No Time To Bleed

“Hello?”

“Why the hell are you talking on the phone right now?” Jessica hissed from behind, looking frantic.

We were still in the school's office.

I cut her a look that said “I'll kick your ass right now. Shut up.”

That got her quiet.

“Jasmine! I need help! They, they, they're everywhere! And I can't-”

“Amanda, where are you?!”

“I'm on the roof! We tried to run out of class, but people got attacked and I just ran up a stairwell.”

I turned back to Jesse and Jessica. “Do you guys know where the roof is? How to get there?”

Jesse shook his head.

Jessica answered. “It's near the gym's east entrance. I go up there to...”

“To what?” Ryant asked.

Her cheeks took a rosy color and she silenced.

I turned back to the phone and spoke, “Amanda, we'll be there as soon as possible. Do you hear me?”

“Yes.” Her voice was only a croak, a sob as the line went dead.

“We're going to the roof.” I stated.

I didn't look back for any responses, especially Jessica. I had saved her life.

We cleared the office and entered the hallway. Posters were torn from the walls. Blood splashed against lockers. Guts in various places and some ceiling lights even flickered. It seemed like time had entered some alternate portal.

“Why are we even going to the roof to save your dorky friend? She's not worth it.” Jessica hissed.

“Why don't you shut up already?!” Ryant snapped.

A smirk crossed Jessica's face. “Oh, you really wanna try talking to me like that? I can beat your ass.”

Ryant laughed. “You sure did a great job earlier. I'm glad Jasmine punched you in the face. You're an ugly person.”

“Will you guys stop?! Now's not the time!” Jesse cut in.

I was still ahead of them, gun pointed ahead of me. I knew a little bit of how to handle it from hunting with my dad when I was younger, before everything had changed with me and my parents. We reached the end of the black and white checkered tiled hallway.

“I don't think there's anymore in the school. It's really quiet. Dead people make noise.” Ryant reasoned.

I shook my head, looking back to him softly. “Dead people don't move. The living dead make noise. It's zombies.”

“I don't wanna die. I wanna go to college and finish my life. Die in my sleep or some crap like that. Not being eaten alive.” Jesse murmured.

“You won't die.” I promised. “We just have to find somewhere safe.”

A figure came bursting down the hall, blood up and down her arms. Eyes wild and hair thrashed.

“They're coming! They're coming! Everyone's dead!” she sobbed. “Please don't shoot me! They didn't bite me!”

She looked to be about an eighth grader from the school down the street. The girl stopped a few feet away, hands trembling in red as she held them before her. She was genuinely pretty.

“What's your name?” I asked.

“Camron. I had to drop my brother off his inhaler. He goes to school here and.... they came.”

I sighed, looking back to Jesse, Ryant, and Jessica. “Is it okay if she tags along? She looks scared.”

They all nodded and from what I could see, she didn't have any bite marks. Just a lot of blood all over her body, as if she'd been crawling through it.

“Sure.”

“Of course.”

“It won't matter what I say.”

I rolled my eyes at Jessica and turned back to Camron. “Come on. We're going to the roof to get someone else.”

Camron nodded and hurdled behind me. I guess I was some sort of zombie killing ninja or some crap because I was ahead.

Jessica gave us the directions the rest of the way to the roof, telling us when to turn corners, and what places we should avoid. Walking through the school cafeteria, we saw all sorts of blood and food thrown everywhere. We passed a moaning body that was torn in half from the waist down.The girl was obviously infected. I had everyone turn(I even turned my own head) as I put the bullet through her skull.

Ten minutes later, we made it to the stairs that led up to the roof. Camron opened the red metal door and let me pass to walk up the concrete steps. The roof was large, considering this one covered half of the school. I got to the open air and felt the breeze shiver cold against my skin.

“Where's your friend?” Camron asked shakily.

I looked around.

There were heating ducts, pipes, gauges, and other hardware essentials.

“Amanda!”

“Jasmine! Jasmine! I'm over here!”

We all broke out into a run towards her voice. Past a low rise of heating ducts, there was Amanda slumped against the roof's walled edge.

I scrambled over to her, setting the gun down at my side, and leaned down. “Are you okay?”

Her face seemed drained of all it's color. Her hand pressed at her side and fingers shaking. I looked at the pressure on her side and saw that blood had soaked the underside of her palm. Everyone behind us froze. The moans and screams from below the edge of the roof were heavy. There had to be a lot of them.

“Amanda, did you get bit by one of those things?” I asked.

Amanda cried, tears running down her cheeks. The sky above was a cold cold gray, rain seemed close.

“No. No. They tried to, but I got away. I screamed for someone to help me, but everyone was running. They were all running.”

“Can you walk?” Jesse asked.

She shook her head. “No. It hurts my leg. It hurts so bad.”

Her chest started to heave and her eyelids were dropping more and more. She looked so close to death. Something was very wrong. Her eyelids dropped shut gently and I felt my heart take a dive.

I turned back to Jesse, Ryant, and Jessica as Camron checked Amanda's pulse. “Do you think we can carry her out? She needs help.”

Ryant's eyes widened next and everything happened so fast. A heavy snarl cut the air and I was shoved back. My head cracked against the cement flooring of the roof. Stars of black clotted my vision, dizziness rushed through me. The sound of flesh torn from bone came. My head darted up.

Amanda was hunched over Camron, bones snapping in all places and her teeth stained the unmistakable red. Camron's skull had been cracked open by the force Amanda had used to slam her back. A section of her chest had been torn out. Blood was everywhere.

Jessica grabbed for the gun before any protest.

Tears stained my vision as I screamed. “Don't do it! Jessica, don't you dare-”

BANG!

Amanda toppled over, red gushing from the base of her skull where the bullet had hit. Crimson clouded my everything. Ears pounding, I lunged for Jessica.

The gun went off again as my fingers wrapped around her neck. “You bitch! I told you not to shoot her! You killed her! YOU KILLED HER!”

My nails dug deeper into her neck. I was heaved back by Jesse and Ryant. Ryant pulled me close to him and trapped me in his grip as I screamed and screamed.

“YOU KILLED HER! SHE WASN'T READY! YOU KILLED HER!”

My screaming went on for just a second more and once again everything seemed to freeze.
Jessica coughed and coughed. The air cleared and my cheeks were slick with the salted water. She looked up to me and uttered the words I never thought I'd hear from anyone.

“She had to die. You knew she was one of them.”

My heart took a dive in my chest and Ryant's arms loosened from around me. Jesse pulled me into the tightest hug anyone had ever given me in my life.

No time to bleed, right?