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

Chapter 5 "fear and the hellish memories."

  The cool morning breeze blew through the trees, the leaves rustling a calming song. If it weren't for the blood smeared on the walls and along the hallway, I would have felt at ease. But something else too was terribly wrong.
 
The lawns that lay between the buildings were overgrown. The grass was waist high and swayed in the wind like we were in an African savanna.

Seriously, this was way off. No way this could have happened over night. Unless this was all connected to the quarantine, to the chemical agent that was released, that the reporter had mentioned. But still, what kind of chemical did this? Some kind of super grow formula?

"This is crazy, man." Leroy said. "Everything's gone crazy."

I couldn't agree more. We could've stared at the sea of grass and think up theories all day, but the obvious danger was also constantly present. Because the grass was waist high there was the possibility of it hiding Bugs. "Come on." Samantha urged.

We cautiously made our way along the walkway, staying as far away as possible the grass. When I was in the class, I had thought about Kay and Brandon. My mind went back to them now. Did they survive the sudden attack? Had they found some place to hold up and keep safe? I hoped so.

We made it to the bathroom unhindered. Leroy and I went in first to make sure it was clear. Leroy held his makeshift weapon ready and I gripped my knife. Yeah, the blade was only two inches long, but it sure as hell gave me the courage to walk in there.

When we made sure the stalls were empty we called Samantha and Dana. The first thing Samantha did was go over to the sink and turn it on.Water gushed out and she took long gulps from her cupped hands. The girl wasn't kidding about being thirsty. Dana just went and stood in the corner while Leroy stood by the entrance looking out.

I went to another faucet and filled my belly with water till I felt like I was going to burst, then I washed my face. The cool water felt unbelievably good as it washed away sweat, dirt and dried blood.

"They were saying that some chemical was released in the area, right?" Leroy said. I turned from checking my reflection in the mirror.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Well, what if it's in the water?" he nodded at the pipes.

I froze. Son of a bitch. So that's why he hadn't drunk any water. He suspected that the water might be contaminated. He deliberately said nothing and let the rest of us drink, probably using us to test it out.

"No. The water's clean." Samantha said. "The school has it's own water filtration system. Even if the power went out and water wasn't being pumped, we have enough holding tanks on the roof to last us two weeks."

"Yeah, she's right." I backed Samantha up. Leroy just looked at us and squinted. The look in his eye told that he wasn't too happy with that news. Almost like he wanted us to get infected with whatever was going around. I wasn't sure.

I made a mental note to be more aware of our situation, and also about Leroy. True, he was an annoying dick, but he was smart. I couldn't tell what he might be scheming and I didn't like it. It was trouble enough to worry about giant killer bugs, now I also had to watch my back around a scumbag like Leroy.

In the end he still never touched the water. We spent over an hour huddled up in the bathrooms trying to figure out what to do next. "We need to find food," Samantha threw out her opinion. She was going about things like a scavenger, trying to make sure she had the basics to survive.

Another mental note: stick with Samantha. You'll live longer. We all agreed on that. "Well the only place around here to get something to eat is the cafeteria." Leroy said.