Infection

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Jake and Ashlyn ran in the direction of the school gate. That should be the most logical thing to do. During an emergency in school, obviously you run out of the school. Together with the massive crowd of students, teachers and other staff, they all headed for the main gate.

There was no order at all; teachers did not seem to care about guiding the students, but then again, the students would probably not obey the teachers anyway. Ludicrously, not everyone actually knew what they were running away from. It was just the natural instinct to run when you hear of danger, despite not knowing what that danger actually was.

No one made it out of the school.

Everyone at the front halted, and the whole crowd came to a standstill. Many at the front gasped, transfixed.

“Hurry up! Move!”

“Let’s go already! Stop hanging around!”

Some people at the back shouted and tried to see what the holdup was.  At the gate, three security officers, who were meant to guard the school premises, were standing with their backs facing them, obstructing the gate. They were holding the rails of the gates for support, their bodies slumped against the gate. Their blue uniforms were stained with blood. “Oh my gosh… Are you okay?” a school teacher headed forward toward them.

“Wait! Don’t go near them! They don’t seem normal!” Someone shouted.

The teacher ignored that.

Some people had already run in other directions. The three security guards did not respond to the teacher, as she approached them. Most of the crowd were standing and watching with anxiety. Were the guards okay? The three of them were friendly chaps, always standing by the school gate with a smile as people went in or out.

“We should go, Jake… I don’t have a good feeling about this!” Ashlyn cried, with tears welled up in her eyes.

“Calm down, let’s see what’s going on...” He glanced ahead at the teacher, who had walked up to the guards.

“Are you alright, sir?” the teacher asked, placing her hand on one of the guards shoulder.

The guard suddenly spun round and the teacher reeled back and gasped in shock.

He was not human.

One eye was missing and his skin was peeling. His eyes were white and blood was smeared around his face, and also flowed down his open mouth. He had a greyish tinge to his face, and he suddenly let out a low, throaty moan. He grabbed the teacher and bit into her arm, pulling back with  a chunk of flesh and muscle. She screamed, as did everyone else in the crowd. The other two guards suddenly pounced onto the teacher, pushing her down and gnawing at her. The crowd scattered in all directions, all going into a panicked frenzy. Some attempted to climb over the walls around the school. One of the guards attacked another student who was nearby. Everyone was yelling, some crying, the massive commotion going wilder as the school staff drove off in their cars, knocking students and other staff members down, showing no regard for anything except to get away.

Jake led a horrified Ashlyn back into the school compound. He knew it was crazy, but they had to find somewhere to seek shelter for the time being, until things calmed down. It was much to chaotic to attempt to get out.

His mind was going crazy with thoughts. Was this a dream? What was going on? Why did the guards attack? They didn’t seem vaguely ‘human’ anymore.

Calm down.

Ashlyn was getting more and more frightened. She was sweating profusely, tears streaming down her face, as her brown hair was plastered to her forehead. Jake grabbed her hand and led her back into the school.