St. Morris Middle school.
That morning liza was on cloud nine. Maybe because of the morning exercise she had, or she was just glad her husband was back. She sure got to school late that morning, but she greeted everyone with a beaming smile. Some of her colleagues did not notice, but some did. The air following her was different. 'Today is a good day.' she thought.
______________________________________
"Psst! Psst!" "Hey Juliet, snap out of it. What are you thinking about so early in the moring?" liza Dawson beckoned at Juliet who was looking out the window, lost in thought.
"Technically ma'am it's not so early in the morning. It's 15 minutes to recess." one of Juliet's classmates chirped in.
Liza turned around and faced the agile student. "I do not remember asking you for your opinion, Samuel. You know what happens when you speak without permission."
"Sorry ma'am, I just felt like speaking." Samuel said, bowing his head.
Liza turned around and faced Juliet again. "So, Julie, what were you thinking about?"
"Nothing, Mrs. Dawson. I was merely looking out the window." Juliet lied.
"Alright. If that's the case, you wouldn't have a problem explaining what the theme of the book we are analyzing this week is then?" Liza asked. "Besides what book are we analyzing?"
"Midnight's summer dream ma'am," Juliet responded
"Good. Before you explain the theme of the play, I would like you to tell us, what is the figure of speech in the sentence; 'The course of true love never did run smooth.' ? before you ask, the sentence came from the play."
Juliet was bewildered. 'What's this, on Monday morning?? ' she asked herself. She didn't know the answer to that question. Looking at her mates, she prayed someone would bail her out. Having her sister's case in her mind didn't allow her to freely think about anything. That's why she wanted a Saviour. But to her amazement no one knew the answer. Everyone else looked puzzled. Hell they were probably pitying her. No one wanted to be caught in Mrs. Dawson's gun scope, because the questions would just keep flowing. Today Juliet was caught in the scope. It was Liza's voice that brought her back.
"Well, if you do not know the answer to that simple question then maybe deten-"
'Riiinnnnnnnggggg!!! '
The bell rang. That was her long-awaited Saviour. Dropped at the perfect time also. Juliet heaved a heavy sigh of relief as she packed her books and ran out of the class. It was time for recess.
"Till tomorrow, Juliet." Liza said, smiling. " But see me after school."
Juliet probably didn't hear her. She was already outside with the other students, thanking God she dodged that detention bullet.
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Liza settled down in the staff room, hoping to enjoy the recess time in peace and quiet. But that hope was short-lived when someone turned on the tv in the STAFF ROOM.
'-THE POLICE APPREHENDED THE SUSPECTS AND THEY ARE BEING HELD DOWN MEANWHIL-'
"Jesus, can't someone just have a moment of peace, huhhh?" liza groaned, facing the teacher that was in front of the TV, feigning annoyance. Muting the tv, the staff responded.
"Oh, Lizzy, back to grumpy mode again I see."
"I'm not grumpy...tv man. Some kid just escaped my claws."
"Hey, I just wanted to see the results for the NBA match last night, hoping I didn't lose my bet. Instead, I got ambushed by this horrid news. It seems these thugs are high on some new dope. So they are going around attacking people."
Liza was not even listening. Instead, she was already trying to salvage what was left of the sleep that the tv man had managed to chase away. But the TV man kept on talking.
"-but why bite random people though? I heard five people were killed. What kind of drug-"
"Holdup. Did you say 'bite'?!?!" liza said, jolting back to reality.
"Yes, they were biting people. And there were just 4 of them, one of them a woman. She-"
"Turn up the volume. Please" liza said, eyes glued to the TV. The word 'bite' was definitely not a coincidence.
"Wow. you look interested in this news. Thought you hated the news? " TV man said, unmuting the TV.
"We are looking at something really strange here as the area is thrown into chaos; why would people be taking such kinds of drugs? What kind of drugs would make you go berserk on people lik— hold on... I thought these people were dead??? Now they are getting up and moving??? What the hell is going on?? Is this just some drug? Or it's something else?? Wait- are they running? And why do they have bright blue eyes??"
Liza couldn't help it anymore. What she just saw was on par with a horror movie. 'Dead people walking again? Not even walking but running?? Bright blue eyes?? A strong stench?? Most of all, BITING PEOPLE?? What the fuck is going on?? 'No, it must be a trick. The local election is just a few weeks from now. Very soon the police would settle this matter and the guy on seat will use that feat to try and gather votes for a second term. But could they pull off this kind of trick???'
In those thoughts, she took her phone and car keys and ran out of the staff room not even paying attention to her colleagues trying to call out to her. She saw those bites that morning on Charles's back. Now it's on tv. Hope Charles is fine, and not one of those film tricks she just saw. As she was about to dial Charles's number, her phone rang- well, vibrated.
'Bzzzt!... bzzzzzzzt!!! '
That was the greatest shock she had ever had in her life. But fuck that, Charles must be the one calling... or so she thought. She looked at her screen and saw "private number". Who the hell is this?? She cut the call. About to dial her husband again, the mystery caller struck again.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU??? I WANT TO MAKE AN IMPORTANT CALL HERE!! WHAT DO YOU WANT??" liza shouted.
"Sorry for the inconvenience ma'am. Are you Liza Dawson ma'am?" the mystery caller asked.
"Yes, what's the issue?"
"I am calling from the life industries pharmaceutical department. We have been trying to get a hold of your husband at both his home and work cell, but we couldn't get through to him. Please if you get to him, tell him he has to go to our clinic down there at Atalanta. It is an EMERGENCY, so he has to get there as soon as possible. The staff there already have instructions on what to do."
Liza felt the cold sweat running down her back. She was scared to the bone. As she was pacing out, the caller brought her back.
"Hello. Hello. Are you there ma'am?... Mrs. Dawson?"
"Yes, I'm here," liza answered.
"Ok. Did you get the message, or should I repeat?"
"I got it. By the way, what's the emergency? " liza asked with keen curiosity.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, I cannot disclose such information. Please just pass on the message. Thank you."
"But wait- I am his wife! Why can't I get that information-"
'Ping!'
the phone cut off.
"Ugggh!!!" she screamed in frustration. "These government bastards. Fuck them all." Liza cursed.
Liza was too angry and scared to stand waiting in the school. She was gonna go home to check on her husband. After all, no walking dead in Atalanta yet. Just as she was entering her car, Juliet saw her and called out.
"Mrs. Dawson? Are you going home?"
"Yes kiddo. I have to check on something real quick. I'll come back."
" How about literature? Plus you said I should- what was it...see you?" Juliet asked.
"Yeah yeah, just make it a study hall or something. I'll see you when I can. Bye."
Liza said that 'BYE' like she wanted to get rid of Juliet. Juliet got the hint and went away too.
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The Dawson Residence.
Reaching home, Liza parked her car close to the sidewalk instead of the garage. She couldn't even wait for the garage door to open. She just wanted to see Charles and make sure he was okay. Therefore she just took her keys and ran in.
Upon entering, the house was quiet. The lights were on, the tv was on, but no sign of
Charles. Liza's worst fears were coming to life. 'Where the hell is he? His bike and car keys are where they are supposed to be...' she thought. So, she decided to call out.
"CHARLES...HONEY..."
No response.
"CHARLESSSSSSSS!!!!" she screamed.
"Thud!" a sound as if something heavy fell. That shook liza also. If liza saw herself at that point, she would call herself a scare ready cat. Btw, the sound came from their room. She hadn't checked that area. So she ran head on.
Reaching the room, she did not just barge in. She decided to take it slow. What if he was sleeping? That would explain the fall. Or what if he was- that would also explain the fall. Anyway, she decided she wasn't going to just rush into the room. Liza was the kind of person that uses her 'sixth sense' in situations.
Opening the door as quietly as possible, she was greeted by a horrid smell. Rubbing her nose, she was like 'what the fuck is this smell'. as she opened it wider, she saw someone sitting on the bed facing the window at the other side. Heck, that was Charles. What is he doing, sitting like that?, also why is the room in a messy state?, determined to get these answers, she pressed towards Charles. Maybe he is really sick.
"Charles... Charles..." she called then touched him.
Immediately she touched him, Charles- or dead Charles, launched at her, eyes bright blue, mouth agape, saliva dripping, teeth grinding as if it was hungry, let's not forget, the smell. It headed for her neck, and it got it. Liza, while screaming, managed to fight it off. But it was too late; it had already bitten her. And it was quite fatal.
After managing to get Charles off her, she ran out of the room. In fact she ran out of the house, straight into her car. Her first aid kit and phone were there. But Charles was on her tail. He almost got her again though, as he caught her jacket. so she decided to lose that piece of clothing too. She didn't care if she wound up naked, she must enter her car.
Luckily, one of her Neighbours was passing by. The woman saw Liza running with bloodstained clothes and Charles at her tail, holding her dress. Confused, because Charles and Liza were one of the quietest Neighbours they had, and they never fought. So, seeing Liza and Charles in that state was a surprise. Hope liza has not been suffering all this time, in SILENCE?? She thought. So, she decided to call the police. But before she did that she decided to rescue liza. "Girls code" or so they called it.
"LIZZYYYY!!!, over here!!" she called out.
That was a wrong call. Because Charles got diverted. So he headed towards the caring Neighbour. Liza thanked Jesus at that second. She didn't care if that made her a horrible person, she just wanted to get the hell out of that place. And that Neighbour just increased her chances of survival.
On getting to her car, she reached out for the first aid box. Damn, she had lost a lot of blood. She had to stop the bleeding before she dropped dead without at least making an emergency call. So she did that. She stopped the bleeding then picked up her phone. But as she was about to dial 911;
'Bang!, Bang!!, BANG!!!'. Gunshots. Shaking again, her phone slipped from her hand.
That's when she looked outside. The neighborhood was already in chaos. How in a short time?? Liza also noticed, 'Dawn' the caring Neighbour, had blue eyes too. 'God rest your soul.' liza prayed. To her, that was the best apology she could offer. Afterall, it is her fault Dawn got into that mess. But Liza noticed it wasn't dawn or Charles that was getting shot at. It was another of her Neighbours. In that short amount of time, up to 7 people were undead, and the police weren't there yet. Maybe with this phone call she's about to make, there would be a response.
"Hello, is this the police?" liza asked.
"Yes, what's your emergency?" they responded.
"Please, rush over. There's chaos over here" Liza said 'chaos' because she didn't even know how to explain what was going on.
"Where are you ma'am?"
Liza gave her home address and hung up after getting an assurance that the police were coming soon. Now it was time to get the hell out of there. She decided to get to the school to get her coat so she could cover up the blood-stained clothes she was wearing before heading to the hospital. As she was about to start her car,
'bamm!!'
Someone hit her car from the outside. That startled her first of all, secondly, she didn't even recognize the person...who is that?? She asked herself. The person was signaling Liza to open her car so he could enter. Yes, so he could escape. that warzone with her. But Liza wasn't playing 'Good Samaritan' today. She already had one body on her hands, it wouldn't hurt to add another one. Meanwhile, one of the blue-eyed guys was closing in on them. Liza also noticed the number of them had been increasing, the police were still nowhere to be found. Fed-up with all that she had just noticed, she started her engine and zoomed off. Leaving that guy in the hands of the blue-eyed chasers.
It's truly baffling how chaos spreads in such a short amount of time.
As liza was on her way to her school, she noticed she was feeling way weaker than before. Her hands started shaking too. She noticed those things in Charles that morning. 'Is this the end of the road for me? 'She asked herself. Thankfully she was close to her destination. 'Just a little more...' She told herself. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, her eyesight was getting dimmer, nevertheless she drove faster. A few turns here and there, she finally arrived at St. Morris.