Infection

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

The sky was completely dark, with no illumination at all from anywhere nearby, except for the faint glow of moonlight. Jake sat at the teachers' desk, rubbing his head. He felt a million times better, thankful that he hadn't suffered any major injuries, but still felt his head throbbing. 

Ashlyn sat next to him, quietly watching Jake and immensely relieved that he was going to be fine. Jessica had fallen asleep and Allan was by the window where Ralph and Gwen had left, idly swinging a baseball bat in the air. They would've been long gone by now.

It had been eerily silent the past few hours, with the sound of crickets now in the night air. Except for the occasional shuffling of feet from the infected, there hadn't been any major disturbances. The strange creature hadn't put on an appearance since then, nor made any sign of its presence. 

The current plan was to leave when morning light came. That would give Jake some more time to try to get rid of his headache and give all of them some time to prepare. Besides, it was best to move when they could see. Somehow, the city's lightings seemed to have shut down as well, the surrounding buildings all in darkness. The pale moonlight shone a light grey on buildings nearby, making everywhere seem like a scene straight out of a horror film. The abandoned hostel opposite the street was in view, and looked more desolate than ever. The classroom didn't have a good view of the city, so they couldn't tell how bad the situation outside was. Judging by how fast the city died down, the situation couldn't be at all any good, probably only worsening exponentially. 

"It's quiet." Allan said, breaking the silence in the dark room. Jake looked up, looking at Allan's face, a greyish white in the moonlight. "We're like the only ones left alive." Allan continued. 

"I wonder where Ralph and Gwen would've gone by now." Ashlyn said. 

"Ah. Probably far, far from here. They didn't even say where they were going, though it did seem they had something important to do." 

"What could be more important than staying alive? The bigger the group, the better." Ashlyn said, slightly irritated.

"That's just what you think. They may have more compelling reasons." Allan said, looking out. He had lost a lot of his humourous persona. 

"Nonetheless, I'm still thankful they had saved me." Jake spoke up.

"Hey, I was there, too." Allan said mildly, turning to look back out the window at nothing in particular. 

The room resumed its silence once again. 

"I'm literally starving to death." Jessica grumbled, as she sat up. "Hadn't had a bite in ages." 

Ashlyn laughed a bit. "Nor have I. Yet I don't even feel any hunger. Don't even feel like eating... though I do feel a bit weak." 

"Isn't there any food in here?" 

"Ah." Allan turned back, and walked over to his bag on a table nearby. He pulled out a cylindrical tube of Pringles, and placed it on the table. "Only half left, let's just finish it. Completely forgot about this. Ralph found it in the staff's room earlier on." 

The four of them shared the chips and its crunching filled the air.  "Same plan, going to Ashlyn's place?" Jessica asked.

Jake rubbed his neck and stood up. "Probably." 

"No. Let's just head up north directly." Ashlyn said quietly.

They all turned to her. "Ya serious?" Allan asked.

"Sure. There's no good reason to go back. I was thinking about it, Ralph was right. Going back would just be wasting time. It's best to head straight up to the quarantine zone."