Semester of the Dead

Semester of the Dead 2

Chapter 2

Alaric

I don't remember the ground giving in. I don't remember falling. All I remember is being in this underground cavern.

"You Ok?"

The voice is Sunday's. He looks over at me. He's one of those boy next door kind of guys. My best friends used to talk the most shit about him. The Michaels. Michael Austin and Michael Power. They stopped though. That's because Sunday grew up with Iggy who probably would beat their asses if they found out what they were saying. My best friend Michael Power knew Sunday was gay before he even came out. Power said he got gay because he couldn't pull any bitches. That's Power for you. He's blunt. He says it how it is. He doesn't hold any punches. It makes me laugh but honestly, I have to admit that I don't agree with Power. Not in this situation.

Sunday was attractive. No homo, though.

I guess. No homo.

Honestly, at this point, I don't even know.

"I'm fine. You were the one who got bit. Are you OK?"

The cave we are in is dark. We can't see a damn thing but each other because where we are is a little light coming through. I am studying his face for some weird reason. I don't know why. I can't help myself. He has one dimple on his right cheek that comes out no matter what facial expression he is making. He has this black hair that he doesn't really line up like the rest of the guys.

He sighs, pressing his hand on his bite wound, "What the hell was that about? Did you see that guy? It was almost like...he was dead or something."

"I hear bath salts got people tripping down in Florida."

"Those weren't bath salts."

"You sure? Michael Powers says he took some bath salts one time. Oh man. He was telling me he was running butt naked in the middle of a highway. Says he was tripping the fuck out. Real shit. Can you imagine? That guy is on bath salts. I'm telling you."

"Michael Powers is a fuckin' idiot," Sunday says.

I think about it for a minute.

I laugh.

"Yeah. You might be right," I respond.

We get quiet. The cave is dark. Whatever the stranger was on that bit Sunday definitely scared the living shit out of me. I'm not going to let Sunday know that though.

"We should chill out. It's too dark to try to get out of here alone. I'm sure help will be on the way soon," he says, "Just hope this stops bleeding soon."

"Here."

I don't know what I'm thinking when I do it but it is second nature. I pull off my shirt and hand it to him. He doesn't take it immediately. Sunday just looks at the shirt.

"Uh..."

"It's clean," I tell him, "I promise."

I offer the shirt again. Then I realize that he isn't looking at the shirt. He's staring at my abs. Seeing how Sunday's eyes line my eyes up I'm glad that I do about 500 crunches before bed every night. Watching his reaction I can tell the hard work definitely has paid off.

He finally does take it.

And things get quiet. He looks away from me. We sit there in silence for a while.

One hour. Two hours. I get antsy and start walking around trying to find a way out of here but it's way too dark and it's only getting darker.

I sit back down. My arm is not too far away from Sunday. No point in just sitting in silence. I might as well break the ice and get to know the guy.

"So you and Valentina real cool huh?" I ask.

I know the answer to that. Valentina considers Sunday like her brother. They look so different though. Sunday is so much darker than Valentina. I don't mind it though. His skin tone is kind of nice. Almost like smooth chocolate.

"Yeah. Also real close to Ignacio."

I pause. I wasn't completely honest with Sunday. I dated Valentina because I was interested in being friends with a guy like Sunday but I also dated her because I knew it would get under Ignacio's skin. I mean it was petty. I know that much, but Ignacio was the definition of a RIVAL. The best thing about it is that it worked too.

"You and him..."

I pause.

"What?"

"You know what I mean? I don't know what to call it. The gay thing. You know. Hook up or whatever in the gay way or something like that."

"Ignacio isn't gay," he responds, "And if he was, I wouldn't out him to you."

"Not looking for dirt man, just making convo," I respond realizing that he's putting his guard up, "Nothing wrong with being gay. I know Powers has a big problem with gays but I don't. I'm cool with it. But you know that thing we talked about earlier..."

"About you coming out of the closet?"

I pause. I still can't believe I let that slip out of my mouth the way I did. If anyone found out about that my entire life would be fucking ruined forever. I didn't know what I was thinking. I knew how it would sound if I said something like I would never come out of the closet. It would insinuate that I was in one.

I make things very clear to Sunday, "It was just a figure of speech."

"Relax. If you were gay I wouldn't tell anyone."

"I'm not."

"You don't got to explain nothing to me, buddy. We can drop the whole sexuality talk right now and never talk about it again."

The fact that he was so willing was weird. If I had let that slip around Michael Powers, or Michael Austin or god forbid Ignazio, they would never let it down. They would never just shrug their shoulders and not mention it.

Maybe that's why I feel like I can open up to him. We are stuck in a caved-in hole on the side of the mountain with no path to get out. God knows when someone is going to come save us. All I know is right now I feel sort of comfortable. Maybe it's the fact that Sunday is so quiet and isn't trying to force conversation with me. Maybe it's the fact that he clearly doesn't seem interested in using my slip up from earlier against me when anyone else, even my friends, probably would.

I lean up against the rock.

"How'd you know?" I ask, and then realize the weird look he gives me, "I mean just out of curiosity. You know. Not curious or anything. Just wondering. For you---how'd you know, that you were gay."

"Guess your dick gets hard with a guy."

"No offense bro. Let's be real. My dick gets hard with the wind. That's not really saying much now, is it? Yeah, that's what I thought. That isn't really a measure of things."

He shrugs, "Maybe, maybe not. I guess you just know. I think sexuality is a spectrum. You know. You are who you are."

I sigh a little bit.

"If only life were that easy," I tell him, "I'm constantly living in the shadow of my brothers. Forced to be something I'm not even sure I want to be. When do you get the chance to figure out who you want to be? My entire life has been planned out. My mother already even met Valentina. Did she tell you that? No. Well yeah. They met. My mother approves. She has to approve. I'm going to be a movie star, marry my high school sweet heart and be a heart throb. Everything planned out. When do you get to figure out who you are?"

"Wow."

"Wow what?"

He shrugs, "I don't know. Just wow. You seem... I don't know...stressed."

"I don't know why I'm talking to you about this. You don't care."

He's staring at the rock. He doesn't deny that it's awkward talking to him about this. Who else was I going to talk to? The Michaels? They would turn from kissing my ass to kicking it like that gay kid Mitch they tortured on a daily basis. What about Ignazio? My rival? Hell no. He's love to think that I had a weakness. Valentina? She was already falling for me. Then there were my brothers. My perfect fucking brothers who did no wrong.

No.

I had no one to talk to.

No one but this weird kid with the dimple that came out as gay not too long ago. And here he was and I expecting him to judge me but he doesn't. He just looks at me and smiles. His one dimple showing and for some reason I find myself smiling back.

"I want to say it's OK," he responds, "But I know that's bullshit people say when they don't know what else to say. It may not be OK. But at some point you realize your life is for you."

"That's it?"

"What?"

"That's all your advice: That my life is for me? As if I didn't know that..."

I sigh and roll my eyes. Truth is though, was my life for me? Or was my life for my brothers? The ones who always made sure I followed their example. The ones who took me to singing classes while my mother cheered me on, pressed to turn all her sons into more successes then the men who left her.

He applies pressure to his bleeding wound, "Yeah I guess. Never said I was good at advice. Hell I didn't know who I really was until I woke up one day and decided I couldn't be anyone else. But who am I to speak? I'm not good at that shit. I'll listen though. I'll listen for days. Never been good at helping someone figure it all out."

I pause.

I realize I feel better about it.

"Maybe you can help me figure it out."

He shrugs, "Told you I ain't really good at this thing. But I'll try. Yeah. Sure. I'll try. What do you need?"

I stare at him hard, "Come here. Yeah right here. Just um...I don't know. Um...close your eyes."

"Close my eyes?"

"I want to try something?"

"Man I just got bit by a fucking...I don't know what...I am not in the mood to let my guard down."

I can kind of understand that, "Shit yeah. You got a point. Fine. Keep your eyes open um. Just...just um...sit there and um. Fuck it."

I do it.

I kiss him. I kiss Sunday. At first, our lips press up against each other and it's just a quick peck. My heart beats heavy in my chest when it happens though. The thought had come to my mind to do something like this with him a while ago but I never actually did it. I never actually had the balls to act on it. Today seemed different though. Maybe it's because we were alone. Maybe because we were completely apart from everyone.

"Um..."

"That was awkward wasn't it?" I ask him.

"Yeah."

"Fuck."

"No. It's not that I didn't want you to do it," he responds, "Just always assumed you were, I don't know. A better kisser. I don't know."

"You trying to play me?" I ask raising my eyebrows.

"Sorry. Nevermind."

He tries to turn away. At that moment I don't give a fuck. He's calling my bluff and I be damned I was going to let my first kiss with another boy go down like that. I grab Sunday and pull him back towards me. This time I'm aggressive. This time I smack my lips up against his. I part his lips with my tongue. My tongue enters his. I feel this sweetness in his breath as his tongue meets mine. I think he's the first one to reach around and grab my ass to pull me even closer. I have to admit I like it when he does that. I shouldn't like it, but I do. Hell, I shouldn't be kissing him, but I am.

So I might as well enjoy it.

His eyes are closed. He's let his guard down and I can feel my dick hardening. If he was right about this being a sign then hell...he was all the way right.

I don't want to stop but I manage to utter a quick, "Damn."

That's all I can really say. Damn. The boy's lips were soft. Softer than I imagined. Damn. We're kissing again before I know it. Damn. He's laying down on the rocks. Damn. His shirt is coming off. Damn. Our pants are coming off.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

I don't know how to stop myself. I don't know how we end up naked, grinding against one another, dick on dick action. I'd seen gay porns. I ran across it with the Michaels earlier this year. I acted disgusted but when they turned it off and went into the next room I flipped back on. I saw those gay men grinding their dicks on one another just like this. They didn't have precum come out. Not like I had.

It's dripping on his legs, in between his thigh. The thick man mayonnaise glues our hot warm bodies together as his tongue strokes mine.

That's when I say it, "You got me so horny."

"We should stop."

"Our dicks are rock hard. You want to stop?" I ask him.

I feel stupid because I don't want to pressure him but at the same time I've never been so turned on.

"Valentina."

I pause, "Fuck."

"You and Valentina do it like this?"

It was awkward, "When I fucked Valentina it was all business. Every last time we did it. It was almost like a transaction. Almost like something I had to do because she was my girlfriend and that's what you do. It's different with you. But I don't know. You're right. Valentina is like your sister. This is wrong. This is all bad...yo..."

It's not like me. This is some grimy shit. I know it and I can tell he knows it. I try to pull off, even with my body screaming not to. But when I try to pull off of him he pulls me back down, grabbing both his hands on my two ass cheeks and thrusting my hips forward into his.

"Don't stop," he tells me.

And I feel like I'm about to do something I can never take back. Kissing a boy was one thing. John O'Reilly kissed Shameek Williams on the basketball teams for a dare. Kissing was nothing. If I fucked this boy I was gay. If I fucked Sunday, the Michaels would consider me a FAGGOT. I couldn't take this shit back.

But if it was so scary why do I lower my mouth, taking his mouth into mine, pressing my hard 9-inch dick into the crevices of his taint area just inches above his asshole. His asshole winces at me and I put my hand down aiming my dick.

Closer and closer to his tight wincing asshole.

"HELLO!"

The voice comes quick! Too quick. It's a girl. I recognize her but barely. She was on the trip but not someone I would hang out with. She sees us. She didn't just see us in the cave together. She sees us naked, embarrassing one another...about to fuck. Sunday gets to turn away, all you see is asscheeks. I'm not so lucky. My dick is fully erect. I'm looking at this girl and she's looking at me.

There is no hiding what was about to go down. There is no taking it back.

"Who the fuck are you?" I ask her.

My voice is loud. It's booming actually. I sound so aggressive that the girl jumps back a little bit like a goddam weirdo or something. I don't know.

She doesn't answer me. She is too shocked seeing my man meat standing there.

"Her name's Luna. She's been in most your classes since you came here," Sunday tells me.

I look at Luna. Yeah. Yeah, I remember her. She was the weird girl who sat in the back of the class. She is a weird pale looking white girl with blonde hair and bags underneath her eyes. She always looked like she was scared of some shit or something. You know. One of those fragile ass girls who you caught staring at you all the time when you weren't looking. That's who this girl was.

"They...they sent me...and others...to look for you guys," Luna states, "Mr. Drake I mean. Something's happening. Most of the others left. Just a few of us were left over looking for you two."

I look at Luna.

"You found us."

"Yeah I found you."

"You didn't see shit right Luna?" I ask her.

"Huh?"

"YOU DIDN'T SEE SHIT!"

"Alaric," Sunday says.

He snaps me back into reality. I'm panicking. I don't' mean to scream at the girl but it's hard. I look over at her and the fact that she isn't agreeing with me that she didn't see anything worries the fuck out of me. I don't know what to do.

"I didn't see anything," Luna states, "I mind my business, I swear."

"Thanks, Luna," Sunday says, "We both thank you for keeping our privacy. Right, Alaric."

I pause. This is so awkward.

"Yeah. Thanks, Luna."

~

We return to camp. My heart is beating. Luna doesn't say a word. I don't know this girl well enough to trust her. Then there is Sunday. I know he won't say anything. I trust him not to. Still, I'm just as nervous around him as I am with Luna. It's for a different reason though. It scares me that I enjoyed what was happening in that cave.

I enjoyed it too much.

And as we approach camp I realize that is a problem.

"Sunday..."

"Yeah."

I pause. I don't know how to say this in the right way but I don't have time to think about my delivery. I can see in the distance, Valentina. Her best friend Zoe is with her. Valentina is crying for some reason. Zoe is comforting her. and the others noticing us walking up to camp. Luna was right. Most of the others were gone. There was only a handful of people who volunteered to stay and look for us. My friends are there. The Michaels. Then there is Ignacio and that gay boy Mitchell...they both probably stayed for Sunday. Mr. Drake is the last person there.

"About what happened..." I start off.

"Yeah? It was amazing, wasn't it?"

They are too close. I start panicking. I want to tell him how much I enjoyed it. I want to tell him that he has the softest lips I've ever kissed or that I've never felt so comfortable around someone to let my guard down like that. I want to explain to him my relationship with my brothers and how complicated it is. I want to explain dealing with my sexuality was just something that I didn't have time to do right now but maybe I can talk to my mother about going to counseling. I didn't have a father in my life so I looked up to my brothers and wanted to be just like them. I could explain to my counselor that I was gay and maybe they'll help me figure out all the issues I was dealing with. Maybe then...once I got myself together him and I could try again. Slow this time.

Go on a date maybe.

A dinner. A movie.

Maybe we can fall in love.

And then try that sex thing again, once I was secure with who I was.

None of that comes out. Like a fucking idiot I just say, "I don't want it to happen again."

I immediately regret the fucking words. I want to punch myself in the face. I want to hit myself, even more, when his eyes get a little wide but then he just settles into an emotionless expression.

I hear him whisper something like, "I should have known it was too good to be true."

"What?" I ask.

I want to make sure what he said was right. If so that would suck. If so I probably could pull him aside and clarify everything. I don't get the chance to do that though. Valentina walks up to me. She damn near pushes past Sunday.

She kisses me on the lips.

Not as soft. Not raw emotion. Not from me at least.

"I was so worried," she states, "I was so fucking worried."

"We're fine. Some crazy person just attacked us in the goddam woods."

"You too?" she asks.

"Huh?"

That's when she turns. I can see Mr. Drake and the other students that stayed behind. They are gathered around someone. I walk over and immediately I see something that scares the fuck out of me.

Valentina whispers to me almost like my feelings would be hurt if she spoke too loud, "Michael Austin. He was out looking for you guys. He got bit. He's not looking too good. We have to leave. We have to get him some help. Look at his skin."

His was turning colors. The bite mark was on his arm but veins were all up and down Austin's arm. This guy was one of my best friends. One of my best fucking friends.

"You OK man?" I ask him.

"It just came out of no where, man," he tells me, "Just...just bit me. I don't feel good. My vision is getting blurry. Hard to focus."

"Come on. Everyone get on the bus now."

"I can drive you guys to the nearest hospital," one of local camp aides states, "We just have the bus though so everyone will have to go."

Mr. Drake nods, "Think it's best we all stick together for now anyway."

I have the feeling that Mr. Drake knows something the rest of us doesn't. Mr. Drake was a cool guy. One of those young teachers who always wanted to be in touch with his students. Now he was acting like the mature adult though. He wasn't trying to do the Dab with Powers or talking about Game of Thrones with Mitch or talking to Valentina and Zoe about who Kylie Jenner was sleeping with. His face is completely pale...stone faced.

It is very clear. Something is horribly wrong here.

~

The bus ride is awkward. No one is saying anything. All you can hear is coughing from Michael Austin. Michael Powers is sitting next to me. He had his hand around Zoe. They had just broken up not too long ago but she was scared.

"It stinks," Zoe complains.

"We all stink. We have been in the woods forever," I respond, clearly not wanting Zoe's prissy shit today.

She isn't like Valentina. Zoe thinks she's the prettiest girl in the entire school. She isn't. She honestly isn't pretty at all but Zoe's family has money. A lot of fucking money. Her dad was the mayor of Savannah. Somehow she thinks her money makes her pretty though. I can tell she thinks that by how she flicks her hair and talks like Kim Kardashian even though she's never been to the Valleys of California a day in her life. She doesn't know she's isn't that pretty. Valentina is. I think that's why she clings to Valentina so hard. She feels like it may put her stock up to be hanging with a girl as pretty as Valentina.

I guess the fact that he was comforting her is making Valentina jealous because she keeps throwing me signals that she wants me to do the same thing. I don't. Maybe I'm worried about Austin. Maybe I'm also thinking about all that shit that happened on Sunday. I stare at him. He's towards the back of the bus with that weird girl Luna who stayed for whatever reason even though she was the only one on this bus who had no reason to care about me and Sunday missing.

"No shit," Zoe rolls her eyes, digging in her Gucci purse and pulling out a bottle of expensive Flower Bomb perfume.

"Maybe it's the faggots in the back," Michael Powers states, "You know they fuck in the shitter. Probably had an accident back there."

I open my mouth ready to say something but Ignacio beats me to the punch, "Faggots?"

"Relax, I'm not talking about Sunday, he's cool," Michael Powers responds.

"Only two boys back there. So who you talking about?" Ignacio asks, "Cause if you got problems we can talk about it right now..."

That was Ignacio for you. He wanted to run the school so goddam bad and have everyone scared of him. Powers shuts up though. Powers has always been scared of Ignacio. Everyone really is. Everyone but me. That's why he doesn't like me. I watch as Ignacio doesn't stop. He gets up in Michael's face.

"Everyone calm," Valentina states, "We are all on edge. We're all worried about M. Austin."

Ignacio listens to his sister. She's about the only one he listens to and he only does it a small percentage of the time.

He's sitting next to Mitch. I try to make eye contact with him. I stare at him so long that I hope he just lifts his head and sees it. He doesn't though. He completely ignores me.

He's doing it on purpose.

He's mad.

How can I blame him?

"What is that smell?" Zoe starts up again whining like a little kid, "It's so bad. Oh my god. It stinks. You guys don't smell something...like rotting."

She did have a point even though her delivery was annoying as hell. Something was definitely rotting on this bus! Not like rotting food either. No. Like maybe a rotting body.

And for some reason that drives me FUCKING crazy.

"Stop the bus," Mr. Drake says, "Quest. Quest, can you stop the bus."

The young camp aide stops the bus at that moment clearly looking a little irritated that Mr. Drake is barking orders like that.

"This isn't a good area. Alligators are around here," the camp aide argues.

"He's not breathing."

"You fucking kidding me?" I say.

I run forward at that moment. I get to Michael Austin. Sure enough, he isn't breathing. That isn't the only thing wrong with him though. His skin is this slimy texture. I look at the sides of the bus seat. Mr. Drake is keeping his distance and I know why when I see wads of Austin's FLESH falling off onto the bus seat.

He was decomposing right in front of our faces.

"Step back Alaric," Mr. Drake offers.

"That's my best friend."

"He probably had that disease. The one that's going around in Savannah," Mr. Drake offers, "If so I was told it's highly contagious. We need to stay away from him."

"He's fine...look his eyes are opening."

I point. Mr. Drake sees what I see. His eyes are opening. I wonder if he's feeling better. I get closer. Just a little closer. I can definitely confirm that he was the source of the rotting smell. Austin starts making a weird noise.

A groaning noise.

Then he lurches forward, face first! He reaches for me attempting to bite me. I step back. He's slow but not incredibly slow. It was a close call.

"Austin what the fuck?"

He's ignoring me. It's almost like he has this glazed over look in his eyes. Like there's nothing there. No life. No soul. Like his body was acting without knowing what it was doing. It wasn't like being high or drunk. There was no more recognition left in him. He wasn't himself.

He lurches forward again snapping his jaw like a turtle, hungrily reaching for something or someone. Anyone.

I start to panic.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Mr. Austin...are you OK?" Mr. Drake asks.

"Don't get too close..." Luna states, "I saw this...before we left. If he bites you, it's over. Even if you get away. Even if he doesn't devour you whole. It won't matter...you turn like him."

She says it in a calm manner.

Austin hustles down the bus causing a panic. Everyone runs to the back. I watch as one person trips. I immediately see who it is. It's Sunday! I start to panic.

"SUNDAY!"

Ignacio and I scream it at the same time. I push Ignacio out of the way though. I don't know what gets over me. All I know is I want to save Sunday. So I attack Austin. I grab Austin and push him back, watching out for his teeth. He reaches for me desperately.

I realize the bus driver, Quest is helping me from the back. I don't know how he gets rope but before I know it we are tying up Austin. We are securing him to the nearest chair before he can help anyone else.

"Are you OK?" I ask Sunday.

He doesn't respond. I try to help him up but he just pushes me away. I feel like shit. A part of me just wants to pull him aside right now and talk to him.

"We have to get him to a doctor," Mr. Drake tells the bus driver.

"Headed that way now," the bus driver responds.

I look over at Sunday. I try again to help him off the floor. Once again he pushes me away. This time harder than before.

He doesn't want me to help him. He's upset and it's killing me. There is someone who does want my help though. I look over at Valentina. She is crying up a storm. I watch Zoe run over to her to help her.

I realize that I can't just keep trying to help Sunday. It's clear he hates me. Maybe he has every right to. I just need to find the time to fix things with him. I was going to do that soon. Very soon.

But right now Valentina was freaking out.

"It'll be OK," I tell Valentina, "We are headed to the hospital now."

"It won't help," a voice says.

We turn and see Luna. She is standing lowkey over Valentina.

"Can you fucking get out of here you dumb bitch?" Zoe asks, "You're scaring my friend."

Zoe was annoying as fuck and rude but she had a point. Luna was a weird ass girl and she wasn't making it any better. Valentina has started crying even more. Freaking out even more. We all surround her trying to calm her down. Zoe was one of her best friends, but Ignacio was her brother and Sunday was like a brother to her. She had a lot of loved ones on this bus and I feel almost insufficient when all these people come to help her out.

Sunday holds onto Valentina's hand, "What's wrong?"

"What if there are more people like this out there?" Valentina asks, "You know I'm not religious but what if this is some...you know...payback."

"Payback for what?"

"For me not believing?" Valentina ask.

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it?" she asks, "This timing is horrible."

"This happened to all of us," I tell Valentina, taking Sunday's side, "This isn't just about you Valentina. Damn..."

I sound irritated. I just am annoyed she is freaking out like that.

"You should tell him," Zoe states.

"No."

"Tell him."

"Tell who what?" I ask.

Valentina struggles at that moment. She looks over at me. Her eyes are worried. I can tell she is still freaking out.

"I'm pregnant."

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