When The Light Goes Out by Jack Thompson Read Free Book Online Page A

He was outright dripping. But he didn't appear to be wounded. There was no way all the blood was his, he'd have died from loss already.
     
    Damn.
     
    I, along with maybe ten other students, stared in various levels of horror. At the boy. At the way Dustin approached him. The way he was carelessly looking him over. At the blood. The guns in his hand. I was staring at a combination of them. Eyes flickering constantly from one point to the other. I felt terrible staring at him, like he was diseased.
     
    But there was an undeniable chance that he was. Shit.
    "Excel!"
     
    I jumped when Dustin called out my name, turning wide eyes to him. Was I the only one staring? Looking around, everyone seemed to have turned their gaze to me. What did he want? I was borderline frantic as I took a single step forward, not quite willing to get close.
     
    "Excel, come on. He's not bitten!" So?
    He could still be infected.
     
    My brother hadn't been bitten.
     
    But I stepped forward anyway, wondering what was required of me. The bloody boy looked completely calm but that didn't set me anymore on my ease. If anything, it made me even more paranoid. He was covered with blood from head to toe. His hair was plastered to his neck. His shirt was sticking to his chest.
     
    He wasn't wearing shoes.
     
    I didn't know why he wasn't wearing shoes.
     
    "Dustin?"
     
    "Are there any sinks, Excel? Some sort of water supply? Not necessarily drinking water. But.. anything." Dustin spoke in well measured words. His accent shining through clearly without hindering my understanding of the question. I didn't know how he did it. I didn't know why he asked me. There were some teachers, and several other students.
     
    Me.
     
    He trusted me.
     
    "There are sinks in the Chemistry lab," I recalled having taken a very short Chemistry course. Giving up the first time I lost an article of clothing, and a tidy bit of flesh. "Yeah, the
    Chemistry room. 234. Up the left stair" "Take him there."
    "What?"
     
    "Take him there. Help him get cleaned up. Come back down." Dustin laid out his instructions exactly. Every bit of them. But he smiled at me, gently, all the same. Probably seeing the fear on my face. "He's got two, fully loaded guns, and refills. You'll be safe. Go."
     
    That wasn't what I was worried about.
     
    When he shot me a look I nodded my head, however reluctantly. I turned my head to the boy standing there. I gave him a good look, before beginning to walk. I couldn't help but wonder where the blood was from in the first place. It looked like he'd been swimming in it. I had to wonder who he was. Would he be an ally? Would he cause trouble? Where did he get the guns?
     
    "Well.." I wasn't so sure what to say as we entered the hallway. He was being completely silent. Walking with both of his hands shoved in his pockets, save for the fingers hooked around the guns hanging outside of the fabric. A solemn expression on his face. He had a nice face, come to think of it. Although it was an altogether inappropriate time to think about who was attractive, and who wasn't. "I'm Excel."
     
    "I heard." "Oh.. well.." "I'm Malachi."
    "Malachi? Like from"
     
    "Any Children of the Corn references will get you shot." "I wasn't saying that! I was going to say"
    "Religious references will get you fed to the people outside." I couldn't stop the nervous smile.
    What did I ever do to deserve the situation I'd been thrust into? I wondered. Did I, at one point in my life, kick a puppy? Did I hurt some cute little kitten? Because otherwise I
    couldn't figure out what got me walking down an incredibly creepy hallway, with someone who did not threaten my life just once threatened it twice for no reason, whatsoever. "I wasn't going to make a religious reference either. I'm not really religious.."
    "Good for you."
     
    "..I don't see how I could be at a time like this.." "I don't care."
    "..Stuck in a school.." "Shut up."
    "..During a zombie invasion.." "Shut up !"
     
    "..With