It's definitely been a while since I've been on here! This story is an original, that follows the lives of six teens in a research facility at the peak of a virus outbreak that turns humans into flesh-eating monsters. In other words, zombies. The place they work is called RISE and it basically just sticks several teens into different buildings and forces them to figure out how to find a cure. It's a story about survival and team-work. This version is my beta version, so it's definitely has a lot I can work on fixing, but it'd be nice if I could get some reviews on this thing! Tell me what to change and all of that! I'm open to it all! The chapters may be short, as I said, it's just a test run. So, I apologize because I know that can be annoying. Hope you enjoy!
THEO
CHAPTER ONE
USAIN BOLT, WHO?
It was almost like I could feel the blood that pumped through my veins, the adrenaline from the race giving me a huge boost of energy. Having Richard Carter as our starter was bound to end up in a delayed start. We all stood in anticipation when the gun blast filled the air but there stood Richard, hesitating to move from the start line. My guess is another one of his "babe sightings", but let's not be too quick to judge. The guy did have some sort of illness going on after all. My hands began to sweat, the nerves hitting me as Johnny entered the passing zone. On cue, I took off with my arm behind me; waiting for the cool baton to press into my skin. The wind flowed my blonde hair out of my face and behind my ears, bouncing with each new stride. My fingers curled around the gold baton and with that, the worry was gone. I could hear the cheers and shouts from the stands, chanting my name in an effort to give me that final push to catch our team up. It was my final moment of bliss, running the last race of our high school career. Since freshmen year it's been the four of us: Richard, Johnny, Ryker and I. Together, we trained in the off season; racing along the Los Angeles river and spending some time at one of the gyms near home. It was what we knew outside our individual selves and now it was coming to an end, so why not make the best of it? As I closed in on that final stretch, my mind returned to those training time trials. Ryker held the stopwatch, yelling at me to run faster and to give it my all, just as he did now. My muscles flexed with each stride, arms swinging harder and faster to give me that momentum. There is no way we're losing this race. The spikes in my shoes crunched against the hard pavement below me, the feeling sending an echo throughout my body and a ring to my I entered the passing zone I whipped my arm forward and slammed it into the hand of my best friend; Ryker. And with that, he took off down the track. What came next was no surprise. It was a neck and neck battle between Ryker and one of the Salt Lake City runners. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind that Ryker would get it done - he always did. I watched him push himself to the limit, if he even had one of those, running faster than anyone else on our team could. He was always the star player. The finish line tape ripped across his chest and I threw my arms in the air, jogging to meet him and our other teammates at the finish line. We cheered as loud as we could; our friends and family doing the same in the stands.
After the personal celebrations, Richard took off for the showers. Said something about feeling his fever spike, so we didn't complain. Johnny left to go make out with his girlfriend, so we definitely didn't stop him.
"And first place goes to the two best friends; Theo and Ryker! Ahhhhh!" Ryker cupped his hands over his mouth and mimicked the sounds of an audience cheering. I held the trophy up in the air and did a little jog around him, cheering with him.
"Man, we could probably beat the Jamaican team at this point. Usain Bolt? More like Ryker McKane and Theo Storm. If we prove ourselves during the off season in College and get a chance at the Olympic trials, that dream might just come true," I said in a more serious tone. Since we both got scholarships to U.C.L.A., our dream could come true. We would just have to fight for it.
"Don't get too excited. You two could be the flu's next victim. We all know it's what Richard has and we also know what the probability of him surviving the thing is," we turned to see Johnny, a worried look on his face. Just a few days ago, a critical mutated strain of the flu broke out in San Diego. Some of my friends say they kill you on spot if they find out you have it. Guess it's the only way to control it. In just under a week it spread from San Diego to Dallas, Texas, and it's predicted to spread all the way to Michigan in another few weeks. They keep it off the news as much as they can, though. Why they do that, is the real question.
"Johnny, take your pessimistic thoughts away from here. You're killing our champion vibes. Go check on Richard, will you?" Ryker rolled his eyes and turns his back to Richard. It was clear that he didn't appreciate what Johnny said, but it was something they had to consider. I assumed it would only take a few minutes for him to check up on Richard, but as we sat there in the grass trying to take in as much as we can, the thought of Johnny not returning slowly moved from the back of my mind and a new sense of worry washed over me.
The creak of the door echoed in the quiet locker room. Not a single voice of cry from the pain was heard in that window-lit room. I descended the three-step staircase with Ryker just behind me. Behind a row of lockers and past a corner, the sound of running water moving through the rusted pipes and hitting the tiled floors was the closest thing to knowing they were in here somewhere. The closer to the shower room we got, the more sounds we heard. There was a cry of pain and there was a moan that could be heard over the running shower. Steam filled the room and when I peeked my head around the corner, all I could see was a stream of blood that flowed into a nearby drain, and a pair of feet that just showed past the half-walls they had between each shower head. My heart raced against my chest and I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, a nervous sweat beginning to form on my head and hands. Ryker looked at me with the same traumatized look of worry and fear.
"Richard? Johnny?" I stuttered out, slowly moving across the wet floor. Ryker placed his hand on my shoulder, moving with me and letting me know he was there and had my back. Instead of going any further I stopped where I was and rose onto my tiptoes, glancing over the wall. My eyes lit up in shock and fear. There on the floor were our friends, Richard and Johnny.
"Oh my God," Ryker cried out, running forward and shoving Richard against the wall. His eyes were bloodshot and his body was covered in Johnny's blood. An ear-piercing scream erupted from Richard's mouth, his arms lashing at Ryker and his mouth snapping at the closest part to him.
"Richard! What are you doing!? It's us! Theo and Ryker!" Not even a blink. No recognition. His eyes filled with hunger and he held onto Ryker with a tight grip, not letting him let go when he tried. His eyes turned to me with a look of terror and desperation. Johnny didn't have anyone to help him.
I stepped forward and kicked him on the side of the head, his grip on Ryker loosening enough for him to get away. As we stood there and watched him try to get back up, we heard another set of moans. Johnny opened his eyes, but they weren't the same as before. They looked just like Richard's and the giant hole in his stomach didn't stop him from standing up to his feet.
"I think I know why they kept this part of it off of the news," I pointed out and looked at Ryker, his eyes moving between looking at me and watching the movements of the other two.
"Theo, run!" He shouted taking off for the door. Of course I hesitated and looked at our two friends. They both screamed in sync and dove toward me, luckily I avoided it and took off after Ryker, who waited at the door for me. When I ran past him he whacked me on the back of the head and mumbled "idiot" before shutting the door and running after me.