Chapter 1
“Let go of me you stupid zombie!” I yelled.
I elbowed it in the face, but it wouldn’t let go. As I was praying that it wouldn’t bite me, something flew past me into the zombie. It let go of me, so I ran until I bumped into something- well someone. With the force that was caused by my speed, we both crashed onto the ground. While I stared at this mystery man, who was under me, he rolled his eyes.
“Why don’t you two kiss, while you’re at it,” someone said, standing in front of us.
I looked up, “Oh, sorry,” I got off of him, “I was running from-”
“This zombie,” a voice said from behind us.
I was about to turn and look, but the mystery man grabbed my face. He shook his head and flicked my forehead. I frowned and rubbed my forehead. That actually hurted for some reason. They all gathered around waiting for the coming wave of zombies. One of them tapped my shoulder and pointed.
“Don’t look now, but we have company. Jack, take her with you and stay out of danger.”
I scurried behind Jack, who was holding my wrist. We encountered a few zombies and I realized we were headed to my old high school. When we got closer, Jack shushed me because the school gate was surrounded by lurkers. Jack used his bat to make a way through to the gate and he never let me separate from him. Literally, he wouldn’t let go of my wrist and he kept me pretty close for me to be a stranger.
We entered the building through the east wing entrance and the west wing was barricaded.
“Hey, what happened over there?”
“It’s not really important. Come on,” he walks to the stairs.
“Okay?” I followed after him, “Who was that guy in the mask?”
“Classified information,” he started upstairs.
“Did you go to this school?” I asked.
“Did you? You seem familiar with this school.”
I cleared my throat. “I did. My homeroom class was room 124.”
“I was in that class, too. Who was it with? Mmm, I believe it was Ms.Jackson.. I sat by the window and you sat two seats away from me,” He stated.
“How come I don’t remember you?”
“Jack. I mean Jake the one that always got in trouble by the teacher-”
“Because he would always try to be next to me! I remember. You were a terrible liar.”
He laughed, “I used to like you, back then. You never noticed, did you?”
“Well...” I ran up the rest of the stairs.
Jack, not too far behind, came up behind me. Homeroom was close, when Jack took my hand. We started walking to our homeroom, but I saw people in another classroom.
“Who’s in there?”
“I suppose we can call them friends.”
He took me to the room and knocked on the door. As we waited, Jack wouldn’t drop the topic about liking me.
“You knew I had a crush on you?” he asked.
“Did you know I had a crush on you?”
“No, I didn’t,” he said, as the door opened.
“Well, if it isn’t Alexa Anderson.”
“Do I know you?” I questioned.
“Kane. Kane Pierce, your boyfriend.”
I covered my mouth, “Kane!” I let go of Jack’s hand and hugged Kane.
He hugged me back and then he thanked Jack for getting me here safely. Jack ignored him and walked past us into the classroom. Kane is- was my online boyfriend on TMB and I never expected to meet him. I didn’t see how he recognized me and still remembered my name after what had happened. I was afraid he would be an undead and I didn’t want to risk it.
“Zane, who is that,” a girl at the window asked.
“This is my girlfriend, Alexa,” he introduced.
There was another person sitting on a desk playing a game. I could tell that this was the only part of the school with internet because messages on my phone started surging through. I nervously laughed and checked it. It was messages from my mom and the guy I was talking to thinking that Zane was dead.
“Who is Shane? Is he a friend of yours?” Zane asked, looking at my phone.
I turned it off, “To be honest, I’m not really sure who he is, but I talk to him sometimes.”
He shrugged, “As long as he isn’t around here, then I’m okay,” he kissed me on the forehead and told me to sit down anywhere.
Everyone else started arriving, shortly after I said down. I saw the mystery guy look at me when he walked in. He chose a chair far away from me and crossed his arms. The other two guys that came with him sat on some desks not too far from me. A few minutes later another group of people walked in and one of the girls with them scoffed when she saw me.
"I thought your job was to get food, not trash."
"Takes one to know one, Chloe."
"The more the merrier."
"She could be a zombie!" she protests
"If I were a zombie, I wouldn't bite you for any reason."
"That's what a zombie would say!"
"Chloe, I don't think zombies can talk," Jack pointed out.
"Why don't we just vote, since it's such a problem, someone suggested."
Zane nearly slammed a box on the nearby desk, "Have at it."
Everyone placed their votes on the provided pencil and paper. When they were through, Zane retrieved a few pieces out, “Stay...stay...leave….stay...stay….stay...” After ten minutes he pulled out the last two papers, “stay...and leave.”
She asked, “Who put that? Don’t let me find out!”
There were nine votes for me to stay and three for me to leave. I was wondering who wanted me to leave, but at the same time I didn’t care. As long as I don’t have to take care of myself for as long as I live. After the votes were done, Zane said that I should stay with him. Tyler didn’t like the thought and neither did Jack.
“She can stay with Chloe,” Tyler joked.
“No she can’t, my room is full,” Chloe lied.
“It better stay full, because no one wants to stay with you anyway,” I snapped.
She scoffed and walked out the meeting room. Zane was still up for sleeping in the same place, but I wasn’t. It was too soon to get comfortable with him and that takes time. Jack didn’t even care anymore, so he left right after Chloe. A girl I knew said that I could sleep in a room with her, so I agreed.
Zane said, “As long as you want to, then I have no objection.”
“Can I see the voting box, please,” I asked.
He shrugged and I took the box off the desk. When I looked at all the votes, Jack was one of the ones that wanted me to leave. I didn’t think that after all that time with him, he would want me to leave. It was getting dark and I was still worn out from this morning. I put all the paper back in and closed the box.
When I walked out the boy with the mask was leaning on the wall. He finger traced on my hand “can I trust you”. He looked at him confused and nodded unsurely. He told me to follow him downstairs and I did without question. When we got downstairs, he grabbed a small light from a small hole in the wall.
He walked to the end of the hall right in front of the west wing entrance. He shined the light on the wall and words appeared “Welcome to my home”. I caught my breath at the sight of it, covering my mouth. He put his finger to his lips and opened the door next to the writing. I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst to come..
