As everybody was going to bed, I was tidying up in the room at the very end of the school. I remember, this used to be my classroom, and I was trying to see if any of my notebooks were still out there.
The room was full of wooden desks with metal legs, and a slot near the end where the students sit where you could put all of your belongings. Your little slot. Mine was always organized, and never cluttered or misplaced at all.
I looked underneath the desk, and before I fully fit my head in there from trying to look in the dark, I heard a weird static on the radio in the room. I shouldn't have heard anything from it because it wasn't set on the same frequency or whatever that anybody else should be on.
It was just me in the room, and it started to talk.
"Good Evening, people of America. This is a national broadcast funded by the U.S. Government, here to inform you about the events going on in this country. It is my utter disappointment that I come on this channel, to whoever is listening, to admit that I failed you all as the President of the United States of America. Several outbreaks of the TN-Twenty Virus have been taking place around the country. The military, local police forces, all medical units, and many more of our devoted sons and daughters who run this country have tried their best, but to no avail," The voice said, coming to a pause.
I wanted to go run and get Dad, but I also couldn't miss this message. Hopefully, somebody heard it in the cafeteria as well and would know it as soon as I walked back. I didn't like the tone of the President's voice and started to feel a lump in my throat come up.
"With that being said, it's with the previous disappointment that I mentioned that this country has fallen. TN-Subjects have overtaken most military outposts and taken over these aforementioned people that run this country, and as such, we are starting to fall. We are focusing all resources on a sanctuary in Washington D.C., Kansas, and California. If you can make it to any of these places, please try, as a civilization will be set here until we can get back on our feet," He said.
What...? D.C.? Kansas? California? Those places aren't here... we're nowhere near them... how are we supposed to get there to go back to normal? Normal isn't there, I can't think of a place that's normal that's in any of those places. I wonder if he was going to say Michigan next...
"I do want to clarify for all, that the TN-Subjects are extremely dangerous individuals. From the very little behavior we have observed, we've noticed that the TN-Subjects are all violent, do not answer any requests, and are only looking to eat human flesh. At the CDC, we've proven that these subjects are no longer human, and are dead. If you see a TN-Subject, stay far away, or do what must be done. I'm absolutely astonished and upset with myself that I'm telling you to kill your neighbors, but it is what must be done. I will repeat this message a few more times after this one. However, I cannot broadcast it forever," The President said.
I sat in silence, just looking down at my feet while thinking about what he said.
Not human...? Looking to eat human flesh...? Kill them...? They're still human, aren't they? Why aren't they human even after they become one of these Subjects?
"Take care of yourselves, no matter what you must do. We will supply gasoline to all gas stations, a continuous chain of water sources until they all rust out, and will focus on maintaining power plants to supply electricity, so long that it is safe to access for our public workers. We will keep amenities running for as long as possible. For the next portion of this announcement, I would like to announce why such a powerful military fell... but, it is not for the weak-minded," The President said over the radio.
At that point, I wasn't even looking for old notebooks, I was hovering closer to the radio as he continued to speak.
"For those of you who have the stomach to understand this... the TN-Twenty Subjects that we have observed all exhibited the same symptoms before death. A sense of enragement, sweating, and a few other inconsistent things like shaking seizures, and sudden death. The reason the military fell isn't because of these symptoms alone, but because anybody can experience them at any time. A regular cold, or a fever, it's enough to push us to this limit that we all become TN-Twenty Subjects. As of right now, there is no immunity, but there are precautions you can take. For one, do not suffer any bite wounds from the Subjects, and do not get their blood in yours," He said.
I froze in time, staring at the grill of the radio, listening to that last line of his.
"Do not get their blood in yours," That voice said.
On Dad's cut, he got Henry's blood on it... what if he got another zombie's blood on it?!
I was still stuck, thinking about Dad dying... turning into one of those monsters.
Could I kill him? Could I do it? Will he turn into one?!
"For all of those left in the U.S.A, I am sorry I failed you, not as your President, but as a fellow human being, and I wish all of you an easy time of survival. Godspeed and God Bless all of you. May the odds be in your favor," He said before the radio sparked out.
I took one deep breath in before the door opened up behind me. I screamed out in fear and fell over one of the desks, knocking it over while shielding my face from whoever, or whatever it was that got in.
I cut my arm on a sharp corner of the desk while on my way down and heard a voice of concern from above at a normal height above the ground.
"Leon! Gosh, are you alright?!" Dad asked me. He reached for me, and I only could hear that message on the radio repeat itself over and over again in my head as my eyes turned to the bandage on his arm.
"WAIT!" I yelled out, dodging his grasp and pushing myself behind more desks to shield myself from the chance that Dad started to morph into one of those Subject things.
"Leon, what's the matter with you? Are you okay? Did something spook you?" Dad asked. He started scanning the room, looking for the danger.
I tried to keep a calm mind, but as the words started to spill out, I broke into tears. I had to tell him what I heard.
"The President... he came on the radio... he spoke..." I vaguely said. Dad was patient, waiting to hear the rest.
"He did...? Then, I guess I was right to set it to that channel. What did he say? Did he just finish or something?" He asked, looking at the radio as if it were going to start moving.
I pushed my body up, covering my scrape with my hands, and trying to find the right words to explain.
"He... wished us luck. He said that water and gas will be supplied. He said that Kansas and California and Washington are sanctuaries or something... that we should go to them if possible. That the military was overtaken by the zombies... He called them TN-Twenty, and never zombies or anything like that. He said... symptoms can start from a lot of stuff, like bites, or fever, or a cold, it can infect us... so can getting zombie blood in yours..." I said, slowly pointing to his arm.
"Is that what you're worried about? Trust me, Leon, I'm fine. It happened yesterday. You saw how fast Henry was affected... I promise you, I'm going to be okay. Alright? There's nothing to be worried about... tell me more about this call," He told me. I nodded, and explained everything I could to him, ranging to the symptoms yet again, the status of the country, and where to go if we wanted sanctuary.
"That's how they'll manage... supply to everywhere they can, and then focus all resources on those places. It's smart, I have to admit. Look, Leon, I don't want that to scare you. Whether you heard that or not, nothing would've changed. It's going to be impossible to tell you to ignore it, but we won't deal with the zombies for the time being in this school. You won't see one for a very long time, so I want you to tell me that you're going to acknowledge the President's message, but you won't live by his words," He told me.
He had a sincere look in his eyes, helpless that he couldn't save me from a voice over the radio. It was an odd thing, and very obscure to be worried about. I nodded, admitting that I wouldn't be caught up on it, and that seemed to please him.
Although, I wouldn't truly be able to forget his words, would I? No matter how hard I tried.