Another new idea which I really like, this chapter is a zombie apocalypse AU! Enjoy :)
It wasn't like it was in the movies.
It happened quickly, before any of us realised what was going on.
For me, I had just finished running my eighth lap of the track, my usual for most mornings coming up to a track meet, I was panting, had stopped finally and pulled up next to my coach who clapped me on the back then grinned. His pearly white teeth glimmering.
"Great job today Bells." I nodded, unable to form words since I was gulping oxygen like water.
He had run me ragged today. I waved him off and walked over to the bleachers, finding my bag and water bottle, frowning upon hearing screaming coming from the front gate. Not entirely strange so I paid it no mind, but it continued, and got louder and louder. Coach Bennett went to check the noise after it didn't cease, and I sat. Watching the light flicker through the trees on the opposite side of the jogging track. It was mid february, so the ground was frosty and as I took each and every breath I could see them hovering in the air in front of me. Mocking me for breathing so hard.
Flipping my phone open, scrolling through texts, that's when I noticed something odd. Multiple messages asking if I was okay, if I'd see the news, to check immediately. I frowned, looking left and right if someone was pulling a prank on me. I shrugged, walked it off to go to the shower block, it had gone silent by the front so clearly whatever was happening the coach had dealt with it.
The water was freezing as it washed over me so I quickly finished up and climbed out, teeth shuddering as I reached for my towel.
Suddenly banging came from the shower room door, I had locked it since no one would be here this early anyway.
"Hold on, hold on." I grumbled, drying off and pulling on some jeans and a shirt, hobbling to the door while trying to pull socks up to my ankles. The knocking didn't stop. It grew louder, turning into heaving as if someone was slapping their hands and nails into it.
I yanked it open and immediately fell back into a row of lockers. Terrified.
"W-What.. Are you.. Okay?" A woman. Shorter than me, covered in blood, grumbling and gripping her neck wavered in front of me. Eyes blank as she stumbled into the room, dragging her injured leg behind her. "Wait wait. Don't come closer." She snarled as fear gripped me. "Fuck." She quickened her pce, blood dragged from behind her leg. "Stop. I said stop. I'll…" my eyes darted everywhere, the only thing within reach was a hockey stick. She groaned in the back of her throat and I did the unthinkable, grabbed the stick and pushed it to her chest to heave her away. I nearly threw up as it pushed through to her rib cage, she merely looked down at it before hissing and dragging herself towards me, pulling it through her body.
"What the fuck is happening." I yelped, dropped it and backed away like she was on fire. My back hit the wall and fear consumed me. She wasn't stopping. Who even was this chick? She didn't look like a student. Wasn't preppy enough to be a teacher. Did some random woman just walk in through the gates?
Screaming starts from down the hall and the thundering footsteps stampeded. I couldn't help the next stupid decision and ran around the row of lockers, swiping my bag from the bench and bolted out of the door before she could get anywhere near me.
Unlucky for me I guess because that tiny action put me right in the thick of it. Students were screaming, blood and bodies littered the floor, teachers were panicking, telling us to run, to leave, to get out. It was like I stepped right out into a crime scene.
"Hold up." Bella pauses her retelling to look over the small fire they'd created in a trashcan to the muscled man opposite her. He was frowning, lines pulling down her forehead to his grey eyes.
"You were a student?" Bella nods.
"Sure were, but none of that matters now does it?"
He shrugs in response and leans back against one of the benches they'd situated around themselves.
"S'pose not." he pauses briefly and wraps his strong arm around the beautiful woman, pressing a kiss to her temple. The groaning from outside the locked mall doors behind us had since been silenced, they'd probably wandered off since we've kept our voices low.
"What were you?" I ask.
The burly man smiles. "A firefighter, and this one?" he gestures to his girlfriend, or I'm assuming so since they've been clinging to each other since we got here a week ago. "A model."
The blonde chuckles. "Wannabe model, to tell you the truth kid, it wasn't going too well." I nodded and clasped my hands in front of my stomach, sliding them into the pockets of my zipped up hoodie.
"How about you?" My eyes drew to a shorter woman, straight black hair that framed her face, and a sharp edge to her jaw, like she'd been constantly holding back her sarcasm. I'd never shared a word with her until now, and by the looks of things, she wasn't open to sharing. Alice I think her name was.
"Teacher."
"I was a Doctor." Pipes up the man from the back of the group who'd barely spoken in days. He was fairly tall, his clothes ripped to shreds so he was covered in a few blankets we'd found from the retail store in the upper levels of the mall. He was handsome, and you can tell before everything went to shit he took very good care of himself. "Surgeon to be precise."
"Interesting, anyone else wanna share?" I graze my eyes over the small group of us, seven in total. No one else offered their story up so I sighed and closed my eyes. The glass ceiling above us showed the storm clouds gathering amidst the stars, and it looked like we'd be in for a hell of a night. I grabbed the nearest overcoat and wrapped it around myself, seeking whatever else I could for warmth and closed my eyes, listening to the sounds of the cackling wood and the scraping off dead fingernails against the bolted locks.
Thanks for reading folks, reviews would be awesome :) I'd love some feedback!