No Flesh Shall Be Spared

Suddenly, a small itching began at the back of her brain and she got the distinct feeling she was being watched. Turning her head slightly to the right, she caught sight of the man in the white shirt and black tie: the one with the coffee stain down his front. While the others were milling about, he was standing still and looking up at the building, straight up at the window. His gaze bore through her and he seemed to be assessing the structure as if looking for a way in. Having weighed through all of the available options, he seemed to have settled on the window of her classroom. As their eyes met, the man suddenly looked at the ground and then back up, tracking the structure of the fire escape.

'Miss Pressfield?'

Another small voice interrupted her thinking.

'Yes, Lisa,' she said and turned to look at the other girl now standing next to her. The child had shoulder- length brown hair held back by a floral headband. Her front two teeth were missing and her eyes were wide and looked wet with tears barely held in check.

'I… I want to go home,' she said, her bottom lip standing out like a fleshy bookshelf. Chikara looked up and the class as a whole was again nodding in agreement.

'As soon as I know what’s going on, you can, Dear,' Chikara said and she patted the child on the back of her head. 'Now, please take your seat, ok?'

Again the classroom door swung open and Helen Walker stepped into the room. The smile she’d pasted to her face was more grimace than grin, but God love her, she was trying to put on a good show.

'Miss Pressfield, can I talk to you for another moment? Please…'

'Oh, here we go…' Roger sighed under his breath.

'Surely,' Chikara said and nodded to Luke. 'You’re back in charge, Buddy.'

The boy sat up a little straighter and nodded, trying his best to put a 'game face' on. Despite his best efforts though, he still looked as if he were about to cry.

Chikara followed Helen back out into the hallway and closed the door behind her.

'Ok, what’s up?'

'We need you to come downstairs. We’re talking about barricading all of the doors.'

'You’re what?!?'

'Sam Lorning, the shop teacher, pulled a television set into the Teacher’s Lounge and you’re not going to believe what the news is saying.

'What are they saying?'

Helen took hold of Chikara’s hand and pulled.

'You’d better come with me.'

'Hold on a second…' said, pulling back her hand.

Chikara opened the door behind her and stuck her head inside. As she leaned in, she reached out and rested her hand on the fire extinguisher hanging from a hook at the side of the door. The children sitting in their desks looked so small and scared. She smiled and waited for them to quiet down.

'Children, I’m going to be right back. Everything’s fine. I just need to go check on when your parents can come take you home.'

Inside, she felt like shit for lying, but it was the best excuse for leaving them she could think of off the top of her head. At the back of the room, she caught a glimpse of Roger The Human Lie Detector frowning.

'Luke, you’re The Man.'

Just to be safe, she locked the door as she left so that the kids wouldn’t be tempted to start roaming the hallways. She twisted her key in the lock, removed it from the door, and returned it to her pocket.

And with that, she was gone.

~ * ~

When Helen and Chikara got to the Teacher’s Lounge, there was already a crowd of people inside huddled around the television. They stood in a semi-circle around the tall metal cart where the TV sat. Most of them were nervously holding Styrofoam cups with rapidly cooling coffee in them. A few held cigarettes between their fingers, but they were mostly just burning away unnoticed. Oddly, they all had the same look on their faces as the children in the classroom.

'If there’s no activity where you live,' the warm voice of the anchorman was saying, 'stay indoors and barricade all means of entrance. This is the Emergency Broadcast System for the greater Columbus, Ohio area. We repeat, lock all doors and windows and remain inside. Bicentennial Park is no longer considered a secure area. Please avoid all areas which would normally attract large numbers of people such as sports stadiums, shopping malls, and all downtown locations. You should proceed as quickly as possible to the areas which are being repeated in our bulletins. Further, please follow all directions given you by any and all military personnel. There have been reports of looting in most downtown areas. Please… do not attempt to travel. Even though you may believe that your loved ones require your assistance, you must remain where you are, or—if you are not safe—in one of the rescue stations. By all means, be wary of any and all people who appear disoriented or confused.'

 'These people are assholes,' Jim Rhodes, the fifth grade science teacher said. He was a short, balding man with a small patch of hair encircling his head. The light overhead shimmered off of the barren landscape of his skull.

Chikara thought to herself that if anyone could know an asshole on sight, it was Jim. Those types could smell their own.

'Ssshh…' Sandy Kirklash, the second grade teacher from the first floor hissed. 'We can’t hear what they’re saying with you talking.'

'All right. All right.' Irritated, Jim looked away.

'Sssssssshhhhh!' the group hissed as one.

The scene on the screen changed to some recorded tape from an earlier news conference. The camera shook as it was being adjusted, but the image soon settled down. A stoic black man in a business suit stood before a podium and was talking to a room full of reporters. 'I’ll take your questions one at a time, please,' he said, his eyes looking sad and bloodshot.

A male reporter’s voice was heard. 'Are we dealing with some kind of contagion? Is this something man- made?'

The man looked down and in a weary tone, said, 'It’s too early to tell. From all accounts, it is not something of a natural origin.'

A woman’s voice came next, 'How does it spread? Is it airborne?'

'Airborne is likely, but we simply do not have any way of knowing at this time.'

'Could it have anything to do with the recent re-entry of the orbiting space station?'

'We don’t know. At this time, we are open to any and all possibilities.'

The first male reporter broke in and asked, 'Is this an act of terrorism? Is it a military concern?'

'While we do not think it is an act of terrorism, as the phenomenon is occurring across the globe, it has been made the highest of priorities for the military.'

'Sir, are these people alive?' asked the woman.

The man sighed and, as if he were wearing the weight of the world on his shoulders, whispered, 'It would appear not.'

 'What do you think we should do?' Sandy asked, her voice shattering the silence of the room. The teachers looked at one another and silently shook their heads.

'This is just crazy,' Josh Giorda, another teacher said. He’d come onboard about the same time as Chikara had. He was young and, if you asked most of the female members of the staff, pretty darned cute. 'I mean, really… ‘Dead bodies walking around’? It’s like a bad horror movie.'

'I’m telling you… It’s probably all bullshit,' Jim said over the rim of his cup.

Abruptly, the Lounge door swung open and Principal Borden entered, looking frazzled. His shirt collar and tie had been pulled open and his face was awash with stress. He cleared his throat before speaking.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m going to need your attention, please.'

Someone lowered the television volume a bit with the remote and they all turned to face him. Fred the Letch looked like shit. His eyes were red and his skin had grown as pasty and white as a fish’s belly. He was obviously out of breath and you could tell by looking at him that he was barely holding it all together.

'We’re going to need to barricade the entrances and exits to the building. The police have contacted me and