Apokalipsis

Ali Brookbank woke up that fine Tuesday morning feeling the happiest she'd ever felt in a long time. Today was the day of her graduation from Ensfield High School. Four hard years of school had finally paid off. She had a full ride scholarship to the college of her dreams, and she was valedictorian of her graduating class. She'd proof-read her speech exactly 17 times. Nothing would ruin her mood.

She slipped into her Ensfield Tigers cheer outfit and brushed out her naturally wavy blonde locks. Ali swiped on some deodorant, spritzed on her signature Dolce & Gabanna perfume, and applied makeup to her tan face before heading out her door. Her mom was perched on an island counter chair watching the news on TV as she walked into the kitchen to grab a breakfast bar. She stuffed one end in her mouth and grabbed her Victoria's Secret PINK duffle bag and sped to the front door.
"See ya, mom!" She chirped as she grabbed the door handle.
"Ali, wait! You've gotta listen to this news report, there was an incident at the nuclear reactor--"
"Mom, that's great and all but I seriously gotta go. I don't wanna be late for the rally." Ali interrupted. Her mother went back to watching the news and Ali darted out the door to her car.

At school, the halls were caked with 'Congrats, Grads!' banners, balloons, and streamers. Ali saw her friends Ria, Penny, and Cassie, and jogged over to them. Brian, the starting wide receiver for the Tigers, slapped Penny's ass and she punched him in the gut.
"Hey girls!" Ali said, hugging each one of them. They each had identical cheer uniforms on, with their bows each somewhere located in their hair.
"Can't believe it." Ria sighed. Her dark skin shone a little from the artificial lighting.
"Today girls, we become WOMEN." Cassie announced. The other three giggled. They spent the next five minutes working on the cheer for the pep rally. Ali was flying in the routine, and her dad was supposed to fly in from Michigan to see her. Ali looked at the clock.
"C'mon, it's 9:30. We better go." Ali said, taking off towards the stage set up behind the school.

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"Five, six, seven eight," Coach Hall counted off as girls did back handsprings from all corners of the stage. Ali was lifted into the air and went through the motions of the cheer.

"In two thousand twelve, our name means success! Ensfield Tigers, simply, the best! Red, navy, white, the colors you'll fear, 'cuz we are the Tigers and we'll win this year! Go Tigers!"

The cheer ended with two girls going into a basket toss and Ali being cradled from her full extension. Everything was perfectly in place for the graduation pep rally.
"Alright!," Coach Hall shouted as the cheer ended, "great job, girls. Congratulations on those graduating today. Okay, the students, parents, and faculty are starting to sit down. Stand on the side of the stage and wait for your cue, and then we'll perform. Cool?"
"Sweet, tight." Everyone responded in enthusiastic unison. Ali took her place in the corner of the stage.

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"---and now, ladies and gentlemen, let me present the 2012 varsity Tigers cheerleading squad!"

That was the cue.
Ali and other cheerleaders bounded onto the stage to the music track, executing back handsprings and layouts. Ali took her spot on center stage and went up into a full extension, doing the same motions she'd done earlier. The performance was a success.

All of the graduating seniors on the squad had to quickly put on their graduation robes immediately after to get their diplomas. Ali had gold honors and valedictorian cords along with hers, being the top of her class. One by one the students collected their diplomas. Ali was last because she had to do her valedictorian speech. Her hands weren't sweaty; she didn't tremble. Her confidence was unbreakable.

'This is it', she thought, 'I'm graduating. I can do this.'

"The valedictorian of Ensfield's 2012 graduating class, Ali Brookbank!" Mrs. Moore, the principle announced, smiling and ushering Ali to the podium. Ali took a deep breath, put on a smile, and walked up the stairs, her cheer shoes thudding with every step. As she approached the podium, she took her diploma and shook Mrs. Moore's hand. She turned to the crowd, who had made a bit of a commotion. Ali ignored it and began her speech.

"I'd like to start off with a quote from Henry David Thoreau," She cleared her throat, looking down at her note cards. "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have--"

A piercing scream filled the air.
All eyes and heads turned to a woman at the back of the audience.
There she stood, screaming her lungs out as a rabid human with bloodshot yellow eyes and sickly grey skin had its mouth sunk into her flabby arm.
Nobody moved.

The seconds that followed were pure horror.
The thing that bit her ripped the flesh from her arm, revealing only bone and ripped flesh surrounding it. Blood oozed from her arm and onto the ground. Ali heard someone vomiting in the background. The thing took another bite, this time more quickly and aggressively into her cheek.
Ali's heart stopped.

The audience turned into a mob scene. Chairs flipped over as people frantically tried to exit the area. Some people with hearts actually tried to help the poor woman. The rabid human jumped 5 feet in the air, landing on another persons head.

Oh god, Ali thought.
She looked around frantically, trying to find a method to escape. Mrs. Moore had already fled from the scene. Screams and shouts filled the air. Ali ran off the stage and in the direction of the parking lot, where her car was. Moans replaced some of the screams. Ali quickly looked back.

There were more of them.

Grey sickly skin with chunks of flesh ripped off of their bodies. Bloodshot eyes with yellow irises. Blood covered mouths.
Whatever the hell they were, they were charging at the people running, including Ali. Their speed was slow, but when they got near they could pounce like a kangaroo.
Ali saw the faces of Penny and Cassie....only they weren't familiar anymore. Penny's hand and the left side of her jaw had been brutally chewed off, and blood ran down her cheerleading uniform. Half of Ria's face was marred and bloody. Ali resisted the urge to gag and sprinted to her car.

They got closer.

Ali ran faster.

She shoved herself into the Honda Civic and started the ignition. What was left of her student body was pounding against her car now, leaving cracks in the windows.
"GET AWAY YOU FUCKERS!" Ali screamed, verging on hysteria.
That was it, yeah. She was going crazy. That was the only answer that seemed plausible. Or this was just a nightmare. She'd wake up and she could start all over, right?
Ali heard a scream.

She knew that scream.

She flipped her head to the side, where outside her car a student was being eaten alive.

That student was Rick.

The boyfriend she'd been with for 5 years now.

That was it. Ali felt her breakfast come up as she threw up on the passengers seat, her eyes spilling with tears.
"NO!" She screamed, sobbing. His bludgeoned body got back up.

But he wasn't Rick anymore.

Ali cried harder and the monsters pounded on the car harder.
A hand punched through the driver's side window, clutching her hair in its hand. Ali screamed, batting it away and turning the key in the ignition. She floored the gas.
The monsters flew off of her car as the Civic sped forward.
She had to get home. She had to hide.

The world was turning to hell.