behind,"
Shane commanded, pushing himself up on the wall. Even that action seemed like a lot for him. By
the time he was standing his breathing had become heavy.

Reluctantly, Nathan nodded and Kara shrugged. She put an arm around Shane to help him. He
leaned on her, but tried not to lean too heavily. She looked to Nathan. "If a freshman got down
here from around here, that must mean that they opened up the entrance at the freshman hallway."

"That's where everyone was heading in the first place, not the main hall. If they had,
the mat would've been overturned, right?" Nathan added.

"Yeah. Which means we should be around the freshman hallway."

"Good. That gives us a better understanding of where we're heading. If we go right we
should be heading towards the science and art hallways and the gym..." Nathan said thoughtfully.

"Someone might've escaped from the gym class we saw earlier."

Nathan nodded. "True. We should head that way."

"Aye aye, captain," Kara replied. She had intended it to come out as a joke to lighten the
tense mood of things, but it had come out all wrong. It had come out sad, and grim. Realizing
when to give up her persuit to keep the mood lighter, Kara fell quiet, more intent on keeping
Shane up.

Silently, the three too the right at the intersection, leaving behind the bloody corpse of
Nicholas Arnold.

Chapter 9

'Goddamn, this kid is getting heavy,' thought Kara, struggling to keep up with Nathan as
Shane drooped a heavy arm across her shoulder, now nearly numb. Although they had made good
progress through the tunnels in the beginning, their pace was being slowed down considerably.
All because of Shane Atlas. Kara didn't mind dragging the freshman along as long as he wanted to
go, that was fine. What wasn't fine was that Shane wasn't helping her much at all now. His skin
had become slick and cold with sweat, disgusting Kara through and through. That wasn't all, oh
no, that wasn't all. His feet had begun to drag on the concrete ground, an uncomfortable
shuffling sound accompaning it. Of course, that meant that Kara had to drag more than help
Shane along the long and almost neverending bomb shelter tunnels. And doing so was beginning to
hurt her, her neck becoming sore, her shoulders nearly numb. Shane was a nice kid, nice enough,
and just didn't want to be left behind...or...

Well, Kara just didn't want to think of the alternative. Not at this point.

But, the nagging voice in the back of her mind told her a different story. One that she
wasn't interested in hearing, and yet couldn't stop listening to. It said that Shane Atlas
didn't want to be left behind to die alone and become one of those things that rises up from
the dead to eat people. He didn't want to be shot dead either. What did that really leave him?
Shuffling his sick self around the tunnels, hoping it would just go away? Was there a part of
him that wanted to make sure he stuck it out to the bitter end?

All good questions without answers. And a voice that Kara didn't want to awknowledge. The
fact of the matter was that Shane was getting sicker by the second, slowing them all down to a
snail's pace, and he was only going to get sicker.

'Then what?' Kara's mind asked.

Then what indeed.

"I...g-guh-guh-gotta...sit..." Shane mumbled, almost inaudibly.

"Can't, man. We gotta keep movin'. We're not far from the gym now. Should be comin' up
soon. People might be there," Nathan replied, not looking back to look at Shane.

Shane shook his head a little, but the movement itself seemed more like a rolling motion.
Kara eyed the freshman warily, as if his head was just going to roll right off then and there.
"N-n-no...gotta...sit d-d-down now..."

Nathan sighed, a long exhale that sounded tired and exasperated all at the same time. He
turned back to Shane, looking briefly at Kara first. Sure, she wouldn't mind a minute to get the
sweaty, sick, teenager off her shoulders. Her eyes said that, plain and simple, though she
wouldn't come out and say it. Relenting, Nathan pushed his back against another grimy, dirty
concrete wall and slid down into a sitting position. Relieved, but trying not to show it, Kara
carefully helped Shane to sit down, then took a seat between him and Nathan. The three sat in
silence, save for the laborious breathing coming from Shane.

"How ya doin', buddy?" Nathan asked, Shane, though he didn't make much of an effort to
look over to the other teen. His eyes were more focused towards the end of the hall. It seemed
impossibly long from where they were. Again, it intersected, four pathways to be chosen. There
was a small yellow lightbulb hung over the intersection, a thin tin metal looking cone
encircling it, strung up by a thin black string. What little light it did provide, flickered
constantly. They had been heading straight since the encounter with Nicholas. There was no
reason to deviate from that.

Shane attempted to shake his head again, and again all he produced was a weak looking
roll of his head. He coughed for a few seconds, Kara looking away towards Nathan as he did.
"N-n-not so good. I feel like...shi-shi-shit. Ugh..."

"Maybe you should just stay here while Nathan and I go check out the gym," Kara suggested.
Deep inside, she hoped he'd take her up on that offer, not entirely looking forward to spending
another hour dragging the sick boy around.

"I d-don't know," he replied before another coughing attack ensued.

Nathan stood up, scanning down the long hallway again. "I think she's right. It'll be
better if you just stick 'round-"

A loud scream interupted Nathan. It sounded like it was coming from in front of them,
down quite a ways, but it was hard to tell with the way sound echoed in these old tunnels. The
scream, slightly muddled by the aucustics in the tunnels, got louder by the second, as if it was
coming right towards them.

The scream was slowly taking the form of a girl, a blonde haired girl, one whose scream
was now an almost deafening cry of terror. She was wearing a t-shirt that displayed a little
frog with a crown on it and some saying that was blurred out from the speed she was running at.
Faded bluejeans went down her legs till they were met by flat sandals. The girl's hair was
medium length, slightly wavy and flying backwards from wind. Her eyes were wide with fear as she
zoomed past the three teenagers yelling, "I'd get outta here if I were you!"

Not a terribly puzzling statement, considering the shape their school was in. Nathan
looked at the girl running, turning and disappearing down the hall, and then back to Kara. "Say,
wasn't that the senior we were talking about?"

"Alice."

"Yeah. Wasn't that her?"

Kara stared down the tunnel, as if staring at where the girl had been would give her the
answer to her question. "Uhm...yeah, I think it was her."

"What...w-was she b-b-babblin' 'bout?" Shane asked.

"Haven't the faintest," Kara replied.

Heavy footsteps resonating off the tunnel walls stopped their conversation. They were
quick, and deliberate. Each heavy footstep sounded like it was carrying a ton of weight, and
that each foot was tipped with chitenous claws, like some large dog running down a hallway.
From around the corner came the source of this noise. Something that all three teenagers could
agree was impossible to imagine if you hadn't been there to see it.

It was the size of a large man, haunched over on thick, strong legs. Dark green scales at
least the size of quarters, if not larger, covered the entire body, leveling off at a flat,
reptilian head. Beady, yellow eyes peered from under this scaly sloping forhead, below it two
small slits for a nose and two rows of what looked like razor sharp teeth. Its arms dragged down
to the ground, each hand tipped with lethal claws. As it rounded the corner and looked to the
three kids, it let out a horrifying shriek, the sound of nails on a chalkboard, mixed with an
extremely rusty door opening, and a monkey's cry.

Whatever this creature was; it was big and it was running towards them.

Acting on sheer instinct, Nathan dipped down and dragged Shane up by one arm. Kara
followed, taking the other boy's arm. Within an instant, the three were running down the
long dark, murky tunnels of the bomb shelter, followed by this insideous creature. It shriek and
cried as the kids ran, upset that it hadn't yet caught its next meal.

Nathan didn't know where to go. They hadn't yet reached the gym and for all he knew, they
were somewhere between the science hallways and the gym. Not much to go on. In fact, it was
nothing. They very well couldn't keep going straight. Eventually Shane would slow them down
enough that the monster would catch up to them. And then it clicked, the monster, Shane knew it.
He had feared this happening, and wished it hadn't. They turned the corner to evade their
persuer

(Cages in the trucks)

and kept running as fast they could. The creature skidded past them and backed up,
resuming the chase once again.

(it was there)

Nathan could only hope they'd reach an office, or an exit of some kind before it caught
up to them. Which would happen in another

(and now it's here.)

five seconds.

Miracles can happen. At least that was what passed through Nathan's mind as he spotted a
door at the end of the long hallway they were racing through. The creature behind them was
quickly making up for lost time, the distance between them and it getting closed by the moment.
It let out another hair raising screech, letting them know that this monster was intent on their
death, before it sped up for the kill. The door was only a few feet in front of them, a rusty
door, the metal handle looking like it would break if you weren't careful with it. There was
nothing about that door that looked new, but Nathan hoped with all his heart that it would work
enough for them to barrel through and shut the monster out. Heroes or not, Nathan wanted the
monsters to go away. All of them. No one was worth this torment, this chase.

An idea came to Nathan. Probably not a good idea, but not all spur of the moment ideas
are that good. Forcefully, he pushed Kara ahead of him, letting go of Shane's arm and pushing
him along with her. Not being able to go against this, the two teens kept running ahead of
Nathan. Turning and running backwards, Nathan drew out his submachine gun, aimed it at the
monster as best he could and pulled the trigger.

"Eat hot lead, sonofabitch!"

Now the creature was shrieking in pain instead of angry intent. It howled as the bullets
tore through its thick flesh, hitting muscle and bone. Instead of immediately going down, the
monster kept staggering towards them, never relenting on its quest for one last meal.

The door was inches from them. Kara reached for the handle, feeling the rush of relief
and near security as she pulled it open.

Furious, the creature closed the final distance between itself and Nathan. It let out a
cry of pain as it lunged at the teenager, its claws outstretched to kill. And Nathan wasn't
quick enough to stop it. Wickedly sharp claws sunk into his stomach like a hot knife through
butter, and a burning painful sensation ripped through his body. He could hear Kara call his
name, but it sounded muddled and far away. He could see the blood covering his shirt as he fell
to the ground, the deadly creature leaping on top of him. Nathan's thoughts were slowly
beginning to stop, but one thought still remained: kill the monster.

Using his last strength, Nathan aimed the submachine gun at the creature's head.

Kara pushed Shane into the room beyond the door and yelled back at Nathan, her voice
drowned out by his last burst of gunfire.

Bullets tore into the creature's head, another sharp cry of pain came out before it fell
down on Nathan; hard. His strength nearly gone, he looked up to Kara and said, "Go."

She took one last look and disappeared behind the rusty door.

The creature was not one to give up easily as it struggled to live on top of Nathan as he
quickly began to lost conciousness. As a final act, the struggling creature's claw swiped past
Nathan's neck. It didn't miss. His throat slashed, Nathan could only stare up at the dark
concrete ceiling, seeing redness encrouch his eyes. In a matter of seconds the redness turned
to darkness, and Nathan couldn't see anymore.

Kara felt more terrible than she ever thought she could be. Her first immediate reaction
was anger. Why the hell did she listen to Nathan? Just because the creature wasn't totally dead
yet didn't mean she couldn't help him. For God's sakes she had a shotgun in her other hand! Why
couldn't she just...

The truth was, she couldn't. She knew how much Nathan had wanted to play hero the whole
time. Nothing more heroic than a sacrifice, right? It wasn't fair, but Kara knew the choice she
had made in that instant. Nathan wanted to do something right. That's what he had wanted all
along. And though Kara felt awful that Nathan was gone, she knew that he at least had died doing
what he had intended to do in the first place.

It wasn't enough consolation to keep her from crying.

Of course it wasn't.

Hot, stinging tears streamed down Kara's face in rivers, choked sobs coming out like awful
hiccups. Through this, Kara looked around the room Nathan had directed them into. It wasn't a
pleasant sight.

This was the office below the library, unbelievably. There was a door in the upper right
hand corner that Kara guessed was too the staircase up to the library. Dark maroon stained the
walls; dried blood. The walls themselves were originally a dingy gray, with nothing remarkable
about the room except two small steel chairs in the upper left hand corner. What made the room
remarkable was the bodies lying inside.

Kara didn't recognize most of them. They were either juniors she had only seen in passing
or teachers she'd never had for classes. From what she could tell, it looked like they had
ripped each other apart. One of them had to have been a zombie, attacked the others, and was
attacked in return. In the end, the circumstances didn't matter. They were all dead.
Circumstances don't matter when you're dead. Most of them had their stomachs opened, displaying
their rotting intestines, a foul smell of decaying meat coming from them.

They hadn't reached safety at all.

Shane had collapsed onto one of the steel chairs in the corner, looking more pallid than
before. He was going to die any second, Kara could tell.

And then he'll come back, right? Kara couldn't push it from her mind. He'll come back and
he'll try to kill you.

It didn't matter.

Not anymore.

Kara sat down on the chair next to him, looking at him through red, bleary eyes. He weakly
turned his head to regard her, an expression of sadness crossing his face as best it could.

"I'm...sorry..." he whispered out. Shane went into another fit of coughing, this time
bringing blood up with him.

Kara nodded, still half sobbing. "I know...me too."

"Is it...all over now?"

"I...think it is."

Shane chuckled a little, the sound ended up more like a hacking cough, though. "I guess
that means I can take a tiny nap...right?"

"Sure," Kara replied.

"...Good...so tired...I...need sleep...sleep..." Shane's conciousness was fading. And Kara
knew that if he went to sleep now, he wouldn't wake up. At least, he wouldn't wake up as a
human. Not the Shane Atlas she had come to know.

She didn't care. He could wake up a zombie and eat her piece by piece and the thought
didn't bother her a bit now. She knew there was no escape. No grand save. No leaving. And the
thought of Zach and Judy came to her mind one last time. The more she thought, the more she was
convinced they hadn't made it out. If the front doors had been locked, so had probably every
other door. They probably got theirs near the band rooms, some zombie leaping from them
unexpectly and tearing their flesh from their bone.

It didn't matter.

Not anymore.

Kara put a supportive hand on Shane's shoulder as she forced back her sobs. "Go...a-ahead
...sleep."

Shane only nodded, barely, in reply. His eyes closed, his breathing slowing down. He only
had a few minutes left.

Kara Miller quieted her crying down. She lifted the heavy shotgun up, looking at it
thoughtfully. A last question. A last choice. Wait to be torn apart, or now.

She chose now.

The strident blast from her shotgun didn't wake up Shane Atlas. His eternal sleep was not
disturbed by this odd and final sound. The already maroon colored walls were splattered with a
fresh new coat. Kara's shotgun clunked heavily to the floor, and everything became quiet again.



End

Author's Comments: Well, it's finally finished, after three years. Hooray! ^_^ Anyways,
I know it's a rather depressing ending, but that was the original intent so I hope you can
accept that. Let me know what you thought of this story by R&Ring, please. Okay? See you in my
other stories (FFVIII: Iron Will, Dark Stalker, Destiny And Fate). Stay frosty. :)