Death's Little Angels (7 page)

“
I don’t know but I
suggest we worry about that later and try to get home,” Mater said
as she edged up closer to Drew.

“
Well, it said it on the
website… The grown ups get fried and we for some crazy reason
become
Eaters.
Sort of like the living dead,” Drew said in a
daze.

“
Cannibals,” Sue Ellen
added.

“
Will you stop correcting
me?” Drew said with irritation to Sue Ellen.

“
What are y’all looking at
over there?” Karley softly whimpered. “Lakely, is so hot.” She
continued to cradle Lakely’s head in her lap and fanned his face
with her bony hand. Her thin, limp hair glistened in the fluttering
light.

Drew walked over to the remainder of the
students, followed by Sue Ellen and Mater. He checked to make sure
Josefina was still in place.

“
There is something that
y’all need to know,” Drew solemnly said.

He addressed his peers about the situation
at hand and how their outlook seemed grim. Most of the students
believed what he said but others prayed that it was a nightmare.
Everybody was in unison that they wanted to get home to their
respective families. Royal moved from behind some of the female
students that were huddled in the back of the classroom. He made
sure the coast was clear as he straightened his shirt and ran a
hand over his blonde spiky hair.

“
Well, if you are bitten
that means you will eventually turn into one of those things out
there. Those
Eaters
, like Josefina!” Royal blasted.

“
And your point?” Drew
challenged.

Royal narrowed his dark blue eyes at Drew.
Drew met him in height but not in weight and could easily body slam
Royal if he got out of hand. He knew how much Royal disliked him.
If you were a male and did not come from money or was not a star
athlete you could forget about rolling in his crew.

“
My
point
is, if he is bitten,” Royal
pointed at Lakely, “then eventually he will be snacking on us for
lunch. So, we should send him on out there with the rest of those
creatures!” Royal snapped.

“
How inhumane,
Royal.
Lakely
, is
his name and he is your best friend. Remember, you turd?” Sue Ellen
barked.

“
Use
to be. What use is he now with half is hand and neck
missing?” Royal snapped at Sue Ellen. He whined like an injured
animal.

“
Hey, hey. Royal you need
to chill out and lower your voice before you bring more of
those
Eaters
over
here,” Mater warned.

Drew raised his hands in a non-threatening
way. “Nobody is throwing nobody out of here. There has to be a
better way.”

Royal stepped back
clenching his jaw and gazed out the classroom window at the
Eaters
wandering about
out in the rainy weather. Lakely started coughing and seizing. His
body convulsed rigorously like he was being electrocuted. He foamed
saliva as dark blood trickled from his mouth, eyes, and ears. His
body became rigid as his jerking came to a halt.

“
Oh my God! Oh my God!
What do we do?” Karley yelled with a pained expression written all
over her face.

Drew brought his hand to
his head. He did not know CPR. No one did. They all had come to
school on what was supposed to be a normal regular day. Most of
them were kids from the country and was accustomed to hunting. Not
fighting zombies that the media was referring to as
Eaters
or saving the
living from dying. Lakely lay there lifeless as the kids slowly
huddled over his listless body.

“
Do you think he is?”
Mater asked looking up at Drew.

Drew shrugged his
shoulders and knelt down to see if he could feel a heart beat on
Lakely. The rhythm that Drew felt through Lakely’s chest was there
but very faint as if it were threatening to die out at any minute.
A loud commotion startled everyone in the classroom. It was coming
from outside of the door. Drew stood up and observed that the few
waving hands of the
Eaters
that stuck out through the makeshift barricade
disappeared one by one. The sounds that came next were not those of
the
Eaters
, which
were horrid moans and gurgles. This sound was sweet like music to
Drew’s ears. It was the voice of the unaffected. Humans. His
peers.

Ring around the rosy

A pocket full of posies

Ashes, ashes, we all fall dead

Lets make the streets flow full of red

“
Anybody in there?” A male
geeky voice yelled from behind the door.

Drew moved closer to the blockade careful
not to get close to Josefina. The closer he got to her the more
violently she flailed her arms. The blood that drooled out of her
mouth looked like prune juice but only thicker.

“
Who is it?” Drew
shouted.

“
It’s Beetle. Brandon
Beasley! Hurry up, let us in quick!”

Just great the school
nerd,
Drew thought mindlessly. Brandon had
acquired the name
Beetle
in elementary school. He was extremely
intelligent and resembled a bug with his deep bowl hair cut,
braces, and wide eyeglass frames. He spoke with a lisp and graced
the air or anything else that got in the way with
spittle.

“
How do we know your not
one of those
Eaters
out there?”

“
Do you think someone with
a brain that is fried like a scrambled egg could hold a
conversation? Now let us in!
Please!
We are sitting
platyrhynchos out
here!”
Beetle’s squeaky voice shrieked.

Drew rushed to the barricade and pulled the
desk from the door. Sue Ellen and Mater joined in slinging desk
towards the side of the classroom. They were all careful not touch
the tiny barrier that held Josefina pinned in. Once all of the
desks were cleared a group of students rushed in led by Brandon
Beasley also known as Beetle.

“
Thanks!” Beetle said as
he pushed up his glasses. “You might want to secure that,” he
directed at Drew pointing to the door.

Beetle was in a group of seven students,
which consisted of Billy Duncan, a black boy who ran track for
Stoney Central Middle School, Steven Blane, who led the group of
gothic kids at the school, and Ashley Chandler, the captain of the
middle school cheerleading squad. Two other cheerleaders, Jenny
Carson and Claire Reed, accompanied the group. The one that freaked
Drew out the most was Kaleb Caine. Kaleb also played on the
football team but never started at any of the games. Drew never
understood the relationship Kaleb had with pretty boy Royal Carter.
Those two did not mix. They were like oil and water. Kaleb narrowed
his eyes at Drew.

Drew noticed that the
group was covered in bloodstains and other foreign matter. Ashley
had makeup smeared all over her face. Black teardrops stained her
cheeks. The cheerleaders had backpacks in their possession that was
covered in dark stains. Drew figured they must have used those to
protect themselves from the
Eaters.

Billy Duncan was known to be the fastest kid
in the school. The all American track star. He was a huge flirt
with all of the girls and well liked. He had pretty dark skin that
was as smooth and velvety as cocoa. Drew observed a blood coated
fire extinguisher in Billy’s hand. But what really caught Drew’s
attention was what Kaleb was carrying…. A broom handle that had
been sharpened on both ends. He carried it like a spear. Kaleb
reminded Drew of a savage hunter.

After the door was blocked again, the
students stared at each other for what seemed like eternity.
Ashley, the blonde cheerleader, noticed Royal in the corner and
immediately ran to him plastering kisses on his cheek. Tarynn shook
her head out of disgust.

“
Please, do not fear them
which can kill the body, but are not able to kill your soul. Only
fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mathew 10:28.”
Tarynn stood wide-eyed as
she stepped out of the shadows clenching her bible close to her
bosom.

“
Our world. Our earth as
we know it. It is going to hell. It’s been prophesized.”

Everyone turned to look at Tarynn; her fiery
hair glistened like a torch. She turned and eyed everyone in the
room. Her green eyes were bright and wide. Steven Blane, the gothic
kid, snickered under his breath. He rolled his dark eyes at
Tarynn.

“
If you know so
much
miss holy guacamole
then you would know that the world is going to be
destroyed by fire not by the cannibalistic dead,” Steven snapped
flipping his ebony black shoulder length hair. He turned to glare
at Drew and the other students in the classroom. He turned his nose
up at Josefina even pointing at her as if she could hear
him.

“
You don’t know it yet but
you all sold your souls to the devil,
death’s little angels.
And
he,
death,
has
come to claim us all,” Steven said as he stared down at the floor
and held his hands up in the air like the letter V.

Tarynn stood firm and
walked towards Steven waving her bible. “
And in these days shall men seek death, and shall not find it
for they shall want to die. Death will flee from them…. Revelation
9:6.
That goes for you! Steven
Satan in disguise
Blane!” Tarynn firmly said.

Drew walked over and
placed his hand on Tarynn’s shoulder. “Thanks for the bible study
lessons Tarynn and the encouraging words. But lets keep our voice
low or we will draw the
Eaters
back to the door, okay?”

Tarynn nodded her head in agreement all the
while never taking her eyes off Steven. Steven walked over to Kaleb
and whispered something in his ear. The two held a menacing look on
their faces as they laughed quietly.

Drew looked around the refugees as they all
huddled together. “Where are all of the teachers?”

“
Either dead or they left
us here,” Beetle said. “I didn’t see anyone no where. Just these
guys.” Beetle pointed a thumb at the students that came along with
him.

“
Dead? All of the
teachers?” Drew asked.

“
Yea. The ones I seen
looked like over fried bacon.”

“
How’d you guys get over
here? Were y’all all together?” Drew asked looking at
Beetle.

“
Actually, it was just
Billy and I in lab, when it happened. We sort of picked up everyone
else along the way. I knew something wasn’t right this morning when
that kid….um what his name?” Beetle glanced at Billy for
help.

“
Kai Jones,” Billy said in
a broken voice. He was currently in a transfixed state as he
started at Josefina. They were once an item. Josefina was his first
girlfriend. Now she flailed her arms and clenched her jaws at him
like a rabid animal.

“
Yea, Kai Jones. He seemed
very sick on the bus this morning. It was him that started this
mess I betcha,” Beetle said as he squinted up his nose.

Flying debris hit up
against the window startling everyone. More
Eaters
were shuffling about
outside.

“
We don’t have long before
they notice that we are in here,” Drew nodded towards the window.
“My guess is since you guys cleared the door, we make a run for
it.”

“
They can smell us as
well,” Beetle replied.

“
Smell our filthy souls…”
Steven muttered. Most of the students ignored his comment. Others
just stared.

“
I had a chance to break
into the computer lab before the generators kicked on,” Beetle
licked his lips and whispered, “From what the CDC says, we are in
some deep feces.”

“
What?” Sue Ellen
interrupted.

“
Yea, what is a CDC?” Drew
inquired.

“
What are feces?” Sue
Ellen asked.

“
Are you sure you belong
in eighth grade?” Beetle directed at Sue Ellen.

“
Just as much as you, pig
lips. Turd face,” Sue Ellen spat.

“
Turd is the ebonic
version of feces….” Beetle smartly said as he turned his attention
towards Drew. Sue Ellen mumbled something inaudible under her
breath.

“
It is the Centers for
Disease Control. It’s located somewhere in Atlanta. The center
basically develops vaccines for the flu, controls disease
outbreaks, does research. That sort of thing,” Beetle shook his
head.

“
Never heard of it,” Drew
said.

“
Figured you didn’t,”
Beetle said. He laughed nervously, once he noticed the square look
on Drew’s face.

Drew dismissed the comment. “Doesn’t look
like this C or DC has anything under control. Not here in Wiggins,
Mississippi. Or the Gulf Coast for that fact,” Drew said
remembering the website he had just browsed earlier.

“
Do any of you have
weapons?” Beetle asked in squeaky voice.

“
I have my pocket knife,”
Drew said as he scanned the room. Everybody stared at him in a
disapproving manner. “I mean c’mon. You guys know I hunt. Aren’t
y’all thankful that I broke the rules? This knife has saved us so
far and nobody has said anything.” Drew patted his pocket. He was
so glad that he did not forget to leave his safety tool at
home.