Poison Hearts | ✓

Chapter 1

It was an ordinary day. My mom dropped me off at school and we went through class as usual.

Today was the fieldtrip.

My car group was fine, I was with Charlotte, Asher, and Tobin. We arrived at some historical building we were supposed to be learning about. Soon the entire class was there.

The parents were supposed to drive to a nearby parking lot. We told jokes some of the time and pointed out scenery. It took about a three hours to get to the deep city.

"Hey where's Mr. Thomas?" Charlotte asked me, nudging my shoulder as we hopped out of the car and walked behind the guys.

"I dunno, haven't seen him since we got here," I replied, taking in the dull grey sky and empty streets. "Where's everyone?"

A blaring alarm screamed in my ears, and I turned towards Charlotte, who was pressing her palms against her ears. She cringed and made a face, and I returned it, yelling, "WHAT IS THIS?"

"This is not a drill," A metallic voice echoed through the still street. "Please evacuate towards the main city building." I tapped Asher's shoulder and he spun around, looking towards a group of skyscrapers.

"Main city building," He pointed, looking at me then Charlotte with widened eyes.

I looked towards where he was pointing, grabbed Tobin, then we trudged along the screeching warning.

"This is not a drill. Please evacuate towards the main city building. This is not a drill."

"I wonder what it is," I said loudly, my heart beating fast. Charlotte's eyes were wide as we saw some of our classmates entering the big, dark oak doors of the building. Tobin and Asher pushed open the doors, and held them until we were inside.

Charlotte and I clutched each other and stayed close to them.

There was a small TV screen, kind of blurry, that was playing some sort of news channel. The blonde reporter looked distressed and talked in a hushed voice. I held Charlotte's arm and approached the TV with Tobin and Asher. There was a small crowd of about thirty or so people around it; including some classmates such as Molly, Oliver, and Drew. There were also some city workers. I recognized a few in blue and black suits, yellow and grey ties, who looked business-like. The blaring stopped. I strained my ears to focus on what the reporter was saying. 

"NOT a drill," She said frantically, waving the mic away from her face and looking wide-eyed to the left. "Symptoms... deadly... stay far away... avoid contact..."

Flashing letters were covering the news channel, and suddenly a scream was heard from the box. The camera flashed black and white boxes, before completely fading out and making a crackling noise. The haunting scream made me shiver. The crowd shifted nervously, murmuring.

"Guys we should stay together," Charlotte said in a small voice. I nodded at her, then looked at Asher and Tobin.

"Good idea," They agreed. "Let's try to find the rest of our class."

They moved slowly, and it was kind of in slow motion, hard to process. I saw a small red-haired girl crying and tugging on her mom's leg, while the mom held a small baby. I wondered what was going on. So is this why nobody was outside? They all had to be inside?

"Luke!" Asher suddenly said, weaving a little faster through the crowd as he spotted his twin. Soon we were reunited with Luke, Drew, Oliver, and Isla.

"Dad," I joked with Drew, and nodding to Oliver reassuringly. "Do you guys know what's going on?"

"We should stick together," Isla said firmly, and I nodded.

"Yes, we should. Have you seen Mr.Thomas?"

There was too many questions and too little answers.

Eventually we drifted to a group of adults. "Do you guys know what's going on?" Tobin asked politely.

"Well kids, where are your parents?" A man said, biting his lip and giving a secretive look at the pretty women next to him.

"Around... why?" I asked curiously.

"Well, apparently there's a small outbreak of zombie-like symptoms," The woman said kindly, "But maybe it's just a hoax..."

Someone screamed loudly, and broken glass could be heard.

"ZOMBIES!" A lady screamed, and the crowd instantly started yelling. It was chaos. I grabbed Charlotte and looked around, scared.

"Where to now?" She asked, and I looked to Asher and Tobin.

"We have to go," Luke yelled, "NOW!"

"What about the others?" Tobin questioned.

"It's too late," Luke replied, disappearing into the crowd. A second later, Asher looked at first Tobin, then Charlotte and I, and followed him. We followed instantly.

I followed Tobin's large frame, Charlotte skidding in her converse besides me.

"What's going on?" I yelled, but they didn't falter.

Suddenly, Tobin stopped in front of me and I ran into him softly, then touched his side.

"Why'd you stop?" I said, my voice shaky, panic rising in my throat. I squeezed Charlotte's hand.

"Asher did," Tobin said, turning around. Luke suddenly ran past us, his face pale.

"That way," Isla said, following him.

We trudged the opposite way of the crowd. We passed the red-head girl who had tears streaking down her face. Luke and Asher ran into the huge, eight feet oak doors, slamming them open.

"We have to go," Luke said, holding the door slightly to make sure we were all outside.

"Go where?" We asked. Charlotte glanced around.

"Where even is everybody?"

"No time," Asher said, glancing at Luke. "Come on." He started to run, and we followed him.

"How far do we have to run?" Oliver panted, falling slightly behind me. I let go of Charlotte's hand so we could run more efficiently.

"This is scary," I breathed.

"Somewhere with no people," Asher called behind him, running a hand over his short-cut hair. "But shh! Don't let them hear you!"

"It's like an apocalypse," I said to Charlotte, and she gave me a frightened look, her brown eyes widening.

We continued to run silently, our footsteps pattering the gloomy black concrete, for about five minutes.