Visions and Daydreams

A New Era

Mack sat alone in the crowded classroom and looked out the moggy window as his peers wandered about the room, talking to their friends. The thirty desks were neatly arranged, but were pushed about to accommodate a social atmosphere. Some students sat on the windowsill and watched as others enjoyed gym outside in the fair weather. Mack’s teacher was running late, so the students spent their time as they wished. Mack wasn't in the mood for conversation though; he hadn't been for the past three months. Ever since his mother was taken away and put in the hands of "Unique Medical Care", he had fallen into a deep depression. She had been infected with a developing virus that caused people to lose their sanity. Mack missed her dearly and wanted to visit her, but wasn't allowed to according to officials. He'd be risking himself for infection and it was already spreading too fast.
Twenty minutes passed after the bell had rung before the teacher finally arrived. The class politely hushed and returned to their seats as the teacher pulled out an attendance sheet.
The teacher let out a deep sigh and smiled at his students, "I apologize for being late. Traffic got pretty bad on the way here." He laughed lightly and took off his coat, then hung it on the back of his chair, "So! As you all know, there is an exam today, -"
The class groaned with annoyance as some student slumped in their seat, feeling as though their day had now been ruined.
"- but we don't have enough time." He continued as he scribbled on the attendance sheet, looking up to check the students every once in awhile, "Instead of taking the test today, I thought a discussion would be a nice substitute. However, this discussion isn't a part of the curriculum which means that if you chose to take notes or write a short paragraph on this, you will receive extra credit."
Students cheered and thanked their teacher as some grabbed out a pencil and paper.
He smiled, feeling a lighter air in the room, and placed the attendance sheet on his desk, "This discussion will be about the worldwide virus that has become immensely popular."
Some classmates turned their gaze to Mack in recognition and returned him pitiful eyes. He looked away, angry that they all felt the need to feel sorry for him.
The teacher cleared his throat, "Who can give me information about the virus?"
A single student from the corner of the room raised her hand and the teacher called on her. The girl’s hair was long and blonde and it hung over her slim shoulders as her bright blue eyes shimmered with intelligence. She smiled proudly and sat up straight in her seat, "The virus isn't airborne which means it can only be passed by physical contact; the most common form is being bitten by someone who is infected." She quickly glanced at Mack, then turned her gaze back to the front and continued to speak, "There isn't an official name for the virus yet, but the public refers to it as the Z-Virus. The 'Z' stands for zombie because, well, the virus symptoms mimic that of a zombie."
The room fell into an eerie silence as some students cleared their throats and twiddled their thumbs. Some squirmed uncomfortably in their seats as discussion of the virus wasn’t often in conversations. Everyone knew of the causes and what the virus had done to the worldwide society, but no one truly acknowledged it. The virus was in hushed news as everyone went about their days happily and uninformed.
The teacher smiled in approval, "Very good! Now, who wants to give me their personal thoughts on the virus?"
The class sat in silence as an awkward air engulfed the room. Some students averted the teacher's gaze and others looked down at their notebooks, avoiding eye contact. The teacher took in a deep breath and turned to Mack, "Would you like to share, Mack? You are one of the only students here whose life has been personally affected by the virus." The teacher forced a reassuring smile.
    Mack turned to his teacher with an offended expression and attempted to speak, hoping to tell the teacher off. The school intercom switched on and interrupted his train of thought.
    A man cleared his throat, resulting in an annoying school-wide echo. "Hello staff and students. This is your principal speaking with an important announcement. Recently, a call had been received by government officials that urges everyone to remain indoors. People infected by the ongoing virus have escaped professional hands and are spreading the disease at a rapid pace. Staff, I ask you to lock all doors and windows. Students, I ask you all to remain calm." A loud inaudible noise could be heard in the background as well as the principal's gasp, "N-No! Stay away from me! Stay away!" A cold blood scream could be heard as well as the sound of crushing bones and ripping flesh while indistinct moans spoke.
    At first, everyone remained silent, all in shock and fear. Then, one person screamed which started a whole choir of terror. Everyone rushed out of their classrooms and into the hallways, pushing and shoving one another. Some fell down and were trampled to death while other were pushed into walls, instantly falling unconscious. Mack remained in his seat, still frozen in fear, as he watched everyone run passed the door. Thoughts of death blurred his vision as he clenched his teeth and nervous sweats formed all over his body.
    In front of the classroom door, someone paused and ran in. His hair was short and black and his green eyes shook in fear. The boy was Jayden, a friend of Mack's who had a twin brother named Jordan who didn't seem to be around.
    "Mack?" Jayden called to his frightened friend, "What are you doing? We need to go!"
Mack looked up at Jayden, tears brimming in his eyes, "Wh-what are you...?"
Jayden grabbed Mack's arm, "Listen, we need to find Jordan. Now!" He dragged Mack into the chaos filled halls and searched around. Both boys got pushed around by the crowed, but ignored their pleading screams and cries.
Mack became attentive again and searched as well in panic. He pushed Jayden off to a not so crowded hallway and yelled over the chaos, "Doesn't he have gym class this hour?"
Jayden nodded, "Y-yeah. Th-the locker rooms. We should check there."
Jayden and Mack rushed down the crowded halls and blood stained stairs to the lower level of the school where the gymnasium and locker rooms were. Along the way, countless bodies were easily seen which made Mack's stomach churn with disgust. Jayden rushed into the locker rooms without hesitation and called out his brother's name while Mack checked the showers. No one could be found and Jayden tried to hold back tears; he couldn't stand the thought of losing his twin brother. Jayden stormed out the locker room with Mack following close behind, but as they passed through the doors, they were greeted by a man who only stood a lot couple feet away from them, close to the gymnasium door.
The man was tall and lengthy and wore a bloody hospital gown. His skin was loose and grey while his eyes were milky white and his mouth was stained black as blood dripped from his lips. The man looked to be rotting and had more than one patch of missing hair on his head. His legs didn't stand in the right direction either. They curved strangely and looked painful to walk on.
Mack and Jayden exchanged feared looks as the man walked closer to them. He was slow in his movements, but it was easy to tell that he'd lunged to them at any moment. The boys were about to run back into the locker rooms when the gym door swung open, hitting the man in his face. The man stumbled backwards and fell as someone in black basketball shorts and a blue jersey ran out of the gym, then smashed the man in his face with a tennis racket. The man's head broke open as massive amounts of blood left his skull, but even though he should've been dead, the man groaned as he attempted to stand.
The person with the tennis racket turned to Jayden and Mack to reveal himself as Jordan. His face was red and his clothes were covered in fresh blood as he breathed heavily, "We need to go!"
Jayden and Mack agreed and followed Jordan through the gym and out of its back entrance. They all ran to the parking lot where they saw a lone school bus where they forced its doors to open and rushed in, all breathless. Jordan fell back onto one of the seats to try and catch his breath while Mack and Jayden bent over and took in deep, heavy breaths.
From the front of the bus, a girl's sobbing could be heard. The three boys exchanged looks as Mack slowly walked over to investigate. He looked over the bus driver's seat and saw a girl huddled under the steering wheel. She looked small and her body shook violently as she sobbed into her knees.
Mack cleared his throat, "Uh... H-Hello?"
The girl screamed and backed further under the wheel, "Don't eat me, don't eat me, don't eat me!"   
Jordan stood from the bus seat and walked closer to Mack with Jayden by his side.
Mack tried to shush the girl as he walked over to her and knelt to her size, "We aren't going to eat you... We're just trying to hide like you are."
The girl looked up at Mack with grey, tear stained eyes. Her brunette hair stuck to her red cheeks as she wiped away her tears, "Y-You're not one of those things..."
Mack shook his head, "None of us are."
"Your name is Genevieve, right?" Jayden asked the girl with a reassuring smile, "We're in the same homeroom."
The girl nodded and looked at all the boys, "Please tell me this is some dream..."
Jordan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry to say this, but we're in an official zombie apocalypse."
Mack growled and yelled, "Don't say that!"
"What else am I supposed to say?" Jordan yelled back, attracting a couple of corpses that were near the area, "We literally saw a dead guy get up to try and attack us and she even said that they're eating people!"
Mack stood to Jordan's height, "Zombies aren't real!"
"Then how do you explain this?" Jordan pointed outside the bus where numbers upon numbers of corpses surrounded it. The dead clawed at it's sides and tried to break the windows, wanting all four teenagers as their prey.
Genevieve screamed and she ran to the center of the bus as Jayden took the driver's seat. Luckily for them, the bus keys were still in the ignition and Jayden turned them until he heard the bus roar alive. He stepped on the gas and drove away from the school they all once knew. Mack stood in shock and fell to the bus' wall as Genevieve fell onto a seat, crying harshly and praying that none of what happened was real. Jordan stood by his brother and watched the road.
The world had finally met its end and these four teenagers had front row tickets.