New Eden- The New Eden series book#1 (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 4 "Yeah, just peachy,"

It was dark when next I opened my eyes. The lights were off and the chill in the air told that it was night. Memories came flooding back and I closed my eyes, waiting for common sense and normality to come rushing back to me. I opened them to the same darkness again. So this wasn't a dream, huh?

I sat up and wiped my palm across my face. I felt the dry remains of tears on my cheeks. I had cried in my sleep. I hadn't done that since my dad died. It made sense that anyone would cry under these circumstances. I still didn't like it.

I sat up, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark I saw that it wasn't just Leroy and myself in the class. There was a girl he was having a whispered argument with by the stockpile of tables and chairs by the door and another girl who sat at with her head on the desk like she was taking a nap. I think she was napping.

"No!" Leroy hissed fiercely.

"So you really plan to just sit here and die of thirst?" The girl hissed back.

From what I could gather, they were arguing about water, or the lack there of. Leroy threw up his arms and screamed silently. He was pissed. The girl, who I now recognized as Samantha, turned away. Seeing that I was awake, she came over and stood next to me.

"Let's put it to a vote." she said to Leroy, who glared at me. Great. I wake up for two seconds and already I was back in danger.

"Miss genius here is feeling thirsty and thinks we should head out to the fountain for a drink." Leroy said.

"We haven't had anything to eat or drink since all of this started," Samantha defended. "We'll die if we stay locked up here." And they were back arguing. Samantha did have a point. I swallowed. My throat felt coarse as sand paper.I'd read that it takes about two to three days without water for a person to die. Not a good way to go.

Suddenly a Bug cried out. It wasn't close by, but it was enough to make us all deathly quiet for the next two minutes.

"Ok," I finally said. "As right as Samantha is about us needing water, it's.." I checked the glowing hands of my watch. "...it's ten thirty-five at night and it would be suicide to step outside. I don't mind waiting till morning."

"Thank you!" Leroy said smugly. He leaned back on a table. "Listen to my boy Brad here, he's a brain."

I took Leroy's mock complement with a grain of salt. Having lost on her idea to go outside Samantha scoffed and went to sit at the back of the class. I took my bag and made it as comfortable as possible and went back to sleep.

Day 2

What little rest I got was plagued by nightmares. I kept seeing Jeff. He would appear at the doorway with a haunted look. With empty eye sockets and covered in blood, he opened his mouth to scream, but I would hear the cry of a Bug instead. He falls to the ground and convulses until a Bug bursts out from his guts like a xenomorph in the Alien movie. And then I wake up covered in sweat. I'm wheezing again so I take another dose of my inhaler.

I take in the classroom again. It was just about seven in the morning and morning light was showing through the spaces in the shutters. Leroy had made a bed out of two tables and was passed out. The girl I didn't know hadn't moved an inch. Was she even alive? I watched her for a moment and saw her slow breathing.

Samantha was already awake and sitting by the door. I went over to her. "Hey." I greeted her.

She nodded at me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just peachy." I answered.

"You were having trouble breathing earlier. My cousin has asthma too."

I flushed. I always tried to avoid using my inhaler in public. It advertised my weakness to others. "So how're you holding up?" I changed the topic.

"Good," Samantha said flatly. I could tell by the redness of her eyes that she hadn't slept a wink, but she held her part that she was okay. "I'm going to go outside." she said suddenly. She looked at me steely, challenging me to oppose her.

I nodded. "Yeah. I don't really want to stay any longer than necessary in a class with him." I pointed my thumb at Leroy.

"Screw you," Leroy said groggily without rolling over and raised his middle finger. So he wasn't totally asleep. Samantha smiled.

"What's up with her?" I asked, referring to the girl who still hadn't woken up. Samantha told me the details. Her name was Dana. She had been out in the courtyard when the Bugs attacked. Alot of her friends had been killed right in front of her before Samantha grabbed her up and they ran to the class. The girl had then been in a state of shock.

I felt sorry for Dana. God knows that I probably would have flipped my shit too if I saw Kay being ripped up and eaten by those monsters.

Minutes later when Leroy was fully awake, we discussed the topic of heading out again. Leroy still didn't want to step foot outside, but he eventually gave in when Samantha and I voted against him.

In preparation for going outside, I decided to remove any excess weight I might be carrying. I emptied my bag and picked only what was necessary to carry. Surprisingly, I still had quite a bit.

My Mom believed in always being prepared, and had drilled that into me as well. So I basically had a mini survival kit on me. I had a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, a roll of surgical adhesive tape, a pen-light, my inhaler, two packets of pain killers and a karambit knife.

My mom didn't know about the knife. No one did really. She would've killed me had she known. And if our school had metal detectors, I would've been expelled for sure, cause I had actually forgotten that I carried the weapon. But I thanked the heavens that I had it now.

Aside from those items, I also had my iPad. It's screen was badly cracked and it only had thirty-five percent battery life, but it's sturdy titanium backing surely had a purpose. It had kept my spine in tact when people were using me and a rug earlier. I re-packed my bag and hefted it on my shoulders.

Samantha went over and gently woke Dana, who got up and stood with her back against the wall. She folded her arms across her chest protectively. Dana's clothes were stained with dry blood and she had an empty look to her. The girl was definitely in shock, and I questioned her ability to keep up with us if we ever had to run.

We cleared away the desks and chairs, making as little noise as possible. Just before we opened the door Leroy called for us to wait. He went over to a desk, and with several kicks, managed to break off one of the metal legs. He lifted the leg and swung it a couple of times. Satisfied, he turned back to us. "Okay,let's go."