Subject: Tony

Tony was listening to music on full blast in his room when he thought he heard a knock on his door. He stopped the music for a moment and heard another knock; he was home alone as his parents were out somewhere. He walked to the front door and tried looking out the window, he saw a strange man standing at the door, so he grabbed the baseball bat and held it up as he opened the door slowly. "Tony! Is that any way to treat an old friend?" The boy asked in an oddly familiar voice. "I don't know who you are. What do you want?" Tony asked in a deep voice. "Come on now, remember me from middle school? I always called you the brute."

Tony looked the boy over but let him in anyway, but he still clenched the bat firmly. "Who are you?" Tony asked again in a more commanding tone this time. The boy took of his glasses and beanie, as Tony looked him over more. "Gary fucking Smith! It's been too damn long for me not to enjoy a visit from my old pal!" Tony bro hugged him and they went inside. "What the hell have you been up to? Last I heard you were at some big private school, your parents fuck you over or what?" Tony asked him. "Well, that school couldn't have been any worse than what we faced back in the day. I got expelled and sent to the asylum though. It wasn't too bad, save for the medication they shove down your throat. Other than that I'm still the genius prodigy I've always been." Gary laughed aloud.

"Still full of yourself aren't you? You haven't changed much since then, still the schizophrenic you were aren't you? Doesn't matter though, you're back! I assume you need my help as always." Tony stated. "I need a lot of help, I have a certain grudge I'd like to tell you about. Jimmy Hopkins, ever heard of him?" Gary asked. "I've heard his name around a few times, I've even seen him with this cute little redhead girl walking around. Not the friendliest couple I've seen, but I have seen worse."

"Exactly, and that is why I need your help, I had him on the ropes last year before he got me expelled, I hate his living, breathing, homunculus, and downright sassy attitude. That's why I need help gaining back what is mine, with you at my side, we can't be stopped, and Bullworth will be ours. Two of the smartest men on earth taking a school, and then the world. Do I make my request clear?"

"I have a good feeling I know. Steal his girl, put out a hit, walk away clean, is that what you want?"

"Skip the hit; I want to be able to see the torture on his face, when I come around that corner smiling while he's squirming out of fear. He won't escape my grasp this time, all I need is some time and a good plan, and then we will have our ways." Gary finished. "What about Pete, I heard from a few of the morons that he is the head of the school, just to think that transvestite Pete being the next principal of a school, dumbest idea. Funny how things could change in a flash huh?" Tony asked. "Pete will be dealt with at the right time. He's still nothing, he's still got the balls of a guppy, he's over emotional and I could easily squeeze him in, as long as Hopkins hasn't made Pete his bitch. He's almost like play-do, you can form him into anything you want, and unfortunately Jimmy has just been molding him more into a pussy." Gary laughed.

"Actually the latest rumor I heard about our tiny infant friend was that he beat some rich kid up, Derby Harrington, kid's in a coma now." Tony said. "You mean Pete is in the coma right? He probably hyperventilated for how tired he gets even punching the air." Gary cackled. "Nope, Derby is. Eyes swollen, teeth knocked out, bunch of blood, broken ribs, ringing ears, broken nose, hell Pete could have bitten his dick off if he was strong enough. He's turned into a killer now, all the shit thrown at him over the years; he takes it out on the one kid everyone is probably glad to have gone. Doesn't surprise me he wanted to beef up and destroy everything since being the head of the school. Jimmy might be his next target if he's not careful. Get near either of them, and they might kill you. Whatever plan you devise, I'm in, I want to show them as much as you do that it doesn't just take brawn to win a fight."

Tony and his complete confidence and loyalty, despite being another one of Gary's puppets, inspired Gary. They sat in the room for a while devising a new scheme, one that neither Jimmy, nor Pete would see coming, but it may cost them if they fail.

5 days until Z-day:
Subject: Pete Kowalski

Pete sat alone in the boys dorm staring down to the floor, he saw the few rodents that scurried around at night and kicked a few away from him. After all that he suggested, the principal still wouldn't satisfy the students request to rid the school of the rodents. He didn't mind them after a while; he just wanted to satisfy his peers by telling Crabblesnitch off about the lack of extermination. After a little waiting he heard a door open, he knew it was Jimmy since he had Zoe over. Jimmy and Zoe were always together now, it seemed like nobody had time for Pete anymore. People used to pick on him, now they fear the mighty Pete Kowalski. The two laughed and giggled as Jimmy said goodbye to Zoe.

Jimmy noticed Pete on the couch and he jumped over the sofa and landed next to Pete. "You alright Pete?" Jimmy asked with a sense of concern. "Just peachy. I'm just sitting here waiting for my best friend, but he's too busy with his beau to even come to me." Pete remarked. "Hey take it easy, maybe I could set you up with someone. After all the girls are following your every footstep when they found out Derby was hospitalized because of you."

"That's exactly another reason. I feel bad for doing it, sure Derby was a jerk, but it doesn't mean I'm the toughest, after all you are king you know."

"But you're head boy, you have to teach peoples lessons now, it's the perks of being a leader, free pass from the BS, fun with chicks, and you can boss anyone around. Come on cheer up, want to watch some 'adult' channels?"

"We… have those?"

"Now we do. Here we go." Jimmy flipped the TV on and the first to pop up was a news channel with breaking news. "This just in, we have calls coming in from all over the New England area, the dead have apparently risen, the root cause is unknown, there are theory's, speculations, and even conspiracy's coming in, one of them happens to be the test drug on the market, we aren't sure how accurate this statement is, but all we know is be prepared for the worst. This may end up being our final broadcast, God help us." Jimmy shut the TV off and looked at Pete who seemed a bit horrified. Jimmy shook Pete a little to make sure he was still alive. Pete looked at him and shook his head as he got up and walked over to the vending machine. He bought a Beam Cola and drank it in one long gulp.

"This can't be happening Jimmy. It's too soon for us to die!" Pete was hysterical and loud as Jimmy got up and tried to calm him down. "Take it easy, we don't know if this is real, just relax man." Jimmy shook Pete a little bit. "What's going on in here?" They heard a voice from behind them. It was Johnny along with a crowd like before, concerned if they were trying to kill each other. It was more than likely they wanted Pete to win. "Dead people… They're walking, New England area. We all might die…" Pete said as he almost shook with fear. "What did you do to him Jim?" Ted asked. "Nothing. The damn news is what shook him up, apparently the dead are alive in some way or another, it's probably a hoax, so I'm trying to calm him down."

Jimmy said. "Well shut him up. Russell trying to sleep." Russell said coming forward. "Take it easy big guy. Pete just go to the dorm room and try to rest. I'll be in soon." Jimmy said. Pete shook his head and walked through the crowd back to his room. The crowd soon dispersed and head back to their dorms. Pete was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling, thinking long and hard about the news. He could hear Jimmy talk to a few of the boys outside.

"That means I can see my mommy right?" He could hear Algernon ask. Of course! Algernon ended up losing his mother over the summer, Pete remembered attending her funeral in paying respects to him and his mom. He wished he got to know Algie and his mom a little more, and Pete had finally gotten cool with Algie before his mom had a stroke. Algie even dropped some weight over the summer, thanks to his mom's new diet plan for him. He was unhealthy to the max for being so large, and the fact he had other problems made it worse. He dropped a little weight, not a lot, but he wasn't the size of Bucky, he was just average. Of course Algie would be clueless of the undead, anytime he saw a horror flick he fainted out of the goodness of his heart. If this were really happening, Algie would be a liability, despite him being nothing but nice to most people, he was too innocent to let him die painfully, but if that were what had to happen, Pete wouldn't stop it.

He overheard more of the conversation. "What about Derby? He's holed up in the hospital, a real hospital, dead people are all over the place there!" Bif was talking. Pete felt even more worried at the sound of Derby's name. If Derby had to be wheeled around he would be just as much of a liability as Algie, not to mention he would still act snobby as a leader of the preps. "Derby will be fine, doesn't he have some security surrounding his room?" Jimmy asked. "Even in tough conditions Derby would still want to fight his own battles. His father really wanted security for him, but Derby refused and of course asked me to be there. I couldn't do it, unfortunately for him he's become an asset, and one false move from him and it's all over. If the dead are truly walking, he'll have to take care of himself. He wants to be alone, let him, he wasn't fit for leadership anyway."

Glad Pete wasn't the only one with a negative opinion about Derby's usefulness. The most surprising thing was Bif talking about it. Bif was always Derby's right hand, that goes to show you can't trust anyone, but it was the preps they can't trust each other to save their life. They didn't even consider each other friends, just assets and business partners. He overheard Johnny yammering on about Lola and regretting spending so much time away from her, and resenting her. He loved her in some way, it was just hard for him to process his true feelings, and so he resorted to ignoring her. After a while Lola got tired of it and left him, probably the billionth time. Pete could hear the boys retreating as he heard a knock at the door, Jimmy came in and closed the door behind him. "Pete, its alright. Don't worry about stupid stuff like this; it only makes you die faster. I just can't help but wonder why the media chooses to air crap like that…"

"Jimmy stop. I don't care much anymore. It's okay. I couldn't help myself, I was just in shock I guess. Don't take it like I'm worried cause I'm not. Forgive me, let's just get some sleep." Jimmy nodded as they went to bed. Pete turned to his side facing away from Jimmy. He saw a rat scurry by but paid no mind to it.

"Fucking rodents." Pete whispered to himself as he drifted off.