Chapter 27.

Infected. Damien Reyes.

Time/Area: NYC. 2013. July 14th.

RING RING RING!

That was the signal for lunch.

I waved Ms.Rodriguez goodbye as I entered the hallway, thinking about how strange life was for me as I strolled the practically empty school.

Apparently, many parents didn’t feel comfortable sending their kids to school with all the monster talk in the air. Not that I blamed them; I didn’t really feel like going today, but I’d get to see my friends, so I was trying to stay positive. Trying to ignore how…split my family was right now.

Jason was going to Pre-Calc during lunch for extra help on something, so I was planning to sit with Selina at a random cafeteria table. Right now, she was just finishing up some things back in the spanish room.

Just then, the sound of rapid footsteps came from behind me.

I didn’t even have time to turn around before Selina had twirled in front of me, stuffing Spanish textbooks in her backpack as she did.

“Hey!” She said, grinning.

Today Selina was wearing all blue [no surprise].

A blue Sweater, blue jeans, blue sneakers, and her gold bracelet with blue diamonds.

I smiled as I stopped walking, “Hey!”

“So I was thinking that we could go to the sci club room for lunch?” She queried.

My smile got wider, “Yea, definitely!” I paused, “But uh-why?”

She placed her hands on my shoulders, causing me to blush and look around despite the empty halls,

“I think we should talk...you know...about your sister and stuff.” She stated.

My smile faded as I looked back at her, “No, I don’t really-”

“I know,” She interrupted me, letting go of my shoulders and looking at her shoes, “But I think you should at least talk about your feelings...you know, seeing as there’s an apocalypse going on and like...that’s already a lot to deal with...”

Before I could respond she continued, her face starting to turn red,

“A-and since we are..you know.. It’d be cool if we could share.” She paused, taking a moment to collect herself before burning her eyes into me, “Plus, I’m giving you an opportunity to be mushy!”

I thought about this for a minute, thinking about what we were now.

The thought brought a smile to my face,

“Okay fine.” I conceded, “Let’s go.”

—---

“So. Feelings. Share now.” Selina ordered, taking a seat at a sci-club room table. We were the only ones there, since it was lunch, and it looked like all the materials that had mysteriously vanished had been replaced. We brought our food here, and while that was technically against the rules, nobody else was around to care.

I sat across from her, “Um, Well... uh-”

“Take your time.” Selina laughed, rolling her eyes.

I glared at her, “What do you want me to say?”

She started to drum her fingers on the table, the sound echoing in the silence the vacant science club room brought,

“I don’t know,” She started, “You just seem less happy..”

“That’s because my sister could be dead right now.” I said, hating the words as they left my mouth.

Selina frowned, “Don’t think like that Dami-”

“How could I not?” I cut her off, standing up, “It’s all I can think about!”

Selina stared at me; her fingers had stopped moving.

“S-sorry,” I apologized, sitting back down, “I didn’t mean to jump on you like that.”

She shook her head, grinning like crazy, “Don’t apologize!” She told me, “This is exactly what I wanted! It’s like Doctor Phil!”

This time I rolled my eyes, “You’re welcome?”

Selina shrugged, leaning back in her chair, “ You shouldn’t worry,” She told me, popping one of those artificial potato sticks the cafeteria had the audacity to call ‘french fries’ into her mouth, “This apocalypse thing will be easy peasy, and I’ve even constructed a design that we can build in Mr.Blockly’s class. You’ll love it-”

I looked at her in disbelief, “How are all you guys so calm right now?”

“To be honest,” Selina sat back up, her eyes narrowing, “I think it just hasn’t sunken in yet for me. I guess I’m good at ignoring the bad, you know?”

I nodded, “Lucky. I could really use that talent right about now.”

She looked sad for a minute, but then instantly corrected herself, “Well…I try.” She laughed nervously, glancing up at the club room’s roof in thought.

But Selina’s eyes didn’t have ignorance or forced happiness in them, no, I only saw bitter acceptance.

I frowned, but lost the expression when an idea came to me,

“Hey…” I pulled her out of the daze, now receiving her attention.

“Hm?” Selina raised her eyebrows.

I looked at her cafeteria plate, “Opinions on lunch food?”

Her grin returned, pushing some of the blue strands of her hair out of her eyes as she grabbed another fry,

“Garbage…kind of like popcorn, but the kind of garbage you eat when it’s right in front of you and you just can’t resist..?”

I blinked, “Popcorn? Garbage?!”

Selina let out a laugh; a genuine one this time, the one I had recently learned to stop dismissing as common, “I mean…maybe not garbage but-”

“Garbage popcorn?!” I interrupted, whistling, “Hmmm. This relationship…I don’t know-”

“Oh, shut up!” Selina joked, laughing even harder as she playfully threw a fry in my direction.

It caught me by surprise when I was about to speak, accidentally landing in my mouth.

Then we both lost it, laughing for three minutes straight before the room finally became quiet again.

Selina shook her head with a smile, wiping a tear of laughter out of her eye.

“Thanks… Dami.” She said, still staring at her plate, “And here I thought that I was Doctor Phil.”

I grinned, leaning back in my chair, “Well,” I said, quoting her from earlier, “I try.”

We continued to talk about various topics until the bell rang.

In truth, I did feel better afterwards, or at least my head was a bit clearer. Selina had convinced me that Sarah was okay, and when I got home, maybe I could convince my parents too. Plus, I would be having another sleepover with Jason tonight, which was always fun.

The next period was Shop, and since all four of us would be there, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t the least bit excited.

While me and Selina were walking up the stairs, Jason suddenly came running from behind us, slowly easing into our pace next to me.

“Hey dude,” I greeted, bumping his shoulder with my fist, “Where’s your girlfriend?”

Jason blushed and looked away.

“I’m here!”

I turned to see that Melissa was now walking next to Selina,

“The Zombie Squadron is Assembled!” She yelled, causing the few other kids on the stairs to stare at us.

As we reached the last step, Selina coughed,

“Are they really zombies though?” She wondered aloud, “Like...by definition?”

We started down the hallway, Jason scratching his head as we reached an intersection point,

“Are they walking dead things?”

We all gave a shrug,

“I don’t know..” I started, “Sarah left that part out.”

“Apparently one can use the Force?” Melissa quizzed.

We all gave another shrug as we reached Mr.Blockly’s door.

The door was open and only a couple of kids were in the room. These were kids like us; Only here because either, one, their parents wanted them to feel “comfortable”, or two, they didn’t even believe that the monsters existed.

The first one was the only reason the four of us were here.

“Sit anywhere,” Mr.Blockly ordered, his gruff voice sounding even more grumpy today. I wondered what teachers thought of this whole thing. The actual workstations of the shop class were in a separate classroom, so this room was just used to brief kids on learning targets and presentations.

We all took a seat in the front, much to me and Jason’s disapproval, and faced the eyes of the scariest teacher in the school. Mr.Blockly was given this title based on his buff features, scary muscle mustache, intimidating voice, and the countless stories surrounding this man and a chainsaw.

Don’t ask...because I didn’t.

There were only five other kids in the room, and since the classroom was really big, they all had moved and sat around us.

“Groups attract I guess.” I realized, looking at the five. The only instances when other kids actually wanted to be around me was when I was around Jason, or in Spanish when everyone was asking for my help.

It felt really weird.

“Today,”

We all turned to look at Mr.Blockly, his depressing voice catching our attention,

“We will be making Action Dolls.”

I blinked, not quite expecting that one. It wasn’t uncommon to make stuff like Toys and Dolls in normal shop classes, but since Mr.Blockly was the literal epitome of the word “Boring”, I didn’t think anyone was prepared for this.

Melissa suddenly gasped uncontrollably, causing the entire class [which wasn’t much, but still…] to look at her.

Even Mr.Blockly was confused.

Melissa grabbed Jason’s Shoulder, unaware of her sudden popularity, “THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!” She exclaimed,

“WE NEED WEAPONS FOR THE APOCALYPSE!”

The other kids laughed while Mr.Blockly’s confusion intensified,

“Uhhh, okay…” He continued, “Since there aren't a lot of brats today, I’ll let you choose if you want to work in groups or not. The doll blueprints are in the workroom. Dismissed.”

We all stifled a laugh, finding it more than a little funny that he had not realized what he called us.

He caught us all staring at him,

“Or I could just fail you now. I don’t really care about these stupid monster things…”

We all instantly got up and rushed towards the back door, chuckling as we entered the wood working room.

-

“Let’s go to this one!” Melissa shouted, pointing to a set of Precision grinders in the far corner of the room.

She could have picked any spot really, as over half of them would be empty anyways.

The four of us trotted over to the stations, each of us turning on our respective power buttons while watching the grinders hum to life.

Selina turned away from her station, heading over to a nearby counter where she had placed her backpack.

She returned carrying four... Wooden Sword…. blueprints,

I coughed, “What the flip, Selina-”

“Come one, come all,” She interrupted me, waving the papers in the air as we walked up to her, “Behold my amazing creation!”

We all met her at the counter.

Jason blinked, “Er...Selina, this is uh..”

Jason analyzed the schematic as if it was already a sword, “W-we’ll get in trouble if we build this you know…this still is school.”

Just then, Melissa stepped in, waving off her boyfriend, “Would you rather make dolls?!”

Jason huffed, crossing his arms before standing next to me, “Don’t call them that...they’re toys.”

Selina laughed at this, “They’re literally called dolls...and what’s the difference?”

I backed Jason up, “Um,” I said, “well, Dolls are for uh..-”

“For what?” Melissa and Selina asked simultaneously.

Jason gulped, “Er...Girls.”

Selina’s eyes widened, clearly taken aback, “Oh really, Jason?” She mimicked a deep voice, “I suppose girls only play with doll houses while true men play with manly toys like Fight4Life action figures!”

Jason gasped, “Fight4Life is a complex game filled with..er..depth and stuff!”

Melissa rolled her eyes, “Really,” She coughed, “So much... ‘Depth and Stuff’ right?”

“Guys!” I raised my hand for peace, submitting to Selina and snatching a sword blueprint from her hand “Let’s build the swords already… plus, I doubt Mr.Blockly will notice or care.”

Everyone nodded to this, with the exception of Jason who just shrugged in defeat. He took his Fight4life ‘collectibles’ very seriously.

Once we all had one, we huddled up,

“Oh nice!” Jason exclaimed, pointing to his blueprint, “Mine includes a scabbard!”

Melissa slapped his head, “We all have the same blueprint idiot…. these are really well made by the way, Selina.”

Selina smiled, “Thanks! I designed them yesterday on my laptop,” She averted her gaze towards her work, “Okay, we should split up jobs if we’re going to work together.”

I nodded, checking out the designs in amazement. She did mention how much she loved structure design.

“I can do all the hilts.” I volunteered.

Selina play punched my shoulder, “I’ll do the crossguards.”

Melissa really punched Jason, “You're good whenever we get to make something sharp in this class, so you do the blades.” she ordered.

Jason rubbed his chest, “How did you know that?” He asked.

Melissa blushed, running her hands through her bronze hair, “I-uh, saw you working a lot before we met.”

I whistled.

Jason threw a piece of wood at me.

“Anyways,” I coughed, “That means Melissa gets the Pommels, and we’ll all fashion our own scabbards before we head out.”

Selina outstretched her palm towards the middle of the table, “Ready people?”

We all smiled and put our hands together.

Melissa took a deep breath, causing all of us to retract our arms and cover our ears,

“ZOMBIE SQUADRON ASSEMBLE!” She yelled, taking off back to her station.

Selina rolled her eyes and walked towards her drill.

“Almost as bad as the bus driver.” I thought, shaking the noise out of my head.

I turned to my right to see Jason staring at Melissa.

“Not what you expected?” I laughed, my words pulling him out of his daze.

He looked back at me, “No, not at all,” He replied, “She’s a lot better..”

I cooed at this response, making Jason blush and run off to his station.

I grabbed my blueprint, chuckling as I went to my own spot.

My station was in between Melissa and Jason’s, and was across from Selina’s.

The bench I was using was L-shaped and a pair of goggles sat on its short side.

I snatched the goggles and pulled them on, letting my eyes adjust to the blurry plastic lenses.

Once they had, I grabbed a pair of gloves underneath the bench and slipped those on as well.

Let’s get to work.

-Time Skip-

“Ha!” Jason exclaimed, pointing at my, slightly crooked, blade, “Mine looks better than yours.”

I butted him with the pommel of my sword, “You were the one that made it.”

Jason just shrugged, “Mere semantics my friend.”

Class was dismissed now and we were the only ones still in the work room. Mr.Blockly had no care for children so he didn’t bother telling us to leave.

Nor did he question our new weapons which, although expected, still disturbed me.

“So, should we head to the club room now?” Selina suggested, sheathing her sword in its scabbard and somehow stuffing it into her backpack. We each followed her actions, cramming our new, totally school appropriate, weapons into our bags while walking towards the exit. Mine didn’t fit perfectly, so the pommel stuck out the top of my backpack a little when I slung it on.

“This would be my first time going to a nerd club...” Melissa coughed, causing Jason to wince.

“I-it’s not a nerd club.” Jason protested, shoving his hands in his pockets as we entered the hallway.

The…surprisingly empty… hallway,

“Wow,” I said, causing all of us to stop, “We might be the only ones here..”

Selina coughed, “You better hope not,” She pointed out, her voice bouncing off the silent corridor, “Sci-club might be canceled.”

Melissa faked a frown.

Jason glared at her.

“Well, let’s go check.” I decided, continuing down the hallway, “I didn’t get an email, so it might still be going on.”

It was a little unsettling; walking through what seemed to be an empty school.

It felt like the same kind of eeriness I had experienced while walking to Jason’s house,

“Except…” I thought, looking beside me, “At least I’m not by myself this time.”

Still, every door we walked past had nobody in it, and only a couple of janitors were in the halls. That might be normal some days during after hours, but when I say nobody, I really do mean no one besides cleaners were here. Not that group of kids who vape in the bathroom, not those teachers who stay after, not any other club gathering, no sports teams, nothing. All I could hear was the absent hum of the fluorescent light panels above, the distorted wave of the air conditioning unit next to the counselor’s office, and the splash of a mop being dipped into a bucket of water behind us.,

Once we reached the stairs, Jason sighed.

I turned to him, “Que?”

He waved his hand at another empty door, “If no one’s here, I doubt a...nerd… club would be active.”

Jason ran a hand through his hair, “Cause, you know, me and Damien are probably some of the only people who consistently go there.”

Melissa nodded her head in agreement, “My thoughts exactly- even my Cheer club is probably canceled today.” She paused, “Even though I’m kind of shocked I didn’t get an email about it.”

I echoed Jason’s sigh, realizing that they were probably right,

“Alright then,” I scratched my head, “Once we get down the stairs we can just head straight for the front.”

Selina suddenly laughed, pointing at the stairs in a dramatic fashion,

“Zombie squadron assemble!”

Melissa soon copied her, shooting her hand out with her, “YES!”

I rolled my eyes, “Please, no…”

We all laughed as we began walking down the stairs.

I found the fact that we hadn’t been alerted at all to any after-school cancellations strange, so I took my phone out to check my email. Imagine my surprise when I received the message,

-

Cannot access inbox right now. Please make sure your WiFi is turned on.

-

“No reception?” I wondered, “Weird.”

Halfway down the stairs, a sound suddenly struck our ears from above, causing me to put my phone away.

ZtzZt!

Selina Froze, “Um… Guys?”

She was looking up; we mirrored her.

The stair lights had begun flickering.

I frowned, “That’s we-”

ZTTZ POP!

BANG!

We all yelped as the light popped, glass falling down the stairway as a sudden boom blasted through the entire stairway.

My ears began ringing violently as I felt the crash of many more waves of glass vibrate through my shoes from across the school, whatever tangible force that had suddenly entered the air making my hair stand in an instant. We had all dropped onto our knees to avoid the shards of glass and, as my hearing returned,

I noticed the desperate look of fear plagued on my friends’ now darkened face. The only light source was stemming from a stair window behind us as every artificial source seemed to be broken.

We all looked at each other, sunlight bouncing off of each other's eyes.

All of our hair seemed to elevate, and that…feeling in the air wasn’t gone.

It was hard to describe what it felt like… It was almost as if there was some sort of electricity in the school, and the tingling sensation ran all over us.

I no longer heard the janitors.

Before I could speak, Selina groaned.

We all looked at her- she held up her arm.

My eyes widened at the sight of a wound.

Three glass shards had buried in her elbow, and a disgusting amount of blood was erupting from the break.

“I-is it bad?” She whispered, pain evident in her expression.

I slowly nodded, “We should check the nurse’s office.”

“Yo what the flip was that!?” Melissa shouted.

We all turned to her,

“SHHH!” We said in unison.

She cocked her head, “Wait, why?”

I honestly didn’t have an answer for her, but something about a quiet school in complete darkness made me a bit on edge.

“RINGINGGAAAAARGH!” A voice screeched from somewhere below. The sound resonated more than any light shattered onto the school tile, and it seemed to intensify the static around us.

There was no denying it this time. I didn’t need to have heard one before to know it was there. That was no human.

I turned to Jason, “That’s a-”

“Monster.” Jason finished, sweat now dripping down his neck.

Melissa’s eyes widened, her voice going into a whisper,

“We have to get out of here, now.” she said, pulling out her sword from her backpack.

Selina groaned again, “Ha…this really hurts now.” She breathed, using her uninjured arm to catch blood falling from her wound.

I winced in sympathy, my heart beating too fast for my liking, “L-let’s just go. We can g-get Selina help once we’re out.”

We all slowly and quietly began our descent once more, the tension thickening by the second as we reached the bottom of the stairwell.

Glass from broken light fixtures littered the language hall and a foreign smell had filled our nostrils. What was that smell?

It smelled almost like…burning meat?

We all ignored it as we looked ahead.

The language hall had its own exit door the school used for fires; and it was only a couple of meters away.

“Let’s run for it!” Melissa whispered, her confident words not quite matching her nervous tone. She was grabbing her sword with a death grip. I didn’t have mine out because, well, what would they do?

Before I could respond, another shriek pierced the air,

“ARWAHAAGHHHHH!”

I couldn’t keep my body from jumping, my breath becoming short as the weight of the situation was clarified by yet another wave of static.

“Th-that sounded way too close.” I practically whispered.

Just then, my back started to flare with pain,

“Agh!” I groaned, falling to my knees while my adrenaline soared.

Jason quickly pulled me up and, shouldering my arm around him, looked me in the eye with a terrified expression,

“This is no place for your superpowers!” He hissed, glancing around the locker lined space.

Melissa coughed, “What?”

Selina sighed, “Arm..bleeding...monster..present?”

Despite my pain, I spoke,

“R-right,” I struggled, “Guys, let’s just run for the-”

“RINGER!! THERE YOU AREHWARGH!”

We all swung our heads back forwards, contemplating the…horror that was now blocking the door along with any light from it.

My heart nearly jumped out of my throat.

The monster.

Its pale white body was covered in burns, and tears in flesh proved to be common across every inch of it. It’s muscles were one of the scariest sights about it, as they were, literally, bulging from the skin. It was like they were growing too big for its skin to expand to, from the quadriceps to the shoulders. Its head was bald with black stains littered across the top of the otherwise colorless skin, almost like any hair had been burned off by heat. Its mouth was wide open; so much so that its cheek tissue was torn and some kind of black substance leaked from the wound.

Just above that laid the eyes. Oh gosh, the eyes.

They glowed with an intimidating red, that seemingly invisible field of static orbiting the school discarding its title around this beast as the area around it sparked and crackled with crimson bolts of electricity. The same crimson was repeated on whatever blade seemed to be replacing the creature’s right arm. You heard me right; a blade.

It was like the entire limb was…inverted, bones lacing crusted and hardened flesh that converged at a point in a burning red blaze.

It also seemed to be twelve feet tall.

“AHHH!” Melissa Screamed, wildly swinging her sword in front of her even though the monster wasn’t here yet.

“MONSTER!” Jason shouted.

“Did that thing just speak english?” Selina quizzed, growing more dizzy by the minute, “And it's g-glowing!”

“I-I think so.” I replied, my back still burning uncontrollably as I looked towards the front. I was in too much pain to run, and I would only slow everyone down.

Why did this have to happen now!?

“Everyone go for the door!” I managed to yell through gritted teeth. I truly felt like I was about to die from pain. Jason was having trouble standing me up as I was forced to lean more of my weight onto him.

The monster released another roar, backing up as if to charge,

“Nonono..” I took a deep breath, “Guys, it’s coming!!!”

When no one started moving, I lost it,

“GET OUT NOW!” I gritted my teeth.

Selina shook her head, “And leave you?!”

I looked at Melissa, giving her a pleading look.

Melissa nodded and took a deep breath, snatching Selina’s arm and taking off down the hallway.

Selina yelled after me, but the pain was making it hard to hear.

The monster was about to pounce; you could tell from its aggravated bent stance.

Jason was still here,

“Forget it!” He yelled, desperation coating his voice in a hoarse shout as he read my mind. The sound of the monster growls and pops of electricity were getting louder by the second.

I struggled to keep my vision stable,

“You’ll get KILLED if you stay here!” I tried again.

Jason’s voice dropped, “So will you.”

“STOPRIIINGINGAAAARGH!”

The monster moved so quickly, I barely caught a glimpse of it’s arm spike before I realized what was happening.

“NO!” I reacted on instinct, shoving Jason into a nearby locker as the monster’s blade struck where he was standing.

Right where I was standing.

It moved…so fast.

My eyes widened as I turned my head to face the monster, the rest of my body frozen still.

It’s face was an inch apart from mine, its mouth hung open in something that looked like regret.

What happened?

I couldn’t make a noise for some reason.

I felt blood roll down my lips.

I looked down, shock flooding my brain as I stared at the bulging red spike embedded into my stomach. I could feel the sharp end jutting out the other side of me.

C-crap.

“DAMIEN!” I heard Jason and Selina yell from the lockers. My vision blurred completely as the monster roared into my ears, my ability to breathe now robbed from me along with any sense of stability.

“NO..GETOFF! STOPRINGINGARRRRGH!”

I screamed in agony as the monster raised its arm, taking my now limp body with it as I felt my insides gushing around the foreign limb in my stomach.

It lifted me until I was practically touching the roof, my mouth unable to close as it became a geyser for blood.

M-my…blood.

The flashes of red bursting around my eyes seemed to intensify until an unspoken limit appeared to be reached, all light dissipating into…me.

For a brief moment, I thought I saw relief on the monster’s face as a void formed around me, a painful darkness settling upon my soul as I experienced the one thing no one alive could truly describe.

Death

I was…dying, I was sure of it. I had to be…it was on-only fair. The pain was too much.

Right when I thought I was about to slip for good though, the darkness suddenly vanished… along with the monster’s relieved expression.

I felt a different sense. A sense of control over what was happening. My back was burning hotter than it ever had before, but for once, It didn’t feel like a bad thing.

Suddenly, with another roar from the monster, that same feeling of death and void once again plagued my mind, causing my body to involuntarily release another guttural cry of pain.

“CANNOT LET ARAAGH!”

It was like the darkness was intertwining itself into my body, Random things filling my brain while it did; These things not taking place, but adding to the pain. Ideas and people that I didn’t even know of racked my every thought as my vision seemed to shift planes.

Whatwashappening.

It was like I was looking through another person’s eyes.

I saw a Synth lab.

A shining sphere?

The Bronx?

My parents.

They looked terrified.

Then I saw nothing, and noises started to ring through my ears.

I heard a sickening sound of something getting crushed, followed by my mother’s scream as my parents came into view once more.

Now they looked like nothing at all; Like a light had gone off in their heads.

Both of them were lying on a carpet, completely motionless with fire all around them. I felt like…laughing?

Why…why would I feel like that? These were my parents…? These were your parents. MINE!

Their eyes were blank.

Wait…were they..

“No. NO! NO!”

Suddenly, all the thoughts, visions, and feelings went away.

I could feel myself returning to my own self.

I still felt.. whatever.. that was, but It was like I could shove it away.

I could choose to ignore it, despite the strange urge to not do so.

My back was on fire, and not just from the spike stabbed through it.

I could ignore that urge to laugh. The urge to make everything else dreadful…fearful.

I gasped as my vision suddenly became clear. I could hear Jason yelling, I could hear Melissa and Selina running, and I could see the creature in front of me.

I was still burrowed into the monster’s spike, but it looked like it was the one who seemed terrified of me- No longer the other way around.

The burning sensation in my back disappeared and the pain from being stabbed had mysteriously subsided.

Suddenly, the monster fell on its knees, causing me to slide off of the shard of flesh and onto the tile floor, my rolling body leaving a trail of red as I skidded to a stop against a locker.

A pool of blood immediately began to form as the pain returned.

“Wha-t’s in Ringing boy?”

A voice said.

But I wasn’t sure if the words were spoken by the monster… Or me.

The last thing I heard was the sound of sirens.