Chapter 15: School, Part 3

The footsteps drew closer, faint, then louder as they drew near. I held my breath, trying hard not to breathe. Then the question rose in my mind again. Could I kill if I had to? As I was thinking, not more than a few seconds, the door opened slightly. The pace of my heart quickened as a dark figure slowly entered the room. The figure took a slow, careful step then another until it was several feet in front of Brolin. And in Brolin's hand, I saw the gleam of a butcher knife. The door slammed behind.

Suddenly, Brolin grabbed the figure from behind, thrusting its body against the front of his, grabbing its forehead. No! I was screaming in my mind, but no sound came out. He thrust the knife to its throat, the blade gleaming in the moonlight, larger than life, and time seemed to stop.

"Don't, please," the figure said weakly, taken over by fear. Brolin stepped back, unable to believe his ears, lowering the blade from her throat. It was the voice of a girl.

We stood in stunned silence.

"Please, don't kill me, Brolin," she said. She knew him! Who was she? "It's me, Lisa."

"Lisa!" The knife dropped abruptly to the floor with a loud clattering sound filling the room. Time seemed to restart as we all began to breathe again.

Brolin hugged her tightly to his chest, kissing her face, her forehead, her neck, any place his lips could find. He was filled with elation as his lips hungrily found hers.

Scott cleared his throat and they stopped. Lisa backed away, sheepishly lowering her eyes.

"Sorry, everyone," Brolin said, lowering his eyes, too. And I knew that if he was in the light, he would be blushing. "This is Lisa, my girlfriend."

"Fiancée," Lisa corrected, and then turned to Brolin in a low voice. "I was waiting for you. Somehow, I knew you were alive. I knew you'd come back for me."

"But how did you stay alive?" Brolin asked, pulling her into his chest again. "I was hoping, but when you didn't run out of the school, I thought you were dead."

"I hid in a closet upstairs," Lisa said in a soft, mild voice. She appeared to be a meek, gentle girl, one that someone would want to take care of. She was a sharp contrast to Brolin, who was strong, fearless, and didn't care what anyone thought. The mask immediately disappeared from his face, revealing the true Brolin beneath.

"You hid all this time?" Brolin said, amazed as love filled his eyes.

Lisa nodded, smiling.

"Hum," Derek began, clearing his throat, "I hate to interrupt this love fest, but we have to get out of here. Now. That was close. We might not be so lucky the next time."

We all nodded, grabbing our backpacks filled with our precious loot, feeling like we'd just won the lottery.

Brolin gave two of his filled backpacks to Lisa, who swayed a bit under the weight. Brolin looked concerned, ready to catch her, but she quickly waved him off. Maybe she was tougher than I thought. After all, she had to be weak from hunger, without eating for nearly two days. Quickly, Brolin grabbed two more backpacks and Scott helped him shove cooking utensils into them: a few pots and pans, silverware, knives, anything they could grab, and a few more loaves of bread. Brolin zipped them up, picked up the other backpack, and slung all three of them over his shoulder with ease. We were all carrying at least two or three backpacks each. Hopefully, we would have enough to set up camp and eat for at least a few days.

Carefully, we looked down the hallway, Scott and Brolin, with Lisa clutching his hand, took the lead, followed by Jada, then Derek and I. Eric pulled up the rear. He appeared to be anxious to get away, anxious to run, finally getting a taste of freedom. I guess having to play dead for almost two days would do that to you. I thought that he would be running if he could, if he knew where he was going.

But something about Eric made me feel a bit uneasy, so I was relieved when Derek slowed, taking my hand, and let Eric go in front of us. Derek must have been feeling the same way. Eric was probably okay, but I guess we were all a bit pessimistic, and there was nothing wrong with being careful.

We hurried back to the cave, anxious to stash our finds, while Brolin and Lisa slacked back a moment. They probably wanted a moment to themselves.

"Don't be long," Derek said to Brolin as we passed.

Brolin nodded.

When we reached the cave, Markesha and Trevor must have been having words.

"I'm so glad you guys are back," Markesha said, exasperated. "Trevor is driving me nuts."

"Driving you nuts?" Trevor returned.

"That's enough!" Derek yelled. "Look, if we're going to live together, then we have to learn how to get along. You don't have to like each other, but we do have to learn to get along."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Then, Markesha noticed our two new additions. "Who are they?"

"Eric and Lisa," Scott said, letting a backpack slide off his shoulder onto the floor. "They were hiding out in the school, waiting for a way to escape."

"Did you two know the other was alive?" Scott asked Lisa.

"No," Lisa returned. "I thought I was the only one. I hadn't left the closet since it happened. Even when it grew silent outside, I was too scared to move. Plus, where would I go? So I just waited. Then, I heard you all in the kitchen. I was hoping that you weren't terrorists, coming back for food or something, but I had to take the chance."

"Yeah," Eric added. "I spent most of my time lying on the floor. I was near the kitchen, so after they left today, I snuck in there and ate something."

Brittany was silently stirring the fire, taking it all in. She appeared to be doing better than before. Carlos added some branches to the fire, filling the room with light and warmth.

A moment later, Brolin and Lisa entered the cave, smiling and laughing. It was good to see that life still went on; that love still existed in this godforsaken place. Watching them smiling and holding hands gave us hope. Hope for the future, and hope for the whole human race.

Then, everyone remembered the backpacks. We all opened them like it was Christmas. There were all kinds of food, and Scott had thought to grab some canned goods containing all sorts of vegetables and fruit. There was also frozen meats that would probably last until morning, so we couldn't wait too long to cook it. There was cooking utensils, and everything one could imagine.

"Here, everyone," Scott said, handing out silver spoons. "We have to eat this now, before it melts." He placed the two huge tubs of ice cream on the floor and everyone gathered around. We ate it by the spoonfuls right out of the carton, laughing. Scott already had chocolate smeared on his face, and Brittany had some vanilla on her nose. We all laughed and ate until we were dripping with half melted ice cream and could eat no more, momentarily escaping our terror. It was something frivolous, but what we needed. We acted like kids again, horsing around, acting our age. And at that moment, I was glad Scott had grabbed the ice cream after all.