The journey from the crash site to the school yard took forever, each step forward felt like he was moving backwards. The ache in his muscles intensified, the weight of the little girl in his arms wore him down but regardless he persisted to move forward.
He stopped under a tree, the comfort of the shade was blissful. He collapsed on his knees and laid the little body on the ground while he rested on the tree. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath before calming down.
It was quiet. So quiet he could listen to his own every single breath he drew. It didn't fit right to him.
Even as well organised as college seemed to be it could never be as quiet as this, there were still noises from students and teachers, distant cars with their horn sounds. Yet from the looks of things this was a high school, which was meant to be at least ten times more noisy than any average college.
Marle stood up, lifted the body into his arms and continued his way to the school yard leaving the cool tree shade.
The school yard was a mess, paper, plastics and cans littered everywhere, turning into the plaything for the dry breeze. At the parking lot were a few cars that weren't parked in order, they all looked vandalized.
There must've been a riot, Marle said to himself as he moved to the parking lot. He peeked through the window of one of the cars, the inside looked intact and alright except from the red stain on the chairs. It was already turning black and looked dried. He had a bad feeling but didn't think too much about it.
He paced towards another car, it was jammed to the platform. Whoever drove it had an accident.
He looked inside and like the other it looked neat, except there wasn't any red stain or anything that looked out of the ordinary. Marle turned, decided that was enough for the parking lot, it was time to head inside the school building.
As Marle walked away from the car he heard the first sound ever that he didn't make. A choking snarl. His heart skipped as it was a recognizable sound. He turned slowly facing the car and began following the directions the sound came from.
He held the girl tightly in his arms and bent to take a look beneath the car. A pale hand stretched out almost grabbing his leg but he was quick to avoid it and sink into the ground.
The car was wrecked on purpose, the car was holding that…whatever it was at bay.
He was terrified at first, almost pissing his pants. But after realising it couldn't move an inch he calmed down
Marle drew closer examining it. It looked emaciated with its skin darkening, the eyes were black like it was decaying. It was dead or at least meant to be dead
Marle stood up on his feet again, clenched the little lifeless body in his arms and went for the school building.
Now he partially knows what happened in the sense that whatever occurred in the plane causing it to crash was the same thing that happened in this school.
He didn't know what he saw, he couldn't tell. They all look disgusting, dead, decayed and most of all hungry. Where did they come from, were they once humans?
Marle crossed the shattered glass door and stepped inside the school building. The glasses beneath his shoes cracked and broke apart causing an echo through the hallway. The silence caused Marle's skin to crawl. This was the first time in his life he hated silence.
He moved through the hallway avoiding stepping into the broken glass lingering on the floor. He passed the locker line and stumbled upon a classroom, the door was open.
He tiptoed into the class and performed a swift head pan. Just like the whole world since he woke up it was a big mess, Marle moved his gaze to the spray paint on the wall, saying, "Rebs was here". He didn't bother to look around, he left the class and continued down the hallway.
He arrived at the end of the hallway, beside him was the stairs leading to the second floor. Marle hesitated. He looked at the girl in his arms and then images came flooding in. The incident that unfolded and what likely led to the crash, the thing stuck under the car at the parking lot.
At this point Marle wanted to go back. Leave this vandalized school and head back to Kentucky, find a way to bury the girl and finally look for Denise and Dante. However something within him felt otherwise. He questioned almost everything he felt like he always does. What if the whole world was in this same predicament? What if this school is currently the safest place as of this moment? Or what if he finds something in this school explaining whatever started all these in the first place?
A lot of 'what ifs' but no answer really.
.
Marle sighed, releasing all the tucked up tension in him. He laid the lifeless little body on the ground and creeped upstairs. The stairs creaked and his boots tapped, with each step he took Marle felt light headed like he was sinking into the silence of the school building.
By the time he realised himself he was already on the second floor. It wasn't as messy as the hallway downstairs.
Marle sloped forward, moving his gaze from one side to another as he passed each window. Ahead was a door sealed with a wood plank. Marle walked up to the door and peeped through the edge, he could hear the screeching snare from inside.
There were only three he could see, moving sluggishly and aimlessly. He swallowed, ready to move from the door when a face appeared in front of him, he tripped and fell flat on his back.
Wasting no time Marle picked himself up and looked at the door, he was already regretting the decision of taking a look inside the school building.
He shook his head, turned and picked up his pace towards the stairs.
About to head downstairs there was already one of those things waiting at the end of the staircase. It looked up and immediately got interested in Marle. It didn't see or maybe didn't know it was supposed to climb the stairs. It tripped and fell face first on the staircase
I can still make it.
Marle slid down the stairs only to see two more approaching.
He shook his head and climbed back up. He could survive with only a sprain if he took the windows upstairs.
That plan also came to a premature end when he saw more of them coming out from the classrooms. The stairs had fewer numbers. Marle climbed down, kicked one on the leg causing it to fall, he turned and punched the other.
"Shit" He swung his hand. The skull was very hard.
While he writhed in pain he didn't realise the punch had no effect, it stretched its hand clawing on Marle's clothes firmly. Marle punched again and again until he broke free from its grasp. He took a step then a hand reached for his leg and slammed him to the ground.
One held on to his leg while the other climbed him flashing its brown and black teeth at him. While struggling to get his leg free and get the disgusting looking creature off him he could see the other standing up and matching sluggishly.
Marle kicked and pushed, the one on him had its teeth millimetres away from his flesh. He was getting tired, burnt out and already losing strength–just then a gunshot echoed, time stopped, his breath suddenly seized, he thought he was the one that got shot.
Then another shot blast in his ears. The head of the hungry monster before him popped, brain particles covered his face. Marle suddenly jolted back to life and pushed the lifeless body away. He then kicks his leg free from the other.
"And what do we have here?"
A girl with a shotgun in her hand grinned widely, she was accompanied by a young man, he too had a gun–an assault rifle. The two weren't in any special force uniform, they didn't even look like cops.
Marle was grateful for their intervention in saving his life, but wondered who they were.