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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Chapter Six: No Hope

Written by Vasil Verdhi

The empty blue ocean above and the cold stone bed under him, that's all he feels everyday. The sun gives neither warmth nor brightens any part of the day covered in an intangible darkness. As the time passes by he can only wonder why he is not like the rest of them. How is it possible that He shares their skin and can be confused for them, but in the end he cannot be them, in fact he will never be them. The fact of the matter is that to be like them or even you is something he detests just like how they detest him. In the end hate is what connects them. "I hate you, every last one of you stupid students from you noisy guitar playing hipsters to you pretentious honor roll ass kissers." This is all that's heard from his mouth never a word of praise or respect, such things are only heard in a blue moon.

Well whatever the case may be belonging is something he does not do. He blows smoke into the air and just continued to stare further into the blue void. He didn't know what to expected to find in the sky that will change anything, "The only thing good about the damn thing is that it's there. Always there whether you need it or not the sky will always be there for you. It seems like a childish thought, but the fact that the sky never really leaves you is more than most can say about themselves and those around them. Oh well unlike the sky I'm not free to be here for however I see fit, especially for eternity."

The fact that he talks to himself never bothered him, he thought it rather natural after all doesn't everyone think to themselves? The bell rings meaning it must be another period and he decides it it's time to go back inside, the most annoying part of the day by far. This is such a pain is what you see in his face. To get inside the school, he has to go down two ladders and get in through the fourth floor window. After powering through those difficult daily hurdles he arrives at the window. "I'm not the luckiest am I?" The big blue bulge did not reply. Wait a second, in need of a treadmill, I know who this belongs...."

Unfortunately she didn't take too kindly to the method of entry nor the treadmill comment and she didn't hesitate to make this apparent as she guided him to the discipline office. As the guard waddled her planet sized self off he made it a point to commend her choice in braving the stairs today instead of the usual elevator ride. "Then again though the elevator can only hold so much."

The disciplinarian thought it best to get my attention," Alex. Alex! ALEX!!!"

"What?"

"Don't what me, and take off those earphones."

"But then I have to hear you talk."

"Just take off the damn earphones and sit down."

"Huh, ok. So what's up?"

"What's up, what's up is that you have been trying my patience for the past month and I am already this close to having you expelled."

"Well close didn’t cut it in your last marriage so I'm assuming that it doesn't do it here either. So if you'd be so kind I will take my suspension and be on my way, I'm late for English class and I haven't read any of my sparknotes."

"I swear to God if you weren't in school I'd beat the shit out of that snide mouth of yours, but this pink slip and detention will have to do for today. Now since you obviously didn't hear from atop the school you are to report to the gym at once."

"Why?"

"Something important now move yourself there."

"Of course, whatever you say." He then proceeded to move out of there and just roam the halls.

"Finally she stopped talking God damn just because you're old doesn't mean you get to stop brushing your teeth. Now then, where's my cell phone? Oh great I believe I have left atop the school as the old lady put it. I guess I might as well go and get it not like anyone's going to catch me. Again."

Passed the stairs, through the window up the ladders, and no cell phone. Well if it wasn't there then he had no idea where else to look, there goes a couple hundred dollars, again. It's time to go back again. He looked over the ledge today, He almost never does this, why would he? Today was different though as he peered over the ledge he took notice of security guard who caught him greeting one of her coworkers, but something was off about him. His posture was terrible, he walked like he had a just recovered from a stroke, his skin was a cold pale color and he just kept walking closer. Closer, closer, closer, no response to anything she said. He only got closer, he didn't understand why she hadn't called for help he seemed sick. Though when Alex thinks about it maybe it was better that way. When he finally managed to get to her it was brief but her face definitely lit up in a panic.

He bit her, right on the neck. His jaw stretched out, clamped down and tore off a chunk of her neck. She couldn't utter a sound as she grasped her crimson collar struggling, gasping for air. As the blood poured out of her wound the strength faded from her legs as she collapsed onto the cement. He backed away from the ledge, stunned, shocked, He didn't know what to feel.. As He tried to calm himself, a strange sense of fear took over.,"I just needed to get away from the ledge. Oh my God, what happened, what just happened to her. She's dead. She’s fucking dead. She died right there, right in front of me." Finally starting to get ahold of himself he stopped talking and was grasping for any clue to figure out what happened he turned to the window and just stop half way.

He finally managed to overcome his paralysis and made his way to the window. As he moved his head to the frame He was pulled through the frame by cold hands. Once more he couldn't tell who it was until he managed to hit the floor. He looked up and it was the security guard who caught him the first time. He couldn't help but ask, "the hell is going on?"

This was quickly answered as he saw that he was mistaken and found it was just another fat guard.

"I don't know. We need to get out of here."

"Brilliant, how do we go about that."

"Obviously we need to get to the front door, after which we will proceed to my car and get the hell out of here. Anymore questions?"

"Obviously yes, but lets just go with what we got?"

"Ok, good. Now lets go."

After their genius strategy session, they made their way down the stairs where their hope fell fast and future looked as grim as the face of each and every zombie in the massive horde that appeared to be slowly rising. With the huge crowd of zombies climbing and creeping closer, they decided it best to play it safe, go to the lunchroom and see what could be done from there. Although not empty of zombies it wasn't that bad and any ones that came after them the guard managed to take care of those few unlucky zombies. Luckily she had a gun and this made Alex think that "I needed something to keep myself safe with in case she became one of them. After all she is only human. The thing about it is that I don't like people. I can't trust those who I have seen lie to their best friends and go on through life like its nothing. I've always been quite and in that quietness that's all I've seen. The traitors showing me why Caeser was killed, why Jesus was crucified, and why I will likely be left to fend for myself. This is why I need to get my hands on a knife from the kitchen. Oh damn I think I'm going crazy."

Explaining to her his need to protect himself was easy as its an obvious given that they need ways to protect themselves rather than solely relying one. They approached the lunch counter and right behind it was a group of screaming, mad in the head zombies driven by nothing instinct. The sat around in a circle feasting on the rats that crawled their way. Still more productive than when they were alive if you ask Alex, just uglier. Luckily they didn't move around that much which allowed him to sneak around and grab two knives. Though just to make sure that they were able to give a good cut he slashed the lunch ladies managing to give them a debilitating blow after a series of hits. After all they had it come serving that crap with a straight face and having the nerve to charge two dollars when a prison meal is more nutritious.

It was time to make their way out and He didn't think he going to survive. It really wasn't reassuring when you could tell that your partner was feeling the same way. Despite having not one but two knives Alex couldn't help but feel outclassed by the fact his blimp of a guard had a gun. Simple fact is that bullets run out, but they do a lot more than kitchen knives. This coupled with the fact that they were about to face a tidal wave of zombies did little to cement any hope of survival. Oh well, it's time to charge despite how he felt felt.

It began with a loud bang as they opted to throwing lunch table down the steps, clearing their way with whatever table parts they could take to fight. Bashing their way through as many as necessary to get to the second floor. Where luck was finally found as someone found it best to close the doors and seal them. With the first wave already leaving them breathless, he knew he should have stopped smoking and that Jenny Craig would have definitely been a good option for her. Nonetheless the idea of making it out the front door seems less than likely, so it was decided that a hasty exit through the side door near the basement was the better idea.

After a minute breather it was time to make one more desperate rush down the stairs. The blunt table parts ran their course until they finally snapped. Without the scrap parts it was time to finally use what they had brought from the beginning. Unfortunately the gun was already low on ammunition so Alex shared one of his knives with her. Kicking down zombies before they could bite them, slash at their throats, and stabbing at their very core. They did all they could to keep alive, taking their time, step by step reaching trying with all their might to get free. Hacking their way with dirty kitchen knives and rotten flesh around them, they made it to the first floor. It was just one more flight away.

Thump! On the floor she went as they started to claw at her leg, dragging her down the steps they came to eat. They came with a hunger so primal and pure no amount of stabs and slashes can break through the atmosphere of the need to feed. She grabbed onto his leg and brought him down. Scraping his way to the top of the steps he reached back down to bring her back. She fired her last shots into the crowd desperately trying to get free. But the gun was out and like that she was taken down the steps to a nightmare of dying flesh and ravenous undying hunger. She screamed, that's the only thing he can remember as he ran up the steps. Her screaming followed Alex right to the top. He couldn't take it anymore, right to the window. Crawled his way through it, took all the crap around him put it on there and set it on fire with his lighter.

Alex went up the ladders all the way to the highest point of the schools, far from the screaming and the death that permeated the levels below. He decided to just wait for them to circumvent the fire somehow and come and get him. Until then though he might as well get one last smoke in, while he let the sky envelope me one last time.

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