Crimson Abyss

Beginning of the End

~.: "Castle of Glass" :.~
~.: LINKIN PARK :.~

Beginning of the End

~.: Jasmine's POV :.~

Warm golden rays of sunlight filtering in through my window as it hits my face forces me out of my sleep, a loud slamming reverberating through the walls of my bedroom followed by an exasperated groan from someone downstairs greeting my ears while I reluctantly sit up, rubbing at my eyes blearily. That must've been mom and dad arguing again. Lately, arguing seems like all they do nowadays. Grumbling under my breath, I lean toward my bedside table and snatch my cellphone off its smooth wooden surface just as the hurried shuffle of footsteps echoed off the walls in the hallway outside my closed door. I paused irritably, reluctantly lowering my phone as my bedroom door flies open to reveal mom standing in the doorway, clothed in her drab usual lawyer attire as her face tightly knots in frustration when she sees what state my room is in.
"Jasmine Elizabeth..." she exasperatedly groans, running an agitated hand through her tidy auburn hair as I raised an unamused eyebrow at her while throwing my legs over the side of my bed before glancing down at my phone and unlocking it to scroll through my notifications for any texts from Thalia or Alex, "I told you to clean up your room last night.. ugh, just- nevermind, would you mind picking up your brother from school today? Your dad got an emergency call from work just now and he won't be home in time for dinner- I would pick Johnathan up myself but I just got assigned to a very important case," I sighed softly, pinching the bridge of my nose as she turns to leave the room so that she can allow me to get ready for the day, "If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call me- I always have my phone on me at all times. And remember for the hundredth time this week to clean your room at some point, please. You can order take out tonight if you or Johnathan get hungry at all; love you both and don't answer the door for anyone while your father and I are gone," She briefly blows me a kiss which I begrudgingly reciprocate with a half hearted wave as her back turns while she pulls my doorknob behind her.
As soon as my bedroom door shuts while her receding footsteps on the staircase reach my ears, I toss my phone to the side of my mattress and climb out of my blankets. No sense in staying in bed, I guess, now that I'm awake. My hands rake through my bedraggled dark brown hair as my feet take me towards my cracked full-length mirror and grimace at my reflection. I look like I crawled out of a dumpster- maybe I should shower... My thoughts evaporate like mist into thin air as the chorus from "Castle Of Glass" blares from my iPhone and I hurriedly scramble back towards my bed, tucking a few strands of my hair behind my left ear as an incoming audio call from Thalia registers on my phone screen.
"Perfect timing, Thal," I murmured wryly, rolling my eyes as I tap the accept button and turn my call volume up to full so that she can hear me, "Ayeeee, what's up, girl?" I softly chuckled, sliding off my bed and making my way towards my bathroom to hopefully snag a quick shower before 2:45 rolls around. The sound of something falling on the Thalia's side of the line echoes from the speaker as I place my phone on the bathroom counter and I furrowed my eyebrows in bewilderment before shrugging and leaning over the counter to peer closer at my face. The beginnings of a zit on my left cheekbone greets my inspecting gaze and I groan irritably in displeasure.
"You overslept again, didn't you?" Thalia knowingly quips as I'm turning towards the walk-in shower, leaning over to turn the water knobs and, in response, I rolled my eyes in annoyance. And here comes the lecturing. Classic good ol Thalia, I bemusedly thought as I smirk over my shoulder at my phone, "You seriously need to stop doing that- I swear you and Alex are the exact same when it comes to staying up so late. What are y'all gonna do without me? Anyways, you still down for Mexican today at Mi Pueblo's?" As soon as she asks that, I groan in exasperation while facepalming myself.
"I completely forgot about our plans, Thal," I reluctantly admitted, rubbing the back of my neck with my freehand as I adjust the water temperature quickly, "I'm not sure if I'll be able to come today; I have to pick up John from school again and-"
"It's fine," Thalia sighs, interrupting me before I can continue to explain and I chew my bottom lip in apprehension as I slip out of last night's outfit hurriedly, "We'll try for this weekend. I'll text you later," Before I can say anything else, she hangs up on me and I exasperatedly bury my face in my hands. I did it again. I'm bailing on my friends again.
"Eh... they'll get over it. Like she said, we can try for this weekend instead," I mumbled, sliding my panties and lacey mahogany bra off my body before stepping into the walk-in shower as hot steamy water cascades from the shower head, "It's not like I'm meaning to skip out on Thalia and Alex anyway. I can't help that my parents fight all the time and are always at work. If I'm not the responsible one around here, who's gonna take care of Johnny?" Sighing softly to myself, I reach over and grab the shampoo bottle off the shampoo rack before squirting some of the shampoo into my left outstretched palm, "I'm sure Thal understands. I mean she has to look out for Alex just like I have to look after my little brother. So she can't be mad at me," I reassured myself, nodding in silent affirmation while quickly massaging the shampoo into a thick lathery substance before dumping my head back under the water so that I can rinse it out.
***
Once my shower was finished with, I hurriedly scrambled out of the shower, nearly stumbling over the towel I'd spread out on the tile floor to dry up the pools of water I'd left behind before snatching my phone off the counter and rushing towards my bedroom once again. I've got 10 minutes to get my ass into my car and pick up John. I gotta move fast. I thought irritably, glaring at my reflection as my hands fly through my drawers for something to wear. My patience snaps as I realize just how limited my clothing options are and agitatedly, I yank out a deep purple colored tank top along with a pair of my shredded dark blue jeans before trudging towards my mattress and tossing my phone amongst my blankets.
"Ima need to run to the mall with Alex and Thalia this weekend," I grumbled, clipping my bra swiftly before yanking on a thin pair of my favorite panties, "I'll ask them later over the phone," Hurriedly, I slip on my tankie and jeans then bend down and snatch my leather boots off the floor before sitting precariously on the edge of my mattress so that I can put them on quickly without falling face first on my floor.
As I'm slipping my right foot into my remaining boot, my phone jingles with a series of frantic text pings and I growl agitatedly, puffing out an irritated breath while my left hand flashes out and drags my phone over to me as I'm shoving my foot the rest of the way into my boot. Satisfied, I unlocked my phone screen and scrolled down to the message thread I shared with Thalia and Alex to see that they'd completely bombarded my messages with panicked texts that for the most part looked like nonsense until my gaze settles on the latest news report link. Furrowing my eyebrows together in annoyance, I purse my lips and reluctantly tap the video as I stand up and make my way over a jumbled up pile of my CD's back toward my dresser. As my fingers enclose around one of my black ponytail holders, a reporter's voice sounds from my phone in my left hand and I carefully position my phone on my dresser to see what's going on while I'm putting my hair up since I don't have the time to properly brush it.
"This disease is nothing like we've ever seen before," the reporter is saying as a strange snarling noise crackles over my phone's speaker and I raised an eyebrow at the screen as I'm adjusting my high ponytail against my head when my phone suddenly glitches and kicks me out of my YouTube app. Irritably, I close out the window and switch back to my text messages as I rush out of my bedroom and down the stairs upon seeing the time. It's 2:50 and Johnathan's elementary school lets out at 3:15. As my fingers are hovering over the call button beside Thalia's icon, an incoming call from her registers and I quickly accept as my free hand skims the key holder and yanks my car keys off their hook. I barely have time to ask what's going on when Thalia's voice cuts in, tinged with alarm.
"Did you watch the video?" She agitatedly demands as I'm running towards my dark maroon colored Volkswagen Beetle before throwing open my driver's side door and hurriedly slide inside as I slam the door closed behind me.
"No, I actually was just about to ask you what was in the video," I sighed, inserting my key and turning it to start the ignition before hurriedly turning down my stereo so that my music won't bust Thalia's eardrums, "I only got to see the first five seconds before my phone crapped out on me," I explained as she lets out an exasperated groan from her side of the phone.
"UGH, you need to get a new phone like ASAP," she snaps agitatedly and I scowled unappreciatively at my phone in response as I'm pulling out of my driveway.
"With what money would I possibly by a new phone, Thal? In case you don't remember," I huffed irritably, "I lost my job at that coffee shop I was working this week. Therefore, I have no money to buy a new iPhone-" Thalia interrupts me as I'm turning onto the street that will lead me towards Johnathan's school.
"Okay, just forget I said that for right now," Her voice raises an octave and I over hear what sounds like screeching tires on her side of the line as I squint at the unusually heavy traffic ahead of me. Since when does everyone drive down this street? "That video I sent? The disease that reporter was talking about? There's been an outbreak of something way more serious. Don't laugh at me but I saw it in that video, Jazz. We're dealing with a possible zombie infestation." Almost as soon as those words fall from her mouth, the sound of a car horn honks on her side of the speaker before the line goes dead and I stare speechlessly over at my phone for a few moments.
"That's... that's impossible," I muttered softly, running a distressed hand through my hair, "Zombies.. zombies don't exist. Maybe she's wrong and that video was just a hoax," My mind is reeling at a million miles a minute when one of the many cars behind me swivels haphazardly and crashes into the small pizzeria nearest to it, almost completely bulldozing through a small group of people who'd been walking on the sidewalk and I feel my heart jump into my throat at the sight of what happens next.
One of the doors to the car that spun out of control and hit the pizzeria flies open and someone crawls out before looking around at the steadily gathering crowd as terrified screams collide over the blaring of a few more cars honking behind me in alarm. The person that had struggled out of the car didn't look normal in the sunlight that was shining harshly onto their skin. They looked like they hadn't slept in months and one of their arms was bent at an odd angle, but probably the most startling thing about them was the starved look in their gaze as they lumbered towards one of the pedestrians who was wandering too close to the scene. I couldn't yank my eyes off of the scene until the last minute when the person was tackled by the car crash victim and instinctively, I turn back toward my car wheel and slam my foot down on the gas, turning my wheel so that my car pelted past the throng of vehicles in front of me.

***

Almost as soon as I'd arrived on the elementary school grounds, children and adults alike were streaming out of the building like ants rushing out of an abandoned ant hill. My heart pounded in my ears as I rushed out of my car towards the front doors, dodging fleeing people as I ran. The only thought on my mind right now was Johnathan. Where is he? Is he okay?
"Johnny!" I screamed over the loud shouting chorusing in every direction, "Has anyone seen my brother, Johnathan?" I tried to ask some of the rapidly passing passers by but none of them were listening to me and I could see why. Just like the one person that had crawled out of the crashed car and tackled an innocent bystander, a scattered group of people were spread out amongst seven shredded and bloodied bodies ahead and I feel my stomach turn upside down as I realize just what they're doing. Exactly like in the movies, these once normal human beings are eating one another. A familiar panicked cry sounds from somewhere behind me and I whirl around to see my younger brother rushing towards me, arms outstretched as we make eye contact and I shove past the throng of people beside me so that I can swoop him up into my arms hurriedly before darting towards where I'd left my car but I can't find it, not with the amount of people running around.
"Jasmine!!" A familiar voice screams over the chaos and I raise my head up high over my brother's shoulder to spot Thalia's 2020 white Camaro SS pulling up close to where I'm standing amongst the crowd, "Get in! We need to get away from the area NOW!" She shouts at me as I reluctantly glance in the direction I was sure I'd parked my own car. I don't have time to even think right now, so I sigh in agitation before jumping into her car with Johnathan still in my arms.
"Why the mall?" I demanded, making abundantly sure to buckle my brother carefully before I secured my own seatbelt around my body, "Won't there be a similar outbreak there?" Thalia doesn't respond, instead Alex turns around in her passenger seat to reply.
"Maybe but it's worth a shot," she huffs irritably as her sister turns the vehicle so fast that the wheels screech against pavement and I press my hands to either side of my head to cover my ears against the repulsive sound, "Just hang tight for now!"

***

After what feels like forever, we arrive at the mall which seems surprisingly more deserted compared to what we'd fled back at the elementary school. On the way here, Johnny had evidently fallen asleep and I carefully rouse him by unbuckling his seatbelt and scooping him into my arms as he lets out a soft whimper of protest. Thalia and Alex are in deep discussion as I brush my brother's auburn colored hair out of his eyes while rubbing his back in comfort.
"I wanna go home," he whines pitifully as I nod in understanding, "I want mom and dad," I cast a glance over at Thalia and Alex before sliding my phone out of my pocket and dialing my mom's phone. It rings for several moments but nobody picks up, so I hang up and call my dad's phone even though I know he's probably too busy with work. When nobody answers, I sighed and placed my phone back in my pocket before turning towards Alex and Thalia again.
"So what now?" I demand irritably, pushing my bangs out of my face as I scowl in agitation at them, "Are we just hiding out here until we get picked off one by one by those things back there? We can't stay out here in the open like this," I can't help the sharp tone in my voice as I hug Johnathan closer to me.
"We're not staying out here in my car, Jazz," Thalia attempts to reassure me and I narrow my eyes at her, "Just calm down and come on. Maybe there's people here that haven't been infected yet," With a sense of finality, she slips her car keys out of the ignition while Alex sighs in exasperation. It's clear that none of us are liking this so far.