Kids Never Die

Chapter 6: On The Road Again

So we trudged one final time into the debris of a once prison of learning. We found a flattened area, with four tall pillars towering into the sky. This had to have been where our school cafeteria had been. As we headed into the valley of debris, we threw bricks and dirt to kill the dead silence. We mad our way under pipes and bits of concrete and crawled through a small hole into the kitchen.

The entire place had been torched. Everything was smoldered and black. The room smelt as if someone had roasted rotten meat. As we walked through, we quickly realized that the floor was littered with toasted bodies of the cafeteria ladies and kitchen aids. All just burnt flesh and singed aprons.

Finally, we spotted the racks of assorted bagged snacks such as cookies or chips. Some of the bags were burnt and melted, but a few were in tact.

"Grab as much as you can." I groaned.

We began grabbing and stuffing our shirts and pockets. Once we had as much as we could hold, we made our way for the exit hole. But things began to shift. It started with ash and dust raining from the ceiling and strange cracking noises. Then the structure began growling and moaning.

"We need to get out of here." Morgan ran for the light. The ceiling boards began to collapse, releasing plaster resin into the air. The debris around the tunnel which was our exit was now beginning to shift. I could see the concrete over it was slipping, making the opening thinner by the second.

I had to think. I placed my hand to my head and shifted my eyes from left to right. Then right to left. Then I had it. I spotted a lunch tray sitting on the floor. I grabbed it and slid across the floor to the hole. I jammed it in between the concrete ceiling and the floor vertically, using it as a support.

"Go Morgan, go!" I shouted. He crawled through the hole quickly. Just as his foot disappeared through the pit, the tray buckled and snapped under sheer weight. The hole was completely closed. The room was pitch black and quickly dismantling itself. A long wooden board fell from the ceiling and slammed into the oven in the back of the kitchen. The oven was sent into a blaze.

It was becoming increasingly hard to breathe as the oxygen was being snuffed by the flame. Without oxygen, not only could I not breathe but I could not think. I sat against the wall and buried my hands in my pockets. As I choked and savored each breath I took, I pulled my wallet from my pocket. In it I scrambled through the photos of my friends and family. The flame left a flickering light that fell on the faces of my loved ones. I ran my finger down the face of a picture of Emilee. I cracked a smile and noticed my tears splashing into my wallet.

I threw my wallet aside and began to cry. I began to think on my life. From being a child. Held in my mothers arms. My first pet. The birth of my little brother. Holding his little head in my hands. His tender body resting against my chest. My older sister whom I looked up to greatly. I thought about how I would never learn to drive. I would never feel another's lips pressed against my own. I would never get married. I would never have a child of my own. I buttoned my shirt that was scattered with tears, restricting my breath in hopes that I would go sooner.

But I soon noticed a bit of light showing. Something not caused by the open flame. And it was increasing. I looked up to see Angela, cutting into the wall above my head. She was hacking at it with a long, sharp, metal bar. "Angela?" I asked. My voice was very breathy and high pitched, as I gasped for air.

"Christian, are you alright?" Angela called out, her voice flowing from her tongue like silk.

My mind was in a haze and immensely terrified. All my mind could think to say was "Angela." I repeated it several times as she hacked through the wall. Finally she broke a gap big enough for me to fit through. Gavin and Ian reached down for me and pulled me out.

"This place is dangerous." Angela quivered. "I don't think we should stay the night."

"I think she's right." Miranda nodded. "We should probably start moving. Maybe see if anyone survived at the high school."

"Great idea." said Gavin.

Kyra rolled her eyes and walked back to the others. "Fine!" She muttered, "Contradict my idea."

I lay on the ground, my head in a haze. My vision was wobbly and blurred. I felt as if I were to throw up. The area was spinning. I clenched my eyes shut and took in deep breaths slowly.

When I finally opened my eyes, I looked up at Angela. I smiled and reached my hand out and placed it in hers. "You.... Y-You..." My mind desperately searched through the dictionary in my head, finding the appropriate words to mutter. "You saved me." I finally let out.

"Of course I did," she looked down at me. "You're my friend and I care about you."

I stared into her blue eyes and got lost in the ocean. I thought. All these people are our friends and we all care about each other. And we would only survive if we worked together.

I rested but a moment more and got up. I cracked each bone in my body, insisting I was ready to move. I stretched out and walked to join the group. "I guess it's time to move." I smiled and placed my hands together.

"I guess so." A voice squeaked behind me. I turned to put a face with a voice and it was none other than Emily, fully awake but still weary and tired in appearance. Her eyes were dark and sunken in. "Where to?" She asked.

I smiled.