The wind howled relentlessly outside my bedroom window. The green flu news struck a hard cord in my core. My fingers twitched and wrung a strand of hair tightly in its grip. What if my mom caught it? There had to be a cure. If there was one thing I knew, CEDA lies. About everything.

My heart began pounding in my breast. There were quite a few people out today. And it only got worse. My mom never returned home that night. Events at school kept my mind off it. It wasn't unusual for her to spend the night at work. However, when she told me she'd be back, she always came back. Maybe she forgot. The next day there was a whopping 42 people absent from school, including eleven faculty members.

The days stretched endlessly before me. Every day, fewer faculty members appeared on the premises. And every day, I checked the answering machine for word of my mom. Nothing. With this said more students were out sick- gone down with the influenza virus. How many of them were infected with the hyperactive? This many kids out weren't skipping classes. This lead to fewer homework assignments. By the end of week one, more than half the school's population- including employees- were missing.

On Monday of week two, I stepped on the premises of my once prestigious private school too find only twenty students out front. God, I hope the rest are late. I muttered to myself. Each eyed each other wearily. A kid I sat next to in Biology squirted practically a whole bottle of Germ-X into his hands and frantically rubbed them together. Jessica's once sun-kissed glowing skin sat pale and gaunt over her bones.

And the fucking rain! Would it ever stop? I approached Jessica against my better judgment. At first she decided to ignore me. But after a couple minutes of my open staring she turned to me with open arms in the gesture of a hug. "Whoa!" I backed away quickly. "I'm flattered by your lesbianess, but I don't want what you have to offer." She advanced on me.

"It's horribl-" She was suddenly stricken by merciless coughing. I glanced around nervously, noticing how the small crowd kept twenty or more feet away from each other. They were eyeing the potentially dangerous scenario in front of them. Jessica's blonde hair spilled over her shoulders as she bent at the waist, clutching her stomach with one hand and covering her mouth with the other. "I-" cough. "need…a ..frie…nd…They…all…" She heaved for a moment.

"All?"

"Abandoned me…sick.. stop-ped.. text—ing."

"We're not friends just because you're sick. Go home." My voice waivered slightly. Don't touch me. Don't touch me. Don't fucking touch me! I thought at her relentlessly. I don't want it! Just then she heaved a horrid, foul smelling, golden fluid. Appalled, I staggered away from the mess. Okay, no school today. God only knows who else is infected and doesn't know it.

Just as I was turning away a hand lashed onto my shoulder in a painful grip. I gasped in horror and on pure instinct- flung the offending limb away. But as I did so, I heard a sickening crack that could not be mistaken for anything other than bone. Jessica screeched in pain, clenching her right hand tightly just below the wrist.

I paled. The extremity was horrible distorted, bent back in an abnormal position and pressed against the top of her arm. Nausea coiled in the pit of my stomach. "Ugh!" I teetered onto a bench behind me, desperately scrambling away from her ghastly- anorexic form. Her body had been decaying from the disease not from her diet. A grayish tinge infected every inch of her frame as it slinked toward me. "You need a hospital!" No mercy. Go to No Mercy. Leave me alone!

Frantically, I texted Daniel. Where are you? I climbed over the bench and onto a wall that dropped more than thirty feet into a stream that ran beneath the school. It would quite famous for running along- side the subway- if only it was supposed to be there. Now that I had successfully trapped myself, I looked on as Jessica clutched her head, emitting gurgles and grunts. "Leave me alone, you slut!" I cried out at her. But at the sound of my voice, she advanced on me again. I took off down the side of the wall, balancing in my speed. God I hope I don't fall. Jessica clambered up and over the bench after me, her dangling hand forgotten.

I glanced behind. God she was fast! Her legs carried her just out of reach. A spur of the moment decision caused me to discard the backpack on my shoulders and let it drop in the middle of my enemy's path. I heard a grunt behind me and a second later a large object struck the side of my head. My feet lost their grip on the stone wall and slipped off the edge, causing my head to bounce of the side. I cried out and desperately, I latched onto the edge of the wall, swaying above the rushing stream below me. I had no clue how deep it was and I didn't want to find out. My ears rang from the impact and swam in and out of focus. My fingers began to slide off the stone. "Help! Someone help me!" I screamed.

Jessica's raging growl commanded my total attention. Oh no… she's lost it. She's insane! She stood on the wall and after an agonizing minute of deliberation, she lifted her leg and began stomping in accurately upon me. Her foot connected with my cheek causing my hands to jerk further back. I gasped. My heart slammed in my chest. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. My breathing came in ragged gasps as panic filled my throat. Another strike, this time on left hand. I cried out in pain as it dropped. Agony flared through my right shoulder as it was forced to bare my entire weight. "Somebody fucking help me!" I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die! I gazed up at the monster that was once my frenemy in terror.

She stiffened above me. One minute she was attacking me and the next I watched her head fly off and her dismembered body fall into the raging water below. I couldn't hold any longer. My hand slipped off the wall in exhaustion from holding my sheer weight. Before I could emit a scream; however, a calloused hand snatched mine just in time. "Sorry, I'm late." Daniel. Tears formed at the corners of my eyes as he heaved me up and over the wall. I collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

"You suck." I managed to breathe. "Thanks for coming for me."

"No problem." He hissed slightly. "That's a rather nasty mark on your face." Soft cloth from an ace bandage slid over my face. "I always keep these handy, just in case."

"We should go home."

"Your place, then?" I nodded as he helped me to my feet. I waivered slightly for a moment before he put an arm around my shoulders, securing me to his side.

"Let's get to the Subway."