Survive (1: The Break)

"To endure means to put up with something or somebody unpleasant; to survive is to continue to live." –Thesaurus (notes)

The street is eerily quiet today, not the usual Friday where people go for a walk after school or work. The road filled with screeching cars rushing to the center of the city for leisure and happy time is quite deserted except for taxis and delivery vans. It seems that after the incident that happened at St. George High three days ago, people disappear to the safety of their houses by five in the afternoon. It wasn't a curfew or a law implemented by the government. Actually the government has nothing to say about what transpired at St. George. Nothing but a deranged teenage boy with his screws loose brought him to attack students and teachers. That is what the news claimed. That is the exclusive news in every TV station that day.

Truth is I know that boy. Jonathan Mile. We share a class together which is Art. I can tell he is a shy guy, keeping his thoughts all to himself. He doesn't talk. He worked quietly on his table. His eyes, half covered by the long tendrils of his dark hair, were usually focused on the floor. I noticed he often goes by himself, no companions whatsoever. He's not a bad guy, that I can prove because I've seen him helping a lady pick up her goods scattered on the ground, the paper bag torn because of the weight of the goods. The lady groaned, cursed. She didn't even thank him and just left, carrying her grocery in her arms and tossed them inside her car parked in front of the store. He watched her leave and seconds passed, he too, left. People must have this notion that what you look like is what you are. They don't like him because of the way he looks. He has this strange air of lameness in him, stooped posture and the number one target of school bullies. They make fun of him, hit him. Maybe that was the reason why he was hostile that day and started biting the arm off of the jock Rick Star. Maybe he was too angry that he can't control the anger brewing inside him anymore.

It happened in the hallway. I can hear Rick's laughter mixing with his football friends echoing through the lockers until there was a scream. Like a domino effect, it weakened the laughter and snickers earlier.

"Get him off me!" Rick squirmed, frantically screaming in pain as he held his bloody right arm with the other. His friends pulled Jonathan away from him, his mouth bloody and a piece of red hang from it. I almost gagged when I realized it was a flesh, a flesh he bit off from Rick's arm. Jonathan struggled from the guys who held him. There were three of them. The one on his left yelped as he let go of him and cried in pain, "My finger, goddamn you!" And the rest let him go as horror struck them. They ran away.

Teachers rushed to the hallway, so as the security. There was a commotion. Students, who were laughing and talking like it was just a normal school day, were now crying and screaming in fear. The faculty surrounded Jonathan, a gruesome scene laid before them. Rick was dead. Jonathan was eating him. I can't tell if he's Jonathan anymore. His eyes were white and dead as if his soul was gone and another spiteful spirit took over his body.

"Jes-" The Science teacher, Ms. Vega covered her mouth before she could finish uttering the word, her eyes wide open at the sight before her. Mr. Smee walked over to Jonathan and tried talking sense to him, telling him to stay calm and move away from the dead and unrecognizable body that once belonged to Rick Star. Jonathan turned to them and they took a step back. His mouth moved. If he was speaking, it was inaudible but I read his lips, "Sorry." Was he sorry for killing Rick? He stood but not straight, his back flaccid and he swayed as he moved towards Mr. Smee and the rest of the faculty. And just a split of second, he lunged over to Mr. Smee. The fate of Rick befell on him as well. Now I understood his sorry was for the havoc, the death he created.

What happened after, to me it was all a blur. Students running along the hall, screaming their lungs out; two school security guards with their guns aimed at Jonathan; a deadly and chilling sound of a gunshot; the sound of the loudspeaker system echoing throughout the whole school, telling everyone to calm down; the police swarming the hallways like ants, encircling the crime scene; the news media with their vans and equipment making reports about the horrible crime committed by a high school boy.

Jonathan's homicide was the highlight in every TV station that day. News reporters interviewed students who saw what happened. "It's like he was possessed and started biting Rick," a girl with curly hair, a senior, flinched at the word 'bite' as she narrated. They also interviewed Jonathan's grandmother who is the only family he has left. "He is a good child. I don't know why he has to do this," his grandmother cried, her old face lined with stress and sadness. I feel sorry for her. Because he was bullied, I told myself and for once I thought if somebody stood for him when he was bullied, if I tried to help when he was being bullied by Rick, this would not have happened. But I didn't. No one did. For Jonathan, maybe what he did to Rick was self-defense but unfortunately, it has gone bad.

After the incident, the school announced a one-week break; for the death of Jonathan Miles, Rick Star and the other victims of Jonathan; for the students who were traumatized of the incident; and for the investigation team to have time to finish whatever investigation they were doing. It was an unusual case and therefore, people became alarmed of the unknown danger that is lurking in the city these days.