January Third

January Third

Prologue

I remember January third so well, it disturbs me sometimes. It started off like any other day; you get up, get dressed and carry out your normal morning routine. Except, I guess I should've suspected something was horribly wrong when a low rumble ensued from the ground around seven AM. Jenny had just taken her waffles out of the toaster when a slight vibration filled the kitchen; clinging pots and pans above.  

"That's... weird." Jenny remarked, scrunching her eyebrows together in what one only could assume as confusion.  

"It's probably nothing; the Johnsons must be using their new lawn mower they bought last week." I remark. That's what I used to do-assume the best. Assuming back then was better than facing the truth. Now that I think about it, facing the truth could've saved my parents' lives.  

"A lawn mower can't make that much ruckus, Darla." She expresses, "It's scientifically impossible." 

"Whatever smart-ass, we're late for school."  

"But I really think we should-" 

"Jenny! We need to go to school!" I screech.  

"Fine, let's go." She mumbles, walking out the door with her head down. She really needed to build up her self-confidence, it was annoying sometimes.  

As we got into the car, it started to rain. Pour would be the better word, I suppose. Buckets upon buckets poured down from the sky. I thought it to be quite bizarre, it raining; it never rained like this in San Diego. It actually was one of the driest cities in the country, which flabbergasted me even further.  

It was at Highway 21 that I recognized what seemed to me at the time, a person in a mask. He was walking like he was brutally injured by a car accident, but I couldn't see any collisions up ahead. The sight was just a little uncanny.  

"We should stop for him, Darla." Jenny, my fellow do-gooder stated.  

"Yeah, well, I don't give a shit about weirdoes on the road." I respond, "Plus, I don't think Mom and Dad would appreciate him in their new Cadillac."  

"But he looks hurt!" Jenny protested, "We could at least give him our cell phone to use!" 

"Don't you think he has a cell phone?" I say, rolling my eyes. 

"He could have easily run out of battery or something!"  

I was getting sick of Jenny guilt-tripping me so I pulled over,

"Do you want to borrow my cell phone to call someone?"  I ask.

"We should've called 911." Jenny whispered from the passenger's seat.  

The man was limping towards the car, using the hood as a way to support his body. He didn't fully respond to me, just grumbled something unintelligible.  

"What, sir?" Jenny asked, getting out of the car.  

He kept moving his mouth, leaving it open for a minute then closing it rapidly. Jenny came around the car and took the arm he was leaning on the hood onto her shoulder for better support.  

That was when it all went downhill. His hand shot up to her neck, forcing his fingers into her skin. Jenny's blood started trickling down her neck and onto her blouse. He was about to bite her neck when I punched him in the gut. The man immediately fell down, jerking around on the ground.

I rushed Jenny into the backseat; zooming away from the cannibalistic man.  

"Damn!" I fume, "I told you that we shouldn't have stopped!" 

"I need to go to the nurse, Darla!" 

"The nurse?" I laugh, "You need to go to the emergency room!" 

"Please don't go there! Mom will freak out!" 

"Fine... I'm just doing this so I don't have to be late for class... again."  

We made it into our High School, stopping by the nurses' office. She wasn't that bad, but she had a few jumbo bandages around her neck.  

"You got fingered, Jenny." I smile, "How did it feel?" 

"Shut up." 

"Nope, this will haunt you the rest of your life." 

"I didn't get fingered; the man was trying to strangle me!" 

"Yeah, yeah." 

We separated to both go into our designated home rooms. Mine was History, with Mr. Hennek.  

"So glad you could make it, Ms. Bensen."  

"Me too, Mr. H."  

He resumed class fairly quickly but not before he could lecture us about the importance of being on time to school every day.  

That was when the most grotesque thing ever happened, gun shots echoed all over the school.  

"CODE RED, CODE RED, CODE RED!" Mr. Hennek shrieked.  

We all piled in on each other in the corner of the room. Somebody reeked of body odor but I didn't comment. We all were instantly quite when the gun shots dissolved.

Silence. No birds chirped, no wind breezed by, it was entirely still. Everyone looked around; wide eyed.  

Carlos Santina, a football player, gathered enough courage to peek through the flimsy blinds. We all waited for him to speak, but he simply mouthed the word "nothing".

Nothing? What the hell did that mean? Was he saying that he saw nothing outside, or was he simply trying to spare our feelings?  

A few minutes later a faint shadow of heels lingered by the doorway; I was so close to that door. Lily Swanstont, a quite freshman slid over to the end of the room by the filing cabinets, but not without taking the chair with her. As the chair slid, it made an ear piercing noise that everyone in town probably heard.  

The lady outside fumbled with the door, obviously getting frustrated with it and eventually just shooting off the lock.

We must've looked so weak, then. All wide eyed and desperate, but the woman's lips were set in a fine line. That was the split second that I knew; no mercy would be given.

The shooting resumed.