10 years ago….
St Morris Middle School.
"What's happening??"
"Why was Mrs. liza and some of our friends killing people??"
"I just want to go home."
"MUMMYYYYYY!!!!!"
"God, I always knew Miss Liza was up to no good."
"Are those things monsters?"
"I really don't think that was Mrs. Liza at all. Maybe aliens adopted her or something."
Juliet couldn't think with all the racket happening where she was. It was nighttime already and she was still in that lame school uniform, in a school that reeked of both blood and gore and monsters and also locked in the cafeteria store with kids that just wouldn't shut up. The horror she had witnessed today… she would tell her kids the story. First was the fact that someone she saw dead came back to life and almost took a bite off of her.
_______________________________________
A few hours ago.
"Hey, the body bag moved!! Mrs. liza is still alive!!"
"Yeah!!!!!"
That was a breath of fresh air on Juliet's perplexed mind. She had previously frozen in shock, seeing liza being rolled away in a body bag like that. But hearing that shout, she was very happy. In that excitement, she ran to the front of the crowd to get a better view as the emergency workers opened the body bag. But what emerged was not what she, or anyone expected.
When Juliet witnessed liza taking a chunk out of an emergency worker, she froze again. This time out of confusion. Not fear, not horror, just the dark world of confusion. She did not understand what her eyes were seeing. Therefore, she just stood there, looking. Until Liza fixed her deadly gaze on her. She tried running, but from the scattered crowd of her fellow students, someone kicked her down from behind. She would have been bitten if she didn't roll over quickly; because as she was kicked, she fell on the ground, Liza still heading towards her. As liza sprang towards her, she rolled over real quick and liza fell on the floor and it took liza a while to determine which direction she rolled to. That's when she discovered that whatever was happening to Liza also made her blind.
After making her way into the school building, she and a couple kids ended up in a class. They were roughly 15 in number. They were of different years. They hid in the class, locked the doors and barricaded the entrance with the bookshelf and some desks. Juliet thought at least they could be safe until the police dropped by or something. Come to think of it, why aren't the police here yet? Juliet was pretty sure that the officer that died called for backup. As she was pondering on that, she heard a scream from one of the students that was hiding in the classroom.
"Ahhhhhh!!!! He's bitten too!! He's bitten! Is he not infected?"
"What are you talking about? How are you sure he's infected?" another of the students spoke up.
"It's just like those zombie movies!! They bite you and you turn into them!!" the girl that shouted said while pointing outside.
"How are you sure that this is even a zombie thing? Does your life revolve around movies or something?"
The girl became annoyed big time. She felt that she was saying something sensible and there's this guy...making her feel stupid.
"Hey!!! Mrs. liza was dead, no?? Why else would they put her in a body bag??? And who else heard the science teach' shouting that we should leave that area 'cause it was dangerous? Then all of a sudden, she jumps back out, digs the emergency guys and some of our friends too?!?"
It seemed she just delivered a K.O. To her opponent, because he didn't say anything else. But then someone else spoke up.
"I wonder what kind of zombie blue eyes has though. … Plus, they were super-fast. Aren't zombies supposed to be …. I don't know, slow?" Another student asked.
Juliet couldn't help but wonder whether that girl was right. She had a really solid point. But still, 'what kind of zombie has blue eyes anyway? and why isn't anyone paying attention to the bitten person? Can't nothing be do- '
"Speaking of friends, Juliet. I saw you in front of that crowd. How are you still alive?? Most of the people that were at the front of the crowd are either dead or injured. Are you bitten?"
"Yeah, it's true!! I think I saw her too.
What the hell? How did I even enter the discussion?? Juliet thought to herself. She looked at the other students in the room and they all looked at her like she owed them an explanation or something.
"I am fine. I wasn't bitten. You can come and check if you want. Plus, we are not 100% sure if a bite turns you violent. So far all we've seen is Mrs. liza biting some people to DEATH and they all came back to do the same."
The guy who was defeated in the argument earlier looked at Juliet, smirked, then mumbled "Thank you!!"
The kids then entered a debate on what to do. The problem was whatever one tried to suggest always sounded like a bad idea.
"Hey, what are we gonna do 'bout this guy?" one of the boys pointed at the bitten kid.
"Yo, my name is Collins." the bitten kid said.
"No one gives a fuck right now. BTW, I'm your senior. How was I supposed to know?"
"Yeah! Le-e-t's take him to the nursing room?" one of the girls spoke shyly.
All the kids including Collins looked at her. For being the first suggestion, that was utterly foolish. And of course, they didn't hesitate to say it.
Shaking his head, the senior guy responded, "Jesus, for being the first person to speak, I thought you would say something reasonable."
"Look outside, we have ignored more than 20 of our friends who came knocking. Those things have increased in number. To the extent I heard Mrs. liza and some left the school"
That piqued the others ' interests.
"How did you hear that? You've been here the whole time." Juliet asked.
"I've been sitting close to the window all this while. I'm not just taking in o2 you know…"
"What's o2?" another girl asked innocently.
"Air. AIR baby, AIR. Oxygen. to be precise."
"Ohhh!!! Yes, I remember now."
Juliet looked at the guy in final year. No one needed an angel to tell her he was disappointed. She could tell by the dainty look he was giving.
"Hey!!!! Open up!!!!... AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! "
More than 10 students have come like that, begging for refuge, but the kids were not trusting anybody at that point anymore. They already had one infected on their hands; they weren't gonna afford to gamble another one. At first, they wanted to open, especially the second-year students, for their friends. But the one and only third year guy in the class said NO. If you really want to survive in life, you wouldn't lag behind while others are running. That was pretty shitty, and some of them even protested. But if they were really honest with themselves, they really didn't want to open those doors. With time they pretty much admitted it.
'What if we open, and one of the zombies runs in? What would we do then?? '
'I really can't risk my life like that.'
'I don't even have the strength to start dismantling the barricade'
'I agree, where were they when we were finding refuge?'
'What if we let one in and the person dies on us? Can you really handle the police at this age?'
'Not even dying on us. What if we let an infected person in? --'
'–Hey, how can we even determine that infected thing? we are not sure of anything yet.'
'Just follow movie theories'
'Okay I would just call them bitten. '
'So how-?'
'Plus, we already have a bitten person among us.'
'okay, just leave it then!!'
'Fine!'
This was the type of argument that arose anytime someone suggested they open up the doors for anyone.
As time went on, they just grew cold to the calls.
Things quieted down for a bit. There was still chaos outside, in fact the hallways were already being repainted red, but Juliet and others in that class were just viewing. Some of them even started having hopeful thoughts… until Collins spoke up.
"Guys, I don't feel so good…."