Even the most normal of days can end in the most unexpected of ways. That's a lesson Imogene Adeney had to learn the hard way, but for someone as stubborn as she was that wasn't totally surprising.
Imogene's mother used to tell her as she grew up that she was the kind of person who'd walk straight through hell with a smile. At the time, Imogene didn't think having that quality would ever help her as she made her escapade through her teenage years, or throughout her life for that matter. She never could've guessed how wrong she'd be.
The end of the world began on Friday, August 29th, 2014. It was the fifth day of Imogene's freshman year in High School. It started out like any other day, but ended like no other before it.
Imogene Adeney
If there is one thing that Texans love, its high school football. I never really understood the game itself, but I can't deny that it's entertaining to watch. There's nothing I enjoyed more than watching teenage boys tackle each other to the ground and flip each other over their shoulders, all in the name of a trophy.
Tonight marked the beginning of the 2014 season, and my first football game as a varsity cheerleader at Foster High School
I stood on the track that went along the circumference of the football field with my hands behind my back crossed above my butt. The sweat coming off of my palms made my pom-poms stick to my hands without me having to actually grip the handle between all the shiny fabric. Got to love that Texas weather in August.
I gazed out beyond the top of the press box that sat above the home team's side. The sky had turned into a beautiful ombre of orange and yellow hues, signaling the setting of the sun. It was difficult for me to not admire the beautiful sunset that was appearing in the sky.
My eyes followed a flock of birds as they passed overhead in an oddly large group. That's weird, I thought to myself, birds usually only fly in large groups like that when they are migrating. It's the end of August, so there is no reason they should be fleeing to warmer weather. An odd feeling overcame came me as I watched them fly out into the distance and fade away out of sight. It seemed as if they were flying away from something as opposed to flying towards something.
Before I could continue my inner monologue about bird migrations, a loud cheer erupted out of the crowd, breaking me from my reverie. The band started to play a familiar beat as the announcer from the press box informed us all that the visitor's team had scored a touchdown.
I turned around clapping to the opening beats of the fight song played by the drum line. Months of practice made it possible for me to do the routine to our school's fight song without really thinking about it. As I finished the last motion, the head captain yelled, "One two!" Simultaneously, the whole team and I dropped our pom-poms onto the track.
We all then proceeded to run towards the end zone we scored in to do a ripple of backhandsprings. As we ran, I slowed down until I fell in step with my friend Devyn.
"Remind me again why I keep putting myself through this year after year," she gasped out between breaths.
I let out a chuckle as I stopped running. There was a moment of silence before the backhandspring ripple started and I took that brief moment to catch my breath. When I saw Devyn swing her arms back to start her backhandspring in my peripheral vision I started mine.
As I finished I stood up straight with my hands on my hips and looked to my left towards the end of the line. When the last person finished, we all ran back to our positions in front of the student section on the visitor's side of the field.
Devyn caught up with me and I answered her previous question, even though it was rhetorical. "I have no idea you tell me. I'm only doing cheer because I need a PE credit to graduate."
Don't get me wrong, I liked cheerleading. It was fun and it put my eight years of gymnastics experience to use, however it was exhausting. So far our team had scored 49 points which is great, but it wasn't even halftime yet. We already had to run to and from the end zone 7 times.
"How are you still running at this pace Imogene? I literally feel like I'm about to collapse," Devyn let out between breaths.
I slowed down my pace a little bit replied. "Back in my gymnastics days, we used to do these crazy workout videos for a warmup, then run around the parking lot for half an hour. I found that if I pretended a pack of velociraptors were chasing me that I'd keep my pace up."
She shook her head slightly and rolled her eyes. "I swear every day the stuff you tell me Jean gets crazier and crazier."
"Hey I'm just answering the question don't be hating on me."
"I'm not hating on you per say," Devyn said while making finger quotation mark gestures at the word hate. "I just think that velociraptors are a little unrealistic. Don't you think? Wouldn't it make more sense for the something that's chasing you to be real?"
At this point we had made it back to our positons on the track. I opened my mouth to reply but was interrupted by the head captain saying, "Be back down here five minutes before halftime ends!"
I hadn't been paying much attention to the clock on the scoreboard but sure enough when I glanced up over at it, the timer was set to 25 minutes. Halftime had started. I walked over my duffel bag and grabbed my water bottle and phone.
I then made my way over to the gate that separated the bleachers and concession stands from the field. Devyn met up with me and we then proceeded through the gate to the bleachers to watch the halftime show, muttering a quick thank you to the security guard that unlocked the gate for us.
"Alright Devyn the all-knowing," I spoke dragging out the last syllable in her name. "What do you suppose I do instead?"
She answered me as we wove our way through the crowd. "I don't know just make the scenario more realistic. Have a tiger chase you," she suggested as we walked up the bleachers to the top row. The voices around us were drowned out by the deafening music of the home team's band which was preforming at the moment.
"A tiger. Really. That's the best you could come up with? As if I'm going to be petrified of some cat," I quipped glancing over at Devyn.
She merely scoffed and sat down in an empty spot. I sat down next to her as she replied. "I forgot that you're inhuman Ms. I don't get scared of anything."
"First off I can assure that I am very much human," I jested glancing at Devyn. She raised an eyebrow as if to ask are you sure about that? "Secondly, fear echoes your self-defined limitations. I don't know about you Devyn, but fifty years from now, I want children to be reading about me in history textbooks. If I let fear overcome me, I'll never get where I want to go."
Devyn took her eyes off the halftime show and gave me a blank stare. "I'll make sure that the history textbooks say 'Imogene Adeney, at the bright young age of 14, was already showing signs of becoming a smartass'."
I threw my head back laughing and gave Devyn a side hug. She giggled and leaned into me resting her head upon my shoulder. "I don't say this often enough, but I love you Devyn Krieger. I have no idea what I'm going to do when you graduate next year."
She sat up straight and turned her attention back to the halftime show. "You're smart and resourceful Jean. You'll find a way. I know you will." She assured me not even sparing a glance.
I took my eyes off her and watched the band and drill team preform their routine on the field. The formations were intricate and I couldn't help but admire the smooth and fluid like transitions that were made.
When the home team's band hit the final note of their routine, the audience applauded, including Devyn and I. They exited the field in a routine like manner and walked out of sight.
There was a brief moment of tranquility while our teams' band and drill team took the field. It was relatively serene and the radio was playing quietly in the background over the speakers. The whole stadium was illuminated in lights because the sun had long been gone. I felt a slight breeze brush across my face causing my blonde ponytail to blow into Devyn face. She swatted my hair away like it was a fly smiling.
All was well.
But as Robert Frost, a great poet once wrote, nothing gold can stay. And I was about to get a hands on lesson on exactly what he meant.
Though the music from the radio that was playing over the speakers were quiet, everyone in the stadium could hear the sirens of the Emergency Alert System interrupt the current song. The announcer in the press box turned up the volume until it drowned out all outside noise.
"What the hell?" I muttered under my breath as I stood up slowly. I put my phone in the waistband of my spandex that I had on under the skirt of my uniform
Devyn looked up at me then stood up as well. "It's probably just a test," she began. "Probably nothing to worry about," she finished trying to convince herself more than she was me.
I turned my head towards her with a grim smile. "Devyn, you know as well as I do that if were a test, they'd say so before blaring the alarms." The sirens stopped suddenly and there was a moment of complete silence before the automated voice of the system spoke.
It was scary quiet. Never had I been in a place filled with this many people and it be this silent. I think that everyone knew this moment was important and that they would remember it for the rest of their lives, which for all we knew could be very limited from this point.
The silence was interrupted by the robotic voice of the Emergency Alert System. "This is not a test. This is your Emergency Alert System announcing that authorities have issued a Contagious Disease Warning for the United States beginning at 9:17 PM Eastern Time and will be effective until further notice. Authorities have no information on how the disease is spread though they know for a fact that it is fatal upon contraction. We advise that you stay away from densely populated areas and the infected until told otherwise. Stay calm, help is on the way."
I stopped paying attention after that. The alert repeated itself as I grabbed Devyn hand and dragged her down the steps of the bleachers with me, maneuvering my way through the crowds of people who had the same idea.
At this point I knew that the safest place for us to be was away from the crowds but if I ever wanted to get home, I had to find my coach and team. The problem with being 14 is that legally, you're completely dependent on adults
It took a good two minutes for us to make the trek to the lowest level of the bleachers. When Devyn and I finally got there, we were pressed against the railing by the hordes of people pushing past us.
I scanned the field and saw that there were a scanty amount of people on it. There were band members from our school who never got to preform rushing off of the field, their instruments in tow, and drill team members following close behind. I let out a huff, even when they're running from their impending doom, drill team still managed to be graceful.
"There's no way that we'll be able to go through the gate we came in through," Devyn acknowledged as she leaned forward over the railing. I followed her gaze. She was right.
From our vantage point, I could see a huge crowd of drill team and band members crowded around the gate in a group, all trying to push through at once. It would take way too much time to get through the crowd and then, even with my stubbornness and unshakeable willpower, there was no way Devyn and I could push through the group of teenagers surrounding the gate.
"Screw that," I mused looking over the railing. "How far do you think it is from here to the ground?"
Devyn thought for a moment. "About 8 feet. Why?" she replied turning towards me a perplexed expression. I merely smirked at her whilst wiggling my eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation. "You can't be serious."
"Oh but Devyn my dear I most certainly am," I all but sang whilst walking backwards. "Sometimes I think you underestimate my abilities."
"Imogene Adeney now is not the time to be cracking jokes, nor is it the time to act all dramatic and ostentatious! If you jump over that railing and break your leg, how the hell are we supposed to get out of here?" Devyn exclaimed with a wild look in her eyes.
I stopped backing up once I was about 10 steps up. Running from here would give me enough momentum to hopefully bypass the concrete that was directly below the railing and land on the still hard but slightly more shock absorbent track.
"Okay really? Ostentatious?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
She shrugged sheepishly. "It was one of my SAT vocab words."
And I'm the dramatic one, I thought to myself. "Anyways," I continued. "You can relax Devyn I'm not going to jump over the railing."
She sighed in relief. "Really! Thank god," Devyn gasped out.
"I'm going to vault over the railing like Makayla Maroney at the 2012 London Olympics," I finished smiling. "And before you start to yell at me again about how I might break my leg, you're forgetting once again that I was a gymnast for eight years," I reminded her cracking my knuckles.
"Once I get down there, I'm going to need you to go up to the top of the bleachers and wait for me. Okay? I'm going to talk to coach and see what she wants us to do. I'll be back in a few minutes," I explained to Devyn. "You got that?" I asked. She nodded in response. "Good," I said sharply.
The stairs going up and down the bleachers were deserted but the aisle way where Devyn was standing was anything but. People were still rushing around trying to leave and I needed a clear shot if I were ever going to pull this off.
I took my eyes off Devyn and focused on the cylindrical bar that made up the railing. I had one shot at grabbing this metal bar that was maybe 4 inches in circumference. I put my right foot back and bent my knees slightly, leaning my chest forward.
Devyn must've noticed my expression because she yelled to everyone around us. "Everyone move out the way!"
I took that as my cue.
"Just like gymnastics," I muttered to myself as I took off in a sprint. My arms pumped back and forth at my side until I was a good 10 feet from the railing. I raised my arms above my head as my knee lifted up in a hurtle position, both feet off the ground. With all of that momentum, I dropped my arms back to by side and swung them backwards while bringing my feet together in a squat when I touched back down on the ground.
In my peripheral vision I could tell that Devyn was successful in getting people to clear a path for me. I'd have to thank her later.
I then jumped back up into the air reaching towards the bar. My arms were by my ears and I watched as the railing got closer and closer to my hands.
My fingers spread out as I latched on to the bar. I wrapped my thumb around it and bent my elbows just enough to help me pop off. I straightened my arms quickly and released the bar when I could feel my body go past vertical.
I brought my chin to my chest and watched as the ground got closer and closer. My arms went straight out from my sides to help me balance in the air. I kept my legs slightly in front of me and bent my knees to prepare for impact.
The second my feet grazed the track I tucked my head and arms into my chest quickly and rolled back onto my feet standing up.
I turned around and waved at Devyn while giving her a wink. She smiled at me and started laughing. She then turned around and started walking up the bleachers, following my instructions. Everyone else who was trying to exit the stadium in a rush went on with their business as if they didn't just see a 14 year old blonde chick vault over a metal bar.
"Now that that's done with, where is Coach Wilson," I murmured to myself as I looked around the sidelines. She had to be here somewhere.
That's when I saw one of my teammates crouched down by her duffel bag. She seemed to be packing her stuff up so it was obvious that she was about to leave.
I started jogging in her direction as I called out her name. "Margo!"
She turned towards me and smiled grimly then went back to packing. I got over to her and watched her shove everything in her bag quickly.
"Are you leaving?" I asked her.
She stood up and put her duffel bag around her neck before replying. "Yea, Coach Wilson says that if our parents are here we can leave with them. Thank god my mom came. I'd hate to be stuck on a bus for 3 hours driving back to Houston in what you know is going to be crazy traffic."
Until this point I had totally forgotten that we had driven 3 hours away from my home town, which is right outside of Houston, to play this team. This just raised another question. How the hell was I supposed to get back home? I know Devyn's parents didn't come and I know that neither of mine came because they both work. Also, I really don't think that our bus driver stuck around in all this mess, and I really can't blame him because to be honest I wouldn't have either.
"I gotta go Imogene, my mom's going to be looking for me," Margo broke the silence between us.
"Wait! Can I ask you something real quick? Do you know where Coach Wilson is?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest.
Margo looked around and pointed to the Field House which held the lockers rooms. "Last I saw she was over there. She said she saw someone wondering around there as if they were lost. Wanted to help she said."
I nodded in response. "Thank you Margo. Good luck to you and your family," I spoke gently giving her a smile.
"You too Jean," she answered returning my smile. "Hopefully I'll see you at school next week," Margo added as she walked away. I didn't know it yet, but that was the last time I'd ever see her.
I looked around and saw that the stadium was mostly deserted. A few stragglers were walking around and Devyn was still sitting in the bleachers. We made eye contact and I held up five fingers, signaling that I'd be back in about five minutes. She nodded and went back to her phone.
I could hear yelling and the honking of car horns coming from the parking lot. Even if I somehow found a ride at this very moment, I'd be stuck in that parking lot for who knows how long so I didn't worry about that.
Now for the task at hand. Finding Coach Wilson.
I started towards the Field House at a fast pace. It wasn't very well lit at this part of the football field and to be completely honest, I wanted to get out of this area as soon as possible. It was creepy to say the least
Thankfully, it was fairly easy for me to walk around the building because the gate in front of it was unlocked. When I came to the conclusion that she wasn't outside, I figured that Coach Wilson went inside the Field House so I walked back to the front.
I reached for the doorknob and jiggled it. Locked. I was about to give up when I realized that I was still wearing my cheerleading uniform. That meant that I had a bow bobby pinned to my head. And you know what bobby pins are good for? Picking locks.
My hands went up and reached my bow. I pulled a bobby pin out of my hair and jammed my finger up the center to separate the teeth a little bit. I then kneeled on the ground and went to work.
I put the bobby pin in the door knob where the key should go and wiggled it around a bit until I heard a click. I grabbed the door knob and twisted slowly. Miraculously, the door opened.
"Hell yea," I whispered to myself as I walked in. I shut the door and paused, listening for the sound of footsteps. Nothing.
"Coach Wilson? Anyone?" I called out into empty space. Still nothing. I was having difficulty seeing because only the emergency lights were on so I grabbed my phone out of my spandex and put on the flash, using it as a light.
Carefully, I navigated my way through the maze of hallways until I found a door labeled Coaches Office. I figured that if there's any place she'd be, that it would be in here, so I ventured on.
The door was unlocked so I was able to enter swiftly. I left the door open behind me to let in some light from the hallway. I held my phone up and searched around the room. Nothing.
"Where the hell could she be?" I muttered frustrated. Just as I spoke, I heard a noise from the hallway. Not really thinking, I walked back out of the office talking. "Coach Wilson! Thank god I've been looking all over for you. Listen Devyn and I need to-"I stopped mid-sentence when my gaze fell upon what looked like to be the offensive coach of our football team.
From where I was standing, he looked very much dead. His eyes were cloudy and his skin had a turned a sickly shade of gray. The only problem was, if he was dead, why was he walking towards me?
"Coach! Snap out of it!" I screeched backing up. His head rolled to the side and he kept his gaze on me. He dragged his feet as he moved closer and closer to me, groaning.
My back hit something which caused me to stop backing up. I reached my hand behind and felt around for something, anything. I felt something that seemed to be door knob so I twisted it and pushed against the surface I was backed into.
There was a slight sense of relief when I realized that it was door, but that feeling quickly dissipated when I saw that the coach, or whatever it was, was still advancing. I lifted my phone back up and aimed the light around the room. I saw sinks, toilets, and shower heads. I was in the locker room.
"Ugh gross," I grumbled under my breath, but the bacteria infested locker room was the least of my problems. I needed to kill this thing but I had nothing but my phone and a ruined bobby pin with me.
I shook out my nerves and took on a determined expression. "Alright buddy, listen, my momma didn't raise no bitch so you better enjoy your last few moments roaming this Earth." He merely groaned in response.
Walking to my right, I made my way towards the row of sinks and mirrors. The sinks went up to my belly button and were stark white, obviously cleaned recently. I stood in between two sinks and held out my hand, snapping my fingers to keep the attention of the infected thing in front of me.
"That's right keep it coming," I whispered as it approached me.
The coach was only about 4 inches taller than which saved me a lot of trouble. If this had been one of 6'4 football players I have no clue what I would've done. The coach raised his hands towards me and I waited until he was just about to touch me to give him a slight kick in the stomach.
He bent over out of reflex which gave me a good opening to grab his neck. I grabbed his neck with one hand and tightened my grip, my other hand gripped the sink helping me keep my balance. I turned parallel to the sink and started bringing the coached head down again and again on the white porcelain.
Blood went everywhere. It covered the mirrors, the sinks nearby, and me. I closed my eyes to keep the blood out of them as I bashed the coaches' head in. After I thought I had done a sufficient job, I stopped. I slowly opened my eyes and took in the scene around me.
I loosened my grip on the coach's' neck and watched as he slumped to the floor motionless. I stepped out from between the sinks and backed away from his body. I took a hesitant glance in one of the clean mirrors and raised an eyebrow at my reflection.
"I wonder if this is what Bloody Mary looks like when summoned," I wondered out loud.
My white cheer uniform was covered in blood, as was my face. My blonde hair thankfully, was in a ponytail so most of it was relatively clean, but the white bow on top of my head looked more red than white.
I walked over to one of the clean sinks and washed my hands off. I splashed some water on my face and watched as the tinted red water ran down the drain. Turning off the water, I grabbed some paper towels and dried my hands.
One things still bothered me though. Where the hell was Coach Wilson? My question was soon thereafter answered when I heard groaning in the hallway.
I went still. "You can't be serious," I whispered. I walked over to the door that lead out of the locker room and peaked around it. Sure enough, I found Coach Wilson, only like the offensive coach, she was dead and walking.
Sighing I walked out of the locker room, leaving the door open, and pressed myself against the wall. "I'm sorry that this happened to you," I spoke to her barely above a whisper.
I kicked her in the stomach and grabbed her neck the same way I did the offensive football coach, only this time I didn't go and bash her head in against a sink. I held Coach Wilson's neck with both hands and maneuvered my way around her until I stood directly behind her. I then walked us both forward until we were directly in front of the locker room.
"It was nice knowing you," I proclaimed grimly. I let go of her neck and shoved Coach Wilson as hard as I could into the Locker Room. She groaned and stumbled onto the floor collapsing on her uncoordinated feet. I took one last look and shut the door. She was someone else's problem now.
I excited the Field House quickly, listening and looking for any more of the infected. Thankfully I didn't come across any.
As I walked back my eyes went over to the bleachers. Devyn was there along with two other girls who I recognized as cheerleaders on our team as well. I assumed that they were like Devyn and I, stuck without a ride home.
They were all sitting on the top row of the bleachers, talking and laughing amongst themselves. They were all so engrossed in the conversation that they didn't notice me until Devyn started freaking out.
Devyn stopped talking mid-sentence when her gaze fell upon me. She screeched loudly and stood up covering her mouth with her hand in shock. "Jean what the hell! Are you okay? What the fuck happened to you?" She fretted quite loudly. I knew she was concerned because Devyn being the precious little flower she was, never swore.
I looked at her with an expression blank of emotion. "It's not my blood," I stated curtly. The two girls with Devyn never took their eyes off of me. I made eye contact with both of them before asking Devyn. "Are they stuck here too?"
Devyn nodded her head yes before repeating her earlier question. "Jean, what happened?"
I walked up the steps until I was on the same level as her and the other two girls. I turned towards the railing at the top of the bleachers and looked out into the distance. I could hear faint screaming and the occasional gunshot. Where I would usually see the headlights of cars entering the city, I saw darkness. Meanwhile, the opposite side of the interstate was lit up like a Christmas tree, only all the light were red. Brake lights.
"Life as we know it is gone Devyn," I said breaking the silence, not even sparing her a glance.
She walked up beside me and followed my gaze. Her wavy brown hair blew in the breeze as she reached a hand up to push it out of her face. "That bad huh?" I nodded my head yes silently.
"Are we gonna get back to Houston tonight?" One of the girls behind us asked.
"No," I answered.
"How about tomorrow?"
I let out a dry laugh. "Probably not." They both stayed quiet after that.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence. Devyn looked at me. "Alright Imogene, what's the plan? What are we going to do?"
I smiled despite everything and gave her my best answer. "I'll tell you the minute I figure it out myself."
The lights in the stadium decided to shut off at that very moment, leaving only the full August moon to brighten up the sky.
