Chapter 7

I stood frozen. I hadn't of this until now but… what if the infected could talk? How did someone become infected? Did anyone else make it out of the gym? Seeing my hesitation, Grace ran over and opened the door.

A girl stumbled inside and with a look out the door, we saw a bunch of infected heading this way. Grace shut and locked the door and with the help of Mike, barricaded it, just in case. I cautiously approached the girl and knelt down beside her panting form. I squinted my eyes as I inspected her and asked, "Are you infected?"

The girl chuckled until she realized I was being serious and shook her head. "The infected can't talk." I nod and stand. Mike and Grace run over and help her to the couch. "What's your name?" I ask. Now that she is resting properly, a suspicious glint appears in her eyes.

"Just call me TJ. Who are you guys? A new group?" She asks. I look her her confused. "We've been here since day one. What are you talking about?" I ask. She looks suspicious until she studies each of us and comes to the realization were being serious.

"Wow, you really don't know. Alright, I'll explain. When we all got locked in the gym and the zombies broke in,-" I interrupt her. "We call them infected." She nods and continues. "Everyone ran in different directions. Some idiots ran to the storage closet and locked themselves in." I winced. We were those idiots.

"Another group ran to the guys locker room and another to the girls. My group ran to the corner of the gym and waited. The infected were chasing the other groups and when we saw a clear shot out the door, we took it. We ran to the nearest classroom and locked ourselves in. We got lucky. It was the History classroom." My eyes widen.

The history professor, despite being a douche, collected ancient weapons and sealed them in glass cases around the room. The school only allowed it because he had a doctoral degree.

"We took the weapons but because we had no food or water, we immediately slaughtered our way to the cafeteria. When the infected bust into the gym, we were a group of thirteen. By the time we made it to the cafeteria, we were a group of nine."

"We thought we'd have to fight tooth and nail to get to food but when we got into the cafeteria we were surprised. A group had already taken control of the cafeteria. They're a large group too. Twenty-seven members back then. They are only growing in members."

"Their leaders, the co-captain of the basketball team and the captain of the cheer leading squad, let us in, gave us a meal, and told us we either trade with them or we will never get their food again. Feeling we had no choice, we established trade with them. Weapons for food." She sighed.

"It was a bad choice. One of our members decided to join their group for the food and five died on the way back to the History classroom. Ever since then, we stayed there and rationed the food. Groups begone to pop up left and right and started naming themselves. Some raided other groups and some traded with other groups. Some groups even allied themselves with other groups." She sighed again.

"The group in the Cafeteria named themselves the Vertical Group. No clue why. Almost every group began trade with the Vertical Group. This is, until the group had more than enough weapons."

"The group began trading for other things like clothes, silverware, duct-tape, glue, pencils, and paper. When groups began claiming territory as their own and making any group who passed through pay a fee, groups starting fighting each other." She shook her head.

"Anyway, this territory has been claimed by my group. You guys have to pay a fee to stay here." I glare down at her. "We saved your life." I say. She gulps under the pressure of my glare and looks away. "Eh, I tried. I didn't figure you guys would agree. Doesn't matter anyway." She replies.

A question pops into my head and I look down at her. "Why were you running?" I ask. "Raiders. They came to us, claiming they wanted an alliance and there was only three of us so we agreed. We let them in and we sat down."

"They pulled out makeshift weapons and demanded everything we had. I kicked one in the balls and ran. I knew I wouldn't be able to help my friends. Then, infected chased me down and now I'm here." She replied, a sad look of regret on her face.

I nod. "You can join our group!" Grace speaks up with a wide smile. I turn and glare at her. "Really?" TJ asks, hopeful. I glare down at her and I see the hope diminish from her eyes. "Stay here." I command then turn and grab Grace and Mikes shirt and pull them to a corner.

"For all we know, she could be lying." I say. Grace glares at me. "If you don't let her join, Mike and I are leaving." She says stubbornly. I look at Mike and he looks away. I growl in frustration and storm past them to TJ.

I glare down at her say, "One suspicious move and I'll beat your ass in a blink of an eye. Understood?" A large smile ignites on her face and she nods her head vigorously. As Mike and Grace walk past me to talk TJ's ear off, I set a hand on Grace's shoulder and say, "I won't forget that." She nods firmly and shrugs my hand off.

I hear Grace and Mike talking to TJ but I zone them out. If the Vertical group is in control of the cafeteria, we need to avoid going there. No only do we not really have a ton to trade, we need to find my sister as soon as possible. Besides, we've got food. If we ration it between the four of us, we should be good for at least a week.

I look out the window and see the sky is black. I check my phone and see it 9 p.m. I rub my temples and stand. I walk over to the trio and say, "Go to sleep. I'll take night watch and come up with a plan." They trio nods and they all attempt the share the couch which goes surprisingly well.

I go back to sitting at the table and think. The windows are our best bet. The vents are out of the question now because the weight of four people would cause it to collapse. If we can make a makeshift ladder or a makeshift rope, we can get to the ground and finally get the hell out of this school.

My house is only a ten minute walk but it'll probably take longer considering were gonna have to move silently and avoid any infected. I stand and walk around the room. When I find nothing, I open a window a look down. There are bushes below but it'd be a long fall and were bound to either break or sprain something.

I close the window and go to the bathroom. Of course, there's nothing that could help. I go back to my chair and sit. After a moment, an idea comes to me. The couch. We carefully drop the couch out of the window and when we fall, we'll be fine. It'll hurt a little, but no breaks or sprains.

I wince as I remember my injuries. It might tear some stitches but it doesn't matter. We can fix them when were out. Now, with a plan in mind, I feel a slight bit of peace. Perhaps, when we find Alice, we can all go on a road trip. See if the rest of the world is as fucked up as our town is right now.

If it is, we can still travel the world. It'll be enjoyable I think. I look out the window and murmur, "Tomorrow, we'll escape."