Chapter Three
Melbourne, Australia
June 7 2022
Downtown Melbourne
Alex had never liked school, but now he was hated it more then ever.
They were both standing right outside the entrance. Martin reached his hand for the door; Alex could tell he too was afraid. The lights were all on, probably from the classes that were in session.
“Ok mate, I will go in first. If something attacks, make sure you run quickly.”
Alex didn’t like to think someone or something was going to attack, but he forced a slow nod out anyways.
“Well… what could be inside?” he asked, eyes gazing down the hallway. If there were no lights, this would have been worse. He couldn’t imagine it worse.
“I don’t know for sure. It could be that one bloke with the gun. It could be something else for that matter. I don’t know really. The world sort of ended if you didn’t notice, and we are stuck in the middle of it.”
Alex couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. It seems Martin also felt the stress of the situation.
Martin finally closed his fist around the metal door rung. Alex took note of how is arm quivered, not a lot, but just enough to notice. Slowly. Slowly he pulled the handle, bringing the large glass door open. Alex felt a small rush of air blow past him, it seemed the other side of the door was a different world. Then again, all he did was open the door to a high school. It shouldn’t be weird. Maybe he was setting himself up worse then he had to be.
“Well. I guess we explore,” Martin declared; he took a step in, and Alex followed.
Suddenly, a thought crossed Alex’s mind. “We don’t have any weapons… not that we need them.”
“No worries.” Martin lowered his hand to knee and grasped the handle of a KBAR knife. It was tucked away conveniently in a sheath attached to his pants.
“Where the heck did you get that?”
“The internet,” he replied. Alex laughed.
“Well, I guess it's better than nothing.”
Martin nodded. He released the grip and continued walking.
“You’d bet. I’d take it over a pistol any day.”
Alex wondered why. He figured he was done asking questions for the moment. He didn’t want his only friend at the moment to hate him.
The hallway was tiled on the floor, with long fluorescent lights mounted in the ceiling. The typical school building, it reminded Alex of his own school.
The only sound to be heard was the clomping of their shoes against the tile. Schools were not meant to be quiet. This was indeed making them both nervous; Martin was shifting his eyes from side to side.
They entered what appeared to be the library. There were books on shelves, but there were more computers than anything else. Everything nowadays was digitized. E-books were the wave of the future in schools apparently. Alex liked computers. They made his life a lot less hectic, which was ironically done by multitasking.
Martin kept his eyes open for anything. There was definitely someone here.
“Hey, look.” Martin turned to see Alex bending over to pick up something. A book. It had been lying out on the floor, open. Someone had been reading it at the time.
“You think someone was reading this when they just… vanished?”
Martin grabbed the book and examined the cover. It read in bold red print “THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE” by Max Brooks.
Suddenly Martin had an uncontrollable urge to fall down laughing, which was canceled by the shiver down his spine from the irony of the situation. He hoped irony was the wrong word to use at the time as well. Was this a coincidence that someone was reading this before that “event”? Or was it something the person seen entering earlier was reading? If so, why this particular book? Martin knew it had a large popularity in the online world; it was rather funny to see it in a school library.
“I don’t like standing here. It gives me the chills,” Alex whispered. Whispering is done for a reason. Martin suddenly felt like he was being watched. Yes, there was no doubt about it. Whoever was here, had been reading that book. He had dropped the guide and ran when he heard them coming. That was the only explanation for his 6th sense to be acting up.
“Alex, follow me. Quickly,” Martin commanded. Alex nodded his head in agreement. They moved out of the library, Alex was beginning to feel that eerie presence, too .
“Is someone-” Martin cancelled Alex out with a hush. It was obvious that he was nervous.
They walked farther down the corridor, Alex had no idea where to. He just kept following. They entered a classroom of empty desks. Martin at this point decided it was safe to stop.
“Ok. This classroom has only one way in or out. No one can sneak up behind us in here.”
“We aren’t even sure there is anyone here… it could be your imagination.”
“I don’t want to take my chances…”
Alex leaned against the wall. It had a large whiteboard mounted mid level. Its size took up maybe half the wall. On the board were a few simple Algebra problems. He figured it was a freshman class. A class that had been interrupted suddenly. Another thing he noticed was the way the desks were positioned. Usually they would be lined up in orderly rows. In this case, the desks all were ajar. It created the appearance that people had left in a hurry, or at least tried to. Did they see that ominous cloud above them, right before their demise?
Martin kept his eyes glued to the door they had just come through. It seemed he really thought someone was coming. If someone with a gun was to come, what could he do? Throw his knife at them? Not with a KBAR.
Alex suddenly felt that weird feeling, the one that makes the hairs on your back stand tall. Almost instantly, he felt cold steel being shoved against his neck. He froze with a considerable terror. He couldn’t say anything. Martin was looking at the door, which was in front of Alex. His captor pressed the metal object harder to his neck. It didn’t really hurt, but it was enough to make him nearly cry. He knew it was a handgun. He could feel every bit of its profile. Alex felt himself being pushed in a different direction. Towards Martin. Was he planning to attack Martin as well? The situation seemed to have turned out badly, as expected by Alex. Being negative was an occasionally positive thing.
“Alex, I don’t think they are-” He turned around to see his new friend in the arms of the very person he was trying to keep out. They had already been in the room. What surprised Martin more than anything was that the guy was actually a girl. She held what appeared to be a handgun. 'Well, it would be a handgun,' Martin thought. He doubted would be holding Alex up with a toy. Instead of freaking out, he decided the best thing he could do was examine the enemy.
The girl was medium height and had a red tint to her shoulder length hair. Her eyes were fiercely blue, but that could be because she was stressed? He didn’t really know or care. She wore a T-shirt with denim shorts. Martin didn’t think she was built like a model, but she was far from ugly as well. She looked strong, not timid or weak. She more than likely could kick his butt in a one on one fight with no weapons. Yes, negotiation was definitely the best way through this predicament.
She continued to hold the frightened Alex hostage, who was now shaking. She managed to keep the gun at his head even through all the shuddering.
“Why are you holding my friend hostage?”
“Why are you following me?” She responded quickly.
Martin shook his head and took a step closer. She tensed more tightly.
“I don’t know where you got that idea from. We were avoiding you. We heard gunshots earlier and decided to meet up with that person who is allegedly you. We need as many allies as we can get at the moment. If you didn’t notice, the entire population is gone.”
“Oh, I noticed!” She shot back rather harshly, “And I have no idea what is going on! Or do I really care! So for that matter, you’d better explain quick before I put a bullet in his head!”
Martin almost took a step back, but held off, deciding it was a sign of weakness. Weakness was something he couldn’t show at the moment; his friend’s life was on the line.
“Listen ma’am, don’t shoot him. We are friends.” He paused for a second. Then a good idea struck him. “It’s obvious we can’t fight you, we would lose. So just let us go please. We don’t want to waste your ammo.”
The girl moved fast. She kicked Alex in the back, sending him sprawling forward. He slammed into Martin, who in turn toppled backwards to the floor. The girl was quick to move and held the two in her gun sight. She was clever and fast.
“Don’t you fucking try to win my pity with that crap. I’ve had enough of it in my life, and I don’t want to bother with it know. I need all the ammo I can get. Haven’t you guys been attacked yet?”
A dazed and confused Alex looked to Martin, who, in turn, shrugged away any sign of knowledge.
“No…? Well then, why don’t you two come this way? I need to show you something,” she said, heading towards the door.
Slowly, Alex stood, followed by Martin who was grasping his head in pain.
“What? Didn’t you just try to kill me? Now you want to show us something?” Alex asked. He tried to sound as polite as he could without sounding like a loser. He didn’t really understand her personality; it was something he wasn’t used to in girls. Tiffany had always been shy and passive, not loud and aggressive.
“Well maybe you will understand why I tried to kill you.” She answered. She wasn’t paying much attention, Alex figured she was thinking.
“Were you in that room the entire time?” Martin asked.
She laughed. “Yeah, I was. I ran in there thinking you were one of those guys.”
“Those guys?”
“Yeah, I’ll show you.”
“Oh ok.” They walked out of the classroom down a long hallway. A nice icebreaker came when Martin commented on her gun, and they chatted for a little bit.
“So is that a M9? I’ve seen it on the web a few times.”
She looked down to her hand. The Beretta M9 was a basic firearm. Nothing real fancy. The US Military used it as their modern official sidearm.
“Ah huh. I got it a while back. It’s my best friend.”
“Friends... with a gun…?” Alex asked. It was a little strange for someone’s best friend to be a gun.
“You wouldn’t understand. You didn’t grow up like me. Oh yeah. My name is Sami. What’s yours?” She turned slightly to ask. She was leading the group.
“Alex Bakken. Good to meet you…even after you held me up.” He added the last part siclently.
“And Martin Wellington. I’ll admit you scared me back there.”
“I do that a lot.”
Martin didn’t ask anymore. That was a little odd.
“Sami, what’s your last name?” Alex asked. A bad question apparently, she stopped walking for a minute. “I don’t have one.” A cold response, loaded mystery.
Martin glanced at Alex who returned the favor. They probably shouldn’t get on her bad side; all hell would break lose.
They entered a small classroom again, this time as a party of three.
“Here you are.”
Alex gasped at the sight. A man lay on the ground, a bullet hole piercing right through his heart. Blood leaked out of his mouth. He looked to be about 30, dressed in a T-shirt and Jeans. Casual Friday? Who knew? Why was he dead?
“If you are wondering, I shot him.” She answered the question without emotion.
“You killed him!” Alex shot out instantly. He never took death lightly.
“I just said that.”
“Why! Did you just shoot him for no reason!” He glared at her. She gave no emotional response.
“No. He attacked me. You attack Sami, you die. That’s my rule. He apparently didn’t believe me when I said I would shoot. He didn’t talk at all actually. He just watched me with cold eyes and then sort of attacked. He just flailed his arms at me, attempting to maybe strangle me? I’m not sure. It’s a shame a survivor had to go. If that’s what he was…”
Martin remembered the book. “Were you the one reading the book in the library?”
She rested her eyes upon him. “Yes, I was. A good eye for finding that.”
“It was creepy. Zombies during this ‘End of the World’ pandemic.”
She poked the body with her foot. His body was cold and stiff. His lifeless eyes were beady black. It brought back memories for Alex. He had to get out of here. He was feeling nauseated from the whole situation.
“Do you guys have weapons? I believe we may need them.”
“I do. I have a knife.”
“That won’t help much,” she commented, “We need guns.”
“Why? Just because one guy attacked you, it doesn’t mean there will be more.” Alex whispered, staring at the deceased man.
“Well, it’s a good chance. And knowing my luck, we should be out of ammo by tomorrow.”
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