CHAPTER 4: Starfall

{Diary entry, Danielle Walker, Jan 1, 2016}

Ever since the since the loud noise Id6been on edge. The other students were even worse, some had gone into the corner of class and were hyperventilating so bad I thought they'd pass out again. I and some of the braver students tried to calm the other down but that wasn't working out well, in fact it worsened the situation as they were even more terrified cause we weren't as terrified as they were. That's when I remembered Mrs. Bradbury was here before the noise happened. I found her passed out behind the teacher's desk. I slapped her a couple of times to wake her up. She needed to reinforce order here.

When she'd come to, she addressed the class and then left to find the other teachers, but before leaving she said something I didn't want

"Ms Walker, you're in charge, no one leaves the classroom."

Even worse was that she'd said it loud enough for everyone to hear.

As soon as she left the class all eyes were on me. I'm not a shy person really, instead I'd say I'm kind of extroverted, but not quite. Other than one thing in my life everything about me is moderate, I talk enough to not be a loner but not too much to be popular, I get decent grades ( until now) to not fail but not high enough to be a stellar student, I was basically just average. That meant that having all eyes on me was not something that helped my nerves, especially after the whole noise fiasco. Luckily I didn't have to take charge, someone else did.

A big kid who so far had kept his calm basically handled the situation.

"Look you guys should get of your asses it could possibly be an attack on the school, if you're already crying like you're going to die you might as well be dead!"

He yelled at everyone. It was pretty mean but it was what was needed and it showed as most of the students got out of their funk and became alert. I guess despite being a delinquent he had good leadership qualities. I'll thank him later.

With almost everyone settled, we waited and peered our ears to listen to what was going on. For about ten minutes we didn't hear anything until we heard a loud bashing sound before what sounded like a water balloon popping. That left a lot to the imagination. We then heard a tired sounding Mrs. Bradbury calling the other teachers.

"No go back in the class!"

yelled Mr Steve as he an the other teachers ran past the classroom when they saw me following them.

I didn't get a chance to see it properly before I was sent back to the classroom but I saw Mrs Bradbury covered in blood and holding a fire extinguisher that was covered in even more blood . The only positive I could find was that it looked like it wasn't her blood so maybe it was the attacker's. Maybe she'd killed him and we were safe. Maybe he wouldn't have a reason to come then.

My hopes were dashed when a pale looking Ms Taylor came back to class and told us that we had to go upstairs, because it wasn't safe downstairs. There was more than one attacker? This was bad. My fears were even compounded more when we got upstairs and looking at the cityscape in the distance we could see fires and hear explosions. Was this a terrorist attack or something?

"Everyone stay calm, we've contacted the police and their on their way here now."

said Mr Clayton, the math teacher, as he and the other teachers came into class. It seemed Mrs Bradbury had changed her outfit to get rid of the bloodstains. It wasn't too helpful as her hair and shoes were still covered in blood. Seeing her confirmed the ideas everyone had had about the sounds earlier. To top it off, Mr Steve brought some hockey sticks and tennis rackets and they clearly weren't going to be used for recreation.

About an half an hour had passed since we moved upstairs before we saw some guys running towards the school building. Some of them carried weapons like baseball bats, kitchen knives and some other household and office equipment. A lot of the students, my self included started freaking out.

"It's ok, the doors and windows are locked, they can't get in."

reassured the teachers, but that wouldn't ease us as we could hear them banging on the doors downstairs.

While the banging noise continued with our strained ears we heard someone running around downstairs. Mrs. Bradbury, Mr Kumar and Mr Steve went ot check it out. I went to the corner of the class and crouched. If they got into the class maybe I would be out of sight when they attacked, I thought.

After a while, Mr Steve and Mr Kumar returned. That left Mrs Bradbury, when she returned, following her was the person I wanted to see the most and also di not want to see at all. My big brother, Sam. To be clear I was happy to see him because with the fires in town I didn't know he was safe until now but as for him coming here, it meant that once again he had taken my wellbeing as being more important than his.

With the passing of our dad two years ago, I was going to be moved to foster care but my brother applied for my custody as he was legally an adult then. In order to take care of me he dropped out of college even though he had gotten to go with a scholarship so he could get three jobs to pay for my school fees, feeding and general care. He sold the house and we moved to an apartment, we could only afford a one bedroom one so he slept on the couch everyday. He pushes himself so hard to help me yet I can't offer anything in return. I'm to young to get a job, I don't have skills worth anything for money... I feel useless around him. The reason I'm even in this remedial lesson is because I objected to him helping me out with my science project so he could get some extra sleep.

Despite my misgivings I still ran towards him and hugged him. He ruffled my hair as he hugged me to comfort me. I was glad he's okay. He was then bombarded with questions from the teachers, most notably my math teacher, Mr Clayton.

Now all that's left is for all of us to get out of her safely. What Sam said to me next took me by suprise.

"Dani, come we need to get outta here, my car is hidden behind some trees."

I was overjoyed for an instant but I realized that it meant that Sam would put my wellbeing above not just his own but above everyone else.

"What about the rest of them?"

I replied, not able to mask the anger in my voice.

"There isn't enough space..."

As he was giving his reply, the delinquent who helped me out earlier, while looking outside yelled

"Those guys just got a lot more!"

[BOOM!!!]

The sound of the front door breaking open.

"Fuck!!"

said Sam and I in synch.

As soon as we heard them break down the doors Sam, the teachers and some of us students started formulating what to do to escape safely. Ultimately their plan involved Sam and the other male teachers going downstairs and finding their way outside. They would then help catch the rest of us as we jumped from the window upstairs. It sounded super risky and I wanted to object, Sam could get hurt or worse. I was going to but the delinquent guy, ( whose name I'd come to find out is Tucker) held my shoulder

" There's no better way, would you prefer if he doesn't go down and the teachers don't make it. If that happens those guys will come up here and kill us."

"....."

I didn't have a response because he was right.

We upstairs had to hold the fort and hope that the others could make it outside and we could then escape on the school bus.

"Be safe"

I told Sam as he and the others left.

I didn't hear exactly what he said in return, but I just hope he doesn't put himself in unnecessary danger just for me.

As soon as they left, following Mrs Bradbury's instructions we boarded up the doors to the class with desks while Mrs Bradbury and miss Taylor stood ready armed with a fire extinguisher and a hockey stick respectively. Some of the students also had armaments, mostly other gym equipment.

We waited in silence for what seemed like eons before we heard what sounded like a large group of people running. I hoped Sam and the others were a safe distance away from them. Before I had time to imagine more horrifying scenarios in my head, some of the attackers had reached our classroom doors. They immediately began kicking punching and hitting them with whatever they had. In return we pressed ourselves onto the already barricaded doors to prevent the attackers from getting in.

We struggled to keep them back but little by little the doors were coming of their hinges or just getting holes busted in them. When it seemed like one of the doors was going to cave in, we heard a shout

"I'm here, you guys should start coming!!"

It was Mr Steve, but were were the other teachers and more importantly Sam. I was about to yell and ask Mr Steve where he was until I saw him running towards us. He was carrying an axe and covered in blood. Other than a few bruises and cuts he looked fine. I was relieved.

"Are you ready now?"

yelled Ms Taylor from the window. She then jumped down and Sam and Steve caught her.

She then ran towards the bus to bring it closer to the window for our quick getaway. One of the students was preparing to jump when some of the attackers burst out of the the school building and ran towards Sam and Steve. Sam immediately ran towards the and started hacking them down. Seeing him just slaughter people made my stomach turn. If not for our current situation with attackers at the classroom doors and on the ground I would have thrown up.

Mr Steve then proceeded to catch everyone as they jumped while Sam held off the attackers. When it reached my turn to jump I was very anxious as it was only Tucker and Mrs Bradbury holding the doors closed.

"Go, we'll be right behind you!!"

yelled Mrs Bradbury. I followed her words and jumped. I was reasonably athletic and I really didn't need Mr Steve to catch me but I didn't mind his help. Once he put me down I began sprinting towards the bus.

Halfway there, some of the attackers sprung us. Tucker tried to repel them but he was only able to take down one or two before he began to get overwhelmed. I was to busy evading them to help him. I thought he was going to die, until his attackers suddenly got pelted with foam. It was Mrs Bradbury, she was like an animal, swinging the fire extinguisher like a bat for melee attacks and spraying foam at attackers outside her reach.

" Hurry up and get to the bus!"

she yelled at us as she ran towards us. I took a wounded Tucker's arm and helped him up as we ran towards the bus.

[CLICK]

I immediately became tense as I heard that sound. I turned and saw it. It was a man, probably in his mid twenties, blonde and quite short. He held a handgun and it was aimed at Tucker and I. I pushed Tucker to the floor and jumped sideways as i had seen action heroes do in movies to avoid gunfire. Sadly, this wasn't a movie.

I felt the intense pain shoot up from my chest. I saw the blood start to soak my shirt. It suddenly became harder to breathe. I got shot in the heart. It was over, there's no way that isn't lethal. I fell down, probably to never rise again. All I could think of as my eyes began to close was Sam, what could I have said or done to stop this from happening. He would lose it if I left him just like the others. I gave my last breath as I closed my eyes for he final time... or so I thought. I opened my eyes again. The pain was still there and it was still beyond intense but I wasn't dying. It's similar to how when you stub your toe or when you get pierced with a needle, you feel a lot of pain but you know you're not dying. That was what was happening albeit with a lot more pain.

Was I a zombie? how am I still alive? I stood up and looked at Tucker who was running to the bus. While I was still in shock, Mrs Bradbury took my hand and dragged me to the bus.

When I got into the bus I ran to the back and covered my chest. I didn't know how I was still alive but I wasn't complaining. All that was left was for Sam and Mr Steve to get on board so we could leave. I looked out the window as I saw them running towards the bus.

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Extra Entry {Samson Walker, January 1, 2016.}

She got shot. I watched in horror as she stumbled before collapsing. I wanted to run toward her but I kept being swarmed by attackers. I finally got a break when Steve came into the fray to lend a hand, or in this case a fist. Once I saw an opening we bolted. I immediately ran towards where she fell to help her but she wasn't there. All that was there was some bloodstains.

"She's on the bus!"

yelled Steve as he ran to the bus. I took his word for it and ran with him to the bus.

"Just in time, any longer and we would have left without you"

said Mrs. Bradbury as she received us. I didn't care for her words right now. I saw Dani in the back being attended to by some students.

"Are you ok, how's your breathing?"

I said as I nestled right beside her.

"Its painful but I'm alive"

She was safe and that was all that mattered. I looked at myself and I saw a knife sticking out of my lower back. I hadn't felt it because of my adrenaline but now that it was fading, I felt the sharp pain. I felt faint and tired.

"Let me help you"

said a girl as she bent over and slowly pulled out the knife from my back. She and some others then started bandaging the wound with some cloth.

After they were done Mrs Bradbury called me to the front to talk with her, Steve and Taylor.

" She got shot right in the chest, how is she still alive?"

asked Steve.

" I don't know myself, all I did was put some bandages but even if she didn't bleed out she still would have had a punctured lung or something"

replied Taylor while she continued to man the wheel.

" I guess it's a miracle "

Steve said.

"It was no miracle "

said someone from inside the bus. A delinquent looking kid stood up from one of the seats and brandished a gun from his pocket.

"Where did you get that!"

yelled Mrs Bradbury.

"I snatched it off the guy who shot Danielle after I tackled him, but that's not the point. This is."

He pointed the gun at Dani. I wasn't holding my axe at the time but I didn't need it. I would tear him apart with my bare hands. As I ran towards him, he swiveled and pointed the gun at his chest, specifically his heart. Right before my fist connected with his face

[BANG!]

My punch aided his limp body in crashing to the floor. The other students rushed to his side but Mrs Bradbury came and moved them away. We didn't know if he was secretly one of the attackers.

We watched for what seemed like an eternity as his body convulsed while trying to cling to life before he finally went still. Dani was going to close his eyelids before she was stopped by a hand. His hand.

He slowly sat up while coughing up blood

" It hurts..."

" Why the hell did you do that!"

yelled Mrs Bradbury.

"Because we aren't dying, or at least I didn't and he isn't "

said Dani. I looked around and then saw the reality of what she said. I clearly didn't stop all the attackers from reaching the students, that's physically impossible, I was just one person. Some of the students had wounds and injuries from attacks and some were lethal injuries. I looked at myself and saw a lot of cuts and stab wounds all over my body. They hurt and were bleeding but I hadn't died of blood loss.

With this news we had just gotten we all sat in silence as the we continued to drive out of town. I thought about Mr Clayton and Kumar, if this applied to them, I shouldn't have left them behind. I could have have helped them escape, they're probably back at school being brutally hacked to pieces. The image of that stung me.

We had tried to go into town after we left the school but with all the explosions, fires and rioting in the streets we deemed it unsafe and so we drove out of town using back road so as to avoid meeting many people. I looked out from the window at the night sky as the stars on the sky shined brightly. I held on to Dani who was resting her head on my shoulders as she slept.

One of the students on the seat in front of us grabbed his rosary and started praying. All I could make out from what he was saying was " end of days". I had grown up in a Christian home but I wasn't very pious. I hoped he was wrong but I didn't disturb him. I turned to continue looking at the night sky when I saw the stars that lit up the sky fall to the earth.

"Wha.."

I barely finished my sentence before the explosions caught us and everything went dark.