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[hr][indent][indent][color=white][b]JESSICA HAD NEVER SEEN SUCH VIOLENCE BEFORE.[/b]

The auditorium carnage was still fresh in her mind. Though it had been two hours since, the incident nonetheless had been an unshakeable thought, and the events in the auditorium replayed on continuous loop. 

Classmates pleading for help as their peers ripped them apart. Friends thrown to the ground by students focused on saving their own skin. The gory massacre horrified Jess, whose heart refused to still and nearly pounded out of her chest. There were people she disliked or didn't particularly care for, but even the dipshits of Stockbridge didn't deserve to be devoured alive by bloodthirsty, cannibalistic monsters. No one deserved a fate like that.

She had been wise to back away from the crowd when the first infected show signs of turning. It seemed sensible at the time, to not run towards the direction of a person who had clearly gone insane and was now actively trying to cannibalize others. But as Jess had backed herself tightly against a wall, eyes wide at the chaos taking place before her, there had been only one, singular thought rattling around in her head.

[color=d9b972][i]What the fuck?[/i][/color]

By the grace of God, or in actuality by pure, dumb luck, Jess had managed to escape in one piece, having fled to a classroom; Mr. Potter's, by the looks of it. There had been a couple of her peers alongside her—mostly kids that stood on the top end of the the Stockbridge totem pole. Nonetheless, Jess hadn't particularly cared who at the moment, perhaps more so than usual as she sat exhausted on the cold, classroom floor. She was just glad that they weren't currently surrounded by zombified freaks eager to eat everyone in the room whole. Just being [i]alive[/i] had been good enough for Jess for the time being.

Pulling out her phone from her coat pocket, Jess' thoughts shifted to her parents. She contemplated sending out a SOS message; perhaps her father could rescue them. After all, he had been trained to respond to and handle dangerous emergencies, although the walking undead were probably well above his paygrade. Still, at the very least he might've known who to get help from or what to do, both of which their makeshift, merry band of survivors were in dire need of. 

As Jess tapped the messenger app, however, her hopes of any potential rescue began to shatter before her own eyes. It had been some time since either parent responded in the family's group chat, and the only recent messages had still been Jess' unanswered wall of text that she had generated over the last few days of quarantine lockdown. Would they even see this message? Would she and her classmates still be alive by the time they did? 

Jess didn't know. She didn't even know how bad, if at all, it was outside the school. But, fuck, she didn't know exactly what to do right now either. If anything at least sounded worth a shot, it had to be this.

[indent][indent][right][sub]											[b]Jess:[/b]
				[color=d9b972]everyone has gone crazy. people are eating each other[/color]

											[b]Jess:[/b]
				[color=d9b972]trapped in a classroom with some others. we're unable to leave. please send help[/color][/sub][/right][/indent][/indent]

Blankly staring at the messenger screen, Jess paused before quickly typing one more message onto her phone.

[indent][indent][right][sub]											[b]Jess:[/b]
				[color=d9b972]i miss you guys[/color][/sub][/right][/indent][/indent]

Sliding her phone back into her pocket, Jess wondered if her parents would even believe her. To the average person, zombies simply didn't exist. Anyone with a rational train of thought would have easily taken her with a grain of salt as if she was instead talking about a movie or some survival horror game. Jess would've been among them, but that had been before she saw her teachers and classmates being violently ripped to shreds by those very same fictional creatures. Hopefully, if her parents did receive her message, they'd at least take concern to what sounded more like a joke text, if anything.

Yet even with that miniscule shred of hope, Jess still had her doubts. Very [i]strong[/i] doubts. Her parents hadn't responded then, so who knew if they were going to respond now that they were actively in need of help during an emergency.

[color=d9b972]"I'd imagine it means that those who got out have managed to hide,"[/color] Jess responded, finally looking up at the others now that someone had broken the silence. [color=d9b972]"Or that everyone else got ripped apart."[/color]

That probably hadn't been best choice of words to use, but Jess was beyond caring and desired to speak realistically.

[color=d9b972]"And unless we intend to join them, we're going to need a way out. Any ideas?"[/color][/color][/indent][/indent][hr][indent][sub][right][COLOR=d9b972][b]Interaction(s):[/b][/COLOR] [I]Hera [@mickilennial] + Everyone Else[/I][/right][/sub][/indent]