Against This World

One

The old school house loomed with an almost heavy air in the overgrown parking lot that was situated in the middle of a densely wooded area. The nervous energy within me radiated as I found a window that long been smashed open. The glass crackled under my boots as I climbed in through the broken window. The school had been abandoned since the start of the outbreak, and though I was sure it had been raided, it was worth a shot to take a look.

I kept my steps light and quick as I made my way through the corridors and into the nurse's office. There wasn't much left there. A bottle of acetaminophen and a couple of tampons were all I could salvage from what was left. It didn't seem like much, but anything was helpful at this point. Resources were scarce and necessities were hard to come by, so I was thankful to whoever had overlooked them in the past.

As I made my way to the cafeteria I heard a muffled conversation down one of the halls and I quickly ducked into the kitchen. I grabbed a large butcher's knife and held it at the ready, prepared to take on anyone who came in. I held little hope in finding any kind of food, but I searched anyway.

As I turned, my backpack brushed against a pot, knocking it off the counter and onto the floor. It landed with a loud metallic thump and I could hear the ring reverberating off the hall walls.

"Someone's in here!" I heard one of the voices shout to the other before hearing the footsteps running my way. I ducked out the door and ran down towards the exit as fast as I could.

"I saw them! They went down the hall."

I picked up my speed, my feet pounding against the floor as hard and fast as they could when suddenly, I was grabbed and pulled into a supply closet. The door was missing, but its position provided enough of a shadow to encase the small room in darkness.

A body pressed against mine, holding me to the wall and trapping my arm so my knife was rendered useless, and a hand sealed over my mouth, silencing my scream. I thrashed and fought against the person as best I could, but I wasn't strong enough to push them away.

The footsteps passed by and I heard the entrance doors open as they ran out.

After what felt like an eternity, the hand slowly peeled away from my face and the weight of the body lifted from me. The person stepped out from the closet and I followed.

He was tall; probably a foot or so taller than me. His face was unshaven and his hair was a mess. Hazel eyes were trained on me as if I would strike at him at any moment. His hand stayed on the gun in the holster on his belt.

"Uh, thanks." I said in confusion.

"I saw those two coming in here. Thought maybe this was a hideout of theirs." He answered a question I hadn't even thought to ask.

"As far as I've seen, it's unoccupied." I looked around, keeping an eye out for any other people.

"You alone?"

"I was with a group. Haven't heard anything from them in a couple of days though."

"Those hunters will probably be back with more people now that they know someone was here. I'd get out as fast as I could if I were you." He jerked his head towards the door.

"Are you alone?" I ignored his suggestion. I wasn't scared to be alone, by any means, but if I could join up with another group, it would be beneficial for everybody. I could add protection and someone to make a supply run and they could be there to keep things from getting so damned quiet at night.

"I've got a group in the next town over. Five people. We'll have six soon, as soon as the baby is born."

"You've got a baby on the way?" This was genuine interest. It had been a long time since I'd seen a pregnant woman. Babies were practically unheard of anymore.