Bastille

The power in town had stayed on much longer than Valeria had anticipated which was bad or good depending on the way you looked at it. In a way they had been fooled into thinking by some means they were separate from the rest of the world, actually safe in their little fenced in bubble. After a few days without hot water it was apparent that the worst had begun. Food in the pantry was dwindling, and more than once Cassie had expressed her distaste for drinking the water that sluggishly ran from the sink. That was when David Olson decided it was time they moved their camp to the High School.

Between the three relief shelters in town there were easily a thousand people. Valeria felt sick to her stomach wondering about the population that had decided to leave Haven for shelter in bigger cities. The relief shelter at Haven High School was surprising cheerful and large due to the fact that the shelter spread from Haven High to the smaller elementary school that was just a few paces away, the play yard seperating the two spaces. It seemed like everyone had a job to do. The men helped patrol the fences and gather supplies from the stores around town, women washed clothes, a lot of the teens had buckled down and watched the little ones, keeping their minds at ease with games of hide and seek and duck duck goose. Valeria offered to teach small groups at a time. Over the past few days her younger students had been through multiplication tables, scrawling out answers on copy paper from the school printers. The teens did not care much for the idea, but little by little they started showing at the old elementary classroom she had claimed as her own due to the bright green paint and decals of frogs that littered the walls. It warmed Valeria’s heart to see them want to continue to learn.

“You’re actually a pretty good teacher. And it does keep my mind off what is happening outside class.” Wesley had stated over a dinner of beef jerky and baked beans. Valeria smiled at the compliment and nudged him with an elbow in thanks before finishing her meager portion. Her stomach still growled in protest occasionally, but she was getting used to the small rations provided.

“I was hoping to go to the corner store and get some notebooks for the little kids to take back and forth to do homework,” she giggled at the word home, “I guess this is the best home we can get at the moment.”

David looked up from his dinner and puffed out like a proud rooster. He was proud of his oldest daughter’s dedication to helping the group. He clasped a hand to his wife’s knee and squeezed looking back to his daughter, “That sounds like a great idea, Val. I’ll make sure to get a big stack of them when I go out tomorrow morning.”

The family was silent for a long while. Cassandra had already fell asleep slumped against her brother’s shoulder who didn’t seem to mind. Valeria pulled her white fleece jacket over her shoulders for warmth. It was only September, but with the cool outside air creating a draft in the musty gym, it felt like winter already. She watched her mother knit in the lantern light like she had done for the past few nights in a row. Deft fingers made work of the yarn cranking out stitches like it was nothing. Valeria lied across the floor on the soft mat that was actually meant for gymnastics. Her arms braced her head as she continued to watch her mother’s fingers, eyes slipping shut as she finally found sleep.

The next morning was bright and sunny so instead of spending the day teaching long division like she had planned, Valeria let the children have fun on the playground. “As long as you behave.” She had warned, giving the stern eye to a few trouble makers. They all nodded eagerly following their new found teacher onto the play yard. Valeria was content to watch them play. It wasn’t too long ago that she was in their shoes, stuck in a cement brick building staring out the window at an empty playground. She had sat on a bench in her white fleece jacket watching the boys rough house over possession of a basketball when the commotion starting echoing off the walls of the playground. That was when she had saw the first figure stumbling blindly from the corner of her eye. The screaming began.

“Inside now! Inside the classroom!” she began shouting at the girls who had uttered the first sounds of distress. They took off without a second glance, dresses flapping in the wind. Valeria rushed for the basketball court.

“Boys!” she called in fright, a second figure joining the first. Then a third. The first creature reached them before Valeria did, walking with arms stretched out and teeth bared in a growl. The boy holding the ball bellowed in fright and let the ball fly at the greying body, watching as the figure crumbled to the ground with the force of the ball. Valeria grabbed two of them by the sleeves and ran full force with them at her side. The rest didn’t hesistate to follow. Valeria rushed to get in the door, scrambling to hold the door closed as one creature rushed the glass paned door. One of the girls started crying in the corner, clasping her sister’s hand. Valeria was shocked as she watched the thing outside the door lunge at her face not even phased by the pane of glass that seperated them. This was no creature though, this was a person. Or what had been once a person. He was wearing soiled jeans and a checkered button down shirt with cut off sleeves, a bald spot on his head where dark hair had begun to fall out in obvious clumps. His face was grey and dirty with dried blood staining his cheeks and chin.

“James, I need a chair. Do you think you could get one for me?” she asked the closest boy who nodded, grabbing a high backed chair to drag over. Valeria positioned the chair on its two back legs and jammed it under the door hoping to God it was enough to keep the man outside where he couldn’t get the children. She turned to the group taking in the 10 innocent faces before her. Susan was still snivvling in the corner with Monica. She counted them twice to make sure one wasn’t trapped outside before speaking calmly, “Okay guys, I want you to pick a partner and hold their hand. We’re getting out of here.”

The kids partnered off in twos and stuck close together while Valeria grabbed her backpack from behind the desk and dug out the small purple Swiss Army Knife she had bought weeks ago before placing it on her back. She kept the knife in her grip just incase before cracking open the door. The hallway was empty.

“I want you to stay together. Do not leave from behind me. If you get scared just squeeze your partners hand, okay? It will all be over in a second. Now if we do somehow get separated, run. Come back to the classroom and don’t look back. Hide if you have to but don’t panic. Follow me, y’all.”

She led the two lines of five out into the hallway, trying to keep her shoes silent on the linoleum. She stepped towards a corner and glanced around it then kept going, occasionally checking to make sure there were no stragglers. She passed one of the front doors of the building and jumped as it rattled, groans audible from outside and gaining pitch. Susan yelped out and clung to her sister’s hand. The doors were chained and padlocked much to Valeria’s relief. She kept the lines going down the halls passing classrooms along the way with no signs of life until she got to one of the bathrooms where she could hear crying.

“Is anyone in there?” Valeria called into the open doorway, waiting for a response. When she got nothing but another sob she cautiously walked into the room. Cassandra was sitting on the cold linoleum cradling a woman’s head in her lap. Valeria’s heart dropped as she recognized Mrs. Peters, the older lady who lived across from them who had always watched them for her parent’s date nights. Valeria dropped to her knees by the girl, “What happened?”

Cassie sniffed and wiped her runny nose on her shirt sleeve, “She just collapsed in the hall. I drug her in here and called for help but nobody came. I think she had a heart attack.”

“Will you go stand with the kids? I’ll check her pulse.” Valeria asked her sister softly, watching her get to her feet and leave the stall. She pressed her fingers to the pulse point on the woman’s neck. There was nothing. She hung her head and bit back a sob. A moan sounded from Mrs. Peters, and Valeria blinked back tears, watching as the woman twisted on the ground.

“Mrs. Peters?” Valeria asked, pressing a hand to her head. The old lady opened her eyes, misty whiteness cloudly their usual deep brown. She opened her mouth and screeched at Valeria edging forward trying to connect her mouth with Valeria’s flesh. Valeria let out a yelp and dodged the woman, trying to roll away but slipping on the waxxed floor. Mrs. Peters grabbed ahold of Valeria’s leg scratching at her leather leggings. Valeria cried out and searched with a hand for the swiss army knife she had lost in the scuffle. Her hand connected just as Mrs. Peters raised herself up to clamp down on Valeria’s neck. Valeria reached forward and brought the sharp knife deep into the woman’s forehead gasping when she fell forward on top of her.

“Cassie! Cassie!” Valeria screamed, trying to push the deadweight off her chest. For a moment her throat constricted at the smell of the woman’s dark blood dripping from the wound on her forehead and onto Valeria’s sweater. Cassie rushed into the bathroom and immediately put a hand to her mouth to stop the scream from erupting from her throat.

“Oh my god, Val. Val, what happened?” Cassie hefted the older woman off of her sister taking in her grey skin and the misty white eyes that still were open in death. “Holy shit.”

“Cassie, we need to get the fuck out of here.”