Endless Recess

Silence in the hallway| Part 3

Once the initial shock left Mason's body he ordered the other half of the group to rush inside the infirmary and fill their backpacks with as many medicines as they could.

With their backpacks full, the group ran to the entrance of the dining hall as more of them began to appear from the open entrance of the school.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip went on without issues.

As the group reached the second floor everyone was greeted with praise and hugs, smiles, and joy.

Except for Emma.

While Hope and Miss Juliet greet her warmly, most of the others seemed reluctant to approach her.

Even if it hurt Emma slightly, she understood, everyone had seen how she ignored the group and was the one to blame to put them in that situation, to begin with.

In contrast, Annie was the one to receive the most cheers as she walked into the hallway like a hero.

Annie didn't seem overly excited by the whole ordeal, if anything, she seemed slightly annoyed by the noise and commotion, yet she never lashed out or pushed anyone away.

Mathew placed a comforting hand on Emma's shoulder, even he saw the different treatment she received, and as he opened his mouth to say something Emma stops him.

"It's okay, you know it was gonna happen" Emma said looking at the group surrounding Annie "It's my fault we almost died"

Mathew squeezed her shoulder, missing words to give her because he knew that nothing he said would seem genuine.

"Emma, care to come with us?" Miss. Juliet approached her, behind her Hope was walking with Jose and Annie "I would like to see the damage on your back"

At the mention of it, she felt the sting leftover of her encounter with the hot steel of the shelf.

Emma turned to Mathew and smiled at him briefly, trying to reassure him that she was okay, however, once she was no longer close to him that smile vanished, leaving behind only an ashamed look.

Especially as she walked through the hallway and could feel the stares of her classmates.

Mathew watched her go until he could no longer, he then looked outside the window to the still burning bushes outside.

The bodies kept walking despite the fire slowly depleting their strength, one by one falling flat to the ground after a while.

His eyes focused on the well in the middle of the garden, its water still flowing, he watched the water move and shine with the fires around it.

Then he frowned.

He clenched his fists in anger.

He saw Emma closing his eyes, giving up on everything, the moment the corpse fell on her.

How could she simply stop trying? Was that the entire reason she wanted to go with them?

Then he felt guilt after last night maybe he should have stopped her from going with them.

She broke down in front of him and yet he didn't think she could do something reckless out there?

For past Emma that may be true, but everything had changed so much, had Emma changed too?

Finally, he felt weak.

If Emma was so bad that she thought of ending it all, he couldn't see it in time. It was Annie who saved her.

If he had been as close as Annie was, Emma would be dead.

Mathew hits the concrete below the window with his fist, clenching his teeth and staring outside to the fire below.

Even in this new world, a new blank canvas for him to grow into something better, stronger, he kept failing.

First, it was his brother leading everyone and now it is Annie, saving them from death's grasp.

"Why, am I so weak?" He felt the urge to let out tears, yet the sole sensation of wishing to cry made him even angrier.

Stop, stop being weak, he repeated in his mind.

Stop freezing in place, stop doubting yourself, stop thinking so much.

His eyes got lost in the macabre dance of flaming corpses, as the fiery dust got lifted by the wind, creating a spectacle of orange lights that shined on him.

At that moment, the garden was not the only thing, burning.

"Mathew"

Mason walked up to his brother, the hallway was now empty as everyone had gone elsewhere.

He could see his younger brother shake with anger, but what worried him the most, was how the fire reflected on his eyes, a dangerous feeling ran through him at that moment.

"Mathew" his voice now more commanding, he got closer to him.

Mathew didn't look away from the fire, and when he did, he didn't look at his brother, instead, he walked past him.

Or he intended to, Mason grabbed his arm firmly.

"Are you alright?" Mason looked at his brother with concern.

Mathew turned his head and stared at him in silence.

For a moment he thought of speaking to him, of telling him how he felt, how he wanted to improve, to be better.

He wanted to lean on his older brother for support, as he always had.

The Mason of now gradually deteriorated into Mason's of different times, he saw him get younger as ever since they were children it is him who grabs him and asks "are you okay?"

"Mat" Mason held his younger sibling close to him.

Mathew sobbed and trembled in fear, it was the first night of the outbreak, and screams, gunshots even explosions could be heard outside the school.

Almost always, a terrifying scream coming from below made Mathew shriek in horror.

"Mat!" Mason shook him and stared at him directly in the eyes "Calm down, I don't know what is going on, but we will get out of this alive, you hear me?"

Mathew sat in front of his brother and desperately tried to clean his tears.

"You know I will always protect you"

He looked up to him, he had always looked up to him.

His brother, whom mom and dad loved so much, who was wanted by the most popular groups, who always surpassed anyone in anything he tried.

But it was his brother, and he had always looked out for him, he loved him.

"I know" Mathew said laughing "I sound so pathetic"

"Well, you ARE crying like a little b***h" Mason laughed as well.

The memory vanished and in its place, Mason from today was left.

Mathew's stare softened and his body, which was tense and on edge, relaxed as well.

"I just need some time alone, Mason"

Mason waited for a few seconds before releasing his younger brother.

"Don't doubt to let me know if you need me, okay?

"Okay" Mathew laughed for a second "Thank you"

This time, the Mathew he had always known smiled at him sincerely, so he too smiled at him.

Mathew began walking away from Mason as the latter watched him go.

However, soon, a new figure appeared in front of them, someone who Mathew ignored and simply walked past.

But Mason couldn't.

"We need to talk" Heather said staring at Mason with rarely seen vulnerability.

Mason turned to face the burning fires below and closed the blanket.

Emma turned a corner to where they used to hide before, the one hallway that provided safety for that whole first month.

"Please, I need to-" Hope was talking to Annie, who was giving her back to her but stopped walking when faced with Emma and Miss Juliet.

"What is going on?" Miss Juliet asked looking at the bandages and alcohol Annie was carrying.

"Annie doesn't want me to treat her back" Hope confessed, clearly uncomfortable as if doing so could anger Annie.

"But, it will be difficult to do it on your own dear"

"I told Hope and I tell you, Juliet, I want to do it on my own, in my bedroom" Annie replied lacking any emotion on her face.

"Do you know how to treat burn wounds?" Miss Juliet step in front of Annie, who had just tried to advance.

The tall teen glanced menacingly at the teacher, the animosity in her stare such, that Emma gave a step back without realizing.

Miss Juliet on the other hand, returned the dangerous stare with a stern and firm look, they watched each other for a while, and Annie tried to move once again only to be stopped by Miss Juliet.

"What's your problem?" Annie was now clearly irritated.

Despite the height difference that could easily make anyone at least slightly uneasy, Miss Juliet didn't budge.

"I won't let my students mistreat their injuries"

Emma was a little bit surprised, yet she knew Miss Juliet could be very difficult to intimidate, especially since she dealt with all kinds of delinquents when she did counseling.

"It's not the first time I have burn injuries, so I piss off"

"You will have trouble reaching and it will be painful, you don't even know how bad it looks"

"I'll figure it out myself then, I'm a big girl, I can take the bus on my own and brush my teeth" She said mockingly "Now move aside" yet her face returned to her intimidating expression.

"You need someone to help you, Annie" Miss Juliet frowned at the girl.

It seemed they would once again contest who would look away first, but something, or someone, made Annie look past Miss Juliet, and her face turned into a mischievous grin.

Emma turned around and saw a confused Mathew looking at the scene.

"Very well!" Annie said moving aside Miss Juliet with little effort and walking rapidly to Mathew "Come, you will help me"

She grabbed Mathews collar and dragged him with her, he did little more than stutter as she reached the door of her bedroom, directly in front of the teacher's room, several meters away.

Once both students were inside the room Miss Juliet shook her head in disapproval and let out a stressed sigh.

She turned to Emma and before she could say anything she realized how Jason and Brook were peeking through the open door of the lab.

"Spying is disrespectful!" She scolded them both and the teens disappeared immediately "Now, Emma" She finally spoke to her, her face returning to her usual warm and inviting expression, always smiling.

Miss Juliet gave a step back and looked at Hope.

"I trust you can treat Emma now that Annie has forced young Mathew into s*****y"

This earned a short and cute laugh from Hope, who nodded and then walked to Emma's room, opening the door and waiting for the owner.

"I will help Jose alright?" Miss Juliet said walking to the door of the counseling room, where Jose stood waiting "But don't doubt knocking on my door if you need any help, Hope"

Hope's sweet smile made Emma relax a bit, and she walked inside her room with her as Miss Juliet did the same with Jose in the counseling room.

"Why in separate bedrooms?" Emma asked as Hope sat near the bed and placed all the medical utensils on the ground.

"You don't want Jose to look at you topless, do you?"

"Oh, right" She said walking in front of hope and sitting with a little difficulty due to the bothersome pain.

"Well now, off with it!" Hope exclaimed joyfully, her voice always soft.

Emma blushed slightly and began to remove her clothes, making sure to cover her breasts.

Once her back was bare, Hope began cleaning it with alcohol and cotton, Emma had a few straight red lines on her back, as well as a few other random patches of when she struggled to get away from the fire.

Hope took her time inspecting and cleaning her wounds.

"They are not too bad Emma, I'm glad you were not as hurt as you could have"

"I'm just surprised my hair didn't get burned"

"About that..."

Emma's heart skips a beat, she turned around with her eyes wide open.

"Say you are joking"

Hope smiled awkwardly and gave her a sympathetic look.

"Sorry, the back of it is a true mess"

Emma grunted in defeat and then angrily hit the makeshift bed next to her.

"Hey, it's a cheap price for getting out of there in one piece don't you think?"

Hope finished cleaning and began carefully applying a cream on the many burns of Emma's back, who couldn't help but move with every touch.

"Does it hurt much?"

"N-no, it's just, cold"

"Oh! I forgot its winter! I will rush" True to her word she abandoned her slow pace and made quick work of applying the cream.

As they sat silently, Emma's eyes stared at the floor and felt the tears fall.

"Emma?" A moment later Hope noticed her sobbing "It really doesn't hurt?"

"No, I'm honest, It's just-" between her sobbing, Emma tried to speak with a clear voice "I f****d up"

She expected some type of answer but Hope remained quiet and kept working on her back after a brief moment.

"I could have gotten everyone killed"

The room remained silent for a long time.

"That doesn't matter right now Emma, you got the medicine, Mr. Landon will get better now and no one was hurt too badly"

"No one should have gotten hurt at all"

Hope stopped her hands for a moment.

"Then why don't you apologize?" Emma seemed to laugh at her suggestion "I'm being honest, I'm sure they will forgive you" once she said that, she resumed her work.

The room fell silent once more, Emma managed to get back her composure and cleaned the tears from her eyes.

Soon, Hope had finished treating the wounds on her back, and giving a soft slap on her shoulder she began storing the medicine back into a bag.

Emma put her clothes back but didn't raised from the floor.

Hope then sat next to her in silence, they remained like that for a good while.

No one said a word or did anything at all.

"Thank you" Emma said, letting a tiny smile form on her face.

"You are welcome" Hope replied turning to face Emma, her bright smile always present.

A knocking on the door made both of them look in its direction, after Emma gave permission to enter, Sarah walked inside the room.

"Oh my god" She said covering her mouth "Your hair is hideous"

Deadpan, Emma stared at her while Hope covered her mouth to avoid laughing out loud.

"Give me a second!" Sarah rushed back outside after snapping her fingers.

"I guess I'm going bald now" Emma said trying to have fun with the situation, yet it was slightly annoying.

Soon after Sarah appeared again, holding in her hands a pair of scissors.

"No" Was all Emma said.

"Yes~" Replied Sarah smiling widely.

Mr. Landon coughed right after he swallowed the antibiotic with the help of a glass of water.

He was sitting on his makeshift bed, he then glanced at Asher, who also sat resting on a wall not too far away from him.

Asher had a bruise on his cheek, neither man spoke to each other.

Landon then looked down at the knuckles on his right hand, he traced them with his left hand noticing how red they were.

"I'm sorry, Asher" Landon finally said something, his voice low and raspy.

Asher looked up at him and raised his hand to stop him.

"I don't blame you, Landon, we all thought of the worst at that moment"

"You are right, but I should have never hit you"

Both friends remained silent for a moment, Landon seemingly unable to lift his head and look at Asher, who placed his hand on his chin, right where Landon punched him earlier.

"I'm impressed my head is still attached to my neck actually" Asher tried to laugh, but Landon didn't respond "I understand why you reacted that why"

Asher raised from the ground and walked up to him, kneeling in front of the ashamed man.

"I don't want anyone to die because of me" Landon coughed in between sentences.

"Don't put the responsibility of the kids on yourself, I too am responsible for them, If anyone else dies, it's my fault too"

Landon raised his head and took a deep breath, as smoothly as he could, since doing so made his coughing worse.

Then, he looked to his right and saw Asher giving him a sympathetic smile, he smiled briefly as well, but it vanished as he saw the body of Christian beginning to move in a pained and difficult way.

Acting fast and despite his own pain using his arms to raise, he rushed to the side of the injured student.

Asher followed him close.

"What?" Landon asked, nervously looking around the towels and cups near him.

"W...r" The cracked and barely audible voice of the student made little sense.

"Water maybe?" Asher said pouring liquid into one of the nearby cups from a bottle of water.

As soon as he was done Landon grabbed the cup and gently helped Christian drink its contents, lifting his body slightly with one hand.

"How are we gonna protect them all, Asher?" Landon looked at the kid with an almost griefing expression "How many may end up like him?"

"We will make sure nothing happens to them"

"Can we?"

Asher found himself unable to lie to his friend a second time.

"No, we can't"

Christian seemingly finished drinking and Landon slowly let the boy rest back on the ground.

They remained silent as they felt powerless in this new world, as they watched helplessly the young student silently cry, something as basic and natural as breathing, an excruciatingly painful task.

"He is in pain" Landon reached for bags and began pouring out all types of medicine "They are not labeled!"

"Calm down" Asher helped to search "They never kept the pills in boxes with their labels"

"Juliet, I'll-" Landon was about to stand up when Asher held him.

"No, I'm gonna go call her, stay here"

Landon, reluctantly, nodded, and Asher stood up to call Miss Juliet, leaving the room in earnest.

Once he was gone, Landon looked at the student once again.

Images of years past flooded his mind like a stream of burning hot nails down his throat.

Of his wife, of his young child.

"God" He felt his chest tighten " Please, give me strength"

Emma was hiding her face in her hands as she heard the sound of the scissors making short work of her hair, feeling strands of it fall from her shoulder to the floor.

"Oops" Sarah said.

"I SWEAR SARAH!" Emma yelled making the other girl laugh uncontrollably.

"I'm weak~" Sarah replied continuing her work.

Suddenly, a knock on the door.

"Hope, are you there?" Mr. Asher asked from the other side.

"Yes, is everything alright?" Hope immediately raised from the ground.

"It's Christian, he looks in pain but we can't tell the difference between pills and Miss Juliet it's still treating Jose, can you help-"

Hope had already picked up her things and opened the door as Mr. Asher spoke, rushing past him without saying a word.

He waved at the two students inside the room and closed the door.

"Woah, Miss Juliet is still helping Jose?" Sarah asked in confusion.

"He was the reason why we fell from the shelf, he must be hurt badly"

"Oh" Sarah used her and to clean up all the hair she could from Emma's shoulders "There, it's all done! fine job if I say so myself"

Emma grabbed her cellphone and turned on its camera to look at herself.

Her hair was now shaggy and slightly below the chin.

"So? what ya think?" Sarah as carefree as usual put her arm around her neck.

"I hate it"

Sarah made an exaggerated shocked expression and playfully hit her on the ribs, which caused Emma to wince in pain.

"O-oh s**t! I'm sorry! Gosh, I have to stop doing that" Sarah quickly distanced herself from Emma, who just as fast began laughing "f**k you!"

Sarah punched her again but this time on the arm as both girls laughed.

"Thank you, Sarah, it turned out better than expected, where did you learn to cut hair?"

"My mom is-" She hesitated "She was a hairdresser"

The room fell silent for a moment, creating an opportunity for Emma.

"I'm sorry Sarah, I put everyone in danger back there"

"Yeah, you really f****d that s**t up"

Emma smiled, Sarah's abrasive personality somehow made her feel better.

"But, you are okay now right?" Sarah leaned closer to her "I'm always here for you okay girl?"

"I know Sarah, you are an amazing friend" Emma instead of giving in to her emotions smile and felt, grateful that Sarah cared about her despite it all "But I will work on getting better from now on, I will talk with Miss Juliet for some counseling"

"That's exactly what you need! and with Miss Juliet's mom like attitude, you will feel better in no time"

Sarah messed up Emma's hair earning a quick slap on the hand.

"Want to go to the roof and see if the people in the school coliseum try to contact us again?" Sarah said after raising from the floor.

"Sure" Emma replied raising as well.

"Great, but first I gotta return these" Sarah put the scissors in front of her.

"Where did you got them?" They both began walking up to the door.

"From Heather's bunch" Once outside she rushed to the door not so far away and placed the scissors on the floor.

"Why did you left them there?" Emma asked once Sarah returned, both walking.

"Oh, when I went to ask for them it seemed something had happened, Heather was crying, so Harley told me to just leave them there when I returned them"

"Crying? what could make HER cry?" Emma's asked with a mixture of humor and genuine curiosity.

"Dunno" Sarah shrugged "But if you want another question, do you think he's okay?" They walked just past Annie's bedroom door.

Emma briefly looked at the door, recalling all her previous opinions and image she had of Annie in her head, then, she shook her head with an embarrassed smile.

"Yeah, I don't think Annie is as bad as I thought"

Sarah smiled too, but with clear pride, she hugged Emma with one arm.

"After how she saved our ass today? she was crazy!"

They laughed together, Emma feeling that she had made the right decision.

"If you turn around, I will kill you"

"Agh!- f**k!" Annie shouted as she tried to apply the cream on her burns.

Mathew stood still facing a wall in the far end of the room, the entire place was a mess, desks turned upside down and placed apparently at random, piles of them even.

Annie was shirtless, completely confident that Mathew would not turn around.

Struggling, she stretched her arm backward and began applying cream on one of several burns, however, she kept putting too much strength on her strokes and harmed her sensitive skin, making her grunt in anger.

"I-I can help Annie" Mathew said softly.

"Just stay there so that b***h of Juliet doesn't come here to bother me, and do not turn around"

"Miss Juliet wanted to help prevent this, I swear I won't even open my eyes"

"Yeah, sureee" clearly not trusting him, she ignored him and tried to keep doing it on her own, unsurprisingly, harming herself again.

"Please Annie, let me help you" Mathew kept insisting, to Annie's annoyance.

"Why do you care so much huh?, because I helped you all stay alive?"

"N-no, I'm not thinking of it as returning a favor, I want to help you because it is the right thing to do"

Annie stopped trying to treat her back as she stared at Mathew closely, she was sitting directly in front of him, and instead of giving him her back, all he needed to do was to turn around and see her half-naked.

Yet, even if Annie trusted in her intimidation, she would never trust someone else's ability to restrain themselves, she knew better.

"Convince me" She said nonchalantly.

"What?"

"I said, convince me to accept your help" Her smirk grew.

"Ahm, well" More than a proposition, it felt like an order, and Mathew felt almost forced to answer "You will hurt yourself if you do this alone"

"Hmm, I will feel pain, yes, but eventually I will also finish up on my own, I don't mind a little bit of discomfort, try again" Annie enjoyed watching Mathew get nervous, so just before he spoke she did it first "And if you fail two more times, you will do something I want"

"Mm, I don't know Annie"

"Come on, don't be a coward Mathew"

Those words, they hit deeper than Annie understands, finding resolve where there was none, even if it was trivial, Mathew spoke firmly as he never had.

"A-alright, deal" or at least he tried to sound firm.

Either way, Annie was slightly surprised by his sudden security, finding this game more entertaining than she thought, she licked her lips.

"I'm waiting"

Mathew thought about Annie's response earlier, so after several seconds of waiting, he came up with something new.

"If you fail to properly treat the burns, they could worsen or maybe get infected, but if I help you I can make sure every single one of them is correctly c-covered"

He felt confident in his response, Annie remained silent for a good while and he could feel her stare pointed directly at him.

"We just now got medicine, so if it worsens, I'm certain it won't be that big of a deal, last try champ"

"But, you would use important resources that could have been used later!"

"Is that your third attempt?"

"N-no"

He felt an immense amount of pressure, even if it wasn't that big of a deal for many, it was for him.

"So?" Annie was starting to get bored.

She was a cheater, there was little he could say to convince her anyway, so it was a simple matter of entertainment for her.

"I don't want you to get hurt, Annie"

The room was silent once again, and Mathew could feel his cheeks burning, it was silly, but it was also the last thing he could think of.

Suddenly, Annie bursts into a healthy and high-pitched laugher that goes on forever.

He was about to protest when she got silent, then she walked to the door, her boots loud and clear, the lights went off.

Calmly and steady, she walked back to where she sat and resumed her place.

"You cannot tell anyone, or ask anything, understood?"

He, won? he was confused, excited, fearful, and everything in between.

"understood?"

Louder and more commanding than before, Mathew furiously nodded.

"Good, come"

He slowly turned around until he was surprised by what he could see.

Only slightly visibly by the moonlight coming from the curtains, he could see Annie's bareback, she sat straight, and her hands covering her breasts, her hair in a ponytail.

Their eyes met, she stared at him with one lone eye over her shoulder, it was as if a tiger stalked her prey.

Mathew shily walked up to her and looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

he sat behind her and grabbed the cream, at this she looked away from him, aware that if she didn't, he would probably never apply it.

Relieved, he finally looked closely at her back, preparing to cover the burns with the cream.

Cigarette burns, at least a dozen of them all over her porcelain-like back.

He was shocked, those types of injuries could not be accidental, how did she get them?

However, he quickly snaps out of it and focuses on the red markings, steadily, he makes sure none is left behind.

After several minutes.

"Done" He is about to store the cream back into the bag when Annie turns around.

He instinctively closes his eyes and panics.

"There is one more, that I want you to take care of"

Reluctantly, he opens his eyes, she still covers her breasts, but her left arm is pointed at him, her palm open, showing a recently made long cut.

"How-"

"Don't ask"

Mathew blinked a few times before opening the bag and searching for cotton and alcohol.

Annie smiled, satisfied by his obedience.