Robbie kept his sight fixed on the window in the closet door and was relieved to find that the things, whatever they were, were not trying to get through the door. However the screams of people still being attacked couldn't be ignored. The scream made his stomach flip repeatedly. The only thing that stopped him from emptying his stomach was the sound of crying behind him.
"Please Robbie look at me" James begged, the slight wheeze the accompanied his words enhanced his plea.
Robbie turned to face him and let his back slide down the shelves. His eyes fell upon Cat curled up in James' lap and then he forced them to fixate on the floor. It was not just the sight of the girl he cared about in another man's lap that made him avert his gaze. James' appearance had changed dramatically in the few short minutes that had elapsed since they had entered the closet. His skin had taken on a grey hue and his skin seemed to have hollowed out revealing previously hidden depressions.
"I'm not sure I can" he whispered in response.
"Well you need to" James demanded, raising his voice causing him to cough and spray blood on the floor.
Robbie raised his head and saw the James had a stern stare fixed on him. Cat has her sight firmly fixed on James and had his eyes are shining with the threat of tears. Her hands are stroking his hollow cheeks and her lower lip is trembling.
"You know what's going to happen."
Robbie simply nodded.
"Then I need you to help me"
"How?" Robbie asked, not sure exactly what James wanted of him.
"Well if this is what I think then when it happens, I may become one of those things", Cat let out a squeak and buried her head in his shoulder, "I want you to stop me if that happens."
"Are you mad? I'm not going to kill you" Robbie yelled at the top of his lungs, shooting up and looming over both James and Cat.
"Do you..." he started but a wracking cough forced him to place his head on the floor until it subsided, "do you want her to die?"
"I don't want to leave you James" Cat croaked having clumps of his shirt in her hands.
"And I promised to never hurt you and I plan on keeping that promise" he told her lifting her chin and giving her his best smile.
"Ok" Robbie whispered, turning his head to face away from the crowd.
"NO. YOU CAN'T ROBBIE!" Cat screamed leaping up and grabbing clumps of his shirt. Her tears fell openly now soaking through Robbie's shirt. Robbie dared not look at the girl for fear that his resolve would waver.
Instead he scanned the room looking for anything he could use to fulfil James' request. His eyes fell on a shovel hidden in the corned among brooms and other tools. He freed himself from Cat's grip and walked over to pick it up. Cat resumed her place at James' side and began to silently cry. Robbie simply stood in front of them deciding to seek the comfort of his own thoughts.
It wasn't long until James began to cough uncontrollably causing his body to flail. Cat was forced to back off and curled up into the corner as James continued his fit. James crashed into the shelves resulting in a loud ringing to fill the room. So loud the both Robbie and Cat scrunched their eyes closed and covered their ears. When they opened their eyes again they fell on the still form of James on the floor.
Cat immediately sprang to his side and openly bawled. Robbie simply rung his hands around the shaft of the shovel he was holding. His grip was so tight that the wood gave of a slight groan. Robbie's eyes never left the form of James, scanning for even the slightest sign of movement from the body. Each second dragged in Robbie's mind making it feel like each second added years to his life.
Then his hand twitched. The movement forced Cat to stop crying and look at James letting a slight smile touch her lips.
"James ... you're ok" Cat said, but her optimism soon gave way to reality and his body jerked upright and threw Cat across the room.
James' figure froze for a brief second, before the sound of Cat colliding with the floor caught his attention. His body twisted un-naturally awkwardly and began his descent upon Cat. Cat's eyes locked with the empty eyes in James head and fear descended upon her.
"James?" Cat squeaked.
Her voiced caused him to speed up and lunge towards her. As James drew his head back in preparation to attack, Robbie let lose a savage yell. James twisted his head towards the new noise and was met with the cold hard metal of the shovel to his face. The force threw James back against the closet wall and cracked open his head against it. Robbie slowly lowered the shovel, never taking his eyes off of James.
"I really am sorry old friend" Robbie whispered quietly enough so only he could hear.
Robbie looked away once he deemed James no longer a threat. The shovel was held just off the ground, but the blood for James dripped off forming a puddle in the middle of the room. Feeling his arm begin to strain against the wait he lowered it to rest in the puddle letting a soft ring fill the room. The noise seemed to break Cat from her statuesque posture caused by fear. Her eyes bulged as she took in the scene before her and in an instant she was by James' side.
She lifted her hand slowly to his face and the second her fingers made contact with it she withdrew them as if electrified. She looked down and saw that she was kneeling in a pool of blood. She sprung up and dashed towards Robbie, a look of pure hatred on her face.
"How dare you kill him! How dare you! I loved him and you just took that away!" she roared pounding his chest with her fists.
"I had to" was his simple reply.
"Why?" she demanded.
"Because if I hadn't we'd all be those things now" Robbie said disinterested, instead trying to order his thoughts.
He was forced back to reality as a hand made contact with his face. He let his head rest where Cat's slap had moved it, raising a hand to sooth the spot.
"Don't you dare say that! You did that for no other reason that I picked him over you" Cat screamed in his face.
Robbie dropped the shovel that had remained in his hand until this point. He grabbed Cat by the shoulders and pinned her to the wall lifting her off the ground slightly. His eyes frantically searched hers, looking to see if she believed what she had just said. Suddenly he released her and bent to pick up the shovel. He shuffled over to the shelves, his shoulders huddled in defeat. He began to shift the shelves and slide towards the door.
Cat face fell into a look of pure shock. She immediately sprang to Robbie's side and fell to her knees, whilst grabbing his leg. Robbie paused with his hand on the door handle. He looked down at Cat and let out a sigh as he rested his head against the door.
"Let me go Cat" Robbie ordered, gently lifting his leg to try and release her iron clad grip. Cat responded by tightening her hold on him.
"NO! Not until you tell me where you're going" Cat whined, her voice so high pitched that Robbie couldn't help but cringe.
"Out there! Isn't it obvious?" Robbie said, indicating the hallway with his head.
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?!" Cat yelled in response, letting Robbie leg go and standing up straight. Robbie let out another sigh before he dare meet her gaze.
"It means that if you, the person who knows me best, believe what you just said. Well then I see no reason to want to keep on living" Robbie explained, moving to open the door. Cat threw herself against it the door, preventing Robbie from opening it.
"Why?"
"Because that means you think of me as a monster. And I simply won't live like that" Robbie explained, letting himself tear up.
"You're only a monster if you abandon me" Cat told him, pouting at him.
Robbie knew he was defeated in that instant. He already viewed himself as a monster having already killed two people. And that was before you knew of Robbie's relationship to James. Robbie's eyes couldn't help but land upon the still form of James. The sight was seared in his mind as he shifted his gaze back to Cat.
"He was an old friend you know" Robbie mentioned and he shuffled away from the door.
"He never said" Cat told him.
"We didn't part on good terms. So for both him and myself I'll get you to safety" Robbie promised.
Robbie began to shift boxes to reveal the ladder that lead to the library.
"We'll get to the library, then the Black box theatre, to my car and then your house. Sound like a plan?" Robbie asked already leading the way up the ladder.
Robbie was at the hatch before long, hesitantly opening it and searching for any sign of the creatures. Seeing that the coast was clear he threw the hatch open and climbed out. He bent down to help Cat through the hatch. When he rose again he was met by a group of the creatures that had seemingly come out of nowhere. Without hesitating Robbie charged at them and quickly dispatched them using the shovel. By the end he was doubled over trying to regain his breath.
He was on his way back to cat who had taken refuge behind a chair, when a noise behind him reached his ears. He turned expecting an attack, only to be met by emptiness. He remained frozen in place and listened carefully. Again he heard the noise but was able to locate the source as being further away than he thought. He whispered for Cat to join him as he slowly crept towards the source of the noise.
When he reached the corner he jumped out, with the shovel raised above his head. He let the weapon spill from his fingers as his eyes absorbed the sight before him. Crouched in the corner was the trio that was André, Tori and Trina. Robbie fell to his knees with relief as the trio let loose a collective sigh.
"Thank God it's you" Tori cried picking herself up and moving to hug Robbie.
Robbie gently embraced her and let his mind process the situation. He quickly scanned all three for any signs of injury and was relieved that he couldn't find any. He did note that they all looked fatigued and that there were splatters of blood on random parts of their clothes.
"What happened Tori?" Cat squeaked shuffling towards Tori and burying herself in Tori's side.
"I'm not too sure we were here for study hall and then all hell broke loose. I thought we might be safer if we remained here and waited till the panic had gone" André started, clasping Robbie on the shoulder and giving Cat a weak smile.
"But that just ended up getting us trapped when a group of them burst in" Trina spat trying to portray anger, but there was a waver in her voice that showed her fear.
"Quiet Trina if it wasn't for André we'd have been killed by them before now. He killed a few of them but then they cornered us. Suddenly they turn and disappeared around the corner and then we saw you" Tori explained, embracing Cat with all her strength.
Robbie collapsed in a nearby chair and began to think on what he heard. He wondered why they would suddenly abandon a meal to attack him. He hadn't noticed that the group were looking at him. Both Cat and Tori had remained in their embrace with André keeping a close eye on them. Trina had slunk against the wall and looked scared to even approach the others. Robbie walked over to her and pulled her to her feet.
"Looked I promised Cat I'd get her home. Now I'm extending the same promise to all of you" Robbie offered to them all giving them all a serious look so that they knew he meant it.
"Why should we follow you?" Trina demanded stepping to mere inches from him. He knew it was meant to intimidate him, but because of the close proximity he could see the desperation hidden in her eyes.
"Because I have a plan and I have a drive to kill these things. So I'm going to head to the black box get to my car and then drive to whose ever houses I need to" Robbie explained as he bent down to pick up the shovel.
"Who's in?"