The Infected [1]

3.Sick

I sneezed for the fifth time for the last half an hour. I caught a cold not long after I woke up from sleep. I concluded that the flu shot was behinds this. I shrugged it off as most of the other students that got the vaccine was also sneezing uncontrollably.

"Hey did you catch a cold too?",Jay said as we were walking to the canteen.

"Yeah.",my voice sounded nazzly and disgusting.

I sneezed again and sighed. This is probably the worst cold I ever caught.
Jay looked a little worried at my condition. "You sure you're okay?",he said nervously.

"Don't worry about me. Almost students also caught the-'sneeze'-cold.",I said weakly. "Bloody cold.",I muttered under my breath.

"Whatever you say, Ash.",he rolled his eyes.

We entered the canteen to find it oddly empty except for a couple of students. I sneezed and a student whom I believe was named Damien turned to look at me. "Yo, no sick students are allowed in the canteen.",he called out to me.

"Since when?",I raised a brow at him. He rolled his eyes and pointed beside me. A sign was where he was pointing at. It read:'No sick students allowed in case they contaminate the food supply.

I sighed and went outside to the fields to find a whole bunch of students sitting around on the grass while eating their lunch. I glanced and spotted Jeff amongst the crowd. I went over to him and sat beside him.

"So you caught the cold too, huh?",he sneezed after he said that.

I nodded and sighed in annoyance. Jeff passed me a sandwich, to which I gratefully accepted since I was super hungry. I took a large bite out of the ham and cheese sandwich. Delicious!
"Have you heard that they're going to delay the exams because of the flu going around?"

I almost choke on my sandwich when he said that. My eyes widen which meant 'Are you serious!?!'. I didn't dare talk in fear of choking some more. He nodded rapidly and showed me a piece of paper that read:

'Dear students, the exams will be delayed until next week due to the multiple amount of students getting sick. Please get well soon students.

Sincerely,
The principal'

I was already mentally celebrating at the thought of it. I hummed in glee as I smiled widely. Jeff snorted at my childish behavior. I finished my sandwich and he passed me a bottle of water since I completely forgot to bring anything other than my books and bag.

I opened the cap and started chugging down the water. Once I finished drinking I passed the bottle back to Jeff. I laid down on the grass and watched the clouds go by. Not long after, the bell rang and everyone started heading back inside the school.

Jeff got up and offered me his hand. I took it and rose up. We went back inside the school and split up from there since we had different classes and were in a different grade. I was in the tenth grade while he was in the twelve.

I grabbed my books and quickly dashed to my next class. I opened the door and was surprised to see only a few students there considering that class would start in a minute. "Where's the other students?",I asked the teacher as I stepped into the class.

The teacher shrugged and continued sorting a bunch papers. Out of the few students in the class, a familiar face stood out. I walked over to the desk beside him and sat down. He was dozing off with a few snores every now and then.

"Wakey wakey sleepy Jakey.",I whispered in an eerie tone. He flinched and slowly opened his eyes. When he saw me, he groaned and woke up fully.
"What gives?",he said groggily.

I giggled a bit and pointed at the black clock hanging above the whiteboard.
His eyes widen and immediately straighten his posture and tried to look awake. His eyes were visibly red from his sleepiness and there were bags under them. He looked as if he hadn't slept for days.

"Are you okay?",I asked, a bit worried about him.

"Mm-hmm.",but his face told another story.

I looked over and saw that the teacher had left to go to the bathroom. I got a devilish idea that might help sober him up. I grabbed his water bottle and opened it. Jake tilted his head in a silent inquiry at what I'm doing. I grinned evilly and before he knew it, I sprayed water all over his face. The other students stopped what they were doing to watch us.

I looked at the bottle and realized that it was empty. Meh..I'll buy him another one. Jake was surprisingly unmoving from his spot. "Uhh...Jake?",he moved his head to face me and I was shocked to see a hint of a smile on his face.

He started laughing hysterically and he shook his head. "Well I did need something to freshen me up, but I didn't exactly ask for a shower.",he said in between laughs. I joined his laughter and suddenly the teacher walked.

"Why are your clothes wet?",he asked, confused.

"Oh,Ash 'accidentally' knocked my bottle and the water sprayed all over me.",he answered, obviously lying to cover up for me.

"Okay, but you should dry up."

"Sure."

Jake went out to go to the bathroom to get some tissues. Soon after he returned, all the other students entered the class and the class began.

I was writing down some notes on the lesson when suddenly a scream broke out. I turned my head to the source of the scream and saw a horrifying sight.
A girl whom I recognized to be Paula was shaking uncontrollably. She was having seizures.The teacher gasped and immediately called an ambulance.

The familiar red and blue lights was flashing accompanied by a loud siren.
Two people dressed in white bursted in our classroom and took the poor girl away. Every students went out to watch as Paula gets taken away by the ambulance.