Markus Lane smiled to himself as he looked around the soccer field. It was almost time for lunch and he couldn't wait to see his little sister before she went to class. Today was her birthday, and though he was waiting to give her his gift he wanted to see if anyone else had remembered. Unlike him, Kestryle wasn't very popular.
He looked down at his watch for the thousandth time and saw that there was still ten minutes left until lunches switched. He had 3rd lunch, meaning that he ate after his class was over, and Kestryle had 2nd, meaning she got a break in the middle of class to go eat. The two groups got to briefly see each other as they switched. Another glance at his watch showed that a mere 30 seconds had passed.
"Lane!" Coach called, waving to get Markus's attention from across the field. "What's going on over there?" He pointed to the school gate, a bit to the left of where Markus had been looking.
Markus looked and saw what looked like a drunk person stumbling up to the school gate. The road was blocked, but the drunk man kept bumping into the barrier. The security guard started yelling something and got out of his hut.
"Looks like some drunk guy, Coach." Markus said, now that the Coach had gotten closer.
The older man nodded. "Huh... It looks like Murph is having trouble with that guy. Tell the other students to pack up and get inside. You guys are out of class early." Markus nodded and went to tell his class mates who greeted the news with enthusiasm. With this extra time he could not only visit his sister, he could spend some time with his girlfriend Lauren before she went to class too. Since her class was on the far side of the school, he rarely got to see her during lunch and he was looking forward to surprising her.
He only got a few steps towards the school when he realized he left his back pack under a bench, but the small gap in time was enough to show him a nightmare when he turned around. At the gate, Murph was laying on the ground and the drunk man was shuffling towards the Coach. Coach punched the man and knocked him over and turned to go to the small Security Guard's hut when Murph stood up and attacked him from behind, biting into the man's neck until Markus saw blood. Lots of blood. No one could have survived that... but a few seconds later, Coach stood up again and the three men started to shuffle towards the school.
His mind flew into a panic. This couldn't be happening it was like something out of those screwed up zombie flicks Kain liked so much. He stood there stupidly for a long moment, then ran to the school, his school bag forgotten. It's not like it had anything important in it, just his math text book and some notebooks. He tore through the halls, ignoring the people who greeted him as he ran past. Maybe he should have warned them, or said something, but his mind was focused on one thing: Get Kestryle to safety.
She was exactly where he'd known she'd be: Her favorite secluded table in the second floor library surrounded by books. No one else was in the large library, not even the librarian. The old woman had probably left Kes in charge while she ran an errand yet again.
"We need to go." He said without preamble.
His sister turned her violet eyes up to him. Her long midnight hair framed her face and the curious look it held. As far as looks went, the two had little in common. Markus had light brown hair he kept shaggy and bright green eyes. He always had a tan from his soccer games while his sister's skin rarely ever saw sunlight. He was tall and athletic; she was thin and willowy. Their eyes met for only a second before Kes nodded and started to shove books into her back packs.
"We don't have time for that sis. People just got killed at the front gate." Markus urged, grabbing his sister's other back pack. She was the only kid he knew who needed multiple back packs for high school.
"If that's so, then this is necessary." She didn't look up from her work as she shoved several books into the two bags. In all, Markus thought she'd grabbed almost fifty books, though it had only taken her a few seconds to pack everything away. She slipped one bag onto her own slim shoulders and Markus did the same with the bag she'd given him, though the weight almost made him fall backwards. "The back stair well will be best for a quick escape. Do the teachers know?"
"Not yet." Markus said, leading the way to the stairs. "Though it won't be long."
"I think you should tell me more about the attack at the gate." Kes said, prying the door open.
"Right." Markus started to descend the stairs. "It's like some bad horror movie. Some drunk bit the Coach and then... Lauren?" Markus stopped and looked down at his girlfriend, confused. "What are you doing in here?"
"I was... on my way to the library. I've got this history home work I was hopping Kes could help me and Bradly out with." Lauren said, smiling though the expression was a bit off. Markus nodded as if that made sense, though Kes narrowed her eyes in suspicion. The girl's pants were still unbuttoned... and when Bradly walked out from under the stairs his shirt was backwards.
"Lauren..." Kes began angrily, but she was cut off by the school's intercom crackling to life. "Attention all students, you are to report to your current teacher at once. We are under code red. The school will be evacuated. If you drove yourself to school today, check with your current teacher for instructions. I repeat, all students..." The sound of a door being thrown open echoed over the speaker. "You can't be in here, get out at once!" The principal ordered. Someone breathing heavily got closer to the microphone and the principal started to scream. It got louder and louder... then silence. Nothing in the school seemed to move. A minuet later, a second heavy breathing joined the first and it made a sickeningly wet sound. Then the screaming started.
It seemed to come from everywhere at once, filling the school as doors burst open and the halls were filled.
"We need to get out of the stairway." Kes said, putting her book bag in her hands like a shield.
"Right. We'll have to run past the cafeteria to get to the parking lot." Markus copied his sister, then opened the door and ran into the hall. For now this one was mostly empty. The only rooms on this hall were some bathrooms and storage closets. At the far end though, Markus could already see students running in panic. One student tripped and fell, and three... things fell on her. They were students but... they were hurt, bleeding from wounds all over their bodies. One student was missing most of his neck. Behind him, Markus heard Kes gasp and knew she was fighting nausea. Lauren was sobbing.
It was that sound that drew their attention. The three from before and now their victim, who was missing the better part of his left arm and his cheek, shuffled towards Markus. He stood there paralyzed with fear. This couldn't be happening. It wasn't happening! They were only a few feet away now...
"Do something dumb ass!" Lauren screeched.
Instinctively Markus swung the heavy book-filled bag, shoving one of the creatures to the side. Kes rushed forward and knocked over a second, then swung her back to topple the third. Bradly rushed forward and knocked the last into the wall.
"GO!" Markus ordered, rushing forward. The three others followed him and the found the next part of the hall nearly empty. There was one more of the creatures who had once been students, but one swing of the heavy bag knocked it aside. It started to shuffle after them, but a scream in the distance pulled it's attention away from them.
How was this happening? How had so many people been changed this quickly? It had only been five or ten minutes since he'd seen that drunk man at the gate... no, not a drunk, a zombie. One of Them.
"Look out!" Lauren screeched, drawing the full attention of the twenty or so things she'd been trying to warn the group about. To many to fight off and they were blocking the only path to the parking lot.
"Into the kitchen!" Kes commanded.
Markus nodded, though the situation inside wasn't much better. Now they had the attention of nearly fifty of the things. "Shit... shit!"
"We can't fight this many!" Bradly yelled, kicking one of the creatures that was moving faster than the others. It fell, but got right back up. "Shit, we're going to die!"
"No. Just get to the kitchen." Kes said firmly.
"You better have a plan sis." Markus said, jumping over a table and helping Lauren over. Kes just nodded as she jumped to join them.
"Bradly, hurry!" Lauren grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him out of danger. They ran into the kitchen and Kes lead the group past the line where food still sat ready to be picked up. The staff had cleared out, but the mass behind them wasn't far behind.
"Get in." Kes said, pulling open the walk in fridge's large metal door.
"Sis you're brilliant!" Markus said, pushing her in first. At some point two other people had joined the group, one boy and one girl, and judging by the food stains on the boy's shirt they had probably joined in only a few minutes ago. "Get in!" he urged. Once all five students were inside, Markus joined them and closed the door.
The walls of the walk in were solid and would hold against the mass until they moved on, but the door was a different matter. Designed to never lock people in, the door could be pulled open if one of the creatures grabbed hold of the handle. They needed something...
"Use your belt." Kes said, taking hold of the knob and handle that this side of the door used. "You can loop it through the handle and the built in shelves. That should keep the door closed. Badly, do you have a belt?" When the football player shook his head, Kes turned to the two newcomers. "What about you guys?"
The new boy nodded and got to work freeing his cloth belt as Markus got to work tying the belt into place. They could hear the hoard banging against the door, but with the new belts to secure the door closed the group began to relax.
Kes sat against the back wall, her two bags on either side of her. Markus suspected she was cuddling up to them for warmth. Inside the fridge was cold after all. Lauren was sitting a bit away from Kes and sobbing while Bradly tried to comfort her. The two new kids were cuddled up to each other, still holding onto broken and bloody lunch trays.
"You can put those down for now." Markus said, trying for his usual warm smile. It failed, but the girl at least put her tray down. "I'm Markus, a senior. This is Kestryle, my little sister. That one's Lauren and the boy next to her is Bradly. Who are you too?"
The boy took a deep breath to calm himself, then a second. "Justin." He said, his voice only shaking a little bit. "My name is Justin. This is Samantha, my girl friend. I'm in the art club."
"I'm on the Soccer team." Markus said, joining Lauren and putting an arm around her. The girl sobbed quietly into his chest.
"I know." Samantha said, smiling weakly. "You're the captain of the varsity team. And Bradly's on the football team."
"That's right." Markus said, trying to ignore the banging and scraping against the door. "I don't think I've met you before though?"
"No, but I'm on yearbook staff." Sam said, huddling closer to Justin.
Now that things had calmed down a bit, Markus took the chance to take a good look at the group. Kes seemed OK, though her hands were trembling slightly. He knew his sister was probably scared, though she wouldn't appreciate anyone trying to comfort her right now. Lauren was in much the same condition, though her high pony tail had slipped so her golden brown hair fell around her in long waves. She was still sobbing, so he held her a bit tighter and tried to fix her hair for her. Bradly just sat there like a lump of typical jock mussel.
The two newcomers were in worse condition. Sam's shirt had one sleeve torn to shreds and her clothes were dappled in blood. Her dark brown hair fell down her back, revealing haunted hazel eyes in a worried face. Justin had light brown curly hair that he wore a bit shaggy and his blue eyes flicked from person to person.
"Why are you guys being so damned calm about this?!" Lauren demanded, raising her head to glare at everyone, even Markus. "We're about to die!"
"No we won't." Kes said, her voice not trembling at all. "They can't get in."
"So, what? We stay in here forever?"
"No."
"Then what? What's your grand plan?"
"Markus said it was like something out of a movie." Kes said simply. "And since that's the only reference we have, we can assume they will eventually hear some other noise that will draw them away. We just have to wait for that to happen. Failing that, I'm sure there's something in here we can use for weapons."
"How can you be so fucking calm about this?!" Bradly demanded, turning on Kes along with Lauren. "Fuckin' emotionless bitch!"
Markus hit the taller boy before Kes could respond and the two glared at each other.
"Just calm down." Justin said, standing to get between the two.
"It's fine, Markus. Sit back down, both of you." Kes said, flinching slightly as the things outside attacked the door with a seemingly renewed vigor. "We just need to calm down and think-"
"OH for fucks sake!" Bradly glared at Kes, though he didn't move from his spot on the wall. "You really expect us to sit here while those things are at the door!? We should attack, bust our way through them and get the hell out of here."
"If you want to, be my guest." Markus said, glaring. "But I won't let you back in. Try to show some gratitude; if Kes hadn't brought us here we'd already be dead by now."
Bradly cursed and backed down. It was another five minutes before Samantha asked. "What's the plan after we get out of here?"
"I don't know." Markus said with a sigh. "I guess... I'm headed to the lake after this."
"We should get our parents first. Make sure they are alright." Kes said, though Markus shook his head. "Why not?"
"They're already at the lake." He explained. "They went this morning when we left for school to set up camp there. We were going to spend the weekend there for your birthday."
"Oh..." Kes looked down. She'd forgotten that she turned 17 today in all the commotion. Under normal circumstances, the trip to the lake would have thrilled her; there were few things she loved more than taking a boat out on the water and reading as the waves lapped against her. But today... If her parents were at the lake, maybe they were ok. Maybe this wasn't happening were they were, though the odds of that were very slim, and even if it was, they could go out on the lake. These things probably couldn't swim... right?
"Yeah. It was supposed to be a surprise."
"Well, happy birthday." Justin said, smiling a bit. When Kestryle didn't respond his smile faltered and fell.
"What about your families?" Markus asked. "We can look for them in town. Maybe this hasn't gotten into Chicago yet."
"My dad's on a hunting trip, and my mom's in New York for business." Justin said.
"My dad lives a few miles from here." Sam said.
"And your mom?" Markus said, standing to look for something he could use as a weapon.
"She's dead."
"I'm sorry, Sam..."
"It's fine." The girl smiled at him, then turned to Lauren. "What about your folks?"
"They live about ten miles from here, deeper into the city." Lauren said. "I... I don't really think... If it's gotten into the city I don't think we'll find them."
Markus nodded and looked to Bradly. "and you?"
"My parents work here. I haven't seen them, but if we're ok, they should be too, right?"
"Right." Markus said, nodding. "We'll go to town and see if we can find everyone's family, then go to the lake to find ours."
Everyone nodded, the plan set. Now, to wait for Them to leave...