Chapter 2: So it Begins
(April 4th --- Outbreak)
It had been three months since Jacen had come to Bestine Academy and he was adapting well. He had caught up on all the content that his old school hadn't covered and was able to keep up with the faster pace, if only barely.
Much to Jacen's liking as well, he found himself a happy member of not one but two circles of friends. On one side he had Dave and the gang who met up frequently for video games and trips into town, as well as a few pranks; like three weeks ago when, during a lapse in judgment, Jacen had agreed with the others that it would be great to run through the school in his shark suit yelling "I am the White Knight" over and over at the top of his lungs. And it was, he reminisced, up until I got stuck in that Saturday detention.
On the other he had the girls at the lunch table who had accepted him into their tight knit group, even the shy girl and the angry girl had warmed up to him… to an extent. Shy girl was still overly shy in his presence; she would talk to him now, but would apologize for just about every little thing that she thought she did wrong... Which happened often because she was his assigned lab partner in Chemistry class.
Jacen mentioned the two a few days after his initial meeting with the table and Kelsey explained to him that the girl he called the shy one, a small girl with tan skin and curly dark brown hair was called Olivia Larsson; apparently she gets anxious around boys, so much so that she actually feared encountering them. In regards to the angry girl, Kelsey informed him that the muscular sophomore with Auburn hair was known as Melissa Finney and that she was best friends with Olivia, as well as her unofficial protector.
Kelsey had wanted to kill two birds with one stone by having Jacen get used to being around girls, and having Olivia get used to being around Jacen. Weeks later she confessed as much to Melissa, even managing to get away unscathed, if only because her plan was working.
As he got out of bed and began the process of getting ready for school that Tuesday morning on the fourth of April, Jacen thought about all of this. He stood up and blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear his vision. When he did, he found Dave watching the news, as had become the custom each morning ever since they had fished the thing out of a giant mound of trash in the nearby junkyard.
Jacen let out a large sigh as he observed his friend fully engrossed by the glow of the screen. Three days ago, on April first, they had woken up to the newscaster talking of violent riots breaking out in New York City's downtown area. Many had assumed it was a prank until the second day, when the riots where said to have spread city wide, along with a few homicide cases supposedly unrelated to the riot where the victims had bite marks and flesh ripped off in some areas; on the third day the mayor declared a state of emergency, calling in the National Guard and even the army reserve. "So what's the news today?" Jacen asked solemnly.
Dave slowly shook his head and looked at him, and eventually replied in a somber tone, "Not good. New York isn't reporting anything… at all. This reporter is different than the other one; it's like they're pretending the other guy never even existed, and this new one is broadcasting from their HQ in Atlanta." He paused and let out a concerned sigh, "That's not the worst of it; riots with similar characteristics are beginning to be reported in Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and Huston."
Jacen looked at his friend with concern. Why is Dave so obsessed over this? he thought to himself. "Look," Jacen said in a falsely upbeat voice, "Im sure that everything will work out… now we need to get ready to go to school."
"Im not going in today," Dave said flatly and looked back at the television.
"Ok," he replied, and began getting ready for school. Jacen knew it was best to leave Dave be when he was in a bad mood like this.
Ten minutes later, after telling Dave he hopes he feels better, Jacen left the dorm to go to school. As he made his way down the stairs he ran into George. George stopped and waited for Jacen to catch up, and as he approached, George gave him a confused look. "Where's Dave?" He asked as they continued down the stairs together.
Jacen frowned. "He isn't going in today."
"Why?" George asked, sounding concerned.
"You know the riot everyone's been talking about, the one in New York…" He paused and waited for George to nod, "…ever since Dave first heard about it, he's been acting really weird. I don't know why though."
George stopped cold and looked Jacen in the eyes. "You don't know?" he asked and then when Jacen just stood there clueless he sighed, "No… I guess you didn't… Listen up Jacen, Dave's dad is a Police officer in New York."
We're kinda close to New York, Jacen though as he waited for his chemistry teacher to arrive for class, I mean we aren't that close, not nearly as close as we are to Pittsburgh, but we would be screwed if the riot got this far, the school has 4 guards and they've probably only ever dealt with the occasional boy trying to sneak into the girls dorm for the night.
Jacen looked over at the currently empty seat that Dave would usually occupy. Poor guy, I hope his parents are ok. I can't imagine going through that with my parents, probably won't have to, worse come to worse they could always blow the bridge and isolate themselves.
Just as he was finishing his thought Mr. Henderson, Jacen's chemistry teacher, walked in and immediately began to address the class in a booming voice. "OK everyone, we will be starting the lab immediately, you will need the whole class period if you hope to get it done before class is over." He said, and began to take a seat at his desk, but then stopped and looked up at the class. "Oh yes, almost forgot…same groups as always, that is all."
Jacen stood up and tried as best as he could to forget about Dave's situation as he walked over to meet Olivia at the lab table. "Good morning Olivia, How are you today?" He asked politely as he put on his goggles and lab apron.
She blushed slightly and looked down at the lab bench. "Ve-verry good thank you," Olivia said quietly, stuttering slightly at the beginning after which she began to put her safety gear on.
Which is a good idea, Jacen thought as he began to get the materials out, since we're making smoke bombs today.
Five minutes later they had everything set up. "Ok, we're ready to go. Do you want add the ingredients to the skillet or should I?" Jacen asked knowing from experience that she wouldn't.
"You," she said hurriedly, gazing timidly at the floor to avoid making eye contact.
Jacen smiled and nodded, "Sure, but you have to test the finished product then." She let out a squeak of alarm but then silently indicated to him that she found that acceptable. As he performed the required step he mumbled, "3 parts potassium nitrate…2 parts sugar…low heat…"
Olivia read the next part of the instructions to him, quietly as usual, "O…k…umm, you need to stir the mixture until it melts and becomes a caramel-chocolate color."
After a minute of stirring the mixture did as Olivia said it would; seeing the substance changing into the desired color, Jacen looked over to his nervous partner. "Could you get two pieces of tinfoil out for me?" he asked as he turned the burner off. She nodded and immediately slid the pieces of foil. Wow! She must have gotten it ready before hand, he thought approvingly, she is very organized.
Using his spoon Jacen poured a tiny droplet of the mixture onto the first for a test run and then the rest of it onto the other square directly next to the first. Looking back over at Olivia he saw that she was ready, standing tensely with a matchbox in one hand. "You ok to do this?" Jacen asked, "I can do it if you really want me to."
Olivia shook her head, causing her curly brown hair to swish back and forth. "No. I said I would do it, so I will," she said, more confidently than Jacen was used to. Good for you.
Slowly she broke a match off from the inside of the box and raised her hand to strike it. When she did, the flame glowed vibrantly. Cautiously Olivia brought the lit match over the now solid mixture. "Jacen!" a voice yelled urgently from the front of the room, startling Olivia and causing her to accidentally drop the match into the large batch of the mixture. The moment the match made contact with the mixture it ignited and instantly erupted in a cloud of smoke right in Olivia's face. She started coughing violently and began to fall over.
"Jacen!" the voice bellowed again in the background to no avail.
Forgetting the voice, Jacen leaped behind her, placing himself between her and the Lab-bench embedded into the ground behind them. She hit him hard, slamming his back into the bench and causing him to "oof" sound as air was forced out of his lungs. Ignoring the pain, he sat up and looked over to Olivia to see if she was hurt. She was staring at him, sitting on her knees with her hands over her mouth, her dark brown eyes silently pleading for forgiveness. The moment they made eye contact she burst into tears. "Ohmygod, you're hurt," she cried, and then continued hurriedly with little articulation, "Im so sorry, it's all my fault, Im sorry, im a horrible friend…"
Seeing Olivia cry was more than he could bear. I have to do something to comfort her, Jacen thought as she continued to apologize and put her self down; almost instinctively he leaned over and hugged her. Olivia stiffened, surprised by the contact, but then relaxed as the initial shock wore off. "It's ok," Jacen whispered soothingly into her ear, "It's not your fault, I don't blame you." Slowly he withdrew from the hug and sat back. Blushing furiously, Olivia locked her gaze back on the floor, feeling too uncomfortable to make eye contact again.
"Jacen!" the voice yelled. Jacen slowly stood up and looked at the door. There, with a look of sheer panic on his face, stood Dave. "Something is happening outside. There are these… these Things walking around!" he wheezed; nearly out of breath.
He doesn't scare easily, Jacen thought, I better see what he's talking about. "Show me," he said coldly and then began to follow Dave out the door, but then stopping. "Wait!"
He called after Dave to wait up for a moment and ran back into the classroom and kneeled next to Olivia. "I need you to do something for me," he said urgently, "I don't know if this is real or not; but just in case I need you to make sure no one leaves the room until I get back. Can you do that for me?"
"Yeah!" she answered, her features hardening with conviction.
"Thank you," Jacen said kindly before running out the door.
As Jacen dashed away from the classroom he distantly heard Olivia call after him. "Be careful!"