Young Writers Society

Aaron Marshall

Aaron smiled as Asklova agreed to go with them. She stood and picked up the chainsaw, earning a questioning look from Aaron. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"This saw is powerful thing," she said. "Could be of use in the middle of...What are they in English?"

"Zombies?" Charlie offered.

"Yes, Zombies."

Aaron shrugged. She wasn't wrong. If they were cornered enough that they had to use it then the noise would be a minor issue at that point. Heading back up the stairs he introduced Asklova to the rest of the group.

He didn't like how Daniel was already trying to isolate someone who was already feeling isolated enough. Different country. Different language. "How can I trust any of you when you were planning on locking the roof of the door on me?"

There was a deafening silence as Aaron gave the Daniel a look. "Let's get going. I don't want to try to find my way back to the school in the dark." Going to the door on the opposite side that they had come in from, he could see that the road was mostly clear. holding a finger to his lips he motioned for people to start following him out.

Seeing the large building in the distance, Aaron hurried his steps as they made their way into the parking lot. He felt a hand grab his arm and pull him to a stop. Looking over his shoulder he saw Asklova had pulled him to a stop and pointed to the store.

The gate had been pulled down and a small crowd of the dead were now shambling in front of it. Aaron sighed as he looked it over. The gate didn't look locked, just pulled down. Looking over to one of the many cars, an impish grin spread on his face. "Always wanted to do this," he said as he picked up a rock and threw it as hard and far as he could. The rock sail through the air and broke through a window.....setting off the car alarm.

The zombies were drawn to the car like moths to a flame. Clearing the door he rushed over to the gate and slowly lifted it up, the muscles in his arms straining as he lifted it up. "Hurry! Go under!" he hissed in effort.

Sanda Ambrosi

After Sanda had watched the group leave with a forced smile, she reopened her laptop and began surfing the internet. The phrase “How to survive a Zombie Apocalypse” was absolutely useless. All the articles about Zombies seemed to have been written by fans of shows or simply as a joke. She needed to find a different way to get herself out of this awful situation.

Yet she could not come up with anything useful, her thoughts moved around her brain in slow motion, as if oozing through syrup. If only she could find a way to get a helicopter, that was quite impossible of course. But the only place she would feel safe right now was above the clouds, maybe on Mars…
She was snapped back to reality by a hiss that echoed around the roof.

“Get away from me.”

It was a girl. The serious looking one with beautiful facial features. Sanda had noticed her before.
She was talking to Mr. Jameson, the teacher Sanda had never been able to decide on whatever he was a nice, sympathetic teacher or a slimy creep.
She watched the exchange closely. So were most other students on the roof.

At the words: “These people are not my peers”, Sanda felt a twinge of offense.

That was a heartless thing to say, also if it was true.
They spoke some more. Santa could feel the tension rise between them.
Then it broke and the girl was off, storming out of the door leading off the roof.

She left a chilly silence behind. Sanda shifted uncomfortably, suddenly noticing how cold and hard the floor was. Everyones shiny, horrified faces turned to Jameson. He looked bitter. Santa noticed his chaw was quivering slightly.
Oh no.
That icy girl should not have left like that. What a selfish thing to do. Running off and leaving them to deal with Jameson. He turned to the students, all huddled together. All with their own fears and worries. All hoping for someone to handle the situation.

Jameson curled his moist lips into a smile. His eyes were reassuring, his posture calm and confident. Yet those lips brought a shudder down Sanda's spine.

“Don’t be discouraged. Not everyone is strong enough to handle responsibility.”
He pronounced each syllable with delicate care as if his words had a second meaning.
He clapped his hands together with a loud snap that made a few people jump.

“So, until the others return how about we come a little closer, get to know each other.”
He slipped his hand into the girl closest to him and began pulling her to towards himself. The girl kept her face stony, her eyes glazed over.
Jameson smiled. This time the smile seemed honest.

Sanda gulped. Suddenly the thought of fighting Zombies did not seem so terrible anymore.
Hopefully, the others returned soon.

Charlotte Hawker

Charlotte looked at the syperstore, she went there every week with her parents. It looked different now. The gate was down, but a metal ash tray was beneath it, stopping the gate from closing completely. There were cars in the parking bays, but no one in sight. The store lights were still on, but there was no advertising on the radio. There was no sound coming from the store at all. It had been closed in a hurry, she figured, probably as soon as the outbreak had started.

Someone threw a rock at a car window , shattering it and setting off alarm. Clever. As zombies came out of hiding from behind cars and off the ground, they flocked to the car. Away from their group.

"Get inside," she heard someone say and looked to the gate. Aaron was under it, holding it up. He looked like Atlas holding up the earth, his muscles were bulging, he was that strong.

She brought herself back to the present and ran into the store, going straight to the safety mechanism on the wall by the gate. She pulled down a lever, and the mechanism clicked into place. The bolts held the gate up in place.

"You can let go now, Aaron." She watched as the others came through. Charlie held her hand on the lever, ready to drop the gate again so the monsters could not follow.

But they were the least of their problems. There were three cashiers huddled behind the counter, looking scared and possibly dangerous. They stared at the group of students, quite possible in shock.

"Umm, guys..." Charlie said.

Three scared cashiers stared at us as if we were ghosts. Their bodies were shaking, crunched down on the floor, and whispering frantically to each other.
“Umm, guys...” Charlie said.
“Are they scared of us?” Aurora asked.
“What do you want?”, one of the cashiers shouted. She was maybe forty years old, with big brown eyes and mid-life-crises-pink strikes in her hair.
“We want to rob you”, I shouted back.
“Thomas!”, Charlie said, with a worried and quiet hiss.
“What? It's true. Just because we are in the apocalypse doesn't mean I am going to loose my morals!”, I said, rubbing the back of my head.
“We won't hurt you”, Aaron said.
“But you will rob us?”, a bulky man said. He was in his late twenties, with thick eye liner and a I-love-the-Rock shirt.
“Not rob...more like borrow?” Asklova said stepping forward a bit.
“Borrow? This is a superstore! Not a library!” the last cashier screamed. She was a thirty five year old with huge glasses and red lipstick everywhere except her lips.
“This is the apocalypse. We need food or we might die. There are more people waiting for it back at the school”, Charlie said, trying to sound reasonable. Well, as reasonable as you can be when you say the words “apocalypse” and “die”. Oddly enough, she was probably making an understatement.
“Look kids, why don't you go to another store? We need this food too”, mid-life-crises-pink said.
“What are you going to do? Live here for the rest of the Apocalypse? Most of the food here will go bad. And you can't eat it all.” I said.
Charlie slapped my neck.
“Auuu”, I complained.
“Stop being mean”, she said.
“I am not being mean! I am pointing out valid facts!”, I said.
“We just need a few supplies. There is more than enough for all of us”, Aaron said. Charlie nodded along. Of course! When the muscular guy says it—he's a hero! When I say it I get an extra hump on my neck!
“What do you guys think?” Charlie asked the cashiers.

"What do you guys think?" Charlie asked.

They seemed conflicted still, so Aaron went in for the kill.

"Listen, we aren't asking for everything we have. We would never do that. But we have a lot of really scared kids back at the school with no food and no means of protecting themselves. We just want enough supplies that can be rationed for a few weeks until help arrives."

The woman with pink hair let her shoulders drop. He knew that he had gotten through to one of them. "What do you need?" she asked.

"Food, anything that will keep. If we are able then some blankets and a couple of weapons," Aaron said.

"The food is easy. But the other things are in the camping section," the man with the rock shirt said. "That will be more difficult."

"Why is that?" Charlie asked.

"The automotive section is over there too," he replied. "They seem to stick around the radios but the garage is open and more of those things work their way in."

"Radios," Aurora said. "Drawn to the noise."

Aaron nodded. "Alright...I'm going for the weapons. Machetes and things, tents and some blankets. I should find some good hunting packs there too." Walking to a shopping cart he pushed it back and forth before hearing a squeak and getting another one before finding one that was quiet. "Someone needs to look for carts that don't squeak and start gathering food."

"I go with you," Asklova said getting another cart.

"Same," Daniel said.

"Alright. Charlie can you get the food? We should only stick around for a few more minutes," Aaron asked.

"Yeah I got it," Charlie agreed.

Aaron nodded as he started leading the other two toward the hunting section. The farther back they went the darker it got. The only lights coming from the periodic skylight in the roof. Moving slower he could see the shambling forms gathering around one of the radio displays playing ACDC. He moved into the aisle and pointed Daniel to the tents and blankets, and Asklova to the packs. Those aisles were further from the dead.

Aaron slowly moved forward to not draw attention and hurried into the aisle. He silently cursed as he noted that the pegs holding the knives and machetes had locks on them. Looking around, he saw a body holding a knife and dressed in the same vest as the cashiers. He slowly moved forward and pulled the knife away. His heart hammering in his chest as he saw the key for the peg locks. Closer and closer he took his hand, before grabbing it and ripping it away. He took a few steps back expecting the corpse to come to life.

As he turned around he jumped as one of the wandering bodies had come into the aisle. His hand flew up and impaled the corpse through the temple. Making the body drop on him in the aisle.

Rolling the body off he felt like he was going to hurl. Forcing it down he moved for the knife and started to pull it. The wet sucking sound that it made gave Aaron dry heaves and he decided to leave it. He quickly began unlocking the weapons and dumping them into the cart before heading back. Asklova and Daniel had filled their carts and two packs with tents, lanterns, blankets, and flares. Aaron nodded as they headed to the front.

Aaron stopped off and grabbed a t-shirt to wear and a hoodie so that he didn't feel so exposed.

At the front, Aaron leaned against a register to calm his nerves. "Everything alright?" Asklova asked him in that thick Russian accent.

"Just a close call. I'm fine," he answered.

"We got the food. Everyone has a cart and bag," Charlie said walking over.

"I lubed up the wheels so you shouldn't have any squeaks," rock star said holding up a can of WD-40.

"You guys can come with us," Meredith offered.

"I think we'll take our chances here," Pink-hair answered.

"Then listen close. They are drawn to sound. The quieter you are the better," Aaron told them as he grabbed a few knives and machetes from the cart. Cutting the packaging open he put two of them on his waist handed a knife to the rest of his group and left four knives and two machetes for the clerks. "I hope you guys make it out of this."

"You too. Be careful."

"Alright....we ready?" Aaron asked grabbing the cart of weapons and a pack of food.

Asklova
As Aaron and the rest of the group packed up their stuff, she thought about how easily Aaron had taken out that zombie. Are they all easy to kill? she wondered. If so, she would have no problem with any of them. Asklova grabbed a backpack, a black one with a logo of a skull and crossbones. She stuffed some supplies in the bag, then hefted it onto her back.

"Aren't you going to take more?" Aaron asked her, eyeing her bag uncertainly. Asklova shook her head.

"No," she said, "I will be slow down with things. I prefer not a lot." Aaron still looked dubious but he didn't push her further. The group exited the store and started to jog down the street.

"Are we going back to the school?" asked Daniel.

"Yes," answered Aaron, "Most of our group is back there."

"Where will we go after that?" inquired Charlie. Daniel gave her a quick glance then turned his attention back to where he was going.

"Probably somewhere else," he said, "We can't stay on the rooftop of the school forever." Asklova kept up with them, her mind a mixture of different languages. There was split English and Russian throughout, none of which made any sense. She was looking for a word, a specific word.

"What is word for safe place? A hide in?"

"Out," responded Charlie.

"It's called an 'out'?"

"No," Charlie clarified, "A 'hide-out'. And we're trying to decide on one."

"Oh." Asklova went through her mind and suddenly remembered something.

"I know place," she said, "We go back to school top, get rest of people, then I lead you to this, ah, 'hide out' I know." She looked up at Aaron.

"Unless you have different place?" Aaron considered.

"Let's try and make it to the school first." Asklova nodded and they continued their expedition. Soon, they were back at the school and the rest of the students were still there and still alive. The creepy teacher was trying to talk to one of the girls and she was obviously disgusted with his intentions. That made Asklova angry for some reason and she marched forward.

"Please leave me alone," said the girl. She didn't sound like one of those silly 'damsel in distress' girls but rather a bomb, whose timee was running short. The creepy teacher smiled in an oozing way that just made Asklova want to vomit.

"Hey!" she said sharply. The teacher turned away from the girl and focused on Asklova.

"Looks like you want to join our friendly conversation?" he said and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He'd backed her against a wall and was really close. She tried to resist, but he had her in a very, very uncomfortable position. Her arms were pinned behind her in a way she couldn't move them.

"Such a pretty face," he cooed, "And your head and hair; gorgeous." He put a hand to her face and Asklova erupted. She swung her leg, knocking the teacher off balance. He tried to get up again but she put her food on his chest.

"Touch me again and my boot will be so far up your ass that dentist will pick toenail out from teeth," she snarled and got off of him and headed towards the girl.

"What is creep man's name?" she asked her.

Charlie

Charlie smiled as Asklova sped up, passing the trolley she was pushing. Charlie had filled it with light but energy-packed foods like museli, oat bars, sugary cereal and sweets. Though not overly nutritious, she didn't want to be pushing around a cans of beans and vegetables, not when there were zombies in every direction she looked. Energy was their main concern anyway, not long-term health.

"She's so agile," Charlie thought aloud as Aslova skipped over a pile of bricks and disappeared the corner.

"Yeah..." Aaron held out his hand, possibly about to call Asklova back to the group. He knew better than to make any sound. "I worry she'll get herself killed though, running off by herself."

"Maybe she moves better by herself..."

Behind her, something crashed into a trash can. It was too loud. Charlie stopped in her tracks, white knuckles gripping the trolley. She heard curses and turned around to see Auroura and Abigail fussing over someone on the ground. It was Daniel. His trolley was tipped over, its contents mixed with bags of rubbish.

"Get up!" Aaron hissed.

Tom pulled on the shoulder straps of his bag, tightening them, and then gripped onto Daniel. Some of the others went to aid him and pick up the lost supplies.

Dammit, dammit, dammit, Charlie thought. She heard a groan. It was quiet at first, then louder moans and scraping sounds echoed through her ears. She left her trolley for a moment, running to Kurieitā who was picking up Daniel's supplies.

"Just leave it," Charlie urged her, "it'll slow you down."

"I'm fast," Kurieitā said.

Aaron, Izzy and Meredith had grabbed some weapons and rushed past Charlie to where the others were fussing over Daniel.

"He's broken his leg!" Abigail panicked.

"I can't move..." Daniel whined. He was clutching his calf, tears running down his cheeks. Charlie's eyes widened; a couple of figures were emerging from the shadows behind him. Aaron stepped over Daniel, acting as a guard,

"We've gotta move him!" He shouted through clenched teeth. The dogs also had their fangs clenched, they were snarling at the approaching zombies. Everyone could hear the moans now, everyone could see them... and no doubt the noise and action would be attracting even more of the deadly creatures.

Charlie pulled the knife she'd collected from her pocket and stepped towards the group. She heard a rustle as Kurieitā stufedf one last packet of chips into her bag, then ran. Charlie wondered if running would be best. Duh, of course it was, they had to get away! But Daniel couldn't run...

"Can we get him in a trolley?" She piped up.

"Charlie!" Thomas zoomed past her, pushing his own trolley of supplies. "We need this stuff! Help me get it away from here!" Thomas was right. Without those supplies, they were right back at square one.

"Get him in the trolley." Aaron ordered. Charlie was relieved he'd listened, that was their best chance of getting everyone out alive. Tom, with the help of a friend, heaved up the trolley, emptying its contents.

Izzy screamed, she'd been preoccupied with one pair of monsters and hadn't noticed another creep up behind her. Luckily, Meredith slashed at the zombie, giving her time to maintain her posture. But all hell broke loose then.

A horde of at least ten zombies appeared out of nowhere, sending everyone into a mass panic.

"Just grab what you can and get the hell out of here!" Aaron shouted. There was no way they could take them all, they had to just run. Get away.

Charlie felt her breathing get heavy, her feet started twitching. She wanted to get away. Daniel was being helped into the trolley, he'd be ready any second. And the others seemed to be able to hold their own. She could go, and wanted to, but at the same time she just wanted to get the heck away. Back to the safety of the roof.

"C'mon, Charlie!" Thomas urged. "We gotta go!" She made up her mind then, to run. She gripped her trolley, their cornucopia of food, and sprinted in the direction Asklova had gone. Behind her, she could hear a cacophony of moans, shouts, running feet, trolley wheels, clanking weapons, and screams. The sounds swirled through her mind like a tornado. Her vision got blurry, her hands went cold.

"Get a grip of yourself," she mumbled and pushed herself further, focussing on following Thomas and hoping to God that everyone would be alright.

Aaron gave a grunt as he loaded Daniel into the cart. He gave another slash at a zombie, dropping it, as he braced the cart and began pushing The massing zombies forced him into the street where he swerved around cars and bodies.

Panting he knew that his time was limited. The zombies were already following the rattling of the cart as Aaron hurried through the masses. "Aaron! Aaron stop!" Daniel was crying, yelping each time his broke leg bashed against the cart when Aaron turned.

Aaron made a wrong turn and was now stuck behind a pile up of cars and a horde at his back. Aaron grabbed Daniel by the shirt trying to lift him out. "Come one damn it!" Aaron growled.

Daniel was fighting him. He was actually fighting him. Aaron didn't notice the zombie so close and then there was the loud bang and the ringing in his ears. Aaron looked at Daniel in shock as he held a nine millimeter pistol and had put two in the zombie's forehead. Daniel grabbed Aaron's shirt. "Go! I'm dead anyway!"

"What are you talking about? Where did you get a gun?"

Daniel lifted his shirt and showed a bite mark. "There was a police man in the ten isle. I got his gun, he came to life and I killed him. When he fell he bit me." He fired another couple rounds holding them off. "You need to go. I'm already dead. Just go."

"I'm not leaving you like this!"

Daniel suddenly put the gun in Aaron's face. "Go or I will shoot you myself!" Aaron paused trying to think of another way. Daniel shoved him back toppling the cart over. "GO!" he roared firing wildly at the horde.

Aaron stood conflicted for a moment before he climbed the mass of metal and cars. He forced down the tears as he heard the screams. The agony as Daniel was torn apart by the horde and eaten. He had to get moving. With the zombies now going after Daniel's screams he hurried to his cart and started pushing Trying his best to keep from breaking down.

With everyone safe at the school Aaron helped load things in packs for people to run up and empty before coming down to restock. With everything on the roof, Aaron made his way up passed the moaning in the windows of the school to the roof. He threw the machetes at his side and dropped to his butt trembling. He was trying to contain it. The anger. The shame. The guilt. He could feel tears running down his cheeks.

Hearing someone behind him he looked back to see Charlie standing there. "Do me a favor," he said in a hollow voice before looking out to the sunset. "If I get bitten and start turning into one of those....things....make it quick. I don't want my mom to see her son as a walking corpse."

"We must all work together here," Jameson said as he caressed the cheek of one of the female students. "Surely a little comfort isn't such a bad thing."

In the time that the group was gone, Jameson has established himself as head of the school. It could easily be seen with the enamored gazes that were focused on him completely. Almost like he were the savior of mankind. As if a new religion were being born.

The students were grouped together, a few of them revealing much more skin then they had previously and hanging off of one another as if they were lovers.

"Please leave me alone," the girl in front of him said through grinding teeth.

"Hey!" a voice called, alerting Jameson to the return of the group.

"Looks like you want to join our friendly conversation," he said slipping his hand over her shoulders, his fingers slithering across the muscles there. Maneuvering her toward the wall his smile cracked across his smooth features. "Such a pretty face," he said wetting his lips and imagining the things he could do to her. "And your hair; gorgeous."

Cupping her cheek he leaned in a little and before he knew it...he was on the ground staring up at the sky. Her foot on his chest as she kept him down.

"Touch me again and my boot will be so far up your ass that dentist will pick toenail out from teeth," she snarled before leaving to talk to the girl.

Jameson already had students clamoring around him as he sat up.

See will be fun to break, he thought to himself.

He waved off the worried inquires of the students. He could see the rest of the group making their way up...but one short. And from Aaron's outburst, he could guess that they had lost one. But there was food, shelter, and weapons now. With the followers he had, it would take no time at all to remove the more troublesome of them from his hair.

THOMAS


Thomas sat on the roof. In a way that just seemed wrong, today was a beautiful day. The sky was ocean blue without a cloud for miles. The sun glowing up everyone's faces.
People had died. Friends of mine had died. Maybe all over the world. I looked over to Aaron. His head somewhere else. He reminded me of a greek statue—beauty and elegance, but also cold and hard. Something wrong happened to him. I remembered the scars on his body. He had the body of a footballer.

Aaron was handsome, big and got all the girls. He was the exact opposite of me. He was exactly what my dad dreamed I was. Would my dad still be alive? I could imagine him at home drunk. Would he of even realized all of this happened? Flashes of him holding a bat shakily came to mind. The zombies killing him followed. I could not see him dead. I could not be the poor kid who saw both his parents dead body.

But...what if he was still alive?

He wasn't. He couldn't be. I should just drop it.

“What's the plan now?”, I glanced over to Mr. Jameson. He was my teacher last year. I did not hate him like the rest of the school seemed to. I just knew there was something a little off about him, but then again, right now, who didn't have something off about them?

“I need to find my mother”, over at the side of the building stood Aaron. He looked nonchalantly at the rest of the group.

“Nobody is separating!”, Mr. Jameson said at once.

“Loads of people already have!”, Abigail pointed out.

“Yeah! Besides I need to go find my brother”, Meredith said. They all sounded so sure that their families were all still alive. Couldn't they face the truth?

“Where would you even go?”, Mr. Jameson said. He recomposed himself back into cool and slick.

“We would go find them!” Izzy said. She stood closer to Abigail now.

“They are all dead, y'know?” I said. I didn't mean to say it so harshly. So cold. I didn't want to be morbid.

“You don't know that!”, Rory (Aurora) said.

“This is the Apocalypse! Why would they make it?”, I asked.

“Why did we make it?”, Charlie asked me. I was quiet. She was right. Why did we make it? And how long before we all turned into one of those.

“We need more supplies. We didn't get half the supplies we needed”, Tom said. I looked over to him. His serious eyes galnced at everyone. His dogs at his side. The sunlight shining through his hair. Could he try to look at least a bit less like an angel? I was trying to be morbid.
“It's going to get dark soon. Maybe we should stay. At least for tonight”, Ursus said. That was the first time I had heard him spoke.
“The more time we wait the more zombies surround the school”, Aaron pointed out.
“The more dead people surround the school you mean”, Sanda said. She had crossed her arms and stood as far away as she could.
“Look! This isn't a debate. I'm going. That's it”, Aaron said.
“Well I want to come with”, Meredith said.
“You aren't coming with”, Aaron shook his head in disbelief.
“Fine, then we will all just walk in the exact same way but not together, how does that sound?”, Meredith scoffed. For such a small girl she was feisty. Well, that's the apocalypse for ya. Makes brooding bad boys leaders, Nerds into morbid poets and petit red heads into girls with attitudes.
“Aaron, are you aware you are tearing us apart?”, Mr. Jameson said.
“I am not tearing anyone apart! I just need to find my mother! That's all I need to do, okay?” he shouted, standing up and moving around.
“Look! Take me with you! Whoever needs to find family should come. It's less likely we will die if we do”, Charlie said.
“How do you know your parents won't come here? Isn't it better if you stay?”, Mr. Jameson reasoned.

Aaron Marshall

Aaron sighed as Charlie knelt beside him. "It wasn't your fault," she said trying to make him feel better. "There's nothing that we can do about it now."

Aaron nodded slowly as he brushed the tears away, streaks of tear rinsed skin peeking from the dirt on his face. "Promise me," he said again with even more force. Charlie slowly nodded in response before getting up and began organizing the food from the tents and blankets.

Sighing Aaron stood up and was moving to help before he suddenly stumbled, a pain shooting through the inside of his leg. He braced against an air conditioner and touched at his leg.

It felt sticky.

Bringing his hand up he let out an annoyed, "Fuck." His fingers were painted crimson from a wound.

I wasn't bit so what could have...

Aaron released a sigh. "The cars," he muttered to himself. Several of the cars had glass and pieces of metal sticking out. He must have cut himself when he was climbing over them.

"Is that blood?" a voice asked. Looking up he recognized Izzy from the group that had run out there with him. He gave a nod as he stood up a little straighter and tried to hid the slight limp that he now had. "You should let me look at it. I can help bandage you."

"I'm fine," Aaron said trying to brush passed her before she put a forceful hand on his chest.

"Either let me help or I'll have the others pin you down. Take your pick." Aaron gave her a glare before he nodded in agreement. Izzy knelt down as Aaron leaned back against the air conditioning unit. "It's on your inner thigh," she said as she found the cut in the sweat pants. "Oh geeze. You've got a nasty cut here. It's gonna need stitches."

"How can you know that? You a surgeon or something?" Aaron snarked.

"My father is and I'm studying to be one. So if you're done bad mouthing go find a place for some privacy."

"Why?"

"Because with where the laceration is I can't stitch it with your pants on," she said heading to the large pile of supplies grabbing a surgical kit and rubbing alcohol. The pair of them headed behind one of the furthest unit.

Aaron, begrudgingly, stripped down to his boxers for the second time that day. He sat himself down on of the pieces jutting out from the unit. Izzy was completely red faced as she got another look at where the cut was, high up on the inside of his thigh. High enough that Aaron had to pull the leg of his boxers up close to his hip.

The situation was...uncomfortable to say the least.

After pulling on a pair of latex gloves, Izzy gently poured some rubbing alcohol over the wound to sterilize and clean the cut, getting a flinch and grunt from Aaron. "I don't have any anesthetic," Izzy said apologetically.

"It's fine. Just hurry up," Aaron responded trying to look anywhere else but down.

Izzy moved in close so that she could see what she was doing, trying her best not to touch anything she didn't have to. She swallowed as she hesitated for a moment before slowly pushing the curved needle through Aaron's flesh.

Aaron grit his teeth, but didn't move despite the pain. Izzy tied off the first stitch and began the second. "You're doing really well," she said trying to move passed the awkwardness of the situation.

"Let's just say I'm used to pain," Aaron responded. Izzy didn't push the subject, despite her curiosity. "Have you done this before?"

"Yes....sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I've practiced on dead pigs. Same thing med students do." She smiled as she got the wound closed with five tight stitches. She was proud of her work and would have admired it...if it weren't for where it were placed. Looking about, she sudden realized an issue. "Crap."

"What?" Aaron asked a little alarmed.

"I don't have any scissors. Um...." Izzy sighed. She couldn't leave all the extra string just hanging there. If it got caught on something it would tear the stitches. "You....don't have anything....do you?" Aaron gave her a confused look. "HIV? AIDS? Hepatitis?"

"No," Aaron said with a shake of his head.

"I'm not trying to mess with you. I need you to be honest with me."

"I don't have anything. Apart from the scarring I'm as healthy as a horse."

Izzy sighed with a nod. "Just don't move and....don't take this the wrong way." Izzy moved forward making Aaron jump as she pulled the excess stitching to her teeth and started chewing on it to break it off.

If Aaron wasn't uncomfortable already, he sure was now. He kept his eyes up and away focusing on anything that wasn't happening between his legs right now. Looking over he tensed as he saw Charlie staring at them in complete shock. Aaron looked down then back at Charlie. He held up a hand as he quickly spouted, "Thisisnotwhatyouthink!"

Charlie just gave a slow nod before heading back toward the group.

Izzy caught the end of the interaction as she chewed the thread off and saw Charlie walking away. She quickly shuffled back before rinsing her mouth out with water. "I think I'm gonna get dressed...and maybe throw myself off the roof," Aaron muttered as he gathered his clothes. "Um....thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"I don't plan to." Aaron hurried off to get dressed and got the pair of machetes around his waist. Looking at a few of the packs that hadn't been emptied yet he contemplated his next move.

"What's the plan now?" one of the students asked.

"I need to find my mother," Aaron answered. With or without supplies he needed to leave.

"Nobody is separating!" Jameson ordered, trying to get some semblance of control over Aaron.

“Loads of people already have!” Abigail pointed out.

“Yeah! Besides I need to go find my brother”, Meredith said.

“Where would you even go?” Mr. Jameson said. He recomposed himself back into cool and slick.

“We would go find them!” Izzy said. She stood closer to Abigail now.

“They are all dead, y'know?” the first student, Thomas, said.

“You don't know that!” Rory said.

“This is the Apocalypse! Why would they make it?”

“Why did we make it?” Charlie asked him.

“We need more supplies. We didn't get half the supplies we needed” Tom said.

“It's going to get dark soon. Maybe we should stay. At least for tonight”, Ursus said.

“The more time we wait the more zombies surround the school,” Aaron pointed out.

“The more dead people surround the school you mean,” Sanda said. She had crossed her arms and stood as far away as she could.

“Look! This isn't a debate. I'm going. That's it,” Aaron said.

“Well I want to come with,” Meredith said. She looked almost eager to leave.

“You aren't coming with,” Aaron shook his head in disbelief.

“Fine, then we will all just walk in the exact same way but not together, how does that sound?”, Meredith scoffed.

“Aaron, are you aware you are tearing us apart?”, Mr. Jameson said.

“I am not tearing anyone apart! I just need to find my mother! That's all I need to do, okay?” he shouted.

“Look! Take me with you! Whoever needs to find family should come. It's less likely we will die if we do,” Charlie said.

“How do you know your parents won't come here? Isn't it better if you stay?” Mr. Jameson reasoned. Aaron didn't like the look in his eyes. That predatory look. The way he looked at Aaron, like he hated his guts for standing up to him. The way that he looked at the girls, like he couldn't wait to get his hands on them.

"This isn't some field trip where we are forced to listen to you or get a mark on our grade. You can't tell us what to do. The only reason that you're so desperate to keep us here is to use us for your perverted desires!" Rory sudden screamed out slowly storming toward him until she was in his face. "The same way you used Jesse! The way you used all of those girls! You've been working everyone here so that no one will see the ugly, perverted monster that you really are!"

Aurora let out a scream as Jameson grabbed her by the hair, his face twisted in rage. How dare she speak to me this way! he roared with in his mind. His free hand went to her hear, ripping the hearing aid from her head and threw on the ground, shattering it with a stomp of his polished shoes.

Aurora's hands went to protect her remaining hearing aid and to try to free herself from Jameson's hand. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long for him to let go.

Aaron had rushed across the rooftop the moment that Jameson pulled the device from Aurora's ear and smashed it. His first move was a knee in his gut and then an Elbow across the forehead, sending him flying back to the roof. Aaron immediately drew one of the machetes at his side and held it beneath Jameson's chin.

"Back off!" Aaron roared at the students that were ready to jump to Jameson's defense. As the mass of students backed up, Aaron called over his shoulder. "Charlie. Meredith. Get some of those supplies we brought and put them into a few packs. If anyone else wants to come with us...now's the time."

He could hear at least a small group of people gathering things from the pile of supplies behind him as he made sure that no one made a move to stop them. Aaron was disappointed to see that a majority of the students were still in the mob in front of him. In fact, the only people he didn't see were the people that went out with him earlier. He didn't want to head out into the dark with those things out there, but hell if he was gonna stay here with this sociopath and his cult of sheep.

"We're ready," Aaron heard from behind him. Slowly Aaron stepped away from Jameson and rushed to the fire escape that he could already hear people going down. The mob didn't come after him, not when he knew how to fight. Moving down he took one of the packs held out to him before pausing by Meredith.

"Maybe we should smash a few windows to make sure they don't come after us," she remarked.

"I think they would more likely come after us than hold them off," Charlie answered. Aaron nodded in agreement. As much as he wanted to, it was too much of a risk with them running off into the night.

"Which way?" Izzy asked.

"I need to head downtown," Aaron stated. "My mother works a diner on Main street."

"Then downtown it is," Meredith chimes, unnaturally cheery for the end of the world. Hurrying from the school, the small group was headed into the now unknown city.

Charlie

She had actually considered what Mr Jameson had said, about her parents coming to the school. It made sense, they would be worried about her and want to bring her home. But there was also a nudging feeling in the back of her mind -the rational Charlie- that if they were coming, they would have arrived already. No, her parents were safe at home. Or dead, as Thomas had bluntly put it, but she wouldn't think like that. They were at home busy barricading doors and readying to survive this chaos.

I'll find you as soon as I can, she thought.

Of course, any slither of consideration she may have had for Jameson's words disappeared when he grabbed Aurora. Charlie couldn't believe her peers were trying to defend his actions and Aaron saved Rory, as if Auroura was to blame!

"Charlie. Meredith," Aaron said with his machete to Jameson's chin, "get some of those supplies we brought and put them into a few packs. If anyone else wants to come with us...now's the time."

Charlotte lingered her gaze on him for a second, watching the way his muscles bulged as he stood over the teacher. She thought of him and Izzy, hidden away where they thought no one would see. Aaron half undressed, her head right against him... surely they weren't doing that?

She wondered if he would meet her gaze. He didn't. He's busy with Jameson, obviously, she reassured herself.

Meredith gently nudged her arm, and Charlie forced a smile. Then the two of them headed back to the supplies and started packing. She had sorted everything into categories earlier, trying to take her mind off Daniel -god, poor Daniel- and now she was putting things back in her bag. It felt like a metaphor, putting things together and then undoing them. That was happening a lot lately.

"He's a psychopath," Meredith said, pulling Charlie from her thoughts.

"Yeah." She zipped up the final bag. She turned to the crowd and shouted (though not too loud), "We're ready!"

~

Meredith suggested they smash some windows, to stop the zombies from following them. But that would only attract more, or even put those who stayed behind in added danger. As much as Charlie was pissed off by those who had followed Jameson, she didn't want to be responsible for their deaths. Let them be responsible. Idiots.

The sky was turning golden as they left the school. It was beautiful. People were dying and coming back as monsters, buildings were being ruined, blood was splattering everywhere it shouldn't... but at least the sky was still beautiful.

"We'll be fine." She said both to herself and those walking beside her. Earlier, she'd asked Thomas why any of them were still alive. They were alive because they were strong, smart, good-looking, maybe just lucky... but they were alive because they were meant to be. And because they were survivors. They could survive. "We'll get through this."

Esher

The stall doors are all open, and the horses are roaming the stables at their own free will. I've groomed all of them, and I'm in the process of checking their muscles and joints. The horse I need is going to be doing a lot of running. I need an endurance horse. An Arabian would be preferred, but most of these horses seem to be crossbreeds of all kinds. One or two are thoroughbreds, and a few others are quarter horse mixes. Sighing, I move over to the horse that hasn't come out of his stall, and pause.

Tall, maybe standing at fifteen hands, with a beautiful golden coat and pale mane and tail. He stares at me with knowing dark eyes, and lifts his head as if to say he's too good a horse to be dragged out there. I agree, but if he is in perfect health, this bad boy is my best ticket to freedom. And he's going to be a handsome ticket, because he's an American Saddler. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but thank you America for making your own pacer horse breed.

I run my hands over his neck and legs, checking the joints and squeezing his muscles. He seems to be in realrivepy good shape, although his diet could probably use a bit of change. He needs a bit more calcium and protein in his diet. I really hope he hasn't been given super basic foods, this is a treasure of a horse breed.

After checking his legs, tail and spine, I chew on my bottom lip for a moment before walking over to the small shed at the back of the stables, and look at all the saddles. Basic. Super basic, and Western saddles. Except one. An English saddle. That makes me feel better. I take it and haul it over to the Saddler. He reaches his nose out to sniff it, and turns toward me as if to say, 'Yeah that's mine. Put it on.'

After taking him up, and looking for a name tag – his name is Sebastian, I love it – I go back into the shed and make up a bunch of feed buckets for the horses, reading the ingredients on the backs of the packets, and making up the food based on what their breed should require. After feeding them all, I wait for Sebastian to finish his food by going around and looking for things I can take. After filling up a bag with some snacks and two water bottles, I start to formulate a plan.

I'll need clothes, and more food, and water. I should also try to find a book on survival. So I need to find a library. My main priority is food and water, though. A tuck shop? Do they even have tuck shops here? Probably called something else. A Deli? General store? Do they even have small stores that aren't connected to giant shopping complexes? Sighing, I decide to just take my chances, and prepare Sebastian for the great escape.

Away from the city. I'll head away from the city. Or should I go the outskirts? That could work.

I grip Sebastian's reins as I lead him over to the entrance doors. I press my head against the door, listening for any untoward sounds. Nothing. I pull the door open wide enough for me to poke my head out. Still. But not too quiet. I can hear birds chirping in the trees nearby. That's a good sign.

Pulling the stable doors all the way open, I lead Sebastian out, and wait for the other horses to drift into the grass before leaping  – much harder than it sounds – into the saddle. The palomino Saddler lifts his head, ears going forward, and stands taller. As if he knows an experienced rider is sitting on his back. I hope he has a delicate mouth, otherwise we're not going to get along.

Squeezing my legs, I push him into a walk and walk him around in a large circle. Smooth walk, gentle mouth. Good. I push him into a trot, and he complies without resistance. After doing two laps, I push him into his pacing gate. It's wonderful, perfect. I think I love this horse. Then a canter, before pulling him into a trot, followed by a walk.

"There's your warm-up, bud," I tell him.

Sebastian seems fine with that, and turns to look toward the city. I frown.

"Not that way, mate," I tell him, pulling him around to face the road. "This way."

Sebastian throws his head and lets out a sigh before letting me push him into an easy trot. We follow the road for a while before turning off near a house. I dismount and lead him to the front door before going inside. I creep through to the kitchen, and start gathering food and water bottles from the fridge. I'm surprised power is still on, to be honest. But I suppose it's only been a day. Things don't shut down in a day. Do they?

When I have enough food, I go further into the house until I get to a bedroom. It looks like a boy lived here. I go through the drawers and pull out a shirt. Looks like it'll fit. I pull out some more and shove them into a backpack on the floor, then go back out of the house. I mount Sebastian, and go on my way. A house. Better than a tuck shop.

I follow the road, going into houses I come across, looking for clothes. I manage to find a few pants that fit, and a bra or two that match the size of the one I'm wearing. Underwear is kind of my next main priority, but I don't like the idea of wearing someone else's underwear. It's weird.

Eventually I settle for a house that has clothes in my size – underwear included – before leading Sebastian further away from the city. I come to the road that turns off from the school, and an idea hits me.

I don't need to be there with them. They will probably all die anyway. That doesn't mean they shouldn't stand a chance. Everyone should have a chance to live, even if I don't care whether they die or not. I chew on my bottom lip for a moment before turning Sebastian toward the school. I keep him off the road so his steps are reasonably quiet and stop when I see the gates.

My eyes zero in on the path ahead. All I need to do is make enough noise to draw them all out. Enough noise to have them all running for the gates, and down the streets. Enough noise to give them a chance. A short chance, but it should be enough. Sebastian seems to notice my change in mood as well, his ears flicking forward as he stares at the school, his nostrils flaring.

"Alright, bud," I murmur. "This could end badly."

Sebastian shakes his head and takes a step forward. Brave sod. I keep my eyes forward as I push him into a trot. His hooves clatter over the pavement as we near the school, and I can hear the groans and growls of the things coming from the school. With a sharp kick, I push Sebastian into a canter and he goes flying across the courtyard, up the stairs, and into the school. We skitter down the hall, and I pull him to a stop at the end before turning him around and pushing him into a gallop back down the hall. The blind people are coming out now, lunging for Sebastian. He leaps forward, out of their way, even flicking a hind foot out to kick one in the face. He flies through the school, slowing only to go down the stairs and back onto the courtyard. I turn him in a wide circle as more of the blind people come out, making sure there is room to leave the school grounds. When the crowd has grown, I give Sebastian his head and turn him to the school gates. He barrels through a group of blind people, kicking and biting, and taking off down the road. He gallops through the streets, his hooves slapping the bitumen road, the sounds echoing through the streets. When I see trees in the distance, I turn him toward the forest, grinning from ear to ear. I'm going to make it. And I helped people too.

When I finally reach the forest, I pull Sebastian up, letting him trot for a while through the trees before pulling him into a walk. He's breathing hard, sweat gleaming on his coat. I'm going to give this horse a good brush down, and the best feed. He's such a brave horse.

Stopping beside a stream, I dismount and let Sebastian have a drink as I make sure his saddle is still in place. I allow myself to breathe normally as I lean against his side, taking in his smell. The smell of horse sweat. Gosh I miss home.

A sound behind me has my heart in my mouth. I spin around, eyes wide, to find a tall man with red hair staring at me. He doesn't look like he's infected, but why is he so far out in the forest?

"Who are you?" He asks with a thick Scottish accent.

I find myself laughing. "What a coincidence. Of all the people in the world, it's a Scot," I chortle.

He gives me a look before shaking his head. "What d'you want?" He growls.

"Nothing," I say, then bite my lip. "Actually ... Some shelter?"

He eyes me over. "I suppose so," he looks at Sebastian. "That your horse?"

"Yes," I lie. "And I don't want him to die."

The man nods. "I'm Matthew," he says, holding out his hand.

"Esher," I walk over and shake his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Matthew had been in the woods of Clayton all day. The sirens he heard earlier were a distant memory, barely worth mentioning. He smiled as he finished putting the door on the small house he had managed to build. His parents owned the land and he was doing his best to make it useful. A series of small houses, enough to keep the cold out, were set in an almost random order between the trees. "Good shelter for the homeless," he said with a thick Scottish accent.

Grabbing his tools he looked over his work. Six small houses, built with good lumber and roofing, were now his crowning achievement. "When I sell them, carvin's I'll get back out 'ere to make more," he said to himself. Heading back toward the city he noted the smoke in the sky. "Guess there was a fire."

Pausing by a stream, he could see a young woman, a little younger than him, with a horse. Technically this was private property, but he had just built several houses for the homeless. Making his way over he decided to speak up.

"Who are you?" he inquired.

She started laughing.

"What a coincidence. Of all the people in the world, it's a Scot," she says.

English, he thinks to himself. "What d'you want?"

"Nothing...Actually, some shelter?"

"I suppose so," Matthew responds. Looking to the horse he sighs, he hadn't built any barns. "That your horse?"

"Yes, and I don't want him to die."

That's an odd thing to say, Matthew thinks as he steps closer. "I'm Matthew." He held out his hand which was quickly taken.

"Esher. Nice to meet you."

"I'm afraid I don' have any livin' places for your friend. Wasn't expecting anything bigger than a mutt. But I 'ave a few small houses for the homeless over here. When I get back to the Clayton I'll look at getting the materials for a barn."

"You can't go back to Clayton," Esher says quickly.

"What are you talkin' about, lass?"

"Have you been under a rock all day? The city is over run with these...zombie...things."

"Quit pullin' my leg, lass. Ain't no such thing a zombies." Matthew turns heading for the housing, hearing the gentle tap of hooves behind him.

"I didn't think there were such a thing either, but watching them tear somebody apart in front of you tends to convert one."

Matthew stopped as he got to the slightly cleared area of small houses.

"You're tellin' me that a bunch of dead bodies are walkin' around down there eatin' people?"

"Yes."

"You're a loony, is what you are," Matthew scoffed as he motioned toward the houses. "Take your pick, lass." Matthew started heading back with a shake of his head. He turned to the stream and he noticed a stumbling form wading through the water. Blood dripping down his arm.

Matthew hurried over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Oy, you alright ma...CHRIST!" The man turned on Matthew trying to bite at him. It took everything Matthew had to keep him at bay. It was then he noticed that the man he was wrestling with, was missing his throat.

Kicking the man away, Matthew grabbed a large stick from the ground to beat the man down. The dead man didn't have a chance for another charge as the large horse came barreling from no where and began to pummel the man to death with heavy hooves.

"I told you," Esher said walking up behind him. "The city is full of them. You head back there now and you're dead."

Matthew looked do Esher with a slightly panicked expression. "Aye, right," he said quietly. He could feel something coming and tried to give a warning. "You're gonna wanna turn away, lass. This won't be pretty."

"What are you talking about?"

Matthew turned and immediately puked up the ham and cheese sandwich he had had for lunch.

Charlie was very relieved that they hadn't smashed any windows. That would have undone whatever miracle had happened whilst the group was arguing on the roof. There was only a handful of zombies left in the school, and those that remained were heading for the exit as though they were following a trail of some sort. Charlie smiled, silently thanking whomever or whatever had cleared the building.

"Maybe it's our lucky day, eh?" Izzy quickened her pace so she was walking beside Charlie. "It's so quiet..." she whispered, glancing into the empty classrooms they passed.

"Yeah." She shrugged. She couldn't believe Izzy was talking to her after what she'd done with Aaron. It wasn't like Charlie owned him or anything, she'd just thought... maybe... well, there were more important things to think about. Why was she even thinking about him? She'd seen Aaron in the school halls for years and never said a word to the guy. Why did she care now?

Aaron, walking with a smaller group up front, raised his hand when they reached the main doors.

"Tom," he whispered. Everyone was whispering, even though there wasn't any need. "Can you get your dogs to check outside?"

The redhead brushed his hand over Balto's head, Kai lingering in ahead with its snout in the air. "They're dogs, not canaries. Do your own checking."

Aaron looked taken aback but nodded. "Sorry. I just thought..."

Tom chuckled. "I'm not serious, man. It's dead out there." Meredith gave him a burning stare when he said 'dead'. He waved her off. "You know what I mean. Someone's cleared this place. Besides, Kai would've barked."

"Okay. When we leave the school, we turn left, head downtown..."

"It's not going to be good out there," Meredith warned. She was right. The district of nightclubs and shopping malls was packed even on Sundays. Charlie stepped out the doors, glancing in the direction they were heading. There was smoke. The wispy, black pillars were highlighted against the orange sky.

"I know that." Aaron stepped past Charlie, throwing her a smile. She didn't return it, and his pained expression made her heart drop. He shouldn't have done it, then, she thought.

The rest of the group followed Aaron outside, and he finished with, "But we have to deal with it eventually."

"Might as well be now," Tom sighed.

Thomas took off his backpack, and knelt on the ground as he rummaged through it. "Am I the only one who's noticed it's getting dark?" He pulled out a torch. "We might need this soon."

"Hallo down there!" Their heads all flicked upwards, to the roof. Mr Jameson was leaning over the edge, waving.

"The idiot!" Tom hissed.

"If any of you get scared, you're welcome to come back!" He pointed at Aaron. "Except you!"

Charlie balled her fists. "I wish someone would push him over."

Meredith held up her middle finger, she and Izzy beginning to walk to the gate. "Let's just go, guys," Meredith said, "before the psycho teacher gets us all killed."

"Agreed." Aaron ran ahead. "If it gets too dark, we'll find somewhere to stop."

Charlie looked once more at the roof. Some of the other students had gathered beside the teacher. Some were making rude faces, but most of them just looked concerned. Jameson was waving still, a massive smile plastered on his devilish face. Charlie was all too glad to be leaving.