Brain Dead; A Zodiac Story

❖ Chapter 2 ❖

November 26th, 2009
7:35 am

~Aquarius~

"You're telling me you didn't get any sleep last night? When we had all those hours?" I rolled my eyes for about the third time, slapping my cheeks to keep myself awake, with Taurus's question draining me out every time he asked.

"No. I didn't. Tired." My response was brief, just spitting out random words that would describe the way I was feeling at the moment. I could feel a continuous wave of exhaustion washing over me, causing me to feel a little faint while stumbling down the hall.

We had spent the night at Capri's place since the streets didn't seem to be safe for people to be walking around aimlessly. Though she had the most comfortable beds and blankets I could imagine, I still wasn't able to fall asleep right. My mind was running nonstop about the situation currently going on, imagining what those 'sickly' humans must've looked like, and what could've possibly been wrong with them.

There was definitely something strange going on, but I couldn't determine what it was. At least, not for now.

"Mmmm, her bed was comfortable, though! The pillow was all fluffy and soft. And then there were the blankets and–" Taurus began rambling on and on about how comfortable the bed was and how warm it was for him, but I didn't really care at this point. I just tuned him out like usual, since it wasn't like he was gonna notice.

I did my usual habit of biting on my nails, my tired eyes scanning the narrowed corridor filled with chatting students. I picked up a few of their conversations, biting down harder on my lip once I caught a few words relating to the news broadcasting from last night.

Words like 'ill' and 'attack' bounced around from one person to the next, which only made the pounding of my heart become a lot more noticeable. The only thing I could imagine when hearing those words, were disgusting creatures growling and stumbling down the halls; attacking at anything they set their eyes on.

    "Aquarius—"

    "Bitch, what?" I snapped out of my thoughts and spoke without thinking, immediately darting my eyes over to Taurus and only seeing him stare back at me with a slightly offended look.

I then sighed, shaking my head and reaching both hands up to rub my temples. I could feel my exhaustion beginning to take over, making me feel like collapsing right on the floor. It was often where I accidentally spat vile words at anyone that was near me, especially when it came to being tired or in deep thought. It's not like I meant to, it just...always seemed to happen at the wrong moments.

   "...God, I'm sorry...I'm just—" I apologized in a soft murmur since apologies weren't my best aspect.

   "Tired. I get it," Taurus interrupted me before I could completely finish, giving a soft smile despite the circumstances. "I am too, y'know."

    "After the many hours you got? Unbelievable." I judged him with my elbow, only to have him chuckle while keeping his usual happy grin on his face.

I guess anyone could say we were just...close like that. We'd been good friends since we were toddlers, ever since Taurus had moved into my shitty, rundown neighborhood with only his father, which was how we sort of connected one day. I only had my mom and brother, since things were extremely complicated in my family.

To be real, the only reason we even started talking was that my basketball rolled into the street and I refused to get it.

"Taur! Aquarium!"

I snapped out of my thoughts once again, my lips pulling up into an embarrassed grin once I heard that dreaded nickname echoing throughout the halls. I picked my head up and looked forward, only to see a fairly usual sight before me.