Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter 1- The Essay

The light shone through the curtains, waking me up and momentarily blinding me. I rolled over and checked the time on the clock. 8:12. Dammit I was late!

                I threw the covers off and ran into my closet, throwing on a pair of jeans, a grey army tshirt, and a pair of socks. I walked down the hall and into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

                The image I saw in the mirror was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I pulled my blonde hair out of the ponytail and brushed through it. Thank god I had washed it the night before.  

                I brushed my teeth and ran back into my room, grabbing my backpack and stuffing my jacket and my phone into it. I found one combat boot and put it on, but I didn’t see the second one anywhere. I hopped on one foot over to my bed and looked underneath.

                There it was! I laced it up and slung my backpack over my shoulders, sprinting down the stairs. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and I slammed straight into my brother, knocking him to the ground.

                “Dammit Maddie! Watch where you’re going!” He yelled angrily, getting to his feet. “Sorry Theo…” I mumbled, walking into the kitchen.

                “Good morning Madelyn,” My mother said, scooting a plate of waffles in front of me. I took a bite. “Mom. We’ve been over this, don’t call me Madelyn. I like Maddie better.” She gave me a look. “Madelyn is the name you were given at birth and that is what I will call you.” I groaned. My dad calls me Maddie, why can’t she?

                I took another bite of my waffles, and then checked the clock. It read 8:34. I had 11 minutes to get to school! I hopped off the chair and gave my mom a kiss on the cheek. “Love you mom!” I yelled as I ran out the door.

                My high school was a 10 minute walk away, but it usually took me closer to 15. But I really had to hurry today. If I was late again, I’d get detention, and boy did I hate it in there. The only people who got detention were low lifes and jocks who don’t turn in their homework.

                I started running, the thought of detention made me want to get to school on time. I didn’t care that I looked like a stupid freshman running with my backpack. Image didn’t really matter to me. I was that girl who wasn’t girly but also not super athletic either. My wardrobe consisted of jeans and a bunch of tshirts from various camps and very few things actually came from a mall.

                A car pulled up next to me, but I decided to ignore it. No good could come out of stopping for “them.”

                “Hey Thomas!” that was my last name. “Why don’t you dress like a normal girl for once? I’m sure you’ve got a killer body under that tshirt!” God, Tyler was so fucking annoying.

                I ignored them and they drove off, thank the lord. The school was in sight now and I literally sprinted the quarter of the mile I had left. According to my watch, I had 2 minutes to get to class.

                I took a deep breath and walked into the school, stopping at my locker. I opened it and shoved my backpack inside, putting my phone in my back pocket and grabbing my English binder. I walked down the hall as quickly as possible.

                When I got to my classroom, I slid into my seat in the very back corner of the room next to my best friend, Avery. We were complete opposites, but we had been friends since the first grade when I shared my peanut butter sandwich with her and she had an allergic reaction. Things like that really bring people together.

                I relaxed into the uncomfortable plastic chair and breathed a sigh of relief. No detention for me today.

                “Jesus Maddie, you were almost late again! You know, 5 tardies equals-“

                “Yeah, yeah. I know. It equals detention, got it. But I wasn’t late, was I?” I smirked, crossing my arms over my chest. “So you can chillax. I got this handled.”

                The bell rang, and Ms. Tyler walked in the room. “Alright class, today we’re going to write essays-“ The whole class groaned, including me. I usually like English, but essays? Those are NOT fun. Like, not at all. “Oh come on, you didn’t even let me finish!”

                I smirked, tilting my head. “AS I WAS SAYING, We’re writing essays about zombie apocalypse survival. I want a 5 page paper on what equipment you would need, where you would go, the best way to kill a zombie, the weapons you would use, etc. Think you guys can handle that?” I grinned.

                Mrs. T was a 24 year old teacher who is still basically a teenager at heart. She knows exactly how to make us want to do our homework.

                You see, zombies are sort of my specialty. My father was a scientist. I’m not exactly sure what kind, but he worked high up in the government, like the CIA or FBI or something. He’s been researching the possibility of a zombie apocalypse since before I was born and over time he’s been stocking up on some pretty epic stuff.

                My mom doesn’t really believe in all the zombie stuff, but I’ve been training my whole life for the apocalypse. The government has done a good job at covering it up, but the likelihood of it actually happening is really high.

                “You can work alone or with a partner, your choice, but you each need to turn in a copy for me to grade. Feel free to include diagrams, pictures, or even bring in some replicas or actual tools you would use in an Apocalypse. This essay is worth 30% of your grade.” As soon as she said this the whole class turned to look at me. Oh shit.

                “I call working with Maddie!”

                “Bitch please, I’ve known Maddie since we were 7! We’re totally partnering up.”

                “Uh, both of you are wrong, She’s my partner, Right Maddie?”

                Everyone started arguing and I rolled my eyes, standing up. No one even noticed. “Um, guys?” still nothing. I groaned. “Oh fuck this, EVERYBODY LISTEN UP!” Silence. Perfect.

                I smiled sweetly. “None of you gets to be my partner because I’m working alone. Now shut up and pick someone else!” I sat back down in my seat.

                They all stared at me for a second before grumbling and turning away from me.

                “Uhh, you are kidding about the ‘working alone’ bullshit right?” I shook my head no. “WHAT? You don’t even want to work with your best friend? I’m offended.” The bell rang and I laughed. “Avery, you and I both know if I work with you I’ll just end up doing all the work.”

                “But… But you know everything about Zombies! I’m gonna fail without you!” I picked up my backpack and walked down the hall on my way to PE. “Okay, tell you what, I’ll let you borrow a Katana or maybe some sneak shoes or something. Does that sound good?” She nodded and ran the other way to Geometry.

                I was actually excited for this essay. I’m definitely going to get an A+.