Keeping me alive - Jonathan Roy

The cafeteria was quiet and dark. Peter and I walked through the tables in a single file. When Peter bumped into a chair, sending it skidding across the floor, I jumped.

"Try not to wake the dead," I said turning to face him.

Peter smirked. "Too late, you're already up."

I rolled my eyes but continued walking. Beyond the tables were the two double doors that led into the hallway. My locker was right next to that door on the other side.

It was odd being inside the school at night. It was dark and quiet, too quiet. Usually, there was always a buzz in the hallways, some new piece of gossip making its way through the student body.

I pushed open the double doors with Peter still at my heels. In front of my locker, I put in my dial code and the door sprung open.

Right there, on top of my chemistry book, was the diary that held some sort of answer. I grabbed it and tucked it into my backpack. Now, all we had to do, was get the hell out of Brookfield and fast.

Peter looked over my shoulder. "Okay, let's get out of here."

That's when I heard the sound of a door opening. I gave Peter a bewildered look, before tapping my lips with my index finger and pointing down the hallway.

Peter nodded his head and moved behind me. All of a second later a figure stepped out from behind the corner. I grabbed onto Peter's jacket and pulled him behind me.

Worst case scenario, it was the police. Really, really bad scenario, it was Biotech. But, I wasn't taking any chances. I shoved Peter into the small space between my locker and the wall.

"Who's there?" The figure shouted in a high pitched voice before lifting a baseball bat. "You're not allowed to be here!"

I squinted my eyes and felt my whole body relax. Then, I let out a huge sigh. It was Shawna, and cowering behind her, was Mia.

Shawna just seemed to be everywhere these days.

"It's just me. I forgot something in my locker," I shouted back.

I felt, more than see, Shawna narrow her eyes. "And you couldn't wait until morning? Same goes, you are not allowed to be here!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "I needed it for homework that's due tomorrow. Not that I actually have to explain myself to you."

The thing about lying is, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. I hardly thought at all about my excuse for being in school. I didn't stutter or doubt myself one bit. That thought alone, should scare me out of my mind but it didn't. The truth is, I had changed.

It was more than being a zombie. Something inside me was different. More volatile than I could have ever imagined.

Shawna turned to face Mia. "Wait here." Then she walked towards me with the bat still dangling by her side.

Peter slinked further into space between my locker and the wall.

"I know you're hiding something, Syd. And I'm going to find out what it is."

I gave a sarcastic laugh. "You? You're going to figure out my secret?" I chuckled and crossed my arms over my chest. "You wouldn't even be able to comprehend it. Stop looking Shawna, or someone is going to get hurt."

Peter moved slightly but the quiet amplified the sound and Shawna narrowed her eyes. "Who is here with you?"

Shawna pushed me away and grabbed for Peter, before pulling him into the light. "I knew it!" Shawna screamed. "You're hiding the asshole that killed Leah's mom!"

"Uh, guys!" Mia screamed from down the hall, "I think we need to leave. It's getting kinda creepy here!"

"Not now, Mia!" Shawna yelled before both of us turned to face her.

My blood ran cold and my body froze. Standing behind Mia was the silhouette of a man. He was a head or two taller than Mia and loomed over her. But it was the glowing red eyes and yellow teeth shining in the dark that sucked the air out of my lungs.

"What the hell is that?" Shawna asked.

I grabbed Shawna's arm and flung her behind me. "Run, Mia!" I screamed.

But it was too late. The creature flung his arm forward and it went straight through Mia's chest. The sound of cracking bones and blood splatter bled into the quiet.

Blood spilled from Mia's lips and when she looked down, the creature pulled it's arm back in one sickening crack.

There was a big gaping hole in Mia's chest and the blood quickly soaked into her clothes. Her lifeless body dropped to the floor revealing the rotten corpse standing behind her. Shawna screamed and dropped the bat but I couldn't move. My whole body was frozen in horror.

The creature stepped forward before its mouth opened unnaturally wide. It let out a garbled wail so loud it could shatter glass before it pushed off from the ground. As the creature ran, I heard the way its bones cracked but it didn't slow down.

I whirled to Peter. "Get Shawna out of here. Now!" I grabbed the bat Shawna dropped and stepped before my friends.

Peter helped Shawna up, before dragging her screaming form into the cafeteria.

I clenched both hands around the bat before resting it on my shoulder and crouching down. The creature was barreling towards me, it's wail cutting into my ears and sending shivers down my spine.

When it was close enough, I swung the bat as hard as I could and it cracked into its shoulder. Shattering the bones and sending the creature skittering across the floor.

The creature jumped back with an outraged cry, it's broken limb dangling uselessly at its side. It crouched down mouth open and screeched. It's red eyes burned with hatred and hunger before it charged again.

I swung the bat again, this time the creature anticipated my move. It's bony hand clamped onto the bat before yanking me closer. Then it sunk those horrid yellow teeth into my shoulder that was way too close to my neck.

I screamed as its teeth ground painfully against my bones. Rage and adrenaline erupted in my chest. I screamed my own inhuman cry of fury. I pulled my leg back and kicked the creature in the gut propelling him against the lockers with a loud crash.

The metal doors burst open, sending paper fluttering to the floor. The creature pushed off from the wreck, swinging its good to arm, it clawed a line right down my cheek. My face burned and I hissed.

Blood flowed from the wound but I didn't care. I brought the bat down, cracking it into his skull. The creature went down on his knees, still viciously singing its clawed hand.

That's when I noticed the collar around his neck, glowing with electric blue light. The device crackled to life before sending blue electric streaks coursing through the creature's already mangled body. His muscles pulled taught around his bones and then he let out another ear-splitting wail.

The smell of burnt flesh smacked my face, causing me to gag. I couldn't take my eyes away from the convulsing form in front of me.

The creature's head exploded, the mangled flesh flying through the air hit me in my chest. I took several steps back as the now-headless body of mangled flesh and bone dropped dead to the ground.

The blue collar around its partial neck was still glowing and sputtering.

I stared at it, unable to comprehend what the hell just happened. Whisps of smoke billowed from the headless corpse, sending a noxious smell into the air.

My eyes caught Mia's motionless form and I rushed over to her. When I turned her around, I had to bite back a scream.

Her lifeless eyes stared openly into the dark. There was nothing there and there was nothing I could do.

Those comfort words that I've been holding onto, the ones that told me to be angry, clamped around my lungs. Mia didn't deserve this, no one deserved this. I thought my hatred for Biotech couldn't get any bigger, but I was wrong. So, very, wrong.

I got up, the coldness that was in my heart spread everywhere, freezing the last remaining bits of my humanity. Walking over to the creature, I kicked it's the body and sent it zooming into the lockers.

Peter and Shawna.

The moment their names flew through my head, I ran for the cafeteria doors. My heart was still running inside my chest, hard enough to shatter the bones, when I burst through the door.

Shawna's head snapped up to me and she screamed before cowering behind Peter. He pulled her into him, shielding her eyes before turning to me. "Syd, your eyes."

I tried to get my heart to slow down its erratic pace. "We have to get out of here. Now."

Shawna looked up, her face streaked with tears. "Wha... what about, M... Mia?"

I bit my lip. "She's gone," a choked sob fell from my lips and I had to clear my throat to continue, "but we have to get out of here, Shawna. Or we could be next."

Shawna gave a strangled cry before nodding her head. Peter had to keep his arm around her as we ran for the truck. After running through the cafeteria and outside the courtyard, it was a mad dash of flailing limbs for the truck.

Peter didn't wait, he immediately stepped on the gas, sending us flying out of the parking lot.

"What the hell was that thing?" Shawna asked in a voice thick with crying.

I leaned my head against the cool glass and closed my eyes. The creature's face still burned behind my closed lids. "It was a zombie."

"A zombie?" Shawna screeched. "Are you hearing yourself? That thing killed Mia!"

I looked over only to see Shawna wide-eyed. "I know." Then I did something I never thought I would, I took Shawna's hand in mine. "And they will pay for that, I promise you."

I saw Shawna fight with her tears before losing to them. She rested her head on my shoulder and cried. I had to blink my own tears away. With the adrenaline fading, I was left with a gut-wrenching loss and a fear that felt like it was crippling me.

Peter had his hands clenched around the steering wheel, his body taught. "Syd, what was that thing around its neck?"

I looked at him. "It's a shock collar. I think they're using it to control them."

Peter slammed both his hands into the steering wheel. "Shit!"

Shawna jumped beside me. "They? Who the hell are 'they'? And there's more of those things!"

Shawna was visibly shaking and Input an arm around her shoulder. "Let's talk about this after we find a safe place, okay?" I asked both of them.

Peter nodded his head and Shawna saged next to me. Then it was quiet.

Peter drove, past the sign that said 'You're leaving Brookfield' all the way to the dingy 'Sunny Motel. There was nothing sunny about it but it was secluded and we would be able to catch our breath.

Shawna had passed out on my shoulder by the time Peter pulled into the decrepit parking lot. Every now and then, she would twitch and whimper before falling back asleep. I suspected, all of us, would have nightmares about this night for the rest of our lives.

Every time I closed my eyes, I could still hear the way Mia's bones cracked as the creature drove his arm through her chest.

"I'll get us a room," I whispered when Peter parked the car.

He looked over before raising a brow. "Syd you're literally covered in zombie guts. I think it's safer if I get us a room."

I nodded and dropped my head on the seat, just as Peter got out of the car.

Shawna pushed up from my shoulder before glancing around. Then she dipped her head as tears streamed down her face. "I thought it was a dream. I really wished it was a dream."

I lost it. The tears I've been battling all day finally spilled from my eyes. I swatted them away. "Yeah, me too."