The Growing Affliction

Chapter 1

7 minutes left until everything goes to hell.

Maddy and her group darted down to the side exit of the high school building and were greeted by a bloody sight. The attack on her drama class earlier had left it's marks all over the walls and floor. The pungent smell of baked blood, rotting flesh and vomit was nauseating. Metallic vinegar mixed with ammonia and bile was the closest comparison to the scent but doesn't do it justice. From afar it must have looked funny watching all these kids tiptoeing gingerly around the mess. Like very awkward ballerinas. But it was far from the truth. The only thing spiraling in her mind was whether it was the guts of the zombies she was accidently stepping on, or her friends.

They reached the super intendents office to find a teacher slumped over the announcement mic, dead. Maddy walked carefully over to the mic and switched it off, leaving the building in silence. Bone chilling silence. She suddenly began missing the soothing crackle of the microphone.

"It's not here," Tim span around, "IT'S NOT FUCKING HERE!" he lunged at Maddy, grabbing her shoulders, panic had already made its way deep into his veins. The group pulled him away from her and she rubbed her now sore shoulder. "Oh no," and that's when it hit her, "the super intendent, she's in the maths department... "

They rushed to the maths department to find none other than the remainder of the maths teacher and the superintendent stuck between the wall and the desk. The class had already evacuated. Her legs were on the other side of the room, mangled. "I'm not touching that... " Kate turned to the rest of the group and they all pushed Maddy forward. Democracy was dead. Great.

"OK, come on. This isn't so bad. Just be quick. If she grabs you, punch her in the face. You've always wanted to do that anyway." she thought as she crept up to the the body. It instantly tried to lunge at her but Maddy stayed an arms length away, looking into her faded eyes. They seemed almost mad, filled with rage but cold. Maddy grabbed the two wrists into one hand and reached for the blazer pocket with the other. There was an audible squelch and her skin crawled and she threw up a little bit in her mouth but tried to keep it all down. Within seconds the keys were attained and she jumped back away from the body, letting go of the hands.

"Nice work, now let's get out of here, it reeks..." Brandon ushered the group out of the room, well, that was after Maddy ran back and punched the superintendent in the face.  They all looked bewildered at her. "What? She's a pain in the ass..." Maddy was sure as hell proud of herself.

3 minutes. They grab their bags from their lockers. 3 minutes. They regroup after bumping into a few students and teachers. No time to help them though. 3 minutes. They all sprint towards the stairwell only to smell smoke. "Smoke? Smells a bit like ammonia... Oh crap, you don't think... " Max paled. They all looked back towards the science department which was now bellowing out smoke. "Yes, THE CHEMISTRY LAB! "

They dumped their bags onto the stairwell and began heading for the labs. All but Tim and Brandon. "Are you crazy?" Tim asked. "You'll be dead before you get there. We've made it this far already, don't ruin it now." Tim persisted. "There may be a few more people in there, including our friends." Kate always did have a golden heart but her reasoning was not going to phase Tim, although Brandon seemed to want to help but couldn't just leave Tim behind. "They're probably dead already. Face it, they're not worth it." Kate's jaw swung open, "you heartless bastard..."

"HAVE YOU SEEN THE DAMAGE OUT THERE? THERE IS HARDLY A CHANCE FOR SURVIVORS NOW!"

An argument began to break out amongst the group.

"Look, we'll wait here for two minutes." Brandon insisted.
"He's sweating a lot... And his breathing's laboured. Why?" Maddy thought to herself briefly.

"but after that we'll just leave" Tim added. "so we should have the key", Tim took the key off of Max and stood by the stairwell. "clock's ticking."

So the 5 remaining ran to the chem labs to find smoke pouring out of it and a sea of unconscious bodies. The air was too pungent to breathe in and there was a visible fire in the corner of the room by a smashed window with a body hanging from it. There was a cluster of gas canisters hissing and creaking under the heat. "This place is going to blow, run, RUN". Maddy and her group grabbed as many people as she could and dragged them out to the physics lab. The door was locked. They banged onto it. "HEY, MR. HARTING, IT'S ANN OPEN UP. PLEASE THIS PLACE IS ABOUT TO BLOW." The door clicked open and they passed the unconscious and slowly awakening onto him and his class of 10th graders. The remaining of her friends. There was no time for goodbyes at this rate. "They've breathed in ammonia and the chem lab is about to blow up. Everything has gone to shit, so I guess good luck. Oh and don't trust everyone you meet now, they've all gone mad." and without another word Maddy and her crew ran back to the stairwell with only 10 seconds to spare.

10, grab their bags. 9, run up the stairs to Tim and Brandon. 8, unlock the door.  7, find the right key to unlock the bloody door. 6, unlock the door properly. 5, run out onto the roof. 4, keep running to the front of the school campus. 3, run. 2, run. 1, run.

0

The ground shook with such power that it knocked Maddy over and her ears began to ring. Her vision became blurry and she could only hear her breathing and a ringing in her ears. As her vision began to clear, she could see only the sheer shock and fear that were on her friends faces. She looked back, with the ringing continuing. This was the wake up call she needed.

The entire northeast wing of the campus was ablaze with billowing black smoke and a viscious attack of alkalis and acids with various metals was taking place in the mists of it.

There was no possible way there could be survivors. She just saved those people. Her friends. For nothing. She had given them a false sense of safety. She could have put out the fire instead and prevented all of this. It was her call. It was her fault.

She turned back to her now weeping group, herself joining in their tears.  Ellie pulled her close and gripped her so tight her knuckles went white. The ringing persisted but Maddy didn't want to hear anything else. She felt numb and her knees were giving out, but Ellie still had her in place. Tim stood there in sheer shock as his eyes began to redden but he refused to cry. Maddy offered a comforting hug but he turned it away showing only spite towards her. He began yelling at her but she couldn't respond. She had no idea what he was saying and just stared blankly, only fueling his short temper. The group began trying to calm him down to no avail. She looked down over the edge and saw her old drama group. Or what was left of them. 6 remained, all athletic. The seemingly perfect survival team. Tim seemed to have also spotted them and ran to try and join them, he was immediately accepted with open arms. Survival of the fittest.

She didn't particularly care too much about him anyway, she would tell herself.

The ringing continued and she turned back to the group to be met with a rather sickly looking Brandon. Had the event already gotten to him? She turned him around to reveal a patch of blood on his sleeve. Kate pulled it up to reveal a bite mark. Septic and filled with fungi. Putrid was the best description for it. Within seconds, Brandon convulsed and frothed at the mouth, his eyes paling. It looked like an excorsism was being performed. And then he became still. Everyone at this point jumped back and tried to huddle as far away as possible out of fear. He then began to rise up again, only this time, he wasn't the same old considerate Brandon, but a cold hard killer. He lunged at little Maddy for an easy meal but she had pushed him back with the end of her staff. He tried lunging for her again only to trip and fall over the edge.

"Brandon!" Maddy screamed and her hearing was suddenly restored quick enough for her to hear the awful crunch and snap of Brandon's bones as he hit the pavement. 2 people had already left their group and they haven't even left campus yet. Everyone was in mourning and many still had siblings to find.

This really wasn't a game anymore.

Maddy's tears halted and she clenched her fists around her staff.

After an agonizing period of silence, Ann spoke up.

"So, what do we do now, Maddy?" Ann look at Maddy with desperation. A look they all shared.

Maddy now felt needed for once.

It was time to really grow up.