Outbreak, Part One: From the Beginning

--Monday, September 15th, 10:45 AM (20 Minutes Before Outbreak)--

We always think that, as a race there's nothing that will bring us down. That our cities will be bastions of civilization, our science will safeguard us from any threat. But nature, or some other force, always has a way of reminding us of just how powerless we are. Of how, for all our knowledge we're still children alone in a dark forest with a flickering match for light. And that the forest is still filled with hungry predators. That was a cold truth I learned today, when my whole world was turned from a normal day, into something out of a nightmare.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, and I haven't even introduced myself yet. Name's Alex, just your average, run of the mill seventeen year old high-schooler. Not the greatest student, but certainly not a bad person. Grades were decent enough to avoid a parent/teacher conference though I never got any honor awards, and in a way that was fine. There was never a drive within me to be exceptional, though my folks always wanted more for me. Average however, seemed to be all I was, at a skinny (but not deathly so) five foot three inches, white skin and light brown hair.

My day had started average enough: woke up, breakfast, traded some small talk with my parents before heading out for school, and thus here I was, sitting in biology. Our subject for today, was viruses. Looking back it seemed like a poorly sent heads up. As the teacher droned on and on about how the virus infects the host and replicates via the cells instead of itself, I kinda tuned the guy out as I had my phone out and hidden under my desk, silently skimming random stuff on the web. There were some trending articles, like Beiber charged with egging another house, or North Korea threatening to assassinate James Franco and Seth Rogen if The Interview is released. Another read Police Attempt to Conta-- "Mister Dunn, if you'd be so kind to rejoin the class, turn off your phone now!" the bio-teacher barked, and I quickly turned my phone off and sat up straight. A few heads turned my way, but it didn't last long.

For Mary the day started the same as any other ordinary day, get up, shower, breakfast and then head to high school. She was smart but her favourite lesson happened to be sport or more specifically one particular sport known as Netball. Mary happened to be the high school's best player a fact that she was immensely proud of. She had earned that through blood, sweat and tears. Of course, nothing could save you from the horror of biology with Mister Walloright.
Which was where she had the poor fortune to be now, still several hours from Netball practice.

Mary was quite tall, with a slender, athletic build, white skin and black hair usually tied either into a ponytail or a bun, today it was the former option. Biology happened to be one of Mary's poorer subjects along with mathematics. She struggled to remain focused on the lesson, doodling idly on her note book while the teacher droned mindlessly onward about something or other. Mary only snapped back to attention when Alex got moaned at by the teacher. She glanced at Alex, he was a nice enough guy she guessed, never really spoken much but he had the poor fortune to share the name of a guy she disliked. It was hard to rate him fairly just because of a previous bad experience with an Alex. Shaking her head she turned back around and prayed that the lesson would end soon so that she could do something more fun. Like anything else. Anything at all.

"Thank you; now, if anyone can tell me what vectors are?" Mr. Walloright said. A student raised their hand and said "A vector is a means by which a pathogen travels and then gets transmitted to another organism." Walloright nodded, and said "Yes, and in most cases vectors are simply one infected organism transmitting the virus they carry, over to another. Examples include Mosquitoes and the West Nile virus, or rats and the varying diseases they carry. Between 1346 and 1353, the Black Death which was carried by rats, has been rumored to kill nearly two hundred million people." He continued the lecture, and I tuned him out a bit for the next five minutes until the bell started ringing on lunch, people got up and gathered their stuff as Walloright started saying "Now remember class: tonight's homework will require you to read pages 312 through 330, and I expect the work first thing tomorrow!"

--10:50, 15 Minutes Before Outbreak--

Already on my way out, I started moving through the crowded hall of students, worming my way through the groups that just never seemed to accept the fact oh yes there were other people in the hall that wanted to move a little faster, and get to the cafeteria. Finally getting out of the science building, I started moving for the large building ahead, stomach grumbling for food.

The class was mercifully finally over. Another ten more minutes of that and Mary would have been begging for someone to shoot her so that the lecture would finally end. But knowing Walloright he would find some way to torment her in the supposedly peaceful state of oblivion. She followed Alex out of the class, well it was less of follow more they happened to be going in the same direction. Food was always important, unless you chose not to eat. Which happened to be something she could never do.

On the way to the Cafeteria, Mary found herself to be the unfortunate soul in the company of Ryan Dwight, self proclaimed football god and apparently he was going to go to college and then to the NFL. Mary could not knock him for following his dream. But god, was he annoying. She tuned herself out of his ramblings, of him declaring how much weights he could lift and other such muscle based nonsense. He was like an annoying child, or one of those young teenage boys who had just discovered girls and had become determined to prove to their mates that they where the straightest of them all.
Annoying.
All of them so very annoying, especially Ryan. Mary had tried numerous times in the past to explain to him that she possessed no interest in him, unfortunately as fast as she turned him down, he would come up with new schemes and plots to woo her heart. As if he could.
With Alex just in front she came up with an excuse.
"Hey could you excuse me Ryan I need to Alex?" She informed Ryan as she moved off.
"Yeah sure" He replied looking a bit bemused.

"Hey Alex mind if we do this biology work together?" Mary inquired offering him her sweetest smile. At least Alex would not spend the entire of lunch trying to hit on her, with luck he might even be able to convince Ryan that she wasn't interested.

I was a little surprised when I heard someone call my name. Normally the only people in school that called my name, were the teachers so for a very brief moment I imagined one of the teachers standing behind me with a mountain of homework for me. Turning around, I found myself facing not a teacher.....but Mary, a classmate of mine. That was really about all I knew about her, quiet and remote student I am. Behind her was Ryan, the school jock and while a friendly guy he was a bit of an asshole without meaning to. But I focused more on what Mary had just asked me, and said "Uh....yeah, sure. It'd be nice to have some help on it myself actually."

"Sweet" She said happily. "I could do with the help also" Mary did not intend for the conversation to fall quiet and awkward. If it kept going Ryan might be less inclined to interrupt. "So... Er... What do you do Alex?" Mary knew next to nothing about him, except that he got into trouble sometimes with the teachers for things, being on his phone was a common one.
Of course it never hurt to try and make a new friend, or at least get to know someone better. Mary had to try and get past the name, the Alex she knew did not even look anything remotely like the Alex before her. But the name, the name brought back painful memories. It would be so much easier if... If Alex had a different name, anything at all.
Everyone had their own faults, Mary struggled to let go of the past sometimes. Some hurts ran deep, some scars ran too deep to be easily healed... Or forgotten.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I started walking, hoping she'd follow. "I don't have a job if that's what you're asking." Now I may not have been the most sociable of people, but I was according to a past therapist very empathetic. Which was why I could see in her body language that something was upsetting her. A part of me wanted to ask, but wouldn't since it was her business and none of mine until she talked about it.

Mary shook her head, no she did not mean if he had a job, even though the latter was always nice. "No I meant what do you like to do? Play sports? Or... Erm Computer games?" She wasn't really into video games though she did play the occasional one on her brother's xbox from time to time. Of course that brother was grown up and in the army, a nice tour of Germany ready to fight the Russians if they ever tried to invade. Kinda pointless considering all the other countries in the way. But she was not a politian or a general so maybe there was a reason for it, maybe her brother was that scary by keeping him in Europe the Russians would never invade?

"Oh. Well....not much of a sports playing guy really. Don't know why, none of it ever appealed to me. Most I do is jog around," I said. Reaching the cafeteria, I held the door open for Mary to go first.

"Oh I see... Never watched me play Netball I take it?" Mary inquired before noticing the door he had held open for her. "Thanks" She whispered as she went through the doorway.

"No, not really," I said unabashedly. "Going to school sporting events was never my kind of thing." I grabbed a pair of trays, handing one to Mary before moving for the line of students forming in front of the kitchens. They moved single-file, as the cooks put paper plates of food on the trays. Most of it looked....edible.

She accepted the tray. "Thanks and you should come" Mary encouraged. "It is really fun you might even have a good time and start liking sports more" She chuckled light heartedly, the food while not great or even good... It was still food and one could not really complain there. Food especially warm food always made you feel better about yourself and things in general.
"God I cannot wait for practice today" She muttered.

"Well no promises, but I'll see if I can take you up on your offer," I said. Today's special was sloppy joe's......normally those would be fine, if the ingredients weren't questionable. So far no student had died, or gotten severely sick. But there were always stories.....

After paying for lunch, I sat down at a table outside, out in the sun and away from the noise of the cafeteria inside. Had a decent view of most of the school, including the large fence that separated us from the outside world. I could see a few helicopters in the air.....quite a lot actually, and I wondered what was going on. A big fire? No, there was no smoke. The headline of that article came back to me, something about the police. Maybe that was it.

Mary decided to sit with Alex, her friends the majority of who happened to be on the Netball team where nowhere to be found. A couple reported in sick, a few where on holiday and some had different lesson times.
"Hey seems like something is up" She commented on the amount of air traffic. "You don't think there is a shoot out going on? I mean the last thing we would want is something like that happening"

"Hope not," I said. "So uh.....did you want to start working on the bio stuff?" I asked Mary, before something caught my attention by the fence: someone had walked in from the across the empty street. But 'walked' was probably not the right word, no they seemed to limp towards the fence, an odd shuffle to their gait. That was all I saw of them though, since I wasn't quite close enough to make out any features. Whoever they were though, they got to the fence and started...well, worming their arms through the bars of the fence, grasping at air and looking like they wanted to get in. "Huh.....think that guys drunk," I said, pointing at fence.

Mary had been about to reply when Alex mentioned the guy at the fence. She looked over her shoulder at him and frowned dismissively. "Either that... Or high I think we might want to move away he seems a kinda pervy guy if he is trying to squeeze through a fence" Mary was uncomfortable, she never drank mostly because her father had a habit of being a bit of a drinker. She disliked alcohol immensely.
"I am sure the cops will deal with it"

"Or security," I pointed out, gesturing at one of the school security guards. Security at the school didn't quite mean we had an armed guard, though there was the lone officer on campus armed only with a taser. The rest were just regular people wearing shirts that read security on the front and back. "Hey buddy!" he said to the guy at the fence. "Mind moving away from there?" he continued, though the guy at the fence ignored the request, and instead started moving his arm around like mad. The guard grabbed it, intending to push the guy back....and instead his hand was grabbed by the stranger and pulled through the bars of the fence. "What th--AIIIIIEEEEE!" he screamed as the stranger tore into the skin of his arm using only their teeth. The security guard was able to pull their hand away, bleeding profusely and missing some skin as he yelled "YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH! I'M CALLING THE COPS!"

Before he could move however, he started to......well as best I could describe it, from where I sat shocked and wide eyed, he started to seize up. He began shaking and collapsing onto the ground, and looking like he was having a seizure. A guard must have heard the scream because they came running out of nowhere, getting down next to their friend and reaching for the walkie-talkie at their belt. Before they could even start speaking into it though, the one on the ground seemed to stop shaking before they grabbed their friend and pulled them down, and bit into his neck. Another scream followed, the concrete pooling with blood. And I was shaking a little in fear of what was going on.

"Holy Moly!" Mary shouted scrambling to get out of the chair. "Alex we've got to get out of here!" Mary was about to sprint for the hills. People where eating people, biting each other... What on Earth was going on? She got out of the chair, looking around wildly for the quickest exit route. The school wasn't going to be safe, not with security taking chunks out of each other.
What the fuck was happening?

"What about everyone else?" I asked as I stood up with her. "We can't just leave them here with those things!" Still, running for the hills sounded like a good idea. Especially since the newly dead guard was up and walking with his buddy.....and moving further into the school.

"And what can we do? You saw those things what about our families?" Mary believed her concern for her family was what was making her want to head for home and not cowardice. She wanted to get out of the school before more of those things got in.
But what of her team? She should try to leave with them... But where would they all be? Heck as much as the idea sickened her they could be some of those things.

"Uh......the fire-alarm!" I said. "We need to find one and pull it, everyone should be able t--" before I could finish, I heard a girl scream.....before it was quickly cut short. "Come on!" I said, grabbing Mary's hand.

Mary had no choice but be dragged along with Alex. "What are you planning?" She wanted to be getting out of her especially since if there where more of these things in the school or outside of it.

"The fire alarm," I said as I ran for the nearest building. "We pull that and everyone should get the idea." Right as we got to the door, someone grabbed Mary from behind, the fact apparent only when I saw the reflection in the glass pane of the door. It was a student, a girl. She wore a tank top that showed off her neck and shoulders, and a pair of jeans. All of it was stained with her blood, a large wound on her shoulder, skin missing and some even torn off. There was a lifeless expression to her gaze that vanished before the snarl that took over her face, teeth bared as she moved to take a bite out of Mary.

Mary screamed punching the girl in the forehead. It managed to keep the sharp teeth away from her flesh but it wasn't enough to free her. "Alex help!" She begged, grabbing the girl's head with her hands to prevent her from lunging forward and sinking the teeth deep into her neck.

Without even thinking of running, I grabbed the girl's hands and tried to rip them off Mary but Jesus Christ she had a grip. So instead, all I could do was tackle her and that seemed to get her off Mary, only now her grip settled on my shirt, and her jaws kept snapping as they tried to get at my shoulder. "Get....off....me!" I grunted as my wrist came up on her neck and pushed her down. "I don't wanna hurt you!" I cried out, still thinking she was alive and just really sick. But she kept trying to bite me, kept trying to rip me open. I......I just couldn't wait for her to let go, to snap out of it. So my wrist twisted a little as my hand gripped her chin, and I started to pull back and twist her head away from me....and then it started to give a little, and with a sharp cracking sound, her neck snapped as her head twisted at an awkward angle. Her grip slackened and I got up and away, sitting with my ass on the concrete as I stared at what I did. I killed someone, and the fact coupled with the sight of her bloody body, her head twisted around....it made me cough up my lunch. "Oh god..." I gasped out, still reeling.

Mary rushed over to Alex. "Holy Moly... Thanks but... Jesus we have to get out of her" Mary offered him a hand up. She was terrified but they had to get out of here there could be more of those things. "Alex we need to get moving... To find our families" She kept looking nervously over her shoulder, cautious about being grabbed by another one of those things.

Kristen screamed, backing into the corner of the gymnasium as she watched a student pin her teacher to the wall and... tear his throat out. She looked around, searching for a way out or something to protect her. She saw it. A Javelin left out from athletics. She grabbed it in both hands and pointed the tip at the student, shaking as she issued warnings for him to stay back as he approached. Until her teacher stood up, his throat hanging in ragged, bloody shreds as he moaned and shuffled towards her.

She almost threw up.

For a moment I looked at her, dazed and shaken up. Who wouldn't be after all? I just snapped someone's neck, a girl maybe my age. She tried to kill me but....she was still alive right? As if in response to my thoughts though, I heard a rasping sound and nearly shit myself as I looked over and saw to my horror that her head was still alive, mouth opening and closing as she rasped again, eyes searching and fingers twitching. "Come on," I said in a shaky voice. "Fire alarm first then we......God.....we get the fuck out of here." The alarm seemed a bit pointless though, as I saw students running now, out of the cafeteria and screaming. But there were still students in the building that needed to get out, still in the dark. So I took Mary's hand and lifted myself up, and looked her in the eye. "Not going to leave everyone else to get attacked by these things," I said, in a slightly less shaky voice. My grip on her hand tightened a little, but not by much as I opened the door to the building and moved inside.

"I owe you Alex but... I cannot leave you to go alone" She replied though it was not like she had much choice in the matter anyway. He held her hand, besides Mary did not exactly want to run home, alone and unarmed. The world was going to shit around her. "Holy Moly I take it back... Biology class wasn't that bad this is worse but not by much"
Now where in the world was a fire alarm? Not like it was hard for students not to hear the chaos that now reigned with all these freaks in the school.

As the student approached her, Kristen thrust out with the javelin, tears running down her face as the metal tip pierced the students rib cage. When he simply reached out in a vain attempt to grab her, she panicked, releasing her grip and running straight for the door. She burst through it and slammed it shut behind her. The schoolyard was empty, aside from someone lying face down, bleeding heavily. She looked around, trying to calm her nerves when the door behind her was slammed. Hard. Resuming her panic she ran towards the school building, praying that someone could tell her what was happening.

Inside the vacant hallway, the fire-alarm was easy enough to see. I mean come on, a red box on the wall with white stripes and the sign 'Fire Alarm' painted over it, how hard was that to see? So I pulled down on the lever, and two things happened: one, the alarm sounded across the entire school, and two.....two, the damned alarm, like all the new ones, was rigged with an squirting dye-pouch that shot out and sprayed me with bright blue dye. Small price to pay though, as the rooms in the building started opening up, confused students looking to see what was going on. "Run!" I screamed at them, and I made for a convincing sight, since I had some of the girls blood on me. They took one look and just ran, the halls becoming crowded and kids scrambled for an exit.

"You don't have to tell me twice" Mary called to Alex this time leading him since he still held onto her. A former teacher lunged at her but was too far away to hit her though another student did not share the same fortune. The teacher grabbed hold of them and with bloody teeth tore into their shoulder.
"Holy frickin moly we have to get out of here" Mary wanted to get back home to check on her family and then... Get out of town, or flee and not stop running.
No saying how many of these things there where or... If they could be stopped.

The door we had come through was nearest and that was the one that we went through. As we ran I saw more students running....and others being grabbed by more and more of the things. I realized then that the world of movies had somehow collided with reality, and these things were zombies. I wasn't sure how, but they were. People screamed as we ran, some in fear, others in pain. Some were trampled in the mass of students trying to escape, others were ripped open as one or even two of the things clawed their way into them.

"Mary, do you have a car?" I yelled as she dragged me along. Some students tried fighting back, some of them the football players who tackled the zombies to the ground. But they still thought they were alive, could be knocked out. Instead they charged headlong into the jaws of death, and screamed in fear and pain as teeth and nails ripped into their flesh.

As she saw students running out of the building her heart skipped. More people meant safety. Until she saw those... things tear into the group. Her short-lived jubilation draining, she turned and ran towards the fence closest to her at full speed, meaning to climb over and get away.

"No I have a bike but... Somehow cycling is not something I would like to try? What about you?" Correction the world has gone to shit. Mary needed to get home, she had to check on her family to make sure that they where all right.
But... Would there even be a home left?

"Looks like running is all we've got.......I don't know about you but I live close by, come on!" I shouted. Before we could move farther, I saw a girl try and run to the fence in a bid to hop it. A zombie was already on her tail, and I shouted at her "Behind you!"

One student runs up hands outstretched, covered in blood, wanting to sate its hunger for flesh. One student hits the ground with a dead thud, its head follows shortly after. Another follows suit, unable to comprehend the danger it puts itself in. Another returns to the earth, head rolling away. Like a soccer ball kicked away haphazardly. Is this revenge, or is this survival? Stragglers in a bunch make easy prey, groups are more dangerous to the lone hunter. One, Two, One, Two, down they fall, in a sleuth of blood. To each their own headless demise. Dead eyes look outward, fearful for looking in. Is this schizophrenia? Or mind protection?

Run from groups, jump through windows, survive. Climb fences, hop walls, the roof. Where is safe? Long hair blows freely in the wind. Eyes far and blue, skin pale and covered in the blue lines of blood. Thin but wired, moving with great grace. People thought there would be a leader in the madness, protecting the others. Something darkened. No bright light to see by, only flickers of fate. To the roof it was, and over looking a sight to be seen.

Kristen heard a shout and when she looked over her shoulder, she tripped, catching sight of a blood-soaked student behind her. She felt her knee start to bleed slightly, but she didn't feel any pain, there was too much adrenaline in her body for pain. She turned onto her back and kicked out as hard as she could as the thing got closer, hitting it in the chest. It was pushed back for a second, but no damage done.

"I am not far from the home we need to go there or... Whoever is closer" She said sprinting out of the school gate, dodging past a couple of bodies that looked shifty.

Sitting on, watching out, people run. Fences hopped, people moved, bodies. Rooftop lonely, none to say, no life or death. Now observe. Shufflers to the right, dancers to the left, center monsters mash. Survival of the fittest, biological fitness being tested, what in this is "fit". People to watch, People to follow, for whom enters the Sandman? Time to sit, Taoism observes, observing is done.

"Come on!" I screamed at anyone still alive to follow us through the gates. "I'm only down the block, how about you?" I asked Mary. Students poured out of the gates while more of the dead feasted on the bodies inside....and now there were a few more outside the school as well. It wasn't just within, but outside the school now that these things were.

"Two blocks out I would appreciate some back up" She called to him as she sprinted outside, avoiding the crazies as they ate people or attacked them.

Dodging past more of the dead, I stayed close to Mary. "So my house or yours?" I said, though it looked like it was going to be her house. Screams filled the air as for every student that escaped another was dragged down by a zombie and killed.

"I need to go home I have to go home" She said breathlessly, sliding over the bonnet of a parked car and resumed running.

Kristen kicked again, getting herself a little more breathing room, and scrambled to her feet. The fence wasn't far now, and she made it over first try. She stepped away from it, and paused, catching her breath. She couldn't see anyone on this side; she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. She was close to her house though, she knew, and she knew her dad had a shotgun. Home was safe, so she started to jog towards her street, fighting both the urge to run and the urge to cry.

"What about me huh? I have a home too. My parents are going to be.....wait," I said, and as I ran I awkwardly tried getting my phone out. The motion made me slow down, a death sentence in a way, but I got the phone out and checked for any calls. None, which was odd. I looked behind me, and saw more of the dead coming out of the school. Some students were still in there, alive like me. People.....should I really leave them? They may not have known me, but....every one saved was one less of these things to fight. Then I realized something really, really bad......my house keys. They were in my locker. "Fuck.....Mary, my keys....I have to go back!"

"You can go to your family if you want to I am not going to stop you" Mary responded but she was not going to go back to the school. She had a family to look after, or to check up on. She could not believe what she was hearing from Alex.
"Just break the window or something... I cannot go back.... Sorry but I need to check up on my family" Mary wanted to help James out yet she needed to get back home. "Look I will get back home then I will come back to the school to help you out... I am sorry Alex... But... Holy Moly look after yourself until I get back with some stuff"

Kristen checked the next street for people. It was empty, but not in a good way. There were bodies, blood, broken windows and doors, but none of those... monsters. She tried to calm herself and walk while she had a chance, her school shoes weren't meant for running in and she needed to be able to break into a sprint at a seconds notice. So against everything her body was screaming, she forced herself to walk.

I shook my head. As much as I wanted to return somewhere safe and familiar....safe would be better. "Dammit.....I'll find another way. But we're better off sticking together Mary. Lead the way."

"Okay Alex stay close and watch my ass I would hate for it to get chewed off by one of these freaks" Mary said leading the way to her home, the street that her house was located on happened to be rather empty. Except for the few bodies and several wrecked and abandoned cars.
Mary sprinted down the road, running up to her house but stopped in the entrance. The door had been busted in, blood stained the wooden floor. Now that she was there... Mary could not summon the courage to enter the house she called home.
If her family was dead, or if they where those things...