I was dead the moment homeroom started.

Which was normal, homeroom has always been mind-numbingly boring.

Everyone was either talking to each other, to their friends online, or finishing homework assigned the day before.

Whatever they were doing, they were also trying to forget I ever existed.

I doodled in the margins of my bio notebook, trying hard not to think about future 'F' I was about to make on the history quiz that I neglected to study for the night before.

A small ball of crumpled paper hits the back of my head. "Hey, Sarah," Rick said, a guy who thinks that tossing balls of paper at someone's head is an acceptable way to get their attention, is trying to get my attention. Another crumpled ball of paper hits my head, "Sarah!"

I knew what he was asking for without looking at him, "Mrs. Webster, Mr. Mendoza, Mrs. Gonzales, or Mr. Hillman?"

"Mrs. Gonzales." Rick and I shared a Spanish class together along with three others. If we missed a class we'd share notes and if we didn't do our homework we'd copy each other's assignments.

We aren't close friends, but we're friendly towards each other. To be honest, he is the only person in the school that still speaks to me after I started my transition--after I decided I'd be happier as a girl. After everyone else decided I didn't exist.

I still don't know why he talks to me. 

I grabbed the assignment from my backpack and gave him the paper.
 
He gave me a goofy grin that would make even statue smile, "you are a life saver."

"Don't worry about, it's nothing"

He was about to say something else when the the Principal's voice crackled over the intercom above the doorway. "Students, please be aware that your second and third period classes have been cancelled," the students hollered and cheered, "homeroom will extend until forth period, and please, stay inside your assigned homeroom. We are on lockdown."

I rolled my eyes.

Lockdown usually meant some dumb-ass put a cardboard box in one of the restrooms with "BOMB" scribbled on it in black marker. It had already happened over five times this year. It was never a serious threat. Just a stupid prank that would end in half the day being wasted in homeroom.

Not that I minded, I wasn't looking forward to that history quiz on the branches on government today.

As the minutes past, my classmates started to whisper to each other, which in itself was weird. They never whisper.

I overheard small bits of conversations and it seemed like there was a riot was happening a few blocks away.

I searched the internet on my cellphone and found the reason for the lockdown. Riots hit Pensacola, was the top story for the local news blogs and national news sites. The police were barricading the streets to contain the hysterical mob.

Rick leaned over my shoulder to read the news reports, "I guess the environmentalists are at it again," Rick said. "What are they trying to save this time?"

"Not sure. No one is. They don't even know what organization is rioting. All they know is that whoever started it has a lot of people on their side--over a thousand."

"That sounds like a lot of angry people."

"No kidding, the police are trying stop them, but they keep getting overpowered." I scroll through the article, "the only other thing they say is to stay inside, but the roads and highways are already jammed with traffic."

"Sounds like we're stuck."

The intercom crackled again, "students, please calmly lineup along the hallway and stay with your homeroom teacher, until your parents can be contacted. School will be dismissed due to," the principal paused for a moment, "risk to our students' safety."

Of course he meant the riots, but refused to say so. Either way, the school was evacuating earlier than planned.

The class quickly got up and nearly ran out the classroom door eagerly awaiting their day-off. I was gathering my things to follow the others, but Rick grabbed my shoulder.

"Something doesn't feel right about this. Don't tell me I'm the only one who thinks that leaving the school is a bad idea."

"I'm sure they know what they're doing. They have all these things figured out before hand. Evacuation plans are designed to keep us safe."

"I'm not so sure," he didn't let go of my shoulder and his face had a tense look to it.

"Come on, Rick, what's the worst that can happen?"

Screams filled the halls.

We ran down the hallway, following the screams into the school's main lobby. The screams were outside the four metal doors that go out to the school's front lawn. Rick and I, along with a few others looked outside the windowed doors.

The front of the school was covered with cars parked on top of the, now ruined, school lawn. People were scattered everywhere: yelling, screaming, pushing, scratching, bitting, and bloody. Thick streams of red flowed from their bodies.

Something bad was happening--the riots had come here.

I stepped back from the doors as the school security officers opened them. They were trying to help the parents, but the second the doors opened they attacked the guards and made their way into the school. The lobby quickly filled with screaming bloody people.

I left the lobby and ran outside the back of the school to the cafeteria building. Some followed me. Some didn't.

Rick didn't.

What just happened? I was less scared and more confused, why did the rioters enter the school? It didn't make sense. What did they want from a high school? Didn't all extremists have a list of demands or a cause they're fighting for? They couldn't just be doing this for no reason. Everyone has reasons for doing what they do.

The cafeteria was a large brick and glass building separate from the main school. The students in the cafeteria barely numbered twenty. I didn't know any of them.

We worked together to barricade the double doors on both sides of the cafeteria with lunch tables. Hopefully it would be enough to keep out the rioters.

After the doors were secure I found an empty lunch table and laid myself out on top of the bench using my backpack as a pillow.

I tried to call my parents, but both of their cell phones went straight to voicemail. I sent a text to them. If they turned their phones on, they would find the messages knowing that I was safe. Safe for now.

I tried to call Rick, but he didn't answer.

I got up from the table and perched myself on the windowsill and looked out at the unmarred courtyard within the school walls.

"What happened in there?" A girl behind me saw me looking out one of many large windows that surrounded the cafeteria. Though, I couldn't see anything happening within the main building, just trees.

"I don't know. I saw the rioters in the school. They were fighting the teachers, the parents too."

"What did they look like? The rioters--terrorists, extremists or, whatever they are?"

"I didn't see them. At least, I don't think I saw them. I saw lots of blood and knew something wasn't right. I ran." I felt a pang of guilt hit my chest for leaving Rick behind, but I'm sure he found a safe place to hide.

We were both silent for a little while until I broke the silence, "I'm Sarah," I held out my hand.

She hesitated, "Maddison." She waved instead of shaking hands, I tried not to be offended. Even if I didn't know who she was, she knew exactly who I was. Word had spread fast. "How long do you think this will last?" She asked.

"It can't last long, the police will get here soon. We just have to wait." I didn't know if I was telling the truth or not, but I hoped that they would come. The police will help; wouldn't they?

Hours passed, the school day ended with the intercom ringing, but no word came from the principal over the speakers.

How long did they want us in here? Was everything resolved and we're just the idiots that stayed locked the cafeteria? I could already hear them, "you stayed in the cafeteria for how many hours! How stupid could you guys be? The riots ended hours ago!" I could hear the laughter already.

 "Do we leave?" One of the guys siting on top of a lunch table asked no one in particular.

I spoke up, "maybe it's over."

"Should we look? I mean, what if the they have guns?" Madison looked visibly worried.

"I didn't hear gunshots," the other boy said, "if they had guns, they would've used them."

That made sense. Maybe, they were unarmed, but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous.

"I'm going," the boy jumped off the lunch table and ran to the kitchen to grab a steak knife, "does anyone want to come with?"

I wanted this to end. I was jumpy from just siting and waiting. I need this to be over. "I'll go," I stood up and headed towards the barricaded door and helped him slide the lunch tables away.

Madison spoke up, "I'll come, too, if you don't mind." She seemed nervous, but slid out from the lunch tables and followed behind the two of us.

We opened the cafeteria doors and looked around, but saw and heard nothing. Madison had picked up a bright red lunch tray and brandished it like a shield as we walked back to the school building.

The boy opened the door to the main building, slowly opening it as to not make a sound. We heard slow faint footsteps.

God, that's probably the janitor closing up the school. I knew it! We're going to be a laughingstock. We walked inside and I felt my stomach drop.

The boy bent over and vomited at his feet.

Madison screamed, dropping her lunch tray.

I stopped breathing. I didn't want to be me, I wanted to be someone else somewhere else. Anywhere, but here.

The hallway was flooded with blood,  the school smelled like copper and rust. Bodies were ripped to shreds, but they were--wrong--they moved. I wasn't hearing footsteps, a bloody body stripped of skin and chunks of muscle was dragging itself across the floor.

We turned around and saw a group of people at the opposite end of the hall. They were crouched on the floor.

The boy walked closer to the group, "hey, guys, you okay?"

They looked his direction, slowly got up and stumbled our way, they were more whole, but still bloody and mangled. Something was wrong with them, they didn't act right.

I looked at their feet and saw some of the students still on the floor. They were tearing chunks of meat off a person--with their teeth. They were actually eating someone!

They opened their blood smeared mouths and the sound that came out was an inhuman scream. They began to come towards us.

"Shit, run!"

We ran back to cafeteria and quickly barricaded the doors behind us. The others saw the horrified looks on our faces, one of the girls asked, "what happened?"

I said it, not wanting to believe my own words, "they're all messed up," my mind didn't want to say it because it had to be impossible, "but they were still moving. They looked dead, but they were moving, eating. They're eating each other, they're all dead, eating teachers, parents, everyone." I cried, "the dead are eating--" I crumbled to the floor and cried, "the dead are eating us."

To Be Continued...

2: Chapter 2: Cafeteria Dilemma

The people in the school have gone crazy. They're sick. They were beaten, bitten, and bloody. They look like monsters, but they're still human. They aren't dead. Dead things don't move.

Dead things stay dead.

We are stuck inside the cafeteria and the only thing we can do is wait for help.

The police have to come eventually. Right?

One of the girls helps pick me up from the floor and leans me up against the barricade. She asks the guy who followed me and Madison, "is it true, is everyone dead?"

"Yeah," he say while kneeling down to clean his shoes of his own vomit, "what we saw in there, was sick." He spits his shoes, scrubbing them with paper towels, "they were all munching on each other up in there."

The girl's eyes grow wide, "what!"

"It--It's true," Madison stuttered, "they don't act normal, like they forgot who we were, they acted like they wanted to hurt us."

"I think they wanted to do something worse than that," I said, coming to my senses. I put my feet back under me and the girl went back to the rest of the group.

This isn't the time to fall apart. We need to find a way to call for help.

It came to me and I felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner.

I pulled out my cellphone and dialed 9-1-1.

I got a busy signal. I dialed again, but still a busy signal.

I don't think we're the only ones dealing with the riots.

For now we are on our own.

After hearing the news of what happened to us inside the school, the entire group by this time is screaming at each other.

They took two sides: the ones who want to stay and the ones who want to go.

This needs to stop.

I grab two lunch trays and climb onto one of the lunch tables. I slam the two trays together, until I successfully cracked both trays and got everyone's attention.

I'm not invisible anymore.

"Everyone, please stop. We can't fight like this. If some of us want to leave, then let them. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm leaving. If you want to come with me, I'm leaving tonight."

"I'm coming," Madison said.

"I'm coming, too" the boy who had come with me and Madison into the school said. "I need to swing by the elementary school. My sister is there. I can't just sit here without knowing if she's okay."

"Anyone, else?" I said.

They all looked at each other, but no one spoke up. Some even looked away.

I know some grudges run deep, but even in a life or death situation like this--I guess, I expected too much.

Three stepped forward, but I only knew one.

Austin Myers. He played football for our school and was worshiped by most of the students. He also happened to be one of the guys that terrorized me when I transitioned.

The bullying continued, until the newspaper got an anonymous call. The word got out that a hate crime was continuing on a daily basis unstopped by the faculty.

One newspaper article and morning news report later--everything changed.

The faculty cracked down on the students with school wide suspensions, and later when the attacks got more violent, expulsions became daily.

The school lost a tenth of their student body.

We lost our football team.

They didn't attack me anymore. They didn't do anything. They pretended that I didn't exist.

Austin Myers walked up to our group and silently mouthed, "fuck with me and you're dead, freak."

I didn't respond. I couldn't understand what he thought I would do to him. I kept a safe distance away from him.

The other two, obviously a couple, walked to the group side by side, "we're coming with, but you can cut the group bullshit. We're leaving on our own. The second we hit the parking lot, we spilt.

The girl on his arm, "that's right, Hon," she nuzzles her head into his shoulder, "we split."

Gag me with a spoon.

"Hey, I don't think we got introduced?" He pops his collar, "I'm Jack Kelvin." He says it in a obnoxious way that sounds like even though I don't know him from Adam, I should know him by reputation alone.

"I'm Sarah," I try to walk around him. "You're new here?" Because if you knew any better you'd avoid me like the plague.

"Ain't new, been here since the beginning of the year."

Which means you're new.

I walk to the group. Austin glares at me. I turn back to Jack.

"So, babe," he snakes an arm around my waist, "maybe after we get back to my place, we ya know, hangout or something."

God, he is an idiot.

Not to say I don't look like a girl. I do. Most people wouldn't know right off the bat, but in this school.

He must know that the one person who singlehandedly striped the school of its football team, along with a few other sport teams--was me.

"Jack," I pull his hand from my waist, "let's just try to get out of the school alive."

"I'll take that as a yes."

I struggle to not roll my eyes. I think I preferred him on the floor throwing up.

"Hey, you two, get your asses over hear," Austin yells.

God, Austin, makeup your mind.

While Jack was distracting me, Austin had decided to takeover the leadership role. He's planning the path the group will be taking through to the parking lot.

Well, at least he was trying to.

Austin pounded his fists against the lunch table trying to get his plan across. The couple were completely engrossed in themselves and Madison tucked her knees to her chest. She flinched every time Austin hit the table.

Madison and the lovebirds were siting on one side of the table, leaving Austin alone sitting the other side.

I decide to stand.

Jack walks up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist again. Resting his chin on my shoulder.

Austin glared at me again.

"You," he points his finger at me, "you lag behind, I will leave you."

"Whatever you say."

"Don't push your luck."

"You think I have luck?" I nearly laugh.

"You two know each other?" Jack sounds surprised.

Austin doesn't respond, then turns his attention a leaf of notebook paper with what looked like a simplified map of the campus.

"Sort of," I say in a way that sounds more cryptic than it was meant to be.

I stood by the table and listened to his plan. Which sounded fairly straightforward.

Run across campus.

Jump the fence.

Run through the parking lot.

Jump into the van.

Unlock the school gates.

Drive like a bat out of hell off campus.

"What do we do if we see more of them?" Madison asks.

"Run." Austin said.

To Be Continued...

3: Chapter 3: Food Fight

Austin was ironing out with the group what needed to be done before we left the cafeteria and made our way toward the parking lot.

"When it gets dark enough, then we'll leave," Austin said.

I didn't want to say anything to contradict his I'm-so-tough-my-word-is-law attitude, but this part of his plan was stupid.

Okay, maybe I did want to piss him off.

"I think we should leave earlier," I said.

The lovebirds breach their concentration from each other to toss in their two cents. "If Austin thinks we should leave at night, then why shouldn't we. I mean seriously. He one of the guys that made our football team undefeated."

His mate turned around and gave me a dirty look, "yeah, undefeated. When we still had a football team."

Your welcome.

"All I'm saying is we should, maybe, leave while we can still see the roads. It'll be safer. Less chance driving into a ditch."

I thought he was smarter than this. It's a wonder how they ever won a football game.

"So what you're saying is, if we leave earlier, we'll be safer, than driving at night. Is that what your saying?" Austin said.

"Exactly," I was really proud of myself and him finally listening to what I have to say. Maybe he isn't as bad as I first thought.

"That's what everyone else will be thinking too." Austin pointedly speaks slower as if I were a child. "The streets will be chaos. You wont be able to take two steps without getting run over by a panicked driver trying to get the hell our of dodge or eaten alive by those nut-cases." He throws his hands in the air, "congratulations, we're all hypothetically dead!"

He is a dick.

That didn't stop him from being hypothetically right, but he's still a non-hypothetical dick.

I saw some of the students getting drinks from the fridges that stood next to the lunch line and rummaging through the kitchen area.

I shoo away Jacks hands and I make my way toward the kitchen, "I'll be back."

"Do what you want," Austin says without even looking at me. 

If we run into problems and need to stay out more than a few hours, we'll some basic supplies.

I found a thick plastic bag underneath the food stations and filled the bag with water bottles and snacks I found inside cardboard boxes stacked inside the pantry.

I try to haul the bag back to the table, but I was beginning to think that I may have over filled it. It was taking all the strength I had to keep it from dragging the bag across the floor.

"Hey, what the fuck you doing?" A guy from across the room yelled.

"I'm just gathering some--"

"What the fuck you say to me!" He jumped up and gets in my face. "You think you can just take what you want? Doing whatever you want? You're noth'n."

I'm not much of a fighter, but after whats been happening today, I was ready to take a bite out of him.

But before I could give him a piece of my mind he backed away a few steps and looked over my shoulder.

Suddenly the heavy bag I'm holding is grabbed away from my hands from behind me.

I turned around to see Austin giving the other guy a mean I'll-fuck-you-up look, "I asked  it to grab a few things. You have a problem with that?"

The guy doesn't say a word and walks away.

I shoot Austin a look. "You didn't need to do that," I tried to take the bag back from him, but he just yanked it back from my grip easily.

"You're welcome." And just like that he walked back to the table with bag in hand.

He tosses the heavy bag onto the table and it lands with a thud, "at least someone's thinking ahead."

I didn't know if he was talking to me or all of us, but I felt weird to have him act--civil.

Austin was looking through the bag and I was still standing beside the lunch table.

"We need weapons," Jack said while the group was quite. "I mean if we run into any of those freaks and we, like totally, need to kick some ass."

Austin looked almost mystified at Jacks comment, "if we play our cards right, we won't need to fight."

"but, dude, my moves would be killer."  Jack flails at the air, an action that looks more like a seizure and less like "killer moves".

"Dude," Austin mimics, "if you take one of them on, by the time you 'totally kick it's ass' another two will be right behind you ready to take."

Jack slumped down in his seat with his arms folded and pouting. I kind of felt sorry for him.

Two guys, along with the guy that tried to pick a fight with me earlier, walk from the opposite side of the cafeteria to our table.

"I hear you're stealing from the kitchen."  One of the guys says.

"It's not like everyone else isn't helping themselves," I said nonchalantly. "I've even seen you take a few--

"Shut up! You lost your right to fucking talk to me." One of the guys said. "Just because the teachers had to deal with your bullshit doesn't mean I need to!"

"Dude, what your problem, bro, it's just water" said Jack.

Madison tugs on my arm and whispers in my ear, "I think we need leave." I felt her hands on my arm, she was shaking.

The guy's voice is practically booming. "You lost you right to the kitchen the second you decided to leave."

The guy beside him says, "yeah, if your going, then get your asses up and get!"

The guy from before, grabs my arm and pulls me away from the table, "if you think you can run your mouth--"

Austin grabs him by the throat. "Let go of her."

"That fag isn't a fucking," Austin punches him in the stomach and the guy's grip loosens and I pull my arm away.

Austin tosses the heavy bag over his shoulder, "come on, I looks like we outstayed our welcome."

He kicks the barricades away and we leave.

We hear the cafeteria doors get barricaded again once the doors close.

They locked us out.

The six of us made our way as quickly and quietly as possible to the fence.

We walked along the covered cement walkway. Along the way we passed the auditorium. Once passed the auditorium we were in sight of the fence separating the school campus from the parking lot.

We heard the gnashing of teeth before we saw them.

To Be Continued...