I woke up to my alarm clock and stretched quietly. What is the date? May seventeenth? Summer break is coming soon. I hit the snooze button and sat up. I groaned as I sat up, my back and shoulders popping loudly. I stood up, reaching for an old t-shirt to slide on. I marched myself down stairs quietly, trying to be as quiet as possibly for the sleeping members of the Beare family. My brother sighed and followed me with his blanket wrapped around his shoulders like it was a cape.

"Morning shithead. Also happy birthday fucker." I smiled as a rummaged my hand through Jesse's messy blonde hair. He had Mom's sandy blonde hair while I got Dad's dirty brown, but I got her Mama's green eyes and Lillian Midori, a girl in my grade, says it makes me ten times cuter.

"Yeah fuck you. I'm sixteen now, can I drive the truck today?" He asked, his brown eyes hopeful. I sighed.

"Not today big boy. Get your license and I'll take you to one of my dirt races, where you can run the track after, okay?" He sighed irritated but nodded. He went into the kitchen to poor himself some cereal. I checked my phone, which was charging in the bathroom. Nothing. No texts, no calls, nothing. That was odd, especially because one of the old football boys is in the hospital with some sort of unknown strand of virus, been admitted since April. One of the other teammates is usually there with him. I wrapped up my business and came out and grabbed some cereal myself. I flicked on the TV to see why no one called. The University of Chicago Medical Center was on fire. I stopped chewing and looked in awe, my brother doing the same.

"Holy shit…" I mumbled after swallowing. The whole thing as up in flames, and the sky was black. Everyone was evacuated at least, but firemen were having a hard time keeping it down. All patients were moved to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. I turned it up to hear more.

"…Everything in the hospital is burned and burning, nothing will be salvageable says Chief James. If your loved one or friend was in there, please know that they are safe, the firemen and staff say every patient made it to Northern Memorial Hospital. The fire was supposedly started by a man named Richard Winchester. Eye witnesses say he shouted 'They're all infected, they have to burn,' before setting the hospital gas systems open and trying to set the whole place on fire. Luckily one of the nurses smelled gas and started the evacuation process, anyone who couldn't be wheeled out the front was airlifted. Police say they have Mr. Winchester in custody and will not release any information until they have all details. Hopefully more at ten, now for the weather with Shirley."

I flicked it off and rinsed out my bowl. The time was already almost eight, we needed to get going.

"Let's go Jesse, we got shit to do. You know Mrs. Smith gets pissy when you're late." I mentioned to him as I ran up the stairs to throw on some actual clothes. I grabbed my Converse's and some jeans, and switched my t-shirt for a dull gray athletic shirt. I grabbed my backpack and keys and came back downstairs, my dad stopping me for a second.

"Henry, tell him I said happy birthday." He requested. He was very tired, always working to support us, even if he had this killer fever. I nodded and hugged him. Saying goodbye and heading downstairs to where Jesse was slipping on his shoes. I gave him a pat and unlocked the truck.

"Dad says happy birthday. Make sure you thank him later." I said to him as I opened the front door and held it for him.

"Okay, I wonder if he got me anything." He asked hopefully. I didn't want to crush his hopes, considering how sick dad is and how broke we are. I knew what he'd gotten him anyway, a little .22 rifle. He got me a .308 last year for my sixteenth. We've both knew how to shoot since we were eight. My Dad is…well, was a Marine. When Mom died while he was deployed, he got out since his contract was ending anyway. I stole his M9 he got from a close friend of his, silver, nice and shiny. He doesn't know, and if he does he doesn't care since he's never confronted me about it. I put it back since then, but only after I figured out his safe combination. Two-Five-Eight-Zero-Four-Six. As we climbed, I was too busy thinking about the news that I slipped and hit my shin.

"Fuck!" I winced as I pulled my leg into the truck.

"You okay?" Jesse asked inquisitively. I stretched it for a few seconds before nodding and starting the drive to school. I watched as a police officer pulled over Emily for speeding even though we were only five minutes from school. Emily, she was this oddball of my friends. Dyed her hair black with pink striped, blue eye shadow, and came out bisexual. She was a good kid though, and a smart one. Only sixteen and a junior here at our high school. "Isn't that Em?"

"Yeah, girl doesn't know how to stay out of trouble." I chuckled as she started arguing with the cop. We were close enough to Chicago I could see the smoke and smell ash. I frowned and sat the rest of the way to school in silence. We got there two minutes early. "Behave in Algebra, don't flunk. See ya Jesse."

"Yeah, yeah, good luck on your dissection." I went to my Bio class where Lillian was waiting at our table for me, along with my childhood friend Leone Heth. Leone and I knew each other since we were born, his Dad being a marine in my Dad's platoon. We were close enough that we survived a shootout in Chicago together, even if we were only in the crossfire.

"Hey Henry!" Lillian greeted me happily. Here curvy brow hair behind her, except for a few strands poking at the edge of her sweater. She batted her brown, slanted eyes at me past her red glasses.

"Jesus Lily, at least try to not sound like you don't want to choke him down." Leone gave a playful shove. They were a great match for each other, Leone being so nonchalant with everything and Lillian just nagging at him playfully. I could see them becoming a thing. But she is infatuated with me after a punched this racist bastard named Simon Domins. 'Ooo, look at the Asian girl, finish your math already?' I got him square in the jaw, making the school frown upon me. However my Dad reamed the school out for letting that shit happen, and encouraging me to fight more for what I believe in.

"Fuck you Leone, at least he's have a girl that would choke him down." She snapped back. I just smiled and shook my head.

"Ay, I got people that would smash with me."

"What, that sophomore girl that Johnny is dating?"

"Silica? Hell no, I'm talking about that one freshman girl who lost her card at Rockford."

"I just want you to know now L, that's fucking nasty." I jumped in, he looked at me like what the fuck man? "And no one can choke on your Millimeter Peter." The freshman in front of us laughed a little bit. I looked around, this kid was sitting by himself. Black hair, a bit shorter, definitely skinny. This was like your typical freshman cutie. Where was his chicks? He turned back and looked at us.

"You guys are hilarious." He commented. Bold, specifically for a freshman. His blue eyes were borderline grey, icy. His glasses were black and stylish. He had a player vibe to him, his Nike sweatshirt sleeves were to his elbows, a crappy Walmart watch on his left hand. I could pin this guy to a tee. He stood up and walked over to us, which definitely took me by surprise. Was he actually a freshman? Or a different grade.

"Dominic Hersh, Seventeen, from Rockford. Nice to meet you, especially you Beautiful." He winked at Lily which made her go red. Leone leaned forward threateningly. Even I was put off by this guy, it didn't seem right. He didn't seem wide enough or tall enough to be Seventeen. What the actual fuck?

"Okay, Hershey, what's a shrimp like you doing here? And there's no way you are seventeen." Leone declared. Dominic, or Hershey, yanked out his wallet and laid down his driver's license. Born May second, 2006, standing at only 5'10, 125 lbs. "What the fuck? You look like a freshman!" Leone leaned back, astonished.

"Look can be deceiving, Leo. Let's also clarify that my dad is leader of this schooling system, and can kick both your asses out if you touch me." I gritted my teeth. This kid was fucking deranged. Where did he come from? Fuck this midget, No one fucks with my friends.

"Listen up Anorexia, I don't know who you think you are, but you can fuck off and die. So I suggest, before I get someone mugging your ass, you turn around and shut your mouth." I barked at him. Leone stood up and was pushing up his sleeves, revealing his burn scars, which he only did when he was pissed. At this point, even Lillian was squeezing her pencil so hard it snapped. I had already discreetly hopped off my stool and stood ready to spring.

"Not so fast Henry Beare, I believe your father is sick and at home right now, it's his one day off from both jobs, you really gonna piss him off today?" He smiled and looked at Leone. "Oh and Leone, didn't your mother die in a fire when you were twelve, you were so weak you couldn't save her. Isn't that how you got your scars? Your father's probably at a bar right now, drinking away. And you're too weak to save anyone. Ah, and Miss Midori. Your father works with Nintendo, and your mother for some big internet company, both in Japan. It would be a shame if…" He pulled out his phone and showed the screen. Midori's Father. "…Oh but they don't care enough to even notice you, boohoo. Let me get something clear, you fuck with me, I will ruin your lives." He smiled sweetly before turning around. We stood, frozen and awestruck. He knew everything. Lillian stood up with her broken pencil and dropped it on her way to slap him, but was stopped before spinning around with a knife pointed at her.

"Knife!" Leone and I both jolted to grab him but Johnny came up and clocked him in the side of the face with a gloved hand. Dominic fell to the ground, dropping his knife as he crawled backwards. Johnny gently blew some his long and unruly brown hair out of his eyes. Johnny was a carbon copy of John Bender form the "Breakfast Club" in looks, only Johnny was meaner, stronger, and didn't smoke pot, only drank occasionally. Parents will tell you to stay away, but parents who gave him a shot, like my dad, love him, and actually likes me hanging around him. That's because Johnny was much softer and gentler when he was with people he cared about. That's how a junior like him ended up with Silica Twinser, the cutest and nicest freshman of this year.

"Hey buddy, what are you doing pulling out knives in school?" Johnny picked his up and bent it, exposing the knife to be a fake. "All that game and it's a fake? Pathetic. Listen here, Dominoes and Hershey, your ID is fake, your fucking story is a fake, and if you go snooping through the directory's files again, I'll have your ass." Johnny crouched down and the kid backed up against the wall. "Freshman, have you even ever used a real knife, because if you did you wouldn't have held it that way. You even have a girl touch you? Ever been sucked off? I don't think so, because you're actually gay and your family shuns you for it. So now you attention whore for it." The bell finally rang but the Bio teacher was late, so I tapped Johnny's shoulder.

"Yo, Johnny, time to ease up man." He nodded before standing up and kicking the kid roughly, but not enough to hurt him. Johnny blew his hair out of the way again.

"By the way, you mess with Silica again I'll hang you by your toes, got it baby balls?" Johnny was not hesitating on this freshman, something really pissed him off about this kid. This is why you want to be on Johnny's good side. The kid nodded and scurried off. Johnny turned to look at me. He smiled brightly and grabbed my hand for a quick bro hug. "Hey Henry, you sonovabitch, why didn't you pounce this kid?"

"I was starting, you're just a little faster." I smiled. I looked back, Lillian was hiding shamefully and Leone was pulling down his sleeves slowly, looking around at the others. Everyone was looking at us, and the freshman, who was hiding in a corner of the room. I looked down embarrassed. I opened my mouth again to speak but a teacher walked in. Not Mr. Jones like usually, but a sub.

"Hello class, I'm your substitute teacher, Mrs. Provinces. Mr. Jones unfortunately has some sort of illness, that new one that no one seems to know about, and is currently running a 106 degree fever. I graduated from a topnotch med school in California and then went to be an Army combat life saver, was medically discharged in 2019 after the first battle with the terrorist group known as White Foxes. I was shot in the shoulder, for those of you wondering, any questions?"

Naturally, some kids raised their hands. Johnny quietly slid into the seat beside me and whispered to all three of us. He kept his eyes forward though on the sub though, that way he could play off some BS excuse that he was asking me about the Army or something.

"You guys want to head over to my place after school, have a little Friday night gathering?" I thought for a moment, I know Dad said something about never having enough time with Jesse. The plan was originally for him to pick him up anyway. I shrugged.

"I don't see why not, who else is going?"

"Hopefully you guys, Silica, Emily, Lola, Kason, Ty, Luce, and for sure Faye."

"Lucy Frenz? As in, hottie Lucy Frenz?" Leone chimed in.

"Oh yeah, heard she just broke up with Justin too." Johnny replied back

"I'm there. Lily?" Johnny moved on.

"Come on Lily, it'll be fun." I whispered to her.

"Only because you two are going." She whimpered "Oh and Johnny?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you go by your last name instead of Felix?" She knew that? How did she know that? "I saw your test, which great score Johnny, but your real name is Felix Johnson, why Johnny?"

"That's…Lillian…" Leone started, but Johnny cut him off.

"My sperm donor's name is Felix, he was abusive, and I hate his guts."

"Oh…sorry for asking." She looked away shyly.

"Don't sweat it, you were only curious."

"Boys, is there something you would like to say?" Mrs. Provinces chimed in. She sat there looking at her tablet doing attendance. She looked up at Johnny expectantly.

"No ma'am. I was just asking my friend Henry about the military, specifically the Marine Corps. I was thinking about joining." He cleared his throat. "But your role in the Army seemed awesome, so I'm asking him about being a combat life saver in the Marines."

"To which I replied that I didn't know anything about that. And since I want to be a Biological Engineer when I grow older, I was attempting to tell him the information and move on with the lesson plan." I said, furthering his excuse and backing him up greatly. It wouldn't work on Mr. Jones, but this was a sub.

"Okay, just know that the Marines have higher pay, but Coast Guard is safer gentleman. Now, onto today's lesson. Instead of the dissection of the shark's eyeball, we will be more focused on the actual human eye. See, for those of you who don't know, the way we see things is actually upside down, but there's this thing in our eye called…" she started on with the day's lesson plan. I yawned and drew gently on my notepad. The rest of the day was pretty boring, the most important part was when lunch started around the beginning of fifth period. Today's special? Shitty pizza. I sat down at our normal table, being the first one, I was all alone at the table and started thinking about starting a relationship. Particularly with Lillian. She was cute and all yeah, was she really who I wanted to spend my time with? Could I even support her in a financial situation? What happens if she gets knocked up? Oh god, Dad would kill me. But still, she was such a charmer. Maybe-

Emily slammed her tray down on the opposite side of me. She looked me dead in the eyes and smiled. She wanted something, probably m-

"I need some money Henry, twenty-five." She asked before sighing. "I got $125 by myself, Johnny says he can hook me up with fifty, I need twenty-five more."

"A two hundred dollar fine? For speeding? How fast were you going?" I scoffed

"Sixty in a twenty." She said nonchalantly. I laughed before pulling out my wallet.

"What's in it for me?" I was probably leave this empty handed. I did have two twenties on me…

"I don't know, a blowjob?" She joked.

"Maybe. Depends on your performance." Of course I wasn't actually going to make her be a prostitute.

"Just imagine, me unbuttoning your pants with my teeth, gently pulling down your boxers, and then, wrapping my warm wet tongue around your thick, hard, throbbing-"

"Ahem." Johnny motioned towards Silica. Shorter, not exactly the sexiest freshman I've seen, but adorable. She was skinny and hugging Johnny's side. Her hair in a messy bun and her brown eyes quite cautious. She was so fucking cute man, like a fucking puppy. "PG-13 okay?"

"You're no fun. But here's forty, pay me back at least twenty-five." I said as I lobbed money at Emily. She smiled and stuffed it into her bra.

"Thanks hotshot." She winked and bit into her apple. Johnny sat down on the end, forcing Silica to sit next to me on the four seat bench. She gently set her tray down and leaned on Johnny tiredly.

"Babe, can you give me a ride to your house, my brother will be questioning me the whole way." Her voice was so quiet. So shy.

"Yeah, of course. Tired?" Johnny reached over and rubbed her arm. Hugging her as Lillian sat down next to me, spitefully. Faye then sat next to Emily, Tyler to Faye, and finally Lola practically on Tyler. Tyler, a bit nerdy, if I need something hacked, he'll handle it. His hair is always in a faux hawk, his brown eyes are always scanning the room, and his skinny build will lie to you, this kid is strong. I've seen him lift hay bales, one handed. Faye is pretty much a sports model, super muscular build and trust, I wish I had those abs. She is a Latina, so she has a tanner complex. Her brown hair is in a ponytail today, and her eyes are two different colors. It's actually very attractive to me. One side is green, the other is blue. Her sweatshirt is lying to you, she's not flat either. I've worked out with her a few times, oh boy. Now, Lola is dating Tyler. Lola is a great person, I love her like family, but she's not exactly flat in the back. Flat in the front though. Tyler is obviously an ass man. Her blonde hair and blue eyes, she is such a diva and fashion statement in everything she does. She could pull of a ramen noodle costume. Just one thing, she's fucking OCD.

"Your fork and spoon aren't arranged correctly." She pointed at me and frowned. Then proceed to pick them up, fix them. Then unfix them. Then fix them again. I thanked her and looked at Lillian. She was looking down at her nails before she looked at me, and we made eye contact. Her pretty brown eyes looked at me and her warm smile welcomed me. She leaned against me and wrapped an arm around my own, snuggling up close. I will admit, I couldn't help but feel attached myself. She was cute, pretty, smart and everything. But with her pressed against my arm, warm. I leaned back. I watched her eyebrows go up, before she settled down and closed her eyes. I smiled before starting to eat. The pizza was shit as always, but the side course today was a nice inviting cinnamon roll.

"Hey Henry…" Emily smiled and pointed at Lillian. She was fast asleep. I motioned the old: I don't know. Emily rolled her eyes. "You going to take her home? You finally going to accept what was bound to happen?"

"Um…" I thought for a second. I was planning to ask Lucy, but she was way out of my league and probably had a waiting list. I rolled my eyes and put on a goofy grin. "Yes." That shocked the table. They all looked at each other and nodded. I received many congrats and all that shit. I didn't realize it at the time, only later that night, that Lillian would be the love of my life. I sat there with her on my arm, everything seemingly perfect. The bell rang and she didn't move. I scooped her up and brought her to the nurse's office, taking off her glasses and also discarding her food. The rest of the day went on boringly. I saw Jesse, he was talking to a sophomore girl, very intensely. I let him know what was going on, and he nodded and blew me off. Typical.

"To another week of hell gone!" Johnny shouted raising a can of his soda. We all raised ours back, laughing.

"To a Friday!" We sang back. Normally we'd be drinking beer in his basement, but his mom asked him not too, at least not if we were all going to drive. His mom was pretty chill when it came to everything, just don't get caught or don't do it. Johnny held her in his most respectable person. She was abused, got custody of the kids, and even worked her ass hard enough to become well paid. She at least got enough to live in this much nicer house. Lillian rode with me, fixing her hair in the mirror and doing some makeup. Everyone else came her separately. Tyler and Lola were somewhere making out, Leone was relaxed in a short sleeve shirt talking to Lucy Frenz. Her tan, curvy body was enough to make most faithful men disloyal. She curled her dirty blonde hair on her finger and flirted right back at Leone. Johnny was gaming with Silica and getting his ass kicked in it. Faye and Emily were playing foosball, just very aggressively. Lillian and I were snuggling, even if we weren't dating, it was nice. She must have sprayed on some perfume at some point, because she smelled amazing.

"Yo, what the fuck?" Johnny exclaimed loudly, before pointing at the big TV screen, which had the bars of color and emergency alarm system playing.

This point in time, is when shit went downhill for real. I broke the eye contact between me and Lily and look at the screen as it switched to a black and white CDC with a danger biohazard sign behind it. It gave one last beep before someone cleared there throat in a panic.

"All persons need in at least one hundred miles, wait, not the first hundred miles? At least five hundred miles near Chicago? Jesus Christ…" There was a long pause as the sound of sirens filled the room. Police, fire mean, and some distant gunfire. None of us knew what was going on. "Everybody within a five hundred radius of Chicago need to lock their doors, barricade windows, and wait for the Army National Guard to come by. There's been a viral out break from the…the…Jesus fuck…um, Northern Memorial Hospital of an unknown number. This viral outbreak can be transmitted by scratches or bites and consumption. Do not open the door with anyone wearing a hospital gown and that has scratches or blood on them. Don't even acknowledge them, kill them if necessary, they are dangerous and will not hesitate to do the same to you. What the hell…Oh God, they're outside…No, no, no, this is Dan Becker, mom I love you, Dad I love you, protect Sarah, Heather! Fuck!" There was a loud cracking sound and gunfire as the broadcaster was presumably assaulted. There was several screams of agony, growling, and a ripping sound. The broadcast went dead silent as we looked at it in awe. Silica dropped her controller and sat there slack jawed. Faye and Em sat there looking at the screen expecting more. Lillian sniffled. Tyler and Lola were looking at the screen from the doorway of a bedroom. I felt my phone vibrate, I palms got sweaty. There was a can hitting the floor, slipping from Leone's hands. There was a whimper for Lucy. There was the buzzing of several phones. Then Kason cleared his own throat.

"What the fuck was that?" Kason asked from the bottom of the stairwell, barely having his coat halfway off. He was eighteen, senior. He had his face shaved and his sunglasses falling off his face. Silica started to cry, hugging Johnny as there was a pounding at the basement door. Kason hurriedly went to open it. We heard the door swing open, then a snarl and a crunch. Kason screamed, falling down the stairs with a crunch. There was a capping bite mark in his neck, spilling dark red blood onto the carpet. His neck was snapped at a sharp forty-five degree angle. His face was twisted into a scowl of permanent fear. I stood up, as the stair creaked. We saw a sneaker, then a pale bloody hand wrap around the corner. Then the head of Johnny's mother poked around, still in her nurse outfit. She scowled and bared her bloody teeth at us, exposing the skin of Kason she had in her mouth. I fell backwards snapping the table leg. I grabbed it and tightly grasped it.

"M-Mom?" Johnny asked, his voice quivering. For once, he sounded scared. His mother lunged at Johnny from the stairs with great speed, for a forty-eight year old. Leone moved just as fast bringing a stool down on her head. The creature writhed in pain before standing up but slumped over, clutching her now bleeding head. She looked back at Leone with hatred. Her eyes, a bloodshot red, her skin pale moonlight white, and a bright, red, slash against her chest. She lunged at Leone but a brought the leg of the table down on her, with a crunch, snapping her back. She landed at my feet, and without second thought I swiftly brought the leg down on her head. Again. Again. Again. One more time. She moved. She's gonna kill everybody. She's not herself anymore. Again. Finally the leg snapped and I looked down. Her skull was crushed into pieces, brain matter spilled out the side of her face. Speaking of her face, there nothing recognizable anymore. It was smashed or missing, one eye was out of its respective socket and you could see her nose cartilage. My shoes were a dark red, my jeans had blood on them, but somehow my hands stayed clean. I dropped what was left of the leg and slowly backed away. I brought my hands to my hair and grabbed a fistful in both hands. I looked in horror at what I just did. I just killed Ms. Johnson, Johnny's sweet mother, the one that used to make cookies for me when I was over at her house. The kind woman that always let me in for hot chocolate.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, Jesus Christ!" I screamed and slid down the wall as her blood puddle kept growing, permanently staining the carpet. Leone laid a hand on my shoulder as I started to have a major panic attack.

"Dude, she was going to kill her son, and everyone in this room, you did the right thing!" He tried to pull me together, but I pushed him away before rolling onto my hands and knees and started vomited everything in my stomach. Johnny inched his way over and grabbed me. I expected him to beat the shit out of me, kill me even. I deserved it. I just killed his mom. He grabbed my jaw and pinned me on the wall. I squeezed eyes shut but I never felt a punch.

"Henry Beare, look at me dammit!" I opened my eyes and looked at him, he was crying, his brown eyes squinted. "That's not my Mom anymore, you saved my life! So you pull your bitch ass together, and god dammit, hug me you mother fucker!" he hugged me tightly as he cried in my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him, and patted his back as my panic started to bury itself. Then two words rang out that scared me even more, coming from Silica.

"So what now?"