:)

This was honestly supposed to be out yesterday but I got lazy but we're up.

Chapter 2: The Storm

Jazmine felt her heart beat faster in her chest and her stomach felt queasy.

Wrong? What was wrong?

She had never been good under pressure, every time she had to cheer at a game or have to present in class she had to fight the urge to not throw up on herself but this was different, Huey's voice was firm and serious and his eyes were even more so. Something was truly wrong.

She tried to swallow down her fear. "Huey you're freaking me out right now."

"I don't think this is something I could sugarcoat." His tone was grim and Jazmine was a few seconds away from a full blown panic attack.

Did someone die? Did the plane her parents and Mr. Freeman take a sudden fiery nose dive into the Atlantic Ocean? What was happening?

He must have seen the panic on her face and spoke again.

"People are attacking each other outside."

Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. Woodcrest was the most idyllic wealthy town, people here used their words and wealth to injure. The thought of attorneys and plastic surgeons getting into a brawl was ridiculous."What?! Why?"

"I don't know, there is no rhyme or reason. They're acting like animals, biting, scratching…they're eating each other." His piercing eyes met hers and she bit back a gasp. "They are actually eating each other."

"Oh my God, are you sure?"

"Do you want to see?" he asked

She wanted to say no but found herself shaking her head. Yes, even her legs moved on their own escaping the cozy confines of her sheets, he guided her to the only window in the room and if he wasn't already holding her up her legs would have given out.

It was carnage, dozens of limp bodies laid on the street while ghoulish creatures ravaged the corpses, it took her only a second to realize one of those creatures was familiar.

Erica. Erica Kincaid. They were on the cheerleading team together, they had sleepovers. She was even wearing her pajamas now although it was marred with fresh blood along with her golden curls and milky skin.

She was a monster now.

She turned her head, she couldn't stomach looking at her anymore. A sorrowful "Oh my God!" was all she could muster before she rushed to the bathroom, vomiting the contents of her breakfast into the toilet.

She grimaced and wiped her mouth as she leaned on the opposing wall, the cold tiles gave her some ease but the taste of bile in her mouth didn't do her any favors.

She heard his nearly silent footsteps and her face flushed from embarrassment, she couldn't even meet his eyes when he reached her instead focusing on his feet.

"Are you finished?"

She nodded.

Huey sighed and Jazmine felt even worse, she should have swallowed it down, they're were cannibalistic monsters outside and he was probably stuck with her and she puked her guts out in front of him, he might as well throw her out of the window-

"Get up."

Jazmine sniffled, she didn't even know she was crying. She saw his outstretched hand in her peripheral vision.

"Get up Jazmine."

She really didn't want to, she wanted to stay in the safety of the cold bathroom and just die a cold quiet death but instead she hesitantly placed her hand in his. It was calloused and rough but warm and nice.

She rose along with her arm as Huey pulled her up, his left hand planted firmly on her waist as if he was worried if she would sink back into the floor again.

She sniffled again and this time she knew what was going to happen. An ugly sob escaped her lips.

"Huey, I'm scared. I'm so scared." she felt the tears escape her eyes and she didn't even try to hide it. Twelve hours ago she was worried about having to live with her crush and now she was going to die, not surrounded by her children and grandchildren or even in a sterilized lonely hospital bed she was going to get mauled to death by one of those monsters.

She didn't care about her appearance, she didn't care that her eyes were going to swell and her nose was going to red. She for once let the tears flow freely. She felt powerful arms wrap around her and she buried her head into his chest, soiling the pristine white shirt.

"You're going to be fine Jazmine." He said firmly and easily like it was an obvious to the naked eye truth. And she desperately wanted to believe him. She needed to believe him.

"I'm going to protect you." She believed him.

"Everyone's waiting for us downstairs, we need to go."

She stuck close by him as they walked down the stairs where everyone was.

The living room was crowded. Riley had really meant business when he said he was going to invite people over. She counted four people including him and she was only really familiar with the girls. A tall and athletic white girl with blonde hair that reached her waist and a slightly shorter light skinned black girl with whisky colored locs.

Cindy McPhearson the it girl of the female basketball team and Riley's on again off again girlfriend, she had been witness to two or more of their explosive breakups and Nina York it girl in general. The three of them ran in similar circles but she was more familiar with Nina. She didn't really like what she saw, Nina was a grade A cunt who ruled her clique with an iron fist but she doubted any of that mattered now. It made sense why Cindy was there but it waa curious why Nina was there, seniors don't really hang out with a bunch of sophomores and freshmen.

The other guy was probably a member of the basketball team Jazmine was sure if she thought hard enough she probably would recall a name but in this situation she was pulling up blank. He was handsome enough, ridiculously tall as basketballers were, he had some muscle on his bones too, brown skinned with brown eyes and his hair was in twists that was pulled back into a ponytail. He hovered on the right of Nina.

"Huey what the fuck is going on?!" Riley was the first to speak.

"Not quite sure honestly but it doesn't look good."

"The fuck you mean you're not sure?!" Riley yelled and Jazmine tensed up clinging closer to Huey. "Ain't you supposed to be the smart one?"

Huey's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly at that comment. "I am the smart one but I'm omnipotent nigga I'm just as confused as you."

It was clear that Riley wanted to say more but at the glare Huey gave him he decided against it.

"Well what are we supposed to do there are," Nina paused trying to find a word that could describe the things outside, "there are fucking zombies outside eating people!"

Huey opened his mouth but was interrupted by a thud at the door and everyone went quiet and Jazmine could feel the muscles in Huey's arm tense up.

A part of her hoped it was a survivor knocking at the door with panic but her heart dropped to her stomach as the thuds grew louder. It wasn't knocking it was as if someone was throwing their entire weight at the door.

Everyone swiftly moved from their original places clamoring near the stairs far away from the danger. Huey himself shrugged off Jazmine's vice group using his hands to hide her behind his intimidating frame.

Then the entire door was ripped from its hinges falling with a loud bang on the floor and at the doorway stud the five four tiny blonde that was Erica Kincaid. Looking at her up close Jazmine could really see how horrifying whatever happened to her was. Her skin was deathly pale, her golden hair was flaxen and messed up, and her blue eyes empty of anything but hunger.

She looked like she took a swim in blood most being those of her victims, her parents but from the cuts and bruises on her body some definitely tried to fight.

Her eyes met Jazmine and she ran at them teeth bared and an animalistic growl emanating from her body. Everything let out a shout or a curse but Huey sprung into action.

He gripped her blonde locks into his palm and yanked her away from everything, the force of the pull ended with Erica laying flat on her back. Erica tried to get up once more, her teeth chomping at the bit and her mouth leaking saliva like a rabid animal.

He gripped her top jaw with his right and the bottom of her jaw with his left and pulled. Violently.

The pale flesh around her mouth and jaw tore open to reveal the muscle and blood but…her arms and legs moved violently trying but failing to save herself but they soon stopped when her upper and lower jaw separated completely with a sickening crack. Everyone watched in silent horror as Huey ripped the girl's head open.

Eric slumped over not moving the upper part of head now in Huey's hand.

"I did not know I could do that." he breathed out, turning his manic eyes towards them. "We should patch up the door before more gets through."

No one moved.

His voice became harsher. "Are you all fucking deaf?!" that shocked everyone out of their stupor everyone ran like headless chickens the only one who's movements were sure was Riley who dashed into another room, Cindy and Nina trailing behind him. Jazmine was about to move as well before being stopped in her tracks by Huey calling her name.

"Yes?"

"Can you help me get rid of her body?"

"I-"

Seeing her discomfort, he added. "We're just going to throw her outside."

"That seems…cruel."

"She's already dead, it can't possibly get any worse." he shrugged, getting up from off the now bloodied floor.

"I guess."

He handed her the top part of her skull by her once beautiful hair that she used to brush at sleepovers like it was a sock she forgot to pick up while he picked up her body with ease and walked towards the broken down door. Jazmine followed closely behind him trying not to slip on the large puddle of blood.

Huey decided against just throwing the dead body of a pretty and rich white girl out on the street and instead hid her in the garage to bury on a later death.

On the small walk to the front door she saw them.

A pit in her stomach formed as she saw the gang of…things in the distance. If she didn't know better she might have just thought that they were drunk but their movements were jagged like they were experiencing constant seizures while standing up and their forms hunched over as if they were permanently in pain.

"That's pretty fucked up." Huey said casually.

Jazmine swallowed the bile in her throat. "Yeah."

"You're doing it again."

She turned to him. "What?"

He pointed to her hand. "You're hyperventilating."

He was right, she was shaking violently.

"Yeah well this is pretty freaking scary-oh my god your bleeding!"

She grabbed his hand unfurling his mostly closed palms to show the pronounced bite mark in the palm of hand.

"Oh, shit." he said monotonously.

"Why are you so calm about this?!"

"Why are you panicking?"

"What if what's happening is like the zombie virus and a bite turns you into a zombie!"

"Then you'll kill me." He said it so easily as if that was the most logical thing to do and he was probably right but the thought of killing anyone especially him went against the very fiber of her being.

And she said as much. "I could never do that Huey."

He blinked at that. "Yes you could, you wouldn't have to rip my skull apart but you could get a knife or a gun and just-"

She interrupted him. "No, I mean in general I can't kill someone, Huey. I'm not like you."

His lips were pressed into a hard line. "I see."

Riley and the girls appeared carrying a toolbox.

Unsurprisingly Huey was the one who had to patch up the door, thankfully there was no splintering but it was broken down before no one there really had hope that this time it would hold but it was comforting to know that it was there.

"So what do we do now?" The guy that Jazmine still did not know the name of asked.

"Each one of you should call your families to see if they're alright, I'll check if the news is saying anything about what's going on."

Everyone went to their own corner of the living room and stuffed their faces into their phones typing furiously while Huey turned to the TV.

Her eyes were instinctively drawn to the time. 5:17 a.m. Fuck.

She tried to call her parents again and again and again but nothing, no response.

She knew her parents and her father would never see her calling him seven times and not call her back. She hoped and prayed that they were just tired or they had gone out.

Glancing up no one seemed to be having much luck either, they were all definitely asleep. She sighed trying to clear her mind to call again but she was interrupted by an alert.

The United States was in a state of emergency.

Chapter 2 is finally completed.

Hope you enjoyed it :)