Approaching Darkness

Chapter 1: Looming Clouds…

To think, only a couple hours ago it was like any other day, but now it had turned into complete and utter chaos. Iran through the darkness, nothing but a baseball bat in my hand and a compact sniper rifle on my back. When I had finally had it out of my local district to the highway, the scene had not gotten much better. The streets and sidewalks were littered with dead bodies, chunks and pieces missing from each and every one of them. Cars were stopped for miles, every single one abandoned by their passengers. I cautiously Walked through the maze of vehicles, my bat held firmly in both hands just to be safe in case any of them decided to return. The plan was simple, make it over to the school and barricade myself inside. My name's Terry Baker, and I will survive whatever this is…

I continued to walk down the long highway, not catching a glimpse of them which was both relaxing and unnerving at the same time. Until now, I had never walked to the school before, I had always took the bus, but now, that wasn't really an option. Even if I did manage to find a bus I wouldn't be able to drive it. Firstly, the roads are packed with abandoned cars and a city bus wasn't exactly built for offloading, and two, even if I was able to get it started, the noise would just attract them again. When I had finally made it to the school, it laid in just as much ruin as the rest of the town. Blood smeared all over the brick walls outside, the windows on the third floor all seemed to be broken. Probably jumpers, I know I'd rather take my own life then to be eaten alive and turn into one of them any day.

I carefully walked through the courtyard, wanting so hard to keep my eyes off the carnage but I couldn't, in case any of the bodies came back to life as one of them. You just couldn't even call those things human anymore, they were distorted, contorted but most of all, they're animalistic appetite for the living. It was just a horrifying experience, having to see the playground with butchered and mangled bodies all over it. I tried my hardest to see past all the bloodshed and get to the back entrance of the school, I knew that the janitor always kept it open so he could go for his usual cigarette halfway through his cleaning job. Well, apparently that didn't go too well since I saw his body leaned up against the side of the school. He appeared to have bite and claw marks all over his body, but most graphic, both his eyes had been taken from his head. I tried my hardest to stay calm but it was slowly becoming harder and harder.

I stuffed my bat into the back of my sweater as a makeshift sheath as I readied my trusty sniper rifle. The SRS .308 Winchester. Dad had given it to me right before he passed on three years ago from a brain aneurism. I treasure this gun more then any of my other worldly possessions. I didn't expect I'd ever have to use it for something like this. I loaded it up with seven rounds before swinging the bloodstained glass door open, pointing it forward, my finger ready on the trigger. The place seemed deserted now, not to mention quite clean except for a couple of small bloodstains along the wall as well as a couple of bloody handprints seeming to trail off downward. The thing that was bugging me the most was that there was blood but no bodies. Which could either mean they're already gone or…no, I didn't want them to still be here.

I started my sweep of the building, seemingly nothing to see except more and more bloodstains, it was quite eerie, not even seeing a single body, it was getting to me. It was as if every turn I made I expected something to jump out at me. Yet not a single thing did as I continued my thorough search of the school, checking every single nook and cranny before making it back to down the cafeteria. It seemed relatively clean so I decided to make this my base of operations. I rested my sniper up against the wall and started shifting the tables around quietly as to not attract attention, slowly bringing them over one by one down the halls and against the doors, at least until I heard the slight creek of the front entrance door slowly being opened up.

I dropped everything I was doing and readied my trusty baseball bat. Rushing over to the doorway, seeing it wide open. The thing that bothered me was the fact that whatever it was, it was fast. It had already ran off along the hallways, seeing the bloodied shoe prints trail off down the hall. It was incredibly nerve racking, to see the eerie sign of life that had just hidden itself somewhere in the school. I had to find out if it was friend or foe right away, hopefully there were more survivors besides me. Before I went to check search once again, I went to retrieve my rifle from the cafeteria, only to realize it was completely gone. Whatever that thing was seemed to be smart enough to grab it before it ran off to hide. This just angered me, I felt the adrenaline pumping through me, I needed to get that gun back at any cost.

I gripped the bat firmly in a readied position, read to use it if needed as I followed the footprints, noticing them quickly trailing off into a storage closet. He got whatever it was cornered and he wasn't planning on letting it go until it relinquished my weapon from it's grasp. I gripped the door handle, still holding onto the bat, taking a deep breathe before swinging the door wide open, ready to smash my bat downward, but I didn't. to my surprise, it was a girl, looking about the same age as me hugging my gun tightly in her arms. She had forced herself into the corner of the small storage closet, clearly the bloodshed over the past day had already gotten to her. I kneeled down, placing my bat quietly to the floor, trying not to seem as much of a threat to her. I talked to the girl, trying to get her to say something, anything, but she wouldn't, she just stared off at the floor, still hugging the sniper tightly in her arms.

I flicked on the light switch so I could get a better look at the girl, firstly, I realized who she was right away, she was another student at this school, Crystal if I remembered correctly. I knew because her shoulder length red hair but also for her black rimmed glasses which seemed to be falling off her nose ever so slightly. Nobody really paid much attention to her, the only thing people really knew her for was her brains, but also her shortness, I mean, she was easily one of the shortest girls in this entire school. I looked at her still, simply offering her a hand this time. Slowly, she looked at my extended arm hesitantly. For a good couple of minutes she stared at it, until, shockingly she grabbed my hand, her body trembling still. "T-terry…"