Bad Blood

[Tsukiyama]

3 days.


3 days Cole was trapped inside the cafeteria's food pantry.


The bright side was that there was enough food to last him a few weeks, gross as it may be, but the bad side was that he was going crazy in this little room and had no idea what was going on out there. It had been awhile since he heard anything from outside, or at least anything that sounded like a zombie moaning or feet dragging along the ground.


Alright, time to suck it up! Cole berated himself. He loaded his backpack with any sort of supplies that may come in handy later in case what he found outside was disastrous and he didn't get the opportunity to return.


And so he turned the door nob, hoisting a mop in his hand like a weapon as he slowly inched it open to peek outside.

 

[KyloRen]

<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_06/Tommy.jpg.4f244b088ee9672efa9165b2f31151b0.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="59296" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_06/Tommy.jpg.4f244b088ee9672efa9165b2f31151b0.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p> From Tommy's Instagram


The last three days have been utter hell, for so many reasons. Forget the fact that zombies are real, and forget that everyone Tommy loved is dead. Three long days without food and sleep are enough to drive anyone mad, even without the added, searing stress of having to watch your back at all times. At first the zombies were constant, but slowly, they began to head off away from the high school, in search of more people to eat and consequently turn into fellow members of the living dead club.


Tommy has mostly been hiding out in chemistry class. You know how sometimes you shock yourself and arrive to class ten minutes early in the morning, and the classroom is deserted? That's what happened with this former senior basketball star. He arrived early when the horde of decaying corpses attacked. The boy blocked the door with the teacher's desk and listened to all the agonizing human noises outside. All by himself, he sat there and imagined that one by one everyone else that was early that day was slaughtered. For three days he sat in that classroom and drank several bottles of distilled water. They were there for the class aquarium, but the boy used them to survive.


The hunger was unbearable, so Tommy waited until all the screams died down and ventured out to the hallway, with three main goals.


1. Find Kimberly, his pregnant girlfriend.


2. Find food, most likely in the cafeteria.


3. Take a shower. A quick one, in his former locker room.


With a biology scalpel in hand, he sneaks through the school, tiptoeing around puddles of blood. What a fine morning for breakfast.

 

[Tsukiyama]

Cole with his cat, Sebastian


Cole's breath hitches when he turned the knob, subsequently hearing faint footsteps outside of the small pantry. But from the sound of it, whoever it was was being just as careful as him, so it was likely they weren't infected, or turned or whatever was being done to spread this. Tightening his grip on the broom handle he pushed the door open carefully, cursing himself when it creaked and the sound echoed through the hall.


What he didn't anticipate was for Tommy of all people to round the corner.


His teeth grit. Of course the only person left alive was this guy, the one that got that girl pregnant and blamed him for being kicked off the team. Well hey, maybe you should be a little more careful with the coach's daughter.


"Tommy? Are you alone?" Cole demanded as he held the broom handle defensively in front of him, his eyes searching the boy earnestly for any sign that he may have been infected but it hadn't set in yet. If he answered the question understandably Cole might put his guard down, but only a mere fraction.

 

[KyloRen]

You would think that with the overwhelming danger around both kids that the last thing on Tommy's mind would be who got to play point-guard on a team that is probably mostly dead, but the mere sight of Cole boils Tommy's blood. It is taking all of the boy's discipline to not tackle the other and pummel his hipster face in.


Tommy sighs and holds back tears. He is not only starving, but exhausted. "Of all the people to survive this mess, you had to be one of them." The boy puts his scalpel inside his jeans' pocket to show he means no harm, for now. "Is there food in there? Who else is with you?"

 

[Tsukiyama]

"Are you seriously about to pick right now to start the water works?" Cole scoffed when he saw his eyes tear up. The teen didn't have the mental capacity to deal with Tommy being angry at him for some stupidity right now. He turned, opening the door to the pantry up and pointing inside. "There's food in there. I'm guessing we're the only ones left, because yeah, it's just me. Your lucky day, huh?"


It wasn't like Cole didn't want to rant and scream and cry about how unfair all of this was. He went through that stage while he was holed up in the pantry, and right now, he was only geared towards survival. "Load up your backpack with whatever you can carry so we can ditch this place. I know you don't want to, but the only logical solution is sticking together, okay?"

 

[KyloRen]

"Fuck!" Tommy yells too loudly. He realizes that making too much noise right now might be the difference between life and death. "Sorry," he whispers, and both boys listen for any movement off in the distance. A low moan is heard. Tommy's eyes go wide. "Shit!" He flies into the pantry as he simultaneously takes his back pack off and mindlessly scoops in granola bars and cans of diced fruit. The boy moves incredibly quickly, fueled by sheer adrenaline. "Follow me, Voss," Tommy says, mispronouncing Cole's last name, half out of fear, and half because he hates his hipster guts.


Tommy starts down the hallway, only to stop at seeing Cole not follow him. "C'mom, Vause. Don't fuck this up like you fucked up the last game." Tommy pauses, it not escaping him that his statement was overly harsh. "The locker room is empty. I saw it on my way over here."

 

[Tsukiyama]

"You fucking idiot!" Cole hisses back in a low whisper, his eyes round as saucers when he heard that echoing moan. The teen bounced from toe to toe, waiting anxiously for Tommy to exit the pantry. The moment he was out Cole was flying quickly as possible behind him, their shoes against the linoleum echoing through the all but deserted building. Naturally, Cole tripped over someone's abandoned backpack, and Tommy took it as him not following.


"Would you just let that shit go already?" With grit teeth he scrambled back to his feet and rushed after him, the amount of adrenaline in his veins allowing him to push past his throbbing ankle.


Cole hustled to the locker room quickly as possible when he heard it was empty, slowly easing the door open and peeking around inside. Nothing. "We're good, it's clear." He yanked Tommy inside, using the broom he was holding onto to jam the door because the lock didn't work.

 

[KyloRen]

Tommy was filled to the brim with terror, but he had to try and remain calm if he was going to manage to not only save himself, but also save Cole long enough for him to enact his revenge.


The boys walk around the locker room and find that it is indeed empty. Tommy lets out a sigh of relief. He stretches to keep the wound-up nerves in his neck and shoulders from overwhelming him, and in the process gets a fatal hit of his own body odor. He hasn't showered in three days.


"Since you locked the door, it should be okay for us to take a quick shower." Tommy pauses. "Because you reek, dude, and if we're gonna stick together long enough to get out of here, then I can't be smelling your pits every ten seconds." He sits down on one of the wooden benches. "No offense." Without waiting for a response, Tommy slips off his Chucks and removes his socks. It feels good when his feet finally get some air. He removes his white, sweat-stained tee and then unbuckles his belt and lets his jeans drop to the floor, boxer-briefs and all. The truth is he has never felt this dirty in his life. Without paying attention to what Cole does, Tommy unlocks his former locker and takes his shower caddy with him to the communal shower.