Low on Time/Issue 12

This is issue twelve of Low on Time, entitled: Omens.

Issue 12; Omens
''Paul sat at a park bench with Henry and Mike. Paul had bought the three lunch after deciding to meet up. Paul could see and hear the children playing in the background, which made him smile to himself. It was around fall, cold enough for a sweatshirt, and Paul was wearing a black sweatshirt, and jeans. Mike was wearing a University of South Carolina sweatshirt, and Henry was wearing a purple and blue sweatshirt.''

''"What is college like?" asked Henry, curious.''

''"Very dull." Paul said, smirking.''

''"Oh come on, man. That's cause you went to fucking UPENN. You should've went to South Carolina with me." Mike said.''

"Well, I don't know what college in South-Fucking-Carolina I can play basketball and be one of the top prospects."

"Probably any college! They don't have many good teams down there."

''Paul nodded his head, "Sure." he said, sarcastically. Paul looked over at Henry who was listening to the conversation. "So, how is sophomore year at that God-forsaken high school?" he asked.''

''"Better than last year, I'll tell you that." Henry said, taking a sip of his water.''

''"Any girls?" asked Mike. "You know we were the kings?"''

''Henry laughed to himself, putting down his bottle. "Not really. Most girls in the school are... well, sluts."''

''"That's the fun of it!" Paul said, smirking.''

''"I thought it was high school, not the show: 16 and pregnant." Henry said, smiling.''

''Paul and Mike both laughed a little. "Maybe not, but that's no reason to go have some fun." Mike said.''

''"Such bad influences." Henry said.''

''"We aren't that bad." Paul said, smirking.''

''"Yeah, you're pretty bad." Henry said, as his phone vibrated.''

''"I bet that's a girl." Mike said.''

''"It's my mom. I gotta get going." Henry said, standing up.''

''"I'll give you a ride." Paul said, getting up too.''

Paul, Ike, and Tyler entered the town, where there was mass chaos. The police were trying to keep everything in line, but the outrage and terror from the civilians made it near impossible. The three looked at each other, and were so confused.

"How come it's so empty at campus?" asked Paul, looking at the chaos.

"Probably cause there's nothing to scavenge there." Ike said, pulling out the pistols.

Paul and Tyler looked at each other and back to him.

"What are we gonna do with these things?" asked Paul. "I won't kill anyone!"

"Look at these people! They're in a frenzy, they're not afraid to kill one another if it meant protecting themselves and their family. We should do the same." Ike said, handing Paul one of the guns.

"He has a point." Tyler said.

"Come on, let's get to the super market... now." Ike said.

The three began jogging through the town, trying to avoid the people who were going crazy in the streets. Ike didn't care much for it, but Tyler and Paul were amazed how they were all acting. They got to the super market, where there mass amounts of people grabbing things. It looked like an angry mob, trying to rip the store apart. They stood, watching these people in action.

"Paul, go get water... see if you can grab a bag too." Tyler said, looking at Paul. "Ike, go get some canned foods that won't go bad. I'm going to go find some medicine."

Ike nodded, and he ran off to where he was supposed to go. Tyler was waiting for Paul to go, but he wasn't.

"What's wrong?" asked Tyler.

"Listen man, I need you to see if they have Lithobid." Paul said.

Tyler nodded, "I can do that; just go get the water."

Paul smiled, and ran off.

''Paul drove a nice black Sudan, Henry in passenger seat. Paul had his GPS system locked on to Henry's house, with Titanium by David Guetta playing loudly. Paul looked over at Henry, who was quiet the whole car ride.''

''"Come on, what's the matter, kid?" Paul asked, smirking.''

''Henry looked over at Paul, and laughed. "Nothing-- I'm just thinking about something." he said.''

''"Fair enough." Paul said, turning his attention back to the road. Paul saw a familiar place coming up, and it brought back terrible memories for him. Paul quickly opened up hid glove compartment, and took out a bottle of prescription pills. Henry looked on at him, confused. Paul popped the cap off, taking a few of the pills, before putting them away.''

''"Are you okay?" asked Henry.''

''Paul looked back on the road, and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." he said.''

"What the hell was that about?"

"I forgot to take my doce of medicine."

''Henry nodded, and relaxed back in his seat. Paul looked back at his old high school, which reminded him of Travis and Steven. He clenched his fists, but kept driving. He got to Henry's house a few minutes later, which was a small one-floor house.''

''"Is this it?" asked Paul.''

''"Yeah, this is it." Henry said, getting out. "Thanks for the ride."''

''"No problem, kid. Keep me updated. I wanna know when you get it in." he said, smirking.''

Henry flipped him off, playfully, as Paul drove off.

Tyler got to the back of the store, and hopped over the counter with his wrench in hand. There was nobody there, but he could hear the yelling and screaming. He started going through the drawers, looking for anything of use. He looked over, and saw a strange man looking at him. He looked just like Ike, but older and skinnier.

"What are you looking for?" he asked. Tyler didn't trust the guy, not one bit.

"Lithopid... and some antibiotics." Tyler said.

"You mean Lithobid?" he asked, and started going through the drawers.

The man pulled out a few bottles and handed them to Tyler. He then started to go through a different cabinet, and handed Tyler some more bottles, but these were antibiotics. Tyler smiled, and shook this man's hand.

"Thank you so much." he said.

"Don't mention it, kid. At times like these, we should all have one another's backs." the man said.

Tyler turned around and went to look for Paul and Ike.

Paul was picking up a couple cases of water, the last of them, lifting them over his shoulder, with the metal pole in his other hand. He did so with ease, and he looked around for Ike or Tyler, not seeing them. Paul looked around, and started putting some packs of gum in his pocket. This big man suddenly came out of nowhere, pushing Paul to the ground, as the waters fell onto the floor. The man ran, trying to pick up the water, and Paul stood up, quickly. Paul ran over to the man, tackling him. The two started a little scuffle on the ground, but the older and bigger guy overpowered him. The man reached over, and grabbed the metal pole. The man stood up, and winded back, hitting Paul in the chest with all his might. He did so over, and over, and each hit made it harder for Paul to breathe. Paul started feeling woozy, and looked at the man, as he went for one last hit. There was a gunshot, and blood spurted from the man's head as he toppled over. Ike ran towards Paul, holding a bag full of food, helping him up.

"Are you okay?" asked Ike, who sounded surprisingly concerned.

Paul couldn't say anything, he just stood there, bent over in pain. Ike patted his back as Tyler made his way over to them.

"I heard a gunshot... what happened?" he asked.

"That dead fucker tried killing Paul." Ike said.

"So, you shot him?" Tyler asked.

"Are you fucking serious? Why do you look so confused? He almost killed Paul!"

Tyler brushes Ike to the side, and goes to Paul.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Paul nodded his head, and Tyler looked up. Tyler gave Paul the bag of medicine, and grabbed the two water cases. Ike led them out of the store, and looked among the panic for a way out.

"I got an idea." Ike said.

"And what is this terrible idea?" asked Tyler.

"Fuck off, you asshole. I'm trying to help." Ike replied, fiercely, and angrily. "You know what? Fuck it. Let's just go with the crowd of panic people." he finished, and the three walked towards the way they came.

Isiss was with Trent, Jake, Kelly, and Owen. Isiss was pacing back and forth, nervously.

"It's been over an hour... they haven't come back yet." she said, talking fast.

"They're fine. No need to worry." Jake said, reassuringly.

"You don't know that. They could be-be trapped, or-or, dead..."

"Be quiet, please." Trent said, quietly.

Isiss grabbed her hair, and nodded her head. She sat down next to Trent who was next to Kelly, still. She put her head on his lap, and he stroked her hair.

"They're fine." he said, reassuringly.

"Are you sure you're gay?" asked Kelly.

"Am I sure I'm what?" he asked, confused.

"You seem to know your way to work around a girl."

"I had three older sisters, most of my friends were girls... it just comes naturally I guess." he said, smirking.

The door to the dorm opened, and Kira walked in.

"Hey Trent, can you come here?" she asked.

Isiss sat up, and Trent got up. Trent walked quickly over to her, and followed her into the hallway where Dylan and Violet were keeping watch.

"What's wrong?" asked Trent.

"I saw a news report, and the town that Paul went to is falling apart." she said.

"So?"

"So... I need you to go there and get them."

"Why me?" he asked, his voice breaking.

"I've noticed you around campus before. You're sneaky, and I think that might be so helpful."

"I guess I can't really say no..." he said, quietly.

"Exactly. Take this." she said, handing him a walkie-talkie. "I'm one click away in case you need any help."

"Yeah-- I can do this." he said to himself, trying to calm his nerves.

Kira kissed him on the cheek, and walked inside her dorm. Trent picked up a crowbar, and started to walk down the hallway.

Ike, Tyler, and Paul ran through the crowd of people, trying to get ahead of them. Ike looked around, seeing that zombies were no in the mix, taking out a few people.

"Follow me." Ike said, breaking away from the herd of people.

Tyler and Paul followed Ike to a building, that seemed abandoned. Tyler shut the door behind them, and they ran up the stairs. Ike led them to a window which led to a fire escape. Ike climbed out the window first, looking at the area, seeing no one was even around.

"We're clear." he said, and Paul and Tyler joined him. Paul walked over to the ladder, slowly, and started to climb down, but felt this huge amount of pain in his gut where that dude hit him. He fought through the pain though, and got to the second level, before falling to the floor. Tyler threw the cases of water down there, and then he and Ike joined him, and Tyler helped Paul up. Ike took the bag of medicine from Paul, and put them over his arm. Tyler picked up the waters, and they followed the same routine until they got to the bottom.

Paul saw an iPhone lying on the ground, and he picked it up. It didn't have passcode lock, and he went to the phone app, going to dial.

"Now's not the time to call people!" Ike said.

"If we die... I wanna make omens first." Paul said, walking away from Tyler and Ike, holding his gut.

Paul dialed Mike's number, and there was no pickup. He decided to leave a voicemail though... just in case.

"Mike-- it's me, Paul. I know you probably didn't pick up because your dead... but I'm just calling to say I'll miss you, buddy." Paul said, letting a tear go.

He called up another number, this time Henry's. This time he got an answer.

"Hello?" Henry's weak voice said from over the phone.

"Henry? It's Paul. You're alive!" Paul said, happily.

"I'm fine, yeah. It's Hell over here, man. I'm in a fucking construction site with a group of twenty others... this sucks."

"Be heppy they aren't trying to kill you." Paul said.

"I guess so..." Paul suddenly hears lots of yelling in the background before the phone suddenly hangs up.

Paul looks to the ground, knowing what probably happened. He chucked the phone to the ground, and sat against a wall, too tired and weak.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Jake Munoz
 * Dylan Adams
 * Kira Fulton
 * Tyler Blake
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Trent Jones
 * Isiss Rivera
 * Violet Middleton
 * Owen Horne

Deaths

 * None