The changing of Winter | ✔

|02| - Arriving

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《Southern California - October 15, 2020》

The ride to ZBS-Academy was the longest three hours of my life.

When I arrived at the front gate, the first thing I noticed was a very attractive boy around age. He had olive skin and dark black hair. He wore dark jeans with a grey T-shirt and a brown leather jacket. The glassy look to his green eyes might have been a symptom from zombitus, or might have been that he played a lot of video games. He didn't look like the type though. Low-key impossible for me to tell the difference.

Wait, am I even at the right school?

"Hi. I'm Jesse." The boy greeted me, offering his hand.

"Hey." I say going to shake his hand but as I touched him, his thumb fell off. It wasn't bloody and gross or anything. It simply dropped in the grass ike a loose button or piece of lint.

"Oh, uh .." I grimaced, glancing between his four-fingered hand and thumb.

What should I do???

"Uhh, sorry?" I say at last. He looked up to meet my eye and paused.

"No problem." He said quickly picking up his thumb, and blowing off the extra dust. "I loose parts all the time. The nurse sews them back on for me. We've tried every kind of thread, nothing seems to hold very well." He pulled out a small Ziploc baggie out of his pocket and showed me his pinkie toe. "Might as well get two digits done at the same time." He put his thumb in the bag and then stuffed it into his pocket.

Jesse thanked the limo driver. I hadn't looked at the man before; I only seen the back of his head while he drove. And now I was glad I hadn't looked. His head was barely attached to his neck. It kept rolling over from one side or the other. One of his eyes was hanging loosely from some kind of oozing stringy stuff.

It was impossible to imagine how he drove the car safely. I'm glad I got here in one piece. If my parents had seen him when he picked me up, I highly doubt they would even let me leave. I thanked him as he sped off, leaving me on the sidewalk with Jesse. He picked up my suitcase while I took a good look around.

ZBS-Academy looked like it came straight out of a Stephen King novel. It was a castle nestled among trees, with a high fence and a huge iron gate surrounding the complex. I wondered if the gate kept healthy people out or the zombies in.

I don't think I wanna know the answer ..

The castle itself was made of stone. It was pretty, but also a place you'd expect to be haunted or infested by the living dead. There was a tower on each side of the gate, and with small slit windows. I thought I seen some girls peeking out of one of the glass windows, but when I squinted for a better look, they were gone.

"Come on," Jesse said. "The outside of the school is kinda spooky, but the inside has been totally re-done. A long time ago, this millionaire Lewis Jones, got the zombitus virus and decided to spend all his money looking for a cure. When other people got infected, he invited them to come to his estate. Then he went around the world to find known zombies and invited them to come here. Mr. Jones pays for everything." He added," of course, once the researchers find the antidote, the deal is he gets the first shot."

"What about the other Zombie-Acadamys?" I ask.

"Yup, he built those, too." He said. "You'll meet Mr. Jones later. He's like a grandfather to everyone who comes here." He said leading me through the gate, then locking it behind us. I gave him a puzzled look.

"I've been here a long time," he explained. "I like to help out. When I heard you were coming, I offered to come meet you. There's no one who knows their way around this place better than me, other then Mr. Jones of course." He then led me into the main part of the castle.