Friendship is for the Weak

It was certain to say Julio was nothing to this school. As common as the dried plaster coating the dusty walls of every room and hallway of the school grasped. Nobody was to doubt that... That is, if anyone actually BOTHERED to doubt it. First month of his job surely had been a quick one. Things flied by quickly. He hadn't officially started up his 'all star' football team yet, but he planned to do so... soon. In the mean time, he'd easily become acquainted with his fellow co-workers, right? Wrong. The closest he'd gotten to a conversation was with an angry, and heated encounter with the school's assistant librarian, and not even then did he catch his name.

Julio was as lonesome as a lost wolf, as uncomfortable as a new kid at school, etc... You caught his drift. He was lonely.

A little TOO lonely.

Lonely, as in, out of his sly guy and comfort zone, lonely.

The hunter exhaled a small huff of grief and cut his way into the school's auditorium. The place seemed as if it hadn't gotten any attention or care within the past couple years. He doubted anyone would come to pester him here. It wouldn't bother him, but he was too independent to want the company of anyone else.

"Perfecto." He uttered with a small plastic grin twitching it's way through his jagged teeth.

With a brown lunch sack at hand, the infected took quick steps toward the center of the stage, picking up small clods of dust with each step. The room was dimmed with only one pathetic excuse of a light shining through the room. Just enough light for a hunter. Throughout the months, the football coach had grown accustomed to the dark, and it suited very well when he wanted to be left alone. To his convenience too, before, he could hardly see a damned thing.

After a brief couple of seconds of fumbling his way onto the stage, his began to loosen up. His body propped up against a wall all while he reclined. His legs stretched out while he pulled out what appeared to be a sandwich. He wasn't sure exactly what to make OF the sandwich. It was flattened wheat bread, smothered in peanut butter and practically DROWNED in jelly. A traditional lunch made by his daughter. Julio peeled the oozing... thing from its plastic baggie and took small nibbles of it, while trying to prevent jelly drops from dripping on his hoodie.

Seconds droned on as hours to him. This IS what he wanted, to be alone after all.

Yup, it was one of those days. Yet another one of those boring days in the career-life of Julio Santiago.

FLU SEASON!!!!

Yup this was it, she knew this was coming and boy did it get here fast. Olive barely recovered from last year’s frenzy of vomiting, sneezing, and incapacitation. All the needles she had to inject, all the children she had to hold down in order to actually provide said needle. A hellish event indeed.
Hopefully things will function a lot smoother now that she gets to use the Annex instead of her puny office. She guessed that the dean finally realized that hundreds of sick students crammed in one little room wasn’t the best idea. Unfortunately she was the one allotted to clean the whole place instead the janitors, it hadn’t been used for years especially with the newer one that was just built near the gym; everything is probably crusted with grime and dust. So much for a relaxing lunch...

In front of her was a heavy yellow cart piled with chemicals she could barely pronounce and every cleaning supply known and unknown to mankind, the staff kindly lent it to her, snickering behind her back while she struggled to figure out how to use the different sprays. People can be so immature sometimes.

She could see the door now. Her imagination began to twist her thoughts, silly ones at that. Examples would be a giant lion leaping on her and ripping her to shreds when she opened the only thing keeping her safe. Another was a teacher who was accidently locked in there, forgotten for all these years and turned insane, hungry for her flesh…so this is how survivors feel. Deep breaths, deep breaths; that didn’t work, it only made her feel even more dizzy. Maybe she should have accepted Mikey’s help.

Well too late now because her hand was already on the handle.

Hesitation prevented her from pulling it open, GOD!!! Why is she so scared of an old room? That’s all it is, nothing but a big dusty old dark scary murderous room. Olive peeked through the narrow window using whatever light there was to search for any of her nightmarish fantasies. The light only reached a few feet until it is consumed by a prodigious shadow. “Come on, get a grip you can do this!” She chanted to herself for encouragement. Pressing her thumb slowly on the lever Olive quietly cracked open the door just enough to poke her head in to peek at the surroundings.

Her stomach melted into a mixture of putty and fireworks as she forced herself and the cart further into the room. It worsened when the door completely shut behind her, a trap, she thought. Olive then distinctively remembered a flash light being tucked in her utility belt in one of the pockets, however the stupid thing was loaded with pockets and she had to grope around till her fingers slid across its cool metal surface. She sighed in relief pulling it out and clicking it on to illuminate her path.

The first thing that came to mind was to find a light switch; they usually hang near the doors so they had to be close by. Her spot light danced across the walls landing on the little red switch. A triumph smile planted itself upon her cheeks. With three long strides Olive simply flicked at it and she thought all her troubles were over. Buuut some greater being had something nasty against her. Right as it flipped up several loud pops broke out in harmony causing Olive to scream and duck in a frightened crouch away from the falling shards of glass above. She was again enveloped in the dark.

After taking several bites of his mush-ed up mess of a sandwich, and letting it settle in his stomach, he tossed whatever remains of it in his hand to the side. Nobody would notice it anyways, the whole auditorium was practically a dump by itself anyways. Julio took the time to entangle himself in his thoughts. All was well. Peeerrrfeecttt... Until...

The door creaked, fluorescent lights popped, and a young woman screamed. All as if on cue. The hunter cringed and jerked his head up quickly, not to much use really. The only light in the room had been cut short. Now was a good time to thank the Green Flu. He wasn't completely capable of seeing in the dark, but all he was able to make out were outlines and silhouettes of objects in the room. His only eye scanned the room in search of the one who screamed and the one who simply ruined his lunch time.

Bingo.

In the corner of his eye, a woman was crouched down. A flashlight that seemed carelessly tossed and forgotten laid by her side, showing locks of the curled hair on her head. A low growl emitted from the back of Julio's throat. Who in the right mind did this woman think she was? More importantly, what in the HELL was she doing here? Bah- There would be more time for questions later, right now, he supposed he could assist this woman... Just once.

The hunter hopped off the stage and made his way to the other infected. He seemed to make out that she was a hunter as well... a huntress. Julio took a knee by her while lightly tilting his head. "Senora, Uh- Ey, are you ok?" He uttered out softly while shaking her shoulder slightly.

The sudden contact made Olive spring up using all the force in her legs, which was a lot considering she is a hunter. Her shoulder knocked into something hard or rather someone.

…oh god please don’t let it be a crazy cannibalistic teacher!!! When she landed on her bottom Olive scrambled to find her flashlight, whining like a dog. Once grasping onto the light she aimed it towards the object she bashed into. Her back began to ache because of the impact. There was deffinately going to be a bruise later. “Who are you, what are you doing here!?” She tried to sound ferocious but her quivering didn’t help much.

Brightened by the light was a lone figure toppled over cupping both hands over its face; it was probably the thing she hit. The horrible nightmare returned causing her heart to clatter against her ribs, all she heard was the accelerating thump in her ears. She was pretty sure the predator could hear it just as clear. Painful seconds dragged on, the exit seemed like an eternity away. Her subconscious was right, this was a trap. The other staff knew some lunatic lived in here and they wanted to get rid of her for budget cuts, or no! This was a sick prank that Mr. Jones created. He wanted to take revenge on her for slicing his tongue off the other day. It was the most logical explanation; why else would they make her the only person to clean this mess?

Anger replaced her fear and her features scrunched up in a nasty scowl. “You think it’s so funny picking on a girl don’t you? Teaming up with Turkey to scare the living shit out of me, the nerve!” Olive jumped to her feet standing with her claws on her hips. “To think that I was actually going to have a better work area, but no this was a BIG laugh for you guys!” Her rants seemed endless, soon she started blaming things that weren’t even relevant to the situation like how poorly restaurants cook now a days or that fish eyes were the most evil things ever discovered. Olive was literally having a nervous melt down; she wanted to do so many things she usually found bad, actions she taught Evan to keep away from. UGH!!!

Turning back to the man on the floor the wicked glares vanished with in moments when noticing that she actually hurt him. “Oh god," her eyes widened, "I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to bump into you.” She was by his side in an instant tenderly feeling for the injury she inflicted.

The huntress jabbed Julio in the nose. Count that as facial injury number two of the month. He hissed and scrambled away from Olive. He whined silently and covered his nose with his jelly stained claws. How unfortunate he felt..... The hunter moved his claws away from the tender spot on his nose. His only eye began to sting as Olive shined the light directly at his face. The brightness blinded him and he stumbled black and bumped into a wall, creating a loud thump that went along with it. This gave off the impression he seemed more of a klutzy fellow.

Play it calm, Play it cool, Play it smooth.

That motto rung in his head.

He slowly drew in a deep breath. Every insult and rant she threw out at him seemed to fly by. In his nose and across the surface of his cheeks, he began to feel a heated and steady throb course through. This was his only focus now. "Ay, mijita, you need to watch it, you could've cause some serious damage, y'know?" He scowled and looked over at Olive. He'd finally caught into what she was going on about, and by now she was apologizing. Quickly after, her frail hands came in contact with the throbbing parts of his face. She sent a cool chill down his back. The hunter shifted uncomfortably while hunching over slightly, to give her a better look. "Y'know, I'm ok, and everything, but mind telling me what you are doing here?" Julio asked while casually put his hands in his pockets, and made sure to listen nicely this time.

What was she doing in here? More like what was HE doing here?! This place has an automatic locking system that can only be opened from the outside WITH a key that only the janitors have. Then again she got in here without one too so maybe something is wrong with the mechanism? It is a prehistoric building. “I’m here to clean the auditorium for flu shots this year…what about you, this place was supposed to be closed up?” Olive was still observing his nose faintly seeing a darkening tint. Her sight had finally adjusted enough that things were a dark grey and black color kinda like in old movies except lower brightness.

“God I hope I didn’t break anything.” The minutes passed by, to Olive it felt like an hour. Damn it, in that amount of time she could’ve had half the place sparkling already. All this dust was starting to give her a rash. Olive withdrew her hands not finding broken cartilage on Julio’s nose and leaned back with an exasperated sigh. This would have been a good day to stay home and sleep. “Nothing is serious, the worst done is a bruise,” she lowered her head shamefully. “I’m really, really sorry about all this…I was startled and I over reacted and ugh I’m sorry.” Olive wacked her forehead with her palms, shaking it back and forth. Her hair swished out from behind her ears, framing over her face in a curtain fashion.

"Heh, you'll be amazed, missy. This place is worse than Dallas... And that's sayin' somethin'." Julio said, while chuckling. Julio lightly brushed the tender spot on his nose with the tip of his fingers, then withdrew his hands. He casually crossed his arms and leaned casually against the wall he bumped into moments ago. The lighting almost made it impossible to see for anyone in general to see in, but he didn't want to take his chances... He wanted to set a good impression on this huntress. For all he knew, she could've been taking notices and reports on her coworkers, to send to the head of the middle school... Perhaps it was paranoia again.... Whatever the reason, good impressions were his specialty.

"I'm just here to eat m'lunch. Ain't nothin' special with it." He answered bluntly. "It's 'cause I'm not gonna sit by the other workers here... It's just sorta... Awkward, ey, you know what I mean?" Julio asked while fixing his eyes on the huntress who stood before him. Her curled hair swished past him as he continued looking Olive from head to toe. She seemed like a nice woman, somewhat cute, actually. The thought skipped his mind quickly and he let a stupid smirk wipe on his face. "It's really no big deal, senorita. Honestly... By the way, I'm Julio. The football coach. Julio Santiago. I don't think I caught your name." He asked with a plastic smile on his face.

In a split second Olive’s mood instantly diminished into a signature smile “Pleasure to meet you Mr. Santiago; I’m Olive Gower the school nurse.” She outstretched her hand gleefully. Poor guy sounded very lonely, a qualm feeling stirred in the pits of her stomach and her face wavered. It wasn’t a foreign thing to Olive, being alone; it was just few days ago that the only friend she had here was her son who was in classes for most of the day. She rarely sees him at home either with him studying constantly or leaving to hang out with his friends. Most of her co-workers are acquaintances; some don’t even give her the time of day to respond to her friendly greetings.

Julio on the other hand seemed used to it. She certainly wished she obtained that trait; she might be able to get through her days without wanting to collapse on the floor in boredom or loneliness.

Out of her thoughts Olive did a once over at the giant annex remembering the reason she came to this crap hole in the first place. Julio’s remark was right on target about how dingy it was but having actual space to breath is better than nothing…of course it would be even better if she could breathe fresh air instead of filth that danced in the empty darkness. A break would be nice…though she did just get here and leaving would be procrastinating. From experience Olive vowed never to stall again. Buuut getting the football coach an ice pack for his bruise to decrease any swelling isn’t a bad thing nor is it an excuse to get out of work since it basically is her duty as school nurse to heal any injuries without question. Olive grinned slyly at her plan and whipped her hand away before he got a chance to shake it. “Hold on I’m going to grab an ice pack from my office, its right down the hall so I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Ignoring any protests he might have fathomed she took off in a quick jog towards the door, clutching the handle, and tugging with all her strength….

Nothing…

She yanked back again but the door didn’t budge. “What the hell?” Several more attempts at the lever and still the same result as the last one. Anyone else would have probably given up by now, accepting the fact that the door wasn’t going anywhere. Olive however had a different attitude. She pulled, she tugged, and she pushed. Wannah guess what happens next?

With her jaw literally to the floor about a thousand swear words in many languages waited in the back of her throat, though all that managed to squeeze out was a skittish whine. This was not her day. How could she possibly forget to leave the door open?! The janitor specifically told her NOT to let it close fully because the automatic bolt might be functional. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID GIRL!!!! She always has to mess up when it comes to non-medical related procedures. She can’t simply clean a room without something go uncontrollably wrong. Turning her back to the single way out she calmly glided over to Julio who remained in his seat on the floor. Olive’s legs finally lost all willful power and mushed like jello, causing her body to flop down next to him with an exasperated sigh. “So…how are you today?” Her voice came out in a high pitched squeak barely audible. Hopefully he likes her company because they aren’t going anytime soon.

Independence had always been one of his more favorable traits. Despite the very few others he had, this one shone much more than the others. It's what gave him a slightly alluring personality. Small things that he'd never noticed, these were the things that drove him farther. He DID spend a year in solitude while the Green Flu broke out, this was merely another swing of loneliness. Although, it did bother him sometimes. Just being... Alone. Every co-worker passing by, that he knew he would probably never acknowledge always sent a knot down in his stomach. It was hard to admit, but truthfully he'd rather not ever be alone. He spent most of his teenage life as the center of attention and the leader, now it was gone.

Three minutes or so passed. He hadn't been counting the time; he was sure his next class wouldn't start until next period. The hunter rolled his shoulder blades slowly before letting off a content purr. The right corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably and he gave off a low chuckle. Never the wrong time to relax a little more. The sound of 'ping' and 'rings' flooded his ears and he cringed at every little attempt Olive tried at opening the school doors. The hunter's body began to tense and his shoulders hiked up uncomfortably.

What in the world was that God forbidden sound she was making?!

Julio grinded his teeth while plugging his claws into his ears, hoping to mask the sounds even a slight bit. "K-Keep it down! I don't want ya' bustin' my eardrums or nothin', chica!" He shook his head when she stopped. Finally. Olive paced herself back and slumped down by his side. She exhaled a sigh and the hot air rolled passed his face. Something had happened, he wasn't sure what, but something happened.

Julio furrowed his brow, and sneered. "Ay, I thought ya' said you were gonna go ta' get me an ice pack..." He loosened up again. She'd asked him a question he wasn't sure he caught correctly the first time. "Come again? Wait- nevermind that, what happened?" His head tilted to the left and his knees were brought tightly up to his chest. Whatever she was going to say, Julio was sure he wouldn't be happy to hear it. He never really was the one to take bad news well. Simply couldn't handle it. Even slight problems, he'd begin to loose his cool. Ah, better out with it than linger on the tension...

Swallowing hard Olive tried to muster up her vocals. Every worst case scenario possible and impossible to happen at this moment flew through her imagination. She hysterically searched for the proper words, calm words, ones that won’t anger him. His intense stare wasn’t helping and that lone eye just paralyzed her. No doubt was she frightened of the male hunter, but maybe he won’t get mad at her, after all it isn’t her fault. Yes it is! Her mind said otherwise. Any courage to talk evaporated from Olive’s grasp. This always happens, when something goes wrong she just chokes up! She wanted to cry so bad right now and secretly was glad for the lack of light so he couldn’t see her watering sockets. Julio merely shuffled into a different position and Olive again feared her doom to come. This was ridiculous…they are civilized people; a little accident shouldn’t cause an outright war. She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling and focused on looking straight through him. The lump in her throat grew larger yet she vied to speak. “The doors won’t open,” slowly Olive began still watching his every move. Her voice luckily didn’t stutter or come out as a squeal, “I think the automatic locking safety controls are working after all these years.” Another pause to allow her words to sink in. “It can only be unlocked with a key or if it is opened from the outside which we have neither and now we are stuck here for god knows how long and we might never escape and die and, and.” Well there goes her professional attitude.

Olive tucked her head between her legs like a petrified dog. UGH!!! Get ahold of yourself!!! She probably looked stupid or gave off the impression that she was a scared, pee her pants kind of CHILD! And despite the scared part being true, she was the farthest thing from a pants wetter. Let alone a child. She’s 22 for crying out loud. Why would she be cowering over a man who hasn’t put off any kind of threat to her yet? The best explanation would be the years of spankings from her father when she was little, but Julio wasn’t a tank, he wasn’t even a witch, he was just like her. A hunter.

She has had enough of the useless vulnerable act so she dared to peek over at his face. It wasn’t easy reading his expression; in fact she couldn’t see his entire body. He didn’t move anywhere. The dark just consumed him completely. A shiver raced down Olive’s spine. What was going to happen next?

A insanic smile painted his way on the hunter's face before being replaced with a frown almost instantly. Did she say locked in? They were locked in?! As in, having the possibility of never getting out of here?! Oh, God. He swallowed a solid lump in his throat, and drew in a deep breath. He had no real idea HOW to react to this, giving the circumstances. Should he feel enraged at the fact it could be her fault after all? No, perhaps he was just thinking for the moment, letting anger get the best of him even.

He embraced the long linger of silence before taking a deep inhale and replying in a cooled tone of voice. "Ay, are you sure we're locked it?" He wanted to confirm this. A part of his mind juggled the thought of it not being true. Perhaps she just jiggled the handle in the wrong way. The only thing for sure was that he wanted to make sure she wasn't lying.

Julio cut his way through the room enveloped in darkness. His stomach churned, unsure on how to really react if it were true. After pausing at the front of the door, his claws coiled their way around the metal handle and he tugged slightly at it. The handle made several ca-chinks, yet refused to open. He sighed, and continued to aimlessly move the handle around. A minute or two passed before he shuffled his way back to Olive. He hung his head low, knowing that they were trapped. Locked in. Locked like inmates in prison. Probably even doomed to live his last days with the huntress...

Alright, maybe he was getting a little dramatic.

His eye met her's, and he gave her a plastic smile. "Senora, Did YOU forget to leave the door open?" His voice showed sharp hints of irritation, and cracks in between words. Any moment now, he'd explode at her response, knowing that she'd confirm this statement yet again. Oh, his temper was burning like a fuse on dynamite. An angry huff on breath flared out of his nostrils, and his hands clenched into fists. All that was left was for the huntress to say something else, and he'd completely lose it.

// Oh geez, I'm so sorry for the late reply!

She knew he would be angry with her. She could hear it in the strain of his voice; he was fighting the urge to lash out. "I'm so sorry, I forgot...god I'm such an idiot!" Beating herself over her mistake wasn't going to make anything better. Olive gripped her legs tightly to keep her limbs from shaking, she really hoped he wouldn't yell at her. However it was all her fault that they both might never see each others friends or family again. Julio had every right to scream, the impression he got on her was probably that Olive was a pathetic shit head! This was not the way she wanted to make friends. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." These chants were completely useless in this situation, what she had done was beyond an apology. If they ever get out of here alive she'd owe him big time.

Olive could feel his intense gaze practically looking right through her. Fear tightened in her chest, she could vision it now, hearing his harsh words seep out like venom. Her body curled together as close as possible till she was in a perfect ball. Horrible thoughts just wanted to eat her up, everything that could happen if she didn't get out.

Evan would be all alone without her there to take care of him, he would find out at the end of school when she wouldn't be in her office to take him home. He would think she abandoned him like his original parents did! In that case Olive would never forgive herself. And her uncle too, David wouldn't have anyone to talk to in jail because she sure as hell knew none of the others in the family visits him.

Then she feared for her own life, if she was here for a while she would most likely die of thirst or starvation....actually she was pretty convinced Julio would eat her first to keep his hunger staid for awhile, but death by cannibalism isn't exactly her cup of tea.

There has to be some other way out?

Perhaps one of the janitors will notice how long she was gone and suspect that she locked herself in? Then again they would probably leave her in there for a couple of hours just to fuck with her. Yet she knew they would let her out eventually. Small courage built up when thinking of the bright side. "Well...there is hope, I'm sure someone will find us. The janitors know I was cleaning in here and so does the principle and...that can't possibly be the only exit in the entire room, we..." Her sentence tailed silent and her simper faded.

From was she could see the hunter was in a very stressed position. A twist of sympathy swirled her stomach tightly. How selfish of her not to think that Julio might have family also and because of her he won't be able to go home and see them. He could have a wife, kids, or maybe a couple pets-either way, Olive got in the way like usual and ruined everything. She always has to screw up! GOD! why couldn't some kid have fallen off the roof or something, she could easily fix that. Being locked in a room is another thing. College did not prepare her for this...

(it's fine ^.^)