On The College Side -- Olivia & Kitty
Kitty jumps when Olivia’s hand makes contact with hers and has to smother down the yelp that wants to accompany her surprise. “Run?” She says it so quietly she isn’t even sure Olivia heard her, so she waits for a response. Her grip is near deathly on her friend’s hand, her heart is beating so loud she’s certain that the zombie will hear it and target her.
The path to the exit isn’t clear, people are clamoring over each other to escape the madness and it easily resembles one of those stampedes, you know the kind that always happen on Black Friday when everyone is trying to get into the store to snag the biggest deal, except this one isn’t for some stupid electronic item.
“That’s our only option,” The panic can be heard rising in Kitty’s voice.
"Yeah." It comes out with a stutter at first as Olivia tries to get her voice working, but her throat is dry and swallowing more doesn't help -- all it does is make her think she's gonna throw up as the two of them let the initial crush of people get by. "Yeah. We gotta --"
Olivia's backpack is half on, slung over one shoulder, and she doesn't bother to check to make sure Kitty has her things before she's running.
Back when she was a track star, they used to do resistance drills -- someone tethered behind you while you ran, or a sandbag for dead weight -- and that's what this feels like now as she sprints, tugging Kitty behind her, except she can't bolt the way she wants to.
Desks and chairs are getting knocked over as people try to go over the mess instead of through. They stop and start, dodging what they can. The zombie child is teetering now, up and about, moving from victim to victim and blocking their path with the instinct of a predator. Someone falls right in front of them, blocking the last clear way through the aisles of toppled desks, and the child attacks and blood gushes. Olivia can't help but scream, the sound harsh in her ears, but she can't look away. It's right there, right in front of her, and she's convinced the image will be burned into her mind forever.
They have to get through, though. Her grip tightens even more on Kitty's hand before she lets go, picking a chair up and throwing it at the child. She does the same with a desk, climbing over a fallen victim and shoving the desk aside, trying to clear away out that isn't straight through the zombie.
“Olivia!” Kitty can’t help but hiss as her friend tosses the chair at the child. She feels untethered now that their hands are no longer clasped and scared as the realization sets in that their path is blocked.
"Just keep going!" Olivia knows it's a dumb plan, just like all of the other ones she's ever had to execute in a situation like this, but there's no other way out but forward and over the obstacles in their way.
Even with Olivia shoving things aside, they aren’t moving fast enough. They aren’t far enough out of the zombie child’s attention and they’re just barely out of her grasp.
The chair Olivia threw unbalanced the child, but not for long.
Kitty’s heart is thudding in her chest as she tries to scramble as quickly as possible behind Olivia, her shoes barely gaining traction on the smooth floor of the classroom, the linoleum slick, and Kitty realizes in horror it’s because of their fallen classmates.
There’s another scream as another classmate falls victim to the child. The boy, someone Kitty hadn’t even bothered to learn his name, reaches out in a panic and grabs hold of her arm, yanking her off balance. Now it’s her scream that sounds through the classroom as her shoes slide and she can feel herself falling.
“Olivia!”
Her knees hit the floor hard and Kitty’s trying to pry the boy’s hold off of her arm as Olivia jerks to a stop a few feet away, turning to come back for her friend. For what feels like eons, but was probably only seconds she fights him, right up until his hold goes slack and she doesn’t even allow her mind to piece together why that might have been. Instead Kitty’s scrambling up off the floor, slipping and sliding as she looks like a foal that was just learning how to use it’s legs. She’s fighting to gain her balance, to stand upright and run.