This Would Be Paradise (Book 1)-A Zombie Novel

Chapter 6

I rolled over for the millionth time tonight as I tried to get comfortable on the cot which was proving impossible. What the hell did they make these things from? Zoe was snoring away beside me and I punched her in the leg to get her to stop. She spluttered for a few seconds then rolled over and resumed her snoring which harmonized with the other people snoring all over the room. Geez, they could start a band. I sighed knowing I wouldn't get more than a few hours of sleep tonight if I was lucky, being a light sleeper insured this.

"Can't sleep?" Darren whispered from his cot.

I was going to give him a 'you don't say' look, but I realized it would be lost on him in the darkness of the room.

"What gave it away?" I whispered back sarcastically.

He chuckled then responded, "You know you can come over here and try to sleep."

I couldn't see his face clearly in the dimmed light but I knew he was waggling his eye brows at his statement. Who says that to someone they just met? I guess he will be perfect for Zoe after all.

"Please, these cots don't even hold one person properly," I retorted.

"Fair enough," Darren said.

"How come you're not asleep?" I asked.

"Light sleeper."

"Me too."

"I'm not but you two are keeping me up," Chloe said sleepily from her own cot.

"Sorry," Both Darren and I said before resigning to our fate of getting no sleep.

It seemed like I had been asleep for only a few minutes, rather than the hours it actually had been, when the shrill sound of a screaming woman woke me from my light sleep. I sat up quickly, the change in altitude causing my head to spin. No sooner could I get the sound "wah?" out of mouth before Zoe started to yell at me,

"Grab your bag, we gotta go!"

Everyone was springing into action and more screams erupted. The police that were stationed in the lunch room were running around panicked, waving their guns in the air. I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the police training guidelines. I hopped up and pulled my backpack onto my shoulder. I went to grab my rolling suitcase but Zoe grabbed my arm,

"We will never get out of here with our suitcases."

I looked longingly at my bright, zebra stripped suitcase already missing it and its contents, but I knew Zoe was right. I nodded and looked around to see the others all geared up with their backpacks on and ready to run.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked, her eyes wide as she surveyed the chaos.

"We just gotta get outta here, that's all," Ethan said calmly to her, placing his hand on her head gently.

A gun fired somewhere in the school causing people to duck and scream, which seemed to be the knee-jerk reaction to a gun shot.

"Guns are never a good sign," Darren said and I didn't even have the capacity to roll my eyes at him.

I was too focused on trying to find a path through the madness.

"We need to get somewhere out in the open, being in a crowd like this makes us an easy target," I said while scanning the three exits out of the room.

"An easy target for what?" Zoe asked.

"The infected people, a stray bullet, etcetera," I listed off.

"She's right," Ethan nodded and I was glad someone else was thinking at the moment.

"How about the open main doors?" Zoe asked pointing to the biggest exit.