Zombie survivor

Chapter 2.

I guess it's going well. I happen not to do this much, to write in this... so formal way, you know. I hope I at least got your attention. But before I go on, I think I forgot to tell you a little bit about myself and I think this is a good time to do so.

My name is Louis Warren, almost seventeen years old. I'm somewhat tall and thin, I have black hair that you probably always see tousled. I'm fair-skinned and gray-eyed, and no, I don't consider myself handsome at all. Although not too ugly either. I'm one of those people who fall somewhere in the middle of all that. I live in New Mexico, where I attend school with my best friends, trying to survive this confusing stage of life. My parents, a couple of psychologists who spend most of their time helping other people, are quite nice. They are amazing, though somewhat strict, like many parents.

At this point in my life, I was only a few months away from moving on to my junior year in school before leaving for college. My friends and I, along with a few other kids, entered an exchange program. No big deal, just a simple one-week trip to Canada to get to know our northern neighbor better.

Anyway, the real story begins with me waking up in the hotel room. Daylight was streaming in through the windows, as well as the sounds of the city escaping: cars driving around, angry drivers honking their horns, people walking to their jobs while making important phone calls, advertisements on the street, vendors offering their newspaper, etc.

I clearly heard Austin and Jeff fighting over who would get in the shower first. I just wanted to lie there for those remaining two days until I had to get on with my life. But Alex had other plans.

The guy came up to me smiling as he munched on a cereal bar, you know, the kind that comes with a lot of nutrients and stuff. What does he look like? Well, he's about two inches shorter than me. He's light-skinned with blue eyes, long curly hair; the kind that everybody wants to touch and reach in and find out what's hidden in there. At that moment he was wearing only his blue boxer shorts with strange colorful geometric shapes, showing off the rest of his hairless body. His hair was quite fluffy so I deduced that he was just coming out of a bath.

"It's about time" he said, coming closer. "You'd better hurry, we have a lot of things to do...”

"Oh yeah?" I asked confused as I sat up in bed. "Today is a free day, we can do whatever we want.”

"That's right, it looks like Sam prepared a whole itinerary, and by the way, you'd better make your bed. Remember tonight I sleep there, and you get that stupid sleeping bag. It was cleared up last night during that game of rock, paper, and scissors.”

"What if I won? Didn't I sleep in the bed both days?”

"No, I don't think so. Get the hell up.”

"And you, put some clothes on" I suggested.

"Touche.”

I stood up and walked in my pajamas around the small room, which consisted of nothing more than a couple of beds, a closet, and a bathroom. On the floor were strewn everywhere our luggage and the sleeping bags where Austin and Alex had spent the night. Once I found an opportunity I went into the bathroom to take a shower, as I came out I hurried to get dressed while Alex hurried me restlessly, Jeff read a book and Austin kept changing the channels on the small TV.

What do Jeff and Austin look like? Well, the former is about my height, maybe a little taller. Light brown skin, and brown eyes. Dark hair and huge eyelashes. He had those bushy eyebrows and peculiar nose that made him look with slight Arab features, even though he wasn't Arab at all; and actually resented you mentioning it. Not because he hated Arabs, but because it had been repeated to him so many times during his existence that he had no more patience.

Austin, on the other hand, was the same height as Alex. He had olive skin and straight blond hair. He had light blue eyes and was probably the most unruly of the bunch, even if he did have that shy, intelligent boy look about him. He was the kind of kid who would figure out a way to find a joke about a squirrel eating nuts. Pretty creative that way.

I was putting on my shoes, when Alex asked Austin to stop the continuous channel-switching, tuning to the national news. A woman was speaking into a huge microphone as a probably enraged crowd stood behind her holding placards.

"...for the first time since World War II, the Olympic Games, which were to open next Friday, July 24, have been canceled. The authorities have not yet explained, but it is believed that it may be due to the outbreak of Kuvres Fever, of which more than two hundred cases have already been reported, only in small towns of the country. For the time being, we will wait for a statement from the relevant authorities. Back to you, Jimmy. “

Then, that man Jimmy appeared, a man in his fifties who had been a news anchor for as long as I could remember. He started talking about strange cases of rabies around the world, then said something about a meeting of heads of state at the UN, but by then Austin had already turned off the TV.

"They cancel the Olympics, but not my sister's stupid concert" Alex lamented.

"Stupid? I thought you wanted to go" I commented.

"And since the b***h didn't take me with her, now it's stupid.”

"You're an i***t" observed Jeff.

"For wishing my sister ill?" Alex grumbled.

"No, for many other things...”

"Hey!”

"Whatever" I tried to stop the fight: "Your sister's concert is not going to be canceled, and she's going to have too much fun, while you have to go down and meet the girls.”

"Right, Sam was planning on going out to do some stuff today. Surely there must be something interesting over there.”

We grabbed everything we thought we needed and went out into the hallway where we met the cleaning lady on our way to the elevator. Alex pressed the first-floor button numerous times, it should be noted that he did so not because it was useless but because he was bored and Jeff was right, he is an i***t.

We appeared in the reception of the Hotel, a large room with a floor of strange and luxurious tiles, the walls facing the street, were all glass; while the rest were cream-colored tiles with the name of the place engraved on them. In the center was a large room, filled with sofas and coffee tables with newspapers. At the back were the receptionists manning their stations for arrivals, while on the other side was the entrance to the restaurant. A security guard looked at me with an arched eyebrow as we passed him.

The girls were sitting in the lounge, all on their phones, while old Professor Carlwell was leaning back, staring at the ceiling. He was one of the teachers who had accompanied us to the exchange, he used to teach geography, it was quite hard to pay attention to him in class with that huge, striking brown beard neatly combed, but nothing usual.

Seeing us, the three of them stood up and walked towards us. Sam watched us with those dark eyes, her red hair neatly combed, a sign that she had gotten up early with plenty of time to get ready. She had her camera around her neck, looking like a tourist.

"It's about time you got here" she grimaced.

"It just so happens that Louis had overslept" Austin complained.

I rolled my eyes, I wanted to choke the kid. The last thing I wanted was Sam nagging me all day, blaming me for any inconvenience. "It's too long in line, it's Louis's fault for making us late," "It's already too late, it's Louis's fault for waking up... late!", "I'm hungry, we would have eaten by now if it weren't for Louis" and the like. Sam didn't say anything, just ignored the comment.

"Alex, they make you look more handsome, yes...but please get rid of those milk mustaches" Sam observed with a chuckle.

Alex blushed and quickly set about cleaning himself up, albeit in an overly clumsy manner. Halston, arranged his long blond hair, before approaching the boy and helping him wipe his face; while laughing, of course. Jeff whispered something in Austin's ear, which whatever it was, made him guffaw.

Vanessa stood a little distant, staring blankly. She seemed a little uneasy, paler than usual. I looked directly into her dark eyes, though it took her a while to react. She smiled awkwardly at me as she pushed a couple of dark hairs away from her face and back into the pile.

When Halston finished, Sam started talking about the various tasks we would have that day, though I don't think anyone was paying much attention. Alex watched Halston like a lovesick i***t, while Austin hummed a song and stared at the ceiling. Jeffh was looking around, possibly for his girlfriend. Halston fiddled with a loose thread on his clothes, while Vanessa remained too distracted with her gaze into the void. And me, I was looking at everyone around me.

"Is that okay with you?

"What?" asked Alex in confusion.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it" I lied.