• The bell chimed, signalling the students of Johnson Academy that it was time for lunch.The initial rush held a group of friends at bay as they waited for one of their own to meet the rest. Mr. Wells, the Physics teacher, left the students in his classroom while they waited. No student was going to keep him from his break. Plus, he knew they wouldn't cause any trouble.

    After Mr. Wells had left, Kayla sat atop his desk, not shifting a single paper. Kayla was very quiet about everything she did and very shy except with her friends. After school she often had gymnastics or martial arts. On the weekends, she took archery lessons. She tied her amber hair up into a ponytail as her brown eyes raked over Gabriel, her boyfriend.

    Gabriel had just reached Eagle Scout and so, had all of the Boy Scout merit badges. He was part of the school's robotics team. He kept his hair short and his eyes fixated on his girl friend at all costs. Quietly, he idled up next to Kayla, leaning on the desk upon which she perched.

    Jenna, one of Kayla's best friends stood near the door, hoping to spook the missing member upon entrance. Her green eyes glancing at every shadow that passed the entry's frame. Unfortunately, she had to keep pushing her red hair out of the way to keep her line of sight clear.

    Alana pulled a chair up to begin forming a semi circle with Gabriel and Kayla. She sat across from Kayla. Alana was the oldest of the group but she was also the shortest. Her hair was dyed a deep red and kept very short.

    "We should have a plan for the zombie apocalypse, in case it does happen," Alana said with a smile.

    Gabriel laughed slightly and Jenna smirked, they both had disregarded what Alana had said.

    Kayla's expression slackened as she mulled over what Alana said. Something inside of her always screamed to plan ahead for any possible situation, a side effect of her Depression and OCD.

    "I think we should," she said quietly.

    Gabriel and Jenna shared a glance before turning to Kayla. They knew her quirks and knew if they downright shot what she said down, she'd meltdown for weeks.

    Gabriel grabbed hold of Kayla's hand and squeezed it gently. "Kayla, babe..." he started, unsure of how to tell her it wasn't possible.

    "Maybe we should wait for Topher to come, then we could have a vote," Jenna finished for Gabriel.

    Just as Kayla nodded, the sound of rapid footsteps came echoing up the now empty hallway.

    "Jenna, he's coming," Kayla whispered with a smile. She really wanted to see Topher get spooked.

    Just as a tall, slender, black boy came running into the doorway, Jenna jumped out and went "Blegh!" The boy didn't even seem phased and just shook his head. Pulling a pencil out of his afro and bopping Jenna on the head with it.

    Everyone laughed as Jenna walked over to the rest of the group with Topher, the final member of the group.

    Topher was the artsy one of the group. He always had paper or a sketchbook grasped in his hand. He had a crazy good memory as well.

    "So, Topher, now that you're finally here. We need you to be a deciding vote. Alana and Kayla here think we ought to have a plan in case of a zombie apocalypse," Gabriel said with a joking tone.

    "Heh, yeah. That's a neat idea. Sure. Let's do it!" Topher answered as the rest of the group rose.

    The group began to leave, discussing and negotiating what should be done in case of the zombie apocalypse. They laughed and continued on to the lunch room. In the thrum of the crazy room with teenagers eating and chatting, nobody could hear the group.

    By the end of the day, they had decided that they'd all meet on the movie theater roof where they spent most of their summers together. With them, they'd bring two changes of clothes, as much food and water as they could carry. Kayla would bring her archery equipment as well. Gabriel would bring all of his knives, flint and steel, and any other survival equipment he could carry. Since Topher lived right next door to Gabriel, he'd help carry the equipment. Alana would bring as many guns and as much ammunition as she could swipe from her dad's gun shop. Jenna would bring a small amount of her sewing equipment to patch clothes and such.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Several weeks went by in the monotony of classes and after school activities. On the weekend before spring break, Jenna and Kayla were at Alana's house while her parents were out of town. They were talking about all of the work the teachers had assigned them for the week and listening to music on the radio when a siren began to wail.

    An ambulance went flying up the street. Kayla jumped at how close it sounded. Jenna and Alana continued talking while Kayla stepped out onto the porch to investigate. A second ambulance soon followed. She became slightly concerned as she heard three police cars near by.

    Unsettled, she returned inside. Her stomach began to knot itself up. She sat back down in Alana's room as she began to think. Jenna and Alana saw that something was wrong with their friend.

    "What's wrong, Kayla?" Jenna asked.

    There was a long pause during which several more emergency vehicles passed in the near distance before Kayla answered.

    "Do you remember our plan in case of the zombie apocalypse?" she asked, very seriously.

    Jenna nodded as she punched Gabriel's number into her phone and handed it to Kayla. Confused, Kayla took the phone and listened as it rang, and rang, and rang.

    Kayla's stomach tightened more and more, her eyes tearing up as fear engulfed her being. Finally, Gabriel answered. "Hello?" he asked, his voice crackling as though he had bad reception.

    "Gabe... remember our plan? Get your stuff together. Please," Kayla said into the phone, hoping he could hear her.

    "What? I can't hear you."

    "Get your gear together! I think the apocalypse has just begun!" Kayla screamed into the phone. A loud bang came from the other end and the line went dead.

    The bang was slightly muted on her side. Something had exploded. Kayla's eyes showed that she was becoming frantic. Alana glanced out through the window and gasped. People were freaking out and running around. Cars were jammed in the streets. There was an announcement coming from the radio.

    'Attention! It is imperative that everyone is evacuated from the city! Local gangs are on a killing spree! Everyone-" the radio turned to static.

    Slowly, Kayla rose up from where she sat, and looked out the window for herself. She saw people chasing others, tackling them to the ground and ripping them apart. Fear paralyzed her as she watched people eating people.

    "This can't be happening. This is just another one of my nightmares," she said aloud.

    A hand touched her shoulder, causing her to jump away from the contact. Jenna stood there in shock at what she was watching.

    "Alana is getting the guns and ammo, when she's done... We're going to have to run across the roof to get to our places..." Jenna said quietly. "I-I have some show swords with sheathes. I'm sure we could sharpen the swords and use them..."

    Kayla nodded as she regained her outward composure. On the inside, she was tense and worrying that Gabriel hadn't done what she asked or hadn't heard her. Alana came back to the room with a duffle bag that protruded awkwardly. Good thing her father had taken the whole group to the firing range several times each year.

    The girls helped Alana pack a backpack with two set of clothes, food, and water. Alana wrote a note to her parents and stuck it on the fridge, hoping they'd come back and find it.

    Jenna explained to Alana what had to be done. Without further ado, the trio climbed up onto the roof. They went up the stairs that lead to the roof deck of Alana's home. With practiced ease, the three girls began to run across the the roofs, heading towards Jenna's house first.

    Jenna's block was even worse than Alana's. Police were firing into a group that were shredding and eating the flesh of a young man. A few dropped but the rest got up and began to attack the officers. Kayla closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and attempted to center herself.

    "Maybe I'll just go in, you guys can wait here until I come back," Jenna said, glancing back at her friends as she reached down to open a window.

    "You shouldn't go somewhere with access to that mess alone. Alana has the guns, so she should stay up here," Kayla replied, glancing between Jenna and Alana.

    Jenna looked to Alana to confirm if she'd be alright with the plan. Alana nodded and pulled out a hand gun. The window wouldn't budge with Jenna's pulling. Kayla sighed and took her jacket off before wrapping the sleeve around her hand.

    "Jenna, hold my legs. Don't let me fall," she said as she walked towards the edge.

    As Kayla kneeled down to hang over the edge, Jenna grabbed hold of her ankles firmly. With a swift, forceful punch of the covered hand, the glass shattered.

    Years of gymnastics allowed Kayla to be released from Jenna's grip and swing herself through the remains of the window. Jenna soon climbed in after her. Glass crunched beneath their feet. Slowly, the two went towards Jenna's bedroom. Jenna dumped out her school stuff from her backpack and stuffed in clothes, her sewing kit, and as much food as she could carry.

    Within ten minutes, Jenna and Kayla returned to the roof to find Alana pacing. The trio continued onward without a word. Alana and Jenna were breathing heavily under the weight of their cargo. Kayla's phone vibrated in her pocket, slowly she pulled it out and looked down at the screen. It was a text message from Topher.

    'We are okay and on the way,' it read.

    A sigh of relief escaped Kayla and she relayed the message to her friends. The triad picked up their pace and reached Kayla's home quickly. Kayla popped the screen out of her skylight and leaped into her room, landing in a crouch with a small thud. Jenna followed closely, leaving her pack with Alana.

    Kayla had already had a large pack filled with what she needed. She made it the day the group had made their plan, believing in earnest that it would come to play. Looks like she was right.

    She grabbed her bow from where it hung and a full quiver but put extra arrows in the sides of her pack. Her hands looked down upon her hunting boots. She swapped her shoes quickly and with a sad sigh, she left a note for her grandfather.

    Jenna needed help getting back through the sky light so Kayla boosted her up. The pack was too heavy to for Kayla to make the leap so Jenna pulled it up with her. Kayla soon followed and shouldered her pack and took one of the swords Jenna offered her.

    "Let's go," Kayla said, determination gleamed in her eyes.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Gabriel woke up from a nap to the sound of his phone ringing. Dazed, he glimpses at the phone and sees that it is Jenna calling. 'Weird,' he thought to himself. Groggily, he answered the phone, "Hello?"
    Kayla's voice was on the line, she sounded very panicked."Gabe.....plan? Stuff together. Please." Static broke the call up.

    "What? I can't hear you."

    "Get your gear together!... the apocalypse has just begun!" Kayla screamed, making Gabe wince. Then, the call went dead as a loud explosion shook his house.

    Gabriel jumped up and tries to think of what to do. Suddenly, he remembered the day where they all "planned" what to do in the case of the zombie apocalypse. Not much later, Topher came banging on his door. On his back was his large book bag. Fear was painted across his face as Gabriel let him in.

    "Alright man, get your stuff together. It is actually happening," he said. Sweat beaded along his hair line and he was breathing roughly.

    Gabriel nodded and began to pull out his knives and survival gear. He strapped his machete to his hip as he scrambled around his room for anything else the group may need. Topher had an ax dangling from his hand and gore seemed to be on the head of the weapon.

    Gabriel's eyes widened in surprise but he continued to gather what was needed. Topher put some of the things into his own pack. Once the two were set Topher looked around outside before motioning for Gabriel to follow.

    "These things are crazy. They attack and then tear you apart while you're alive," Topher explained with a look of disgust as he glanced down at his ax. "You may want to have that thing ready," he continued, motioning towards Gabriel's machete.

    The two slowly crept along the alleys, the houses being too far apart to run along the roofs. As silently as possible they made their way towards the theater they had spent so many hours on the roof of throughout the years.

    The sound of scuffling ahead made the two duo freeze. Gabriel motion for Topher to get closer to the wall as he unsheathed his machete. Even slower, the two moved along. The scuffling drew ever closer. There was an intersection up ahead.

    As they neared the intersection, they found the source of the scuffling. A child was tearing apart a dog that was still in death throws. Gabriel and Topher tried to pass the child without being noticed but it looked up, face torn to shreds. The pair froze.

    The child got up and began to sprint towards them. Gabriel lifted his machete and swung, cracking the skull of the child. The blade got stuck and the child was still alive. With a swift movement, Topher had beheaded the child with his ax.

    Topher stared as the body fell to the ground and Gabriel pulled his blade free of the skull of the child. His stomach roiled at what he had done and for the second time that day, Topher bent over and threw up.

    Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Topher straightened up and looked across the intersection. Gabriel lead the way this time. The two quickly ran across the open street, listening to more and more sirens wailing. Quickly, Topher sent a text message to Kayla saying, 'We are okay and on the way.'

    Gabriel and Topher followed more alley ways without incident until they finally reached the theater. With practiced ease, the two reached the top by climbing on the dumpsters and pulling themselves up. Gabriel looked around and saw three familiar female figures on the roof as well.


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