Low on Time/Issue 8

This is issue eight of Low on Time, entitled: All Away.

Issue 8; All Away
''Harold sat alone in the cafeteria, wearing all black. He picked at the corn on his plate with his plastic fork. He looked absolutely miserable. A big buff kid wearing a sports jacket walked over to him. He sat down in front of him, which made Harold feel uncomfortable, and the kid noticed it.''

''"Hey, don't worry about nothing. I'm not here to pick on you like the other assholes in this school." the kid said, looking over his shoulder.''

''"Yeah, thanks. These guys don't know when to quit." Harold said, scratching his head.''

''"Names Frances." he said, putting his hand out.''

''"Harold." Harold said, shaking it.''

Frances smiled, and looked down at his tray, full of mashed potatoes and broccoli.

''"Can you believe the shit they sell here?" he asked, smiling.''

''"Fucking disgusting." Harold said.''

"Hey, I like you, Harold. I don't understand why those other guys pick on you."

''"They don't take the time to get and know me. They just assume." Harold said.''

Frances took a bite of his mashed potatoes, before getting a look of disgust on his face.

''"I gotta throw this out." he said, before standing up.''

''Frances picked up his tray, and threw it right in Harold's face. Harold couldn't see anything because of the mashed potatoes that were in his eye. All he heard was the laughter of the entire cafeteria. He scooped out some of the mashed potatoes before opening his eyes, seeing all eyes on him. Frances was standing there with a couple other jocks laughing. Harold started shaking in anger, and stormed out of the cafeteria.''

Harold sat on the couch, holding onto his arm where the wound was. Kira was sitting down next to him, holding his head into her chest. She knew Ike was probably right, he needed real medical attention soon. Harold's face was getting paler by the minute. Kira just held onto his head, hoping this was all just a dream. She brushed her hand across his face, feeling he was getting warmer. She started to get up, and he lied down on the couch. She walked over to the freezer, pulling out an icepack from the freezer. She closed the freezer, and saw Sean standing there with Isiss.

"How is he doing?" asked Sean.

"He's not doing well." Kira said, you can tell there was pain in her voice. "He just broke a fever, he's as white as a ghost-- I don't tihnk he'll make it."

Sean looked over to him, and then to Ike, Jake, and Tyler who were lookig at him from the other couch. Sean looked down, in sorrow, and Kira grabbed his arm.

"Don't you cry, cause then I'll start crying." Kira said.

"No-- I'll hold it." Sean said, his voice getting quieter.

Isiss looked at the two, and put her hands on their shoulders. "Look, I'm not gonna lie, he probably won't live. I'm not trying to be a bitch, but what you two need to do, is be there with him when or if he dies." she said, walking away.

Sean and Kira looked at each other, and nodded, both walking towards him.

''Harold ran into his room, mashed potatoes still over his shirt and face. He locked his door, and banged his head against the wall, screaming. He knew no one could hear him, and he kept doing it. When he was done, he backed away, holding onto his hair. He went into a closet, where a noose was lied out under a coat. He picked it up, and put it on the floor. Harold's adrenaline was pumping, and he got a little folding chair, setting it up in the middle of the room. A little hook was on the ceiling, and Harold picked up the noose. He stood up on the chair, and hooked it up. He heard the front door to his house open.''

''"Harold! Harold, are you home?" he heard his sister call.''

''He quickly put his head in, figuring it's now or never. He kicked back the chair, and he hung from the noose. He couldn't breathe, but he knew it would soon be over. The rope suddenly snapped, and Harold fell right on his back onto the folding chair, and he grunted in pain. His door flew open, and his sister stood there, looking at him. She rushed to his side, looking at the rope.''

''"Harold! Are you crazy?" she asked, even though he couldn't respond.''

His sister pulled out her cell phone, and called 911.

Trent sat up in the bed, looking at the bloody rag on his hip. He appeared to be in pain, although it wasn't too bad. Jeremy sat beside him, who was nervously staring at the rag too. Kelly, Dylan, Olivia, and Violet stood in the background, watching the two.

"How are you feeling?" Jeremy asked, worried.

"Hurts like a bitch." Trent replied.

"At least you're doing better, right?"

"Yeah-- I guess you could say that."

"Why don't we bring him to the hospital?" asked Violet, butting into the conversation.

"We were there earlier today. Those things completely destroyed it." Jeremy said, turning his attention to her.

"So, we're on your own?" asked Olivia.

"No cops showed up. It looked like every man, woman, and child for themselves."

"Was anyone even trying to fight back?" asked Kelly.

"Nope. Everyone just ran." Jeremy said, recalling the events of earlier.

"Well then, it only makes sense if we fight back, right?" Dylan asked.

"Listen man, I don't know all the answers. I barely made it back myself." Jeremy said, his voice sounding irritated.

"Ok, we'll leave you two then." Dylan said, smiling.

Dylan, Olivia, and Kelly left the room, leaving Violet with Jeremy and Trent. The three walked into the kitchen, where Owen and Paul were talking. Owen looked over at them, and smiled.

"Just who I wanted to talk to." he said, motioning them to go to him.

"I'm sorry, what's your name?" asked Olivia.

"I'm Owen." he said, shaking her hand.

"Owen, you did a pretty good job taking out those things back there." Dylan said.

"Same goes for you." Owen replied. "Anyways, I have to ask you guys something."

"What is it?" asked Kelly.

"Do any of you know how to pick a lock?"

The three were confused by the question, to say the least. Owen noticed the confusion on their faces, almost instantly.

"It's for measures. We should get into the dorm across from this one too, I mean it's so crowded here." Owen said.

"So, you wanna get in the room across from here, so there's more space?" asked Olivia.

"Precisely!"

"I know how to pick a lock." Ike said, walking into their conversation.

"Should've guessed." Dylan said, turning towards him.

"Hey, I agree, we need more fucking space here. I'll pick the lock, and a few of us can stay there instead of here."

"Or, how many dorms are in this one hallway? Four? We pick the locks on the four of them, and split into four groups." Kelly said.

"Yeah, I like that idea." Paul said, nodding his head.

"Let's do that then, come on." Ike said.

Kira and Sean sat with Harold who was incredibly pale. Tyler, Isiss, Jake, and Amanda sat on the far couch, watching them.

"I'm not gonna make it, am I?" Harold asked, his voice faint.

"No, Harold. You're going to make it. Don't worry about anything, Harold." Kira said, tearing up.

Sean looked away from his friend, not wanting to look at him. Harold suddenly got wide-eyed, and started shaking a lot. Kira and Sean shot up, along with the four on the couch. Kira started crying, and rushed over to Harold, trying to do anything to help him. Sean stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do. Jake and Tyler immediately ran over to Kira, pulling her away from him.

"You bastards, let me help him." she cried out, trying to resist the two.

"He's gone." Jake said, holding onto her.

"No, no, no, it's not true" she cried.

"So, if these things are really zombies. Is he gonna come back?" asked Isiss.

"I don't know!" Tyler exclaimed.

"The best thing we should do is keep an eye on him." Jake said, still holding the crying Kira.

Sean walked forward, towards Harold's body, slowly. Sean fell to his knees, and slammed his fists against the ground. "God... fucking damn it." he yelled. Jake looked at Tyler, and Tyler back at him.

Ike, Dylan, Paul, Olivia, and Kelly were in the hallway, as Ike was picking a lock. Dylan held his baseball bat, Paul his metal pole. The girls had kitchen knives. Ike opened the door and back away quickly. Dylan and Paul stormed into the room, seeing it was clear, and that there was nothing there.

"Clear." Dylan said.

"Let's move on, then." Olivia said.

Ike went to the room next door, and started to pick it. Dylan and Paul wandered around, making sure they were in seeing distance of the three. The two looked down a hallway, and saw two zombies standing there. Paul looked at Dylan, and nodded. The two went together down the hallway, Dylan swung his baseball bat, swiftly, leaving a huge dent in it's head. Paul took his pole, and impaled the zombie through it's head, and swiftly taking it out, killing it. Dylan looked at Paul, who's face was red with rage.

"Are you okay, man?" asked Dylan.

"I hate these things... so much." he said, looking down on them.

"Man, I know you lost your girlfriend, but don't let the anger get to you. It'll end up badly." he said, putting his hand on Paul's shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks." Paul said, turning around, and walking away.

Dylan followed him, and when they turned the corner, they saw the door Ike was picking open. Dylan and Paul both jogged over to the door, and saw that no one was in it. They turned around, seeing the other one was opened too. They ran inside, and Ike, Olivia, and Kelly were looking around.

"Oh my God." Dylan said, looking at the three.

"What's wrong?" asked Kelly.

"Why'd you go without us?"

"You two were making out somewhere. I wanted to get done with it." Ike said, looking around the room. "Yup, the rooms are clear. I call this dorm!" he said, jumping on the couch.

Paul, Dylan, Olivia, and Kelly turned around, and walked back to the dorm where everyone else was. They walked into the dorm, and stopped when seeing everyone gathered around something. The four rushed over to them, and got into the mix of things, seeing Harold's body wrapped almost completely in a blanket.

"Is he dead?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah-- he didn't make it." Jake said, looking at the body.

"What happened?" asked Kelly.

"He was bit. There is no doubt in my mind we're dealing with fucking zombies." Jake said.

"Where were you guys?" asked Tyler, looking at the four.

Kelly looked at Dylan, who noticed all the looks they were getting.

"We cleared out three other dorms. It is too cramped here for all of us to stay. Now we have some more room." Paul said, stepping up.

"Really? That's good. It'll help." Isiss said.

"What are we gonna do with him, though?" Olivia asked, not taking her eyes off of Harold.

"Move him outside, I guess." Tyler said.

"No, we have to bury him!" Olivia said, still crying.

"That's not possible, Kelsey." said Isiss.

"It's Kira, not Kelsey." Tyler said.

Isiss gets red with embarrassment, although Kira didn't even notice it. Sean hugged Kira, and brought her away from the crowd. Violet and Olivia went with them. Tyler and Jake picked up Harold's body, and left the dorm. The two brought his body to the window that they broke into earlier, and tossed it outside. The two walked away, and back to the dorm.

The group was standing around in one big crowd, Ike excluded, who is at the other dorm. He was leaning on Jeremy for support, because he could barely stand.

"So, as you know we are going to be separating into the four rooms, including this one. They're all right next to each other, so don't worry about being safe." Dylan said.

"I know that since this is Owen and Sean's place, they're probably staying here." Kelly said.

"I am staying with them." Violet said.

"Yeah, me too." Kira said, wiping a few tears from her eyes.

"Olivia, Dylan, Jake, and I are taking the one right across from here." Kelly said.

"That leaves, Isiss, Trent, Jeremy, Paul, Tyler, and Amanda to split up into groups and go to their new dorms." Dylan said.

"What about that dick, Ike?" asked Paul.

"He took one of them already, so unfortunately, some of you will have to share with him." Kelly said.

"I'm not doing it." Paul said. Paul looked over at Amanda, who was sitting alone. "And I know she won't either."

"Neither can we. He almost kill Trent." Jeremy said, looking at Trent.

"So, you four go together to the other dorm. Tyler, Isiss, you guys should go with him." Dylan said.

"If anyone needs any help, just yell. We'll come running." Jake said.

Outside in the tall grass, Harold's body lied, wrapped in a big blue blanket. The only thing you can see from Harold was his face, which was sticking out of the opening. Suddenly, his body started to move and his eyes flew open. His eyes had a bright-yellow color, and he broke through the blanket. Harold slowly stood up, looking around and snapping his teeth. He wasn't Harold, not anymore. The zombified Harold stood up, and walked away from the dorm. where his friends were, not wanting to do anything, but get his next meal.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Dylan Adams
 * Kira Fulton
 * Sean Solo
 * Harold Morgan
 * Tyler Blake
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Jeremy Flynn
 * Trent Jones
 * Isiss Rivera
 * Violet Middleton
 * Owen Horne
 * Amanda Dixon

Deaths

 * Harold Morgan