The Land of The Dead

Newcomer

Renae slept for about twenty-four hours, on the little bed thing, in the room next to the SRC (Student Responsibility Center). I couldn't really tell time anymore but the battery powered clocks still ran, even of they were off by a few minutes.

I was outside, keeping watch, when Joseph came jogging over to let me know she was waking up.

While keeping watch, and all the time really, I like to think. Today I was thinking about the future. The middle school only has so much room. What if we start to get more people than we can hold? I would need to consult my friends, as this is not my choice. But I pushed that out of my mind as I jogged up the stairs to greet the newcomer.

When I got there, she was tossing an eraser in the air and catching it. The door was already open, but out of courtesy I knocked. She looked over, smiled at me, and patted the seat next to her. I assumed she wanted me to sit there. I walked over and sat, right where she patted.

I hadn't even gotten one word out when she said, "Thank you." which kind of surprised me. What did I do?

"For?" I asked.

"Saving me. It was you who went out and got me, right?"

"Yes." I answered and she nodded. But now I got to what I wanted to say. "Where did you come from?" I knew everyone in my school, and I don't think I had ever met a Renae.

She had that look that I had seen (and used) many times, the "It was really dumb." look.

"Well," She started, "I was holed up, in a house diagonal from here, I heard the screams and the trucks, I thought that whoever owned the trucks might have been killing people." She stopped for a second because she had dropped the eraser. Then she continued, "I eventually ran out of food and water, so I thought I might try to get here. That's when I passed out."

We sat there for a few minutes and I told her to come find the lunch room when she felt up to it, then I left to think some more.

Well, her story has a few flaws. First, there was only one scream.

Second, she said trucks, plural. We only had the Raptor at the time.

It's either she is lying, or was just a bit confused...

I decided not to dwell on it, there was work for me to do, so I'd better get to it, I decided to ask her again later.

While I thought about it, I was walking aimlessly through the building. At the moment, I was next to the cafeteria and the halls were empty, which is pretty unusual. I walked upstairs to check on Renae one last time before heading outside.

I got up to the Media Center, took a right, and found her door shut. I knocked. No response. I knocked again, to no avail. I finally opened the door just a crack... And she was gone. I sprinted down the stairs and through the main doors, but stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a crack I knew well...

The crack of an aluminum baseball bat.