High School of the Living Dead

Chapter 2: Cafeteria Dilemma

The people in the school have gone crazy. They're sick. They were beaten, bitten, and bloody. They look like monsters, but they're still human. They aren't dead. Dead things don't move.

Dead things stay dead.

We are stuck inside the cafeteria and the only thing we can do is wait for help.

The police have to come eventually. Right?

One of the girls helps pick me up from the floor and leans me up against the barricade. She asks the guy who followed me and Madison, "is it true, is everyone dead?"

"Yeah," he say while kneeling down to clean his shoes of his own vomit, "what we saw in there, was sick." He spits his shoes, scrubbing them with paper towels, "they were all munching on each other up in there."

The girl's eyes grow wide, "what!"

"It--It's true," Madison stuttered, "they don't act normal, like they forgot who we were, they acted like they wanted to hurt us."

"I think they wanted to do something worse than that," I said, coming to my senses. I put my feet back under me and the girl went back to the rest of the group.

This isn't the time to fall apart. We need to find a way to call for help.

It came to me and I felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner.

I pulled out my cellphone and dialed 9-1-1.

I got a busy signal. I dialed again, but still a busy signal.

I don't think we're the only ones dealing with the riots.

For now we are on our own.

After hearing the news of what happened to us inside the school, the entire group by this time is screaming at each other.

They took two sides: the ones who want to stay and the ones who want to go.

This needs to stop.

I grab two lunch trays and climb onto one of the lunch tables. I slam the two trays together, until I successfully cracked both trays and got everyone's attention.

I'm not invisible anymore.

"Everyone, please stop. We can't fight like this. If some of us want to leave, then let them. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm leaving. If you want to come with me, I'm leaving tonight."

"I'm coming," Madison said.

"I'm coming, too" the boy who had come with me and Madison into the school said. "I need to swing by the elementary school. My sister is there. I can't just sit here without knowing if she's okay."

"Anyone, else?" I said.

They all looked at each other, but no one spoke up. Some even looked away.

I know some grudges run deep, but even in a life or death situation like this--I guess, I expected too much.

Three stepped forward, but I only knew one.

Austin Myers. He played football for our school and was worshiped by most of the students. He also happened to be one of the guys that terrorized me when I transitioned.

The bullying continued, until the newspaper got an anonymous call. The word got out that a hate crime was continuing on a daily basis unstopped by the faculty.

One newspaper article and morning news report later--everything changed.

The faculty cracked down on the students with school wide suspensions, and later when the attacks got more violent, expulsions became daily.

The school lost a tenth of their student body.

We lost our football team.

They didn't attack me anymore. They didn't do anything. They pretended that I didn't exist.

Austin Myers walked up to our group and silently mouthed, "fuck with me and you're dead, freak."

I didn't respond. I couldn't understand what he thought I would do to him. I kept a safe distance away from him.

The other two, obviously a couple, walked to the group side by side, "we're coming with, but you can cut the group bullshit. We're leaving on our own. The second we hit the parking lot, we spilt.

The girl on his arm, "that's right, Hon," she nuzzles her head into his shoulder, "we split."

Gag me with a spoon.

"Hey, I don't think we got introduced?" He pops his collar, "I'm Jack Kelvin." He says it in a obnoxious way that sounds like even though I don't know him from Adam, I should know him by reputation alone.

"I'm Sarah," I try to walk around him. "You're new here?" Because if you knew any better you'd avoid me like the plague.

"Ain't new, been here since the beginning of the year."

Which means you're new.

I walk to the group. Austin glares at me. I turn back to Jack.

"So, babe," he snakes an arm around my waist, "maybe after we get back to my place, we ya know, hangout or something."

God, he is an idiot.

Not to say I don't look like a girl. I do. Most people wouldn't know right off the bat, but in this school.

He must know that the one person who singlehandedly striped the school of its football team, along with a few other sport teams--was me.

"Jack," I pull his hand from my waist, "let's just try to get out of the school alive."

"I'll take that as a yes."

I struggle to not roll my eyes. I think I preferred him on the floor throwing up.

"Hey, you two, get your asses over hear," Austin yells.

God, Austin, makeup your mind.

While Jack was distracting me, Austin had decided to takeover the leadership role. He's planning the path the group will be taking through to the parking lot.

Well, at least he was trying to.

Austin pounded his fists against the lunch table trying to get his plan across. The couple were completely engrossed in themselves and Madison tucked her knees to her chest. She flinched every time Austin hit the table.

Madison and the lovebirds were siting on one side of the table, leaving Austin alone sitting the other side.

I decide to stand.

Jack walks up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist again. Resting his chin on my shoulder.

Austin glared at me again.

"You," he points his finger at me, "you lag behind, I will leave you."

"Whatever you say."

"Don't push your luck."

"You think I have luck?" I nearly laugh.

"You two know each other?" Jack sounds surprised.

Austin doesn't respond, then turns his attention a leaf of notebook paper with what looked like a simplified map of the campus.

"Sort of," I say in a way that sounds more cryptic than it was meant to be.

I stood by the table and listened to his plan. Which sounded fairly straightforward.

Run across campus.

Jump the fence.

Run through the parking lot.

Jump into the van.

Unlock the school gates.

Drive like a bat out of hell off campus.

"What do we do if we see more of them?" Madison asks.

"Run." Austin said.

To Be Continued...