Infection

Chapter One

Copyright © 2019 by J Glenns (Jepheus)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any form, printed, electronic or otherwise, without written permission from the author. 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

***

So many of us take our lives for granted. Day by day, it's the same routine. Work, school, play, families... the usual. And we get bored of such a mundane occurrence, and we subconsciously know that every day would be the same as always.

So no one would have ever expect such a thing to happen. And when it did, how many people were able to survive, to be able to live and tell the tale? Who could handle such a thing? Tragedy, chaos, a catastrophic change upon the world which made it...unfamiliar.

Different.

***

Jake Richards was heading to school. It was the beginning of the year end examinations. He held his notes as he walked, with his earphones plugged in and his head moving to the beat of his favourite song.

His route to school was the same as always: past the grocers, through the park, and then a straight path to East Town High. Walking along the road always made him nauseous. Jake detested the smell of exhaust. But what could he do? That's life. And it didn't exactly help much that school started at the same time as the early morning rush hour.

Within fifteen minutes, he arrived at the school gate. Taking a deep breath, and still holding on to his science notes, he hurriedly walked towards his classroom while quickly skimming through concepts for the umpteenth time.

Last minute revision, he thought. As I always do.

As usual, Ashlyn smiled at his direction as he entered the classroom. Jake winked at her and proceeded to his desk. Ashlyn Quayle was a British girl who was also Jake's childhood friend. They had been schoolmates since preschool, always in the same class, and got to know each other young as their parents were acquainted through work.

Jake went to his desk and sat down. He loved his seat, straight at the back of the class and right next to the window. It had become a habit to stare out at the cars and people going by when lessons got too boring.

The view simply overlooked the main school gate. Across the street was an old school building. The name of the school had been long wiped off. It was abandoned for quite some time, and the officials were planning to convert it into a hostel for the students in the school. For now, it was just a desolate building which no one had bothered maintaining.

''Hey! Prepared?" Allan came over, and suddenly pulled Jake's hoodie over his face. Allan Andrews was Jake's best friend in class. He was a joker, a humorous guy, but no one seemed to laugh at his jokes. Except himself. Nonetheless, he was a reliable and dependable friend to have.

"Well... I just hope we'll all graduate this year." Jake replied thoughtfully. The thought of being held back next year was motivation enough for Jake to spend his time revising, instead of lazing around as he usually did.

"Heh, no worries." Allan grinned.

Within the next half hour, streams of students and teachers came into school. Glancing out, he saw the dozens of juniors and seniors coming into school. There was a traffic jam along the road of the school, with so many parents and teachers driving, he wondered how such a situation would ever clear up. Same ol', same ol'.

Jake continued watched them from the window, looking bored.

Same old people, same old routine.

The examiner then walked into the class with a thick stack of examination papers.

Ah well. This had better go well.

Jake sighed as he received the paper and began writing. 

***

Finished.

Jake smiled to himself. His efforts had paid off. The science paper had been manageable and he had a feeling that he could even ace it. Glancing at the clock, there was still half an hour before the paper ended. Jake looked around, and saw that everyone was still hard at work. Some looked anxious, others stressed up. Students were fidgeting as they desperately racked their minds for the answers. And like him, Ashlyn had already finished and was idly doodling something on a spare piece of paper.

Gradually, there was an increasing loud thrum of an aircraft flying above the school. The students in the class were vaguely irritated. At the same time, several other planes were heard flying by the area as well.

Jake glanced out of the window and saw several planes in the distance. Somehow, one plane seemed to have thrown something out. He stared at a large rectangular object as it fell toward the ground and vanished behind the buildings.

Holy shit, was that a bomb or anything?

-CRASH-

A loud crashing sound and the sound of wood splintering were suddenly heard. The noise was deafening. Everyone stopped work and glanced around. Jake peered out the window again. There was nothing in that direction. It was probably coming from the field, toward the opposite side of the classroom.

Suddenly, female screams were heard. "Hey, that's Ms Madison!" someone was shouting from another class.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"Is everything okay?''

Students from other classes got out of their classrooms to see what the commotion was about. Those from Jake's class followed suit. Jake looked over to Allan, who gave him a shrug. "What do you think happened man?"

"I really don't know." Jake replied as he got up his chair.

They went out to take a look, joining the mass cohort of curious students along the corridor. They were on the third floor, and had a good view of the school field. Several people gasped and the place went quiet.

In the middle of the school field was a large, wooden crate. It was smashed. A crowd of teachers, janitors and the school admins were crowding nearby. The contents of the crates were grotesques; hideously mutilated bodies, some headless, others missing body parts. Large pools of blood were splattered around the crate. The bodies had skin with a red tinge, probably dried blood on their bodies. Jake and Allan stared in disbelief.

Glancing up at the sky, Jake recalled the plane which threw something out in the distance. He then stared at the crate below again.

The crate had been air dropped by one of the planes.

The noise level suddenly rose again. Girls were hysterical, and the boys appeared frightened as well. Many people were pointing and murmuring, and many were screaming and grabbing their bags, wanting to run off. Some were even crying.

 "Wow..." Allan appeared unnerved.

Jake was disgusted. "Man, what is this...?"

Students were pointing and calming each other down.

After several minutes, the intercom crackled to life. It was the principal. "There has been an... occurrence. I'm sure that many of you have witnessed the gruesome sight. The police have been informed, please do not be afraid. We will get to the bottom of this matter..." He sounded calm, but there was a trace of anxiety in his voice as well. "At the moment, the school has come to a decision, please gather your items and return home for today. The teachers will assist you. Please do not panic."

Please do not panic. How convincing when you sound like you're having a panic attack yourself.

Jake turned and headed back to the class, leaving everyone else standing outside, still in shock.