ACT II

THE END OF BEGINNING

AND

BEGINNING OF THE END

"We need to leave! Now!" Kyle yelled.

"Where are we going to go?!" Chris snapped back, tightening his grip on his blades.

"Let's listen to Johnnie, the auditorium is a good place to go. We can set up in the skywalk." Sammy was halfway through her sentence when the source of the running appeared. Two boys, one with a sledge hammer and the other with a wrench, came barreling down the corridor.

"GO GO GO! THEY'RE FUCKING COMING!" The taller of the two yelled, dragging the sledge behind him as he ran. The other boy, shorter and wider than the first, was just huffing and puffing, barely keeping up.

"Follow us! We have a safe place!" Kyle yelled back, as he started to run, grabbing Johnnie by the arm and pulling him. Chris and Sammy had already started to run. Bruce was just standing there, watching this whole thing unfold. Just as Kyle finished his sentence, the zombies began to appear. Bruce still stood, gripping his axe. The boys were almost to him, and he wanted to make sure they weren't left behind. They looked relieved as they shot past him, following Kyle. Bruce turned and started running, taking up the rear. They began to run down the hallway, passing door after door. His lungs were starting to burn, and his head was swimming. He started seeing doubles, and the two boys were already gone, far ahead of him. Zombies had started to pour out of classrooms, closing in around him. He started to slow down. His peripheral vision was already gone, consumed by blackness that was slowly filling the rest of his vision. He looked forward, and thought he saw Chris and the boy with the sledge standing at the door. They were beckoning and yelling.

"COME ON! LET'S GO!" Chris was getting frantic, as the room right next to the auditorium was the library. Zombies had started to pour out of the libraries entrance, and started stalking towards the two boys. Bruce was only a few steps from the door as the zombies converged onto the entrance. The boy with the sledge grabbed Bruce and pulled him in as the door swung shut. The zombies started scratching at the door, trying to get in. Bruce saw Kyle, Sammy, and the shorter of the two new boys ripping apart the chairs. Johnnie was sitting in the corner, staring intently at a book. Bruce started to get up, but immediately felt a rush and then blacked out.

He woke up to warmth. He opened his eyes and immediately closed them, pain spreading like wildfire, burning from his eyes to his forehead, then to the back of his head and even his neck. He lay there for a few minutes, then slowly opened them again. It burned again, so he closed them. He repeated this a few times, until he could squint for about a minute. He looked around. He was propped against a wall, a fire a few feet from him. Alarm bells went off in his, head, as he knew a fire couldn't be good, but calmed down when he saw it was manmade, pieces of the chairs burning in front of him, He turned his head and lurched back. He was about 50 feet off the ground, on a tiny platform. He knew it was the skywalk, but he felt sick and nauseous. His axe was laid next to him, and he turned as he heard a snore. The two new boys, as well as Johnnie and Kyle, were asleep. The new boys were in the same position as Bruce, there legs out in front of them, their backs against the wall. Kyle and Johhnie were laying down on the skywalk, a few feet from each other. Bruce slowly got up, regretting his decision immediately as his head ached again.

"God DAMMIT!" He kicked the ground in anger, cursing the concussion.

"Ow! Fuck!" He cursed himself again, this time for just being stupid. He angrily stalked down the skywalk to the stairs at the end. Every step hurt, both his head and his foot, but he didn't care. He hobbled along, thinking that he should just walk it off. He slowly limped down the staircase. And then stopped as he heard voices.
"Chris, Kyle told me all about what you said." A girls voice that sounded vaguely like Sammy's giggled.

"Did he now? And what did he say?" Chris unmistakably gravely voice laughed back.

"He said that you guys got REALLY drunk last week and," Possibly-Sammy stopped to giggle again, an adorable noise that even made Bruce want to laugh. After her litte laughing fit, she continued with "He said you told him to tape you to a sofa and toss you in the pool."

"Oh yeaah…I remember that…kinda…" Chris started laughing, and Sammy followed. They were obviously in a strange state of mind. Bruce had no idea what it was, they were possible under the influence of something. He decided not to eavesdrop, and continued down the stairs.
"Hey hey hey, look who it is. What's up, Brucey?" Chris spotted him immediately, grinning.

"Hey man. What's going on?" Bruce surveyed the scene. They had set up a few chairs in front of the door, which had been boarded up with pieces of the chairs. Chris and Sammy were sitting, watching the door. "What, I don't get a hey?" Sammy pretended to be offended, looking at Bruce with her beautiful golden eyes.

"Of course you do, I was getting to that. How are you?" Bruce laughed, as

Chris beckoned for Bruce to sit in the chair next to him.

"Well, I'm scared shitless, probably going to get eaten alive, and haven't slept in two days. But I mean, at least I'm not one of those things yet." Sammy said, and Bruce couldn't tell how much of it was a joke.
"Come on, Sam. Don't be such a downer. We're alive and we're together. Me, you, and Kyle. Now we got Bruce, who seems to know what he's doing. Johnnie's a fucking genius, plus Michael and Derik just joined us two." Chris smiled. "We can do this."

"Yah I guess. Speaking of which, Bruce, what's your story? What happened to you?" Sammy looked curiously at Bruce.

"I uh…I woke up in some class. I'm pretty sure it's actually right outside those doors," He said, motioning towards the entrance."…I can't remember anything, I didn't even know my name. But I woke up, right, and this like, voice was in my head. I'm not crazy, I promise. But it says to me, like 'Bruce, wake up. You need to get up.' And so I did. I walked out the doors and saw some poor kid get eaten, like, immediately. It was awful. But I started running, just like, trying to get away from the zombies. I spotted the janitors closet, and jumped in there. There was this knife in the wall, and it was holding a note to it. You know, its probably still in my pack. Wait, where is my pack…I totally forgot about it!" Bruce got nervous, that thing had a flashlight and the batteries, which certainly weren't essential, but would still seriously help.

"Its alright, man." Chris reassured him. "I brought it upstairs with your axe. That's a rad story, though. I think I've seen you around school before, but like, we never talked. You're not in any-I mean, you weren't in any of my classes. What about you, Sam? Did you know him?"

"No, I hadn't ever talked to him. But we had English together. We had it with Derik too. That means you're either a junior, or a senior that got held back. Or maybe even a sophomore that got pushed up. You know, speaking of Derik, that guys a douchebag. He was such an asshole." Chris raised his brow, surprised. He and Sammy went off, back and forth about who was or wasn't an ass. Bruce zoned out, the pain in his head coming back. He watched them talk, first focusing on Chris. His eyes were interesting, not quite yellow but not quite gold, nor orange or green. They were the color of decayed amber, liked sickly yellowed amber. You could barely see them though, as his spiky dark hair was always swept across his brow. He had a pointy face, all angles. He looked almost goth, pitch black hair covering his eyes and forehead, a tall, pale, lanky form, covered by a black hoodie and dark jeans. Sammy was a totally different story. She was the definition of pretty. She had beautiful long hair, ranging between all shades of brown. She had curved eyebrows that made her look happy and innocent, and that moved a lot when she talked. Her eyes were striking, making you want to stare at them for days. They were dark brown, but also flecked with gold. She had an adorable nose that fit her lips and her cheeks perfectly. Her cheeks were tinged a tiny bit red at the edges, making her look even more adorable. She had an interesting complexion, not tan, but not pale either. It was light peachy color, and looked soft and smooth. She was a bit shorter than Bruce, probably 5'6-ish, while Bruce thought he was about 5'8. Chris was a good 6 feet tall, but he didn't seem to tower over them. Maybe it was because he was always slouching. It was after this thought that Bruce realized that both Sammy and Chris were staring at him.

"Um…Brucey? Dude?" Chris waved his hand in front of Bruce's face.

"Uh…oh sorry guys…" Bruce looked down, embarrassed as Chris and Sammy cracked up.

"You were staring at us for a good fifteen minutes, Bruce." Sammy giggled.

"Oh shit, wait, what time is it?" Chris suddenly shot up. Sammy pulled out her phone, and squinted at it. "It's like, 3:45?"

"Ok, Bruce, bro, go back to sleep. You need to rest. Do us a favor, wake up Kyle and…what's his name?" Chris looked questioningly at Sammy. "You know, the guy Derik came with?"

"Michael. It's Michael." Sammy sighed. "His name is Michael. Bruce isn't the only one that needs sleep."

"You got that right. I need to hit the hay, big time." Chris said, and yawned to prove his point.

"Alright, I'll go wake them up. Thanks guys. You managed to cheer me up quite a bit." Bruce grinned and started to walk away.
"Brucey! Thank you, dude. You're a lifesaver." Bruce turned back to see Chris smiling right back. "We gotta stay positive. This place is safe. We're gonna make it!" Bruce smiled again and started up the steps. His pain hadn't gone anywhere, and his smile was already beginning to fade as he walked up the steps. Happiness is a candle. Its burns out just as quickly as it gets light if there's no one to maintain the flame. Bruce stopped at the top of the stairs to catch his breath. Kyle was sleeping, still lying on the ground. Michael and Derik also hadn't moved, snoring away. Johnnie wasn't anywhere to be seen though. Puzzled, Bruce walked over the Kyle, and shook him. Kyle was huge probably just as tell as Chris, but much more muscular. He wasn't fat, or even burly, just ripped. He was obviously a football player, or something like that. He looked like Hollywood's perfect jock. In every high school movie, there's always that couple. The star of the football team and the top cheerleader. Well, he would be that star. He had a golden hair, that matched his golden tan. He had very defined features, a solid jaw line and sparkling green eyes. Kyle was every teen girls dream guy. He groggily got up, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Yo, whats up Bruce?" He asked sleepily.

"Its time for your shift, man." Bruce helped him up, handing Kyle his bat. Kyle stared at the bat for a second, and then snapped back to reality. "Oh right. I was hoping this was a bad dream. Who am I watching with?" Kyle asked, his mouth twisting into a grimace as he realized that he was still stuck in this hellish nightmare. "Michael, I think. The dude with the sledge. Go down to Chris and Sammy, I'll wake him up." Kyle looked thankful, smiling a little. "Thanks, bro. You're a cool guy." He started to walk away, heading for the platform. Bruce walked over to where Derik and Michael were sleeping, and gently shook Michael. Unlike Kyle, Michael shot up in an instant, hands up and eyes darting around. "Woah, woah, its ok, man. I just wanted to tell you it's time for your shift." Bruce backed up a few steps, trying to calm Michael down. "Oh, right, sorry. I, uh, I was having a bad dream." Michael said apologetically. He went to pick up his sledge, but stopped when his stomach rumbled. "Fuck, I haven't eaten in like, 2 days. Do we have any food?" Bruce just shrugged, and said, "I have no idea, sorry. Ask Chris or Sammy, if we do, they'll tell me and I can bring some down." Michael looked thankful, and grabbed his hammer. "You're a lifesaver, man." He patted Bruce on the shoulder and walked in the same direction as Kyle, making his way to the floor of the auditorium. Bruce slid down, exhausted and hungry himself. His foot finally stopped hurting, and his head wasn't as bad. He picked up his bag and started digging through it. The flashlight and the batteries were still there, and so was the note. Right as he pulled the note out, he heard shuffling and grabbed his axe. He turned and saw Johnnie stumbling back to the fire. "Hey, John. Where were you, man?" Bruce put the axe down again, and relaxed.

"I was just going for a walk. It helps me go back to sleep." Johnnie said simply as he lay down. "Hate to break it to you, pal, but I don't think you'll be able to do that anymore. It's too dangerous." Bruce felt kinda bad saying this, seeing how traumatized Johnnie was already. He looked at the note, still in his hand. "Hey, uh, I have something for you." Bruce walked over to Johnnie, and handed it to him. Johnnie looked at it in disbelief. "Where did you-"

"I found it pinned to the wall in the janitors closet, of all places. Is it yours?"

"Yah, it is! I thought after Derik took it, I'd never see it again. My mom's got leukemia, and my dads in Iraq. I don't see them often, so this is what she gave me to remember her when I hadn't seen her for a while. This is really means a lot to me." Johnny teared up a little. He blinked the tears away, and beamed up at Bruce. "You're a lifesaver, Bruce!" Johnnie tucked the note into the pocket of his sweater vest, and then curled up on the skywalk. Bruce walked back to his spot, and sat down just as Chris and Sammy appeared at the top of the stairs, laughing. They nodded at Bruce, and sat down next to him. He remember how hungry Michael had been, and asked "We have any food?" Sammy shook her head, and Bruce's happiness disappeared. They had no food? That can't be good. He sat with his back against the wall, as Chris fell asleep immediately, followed quickly by Johnnie and Sammy. He finally got drowsy, and let his eyes close, falling into a light sleep.