Our Stories End

Chapter 3 || Life as We Know It

Santino

I didn't know what the fuck was happening. I was eating lunch with my girlfriend, Drisana. She had made lunch for the two of us as she always does, a turkey sandwich and some grapes and chips for a snack. Drisana got up to get a napkin for me when it all started, I saw her stand still for a second, then she glanced back at me. I remember her beautiful blue eyes looking back at me in pure fear as she ran further into the hall, grabbing our best friend, Jossolyn, by the arm. I stopped eating my food as I heard people screaming in the hall, and I ran out there mostly because the other half of me was out there. I saw Drisana trying to get Joss to move and, at that point, I was confused about why she was screaming and standing still. I looked over to where Joss was staring, A lunch lady had tackled the other lunch lady and had begun tearing into her flesh with her teeth. I felt nauseous. I figured at that moment that they were fighting and that the lunch lady was psycho and just killed her colleague. 

Drisana and I had gotten Joss to move and more people started coming out, trying to leave the area. I followed Drisana and Joss, trying not to stand there looking at the lunch lady's dead body. As everyone began running towards the front door, Drisana said that we had lost Joss in the mix of all the chaos happening. I took Drisana and we both ended up running out the front door. After we got outside, I heard glass breaking and looked back to see Mr. Hanson, our vice principal, being thrown out of his office window. It seemed as though Mr. Suttie had jumped on him and had begun biting him. Luckily, we got out in time. I tossed my car keys to Drisana and told her to run and I searched the area for my brother, Levi. I saw him in the middle of a crowd of people running out of the school. I yelled to him and he noticed me. Every single student was running to get out, pushing and knocking others over. Levi and I ran to the car where Drisana was; she had started it as well. I flung my door open and jumped in, putting it into drive and speeding the fuck out of there. That was the last time I ever went to that building. I made so many memories there, now looking at it, what was it all for? The three of us, out of breath and in pure shock, drove straight to my house.

When we pulled in, I got out quickly and I looked up towards my Nana and Grampy's window. My Nana and Grampy weren't anywhere in sight and bad thoughts started to go through my mind. As we went to open the door, we noticed it was locked. My dad opened the curtains and peeked out, and seeing it was us, let us in. The first thing I remember doing was hugging him and asking what in the world was going on. My father was holding a metal bat, he told us to get to the basement because that's where the rest of my family was. I didn't even notice until I got in the basement that my sister, Vanessa, and my brother, Dean, had parked their car in the driveway and were here. 

My mind wasn't focused on the cars but I was happy that I knew my sister and her family and my brother Dean and his wife were safe. As Drisana, Levi, and I ran downstairs, we hugged all our family members. My father followed us but didn't come down all the way. He asked us to all listen and he told us that my mother had got a text message from one of her police colleagues back when she was a dispatcher. The text supposedly notified her to get everyone in her family together in one house and lock all the doors. My Nana and Grampy were down there as well. I soon found out that my brother Cody and my Mom had helped them down from upstairs and got them into the basement safely. The only thing I was worried about was if my brother Mikey, his wife, and his two kids were safe. Again, I soon found out that my mom had been calling them back and forth, giving them instructions, and talking to Treyton and Amaya, my niece and nephew, to calm them down and assure them everything will be alright.

At this point, as my family contemplated what was going on, my mom stood next to my dad and told us she was going to call her friend who was a police officer, the same one who notified her to see if he could let us know what was going on. The phone rang twice and then he picked up. My mom put him on speaker and asked what happened, the officer said that an outbreak had occurred. Drisana then cut him off and said that she saw one of the lunch ladies eating the other one. The cop was silent at first, then soon after he said it was a potential zombie outbreak. Some of my family members thought he was joking. Everyone soon realized that it wasn't a joke when he told us what he just heard over his walkie-talkie; that someone witnessed one of the town council members get tackled outside the town hall by a pedestrian, then get bit in the leg, then get their entire face eaten. We all sunk into a seat around us. My grandparents were beside themselves, questioning why this was happening. I asked the officer which town council member it was because I was interested, he told me that the officer who witnessed it and called it in believed it was Jay Kelley but that the body is unidentifiable now. My Nana was asking my mom to ask the cop how it all started.

My mom asked him how it all started, he told us the chief of police in town said they had no idea how this virus started. Drisana, Levi, and I looked at each other in confusion. We wondered what could have happened. The officer notified us he had to go, that it was an emergency, then he hung up abruptly. My mom looked at all of us in worry then dialed my brother Mikey. We all said hi to him as my mother put him on facetime. Mikey explained to us that Nicole was reading a book to the kids and trying to calm Amaya down because she was upset and asking if she could come to our house to see my parents. I remember looking over to the couch where my grandparents were and seeing my grampy starting to cry, then my nana rubbing his back, comforting him. The emotion that runs through my grampy when he knows a grandchild of his is upset is incredible.

My brother, Dean, spoke up and told us all we should all play a game or something to take our minds off everything. His exact words were something like "Alright, let's do something else other than fucking sit here and worry ourselves to death, let's play a game or something or we can watch a show."

Levi turned the TV on, the first thing that popped up was the local news, Pat Callaghan was panicking, telling all viewers to get inside, lock up and he was comparing Covid-19 to this outbreak. Pat Callaghan was making remarks like "As if wearing masks weren't enough, now we have an outbreak happening! What's next? Aliens!" Levi changed the channel as fast as he could, randomly tapping a button. The 90's show, 7th Heaven, came on. Levi changed the channel again because no one felt like watching it. Friends came on and that's what stayed on. I felt a vibration in my pocket, I quickly took my phone out and saw that Kellen, my best friend, was calling me. He asked if I was alright and I asked him the same question. He notified me he was with all our other friends. Then, my phone died.

"Fuck." I said to myself. I glanced at the TV, it was "The One with the Monkey" where the cast sings "in the jungle" to Ross's monkey, Marcel. Drisana let out a giggle which made everyone laugh and calmed people down. A smile appeared on my face, Drisana and I looked at each other and we both said I love you. My dad was still at the top of the steps with his bat when I noticed he was looking up towards the door at the top of the stairway.

Dean asked him "What is it, Dad?"

My father immediately said, "Stay here."

And started going up the steps, quietly placing his feet onto each step. Once I saw my mom and Dean start following him I stopped my mom. I insisted I go upstairs with my dad and Dean instead of her. She didn't want me to go, but I did. Drisana didn't want me to go either, but I knew that if my mom went up there and something happened to her, I'd feel unbelievably guilty knowing I could've gone up for her. My father already had his metal bat in hand, Dean and I were told to go into the tool room (which is in the basement as well) and grab the two bats my dad had put there. I grabbed a wooden bat and Dean grabbed another metal one.

My father, Dean, and I opened the door and started walking into the garage. My dad went upstairs, where my Nana and Grampy live. Dean went into the garage and I went to the kitchen. I heard a noise coming from the sliding door and I yelled to my father and brother. I took a step closer then the door opened very fast. I swung without thinking, soon finding out I just knocked out my best friend, Kellen, with my wooden bat. My father and Dean came running quickly to me, and Kellen laid unconscious on the floor.