Elder-Craft

Book 1:

The End Begins

Chapter 2:

Save Them!

Subject:

Jonathan

"AHH!" James screams as the final creeper explodes and I showered in dust, and blood and flesh from their deceased bodies. James is launched onto the one story roof of the cafeteria and landed on gravel, though he was out of sight, I heard him land from about fifty feet away. I pull myself painfully out of the concrete wall and out of the steel of the safe behind me. I scream in horrible agony as I land on the dirty floor.

I grab at the floor with my strength and pull my limp body across the floor. Agony taking over again and again as my vision flashes white and returns to basic. I look and I see another dragur shambling towards me with a scowl cut across his face. "Jon!" I see Matthew running over to me with his left arm limp from breaking it against the brick wall. He jumps and kicks the dragur in the skull, caving it in.

Matthew lands with a smile on his face and turns to help me up when three more appear and strike at him, knocking him down. He balls up tries to protect himself but their blades and shields bash and slash at him until he screams and faints from the unbearable agony. "Matthew!" I grab the fallen dragur's blade and swing it poorly. I slash the ankles on one dragur causing it to collapse on itself and scream in horrific pain.

The disabled dragur roars in anger and turns on me and begins crawling at me as the other two laugh at the situation and watch. I crawl as quickly away as possible and I feel his bony hand clasps around my limp leg. He pulls me close and pulls him self on top of me, I push and try to force him off but it climbs on top of me and wraps his hands around my throat and begins strangling me. I push at his head but he laughs as I grow weak and my vision begins blurring and my blood begins to boil. I cry out in pain and I feel my lungs struggle to continue their functions. Suddenly I feel myself able to gasp for oxygen."LEAVE THEM ALONE!", Screaming from the Dragur is sounded and I hear the cry in pain as their blood spills on the floor. The broken Dragur roars and I hear a heavy boot smash his skull on the floor.

My vision begins to return and I see James, "H-how...James?" I mumble in astonishment I scream in pain again. I James lifts me up and drags me across the floor until we came across Matthew's unconscious body. He lay me down and I see he move towards Matt when two green fleshed zombies butted in. James unsheathed his sword, taken from the Dragur Overlord, and slashed at them, I see his eyes are darker underneath and his eye color seemed darker then the usual sky blue. He grinned and sheathed his blade after cleaning it off on their clothing.

"Well this should be fun." suddenly a dozen zombies appeared behind us and shambled towards us. He picked up Matthew and began dragging me with ease. He continued on as the halls grew to sound as if the grave yard awoke as undead schoolmates groaned and living ones screamed for mercy. James stops again and lays me and Matt down as we are surrounded on all sides by the undead class of 2014 and 2015. The shamble in and try to grab him but his blade slices into the flesh of their arms. James backslash three of the dozen or so across the throats and blood spills out and covers the floor in blackened bloody goop, causing the other zombies to slip and making them very easy targets for James and his blade.

James' eyes widened and his smile became crooked and twisted and demented as the blood touched his flesh. "I will kill you all!" He sent out furies of attacks at and through the flesh, bone and organs of our old classmates, sending more blood onto the floor and their now redead bodies across the slippery floor. James grabbed me and Matthew and slid across the floor like ice with me and Matt on his shoulder.

When their was no more blood, James lay me down and dragged me until we finally got past the cafeteria and to the beginnings of the commons. "Holy shit this is taking forever." He smiled and patted my shoulder. "You two are great help, thanks for covering my back. Ten in the morning. Just twenty minutes ago everything was..." He chuckles as we begin to hear the monsters approaching and my eyes grow to heavy and I begin to drift.

"JON!" A woman's voice sounds in the darkness of my mind.

My eyes open quickly and we are moving down the hall way now, I look at the red light of the clocks hanging from the ceiling, twelve past ten. I look up and see James hacking and slashing at the crowd of undead and dying. He is thrown back and lands near me. He looks up and quickly covers me and screams in agony as he is pierced by a dozen or so arrows. I screams at them and charges back, blade ready.

I look down the hall to wear James, Matt, and I were at and I see a young girl in bandages screaming as she is pinned down and her throat torn out by a dragur as the green-skinned zombies devour her flesh. Suddenly a pack of Creepers appear and I try to scream for James but no sound is created. I grab onto Matthew and I hear them growing closer, I grab at the floor, attempting to pull me and Matthew towards James. Suddenly I hear the door down the hall open and loud scolding yells as a young man with black hair runs out of the room with a pipe and smashes a skeleton into another. He continues to attack the archers as James concentrates on eliminating the dragur and zombies.

I hear hissing further down the hall. I feel blood drip down onto my arm and I look at the ceiling to see a giant spider, It descends and grips Matthew and pulls on him, but I hold onto my friend as tightly as possible as the spider lifts us both, wrapping Matthew in silky, thick sticky web.

Arrows. Screaming. Pain. I had fallen as the Spider began screaming in agony. James runs and grabs us as the first Creeper reaches us and explodes. We land James uncovers us as we charge towards them. We had been blasted past the room."Hurry Jacob. Open the door."

"James. It's open. Hurry." The black haired child shouts. As James gets Me and Matthew in the room through the tight entrance another creeper explodes, shattering the glass of the display case and destroying many lockers. Hear screaming and hissing and my eyes grow heavy again.

"JON!" The woman's voice again.

I move and open my eyes to see Natalie tending to my wounds. Her short hair burned, her eyes blackened and darker. She smiles as she continues to wipe the blood from my wounds. As the water touches me I feel a burning sensation deep within my body as if the root of my veins was burning furiously. Natalie turns to Nathan who is sitting on one of the rolling chairs of Ms. Gross' computer lab. I look around and I see the twenty some-odd computers on and searching various things.

Nathan is sitting alone, his head is down and tears running down his cheek as he rests his head in his hands. He glances over and kneels down beside another makeshift bed of coats and bags, like what I lay on. He holds a woman's hand in his burnt and dusty hand. He stands and sits back in the chair and continues to sob and beg for mercy from anything. Daniel walks over and places his hand on Nate's shoulder and sighs. He brushes his long brown hair back and sits next to Nate.

Pain! A sudden surge of burning courses through my veins and I groan. Natalie, Daniel, and Jacob come running to my side. Jacob and Daniel hold me up as Natalie forces a soupy substance into my mouth. It's flavor most undesirable. Tasting like spinach and split pea soup with a hint of V8. I swallow it after being forced to hold it in my mouth. It cools my burning body and they lay me back down.

"Jon...if you can hear me. Blink." Natalie says gently.

I open my mouth to speak but no words form.

"You have been poisoned. We are going to help as best as we can while James goes through his thoughts to find a cure." She strains a false smile, though it reassures me. She looks around and stands with the soup. "James...Anything yet?"

I hear a shuffle and I hear heavy boots colliding with the tile and I see him on the other side of the desks. He is smiling, and his eyes have a sort of insane glow to them. "Nope, but I am getting close, I know the cure is a flora. Soon I'll know." He shuffles back and I see through the underside of the desks that he had set up a meditation circle, though the symbol carved on the floor represented something I did not know.

Ryan comes walking over with a disgusted look on his face. He sits next to Natalie and I look over at them and I see Crystal laying on a makeshift bed as well, covered in burns, bruises and cuts. As well as green dust. Her hair singed and her face calm and peaceful.

"How could James actually do this." Ryan says angrily to Natalie.

"What do you mean?" She looks at him puzzled.

"The symbol he carved on the tiles is the symbol of the Daedra, and the smaller ones on the candles are the symbols of Hermaeus Mora, Daedric 'god' of forbidden knowledge."

"So what."

"He is asking the daedric gods for help. Not only that but it is an act of worship."

"Ry, James is not a worshiper of the Daedric Lords."

"Then why is he doing that?"

Natalie sighs, "Perhaps it would be because Nick, Crystal, Caty, and now Jon are infected with Creeper Venom." She looks back at Nick and sighs, "and if he doesn't hurry, we all will die."

"Nathan, don't you agree with me..." Ryan asked his old friend.

"I don't care how...I just want Caty back." He says with a gentle sigh.

Silence over took the room, then, abruptly, James shouted, "I got it!" He jumped up and began dancing around like a mad man. "I know exactly what I need to get." He jumped up and landed falling into a kneel and kissed the floor, center of the Daedric Mark.

I hear lots of shuffling and movement. Nate, Natalie, Ryan, Jacob, Jared, and much more walked over. "Well what is it?"

"I need to get wild roses from the my house, or any park with them. I also need clean blood, and Creeper dust." He spins in a circle and shouts joyfully. He runs over to the four of us incapacitated friends of his. "Do not worry my friends. I will be back within one day." He runs to the computer in the back of the classroom and pulls out a bag and his Dragur Overlord Blade.

"James. I don't want you to go and get hurt." I see Ms. Gross walk over she stand with a concerned look on her visage.

"I'll be fine."

"But you are the only one here who can really fight anymore. Jacob got hurt and now no one can protect us but you."

"Have Jared, or Christian fight."

"That's not the point."

"What is then."

"We could have someone else get the ingredients."

"Nope. Only I know if they are good." He walked past her and patted Matthew on the good shoulder, "You need to take charge." He whispered quietly in his ear as I read his lips. Matthew nodded and James continued. "Nate. Caty has about a week until the poison over takes her. She has a minor infection, she'll be fine." Nate nodded and sighed. "Ryan, behave and no jumping on the bed." He chuckles and Ryan's face remains unchanged. "Natalie. Take care of everyone...and I am sorry." She smiles and nods and she hugs him close. As he reaches the door he turns around and smiles. "I'll find the others and bring them back too." He turns and rushes out blade readied.

The sound of bodies thudding fades as he runs down the halls. "James is insane." Ryan says as he walks up to Nate. "Caty, is in critical condition and needs to be under constant watch."

"Why?"

"Because look at her. She is burning up and she hasn't woken up yet."

I turn my head and watch them walk to Caty from the door. "Ry, shut up." Natalie says as she kneels by Nick and begins to wipe his sweat away.

"No, James is not the man he once was. The James we knew is dead, and now we have some insane Daedric worshiping Madman."

"Ryan!" Nate looks at him with disgust. "That man has saved your life twice now, and is risking his life again to save our friends."

"He is still bat shit crazy, seriously should we be trusting our lives to a man who spent the past two days in here praying to Hermaeus Mora."

"He wasn't praying."

"Yes he was. He sat there and burnt zombie flesh and begged his god for the knowledge."

"I think he asked God if it would be ok to ask them."

Ryan laughed, "Seriously? Asked God?" Ryan began laughing insanely. "There is no God. And if there is, fuck him. He let all this shit happen."

"So instead of turning to religion for hope, you turned against it?"

"Kinda. I'll worship a god who will stop the madness, not let it happen."

"So you are saying James is crazy for praying."

"No. I am saying he is unstable because of his worshiping of Hermaeus Mora."

"Deal with it. James is looking for answers, and he apparently found them...I don't think it was anything, but a mutual encounter between him and the Daedra."

"Watch Nate. He is gonna become one of their champions and is going to bring us all pain and hell."

My eyes begin to grow heavy again. "I doubt it."

My eyes shut and darkness begins to surround, "I don't."

Darkness.

Darkness.

"NO!" the sound of a drum sounded everywhere, the faint sound of a clairnet sounding in the distance. I feel my flesh burning and my heart beating with the drums, faster and faster. I feel the hot blood rushing out of me

"Jon." A calm woman's voice is echoed from the darkness.

"Run!"

"I need you to do something." Her voice is so sweet.

"Protect yourself Jon. Run!" His voice is beginning to sound rougher and angry.

"Please. Kill."

"Run."

The rush of strangling someone rushes through me as I taste my own blood. Suddenly I see flashes of my friends burning, everything slashed and hacked.

"Jon. Save yourself." His voice was louder and rougher.

"Save me."

I see the bare flesh of a woman slowly melt and burn.

"Get away from everything." The man was sounding more bestial.

"Help me."

I see flashes of the school band room and my band mates killing each other with the instruments when the doors abruptly burst and a flash engulfs me and I see the red of fire surrounding everything as all of my band mates are dead, pinned to the wall with swords made of bone.

"RUN!" His voice was more and more rough and harsh.

"Jon!"

"Away!"

"Please my dear."

"NOW!" The voice booms and sounds like a monster as I hear then beast tear flesh and roar angrily. Darkness becoming warm and bright. I feel fire burning me but I see none. I hear the woman scream, "Jon! Help. PLEASE!" He cries invoke tears to run down my cheeks, burning them and scarring them with the heat of magma.

Thud. Her body lands and the beast roars, Darkness much brighter now, I see nothing but fire likeness. I feel the warmth of my blood boil as I feel my flesh turn to ash and my bones become brittle

"NO!" I roar as I see flashes of my beloved torn and she reaches for me as her dying breath seeps from her blueing beautiful lips and she mouths 'I love you.'

"JON!" My eyes snap open and I am met with a bright light and concerned faces of my old friends. "Are you ok?" Ryan asks with a hint of concern. "Your fever was boiling your blood."

"I am fine." I mumble as I weakly find my voice, my skin trembling as I remember the dream, my mind stopping on the image of my beloved.

He nodded and walked back to the desk with Nate and Jared. I sit up and glance around, I was in D-136, the classroom next to Ms Gross' room. The wall between the two was torn down and the room was turned into an infirmary. I see Ryan and company still moving into the deep reaches of the other room. I glance around and see Crystal sobbing as she sits in a chair holding a stuffed animal.

I next see Nick and Jacob by the door ready for anything, Nick's arm in a cast and Jacob's body bandaged. I continue to look and I see Caty reading as if nothing had happened.

Jacques was wandering the room when suddenly there was pounding at the D-134 room. Nick and Jacob prepared themselves. "Please let me in. I can't take it. You motherfucking asses had better let me in. I need a place to sleep. And why not here! Please." Suddenly shots were fired and the moans of the green tinted undead grew closer. Crystal began crying now, "Let me in. I can make her feel better." He looked in the window and Jacques pulled out a 9mm.

"Back away now or we will kill." He pointed the gun. "Your kind are not welcome here."

"My kind! I'm black like you bitch." He got all offended and pointed the gun like a 'gangsta'.

"Not what I meant." Jacques turned and sighed as the boy began screaming and was soon silenced. Jacques walked over to me as I sat up. "You feeling ok?" I notice the scar forming across his face, from his left ear across most of his cheek to the corner of his lips. "You are the last to awaken."

"I feel fine. What is going on?" I ask confused and baffled.

"Hell."

"What?"

"Rochester is dead and the government won't do a thing."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. They expect all of our schools to still be functional and classes to still be going on. The state has sent a man who will be here in a week to take a tour of East."

"Why here?"

"Apparently we are the only school that got attacked, even though Wilson on the West side is no longer answering an calls and a dozen of elementary are dark."

"Holy hell. What about the corpses on the street?"

"When the storm cleared the sun fried them and they burned. They stay indoors during the days. Why do you think we have the windows open right now. They are in the basement and halls. We travel around the school through the reinforced air ducts."

I look around and still don't see James, "Where is James?" the room grew silent and everyone looked saddened.

"We don't know. He left to get some food and hasn't returned."

"What! How long has it been?" My voice is exasperated and I am in shock.

"It has been three days."