Chapter One

"Alice, Danna run! Go!" I pushed my daughters towards our mini-van. "Hop in! We don't have time to waste, go!" The girls jumped into the backseat and strapped themselves in their car seats, as I slid into the driver's seat. I reached in my pocket and grabbed my car keys. I thought to myself, please work. Please, please, please! I took a deep breath and tried to start the ignition. Nothing happened. "Oh come on!" I hollered at the van, mad and trying to hurry. I looked behind me, Alice was sitting quietly hugging her doll and Danna was hiding her face in her lap. I knew I had to get out of here, I had to keep my kids safe. That was my first priority. I crossed my fingers and tried to start the van again. I heard the sweet humming of the vehicle starting. I started getting my hopes up, we could still get out of here in time. I slammed on the gas pedal and heard a bloodcurdling scream. "Mommy! There's one on the window!" I turned my head to see what Danna was screaming about. I looked at the back window and there it was. Well I guess I should say, there she was. Sitting on the back window of my mini-van was one of the "unknown" as I like to call them. The unknown are exactly what their names states that they are. They are unknown creatures who want to kill us. I don't know much about these unknowns and I don't know why they want to kill us, but I do know two things. One, they used to be humans like you and I; and two, they're not human anymore.

I have seen with my own two eyes what the unknowns could do to a person, I watched them take and destroy two of my best friends. Avery and Jules were with me at school the day it happened. The day my happy, perfect world went spiraling down into chaos and disorder. It was June 8, 2016; my last day of high school. I remember thinking how great my graduation day would be, Alice and Danna will be there. My mom and Cal will be there, everything will be perfect. My whole life starts now. I was walking towards the school bus with Avery; she and I had rode bus 182 together since the first day of middle school. Even before then, we always rode the same bus in elementary school. Avery inhaled deeply, "I can't believe this is our last time riding the bus Liv!" I nodded, it was a bittersweet moment for me. With Avery going to a college in California for photography classes next semester, I knew this summer was our last chance to see each other for a while. She gave me a funny look, "No sad thoughts Liv, we still have all summer and I'm coming to stay at your house this weekend right?" I smiled at her, "Yea I guess you're right. Come on, let's get on the bus before we get left behind."

I hopped on the bus and smiled at Mrs. James sitting in the driver seat. She hugged mine and Avery's necks, then she grabbed her pink and green polka-dot clipboard and sat back down. "Attendance records for the last day of school girls. Oliver Hines and Avery Newton are present. Just like always." She gave us a sad, forced smile. I smiled back, "Its ok Mrs. James you have our cell phone numbers; we'll keep in touch. I promise!" Avery and I walked back to our usual seats and sat down. Avery laughed and looked at me, "Don't you find it strange both of our parents decided to give us boy names?" I thought about it for a second then laughed, "Wow, I guess I never thought about that. Oliver and Avery; geez both of our parents must have really wanted sons." We both laughed and waited for the bus to start moving. Avery looked around the bus, "Hey, where's Jules at?" I looked up and shrugged my shoulders, "Who knows. He's always late for the bus anyways. Why actually be on time for your last day of school?" She thought about it for a second then responded, "That's true I guess." We sat back and started talking about our future summer plans. I remember noticing every little bit, Avery would look towards the door, waiting for Jules to walk in.

Avery and Jules had been a couple since freshman year. We met Jules at the end of eighth grade and the two of them immediately hit it off. You would honestly never think they were a couple just by looking at them. They were the perfect example of how opposites can attract. Avery was a complete and total girly-girl. She always has been, even in Kindergarten. She has long, curly coffee-brown hair that went down her back in a Shirley Temple kind of curl most girls with straight hair could only dream of achieving. Her eyes were always different colors. When she was happy they would be a cheerful, hazel color that reminded me of a calm, beach sand. When she was angry or upset, they could be as black as the midnight sky. Most days she would wear knee-length summer dresses and some kind of boots to match. This particular day, I remember her wearing her blue and purple tie-die, spaghetti-strap summer dress I bought her for her eighteenth birthday this year with an off-white shawl over the top. As I said before, Jules was the complete opposite of Avery. Jules was a great guy, but he was shy and often kept to himself. He could have easily be mistaken as a loner. He had long, black hair that came down to his shoulders with one purple highlight on the right side. He always wore his hair in the same style, and he always kept his right eye covered. It never made me curious before, but now I can't help but to wonder why? The very few times I had ever seen Jules eyes I noticed they had an unusual bluish-gray color to them. They reminded me of a foggy sky in the winter. I guess that's why he and Avery got along so perfectly; one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen before was a calm beach, covered in a thick fog. Complete and total opposites, but when brought together they just make perfect sense. Jules used to dress like someone straight out of a punk rock music video; all black clothes and skateboarding shoes. On that day, he wore ripped up denim blue jeans and a black shirt with long white-and-gray sleeves, even though it felt like it was one hundred degrees outside. He wasn't really in to piercings or tattoos. In fact, he never wore much jewelry at all. He only wore one bracelet as far as I can remember. Every day I saw him, Jules had on a spiked bracelet Avery had bought him for their first Valentine's Day. She would always wear the matching earrings.

Mrs. James looked at her watch, "Avery where is Jules at? That boy is always late isn't he? Well, I'd bet you money when they call his name on graduation day he won't make it on stage until thirty minutes later!" Avery laughed, "He'll be here soon Mrs. James. You know he always gets here right before we leave." I laid back and closed my eyes. At the time I only wanted to take a small nap. I had no idea what was going to happen when I woke back up. If I could have only known something bad was about to happen, I would have never closed my eyes.

I think I slept for five minutes, maybe not even that long. I woke up to a girl sitting near the back of the bus screaming, "Do you see this? Someone help him!" I looked over at Avery who was listening to music on her old-fashion, bright-yellow CD player. I shook her arm and she took her headphones out, "What's wrong Liv?" Just as I went to answer the girl screamed again, "Run! Mrs. James hit the gas! Get us out of here!" Avery ran to the back of the bus to calm the girl down as I turned to look out of my window. For a few seconds, I didn't see anything except for the freshly cut grass beside the bus. At first, I thought the girl had gone mad. Maybe she was crazy? Then I saw him. Out of all the horrible things I have ever seen in my life, this poor guy was by far one of the worst. On first glance, all I noticed was that this guy was walking weird. He wasn't exactly walking with a limp, it was more like a staggered walk. It was only when he turned around that I noticed more than the way he was walking. He was holding the left side of his neck, and the look on his face was one of a person who had just experienced a terrible horror. Blood gushed out from under his hand like he was trying to hold down the spout of a water fountain. He moved his hand and looked down at all the blood. The sight of his wound made me nauseous. He looked up and locked eyes with me. It was right then that I suddenly recognized this guy. I'm pretty sure he sat behind me in my third period biology class. I stared in shock as this young man, Kevin I believe that was his name, choked on his own blood. I looked back at his neck. I thought to myself, What on Earth? Is that a bite mark? Kevin staggered around some more and fell to the ground beneath him. He just laid there, not moving.

I stepped back and screamed, "Avery!" She came running over to me, the look on her face was full of pure fear and terror. "Did you see what happened?" She asked me, her voice shaking and the look on her face warned me she was about to cry. I nodded, "Was that?" She nodded back. "Kevin Mackey." I shook my head in disbelief. "What on Earth happened?" She started crying, "I don't know! It was horrible Liv!" I watched as everyone on the bus began to panic more and more. I ran past Avery and towards the back of the bus. That's when I saw the truth; what was really happening. Everywhere I looked, there was another person being attacked. These creatures, those things were attacking everyone I knew. There were no safe areas, these creatures were everywhere. The weird thing was, some of those monsters looked familiar, only different. People I had known for years, were changing right before my eyes. They looked like they were dressed for Halloween. Avery screamed, "Oliver! Look at Trisha! What the heck is happening to her?!" I ran back up to the front of the bus, near the front door and looked outside. There, lying on the ground motionless, was a girl from our second period algebra class, Trisha Lowe. To me she looked dead, but she didn't stay that way for very long.

Trisha's dead body started shaking, convulsing up and down. Her hot pink nails grew from normal size to nearly half a foot long. Her teeth stood out to me, suddenly pointing out as sharp as knives. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she stood up slowly. She turned to face me as her eyes slowly rolled back down and steadied onto my face. Her normal brown eyes had suddenly changed. Now, where the white part of her eyes were supposed to be, had turned into a dark, crimson red; her whole pupil was black. She smiled this crooked, evil smile; her now pointed teeth standing out more than anything else on her body. She started limping toward me and it was only then that I noticed the wound on her leg. The wound looked like an animal had attacked her. Like a rabid dog had bitten a giant chunk out of her upper left thigh. Blood and a sickly green puss oozed out of the wound like she had a horrible infection trying to fight its way out. I glanced over at Avery and watched as her face lost all of its color and turned a ghostly white. "Oh no, Liv we have to find Jules! He could be hurt!" I nodded and looked over at Mrs. James, who was still looking straight ahead towards the road, her eyes full of fear and shock. "Mrs. James keep everyone safe, we're going to go get Jules then we can all drive out of here, alright? Please Mrs. James wait on us to return, I'm begging you." Mrs. James nodded and we jumped off of the bus. Trisha started walking towards us even faster now, her evil grin getting bigger and bigger with every step she took. Her usual, long braided red hair was now muddy, like she had just been thrown in the dirt. Avery started to walk towards Trisha, "Trisha are you alright? Come on you have to get out of here. Your hurt bad!" She looked down at Trisha's leg, "Here let me help you." Before I could stop her, Avery grabbed Trisha's arm, obviously trying to help. That was all it took. Trisha leaped on top of Avery, knocking her to the ground. I screamed, but I didn't move. I heard Avery screaming, and I saw her trying fight Trisha off, yet I still couldn't move from the spot where I was still standing.

Somewhere behind me I heard someone yell, "NO! Oliver stop her!" I turned just in time to see Jules come running, his hands covered in blood and his face covered in sweat. Jules pounced on top of Trisha and yanked her off of Avery. For a few seconds Avery was lying there, not moving. I was half-expecting her to start convulsing like Trisha had done moments before, but nothing ever happened. I ran to her side and started shaking her, "Avery get up! Come on we have to get back on the bus with Jules, come on!" She was still alive, she hadn't been hurt by Trisha but she looked like she was in shock. I turned to tell Jules to help me carry her but it was too late for him. Trisha was on top of him now, the evil smile on her face now even happier, and her teeth dripping crimson-red blood. Suddenly, Avery screamed from beside me, "No! Jules!" She grabbed a pen from the side pocket of her purse and went running. She grabbed Trisha by the back of her hair and stabbed the ball-point pen in her ear. Green liquid spewed out of Trisha's ear as she fell down on the ground next to Jules.

Avery dropped down to her knees and grabbed Jules by the hand. She started crying hysterically. I ran beside her and looked down at Jules. Trisha had bitten a chunk out of the skin right below his left collar bone. Blood was everywhere in a puddle now surrounding him. I knew he had lost too much blood to last much longer. He was still alive, but hardly. He looked up at Avery and tried his hardest to smile. "It's alright Avery, I promise. You're safe, that's all that matters." Avery began to object but Jules put his hand up to stop her. She leaned down, and kissed his forehead as Jules closed his eyes. "Run Avery. Leave me here, it's too late for me." Avery's face went from fear to disbelief, "What? No! I could never leave you here Jules; there's just no way!" Jules started coughing up blood; I started crying. "It's too late Avery. You and I both know I'm about to die. Then I'm just going to come back as one of those things. You need to get away from me while you have a chance!" Avery shook her head no viciously. I knew she wouldn't leave him by choice. Jules looked at me and gave me a look I knew all too well. It was his Avery's being stubborn look. He wanted me to grab Avery and pull her away. "Oliver take Avery and get her to safety. Go get your kids! Bring her with you wherever you take them. Promise me you will keep her safe? Promise me Liv!" I nodded, "I promise Jules. Come on Avery, we have to get out of here. Now!" I looked around and noticed at least five more unknown creatures headed our way. Avery shook her head fiercely, "NO! I'm not leaving you! If you're going to die, I'm going to die too!" Jules gave me a hopeless look then turned back to her, "Avery I love you. Now go! Leave! Run as fast as you can! Get out of here!" I grabbed Avery by the arm and pulled her as hard as I could. She screamed and hollered, fighting me with every shred of power she had left. She yanked free, and fell back down at Jules's side. She laid on top of him and started screaming for someone to help. Jules pushed her off and kissed her forehead. "Go Avery. Please go for me. They will not attack me now that I've already been bitten. Maybe an ambulance will come help me soon," He was giving her false hope and promises he couldn't keep so she would run, "Save yourself." Avery nodded and whispered, "I had to say I love you too."

She ran my way just as three more unknowns walked out from behind the bushes. We ran as fast as we could away from the high school. I looked over at Avery, tears were still streaming heavily down her cheeks. "Avery we have to go get Jasmine and Troy, then get to my house immediately." Avery kept running beside me, she never said a word. To this day I still wonder, why didn't I help Avery when Trisha jumped on her? Why did I just stand there watching as my two best friends were brutally attacked? I ran down the familiar road leading from the high school to my little brother and sister's middle school. Every once and a while, I would check behind me to make sure Avery were still there. She was always right there, running as fast as she possibly could, still crying and not talking to me at all. I ran until I saw the giant oak tree that stood right before the middle school, then I stopped. "Oh no. Avery the bus! Mrs. James! The others! We forgot them!" We both stopped and turned just in time to see Mr. James come speeding up the gravel road waving her left hand crazily at us. She slammed on the brakes in front of us, "Get in girls; come on! Get in here now!" Avery went to jump in then she turned to look at me, "Aren't you coming?"

Hundreds of thoughts were swarming through my mind, I have to find Jasmine and Troy. I have to get home to my kids. I can't leave a whole bus full of people, though! I tried to talk, but the words just wouldn't come out. "But… Jasmine and Troy. Avery, what about Alice and Danna?" Avery looked back at Mrs. James for an answer. Some guy towards the back of the bus yelled, "We have got to get out of here! Leave them here or we're all going to die!" I stepped back a few steps then looked up at Avery still standing on the stairs of the bus; she was looking at me hopelessly, "I-I'm sorry Avery I just can't." I turned away from her gaze, waited for a split second, then ran towards the middle school as fast as I possibly could. When I finally ran far enough to see the Freeland Middle School sign, I could still hear Mrs. James and Avery both screaming for me to come back, but by that time it was already too late.

I looked at the terror ahead of me and bit my bottom lip, a bad habit I do when I get nervous. Everywhere I turned I saw another unknown attacking students, teachers, the principle, everyone was either attacking or they were being attacked. There was no way I could fight through all of those creatures and survive. I hid behind the sign and took a deep breath. I didn't want any of the unknowns to see me. I remember thinking, What is the possibility I will actually find Jasmine or Troy in this chaos? For all I know they could be dead, or even worse. They could be one of those things. I started to head back towards the bus when I heard a horrifying scream; a cry for help. I felt a dull pain in my chest, I knew that scream. I yanked around and started running towards my baby sister, taking no precautions to be unseen anymore. "Jasmine! Jasmine where are you?" I ran through the parking lot, dodging people and unknowns at every corner. I heard Jasmine's terrified scream again. I turned around, and there she was, hiding behind a dark red truck, covered in mud. Lying on the ground was a young boy. He looked about twelve years old; he was Jasmine's age. He was covered in blood and torn to shreds. His arm looked like someone had taken a dull, rusty knife to it. The gash was so deep, I could see bits and pieces of the bone on his forearm. Standing above him crying and screaming was my twelve-year old baby sister Jasmine; blood splattered all over her face. In her hand, she held a pair of blue and red sewing scissors, covered in a putrid, yellowish-green liquid that smelled like rotting meat. She looked over at me, her strawberry-blonde hair up in a ponytail like always, but her eyes seemed different, like they had changed since I had just saw her earlier this morning. Normally a beautiful hunter-green color, her eyes were now a darker color than night. I could tell something terrible had just happened, but never would I have been able to guess the trauma she had just experienced.

I started to ask Jasmine what had happened, but the look on her face told me she was too scared to tell me. I shook my head and grabbed the scissors from her hand, "Where's Troy? We have to get out of here." She shrugged her shoulders, "H-He signed out early this morning. Cal picked him up and took him home." I paused for a moment, trying to catch up with my thoughts and figure out what to do next. I stuck the scissors in my pocket. "Ok, let's get back to my car and get out of here. I need to get to Alice and Danna." I grabbed her hand and went to lead her back towards the high school, but she stayed frozen to that spot, unmoving. "Olive, how do you plan on getting back to your car when there are so many of those things running around?" I sneaked a look out from behind the truck. For the first time, I finally realized how frightened I was; my adrenaline rush was wearing off. I tried to swallow down the knot forming in my throat. She was right, there were way too many unknowns for us to attempt to run through them without getting hurt; they had at least tripled in numbers since I had ran through the parking lot the first time coming to find her. I leaned my back up against the vehicle and slid down to the asphalt beneath me. "Okay. So running isn't exactly an option. We'll just have to take a car…" Jasmine gasped and cut my sentence short. "Liv your bus!" I jumped up and looked down the street where Jasmine was pointing. She was right; about half a mile ahead of us was bus 182, and it was swarming with the unknowns. I inhaled sharply; the bus had been heading our way. They wouldn't have drove the bus that way unless they were coming after me. I couldn't catch my breath. All the people on the bus were screaming for help, the windows were covered in blood and the nasty green ooze I had seen come out of Trisha's ears, and on Jasmine's scissors before. I watched as Mrs. James climbed out of her window, trying to run, but an unknown jumped out of the window after her and attacked. She fell to the ground screaming and kicking, trying to crawl away. I wanted to run over to the bus. I wanted to help her; but even if I had ran over there attempting to save her, I would have been too late. The unknown was stronger than she was, and within minutes, Mrs. James was dead. I felt the tears start streaming down my face. I felt the fear, the anger, and the resentment for those horrid creatures building up even more inside of me. I could hear Jules's voice screaming in the back of my head, "Keep her safe Liv! Keep her safe! Promise me!" I started screaming for Avery, screaming for my best friend. I promised Jules I would keep Avery safe from harm, and I hadn't been able to keep that promise. My heart ached for Jules and Avery. I only wanted to see them, and to tell them how sorry I was. Now I was crying, screaming, confused. I guess I just never realized how loud I was.

Jasmine cupped her hand over my mouth, "Shhh! Liv come on, calm down. Be quiet! Someone will hear you!" I tried to calm down. I looked over at her and whispered, "Avery was on the bus Jasmine. She was on there because I left her behind!" Jasmine gasped and covered her mouth, trying not to cry with me. I went to say something else when someone grabbed my shoulder from behind. Before I could react, I was yanked around and thrown down onto the ground. My head smacked onto the asphalt, hitting so hard my vision went blurry. I heard Jasmine screaming, but I couldn't move. The fall knocked the breath out of me, and made my head hurt immensely. When my vision slowly started coming back, I watched in what felt like slow motion, as my little sister fought for her very life.

Jasmine was pushing the unknown away from me, kicking it, and screaming at it, "Come on! I'm right here! Come and get me, you don't want her!" The unknown however didn't agree. He had his eyes set on me, it was like she wasn't even there. Every time Jasmine would push the unknown he would fall back, catch his balance, and continue walking. When she kicked him, he would fall down but he never even acted like he seen her standing there. The whole time he just kept his hungry, red, demon eyes fixated on me, ready for the kill. Jasmine stood over my body, trying to protect me. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't move. I tried to tell her to run but the only words I could manage to mumble were, "Jazz…scissors." Jasmine looked down at me lying on the ground, a mixed look of hope and fear in her eyes. She dropped to the floor, grabbing the scissors from my pocket, and quickly standing back up. The unknown growled at her. He wasn't exactly growling like an animal; more like he was trying to speak, but it only came out as a grumbled slur. Jasmine pushed the unknown away again and shouted, "Don't come any closer. I'm warning you!"

I used every amount of strength left in my body to sit up. Still dizzy; I said, "Jasmine, what are you doing? Run!" The unknown looked at me, and smiled the same evil smile Trisha had smiled before. It was almost as if he could read my mind; like he knew what worried me the most. He knew if he hurt my sister, he would easily destroy me. He leaped at Jasmine, catching her by surprise. She fell to the ground and started kicking. I watched the scissors fly across the parking lot. Jasmine swatted at the ground hopelessly, trying to find her only weapon she had in her hand moments before. I grabbed the unknown by the back of his hair, trying to prevent him from taking a bite out of my sister. I knew I needed to get to those scissors, but if I let go of him, Jasmine would be done for. Jasmine cried and screamed for someone to help; but if anyone heard her, no one bothered to come to our rescue. I threw the unknown down to the ground beside of Jasmine and placed my knees on his forearm, "Jazz, go get the scissors!" Jasmine ran across the parking lot, grabbed the scissors and raced back to my side. She then, preceded to stab the unknown in between the eyes with those scissors not once, but multiple times. With every jab she made, more tears went rolling down her blood-covered cheeks. I grabbed her hand and stopped her, "It's okay Jazz, it's going to be okay. He's dead Jasmine. Stop!" She dropped the scissors and stared at her hands desperately. "What did I do? Oh no. I killed him, Liv I killed him!" She looked at me for answers, for support maybe. At that moment though, I had no way of answering her questions when I couldn't even answer my own.