Fidget Vs. The Zombie Apocalypse: Part 1 (2017)

            They called him Fidget. He never liked the nickname but it was better than “Spazzoid”, “Freak”, or any of the other creative gems his classmates concocted over the years. He was a senior now but his reputation still haunted him. The whole school knew he was incapable of sitting still and would twitch uncontrollably during class. He trimmed his fingernails three times a week so he would not scratch at his skin until he bled and his hair was buzzed short. He hated the way he looked with short hair but it was a better than pulling at it until it came out in clumps in his hands. One time he pulled at his hair until his scalp started bleeding in the middle of class and had to excuse himself to the nurse’s office. That was when the nicknames started and now, three years later, they had not stopped.

            The morning of Friday, October 13, 2017 started like every other morning. Fidget drove to school in his broken down jalopy of a car made some time before they started putting plastic and crumple zones into vehicles. It coughed smoke and its most discernable paint color was rust. Fidget slammed the brakes as students walked in front of his car about fifty feet away. The metallic behemoth screeched to a slow stop and Fidget prayed the tires would not give out. His dad insisted that all kids his age started out with inexpensive cars. It was hard to feel that was true when all his friends were driving shiny, new, luxury vehicles their parents purchased for them. Everyone laughed as Fidget smashed the gas pedal into the floorboard before quickly switching to the brakes so he could roll into a parking space.

Today was not going to be any different from any other day. Fidget took a deep breath to steel himself before throwing his car door open. There was a loud crunch that made him wish he had not lost his grip on the door handle. The car door swung open and slammed into Brett’s shiny, new Lexus his dad bought for him after he crashed his last one during a drunken joyride after the football team won their big rivalry game. He also wished Brett had not been standing near enough to see his car get smashed.

“Hey, Fidget, the hell did you do to my car?”

            Fidget gripped his car door and pulled it away from the Lexus. There was a loud scraping sound as his door left long scratch marks on the side of Brett’s car. He tried to muster the words to form an apology but his stutter kicked in and everything came out in a disembodied mess.

“What’s that?” Brett taunted as he shoved Fidget into his car. “I can’t understand you!”

            By now Brett’s goons Damien and David, “The Double D’s”, were standing by for their leader’s command.

“Kick his teeth in, bro!” They yelled as Brett grabbed Fidget by the collar with one hand and lifted him off his feet.

“What’s your problem, spazz?” Brett yelled into Fidget’s face. He pulled his weapon of choice out of his pocket as he yelled. He spun his fidget-spinner in one hand while holding Fidget against the car with the other arm. Fidget hated that spinner. Brett had it custom made by his father who owned the company that supplied the whole area with fidget spinners. Everyone had one except Fidget. His dad claimed they were a waste of money and a conspiracy by the government to control people’s brains like MK Ultra. Fidget wished his dad was normal. It would at least not give people one more piece of ammunition with which to taunt him.

Fidget could see a crowd gathering to watch the fight. They all spun their spinners and cheered for Brett, telling him to “Kick his ass!”. The loudest voice of all was Cindy, Brett’s girlfriend, better known by her nickname “Bitch on Heels”. The nickname started because she wore four-inch stilettos she always threatened to stab people in the throat with if they did not bow to her every whim. She also liked to wear mini-skirts, fishnets and a couple pounds of make-up, all of which were against the school’s dress code. Her outfit’s sole purpose was to taunt the teachers. Her father worked with Brett’s father and together they controlled most of the businesses in town so no one said anything to her about her clothing or that fact that she and Brett skipped class to have sex in the locker rooms. The last time a teacher reprimanded Cindy for her behavior they disappeared without any warning or evidence of where they had gone. Fidget hated both of them. They beat him up on a daily basis and no one could stop them.

“Fuck him up, baby!” Cindy yelled. She spun her favorite custom spinner that looked like a Hot Topic got spray painted by a raver on acid. It vibrated. Everyone knew about that feature because she never shut up about how good it felt while Brett “fucked her brains out”.

All of the taunts from his classmates reverberated inside Fidget’s brain. He was pissed. His hand clenched into a fist and before he knew what he was doing he swung at Brett’s ribcage. The hit landed. Brett looked at where Fidget’s fist hit him and chuckled as if a sharp gust of wind had just blown across him. Fidget pulled his hand away. It throbbed. That was a bad idea.

“I’m gonna’ make you regret that, freak.” Brett said as he spun his fidget-spinner. Fidget could see the tiny ball bearings that had been installed on it and knew this was going to hurt.

Brett swung the spinner at Fidget’s face like a set of brass knucles. It connected. Fidget hit the ground. His vision blurred. He coughed and saw his blood hit the asphalt. The next thing he knew the “Double-D’s” were on him. Brett backed off and watched his cronies kick Fidget repeatedly until he stopped moving. They exchanged high-fives and laughed as they walked off. Fidget stayed down.

The bell for first period rang. Fidget remained on the ground in a pool of his own blood. No one helped him. They were all afraid of what Brett would do to them if they attempted to rescue his latest victim. Fidget’s mind grew fuzzy. He knew he could stand he just lacked the willpower to do so. It was easier to lie there on the cool asphalt. He could almost see himself, like he was having an out of body experience. It was picturesque and serene. That was when he heard the voice. It was low and gravelly.

“Get up, Fidget.”

Fidget did not look around. He somehow knew that someone was talking to him through some form of telepathic link.

“There are dark times ahead. Take this.”

            The voice faded out like a stereo and Fidget felt the connection sever. He looked over and watched as a fidget spinner materialized in his pool of blood. Fidget willed himself into a sitting position. He leaned back against his car and grabbed the spinner. It did not look like any spinner he had ever seen in his life. It was jet black and appeared to glow with an internal fire. There was a skull with glowing red eyes in the center of it. Fidget turned the object over in his hands. It was hot to the touch but it did not burn him. Fidget stared into the eyes of the skull on the spinner. He could feel it staring back. He could not explain what was happening but he felt connected to the spinner. It was meant for him. The bell indicating that straggling students were officially late to class echoed across the campus with its hollow tone. Fidget willed himself to his feet and shoved the spinner in his pocket. It burned in his pocket as he walked toward the school.

            The hallways of the school were deserted. They hummed with an eerie stillness. Fidget assumed everyone was in class as he made his way to the office to pick up a tardy slip. The spinner in his pocket pulsed with a burning energy. He ignored it and pushed the door to the office open. The room was empty except for the office attendant, Mrs. Saedly, sitting behind the desk. She blankly stared at the computer screen in front of her, a fidget-spinner in one hand. Fidget walked up to the desk and asked for a tardy slip. The attendant slowly turned and stared at him. Her eyes looked milky white behind her glasses. At first Fidget thought she was staring at the bruise forming on the side of his face and the blood covering the front of his shirt. He tried to explain what happened without mentioning Brett when he noticed a line of drool dripping from Mrs. Saedly’s mouth to the desk. She held her spinner up. Fidget stared at it, unsure what she was trying to convey, or why she was not speaking. Mrs. Saedly was normally very chatty, especially after her first cup of coffee in the morning. Fidget broke his stare and noticed the steaming cup of coffee on the desk.

“Haven’t finished your coffee yet?” Fidget remarked with an awkward smile. Mrs. Saedly did not respond, she just stared at her spinner and continued to drool onto the desk.

“Yeah, I got one too,” Fidget said as he pulled the spinner out of his pocket.

            Mrs. Saedly took one look at Fidget’s spinner and her eyes widened. She screeched in an unearthly pitch and lunged over the desk at Fidget. She grabbed him by the throat and snapped at him with her mouth. Fidget panicked and shoved the elderly woman off of him. She flew back and hit the floor on her back. Fidget ran around the desk to check on Mrs. Saedly, afraid he injured her. She was already pushing herself to her feet. She screeched again and ran at Fidget. Fidget put his arms up to shield his face. The movement caused his spinner to turn and when it did flames burst out of it and one of the spinner ends morphed into a huge, flaming scythe. The scythe shot through the air and stabbed through Mrs. Saedly’s throat.

Fidget screamed in terror and the scythe retracted. He stared at the hole in Mrs. Saedly’s neck. He was about to start apologizing when blood shot out of the hole in spurts and Mrs. Saedly growled in a guttural pitch. She lurched toward Fidget, swiping at him with her long, manicured fingernails. Fidget had no idea what was happening but he knew this was not Mrs. Saedly. He flailed his arms again to get the scythe to return. It did not and the elderly secretary was still limping toward him. Blood poured down the front of her floral-print dress. Fidget tried to imitate the movement that brought forth the blade but nothing seemed to work. His back was against the office wall and Mrs. Saedly was almost on top of him. That was when the spinner started to burn in Fidget’s hand again. It started to spin on its own and all three spinner ends morphed into flaming scythes.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Saedly!” Fidget screamed as he swung the spinner at the elderly woman. The blades cut through her like butter, severing her head from her body. Blood shot from the stump that used to be Mrs. Saedly’s neck like a fountain. Her head rolled to the ground and landed at Fidget’s feet. Its vacant eyes stared up at him. A mixture of blood and drool dripped from the mouth. Fidget screamed again and instinctively kicked the head away from him. The severed head flew through the air and hit the opposite wall, splattering blood everywhere. Now missing a head, the body collapsed to the ground in a heap.

            Fidget did not wait to see what would happen next. He ran from the office into the empty hallway. He needed help and he hoped everyone else had not suffered the same fate as Mrs. Saedly. Fidget skidded into the nearest classroom door and peered in through the small window. He could see the students mobbing the teacher at the front of the room. They held their spinners aloft in one hand and clawed at the teacher with their free hands. The teacher screamed as the students tore at her flesh.

            The spinner burned in Fidget’s hand. He looked down at it. The skull’s glowing red eyes stared up at him. The burning energy from the spinner filled Fidget with confidence. He knew what he needed to do. He threw the door open and ran inside. The noise of the door swinging open caught the attention of the students who all turned to stare at Fidget, their eyes milky and hollow. They let out a collective screech and charged Fidget, their short attention spans immediately losing interest in the teacher.

            The students shoved desks out of their way and ran at Fidget from all directions. Fidget held his spinner in the air and flicked it. Flames shot from the spinner and the blades emerged. Fidget charged into the mob of students. The spinner felt like an extension of himself. He could not explain it but he wielded the spinning, fiery blades with ease as he cut through his classmates. Blood and severed limbs flew in every direction. The flames from the spinner heated the room and burned flesh. Just when the smell and the heat became almost unbearable the blades retracted. Fidget stood in the middle of the room breathing heavily. He looked around. Limbs littered the floor and blood covered everything. The fluorescent lights flickered in the smoke from the spinner’s fire.

            Suddenly there was a shallow cry for help. Fidget followed the sound to the front of the room. The teacher lay on the floor covered in blood. Her intestines spilled out of her body and half her face had been chewed away. Fidget leaned over her. There was no saving her but he hoped he could at least make her last moments peaceful. That was when he noticed the spinner one of the students had shoved into a bite mark in the teacher’s neck. Fidget looked back at the teacher. Her eyes had turned milky white. She screeched and reached for Fidget with a limp arm.

“Sorry, teach,” Fidget whispered as he lifted the spinner. A blade shot from it and pierced through one of the teacher’s eyes. The creature screeched again and leaned forward, her head stuck on the blade. Fidget spun the blade and split the teacher’s skull in half. Brain matter flew in every direction. The threat now gone, the blade retracted and Fidget walked from the room back into the hallway. He needed to call for help but did not know where to start. He had no idea if this epidemic was isolated to the school or if it was more widespread. He decided to run back to the office to try to use the phone.

Halfway across the hall he was knocked off his feet. Fidget slid across the floor. The spinner fell out of his pocket and landed a few feet away from him. Everything spun for a second then snapped back into focus as a screech echoed through the hallway. Fidget looked and saw “The Double D’s” running at him, spinners in hand, milky eyes glowing in the fluorescent lights. He scrambled for his spinner but Damien kicked it away and David stepped on his hand. They let out a twisted laugh as Fidget screamed under the weight of David’s foot. Apparently these guys were assholes even when they were monsters.

Damien kicked Fidget. The air shot from his lungs and his chest burned. He tried to catch his breath but David kicked him again. Now they were lifting him off his feet. Damien held Fidget up, his feet dangling above the ground, and David landed a couple hits on him like a punching bag. Damien laughed and stared into Fidget’s eyes. His breath smelled warm and tinny. Blood dripped from his mouth. Fidget assumed he had recently eaten someone who was not affected by the spinners. David grunted and Damien nodded. Each of them grabbed an end of Fidget and started to pull. Fidget screamed under the strain as they tried to break him in half. They always shared everything.

The next thing Fidget knew “The Double D’s” dropped him. He hit the ground and looked around to see what made them lose interest in their next meal. The duo was walking toward a girl who was hurling body parts from the students in the classroom at them. Each body part landed with a wet splat against the bullies.

“Grab your spinner!” The girl yelled.

            Fidget’s mind snapped back to the present situation and he scrambled to his feet. “The Double D’s” did not notice, now focused on their new prey. Fidget picked up his spinner and spun it. It roared to life in a fiery blaze and Fidget charged his attackers. “The Double D’s” turned around just in time to see the fiery blades spinning toward them. Their heads slid from their bodies and they collapsed to the ground. Fidget stood over them, blood pooling at his feet. He kicked them just to make sure they were dead. Their bodies twitched then lay still.

“Let’s go!” the girl screamed as she dragged Fidget behind her. He had no idea where they were going but as they twisted through the hallways of the school they could hear screeches from students smashing through doors and spilling out into the hallway.

“Where are we going?” Fidget asked, struggling to keep pace with his new companion.

“To the gym,” She replied.

            It was not long before they burst into the gym. The doors slammed behind them. The sound of the heavy doors closing echoed across the wooden floor and reverberated off the walls. The room sat in darkness except for a few meager rays of sunshine that pierced the hazy morning air through the windows of the gymnasium.

“Are we alone?” Fidget asked.

“I think so,” the girl answered, “No one has gym until third period.”

“Why the gym?” Fidget asked.

The girl looked at him and shook her head.

“This is the best strategic point to defend from,” the girl said matter-of-factly, as if this were obvious. Fidget stared blankly at her, unfamiliar with the finer points of self-defense when your classmates tried to disembody and eat you.

The girl rolled her eyes. “For a geek you’re kinda’ thick. We have multiple points of entry so we can’t be trapped if they break through one of the doors. And it’s empty so we can see in every direction.” The girl indicated the four doors, two on each side of the gym.

            Fidget took offense to this. He did not appreciate being spoken to like a child especially after killing hordes of students with a fiery spinner. He was a lot of things but “thick” was not one of them. He received straight A’s every year of high school. He just wished that saved him from getting his head smashed into his locker by Brett on a weekly basis. A chill ran up Fidget’s spine. He spun around half-expecting Brett to be standing behind him. There was nothing there and the spinner was cold in his hand.

“We should be safe for awhile,” Fidget said, trying to contribute.

“What makes you say that?” The girl asked.

“’Cuz my spinner warms up whenever students who have changed are nearby,” Fidget explained as he held his spinner up for the girl to see.

“That’ll come in handy. Now help me barricade the doors.”

            The two of them rushed around the gym, collecting anything they could find. They shoved brooms and mops left by the custodial team through each set of door handles and then rolled racks of athletic equipment in front of each door. Even if that did not stop them they would at least know if they were coming. The duo sat against the wall to rest and looked at their handiwork.

“My name’s Barb, by the way,” the girl said, extending her hand.

“Fidget,” Fidget replied with a smile.

“I know that,” Barb laughed, “but what’s your real name?”

Fidget smiled. No one had asked him that in awhile. He had been a social outcast ever since Brett picked him as his number one punching bag.

“My name’s Joss,” he replied.

“Nice to meet you,” Barb said.

            Joss felt warm inside. He had not had a friend in years. If the circumstances had been different he might have even been happy. The feeling was quickly pushed from his mind, however, by the creaking of the gym doors. There was a mob of students pressing against them. They screeched and clawed in an attempt to break down the doors.

“It’ll hold,” Joss said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.

“Even if they don’t, you’ve got that fiery, death spinner,” Barb said with a smile.

            Joss agreed but felt unsure. He barely understood how the spinner worked much less if he would be able to cut through hundreds of his classmates with it. It seemed to have a mind of its own. Joss was not sure if he was controlling it or it was controlling him.

“What do you think turned everyone into zombies?” Barb asked.

Joss turned to her but said nothing. He had watched plenty of movies and everyone carried trademark zombie characteristics but now that it had been said aloud it felt more real. Joss would have laughed at the idea if he could not hear his classmates on the other side of the doors. The groans from the zombies filled the gym. They mobbed the doors and grew more aggressive with every passing second. Joss and Barb stood back to back in the center of the gym. They were safe for now but they were also trapped.