Drew took a deep breath
and turned to run. The window shattered into tiny pieces from the
weight of more
Eaters.
They shuffled forward and began to make their way into the
classroom, grabbing students, snapping their jaws of doom. Drew
dashed out into the hallway almost slipping on old and fresh blood
that was spilled onto the marbled floor. His fall was cushioned as
Billy and Beetle caught him before he fell to the floor. As the
group of eight filtered out into the hall they were taken back at
the horrific, gruesome sight.
An instant smell of copper
and iron with the combination of human flesh and waste overwhelmed
their nostrils. Blood spatters, various body parts, and human waste
cluttered the hallway. Some of the students who had their legs
chewed off and converted to
Eaters
slithered towards Drew and the group extending
their mouths. Royal and the group that followed him sped past Drew
and his group. Pandemonium and chaos was audible throughout the
hallways.
No one had ever seen a sight this ghastly.
Drew gripped his knife firmly and turned to his right to head
towards the Fema Building Storm Shelter. Mater grabbed Drew’s arm.
Her eyes were big with fright.
“
We gotta get Marley,
remember?”
“
I don’t think…. Maybe
Marley got out,” Drew said in a panic.
“
Please, Drew. Marley is
all I have,” Mater’s eyes filled with tears as she bit her bottom
lip.
Drew remembered his
promise and turned to his left to go towards the Cafeteria, where
Marley’s sixth grade hall was located. Deep down he had a feeling
that Marley’s hall did not fair well at all. Drew began jogging
through the hallway looking for
Eaters
to jump out at any
moment.
The group led by Drew, passed by some
classrooms that were empty only to be replaced by overturned desks
and papers. The papers were soaked with blood and scattered all
over the class. Commotion and screams, accompanied by moans, were
heard coming from near the cafeteria. Marley’s class was at the end
of the hallway and the cafeteria sat right outside of the double
doors. Mater sped past Drew once they neared Marley’s class.
“
Wait! Slowwww down!” Drew
demanded.
Mater ignored Drew’s pleas and sprinted
straight towards the door. Sue Ellen followed closely behind Drew.
They both hoped to find Marley in her class but it was too quiet on
the sixth grade hall. Mater flung the door open and her mouth fell
ajar. The classroom setting looked like a battle field. The walls
were red and body parts were scattered about. A dark, mummified
body was sprawled near a cabinet. It looked like the person was
trying to get away but with no success. The ossified remains
resembled that of Mrs. Westwood and Mrs. Kissing. Drew figured the
body to be that of a teacher or another adult who worked at the
school.
Slurping and smacking sounds were heard
nearby. Drew brought his fingers to his lips and then to his ears
as if to tell the group to listen out for where the sounds were
coming from. Everybody was on alert as they tightened their grip on
their makeshift weapons.
Drew noticed something of
Marley’s by her desk. Her lime green backpack. Drew remembered the
last time that he seen Marley, he had teased her about the pitcher
of
limeade
that
she carried on her back. That fluorescent color was now replaced
with a deep dark burgundy stain.
Old
blood
, Drew figured. Mater sadly bent down
to pick up Marley’s backpack.
“
Mater, we need to go.
Marley isn’t here,” Drew whispered. He knew it was time to
depart.
Everybody stood congregated behind Mater as
she began to weep softly. Sue Ellen and Cookie quietly comforted
Mater by giving her hugs. Karley stayed closer to Drew. She was
terrified and wanted to remain alive. Karley was the only one that
she knew of so far to survive out of her class and she wanted to
keep it that way. As Drew moved closer to Mater a movement behind
the desk caught his eye. He walked closer to the desk where the
slurping sounds grew louder.
“
Geez-us!” Drew shrieked
as he jumped back like a kangaroo.
“
What is it?” Mater asked
through tear soaked eyes.
Drew shook his head and slowly backed up. He
did not want to believe what he was seeing. The little girl that he
treated like a sister literally all of his life, raised up from her
grub. Half of her braids had been yanked from her scalp. Her
clothes were torn and ragged. It looked like she had engaged in a
tug war in which she had lost. She gazed up at him through unseeing
eyes with congealed blood pouring from her mouth. Pieces of her
classmate’s flesh fell from the clenches of her jaws. The gaping
laceration was visible on the backside of her neck. The wound gave
away secret that she must have been attacked from behind. An
undying craving for human meat fueled the rabid look on her face.
Before Drew had a chance to warn the others, Marley pounced towards
him.
The itsy bitsy zombie made its way into our
town
Here comes Drew Jacks falling onto the
ground
The itsy bitsy zombie will feast upon your
head
Here comes Drew Jacks, watch out for the
living dead
Mayhem broke out amongst
the group. Marley lunged at Drew but his agility save him as he
dodged the clutches of the
Eater’s
gruesome hands. Instead, the death grip landed on
Karley who immediately started screaming and fought off the
amazingly strong
Eater.
“
Get her off me!” Karley
yelled as she tried to sling Marley a loose.
Drew went to stab Marley in the back of the
head but had a change of heart and tried to grab her from behind.
However, the grip that Marley had on Karley was inhumanly strong.
Each time Marley would attempt to take a bite out of Karley’s face,
Karley would lean back and plead for her life. The two toppled over
on the desks and Karley lost her grip.
“
Aghhhhh!!!” Karley yelled
as Marley sunk her infected teeth deep into her
shoulder.
Drew pulled his knife and went to stab
Marley in the back of the head but Mater tackled him pushing him
away.
“
You can’t kill MY
sister!” Mater shouted plunging into Drew.
“
She is already dead,
Mater!” Drew yelled back. He tried to subdue his friend by
restraining her wrist but Mater fought back trying to get to her
sister, Marley.
Karley’s screams went on as Marley continued
to devour her. Everybody stood dumbfounded, to afraid to move.
“
Somebody, HELP her!” Drew
shouted as he pushed Mater into Sue Ellen. He pointed at Sue Ellen.
“Please, hold her.”
Sue Ellen and Cookie wrestled Mater to the
desk as she shouted insults to let her go. Drew rushed up to Marley
and tried to stick her in the head with his knife but missed and
sliced into the side of her face. Marley seemed unaffected by the
cut. She pulled back from Karley’s shoulder bringing a chunk of
skin with her. Marley licked her lips and swiped at Drew wildly
with her hands causing him to fall backwards into a desk nearby. As
Drew struggled to bring himself to his feet, Billy and Beetle
rushed towards Marley and began attacking her with their
scissors.
“
Die! Die! Please
Die!”
Billy hollered as
he continued to overwhelm the undead
Eater’s
body with razor sharp
blows.
Marley finally came to a still, with a few
jerks in her legs being evident. Drew slowly pulled himself
together. He glanced over at Mater who was now crying hysterically.
Mater ran to her sister’s lifeless body, which was plastered with
tiny puncture wounds and cradled it.
“
MARLEY!! Please come
back, Marley!” Mater cried.
Sue Ellen brought her hands to her face to
wipe away the tears that softly fell. Everybody loved Mater’s
younger sister Marley. She was the girl who was mostly likely to
succeed in life even though both her and Mater’s father was never
present in their lives. Marley had hopes of some day to become
Mississippi’s first female Governor but those dreams would never
come true. Drew ran his fingers through his hair. He thought of his
sisters as he glanced down at Mater and Marley. He began to panic.
He felt his chest get tight. He had to get to them. The sorrow in
Mater’s voice as she spoke of reminiscent times with her sister
hurt him to the core. Now, Mater was alone and he would be too if
he did not get home soon.
Fight or Flight.
Human voices were heard. It sounded as if
they were running. Drew could not decipher if it was teachers or
students.
“
Mater….” Drew began. “We
really need to go.”
Mater flashed a look that could melt steel
at Drew. Her eyes were blood shot red.
“
You go! I am staying here
with my sister. She
needs
me!”
“
She is…” Drew
stopped.
Everybody but Sue Ellen and Tarynn gathered
behind Drew. He turned away from the site of Marley’s body and
noticed Karley lying on the floor. She shivered as she began to
suffocate on the blood that quickly filled her lungs. Tarynn stood
crouched over Karley reciting a prayer. Drew walked over and
kneeled over Karley.
“
Do you think you can walk
if I help you up?”
Karley closed her eyes and then reopened
them. She opened her mouth to say something but no words escaped.
With her mouth slightly open, she managed mumble two words.
“
Leave….Me…”
Karley closed her eyes and all body movement
stopped.
“
We better get out of
here,” Drew said as he jumped to his feet and backed up slowly.
“C’mon guys let’s move.”
“
Did I stutter?” Mater
spat. “I am not leaving Marley!”
Drew felt bad for his best friend. Mater
whimpered softly. She cradled her sister’s body in her arms and
rocked back and forth like a baby. The sounds of aircraft zoomed
overhead. Everybody gazed up into the ceiling.
“
I think that is a
helicopter up there.” Beetle pointed up towards the ceiling with
his crimson stained scissors grasped firmly in his hand.
“
Maybe, they are here to
evacuate the school,” Cookie said.
“
In the middle of a
hurricane?” Billy asked breathing rapidly. He walked to the door
and surveyed the hallway.
“
I think this thing is
much bigger than a hurricane,” Beetle responded as he followed
Billy to help keep watch.
Drew reached his hand out gently towards
Mater. Mater looked away and stared back down at her sister. She
delicately moved the braids out of Marley’s battered face. Sue
Ellen leaned over and whispered into Mater’s ear, she then slowly
but delicately touched Mater’s face. Drew watched as the two
silently communicated and Mater finally gave in, getting up. Mater
placed her hand in Drew’s and began to cry once more as she got up.
Drew pulled Mater close and they hugged. Sue Ellen walked up to the
two and wrapped her arms around them as they all comforted Mater’s
breakdown.
“
Guys….Guys…. GUYS!”
Beetle’s said with fear. “We have company!”
Drew broke away from the
group hug and sprang into action. He ran to the door followed by
Sue Ellen and Mater. At least twenty
Eaters,
that was 500 feet
away,
shuffled their way towards the
classroom. Drew glanced towards his left and noticed more
Eaters
coming but that
group was at a longer distance away. No adults infiltrated the
group only children.
Drew noticed that
the
Eaters
were
from all different backgrounds and grade levels. But all of them
had one thing in common bite wounds. Bite marks were everywhere. No
part of the human body was immune. Most of the
Eaters
sniffed up in the air like
they smelled their favorite morsel. Some of the
Eaters
shuffled, a few without legs
slithered, others stumbled falling into each other but they
continued coming towards their intended target. THEM.
Drew popped back into the classroom quickly.
He pulled Beetle and Billy back in with him.
“
The only way out of here
is the cafeteria.”
Billy’s eyes bugged. “Man,
are you serious? Didn’t Dr. Bradford tell us
not
to go into the cafeteria? That
is where all this mess started.”
“
We don’t really have a
choice,” Drew said pulling his knife. He pointed at the door.
“Those
Eater
things are coming from both directions. Our only chance is to
head two doors down to the left and sprint towards the cafeteria.
Everybody has their weapons and we are greased down. They won’t be
able to grab a hold of us.”
“
He is right,” Beetle
said. “We all stick together and watch from all sides. Besides, if
we don’t make it out of here and soon, I am going to get really
sick.”
Drew looked questioningly at Beetle.
“
I’ll explain later. I
will be needing my medicine soon,” Beetle said glancing down at his
watch.
“
Okay, Beetle. We will get
you out of here,” Drew said.
Drew motioned to Cookie and Tarynn. “Since
you two don’t have weapons, y’all try to stay inside the group. Sue
Ellen… you stay on my right, Billy you on my left. And Beetle, you
and Mater secure the back.”