Trapped in the End

Chapter Two

The halls became crowded once more as the assembly dismissed back to their first period. There were so many various expressions wandering, some where normal and calm and some were frantic. Teachers lines the corridors with grim expressions that truly set the mood. As he entered the familiar classroom for Contemporary Issues, there were only two students present before him and both looked as if they were about to urinate themselves out of fear. He gave a small smile to the two girls before taking his seat towards the back of the room. Coach Burns' desk was completely clear no papers, folders, pictures, or soccer bags, he must have evacuated with his family, something Parker longed for. Sitting back in his seat, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes peacefully, but the only thing on his mind was the worst case situations about the outbreak.

The sky was an eerie shade of grey with an unusual tint of green, dirt and rubble were flying through the air with a strong wind. The stench was foul and the cold wind swept right underneath his clothing, his heart was beating faster than it ever has before. Adrenaline filled his mind and soul as he looked at the flood of sick folk, moving quicker than the stereotypical zombies in the movies and shows. They were humans with decaying bodies, but they were still strong and fast.

A scream erupted stealing his attention, the voice was familiar, it was almost eerie how familiar it was. His head turned to Brody stuck on the ground, screaming as a creature was devouring him as if he were one of their favorite snacks. Anger rose as tears filled his eyes and he began walking toward the scene until something stopped him, a hand landed on his shoulder preventing him from moving further. Behind him was an image of himself, beaten and bleeding all over his face, he shouted, but he couldn't hear anything.

Finally, his ears popped allowing the yelling to be heard clearly despite his brother crying a few feet away from him. "Logic over emotion is the only way you are going to live; this could be the end if you don't get your head out of the gutter. You can't save anyone except yourself." With that, the vision of himself disappeared, without a trace. His own words continued to scream in his mind, causing him to feel literally insane with the sound.

He wanted to walk towards his brother, but when he looked, his corpse was gone. Everything was gone, the parking lot was empty, the sky was cloudy and grey, no debris was flying, everything was normal. The shouting began again, but this time it was his own name.

"Parker!"

"Mr. Ofling."

"Damn it Parker!"

"WAKE UP!"

Quickly, he snapped out of the traumatizing daydream with heavy breathing and a panicked expression on his face. The area around was blurry until a moving shape caught his attention, slowly the figure became clearer and he recognized the authority figure as soon as his eyes began to focus. Fear quickly struck him as he sat up all of way and he froze his body hoping that he would walk off and forget about him sleeping, but that is not the case, Dr. Kennedy was not an easy assistant principle to deal with. "You're hard to wake., Time for second period son. Everything okay?" Her tone turned from harsh to gentle once realized that it wasn't exactly the ideal nap, she was aware of Parker's past mental health, but this was completely different.

"I am fine Dr. Kennedy, thank you." Keeping his statement short and effective, he exited the room quickly only to bump into a taller figure, it was the guy from the gym this morning, but he continued to walk before he could say a word. Seeing that familiar face made it all a brighter situation.

"Parkerrrr" Mason shouted from behind him in her usual whiney tone, he slowed down is pace so she could catch up to his usual pace. "I can't believe this is happening! It's like the story you wrote a year ago, the zombie one." She announced excitedly, there was a massive difference between his fiction and the reality of everyone's safety. He only nodded along, hoping she would finish her talking about the topic quickly. "Are you okay?" She asked as they walked in the classroom, he kept quiet until the two teachers exited.

"No, nobody should be okay! There are literal zombies out there and they are going to kill everyone we know and love if we don't leave, but no. Apparently education is more important then running from something so dangerous. Instead, we are waiting just to escape last minute. Everyone is a fucking idiot." Parker ranted, looking at Mason directly in the eyes.

"You're just overthinking. It's just an illness." Mason defensively responded as if he had insulted her. She tucked her black hair behind her ear with a look of disgust on her face.

"You're just not getting it. This illness literally transforms you into some sort of creature and you can't be the same person anymore. There is no solution Mason, at this point it is literally life or death." His tone was calmer because he needed to her to realize what all was at stake here.

"Cancer changes people too and they are never the same after." She snapped back, still acting as though she was hurt by his frustration.

"Cancer is so different; why can't you just listen to me for once in your life?" He responded setting his backpack beside his desk while taking a seat, seeing the teacher walking in, he paused the conversation. A sting of aggression resided with him as students filed into the history class; he wanted no conversation with Mason and just wanted to leave the school with his family to escape this horror.

Similar to first period, there was only about four to six students present in that class, he couldn't blame the others, if he had a chance then he would out of there really quick. Images of his family ran through his mind as if it were a slideshow of his life in only a few seconds, the carpet with the small television with the sound of the George Lopez theme song that woke him up in the mornings, the scent of spaghetti cooking with his favorite Texas Toast garlic bread, playing with the new baby when he first came home during Christmas break, and just being with them on stormy nights. Regret filled his heart as he thought about his actions and attitude to them, but it was only because he wanted them to be safe. That was all he wanted.