Shadows ♠ Carl Grimes

[1]

Running becomes more than a sport, knowing and accepting, it's all you can do.

—♠—

My teacher looked nervous that morning. Her usual positive attitude was dampened by something. But what, I wasn't sure. The classroom hummed with trivial conversation between students. They all seemed happy and care free.I sat by the window, with this one boy I could never talk to sitting in front of me. His name was Carl, I don't think he even knows my name.

All of a sudden the principal came over the PA system. "Classes are dismissed for the following few days. Students and staff please go home, and be safe."Chairs screeched against the floor as my classmates rushed out into the halls. Not a soul bothered to ask the teacher what was going on.

I still sat at my desk in disbelief. Mom was probably still working at the hospital, I had nowhere to go. I sat in silence as I looked out the window. Carl stopped for a second and turned to me. He didn't say anything but I could see the worry in his eyes.

He knitted his brows together. "Are you coming?"

"Not yet," I replied. He nodded and ran out of the class.

A short boy with shaggy black hair stood at the door with two schoolbags. "Hope, come-on!" He called and stepped into the classroom.

"Alex? What's going on?"

"There's monsters taking over Atlanta. My mom's coming to pick us up, let's go." The older boy said, in his hand was a long metal yard stick. In his other hand was his slide phone his mom had gotten him last year for his birthday. He was two years older than me. He was stronger, faster and smarter, but then again, he was shorter. His dark hair and green eyes made him a standard good looking boy.

A heart retching scream sounded from one of the halls nearby. A girl, or possibly even a boy, sobbed and screamed.

"I'm locking the doors. If you don't get out now you're staying here." Mrs. Riley said as she shook. Her voice was clear but uncertain, wavering and scared.

"Grab that metal thing and lets go." Alex said as he passed me my blue book bag. I took the yard stick in my hands from off the bottom of the black board and followed him out of the classroom.

"We'll go out the side wing, less people, and it's locked from the inside," Alex rasped, as we jogged down the now deserted halls. We passed by the student who had screamed. 

A girl my age with long red hair and wore a pink floral dress. She lay on the ground, blood forming a pool around her small form. What looked like a person, knelt over her, tearing away at her flesh. My eyes wouldn't tear away from the sight. He grabbed my arm and yanked me away just as the thing looked up from the bleeding girl. It's eyes were hazy, white and dead. It's face was torn along one side and it's skin was a slickly greenish grey color. "Alex?"

"Come on!" Alex snapped. He grabbed my hand as the thing got up and began after us. We tore down the halls to the exit, there the glass doors sat untouched. Alex pulled me in after him. There was two sets of doors and one could stop that thing from getting us. He closed the doors behind us, just as the thing caught up.

"It's dead." I whispered as I saw bullet holes through it's torso. The thing scrapped at the glass doors as it snarled at us.

"There's mom's car. Let's go." Alex said as he threw open the door, and began to sprint. "Hope!" He called over his shoulder once he saw I wasn't beside him. I stole a final glance at the thing. It was a walking, dead, people eating thing.

Amanda sat in the driver's seat and her daughter, Ashley, sat in the back seat. Alex and I threw ourselves in the back and Amanda drove off before we could even get our seat belts on.