Hunger

Chapter 2

Matt’s eyes shifted down to his bag at the side of his chair. It was obvious he was thinking about the goodies stashed inside. Matt was famous for having snacks on him at all times. After all, Matt wasn’t fit; he was on the huskier side of the scale. He was obese, but he honestly didn’t like to think about that. Food, sweets, and video games were his coping mechanisms, his escape from the hells of reality that brought pain and bullying from his peers. They didn’t know the hell he went through at home; they didn’t know that he hated himself. They probably hated him too, the way they slung their words at him like knives cutting deep but never leaving any wounds on the outside, only the inside. Matt looked up at one of his only friends, meeting Sabrina’s calculating blue eyes. He knew she was good for her words. She had helped him countless times through the years. She was his safe place. He also undenounced to her that she was the only girl in the school that he had a crush on. She was more than just a pretty face; she was compassionate and had saved his life more times than he could count. Matt was hoping she could meet the level of sincerity her words rang to him. After all, if this was zombies, he wasn’t fast and athletic like the rest of his classmates; he knew most if not all, but her would leave him to be eaten.

“I promise, Matt now tell me about what you brought for lunch today. I may want to trade,” Sabrina mused, hoping to get his mind off of the situation at hand. They were safe for now. Sabrina smiled at Matt. She saw the worry in his eyes change to something of delight as he started to ramble off what his lunch was. She could see the quiet thanks in this body language; he was no longer tense but now more at ease. She needed him to be relaxed and not so tense. After all, she would never admit it out loud, but if push came to shove, she would sacrifice everyone in the room to save Matt.

Sabrina listened to Matt rattle off what he had brought for lunch and his snack during the free period. Her eyes were focused on the teacher, watching what he was doing. After all, in a crisis, they were taught to look to the teacher for guidance. She could tell by his furrowed brows and tense demeanor that he wasn’t positive; this was just a senior prank. Her eyes tracked from his face to his hand, which put the phone back down. She hadn’t heard him speak, which meant that either he had whispered into the phone, or no one had answered the line.

A loud screech filled not only their classrooms but also all the other speakers in the school's vicinity. Sabrina and the rest of the class muffled complaints and rubbed their ears, waiting for Mrs. Lynn to speak. A frail, scratchy voice came out of the speakers. "Faculty and students, there seems to be an event happening on the school grounds. It seems to be a senior prank! Please do not be alarmed and continue on with classes. Any and all participants will be severely pun..." Mrs. Lynn's speech seemed to be cut off for a moment before her voice came back over the intercom. However, this time, her voice was full of panic. "Dante, what are you doing?" she asked. There were sounds of a struggle and groans as if she was fighting someone or something away. A screech was what came next as the whole school heard Mrs. Lynn's scream and what sounded like the wet slap of a rag being dropped on the floor. "You bit me! Dante! Snap out of this; it isn't funny! Someone help!" she screamed. Before that could be heard over the intercom was another wet ripping sound mixed in with someone's or something's mewling whimpers and the sound of gurgling. Gurgling like the sound a toilet makes before it backs up. Although to everyone in the school, it was clear this was no joke, if it was, it had lost its humor. Even though the intercom was off, what they had heard still sent chills throughout everyone. This had the collective of students keep silent, although frozen in fear. A long silence followed, and later, the screech of the intercom coming back on jarred the already terrified faculty and students. A rough, gravelly male voice came out of the speakers. "Hello, mmm classmates... Delicious classmates and, ahh, treats... I mean, teachers." Now, the voice on the other end sounded almost like Dante's; only it wasn't him; it was too breathy to be his voice, as well as the words coming out; they weren't things he would say. The sound of smacking lips poured out of the speakers, followed by crunching sounds of something, that caused shivers to crawl up everyone's spines. The voice then spoke once again. "Please continue on with your day, and if someone knocks on the door, let them in." This was followed by another weird moan echoing through the speaker before the voice continued. "We.... Yes.... We look forward to tasting all you lovely morsels. " The intercom then clicked off and left an eerie silence in the building as teachers began locking doors and making calls to the police, which seemed to be busy. Even Sabrina’s desperate phone calls to her parents were left unanswered. Fear crept its way from the pit of her stomach.