Night of the Living Bacteria [Old version]

Chapter Seventeen (Part Two)

The next few days, we moved all of our most valuable things to the Tunnels, mostly during the daytime, the bacteria withdrew coming after us in the daylight. We learned how to avoid it. We learned how to create a temporary block using soap and hand sanitizer, though we have to return every morning to reapply the barrier to the ground. I have no idea when we'll run out of soap, or when that thing will escape, but every day, the three of us trek around the perimeter to seal it in, using both magic and the soap mixture. Today, I'm taking the lead in spell-casting. As we walk along, we talk about what is going to happen.

"I don't think we should, just, leave it like this. We need to make sure that thing is gone before we leave it for the police." Olivia says.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how much longer it'll be until it gets us." Jayden answers, pouring the solution out onto the charcoal-like pavement.

"Well, we shouldn't risk our lives on something there's not a chance of beating." I say, casting another spell. "But, I'm willing to do anything in my power to make sure that thing doesn't kill anyone else."

"You're right, but, are you sure that you are willing to follow through on that?" Maybe we should just call the police.

"Well, if we want to get others involved, then we will." I pause. "But, they don't know as much as we do. It feeds off of people. The more clueless souls, the likelihood of it getting too large to control increases."

"So...?" Olivia questions.

"I think that we'd have a higher chance of survival if we had actual weapons." Jayden says, tossing the empty container into what used to be his schoolbag.

"We'll stay until Winter break begins, when we're supposed to go home. If we can't handle it by then, we'll call the police. If it's dead," I pause. How will we explain the disappearance of a whole school and have no more than three witnesses who claim to know witchcraft?

"Then we'll go home. And if it's not, we'll kill it, then go home."

"Yeah," I say, nodding. I look up. The sky is darkening quickly. "We need to get back underground."

                                                                                             ###

I light a candle with a flick of my finger, resorting to saving resources rather than having a superb source of light. Pulling the heavy slab of wood across the door, I flip a latch over it to ensure that the bolt is secure. We made these out of metal and wood scraps that we found out in the woods, these, in particular, were made out of picnic tables. As I make my way down the empty tunnel, I analyze the situation we're in, slipping into an artist's perspective. Similar to most apocalypse books, the situation we're in requires immediate attention and affects humans. Also similar to this, there is something that slows the spread of the "virus", or the apocalypse. Soon, I reach the main room, dimly lit by lamps, goods, and other things scattered loosely on the floor. Olivia and Jayden come into visibility a little later, each having checked a section of the twelve Tunnels to make sure that they're bolted shut. Once this process is done, we can spend the rest of the evening cooking over a fire and rethinking strategies. I started collecting everything I owned and organized it into a scrapbook, but not filled with memories, more like information. About myself, the others, and our situation. There is always the possibility that we don't make it, and the bacteria somehow survives. There will be one place I'll hide all of my stuff, a place I know the bacteria won't be able to reach. For now, I focus on writing in everything we know so far about the bacteria as neatly as possible before stuffing the small binder into a bag. Even after I finish writing everything down, questions of how to beat the bacteria still run through my mind. If it was created with a spell, it should be possible to destroy it with a spell. The question is, which one? Soon, I'm drifting off to sleep, but the worries of how to kill the bacteria didn't leave my thoughts even after I'd fallen asleep. Hell, those thoughts were never far from my mind the next few months. 

A/N-For those who live in states that don't have a winter break (or countries, as I mentioned, I'm American so idk), it's basically 2-3 weeks in December (or 1-2 like we had this year :/ ) that we have off from school. 

Secondly, I will be uploading a few more chapters to this, but I have to edit the last couple of chapters so I might not post another one for a while. --Laura S.