BGI v3 [Part 2-2]

[Posted by Ted H]

...Managed to sit down and bust out the remainder of part 2 of BGI even while working both jobs...GO ME!

.......My manager also has a habit of always inquiring me as to how many pager I've written. Next time, I'll have a more definitive answer...
After that?.......I dunno...

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BGI v3 [Part 2-2]

            D was quick to his window when he heard the lone gunshot. He had heard some gunfire from inside the school but figured that was just some of the scientists who miraculously survived the labs. Gunfire outside might mean one of the white-coats are trying to escape as opposed to the standard protocol of making it to the safe area of the school and awaiting evac. No one was allowed to leave, especially now since it was up to D to kill all the staff. He didn't need anyone slipping through the cracks, not if he was still stuck here and especially not if the person escaping is also the one responsible, or knew of a way around the lockdown.

            He looked outside and bit his lip at what he saw. Students were shuffling about, some crowding around one of the broken down buses. Even from his vantage point he could tell most of them shouldn't be walking around. "Nobody told me the smaller Mosiers were capable of transmitting the virus," he said as he continued looking around until he saw two students running for the rear entrance. He exhaled and leaned back into his chair. The students weren't getting out.

            There was still the matter of the staff inside the school. D knew he wasn't getting anything done sitting in his office. He patted down on his gun tucked into his belt for the millionth time before punching in the code for his door to unlock. He wanted nothing more than to ride this situation out in the safest possible place, but he was trusted with a more important job to do, and there was a reason he was getting paid and trusted to be in the position he was in.

*********************************

            The door to the equipment room in the gym was closed, but there wasn't a latch; it needed a key to work the deadbolt or it would swing open anyway. The door needed to be closed because almost three dozen dead bodies were scattered around the gym walking around or eating other students. Judd, Al and Mangan were all inside the equipment room looking for supplies for the injured students when the first of the dead started getting up. They stayed where they were while panicked and injured students ran about trying to escape, but all exits were either locked tight, or opened into a hallway full of more undead.

            Al was holding the doors shut while Judd was looking over the gym equipment, trying to decide which would make good weapons. Mangan sat on the floor, racking his brain for an escape plan. "There's no other way out of this room," he said as Judd sized up a hockey stick, nodded and placed it next to another one he had set aside. "We hit up hallway 10 and fight our way out," he said as he checked out a new stick, shook his head and moved on.

            "I'm not a fighter," Mangan said as Al turned around quickly and put a finger up to his lips. "Shh," he said "One is wandering nearby." Mangan bit his lip and thought some more. Despite being a grade lower than the others, Judd was a big guy, and could easily wield the hockey stick as a weapon, but Mangan wasn't so well off. Had he known this day would come, maybe he would've hit the weights a few times. Al wasn't much use either, being overweight and now very strong either. Judd was tough, but not tough enough to make up for the other two.

            "The other doors were locked," Mangan remembers from the futile attempts of other students from before. So many had found their way into the gym when they realized that exiting the school was just as deadly. Some were severely injured and bled out in a matter of minutes; they were the first to later get up and start killing. "There was the one exit though," Mangan said in a low tone "It leads to the main office." No one had tried that exit because the dead were originally piled up by that doorway. Nobody tried exiting that way with all the undead by it.

            "You think those doors will be unlocked?" Judd asked.

            "It's our best bet," Mangan said.

            "Those doors are on the other side of the gym. Our 'best bet' would be fighting our way out the back."

            "That hallway is filled with more of those things. We leave that way, we'll be jumping out of the frying pan right into the fire."

            "What's to say that the main lobby isn't also filled with those things?"

            "We don't know. But we do know that the 10 hallway is a suicide run. There's only one safe option."

            Judd was actively failing several of his classes, despite Grime's already low standards. Mangan had no intentions of losing a debate with him. Judd thought for a moment as he pulled out one more hockey stick he deemed satisfactory. "I don't like it," he said "We're going for the 10 hallway and getting out. Maybe the chaos in there died down."

            "Don't be stupid," Mangan protested.

            "You do what you want," Judd said "That's my plan. Follow me or don't."

            Mangan made a face. "So we push right for the exit? I like it," Al said as Judd nodded and handed him a hockey stick. It was a suicidal idea, but so was splitting up, so Mangan conceded and picked up a stick of his own. "Stay close," Judd said as he stepped forward and peered out into the gym from behind the doors.

            "Ready?" he asked.

            "Not really," Mangan said.

            "Too bad."

            Judd threw open the doors and charged out holding his stick horizontally out. He caught any undead and pushed them away, giving Mangan and Al room to run. "Go! Get to the doors!" he yelled as he continued forward. Al and Mangan made a left for the nearby exit; only one zombie lingered in their path. Al thrust down on it with his stick, but the blow did little to kill it. Mangan ran in and tripped it up before it could grab Al.

            Al immediately went for the door and threw it open while motioning the others to follow. Mangan turned to see Judd throw his caught zombies down before running to catch up. Mangan then turned to Al just in time to see a mass of bloody hands reach from the outside and grab Al.

-Those things are still right outside the door. We're surrounded. We're fucked-
            Mangan stood almost in shock as Judd shouldered passed and grabbed Al's outstretched hand. "Don't let go!" he screamed as more hands groped at his body and face. Judd tried to pull Al back into the gym but ultimately pushed the poor man out and slammed the door closed behind him to keep the zombies out.

            "What do we do now?" Mangan screamed out frantically. They couldn't return to the equipment room, not without a way of closing the door. There was nowhere to hide. "We try your plan now," Judd said as he pushed ahead into the gym. Judd pushed passed a zombie and Mangan tried to stay close behind. He made a weak swing at an approaching ghoul, but it grabbed hold of his hockey stick and with a quick struggle, Mangan let go and ran to keep up hoping that Judd could make better use of his weapon.

            The two zigzagged diagonally through the gym making for the other corner doors. The dozens of zombies were initially scattered, but now were bunching up behind the men as they reached the door. Judd ran full speed into the doors, but they didn't budge. "No!" Mangan screamed, wanting to drop to his knees in defeat.

            Judd spun around to see the closing in horde, and took off running without missing a beat. "C'mon!" he yelled as he ran over and climbed up onto the stage. Mangan scrambled behind him just before the first undead student reached him. The zombies struggled to climb up behind them. They were slowed down, but Judd and Mangan couldn't afford to linger.

            They moved the stage curtain aside and ran on. It was dark backstage but they could make out any obstacles. There was a movable barrier on the opposite side of the curtain that led to the cafeteria. That would require them to move over set pieces and piles of costumes and props, and it was also assuming the barrier wasn't locked in place. On the far side though was a standard door leading into the back lobby, which would give them an exit from the school. They reached it to find it too was locked, but the door was wooden as opposed to metal like the gym doors.

            "I can bust this down easy," Judd said. "And if there are more out in that lobby?" Mangan asked. "Then we deal," Judd said as he turned and kicked the door. It didn't budge, but it gave off audible cracks. It wouldn't survive many more kicks. While Judd continued to assault the door, Mangan turned around to watch their backs. There were muffled moans from behind the curtain, but none of the undead were able to follow. Either they weren't able to climb up or the curtain proved too powerful of a deterrent.

            Another kick from Judd gave off the sound of splintering wood. "Almost," Judd said as he caught his breathe and prepared to kick again. Mangan allowed himself to breathe easy as he scanned the dark of the backstage area. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness just as he began to take notice of an odd smell. It was a potent chemical scent that burned at his nostrils. He scanned through the dark trying to see of anything stood out as the origin.

            One final blow from Judd allowed the door to swing open. Light flooded into the room as Mangan's eyes darted to the sign of movement from deep in the stage. A low, heavy growl sounded as Judd reached over and grabbed Mangan by the shoulder. "Let's go," he said as the two stumbled through and into the lobby.

BGI v3 [Part 2-1]

[Posted by Ted H]

Holy fucking shit, remember this story? Still not happy with it, but I gotta plow through like I said and fix it later when I can make myself care...plus, I hit a logical stopping point in MDZ so I figure I'd finally move BGI along.

I've alos had little writing time between finally recovering from the 234243 viruses I had and working...next week should provide me with some writing time, assuming no one calls in and I end up covering which, ya know, always happens)

Anyway, the 2nd part of part 2 will come sooner rather than later. It's mostly original, so I should be able to fly through it.

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BGI v3 [Part 2-1]

            Amanda and Teto waited impatiently in a bush while another one of their undead classmates shuffled blindly by. They were among the last to run out of the school while those little winged beats terrorized. Their hope to escape, however, was dashed when they realized the entire front of the school was enclosed by a 20 foot fence.
            With no escape prospects, they took refuge in an overturned car while the winged creatures all burned to death in the sunlight. Afterwards, they attempted to return to the school but found all the front entry doors locked. At that point, all the slain students started returning to life and devoured any remaining survivors. Teto and Amanda managed to stay out of sight by hiding in the nearby bushes. They moved along the front of the school in the bushes but they ran out of landscaping at the corner.

            "Any ideas?" Amanda asked as Teto peered around the corner and looked at the fence all the way to the back of the school. "There's no entry gate up front," he said as he turned back to Amanda "But maybe there's one in back. And if not, maybe one of the doors in back will be unlocked." Amanda didn't like it, but she didn't have anything better either. "Lead the way," she said as Teto nodded and took off.

            Amanda followed close as Teto crept his way towards the rear of the school, keeping close to the wall."Why isn't help coming?" Amanda asked as she looked out towards the street, looking to see no cars. "I dunno," Teto responded "But my cell phone isn't giving me anything." Amanda instinctively checked her phone to find it had no service either. She dialed 9-1-1 anyway, but to no avail.

            "Is that a..." Teto started as they approached the rear of the school. Crashed into the back corner was a police car with  its lights still flashing. "Wait here," he said as he snuck over to the car and tried to open the driver side door. Amanda looked back to find a couple students had noticed them and were slowly making their way after. "Teto, we have to-" Amanda started, but was cut off by Tetos yelling. A cop that was dead by the crashed car reached out and had grabbed Teto by the ankle. Teto fell over and tried to kick it away before it got a bite off.

            "Get it off!" he yelled as Amanda grabbed the cop by the belt and pulled. She then wrestled its gun from its holster and shot it point blank in the head. She then searched the cop for more ammo while Teto crawled to his feet. "Get his radio and let's go," he said as he noticed the approaching undead students. Amanda removed the entire belt and started after Teto as he made for the rear exit to the school.

            "Where are we going now?" Amanda called out as she followed but Teto himself wasn't very sure. He still had blind hope that the rear entrance of the school grounds was open, but that was quickly gone when he turned the corner and saw it too was closed off. "Dammit!" he yelled as he spun around to head back for the school, but turned back again. Down by near the gate were several shuffling students as they closed in around one who was clearly still alive.

            Before Teto could react, a shot ran out behind him that caught the attention of some of the undead. Teto looked to see Amanda pointing her gun overhead. "Move!" she yelled at the living person who shouldered passed one of the distracted students and ran over.

            "Back to the school!" Teto shouted, out of any escape ideas. "Maybe not," Amanda said as their way back was cut off by more approaching students. "This way," the man they just saved said as he ran up to the nearby short fence that bordered the nearby sports fields. He touched it quick with the tip of his finger but nothing happened. "Least these aren't electric," he said before he humped over the fence and the others followed. They could now sprint across the fields and make it back to the school mostly unhindered.

BGI v3 [Part 1]

[...Posted by Ted H]

The original version of this started at the beginning of the school day and had people getting murdered on their way in to school as opposed to getting murdered on their way out. It was also the first ever use of the Default Will Rule. I might post the exact writing of it one day if I bear myself to re-read that gibberish.

Version 2 featured a similar start as version 3 with a few differences, notably Kristen's fate. Now she serves as a proper introduction to the undead threat. V2 zombie intro was more along the lines of "oh, by the way: zombies" as if it were some casual everyday thing.

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[BGI v3 - Part 1]

           "Report," the radio said after several nerve racking minutes of waiting. D immediately brought it up to speak. "Biohazard breach," he said "Level three. Containment efforts failed. Several specimens made surface contact, most remaining are in the school." The radio stayed silent for a moment, every second passing felt more and more agonizing to D. "And the labs?" the radio finally sounded. "Compromised," D said, knowing full well the hell that would raise. "One moment," the voice said.

            D sat back in his chair while he waited, fighting back the urge to start shaking. He was safe in his office, which doubled as a temporary bunker; a feature he hoped he never would need. He was lucky he happened to already be inside the office when the specimen escaped. The Mosier units move fast, especially the big one. All of them made for the exits and attacked the buses outside. D was grateful that they wouldn't survive; sunlight burns the fuckers to a crisp. The big one though, the original Mosier, that one wouldn't burn up. That one had enough intelligence to know it needs to take refuge. It'll be back inside the school before long.

            "What do you mean the lab was compromised?" a harsh voice yelled from the radio, bringing D back to the matter at hand. "The escaped Mosiers apparently made a mess of the lab on their way out," D said. He was about to continue when the voice stopped him. "You think it was just those little Mosiers that did all that? I'm looking at a report that every specimen was out." D's heart sank. Mosiers on their own were bad, but they were only small fries compared to some of the other experiments that were down in the labs.

            "I'm calling a clean slate on the entire Grimes facility," the man continued "Get the data and blow the labs." D bit his lip. His original plan was to hide out in his bunker until some sort of help arrived. Even if that wasn't the case anymore, the labs were a problem. "The labs had been locked down, sir. Unauthorized, and I can't override from my office. I'll need you to unlock the main office by remote."

            "Not possible," the voice said "Lockdown severs all connections from the outside. Use the emergency entrance."

            "I don't have any of the keys," D said, frustration building inside him "Send a mop-up team in to open the door."

            "Area's too hot for any team by air. We can send a ground team, but you'll need to disengage the lockdown in order for them to make it to you. And you need to get into the lab to do that anyway."

            "Understood," D said as he begrudgingly opened his desk and reached for the handgun tucked away inside. The Mosier units, he felt he could handle as long as me managed to avoid the big one. There were the other escapees though that D had no desire to run into. The JT would be lurking in some dark corner by now and God forbid he come within a hundred feet of the Friar. He knew there was no way anyone could be equipped enough to deal with half of the creatures that made their way up from the lab.

            The one bright spot D could figure was that they were all one of a kind monsters. Mosier was an early success and had been the focus of multiple production. Thankfully the project to make more Roofwalkers had only recently started, meaning there were only three or four running around of that kind. The Harper, he just now recalled, had the tendency to lay eggs; but the offspring had a lifespan of a couple hours and they never strayed far from the mother, making them easy to avoid as a whole.

             "One more thing," the man said, snapping D out of his own grim thoughts "We have every reason to believe that this wasn't an accident. Diagnostics at last check confirmed all containment units were at optimal condition. We called for a clean slate and that includes the staff."

***********************

            Ted wasn't dead. His arm was killing him and he tasted blood, but he was alive nonetheless. Whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen as he sat up and listened. Things were quiet, a radical departure from what he remembered. Gone were the screams, the growls and the sounds of beating wings. All he could hear at this point was a distant rumble of thunder.

            The girl from before was still with him, but she was still out cold and Ted felt no desire to wake her. "Wait here," he mumbled as he crawled over to the emergency roof exit which was easy to get to with the bus on its side. He popped the latch, kicked open an exit and crawled to the outside world. The scene was not a pretty one; bodies laid strewn about, every vehicle in the parking lot was trashed to some degree, and piles of smoldering black puss were everywhere. It had been raining, which made the potent chemical smell the puss was releasing all the worse.

            "How long was I out?" Ted asked himself as he checked his arm. The pain was still there, but there were no noticeable cuts or abrasions. He wiped his brow to find he had a cut on his forehead, which had trickled down the side of his face. "Hello?" he yelled as he used his sleeve to clean off the blood. "Anybody left alive?"

            No one was around. Ted wondered if help was coming when he noticed a cop car crashed into the far corner of the school. Help had come and died with everyone else. More help would come, but Ted didn't want to wait for it at ground zero. He also didn't want to leave the girl behind, but he figured she was safer in the bus rather than out in the open.

            There was a gas station nearby. They would have a phone, and with a little luck they would be one of those old school setups with a shotgun under the counter in case any more  creatures attacked. He made for the edge of school grounds when he began to take notice of the metal fence hidden by the trees that enclosed the entire school.

            "Oh shit," Ted said as he walked closer. It reached about 20 feet in the air and was topped off with barbed wire. "Where...the hell...did this come from?" he asked as he ran along the fence towards the rear entrance to the parking lot. He figured there was a gate of some sort or at least a way out. The road to the exit took a curve, and when Ted turned it, he found there was a gate at the end, but it was sealed shut. The was no latch of any kind to find, nor was there any way to open the gate. The only noticeable item on the gate was a warning sign Ted neglected to even look at while still trying to figure a way out.

            -Ok. 20 feet. Can't be that hard to climb. Maybe if I'm careful, the barbed wire won't be a problem either-

            Ted nodded to himself as he figured he could handle climbing the fence when he reached over to touch it-then screamed out as the fence sparked and he jumped back involuntarily, the fence sending shockwaves through him. The fence was electrified, which Ted would've noticed if he read the warning sign. He knew it anyway now as he sat on the ground and tried to stop shaking, thankful that it wasn't anything more than just his fingers that touched the fence.

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            Kristen blinked away the darkness. Her head was killing her, but she wasn't about to complain seeing how she managed to survive the bus crash. She was still trying to process what had happened earlier and still she could barely believe it. She strained to listen but didn't hear any more screeching or screaming outside. It was quiet.

            Slowly, she managed to climb out the opening to the bus. The man from before was gone, but she didn't blame him; if she had woken up first, she would've left him behind without a second thought. "Anybody?" she called out but none of the bodies responded. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to run and find help, but she didn't want to be caught by any of those winged creatures. She could hide in the bus, but there was no telling how long it would take for help to arrive or if it would find her before something else did.

            The sound of shuffling steps caught Kristen's attention. "Thank God," she said as she immediately reeled at the person. They had only one arm and their shirt was soaked in blood. Upon seeing her, the person reached their lone arm out at Kristen and stumbled forward. Something was off about their eyes as it let out a soft moan.

            Kristen didn't know what to do. She didn't have any medical knowledge but something told her someone shouldn't be walking around with those kind of injuries. "I'm going to get help," she called over "Wait right there, I'll be back." The person took no notice of what she said, but moaned louder when she started to run away. The lone moan was joined by another and Kristen noticed another student making their way to her. This one had both legs broken but dragged itself to her anyway.

            "Wait...This shouldn't..." Kristen started but her voice caught when she saw someone who was very much dead open its eyes and moan at her. The eyes were the same as all the others, pale and cold, no sign of life in the slightest. More people who were dead just moments ago began to stir and Kristen instinctively retreated back into the bus. She replaced the emergency hatch as best she could but it wouldn't stay shut, so she crawled towards the front of the bus. The bodies in the back were still motionless, but Kristen didn't exactly trust them to stay that way.

            "Help" she fruitlessly screamed out as the undead started crawling in after her. There was no way out for her as she backed up to the windshield only to feel hands grasping her from the hole in the driver's side. More and more crawled in as more hands reached in and held her. She wished she'd never tried leaving as the first zombies reached her and grabbed at her kicking feet. She began to sob hopelessly as more began pulling at her arms and she felt the first bites. She screamed through tears as more now climbed on top of her to bite and rip into her stomach and chest. She kept screaming as more hungry hands reached out to her mouth and face and began devouring her until she screamed no more.

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            Ted knew what he heard. Someone had screamed. It was far away and muffled, but with the unusual quiet all around, it might as well have been right next to him. Ted felt a knot in his stomach since it was probably the girl he left behind.

            -She's dead. Those things came back and she's dead now and it's all your fault. And now they'll come for you-

            That last thought got Ted moving as he picked himself off the ground. He needed to figure out some sort of plan but stopped at the sight of an approaching figure. They were dragging their left foot as they walked and had their head down low, but Ted could still tell it was Aaron. "Where did you go?" Ted said aloud as Aaron picked up the pace in his approach.

            Something was wrong and it stopped Ted from running up to Aaron. The girl screaming had Ted up and ready to act in a heartbeat, but it seemed Aaron was ignoring it to get to Ted. Aaron was always a bit of a heartless asshole, but this was a bit much. It also didn't seem like Aaron was running away from anything, but he sure seemed to be in hurry to get to Ted when he saw him.

            Something was wrong with his eyes. Instead of pupils, Aaron had two empty pools of white staring out as he moaned and reached out for Ted, who backed up slowly until he realized there was an electric fence behind him. "Aaron, stop," he said as Aaron continued unhindered. "I don't know what happened to you, but stay back," he said as he looked over Aaron, who was covered in blood.

            Ted ducked under and shouldered passed Aaron, who continued forward a bit and his outstretched hand got caught in the fence, which practically blew it off at the wrist. Aaron took no heed to it as he slowly turned around to find Ted again. Ted meanwhile was taken aback at the lacerations in Aaron's back. Something sharp had dug into his back three times very deep. There was no way anyone could survive those types of injuries, let alone walk around after the fact.

            "Aaron, please," he said "Stay back." Aaron let out a desperate moan as he lunged at Ted again. This time Ted met him with a solid kick to the chest, pushing him right back into the gate, this time catching more of him on the fence. Aaron convulsed wildly on the fence but couldn't escape as it cooked him over to the point his head ruptured.

            Ted understood what he just did, but wasn't sure if anyone, even himself, would appreciate the circumstances. Something was wrong with Aaron and he acted on instinct rather than logic.

            -He was hurt, and I killed him. He needed help and instead I tossed him into-NO. He was dead. I didn't notice him before because he was just another corpse in a pile. But if that's the case, how the hell did he manage to still get up?-

            Ted didn't have long to ponder that. He turned away from Aaron to see several more people who were dead not five minutes ago pick themselves up and shamble their way towards him.

BGI v3 [Part 0]

Once upon a time I went on winter break in high school and found myself very bored very fast. So I decided to write a book.
...Now we are here and you are about to read the newest version of the story that started everything. And it was the original appearance of The Default Will Rule.

...fun fact: there's a school that approved of armed janitors...which is funny cuz the original version of this story (and another story I wrote in high school) involved a [disgruntled] janitor with a gun.

Enjoy.

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[BGI v3 - Part 0]

            "That's not ominous," Ted said sarcastically as he looked at the dark clouds approaching. "Shh!" Aaron scolded him as he continued to smoke his recently lit cigarette. The two seniors stood outside the high school in a tucked away corner near the back entrances. They weren't suppose to be out with another half-hour to go in the school day, but Aaron didn't want to wait any longer for a smoke and Ted didn't feel like sleeping through his last study hall. So, in what was a regular routine so long as the weather was nice, they cut out early.
            Under normal circumstances, they would never get away with what they do, but the Grimes High School was different. The teaching staff was in constant flux and new teachers were introduced monthly. Some staff members were brought in that never seemed to actually do any teaching and no one could find them during the day. It was as if they were around for something other than running a high school. The lack of familiarity with students meant Ted and Aaron, among others, were allowed to slip through the cracks and disappear from certain classes.
            "I don't feel like getting caught because you wanted to voice your opinion on the fucking clouds," Aaron stated. Ted shrugged and continued to look out. Dark clouds were slowly rolling in. It didn't look threatening, especially since there was no distant thunder, but something about how the wind was subtlety picking up struck Ted as interesting. Aaron took notice of the wind too, if only because it occasionally blew his own smoke back at him.
            "Thought you said Will was cutting out with us," Ted said to Aaron, taking care to lower his voice. Aaron shrugged. "Not my fucking problem." He was about to say something else when a small tremor sounded and the ground shook momentarily. "What the fuck was that?" Aaron asked. "Beats me," Ted said as he took notice of a distant thunder that at first he thought was coming from the approaching clouds, but was really from within the school.
            Whatever the sound was, it was quickly joined by a multitude of other unexplainable noises, some of which sounded like animals, though neither Ted nor Aaron could wager a guess as to what animals they could be, or if any such creatures were even suppose to exist, or where the sounds were even coming from. There were two discernible growls; one high pitched and one low. It seemed as if they were all originating from under their location.
            "What's under us?" Ted asked in a whisper. "I don't...nothing," Aaron said as he thought back to the basement layout he knew about from the various Saturday detentions he spent cleaning things out. "There's nothing suppose to be under this spot." The two knelt down and strained to listen more but all noise was drowned out when the school buses drove in to line up for the end of the school day, the roar of the multiple engines made it impossible to hear anything else.
            "Wanna figure this shit out?" Ted asked as Aaron tossed his cigarette. "Fuck that," he said as he watched as more buses drove in. "Well we have three options for the next half-hour," Ted said "We could stand out here like idiots, trying to hear anything over the symphony of buses...We could investigate the mini earthquake we just endured like men...or we could run to the buses like girls and suck our thumbs. Aaron made a face and shook his head, but reluctantly agreed. "Yeah, let's figure this out," he said "Odds are it's nothing."
            The two made for the doors when they stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of dozens of screams. "Maybe it's not nothing," Ted said as the initial screams were joined by dozens more. "Maybe we should, I dunno, be girls and run to the buses," Aaron said as Will came sprinting out the back entrance. "Oh shit! Oh shit!" he screamed as he grabbed Ted's shoulders.
            "What the f-" Ted started before a rush of students came crashing out behind Will, the faint animal like growls now amplified so they could be heard over the bus engines. The sudden stampede knocked Aaron away as Ted dragged Will aside. Aaron made a feeble attempt to get over to Ted and Will, but as a second group of frightened students came running out with the even louder and now multiple inhuman cries trailing, he decided to head for one of the buses.
            "What is wrong? What is it?" Ted yelled at Will who was trying to push Ted away so he could run. "Will!" Ted screamed as he slapped the underclassman, "Talk to me!" Will turned his head back to the entrance and his eyes went wide. Ted looked over to see someone rushing up to the glass doors from the inside, but they weren't running rather than gliding, their feet never touching the ground.
            The person hit the doors and blew them open, taking to the air when they came out. It was one of the teachers that had "left" maybe a month prior, but it only bore slight resemblance now. Out of the back, it had two large leathery wings that kept it airborne, their neck had been stretched three feet longer and from the middle of the chest down to the stomach was replaced by a deformed face that was still chewing on something Ted couldn't figure as it spit out the occasional bone fragment. A third arm was weakly sticking out of its right hip, holding onto a broken metal rod.
            The creature stretched its neck all three feet up and it scanned the fleeing crowd before it looked down on Ted and Will with its black eyes. It opened its mouth and let out a scream, Ted realizing that the noises he heard before wasn't coming from two different creatures but from one singular monster. Will and Ted took off as the beast flew down for a kill. Ted glanced back quick and dove to the side, separating himself from Will as the winged monster crashed down on top of the poor kid and started ripping into him with its elongated claws.
            Ted got to his feet and made for one of the buses, climbing onto the first one he could get to. Aaron was gone and there was no way Ted could track anyone down in the chaos. He made his way to the back as the sound of breaking windows and falling glass was heard. Ted and the eight other students on the bus looked over to see dozens more winged creatures, smaller but just as deadly, fly out and attack.
            "Get us out of here!"someone screamed and the driver finally put the bus into drive, just as the bus in front was knocked over and a few creatures flocked in through an open window. "Hang on!" the driver shouted as he maneuvered around the fallen bus and made for the exit. Ted looked back at Will's body to find the large winged creature was gone. He didn't need to waste much time looking for it since it flew over and intercepted the bus.
            The driver floored the accelerator with the intent to road kill the creature but as the bus made contact, it grabbed on and attempted to lift the bus into the air. "Hold on, I'm gonna try-" the driver started but was cut off when the creature, using its third arm for leverage, used its other right arm to chuck the metal rod through the windshield and right into the drivers chest.
            The bus lost all speed and the creature stopped it before going under to try lifting it again, this time to success. "Out the back!" Ted yelled as he turned but stopped at the sight of three of the smaller creatures banging on the back door, trying to get in. He tried making his way to one of the exits in the middle of the bus as it began its vertical lift. The run quickly became a climb and Ted had to take refuge using one of the seats as the bus was soon lifted straight up in the air.
            Students screamed as they fell down and crashed into the rear of the bus. The creature shook the bus violently and Ted held on while others were rattled off their seats and fell. One girl bounced off of Ted's seat and managed to grab hold of the one across the aisle. Ted reached over and grabbed her before she slipped and fell like all the others. After helping her up, he looked up to see the creature let loose one last scream before letting the bus go.
            The bus didn't fall far as it came down perfectly on its rear, jostling the pile of students that were otherwise motionless. Ted and the girl were almost thrown off their seat, but were able to recover. Looking back up, Ted didn't see the creature anymore, but noticed his view of the sky was moving; the bus was tipping over. The two clutched the seat as the bus came crashing down on its side.
            The landing threw the students to the other side of the bus. Ted quickly attempted to sit up, but found everything too heavy as he dropped back to the ground. The dwindling number of screams outside slowly became distant to Ted as his last thought was a wish that this was all only a bad dream.