The Last Semester

Class Four Outbreak: June 22nd at 8:57 pm

Current Location: Somewhere Over Virginia
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"Are you sure it's safe to fly over here in dark hours?" Olivia asked.

"Well, unless zombies can fly, we should be alright, Miss Olivia," Sargent Brown said, although that probably made her worry even more about the possibility of flying zombies.

Although I was sure that wasn't possible, right?

I sighed deeply and stared out of the window, thinking about the future that was to come for all of us. The first thing that came to mind, of course, was Dad. If- no, when we do find him, what was next? Would they just nuke the cities like they said? 

I shuddered at that thought, and a feeling of fear ran over me. Sighing again, I figured I probably should talk about something other that flying zombies. "So Sargent Brown, besides the Air Force, what else did you do?" 

I caught myself saying "did" instead of "do." 

"Well, not much at my older age. I try to be around my family as much as possible, but with all this going on that's pretty much impossible y'know," He said, saying it like he hated it, which I know he probably did. Then something hit me. 

"Wait, where is your family?" 

He shifted in his seat. "Tennessee." 

"By themselves? Who's all there?" I asked, getting concerned. 

"My wife. She's helping people get to the nearest fallout shelter when the bombs go off in Memphis and Nashville." 

When the bombs go off.

 "Oh, I see. Do you have any kids?" 

"Yeah, I have two. Both of them are in Canada getting away from the outbreak," he said, but then he mumbled under his breath, "Like I should be." 

I didn't say anything else after that, because I felt like I should leave him alone before I said the wrong thing. I glanced over at Navarez, but he was simply staring out of the window. I later glanced at Olivia, who was reading a book. Frowning, since I didn't remember her having a book with her, I asked her what she was reading. 

"A book dad bought me a few months ago," She said like I should've been proud of her for actually reading.  

I shrugged, leaving her alone to read. Looking at Braxton, he was asleep with his head resting against the window. Seeing him made me a little tired as well, but I wanted to stay awake, out of habit I guess. 

Slipping back into my thoughts, I wondered what the world would look like in the next few days whenever the radiation would kill off all of the zombies and basically everything else that was still alive. Would it be a complete wasteland like I had it pictured in my head? Would the spore clouds be evaporated? Now that I thought about it, wind could carry the spores across borders without anyone realizing it. 

So, are the spores already growing in Canada? No, someone would tell the police...

I shook my head, but Sargent Brown shook me out of my thoughts. "Hey, Jeremy." 

"Yeah?" 

"We're in South Carolina, where your dad should be."

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BANG BANG BANG! 

After I escaped the grocery store and the raider (that's now a zombie) that I tried to be nice to, I found myself in downtown Greenville, which was the last place I needed to be. 

I continued running north, away from the giant herd of zombies that wanted to dissect my brains out. To be honest, I was getting scared, due to the limited bullets I had, but I didn't even have a second to think about that. 

Finding a liquor store, I immediately took the chance and dove into it without another thought. I found a crowbar and jammed the door shut with it. 

"Good lord," I said, clutching my hurting chest from all of the running. 

I heard a growling sound, and I groaned quietly to myself. I found the crawler trying to hide near the milk section that was beside the beer. Ducking down and glancing outside, I lost the zombies that were chasing me from the store that I got about a five minute break from. 

I crawled over to try to get behind the hiding zombie and fortunately, it never saw me. I sneaked up on it as quietly as possible, and I crushed its head under the bottom of my shoes, this time not gagging at it. I was getting used to it by now, probably. 

I looked back at the world outside, and the zombies still didn't know I was here. Sighing in relief, I finally decided to grab a well-deserved drink. Chugging it quickly, that amazing sensation swam down my throat since it was the first time I actually had time for a drink. 

Another boom rumbled through the building, and I heard something shatter against the floor. The strange thing was, that boom lasted a little longer than it should've, and I knew what was already happening. 

Greenville was next on the bombing list. 

I scrambled to get under the desk where the clerk stood, and I smelled something familiar, and I found a decaying body of bones and many flies, and I figured some raiders must've robbed this place when it was safer. 

The next thing I knew, the building was about to collapse under me, and I began to pray, since it was the only thing I could do. 

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"Sargent Brown, how are you going to find our dad?" I asked, getting anxious. 

"Easy. Greenville is next on the list now that Montgomery is in ruins, and that's halfway from Charlotte, and I doubt he's even made it there yet," he answered. 

"So, you're guessing basically?" Olivia asked. 

He shrugged and looked back at us with a serious expression. "Trust me, I have a feeling he's somewhere nearby, but we have to hurry. The missile will be here soon." 

Fear hit me then. "How soon?"

The sargent looked at the time displayed on the clock, and it read 11:57pm. "In about ten minutes." 

Navarez looked at him as if he was crazy. "And you expect us to find their father in a city like this in that little time!? Are you serious!?" 

Sargent Brown said nothing as he began to dip down near the center of the city, and I already saw a huge herd of zombies crowded around a nearby store. I looked ahead, trying to see if I could see the missile. Fortunately, I didn't. I looked down at the store again, and something told me that he was in there, judging by the amount of zombies surrounding it. 

Hesitating to speak, I tried to say something. "Uh, Sargent Brown? I think he could be in there." 

He looked down and frowned, slowing down the helicopter. "Are you sure?" 

I thought about it, but I was interrupted immediately by him. "Because we have about six minutes to make a decision." 

I nodded, praying to God that I was right. "Yeah, I'm sure." 

He looked down and found a wide enough to land on it as he began to dip down towards it. "Then lets go save your father." 

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