Death's Little Angels (15 page)

“
Can’t….” Beetle slowly
blinked.

He sluggishly pointed towards the floor.
Fragments of white tablets lay crushed all over the aisle, which
was surrounded by a thin layer of white film. Drew wearily stared
at the powder.

“
If… I…don’t….get….some
sugar in me,” Beetle attempted to swallow the thick saliva that
fought its way down the back of his throat. He closed his eyes in
an effort to drift off to sleep.

Mrs. Bond reached into her pocket and pulled
out a peppermint. The candy had become sticky from the rain. “Don’t
go to sleep. Suck on this, honey. It should help you until we get
to the Fairgrounds Center. I am thinking there should be something
to help you there. Just hang on.”

More popping sounds were heard, coming from
all directions. Everyone knew too well those were gunshots. Panic
once set in as the students tried to find their way on the bus.

“
I don’t see Cookie or
Billy,” Mater said out of panic.

“
Cookie got Billy…” Drew
said shaking his head. “From the looks of it the science teacher
too.”

“
Are you okay?” Sue Ellen
asked. She touched Drew’s shoulders and looked into his deep blue
eyes.

“
A little shook up. But I
am okay. Thanks.”

Sue Ellen grasped Mater’s hand and in turn
Mater grabbed Drew’s hand. Drew scanned the area and noticed the
back of the bus looked like someone took a spray can and painted
the emergency door red. Thick blood dripped from the roof of the
ceiling. Billy, Cookie, and the science teacher were all gone.

Mr. Freeman took a deep breath. It seemed as
if he were in dire pain. “Nothing will happen to you, but I need to
know if any of you were bitten or scratched.”
Silence.

“
Is anyone hurt?
Bleeding?”

Silence.

“
I know all of you are
scared. So am I. If this will help you come forward, I will show
you myself so that those of you who were injured will join
me….”

Drew’s eyes widened as Mr. Freeman squeezed
his eyes shut and the tears poured down his cheeks. The teacher
continued to talk to the scared students, “and we will get through
this together….”

Mr. Freeman turned to his right. He
displayed a torn shirt with a gaping wound on his right side, which
was below the abdomen that bled extensively. He placed his hand
over his side. And held out his free hand beckoning anyone that was
injured to come forward.

“
Together…” Mr. Freeman
winced with pain.

One student, a girl who was petite, stood up
and slowly limped as she made her way down the cramped aisle. It
was evident that the girl had been bitten on the leg. Her pants
were soiled. She had apparently lost control of her bladder during
the attack.

“
Anyone else?” Mr. Freeman
sweetly said.

Two other students, two boys, who were sixth
graders followed. The first boy held his arm and the other his
shoulder as they squeezed through the crowd. Mr. Freeman turned to
whisper something to the bus driver. The bus driver glanced up at
Mr. Freeman with a look of shock and opened his mouth to argue.
Instead, the bus driver held out his hand and firmly shook Mr.
Freeman’s hand. The bus driver reached over to his side and passed
Mr. Freeman a pen and paper. The elderly man then looked straight
ahead and gripped the steering wheel firmly.

Mr. Freeman leaned over and scribbled a note
on his knee. He turned his back as he fiddled with his hand. The
teacher then swiveled around and gave Drew his wallet.

“
When you get to the
Fairgrounds Center, I want you to give this to my wife…. Mrs.
Freeman.”

“
I don’t know
what—“

“
She has a pixie cut, a
brunette with dark brown cherry colored hair. You know like an
angel… You will know her when you see her. Her picture is in my
wallet. She is the sweetest thing the earth has ever seen,” Mr.
Freeman sniffled but with a stern face.

Drew appeared confused.

“
Go ahead, son. Take
it.”

Drew shook his head.

“
Please…”

Drew reluctantly took the wallet and
remained with a confused look on his face. Mr. Freeman ushered the
three students towards the front with him. He spoke softly to each
of the students then turned to face every one else on the bus. He
began to cough uncontrollably. Thick unnaturally dark blood bubbled
at the corners of his mouth. The young girl who was bitten on the
leg had already turned pale and began to shiver violently. Her
small teeth chattered in sync with her shakes. Mr. Freeman hugged
the young girl pulling her close to him.

“
I am leaving Mrs. Bond
and Drew Jacks in charge….” Mr. Freeman stopped to cough. “The bus
driver here will get you to Fairgrounds Center—“

“
Where are you going? I
can’t be in charge, Mr. Freeman. I am just a kid!” Drew shouted.
Mrs. Bond, the librarian, brought her hand to her mouth and shook
her head. The librarian slowly made her way to the front of the bus
squeezing through the aisle that was cluttered with students who
had to stand. She reached over and hugged Drew for
support.

“
Listen to me, son….” Mr.
Freeman closed his eyes tightly and made a grunting sound. His
ashen skin began to harden as he struggled to say his final
words.

“
There is….
no….time…left.” Mr. Freeman licked his lips and nodded to the bus
driver.

The bus driver quickly opened the door and
Mr. Freeman cued the three students before him to exit the bus. The
girl at first put up a resistance out of fear. She looked up at Mr.
Freeman blinking her bright brown eyes. He smiled down at her with
reassurance and she took his hand. As Mr. Freeman and the students
left the bus, Drew ran towards the door to stop him. The bus driver
rapidly closed the door, stopping Drew dead in his tracks. He
watched Mr. Freeman slowly limp away towards the Computer Center,
which was across from the cafeteria. The petite, dainty female
student dragged along holding Mr. Freeman’s hand while the two male
students slowly moved along behind them.

“
Get back there with
others,” the bus driver commanded Drew, “This is going to be a
little rough. ”

The bus driver looked into the rear view
mirror.

“
I suggest everybody grab
hold to something!”

Drew moved everyone back and grabbed a hold
of the middle seat. Sue Ellen and Mater braced themselves firmly,
right behind Drew, with seats right across from each other. Beetle
and Tarynn moved up behind the librarian, Mrs. Bond. Mrs. Bond did
not look like her usual cheerful self. The worry lines on the
librarian’s face were prominent and all telling.

“
Isn’t that the science
teacher?” Sue Ellen shrieked.

Everybody’s eyeballs fell onto the figure
that stood 200 feet in front of the bus. Drew wondered how the
teacher managed to make it to the fence. It seemed as if she tried
to climb the fence with no success. The science teacher stumbled as
she walked back from the fence and held her wounded arm. She stood
directly in front of the bus, foaming at the mouth. The science
teacher’s skin had turned as dark as tar giving her body an
ossified appearance. Her hair fell lightly from her scalp like
feathers. She continued to shuffle towards the bus unknowingly with
unseeing eyes that had rolled back in her eye sockets.

The bus driver reveled up the engine and
floored the gas pedal and zipped towards the 13-inch high tall
fence. As the bus made its way to freedom Drew looked back and saw
a chair, which was broken in half. Mr. Freeman apparently took it
from the cafeteria and used the chair as a weapon. Next to the
demolished chair laid the disfigured bodies of Billy Duncan and
Cookie Rogers. Both of his former classmates lay lifeless with
their necks displayed at a bizarre angle.

Before, passing up the
Computer Center, Drew caught a glimpse of Mr. Freeman as he slowly
closed and locked the door behind him. His appearance quickly took
on that of all the adults that had been bitten by the
Eaters
….Mummified. Drew
reached down and patted the wallet that kept his knife company
inside of his back pocket. Loud sounds of hoarse gurgling and moans
brought Drew back to reality as he saw a heard of
Eaters
that included
Royal, Kaleb, and many other students moving towards the fleeing
bus.

“
Man… he should have come
with us,” Drew said as he saw Royal hold out his hands in front him
waving blindly. A piece of ragged flesh dangled from Royal’s once
picture perfect face.

“
He got what he deserved!”
Sue Ellen snap as she rolled her eyes and turned away.

Mater stared at Drew who in return shrugged
his shoulders. Drew felt that the abrupt ending of the world had
apparently hardened everyone. A gasp from the bus driver brought
everyone’s attention to the front.

“
GET out of the WAY!” The
bus driver screeched as his foot kissed the pedal and pushed it all
the way to the floor.

“
You are going to hit the
teacher!” Drew yelled. Mater covered her ears and Sue Ellen
embraced for the impact.

Drew’s appeal went unheard as the bus driver
surged forward towards the once vibrant science teacher who had now
fallen to her knees. A loud thud followed by a large bump
underneath the tires was the last thing Drew saw of the young
teacher before the bus driver brutally plowed her down. The bus
leaped through the air as it broke down the locked fence with ease.
The bus driver continued down the narrow road leading away from the
school and running through several stop signs.

Along the way, some houses
were abandoned while other families were seen swiftly packing their
vehicles in an effort to get out of town. There were houses and
mobile homes that were boarded up. Drew could not determine if the
boarded up homes were from Hurricane Angel or the
Eaters
but he did know
one thing, the town of Wiggins would not hold for much longer due
to the rate of this mysterious infection spreading. Drew planned
silently in his head.

Once I make it to the
Fairgrounds Center, I will give Mrs. Freeman, Mr. Freeman’s wallet
then head off to my Mee-Maws if she hasn’t made it,
Drew quietly thought.

Drew’s grandmother lived approximately two
miles from the Fairgrounds Center where the rural area of Wiggins
came to life. His next mission, after making it to the Fairgrounds
Center would be to get home to his Mee-maw and little sisters at
all cost. He stared at Sue Ellen the crush of his life and Mater
his good friend and realized they would be okay once they made it
to the center as well.

The bus came to a near screeching halt with
the tires sliding on the slick pavement from the recent downpour of
rain. They had made it to the railroad tracks, which ran through
the heart of the town. The tracks were built over a deep trench
that ran about a mile and half long ending right in front of a
trailer park. A train had stopped on the tracks nearly blocking the
crossroads. At first sight, the train looked as if it had possibly
ran out of fuel. As Drew focused in more closer, he noticed a dark
skeletal figure sitting in the conductors seat. Drew knew all to
well, along with the others, how the poor doomed soul must have met
his fate.

A female student who sat at the back of the
bus began to whimper loudly. Mrs. Bond walked back to the student
and began to comfort her and the others who joined the young girl
like an out of tune chorus.

“
Oh my heavens! What is
happening to our town?” Sue Ellen pointed in the direction of
Highway 26, which sat displayed to the right side of the
bus.

The highway looked like a
mangle mess of jumbled wreckage. Smoke escaped from fresh accidents
while the light drizzle of rain caused others. People sat in their
cars yelling out of their windows as they lingered impatiently for
the line to move an inch. Horns blasted and tires screeched. Some
occupants were seen running with their little ones in between cars.
Other families were forever sealed in their vehicles, falling
victim to the
Eater
epidemic.

Gunshots erupted. An older
woman had her hunting rifle out blasting away at the
Eaters
who had ascended
upon her family that were barricaded behind a truck. Sprays of
blood that looked like rust polluted the air.

“
She is killing kids!” A
male student said as he pointed out the window.

“
No she is not! That woman
is saving our lives!” Another said.

Death defying screams that erupted from the
front of the bus brought attention back to the more serious matters
at hand. The trailer park that sat in front of the railroad tracks
was partially hidden by the train. Dread and fearfulness filled the
already thick air on the bus as shouts of terror flowed from the
mobile homes. The bus driver nervously wiped away the burning
perspiration that poured into his eyes. He edged up onto the tracks
carefully as not to hit the train. A loud scraping sound like
finger nails going down a chalkboard drowned out the horrid yells
from the trailer park. The bus jostled violently as the elderly
driver tried to prevent the clunker from overturning in the ditch.
He cut the steering wheel sharply to the left to break free from
the trains grasp. The bus leaned slightly to the left causing the
students to topple amongst each other.