The Zombie School

The Next Day

    I'm awoken to the sound of yelling and of Sarah rushing in to tell me "We have to leave. NOW!"

    "What's happening," I ask. Still drowsy from not getting enough sleep and being rudely awoken by a panicked Sarah, ushering me into the main lobby with all of my stuff.

    "Morning. We have to go. This whole place is gonna be a crater before tonight," Livenston says, looking a little worried. It takes a couple minutes for what he says to have any effect on me.

    "Why is this place going to be a crater? Is the military going to bomb it?" I ask, coming out of my daze.

    "Yes, think of someplace else to go. Many big cities are gone, or have almost no structure intact," Livenston remarks. He must have talked to one of the people at an air force base, since they're the only people with enough firepower to take out a whole city.

    "Try up North. The mountains never have a lot of people in them and there is plenty of game that we can hunt. Enough land for crops, its perfect. No?" I suggest, growing more worried by the minute. Livenston agrees and we all load into the big infantry truck they had in the back.

THE NEXT DAY

    We arrive in the mountains within about thirteen hours. It took us longer, since we had to deal with blocked up highways and more than one herd of Roamers moving South. The village of Saranac Lake, New York. The town seemed like a ghost town. Nothing moved, not even the leaves, even the lake seemed calm. This couldn't be the town that I had grown up knowing, where was everyone? There weren't even any Roamers, which was quite appealing to Livenston.

    "Nothing's here, this place looks like its been abandoned for a few years now... When was the last time you were actually up here Lynch?" Livenston asked.

    "Just this past summer, my Uncle wasn't doing so good so we all came up her and stayed a few days... It was so alive. The lake was flowing over, the birds were singing, even the wind had something to say," I stated.

    They all seemed a little confused when I said that the wind had something to say, so I added, "This Indian ground, they lived in the mountains and lived with the people for so long before we came, we were friendlier than those southern of us, or the bigger cities. You would actually see them every once in a while, They still live here... maybe." Some of them were still a little confused and then they started to get it.

    "SO WAIT! IS THIS LIKE AN INDIAN BURIAL GROUND!?" Montie screamed, scaring the crap out of all of us, and apparently a small flock of birds.

    I laughed and said, "No, those are higher up the mountains and WAY more secluded. We don't have any bad spirits to worry about. There are a few good ones that supposedly wander the whole mountainside. I've only seen one, that was about 12 years ago though." I sighed remembering everything that had happened in this village and at the cabin... THE CABIN!!

    "Can you get one of your jeeps to take me to a cabin further up the road? I really need to see something," I ask Livenston.

    He nods and tells two of his men to go with me. The four soldiers pile into the jeep ahead of me and we drive for a few minutes till we get to the restaurant. We turn and go down the twists and reach the cabin's fork. We go down our way and the rock and walkway come into view and my heart soars! I'm out of the jeep before the soldiers and running down the steps, I hit the door and go under the mat to grab the key. Something grabs my arm and swings me around though, I scream and punch, before realizing that its one of the soldiers, Jackson I think.

    "Why'd you have to hit me? Gah, that hurt," he says, growing a little angry and impatient that he has to babysit me.

    "I'm sorry, I thought you were a Roamer. I just turned and punched, wasn't really thinking about you being there. Lets just get in and put some ice on that," I say apologetically.

    "How do you know there is any ice?" he asks as I turn the key and open the door.

    "Just a hunch, you never know," I state. We walk in and there is no smell of death, just the sweet smell of the wood of the cabin, the smell of the water, and the look of the room. I open the fridge and realize that there is something wrong about the room... There is another smell to it... One of a fire, freshly put out. I close the fridge and walk to the furnace in the middle of the room, open the door and there are the cinders. I gasp and Jackson comes running over.

    "What is it? Woah, did you do that?" he asks, noting the cinders in the furnace and beginning to look just as amazed as I am. I shake my head and he starts to smile.

    "Is there anyone in here!? I'm going to open the door to the master bedroom! If your there, I just want to talk. I'll close the door after I come in." I state as I open the door. I don't even get it all the way open when someone yanks it open and pulls me in. I hear Jackson yell as I get dragged in.

   "Are you unarmed? Are you okay? I didn't mean to be that rough. Sorry." the mystery person says. They sound like a he, but the lights are out and the blinds are drawn so I can't see to confirm.

    "I'm unarmed, you can check if you want, but I promise I'm not. I have to yell to tell him I'm okay before he busts in here," I laugh, "I'm okay Jackson, still living at least. Haha!" There are more footsteps out in the living room, since Jackson yelled they all came running. I hear mumbling and then realize that its them talking. "I'm Liam by the way. A lot of people just call me Leelee though. I think its a little odd, but I've gotten used to it," I say trying to get a response.

    I sit on the bed for a minute before the room starts to come together and mystery person sits down. "I'm Mark, I don't really have a nickname. How did you know I was here? I didn't leave any tracks or anything," Mark says puzzled.

    "This is my families cabin actually, I came here as a kid, I have a lot of memories here and I thought I should check and see if it was doing okay," I reassure him. "Mark is a cool name by the way. Can I sit up there by the headboard, or still at the base?" I ask.

    "It's apparently your cabin, although I don't really believe you, do whatever you want," he says almost defensively.

    "The shower is clear and there is a bedroom with two beds on the other side, the seat on the toilet falls too. Okay then, I'm moving up there. Also, why do you keep it dark in here?" I ask.

    "Cause... it helps me think and its easier than having to deal with everything in town," he says, sounding depressed. I feel really bad for him.

    "What do you mean, no one is in town," I say. The bed shakes and I realize he's a little scared at the fact that I sat down so close to him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Do you mind if I turn on a light, or open a blind?" I ask.

    "Sure, but just enough to see. Okay?" he asks sounding scared of me.

    "Okay, I'm just gonna turn on this light... at least I think its over here... Aha!" I say as the light flicks on and I turn to see that Mark is sitting there with a gun in his hand. He looks at me and just sits it down. We just sit there for the next half an hour in silence.