Violet Eyed Apocalypse ~ Jared (Arizona)

We huddled against the side. Megan covered her ears with the palms of her hands, deafening out the sounds of the moaning and groaning of the Reighs outside and screaming of the Reighs' prey.

I did my best to console her. I cradled her in my arms as she buried her tearful face into shoulder. She was so young; I hated her going through this. She was only nine.

This wasn't supposed to be happening. The police had assured us we would be okay. They said they had all the best people out protecting us. I remember watching the television a week ago and the words of the governor echoed in my ears.

"I'm sure every one of you are overwhelmed with the idea of people infected with the bacteria, Reighbulance, walking our streets. But I assure you, you are completely safe. We have all our best men on the boarder, working to keep the Reighs and the disease out of Arizona. You may all go along with your daily tasks as you have nothing to worry about. I bet on my life, that not one of you will be injured or attacked by a single Reigh; or my name isn't Lucas Dexter: Governor of Arizona!"

And at that point, the camera whizzed around to face the crowd he was speaking to, permitting everyone to see them cheering and screaming their adoration for the man. And I thought I was safe. But now, here I was, holding my sister and sitting on a bus, being attacked by the Reighs the governor said he would keep out.

I heard a crash and the glass on the door of the bus shattered, revealing a man wearing a black suit and a striped red tie. The blood dripping from his chin proved he was a Reigh. Not only that, but his eyes were a dark lavender tint.

The suited man turned to the bus driver. The driver shrunk back in his seat. "Please!" he cried. "Please don't do this! I have a family at home! Plea-"

The driver's words were cut short by his screams of agony as the Reigh bit into his neck.

By then, other Reighs began invading the school bus, slowly marching on and launching their teeth deep into the skin of the kids in the first few rows of benches. I was relieved I had chosen a spot in the back of the bus for us to sit.

Kids were scrambling to the back, crying and wailing, stumbling over each other. Someone had pulled the latch in the back, opening and unleashing the children, allowing them to pour out into the schoolyard.

I lifted Megan into my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck, sniffling in my ear. I felt awful; this had to be hell for her. Megan was born deaf, she had never been able to hear the sounds of my mother's voice, the sound of my favorite band, and the television was completely useless to her. As a result of her inability to hear, she was mute. She had never spoken a single word in her life. The only thing she could do was see. See the horror of the entire world collapsing around her.

"Time to leave, Jared!" Ricky shouted to me.

I nodded, prancing from the seat. We shuffled towards the door, people pushing and shoving to reach it and escape. When I reached it, I leaped down, landing on my feet. I ran as fast as I could, tugging Megan along by her wrist. We ran past all the man-eating Reighs busily chomping away on their meal of dead-and even alive-carcasses. I sprinted until I was short of breath and my legs felt like Jell-O, collapsing when I got to the backside of the school.

I turned, assuring myself that Ricky had followed. Ricky skidded to halt next to me, resting a hand on my shoulder as he tried to catch his breath. I looked up, hearing the squeak of shoes against the pavement, seeing Angie Wilson, from my Computer Apps class, panting in front of me. I didn't want to be mean, I wasn't about to tell her to leave, she was the nicest girl I know, she wouldn't hurt anyone and, from what I could see, her eyes were still the same chocolate brown they had always been. She pushed a strand of dark brown-almost black-hair out of her eyes. We all just stood there, it seemed like hours but, in reality, were only a few minutes.

Ricky was the first to speak up. "We better get home."

I gaped at him. "Are you insane?! We can't go out in the open and get eaten alive by those monsters! We'll be killed! Our school was just attacked and you're willing to go back out there? You're truly crazy, Ricky." I sat down on a stack of folded cardboard boxes labeled 'Frozen Chicken Slices' and 'Canned Fruit', crossing my arms over my chest.

"Exactly, Jared! We have to get out of here before they come and find us," Ricky shouted.

I looked over at Angie. "What do you think?"

She seemed to think a moment, looking around at our surroundings, taking in the overgrown grass in need of a mowing. The crab apple trees, bearing cherry-like fruit. "I think we should do what's safest." She proceeded to smile at my sister and take her hand.

I threw back my head, groaning at her comment. "You're no help!"

"I never said I could help. You're big boys. You two can decided on you're own!" she snapped.

I was shocked by her harsh words and glared at her. "Don't be a bitch."

"I wasn't a bitch until you became an ass!" she retorted.

"Stop!" Ricky yelled.

We were all quiet, deciding our own advancements and imagining our own fates.

Ricky huffed; running his fingers across the bricks of the wall of the building behind us. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go home and find my parents."

I grabbed his upper arm. "Ricky, come on. Be rational. You could get killed," I reasoned.

"So?"

"So? So, you'll die. If you die, who will help me find somewhere safe to go? So then I'll die. Besides, if you go out there alone, you'll be a far easier target than if all four of us travel together," I replied in my best logical voice.

"Jared, we'll all die someday. If not today, we could die tomorrow, or the next day. What's so different if I die today?"

"Don't be stupid, Ricky. You know Jared's got a point." Angie said.

Ricky sighed. "Fine, we'll all go together. We need to find someone to help us."

"We need to figure out the safest time to go." Angie informed.

"How about we stay at the school until most of the Reighs leave? Right now, our school is a Reigh buffet. We need to wait until the coast is clear and we won't be eaten alive. The place is swarming with Reighs and the worst thing to do right now is run into the middle of it all," I said.

"Oh, my God!" Angie screamed. "Look."

We turned and she was pointing a ragged, chipped-nailed finger. We looked over, seeing two Reighs, a male and a female, approaching us at a surprisingly fast rate. I staggered back, leaping in front of Megan. I grabbed the closest thing I could, a piece of cardboard off the high pile, striking the female in her leg. She toppled to the ground, wrapping her fingers around my ankle. Her skin felt like leather, cold and wrinkled.

I shook her off, crying out at her tight grip. "Let go you bitch!" I slashed downward with my box, slicing into the skin on her back. I was surprised how well the cardboard he cut as a stream of deep red blood spurted up, like a volcano erupting onto the cemented ground. I swallowed, forcing myself to keep down the vomit the aroma of the blood had brought on. Megan clung onto my shirt, balling it in her fists.

Ricky came up behind the woman, knocking a large stone against the back of her skull, smashing it in. Her fingers that had tangled around my leg fell, and she succumbed to silence.

I breathed out of breath of relief. I looked at Megan, and even though she couldn't hear me, I smiled at her. "I'll die someday. But not today."