Chapter 11 -
The Walking Brewed

7:45 p.m.

The full moon shines bright in the sky, the light from the moon and the nearby street lamp casting a pleasing yellow on the three of us as we attempt our best to hide from the thudding.

I can feel a gnawing frustration beneath my veins and my teeth grinding together as I attempt to breathe.

The full moon is getting to me.

I send a silent thanks to my late mother for the moon crystal tied around my throat. It isn't perfect, but it assists in keeping my wolf at bay, as long as I focus. But god, it hurts.

My claws are digging into the skin of my palms and I can feel my iris' shift from their standard blue to the piercing ice blue that I gain when I shift. I'm nearly certain the boys are going to shit themselves.

"Oh man," Benny whines, I'm unable to see his face but I can hear the pout, "Why couldn't we be at home watching 'So You Think You Can Fly'...? Eating a triple meat lovers pizza with extra meat."

"Yeah! Instead, our teachers could bash in here any second and scoop out our brains like chip dip," Ethan replies, his voice wobbling as he stares out around the room and a loud bang emphasises his fears.

"Think we could outrun them?"

"I could," I reply softly to Benny, "But you guys? Hell no."

Ethan turns to me, his lips parted before the poor boy jumps, "Your eyes!" He whisper-shrieks, instantly catching the attention of the other brunette.

"I'm fine," I bite, ignoring Benny's concerned gaze and instead glaring at the hall, "I'll be a lot better when I get home."

Any sense of continuation is abruptly cut short as loud banging at the door is heard, alongside groaning as several pairs of eyes gaze at us through the thin glass of the classroom door.

Heh...

The walking brewed.

...

Okay, this is genuinely not the time for jokes Abigail... But eh, it was pretty funny.

"Can't you do anything?" Ethan whips around, his eyebrows pinched in fear and pleading.

I sigh as I shake my head, "Sorry man, I'm not risking hurting you two..."

"Ugh! Where's Sarah? We could really use her help right now..."

Benny winces, looking toward the door, "I don't think she was in a very... helping mood today..."

Ugh... Why does everything have to go to shit...

9 1/2 hours earlier.
9:15 a.m.

"We're not breaking any arms or smashing anyone through a wall just because he called you... What was it?" Sarah asks, the four of us standing in front of the blue and purple lockers of the school, Sarah's arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Teethan."

"Benny Rabbit."

The boys had some run-in with a guy, who then proceeded to call them the cutest little nicknames; despite the fact he was clearly harassing the duo.

"It's not what he says, it's how he says it," Benny murmurs, glaring at the vampire as she settles him with an unimpressed stare.

"Ahem," looking over toward our teacher, the man looks at the nerd duo, "Lets go, boys!"

"Right with you, sir! If we're not there in 5 minutes, start boring kids without us," Benny says with an innocent smile, Ethan immediately clamouring to fix the already awkward situation,

"We'll be right with you, sir!"

"Forget it," Sarah states, shaking her head, "Look. I have a field trip to the art gallery... Lucky me."

Her tone is laced with sarcasm and I can't help but glare at the brunette, "Yes lucky you! I have a free period. Alone. All I have is studying... For math."

I love art. I have for a while now. I have well over too many sketchbooks stuffed around the motel room and there's something about art that just... Calms me. I'm not an insane art nerd who can... 'Find the meaning behind this squashed tomato,' but I've always enjoyed the dedication and beauty of the craft.

Sarah rolls her eyes at me, "Well, I wish you could take my place." She offers, the pity lacing her words just pushing me further into a sour mood.

It's not her fault, with the full moon being tonight. But god damn it-

Sarah turns back toward the boys with a sweet yet teasing grin, "See you later, Teethan."

She saunters down the hall, her brown hair cascading over her shoulder as her hips sway with her over-the-shoulder bag. I turn toward the duo with pouts etched on their faces, now attempting their last effort to drag me into their mess.

"Later Benny Rabbit," I offer in a final denial at their plea and start to walk past the two, heading down the hall toward the exit of the school.

"Sounds cute when she says it..." Ethan's murmur catches my attention as I grow further down the hallway, my assumption is that he's referring to Sarah.

"Yeah..." Benny replies, his voice sounding cloudy and dazed. Before I can question either of them, I'm gone.

9 1/2 hours later.
7:48 p.m.

"Oh! We're so dead!" Benny whines, his hand coming up to squeeze at my upper arm and shake me ever-so-gently in his classic dramatics, "This is so not fair!"

I gently place my hand on the boy's own, attempting to gather my own breathing as I capture his frantic attention, "Hey... Calm down. Breathe..."

The brunette does, to a point. His breathing slows ever so slightly, enough that he's able to get some solid air in without hyperventilating, and his heartbeat seems to slow; but not too much. There's still a fast pace filling my ears.

"Why couldn't we get some sort of... sign that this was going to happen?" Benny whines, his tone a lot calmer than before as he gazes back toward the loud rattling of the door, "Just a hint would've been nice!"

I can't keep the roll of my eyes at bay. I saw this shit coming. I always see this shit coming.

But no.

No one listens to poor little Abigail Chase.

9:16 a.m.

The tree I've chosen is nice. It's large, shady, and has its own kinda nook at the trunk; large root-like bark twisting and turning over each other. I settle myself and pull out my books and pencil case, glaring easily down at the stupid cover of my math book, unable to bite back the growl as I open it.

I spend a few minutes attempting to make sense of the formulas and words before I outright get distracted; but to be fair, it's not my fault. A teacher walks by, white coffee cup in hand, and their pace is... slow. Awfully slow. He stumbles and his complexion is awfully pale. Is he sick?

"You alright sir?" I call out toward the man, the latter turning his head slowly toward me as if look in right through me,

"I'm... Okay... Brains..."

He continues to mumble to himself, stumbling and nearly tripping over the thick roots of the tree before fighting himself and continuing onwards.

Okay...

7:53 p.m.

The zombies broke through the glass.

Motherfu-

There are a good few arms reaching through and attempting to grab at the nearest thing they can, groans pushing into the room. Ethan was fast to react, running for a fire extinguisher near the teachers desk and running toward the hoard, swinging it over his shoulder and coming down to hit the zombies hand. There's a disgusting crack but the thing remains persistent. Ethan, continuing his quick thinking, adjusts the extinguisher and aims the nozzles shooting the chemicals at the hoard.

The shrivel away almost instantly, Benny and I'd jaws dropping as we stare wide eyed at each other.

"They hate this stuff!" Ethan exclaims shooting a quick grin at the two of us still under a table, "If it lasts long enough, we should be able to hold them off until Sarah gets back."

Now. I don't want to be little Miss Negative...

But our luck is ridiculous. There's no way it's lasting long enough.

"Sarah is coming back... Right?" Benny mumbles, his large doe eyes looking at me once again and I can't help but shrug my shoulders,

"We're the most important things in the life... Right?"

10:35 a.m.

My book slams shut, my head throwing itself into my own palms as I groan loudly into my hands. My brain is in pain. Shuffling, I move to pull my sketch book out of my bag, thumbing the pages and attempting to open to where I left off.

I'm about to open it before my phone offers a gentle beep. I shuffle myself again and pull it from my back pocket, turning on the Lock Screen to see a reminder flashing across the screen.

[Full Moon: Lock your self up. Stay safe.]

Right.

The longest of storied short; I miraculously got through the past full moon because my mind seemed to be in several places at once. But since then, I've had the growing feeling in the pit of my stomach that the next are going to be miserable. Back when I was a pup, I was able to control it to a point. I'd run free with my pack, howl at the moon, and feel so... free. Since the loss of my parents... It all got so hard.

I lost my anchor.

Everything built up and got so... complicated.

There were months where I pushed through. There were more months where I would chain myself up; lock myself in a freezer and wait til morning.

My phone beeps once more and my attention snaps to the screen.

[Benny Rabbit]

... I couldn't not.

I swipe and put the device to my ear, "I'm Interrupted from my thoughts as I get a call, I look at the ID and smile, I swipe, answering the call,

"City Morgue. You kill 'em. We chill 'em. How can I help you?"

There's a loud bark of laughter on the other lines and my smile widens instantly, "Hello to you too Miss Chase..."

"You're in class; How are you getting away with this?"

"Yeah... Our teachers acting... odd? He's given us free time."

I nod, despite the boy being unable to see me. That's when I clock soft murmuring on the other line,

"Aaaand he's walked out on us."

Weird.

"Huh... Funny you mention it. I just saw Mr Davis stumble past... Nearly fell face first. Something strange is going on."

"And it don't look good?" Benny teases on the other line, the retort causing me to roll my eyes and shake my head, ignoring the laugh in my chest, "Nahhhh...! I'm sure it's just an off day for the faculty staff."

"Hmm... Maybe. Well! Seeming your teachers out, want me to stop by? My studying has gone about as well as you'd think."

I'm already packing my things and heading to their class by the time Benny happily claims his approval.

8:02 p.m.

Benny and I are clamouring up, the brunette grabbing a stool as I reach for an extra long bunsen burner, in an attempt to aid Ethan's attempt of keeping the 'dead' at bay.

"This thing isn't gonna last much longer," Ethan swallows, looking down at his depleting fire extinguisher and back at us, "Maybe we should call Rory?"

"Rory? Is it that bad?"

"Well," I start, swing my bunsen burner by the still attached gas tube like a damn nunchuck, "He did say he wanted to protect the innocent?"

11:23 a.m.

Walking around the halls is... eerie.

Teachers were murmuring and groaning, their legs wobbling with every step, and all holding tight to their white coffee cups. It was like they were all in a daze.

"There goes the French teacher Mrs Lafleur," Ethan mutters, looking down the hall as the older woman staggers down the hall, gently bumping into the wall but never slowing down, "She's not looking too good either."

"Yeah, well... She's also a teacher so... Who le-heck cares, right?" Benny asks, attempting a joke as he grins at the pair of us. Ethan and I can't help but offer each other concerned gazes as a soft tapping is heard down the hall.

Rory practically leaps over in front of us with his blue flannel all buttoned up and hands to his hips, awfully resembling a superhero if I had to assume.

"Greetings, mortals!"

"You look... Stranger than usual." I offer, attempting for the observation to be light but the growl in the back of my throat doing the exact opposite,

Rory takes in in stride though, grinning easily toward me before happily gazing at the boys, "Very perceptive, mortal! Of course... You are among the few who know my real secret identity."

In a quick flash, he unbuttons his flannel, the redshirt beneath peaking at us with a 'RV' plaster in blue. The font screaming superman dupe.

"RV!" He cheers, offering us a toothy grin, "Rory Vampire; defender of the innocent!"

I tilt my head, offering the blonde a soft grin. I can't lie, Rory's always been endearing in a lame kind of way.

There's a faint murmur down the hall resembling, "Braaaain," and Rory turns his attention away from us immediately,

"Hark! A cry for help! Someone is in need of... Brains. RV away!"

Rory speeds past us and down the hall, his sneakers squeaking against the schools floor as he soars away, his flannel blowing in the wind like a cape.

"You mean, someone else is in need of brains?" Benny jokes, watching the blonde as he continues to stride down the hall.

"You know... Maybe he's finally going to meet his soul mate after all."

I take the two boys laughs in stride and we continue down the hall.

2:35 p.m.

I can't feel my feet.

Benny, Ethan and I are racing down the school halls, narrowly avoiding the infected as we push through crowds of confused and horrified teenagers,

"S'cuse me! Skinny girl coming through. Warp 9!"

We clamour into a small office, trying our best to hide behind the door despite the size of the room, "We need to warn everybody."

Benny turns to Ethan with wide eyes, "What? Didn't you hear me screaming? I think we've done our part."

Ethan, despite Benny's best attempts at running from the situation, reaches for the P.A microphone and falls back beside us, "Here! Wait for my cue." He shoves it into Benny's hands and gets up to inspect the switch board on the wall, Benny and I clamouring to join.

He studies it for a moment before finding what he needs and clicking it, turning toward the brunette, "You're on."

"Testing. Check. 1, 2. Testies-" Benny is swiftly cut off by Ethan calling his name in annoyance, "Sorry. Attention, all Whitechapel Students; this is an emergency life saving announcement from Benny Weir. Admit it girls... You know who I am," Benny jokes, sending me a wink before continuing, and I'm going to ignore the pang in my chest,

"Due to foreseen circumstances, um... Beyond our control... We have no choice but to cancel all classes, extra-curricular activities, and-"

I roll my eyes to the heavens and growl, grabbing the microphone from his sweaty and shaking hands, "Zombies. Run!"

I throw the P.A back onto the desk and shriek as pale fingers clench around my wrist. I squirm and the boys both reach out to assist me the best they can, Ethan instantly staring off into the distance as his eyes glaze over in white.

There's a loud snarl as another stalks toward us from nowhere, "Ethan! Snap out of it... come on."

Ethan shakes his head and turns to see the thing stalking closer, and in a last ditch effort, grabs the P.A and slams it over the things head; the woman falling to the floor.

We bolt.

We try several doors, only for them all to be locked, and in a last attempt to hide, we glue ourselves to a locked door and hide in the small alcove it offers.

"I just had a vision. It's coffee from Lotta Latte. That's what's making this happen."

And... I suppose that adds up. Nearly every person infected has been stalking around with a coffee cup in hand.

"Lotta Latte? Figures... You'd have to be brain dead to pay $5 a cup for flavoured bean juice," Benny murmurs, shaking his head as he stares down the hall.

"But... Why? Why all of a sudden? They've been open for ages. What changed?"

7:52 p.m

We make a run for it.

Ethan's fire extinguisher was long out, Sarah was nowhere to be seen and my headache was getting worse. We push into the boys bathroom and slam the door shut behind us, the boys huffing and puffing.

"All right! We're safe in here. Trust me," Benny starts, looking around the tiled room, "Teachers will never enter a student washroom. It's like an unwritten rule of education."

"Sure! Right up there with don't eat students brains?" I murmur, annoyed at the brunette despite his attempt at trying to ease the situation.

There's a loud knock at the door and the duo fly to it to attempt o keep it shut. I step, to help, but immediately keel over as my gut twists and pain shoots up my spine, the sounds and lights growing too much and the sudden urge to rip open the boys throats and crush their skulls sending my heart racing.

"You know whose fault this really is?" Benny murmurs, turning his attention to Ethan and pouting, "Sarah's! Why don't you fight your own battles?"

Ethan scoffs, his own patience wearing thin as he flares at the other, "Hey! Abigail said that too!"

"Yeah? And who's actually here helping us, hm?"

There's another loud knock and the boys forget their arguing and instantly attempt to keep the door shut again. It's blurry. There's so many loud noises and smells... I'm faintly aware of books... leather... toilet water.

"Abigail?" Benny's soft tone takes my attention immediately, but I continue to glare at the floor in an attempt to keep anything I feel down in the deep pits of my stomach, "Abigail are you-"

"Don't!" Benny pauses, his half step away from the door freaky almost instantly as its taken, his hand somewhat extended in a weak attempt to comfort, "Please don't come near me..."

There's more loud rattling and Ethan shrieks as the door is pushed open, Sarah piling in, slamming the door shut, and staring at us all with wide eyes, "I miss anything?"

Her attention is on the boys, whose attention is suddenly on me, in turn drifting her gaze to my sweating and hunched over form.

"Abigail!"

"Save it. I'm fine..."

"We were worried about you," Ethan murmurs, his attention somewhat moving toward the vampire but still half on me. The poor boy is probably thinking I'm going to kill them all...

"I had a vision about what's turning people into zombies. It's coffee!"

"I know. Lotta Latte. I had a chat with the folks down there earlier." She crosses her arms over her chest and rests against the wall.

I take that as my cue to half time of of anything and everything around me

"I tried to call you to warn you. You never picked up."

Breathe.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I kinda... lent my phone to Mr. Collingwood."

Name three things...

"Great! Can we go?"

See: Tiles, friends, stalls.

"There's nowhere to go! The streets are crawling with zombies. The longer we wait, the worse this gets; don't you guys have some geek-know-how on zombie fighting?"

Hear: Talking, faint sound of a tap dripping, a hoot of an owl outside.

"Well... In every zombie movie it's always the same. Smash them in the head... Except in Super Dead 4! They cured the zombies with anti-zombioax!"

Touch: My skin of my arms, my shirt on my back, my hair on my neck.

"If we get a sample of the coffee... maybe we can analyse it and get a curse! Or a weakness."

"But," Benny starts, my attention calming down the slightest bit enough to pay attention to the trio around me, "We're gonna need your ectoplasmic refractor from yours."

Sarah groans, her hand in her head, "Here's the deal! You get a sample and I'll race to your house to get your... Ecto thing, and we meet at the lab in 10 minutes. Deal?"

Ethan offers her instructions on where to find the thing and she's out the door like it's nothing, soft groaning falling back into the room for the ajar door.

"Okay... She's leading them away. Good. There should still be some coffee in the teachers lounge." Ethan murmurs, softly shutting the door and looking at us, "But first; we gotta make a pit stop."

The duo take a step to the door and I groan, my claws pushing for my nails and sending a spike of pain up my arms. Benny turns almost immediately, "Are you coming?"

I shake my head, "Leave me. Please."

"But-"

"Go! I'm going to be useless..."

And I don't want to hurt you.

Benny frowns, looking at Ethan who's also staring at me with pity, before sighing and pushing at the shorter boys shoulder, the brunette duo clamouring out of the bathroom.

I take a shaky breath and struggle to sit against the tiled wall, my arms wrapping around my legs as my head calls against my knees.

Alone.

I let my transformation take hold.

[EDITED - COMPLETED]
[3623 Words]
(Orignal) Authors Note:
I originally wanted Abigail to find her anchor this chapter, but I guess I'll do it next chapter. Also, I'm changing the POV for a bit next chapter ;)
And also, adding an extra scene.

(New) Authors Note:
cough... cough... Heyyyyy.
So, I'm not going to waffle too much; but howdy! I straight up abandoned this editing stage 3 years ago... I never thought I'd come back to be honest, but my coworker and I were talking about old fics we wrote in high school and here I am.
I wanna make this clear; there is the fattest chance that I won't ever finish updating and editing these chapters because my ADHD straight up says fuck you. But I will forever have sparks of productivity.
I also want to say; to those who are reading or rereading. Thank you!
I started this all the way back in 2016 - that's insane. I was 13. I am now 21.
So thank you all for either still reading or being here the first time.
I hope you have a great time.

Have a lovely Christmas and have a happy 2025 New-year!