Starter Scrolls: by Nick Venom (best ereader for graphic novels txt) 📖

in front of the door to reinforce it.

Now, they sat against the wall that was a part of the hallway, staring at the wall that was their only obstacle in leaving. The windows were locked after a student attempted suicide from the third floor, which led to a lawsuit that was a loss on the school’s part.

“... are you okay?” Rin asked, slightly embarrassed at his comment. He didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah, you?” She responded.

“Yeah.” The silence returned as the teens’ breathing returned to normal. They entered the classroom, panting like dogs.

Ashley stood up silently, approaching the windows. The curtains had been draped over them to hide the students inside from outside threats.

She moved one to the side enough to peer outside. Zombies were scattered around the surrounding streets but were suddenly pulled away. Almost as if there was a hive mind ordering the undead to do its bidding.

“You never told me your name,” Ashley muttered before turning around to face Rin. “I’ve told mine.”

Rin nodded, getting to his feet. “Rin. I was a junior here.” 

Ashley approached him, holding out her right hand. “Ashley, a freshman.” She carried the hammer in her left hand.

Rin shook her hand, both nodding at each other. They sat down next to each other against the wall. “I can’t believe the world became like this.”

“Yeah, I was supposed to be going to the mall with my friends, not watching their deaths like a movie,” Ashley remarked, staring down at her legs. She had her legs close to her chest, nearly touching it. Rin, on the other hand, sat crisscrossed. 

“I… I woke up late to this world.”

“Lucky you.” She stared at him, her big eyes hiding a hint of fright.

Ouch, that tore at a string inside her.

“Anyway, who is this friend that you risked everything to save?” She asked. “A beautiful girl?”

Rin shook his head. “It’s a girl, but I wouldn’t say she’s… beautiful.” The long pause in between his words told Ashley the truth, punching him in the shoulder.

“Well, make sure you tell her your true feelings. Before it’s too late.” She teased.

“Ugh, you’re one of those people.” He joked. “Yes, you’re right. I should take the advice of someone who has never dated before.”

Ashley shook her head while smiling. “For your information, I… I’ve dated before.”

“Dreams don’t count.” 

Ashley looked taken aback but a smile quickly overtook her stun expression. “You’re just like my best friend. He always teases me, saying ‘oh Ashley, are you lesbian? Because no guys want you?’” She said, exaggerating her movements and intimidating her friend’s way of speaking. Once she finished, she looked at Rin and smiled. 

“I reckon-” He moved his arm to exaggerate an energetic person. “-he was onto something, mate.”

Ashley jerked her head back. “I know my impressions are way off, but where did you get Australian from? He's American.”

“I’m not sure, I can only do a poor Australian accent. It’s really awful, but yours was worse.”

“Firstly, I hate you. Second, if you truly think your accent was better than anything I can come up with, you’re crazy.” She shot finger guns at him.

“My-” He dramatically pressed his right hand against his heart. “-poor feelings. I think… I think you broke them.”

“Shut up!” She nudged him, chuckling softly to himself. The growls and snarls were slowly dissipating, but they were still apparent.

Ashley looked up at the ceiling, staring at it. While keeping her eyes on the ceiling, she muttered, “thank you, Rin. If it wasn’t for you, I would be dead.”

Rin held the M1911 in his hand, unloading the empty magazine and throwing it into his bag. He took out a fresh magazine, glancing at her. “Don’t worry about that. If anything, it was God that helped us find each other.” He fiddled with the magazine, checking to see if it was full, before reloading it into the M1911. It now had seven bullets ready to be used.

Ashley looked at him. “I mean that, Rin. Thank you so much. I was running and hiding for them for what felt like hours... to then chance upon you, it was a miracle. Though, I’m confused about how you got the gun. It didn’t look like the ones the officers had.”

“How about I keep it a secret?” He asked playfully.

She shook her head while smiling. “Just this once.” She turned her head to stare at where the door was. It wasn’t bulging, the number of bodies being thrown into it slowly disappearing.

Rin, meanwhile, took out the officer’s gun---a Glock 22. It was solid black; weighing less than the M1911. He pressed the magazine eject button, checking the magazine’s total bullets. There were three bullets from the fifteen-bullet magazine. They didn’t grab any of the magazines off the officer or his comrades before rushing inside.

What a dumb mistake. We should’ve scavenged the officers for ammunition for the Glock. Now we have three bullets in the Glock and… twenty-one bullets for the M1911. We’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.

The sound of gunfire became apparent as the growls and snarls. Somebody was letting off shots outside, but who was it?

“Stay close to the wall, let me check.” He handed the Glock to her. “It’s off safety, so keep your fingers away from the trigger. There’s three in the magazine, none in the chamber” He told her before getting to his feet and tiptoeing towards the window. He moved one of the curtains, giving him enough space to peer outside with one eye. He saw a man dressed in full camouflage clothing with a buzzcut and armed with an assault rifle, ripping through the scattered zombies. By his side was another soldier, this one seemingly having a higher rank as he ordered the first soldier around. He carried a pistol but didn’t use it. Rin guessed that it was empty and only for show.

“Are they friendlies?” Ashley asked, walking up to Rin.

“Stay at the wall, I’m not sure if they’re good guys. They could-” The soldier noticed him, pointing the gun barrel towards him. It was a far distance and Rin could escape the initial bullets, but the soldier was more trained and experienced than he could be. If he did escape, how could he retaliate? Fire the gun off with his eyes closed, not seeing the bullets tear into him or Ashley’s tears as she watches him die? 

What do I do?

Hello All!

 

Thank you for reading episode one of Infection. I had a great deal of fun writing this episode and the first installments of Hunt and The Day The World Broke. 

For this series, I expect a lot for future episodes with 6,000 words as the minimum. As for how long season one will be - it’ll be determined further down the road. However, I have no wish of Infection overstaying its welcome. Instead, this series will be rather short when compared to other Jayhawk projects. Even so, I hope you all enjoy Rin and his adventure with the apocalypse. 

As a side note, these aren’t normal zombies as they have ones that act as alarms (Sirens), observe people like Monitors, and common zombies that seemingly follow a hive mind. All will be explained in the future. 

Until then, I bid you all a good day!

Imprint

Publication Date: 04-30-2021

All Rights Reserved