What Lies Ahead

Chapter 2 : Help

     I started making my way through the once crowded senior hallways. My head was still pounding and I walked at a slow, steady pace to avoid the possibility of passing out again. My eyes wandered and flickered erratically, in search for any signs of the people whose voices I'd heard upon my departure. The deeper I got into the school, the more chaotic looking the hallways got.
     Papers, backpacks, and other school supplies littered the floors like they'd been thrown about, and a bunch of  lockers once belonging to friends of mine were left open and empty. Before turning the corner at the end of the hallway that met the cafeteria, something caught my attention. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, so I turned to face it. Someone facing the opposite direction as me, began walking through the 10th grade math wing.
      "He- Hello?!" I called after them. Following my call, they turned around, and another person walked slowly out of the classroom next to them. Once I could correctly fix my eyes on them, I knew something was wrong. I wanted to speak, or yell, but no words came out of my open mouth. I gripped the scissors in my hand harder than before, as they continued toward me. I slowly started easing backwards, and the beings started coming at me much faster. I heard nothing but groans from them and their fast paced footsteps, which was enough to convince me that then would be a good time to turn around and make a break for it. I turned around abruptly to start running, only to end up on the floor.
     I slipped on a three ring binder in my attempt to run away. Their groans became louder and louder until suddenly, I found one of them on top of me, and the other waiting out the commotion behind him, almost as if distracted by something else.  As the second person, or thing, slowly began shuffling away, I found myself struggling with the other on top of me. Face to face with this thing, time felt like it was frozen, and I studied the details of its face. Glazed over, lifeless eyes were surrounded by pale, seemingly withered skin. Blood and drool formed small pools in the corners of its mouth. And the skin tone of its strong veiny hands matched that of its face. Time sped up again and my adrenaline pumped harder and faster than ever. The scissors I had once gripped lay just inches out of my reach. Pushing it up off me I kicked it with as much force as I could. It stumbled backward without falling and quickly came after me once more. I scrambled on my hands and knees to grab the scissors. With the scissors fixed in my right hand I got up, planted my feet and let the thing come at me. It snarled and moaned, and with a big thrust grabbed at me. I dodged its attempt, and with as much force as I could muster, I stabbed it through the temple with the scissors.  Blood slightly splashed my hand and face. Just like that it was over.
      The monster fell to its knees, and it was dead just like that. Shocked at my own actions, and what just went down, I leaned my back against the wall and tried to catch my breathe, until I heard a thud coming from a little ways down the hall. Regaining my senses, I pulled the scissors from the being's head, and slowly made my way to the noise.
     Panic filled my bones as I neared where the sound had seemingly come from. "Stop" , a man's voice with a slight southern accent exclaimed. I didn't stop, something compelled me to keep walking. "Stop right now, or I will shoot you." I stopped and held up my hands. The man, accompanied by a woman, step forward through one of the doorways to my left. One of those, things, could be seen on the floor, motionless behind them. "I- I'm just trying to get out of here. Were you the ones I heard yelling before?" I said. The woman looked to the man. She was slim -and tall with black, wavy hair. She was pale, with a narrow face and green eyes. She wore cuffed jeans with combat boots, a tank top, and a flannel shirt tied around her waist. The man, who was seemingly familiar, was also tall and thin, yet muscular. He had blue eyes and a stubble beard shadowed his tan face. He was fully dressed in a King County Sheriffs department uniform, complete with a brown cowboy hat marked with a shiny gold badge. In his right hand, he wielded a shiny silver revolver, and it was pointed at my head.
     "Rick, Rick for Christ sake put the gun down she's just a kid. Rick she's hurt. " the woman exclaimed. She put a hand on his shoulder and they looked at each other. With that he lowered the revolver. "My name is Officer Rick Grimes, I'm with the King County Sheriff's Department. " he holstered his gun and tipped his hat to me, flashing the shiny badge. "Good thing you're a real cop.. Impersonation is a crime." I smirked at the man who half way smirked back, and extended his hand to me. We shook hands and looking at his face closer I could see the worry in his eyes. The woman stepped forward. "We're looking for our son, Carl. He's in fifth grade. But we can't find him anywhere. He was here staying for tutoring when everything went down. You're a student here?" The woman's voice was shaking with fear. I rubbed my temple and whined at the pain that was intensifying in my head. "S-sorry, what exactly is going on. I just woke up like this in my English classroom" I motioned to the half assed attempt at bandaging my injury. The couple looked at each other with concern and worry "I'm fine. Just a cut." I assured them. "We'll explain everything and get you out of here once we find our boy. Can you help us?" The man responded. "Tutoring is held in the library. I'll take you there but I'd feel a lot more safe if you'd stand in front with that gun of yours." With no questions asked we were off.
     We'd reached the library and nothing could be seen from outside. Shuffling and groans could be heard from inside, which made all of us feel uneasy immediately. "Rick what if he's in there. We have to do this." The woman said, finally breaking the silence amongst us. The man stepped forward to go inside, but I stepped in front of him. I glanced down at his boots. "Those cowboy boots of yours make a hell of a lot of noise on these floors. I'm light on my feet and know the library well. Whatever's in there, I'll take care of it. If we find your son he'll want to be with both of his parents when we do. I'm not gonna sit here and watch a kid lose his dad to one of those nasty things. " I pulled my backpack off of my shoulders. gripped the scissors and turned around for the door. What compelled me to sacrifice myself? I don't know. But it was done and there was no going back from the awesome dialogue I just delivered to that bad ass cop. Before I opened the door the woman spoke "wait" and I turned around to face her. "Scissors won't do it, take this." She pulled a smaller revolver from the back of her pants and handed it to me. "It's loaded, " the man added "you better be careful... If things get bad get out of there fast. " I nodded at the two of them, and headed inside.
     The shuffling around seemed to be coming from toward the back of the library. Chairs and tables were flipped over all over the first room of the library. In the back room, one of the monsters from before was scratching and banging at the closet that held the projectors and new computers. Quiet cries could be heard from the inside of the closet. I ran at the thing with my scissors and just like that it was dead. Leaving the scissors lodged in its head, I grabbed the door handle and pulled at it.
     This made whoever remained inside cry louder. "You're okay, I killed it... Please open the door.. Please." I spoke softly to try and coax them out. But whoever was inside was clearly shaken up. "Why did I think this'd be easy" I remarked under my breath. The thin door rested on old rusted hinges, so I began kicking at the door trying to bust it open. It took a few tries and at this point my head was pounding to no end. It took one final kick after about five, and all that I had left in me, but the door finally gave.
     Inside was a young boy, about 9 or 10 years old. He had short black straight hair that fell at his brows. His pale freckled skin was drenched in either sweat or tears, or probably both. He wore black cargo shorts and an old white t-shirt with a big paw print on it. He wielded a yard stick and began swinging it at me. I caught the yard stick mid swing. Hearing the commotion, his parents ran into the library. Once in his sight he ran to them and jumped into their arms. Seeing this, it had finally officially occurred to me that I had no idea where my own family was. Warm liquid began streaming down the side of my cheek, only it wasn't tears or sweat. My head had began to bleed again and the maxi pad bandage job couldn't hold anymore blood. The room began to spin and the only sounds I could hear any longer were the muffled thanks from Rick and his wife, and the throbbing of my temples. My knees became extremely weak, and just like that, I fell to the ground.