In honor of Halloween, a Whateley Academy Fanfiction

Welcome to Teslaville!

by Matt Zenn

Teslaville, California
April/1/2002

A faceless man looms out of the darkness. He moves with a fluid grace that Harm finds hard to watch. Without a glance Harm's way the man walks away down a street that Harm has not noticed before. As Harm looks around he sees others like the man. A fearsome loneliness wells up within him and he cries out to those around him but none of them react. Harm stands amidst the throng and is unheard, unseen, unknown.

"Why won't any of you speak?" he shouts but they continue on their way as if he did not exist at all. The weight of their disregard drags him down and he collapses, great chains at his wrists, drowning in a sea of anonymity.

"Oh," he says looking around with new eyes, "a nightmare." he shakes his head with disgust and stands. With out a thought he shrugs off the chains that bind him, "I must have been really tired not to see it sooner."

Around him the nightmare continues but he is above it now. In the dream he closes his eyes "Three. Two. One. Wake." he says quietly to himself.

Harm opened his eyes and glanced at the alarm clock that sat next to his bed. He let out a huff of irritation that he had been forced out of sleep by a nightmare. He should have just changed it to something more palatable. Less chance of a repeat that way. Rolling to his back he took a few deep breaths examining the nightmare while it was still fresh in his mind. "Anything special about this one?" he mumbled sleepily to himself, scanning the dream over once again. It was the same as every other time he'd had that nightmare. The details were different but the essence was the same.

He was all alone.

The thought brought back a twinge of the nightmare panic he had felt. "Sweet Peppers." he groaned softly and reached over to turn on his bed lamp. Quietly he sat up in bed and pulled out his dream journal. On the inside of the front cover he added a tally mark to the "Faceless People" column and then turned to the bookmarked page halfway through the leather bound volume. Drawing the pen from its place in the journal's spine he began to scratch out the details.

04/01/2001 02:56

Had one of the lonely dreams again. Seems a little worse than normal. Ate tomato product for dinner. Also broccoli. Fabricate...

He scratched out 'fabricate' until it was completely obscured.

Check other instances to see if eating broccoli may be causative or at least connected.

His mind was beginning to wander as sleep tried to reclaim him and the details of the dream started slipping away.

Chains. Loneliness. Faceless people. The color yellow.

"The color yellow?" he repeated, surprised by his own observation. "I'll have to remember to keep an eye out for that." A yawn escaped his lips and he closed the journal and stowed it back in his nightstand. Turning off the light, he curled back up under the covers. "At least there weren't any shadow assassin's in this one," he murmured, closed his eyes and was once again asleep.

---

Harm and his girl friend Alice, are standing naked at the edge of a cliff. Behind them Teslaville sits, pristine and welcoming. Before them is a vast and untamed wilderness. It is pleasantly warm though paradoxically they can see their breath, Alice's long blond hair whips gently in an unfelt breeze. Joining hands they step off the cliff and fly off together into the clouds.

Standing outside himself Harm observed the other Harm Dong while also being the other Harm Dong. It was a strange sensation which he had long ago grown accustomed to. This was his favorite dream. All he had to do was sit back and not change anything. The inconsistencies with reality occasionally bothered him, Teslaville wasn't in the mountains,the wilderness was a bit too New England for Southern California, and obviously people couldn't fly. Still, Harm had learned that if he changed anything about the dream then the whole thing ended up different and the last thing Harm wanted was to change the ending.

Circling one another like songbirds in spring Harm and Alice wind their way higher and higher until they pass into a particularly soft, warm, wet cloud and there-in proceed to...

The clock positioned two feet from his ear made the distinctive mechanical click which warned of the oncoming cacophony. The one down side of lucid dreaming was that he developed a tendency to sleep through his alarm, if the dream was good. After being late to breakfast one too many times, his father had built an Alarm Clock to wake the dead. Sure enough, Harm hadn't been late since.

Starting at the warning click, he scrabbled for the clock and managed to find the off button before his ante-meridian tormentor could fully rouse itself. The sun shone through the half open drapes and spilled across the various baseball trophies creating a dazzling kaleidoscope of pain. With a groan he pulled the curtains closed to darken his room. The lack of light lessened the throbbing in his skull but it did not stop. "Stupid headaches," he groaned as he pulled on his clothes for school. With shuffling steps he made his way into the bathroom. "Maybe I should see Doctor Willis," he thought as he pressed thumbs into his temples to relieve some of the pressure.

"Harm?" his mother called up the stairs, "Up and at' em sweetie. Breakfast is almost ready!"

"Be down in a second, mom," he called back wincing at his own voice. Desperate, Harm began pawing through the cabinet looking for some of the headache pills his dad had made. They didn't do anything for body aches or really anything except headaches but for their intended purpose they were aces! At last finding the brown glass bottle with the large blue pills, Harm tossed one into his mouth and forced himself to chew slowly, ignoring the bitter taste. As he chewed, he made an intense study of the faucet of the bathroom sink. Focusing on something else usually helped.

"Are you having one of your headaches again, sweetie?" his mother called from closer to him.

"Yeah," he responded still chewing the tablet. "It's already going away though," by the time he swallowed the last of the pill, his headache was gone and he felt human once more. Looking up from the sink he saw his mother stop just inside the door.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked pressing her pale wrist to his forehead. "You don't feel hot."

"I'm fine mom." Harm smiled, a bit embarrassed by his mother's concern. "It's just a headache and now it's gone."

"If you're sure," she agreed, but the way she pursed her lips and worried her hands made it clear she was unconvinced. "Perhaps we should just see Dr. Willis to be sure?" absently she replaced a blond lock which had fallen out of place. "You seem to be getting them an awful lot of late."

Harm smiled and shrugged, "They've been kinda bad this week but I bet they stop in a couple days just like dad said."

"Your father's genius only goes so far Harm," Harm watched his mother's nostrils flare just slightly as she sniffed at the air and her eyes widened in panic. "The bacon!" she yelped and then took off at a speed that always impressed the young baseball player. The fact that she did so in heels while taking the stairs two at a time was just frightening.

"Too bad the guys on my team don't show that much hustle," Harm mused as he made his way to the ground floor with a great deal less hurry. Reaching the kitchen Harm smelled the distinct odor of bacon which had been slightly over cooked. "Is it OK?" he asked as he sat down at the table.

Elisabeth stared at the frying pan with a look of deep concern, "Do these look burned or just over done to you?" she held out the pan for Harm to inspect.

"Are they for me or dad?" he asked with a smirk.

"These were for your father," she cocked her hips and placed one arm akimbo whilst the other held the cast iron skillet. An eyebrow arched his direction, she waited for the punchline.

"They look just fine then," Harm grinned toothily.

"Well so much for this batch," she turned smartly on her heel toward the garbage can with nose in the air.

"Mom. Wait!" Harm hopped up and stopped his mother before she could pitch the Bacon. "I don't mind it a little extra done. He can have mine. I'll take this."

Elisabeth shook her head, "You don't have to do that sweetie."

"I know, but I really don't mind."

"Alright," she smiled and ruffled his short dark hair a bit.

"Ma!" Harm protested without any real anger, "Knock it off!"

They walked back over to the table and Harm began dishing himself breakfast. Eggs, waffles, bacon and juice were all swiftly consumed. Between bites Harm managed to ask, "So where is dad?"

"Out in the lab," his mother replied from the stove where she was frying more meat, "he had a brilliant idea for something last night so lord only knows when he'll actually sleep again," Harm nodded and grabbed another piece of toast. Thinking about it for a moment he took a slice of eggs from the casarole and made a sandwich. Elisabeth glanced at her son with a smirk, "Hungry this morning?"

Harm chewed until he could swallow, "Yeah. I didn't notice it when I had the headache but I'm famished!"

"You must be hitting your growth spurt."

"Whatever it is, I'm starved."

"Just leave enough for your father," she said lightly, deftly flipping the sizzling pork without a look.

"What about you?" Harm asked quizzically.

"I can make do with whatever is left. When you're done could you take this out to your father?" she indicated the tray she was holding. Harm nodded as he finished his juice. "Thank you sweetheart," she chimed, kissing him on the top of his head as she sat the tray down next to him.

At last the hole in Harm's gut was full and he let out a burp in appreciation, "Excuse me!" he said quickly. His mother just shook her head. "I'll just run this out to dad then I have to get to school," she nodded vacantly from where she was cleaning up the mess of breakfast. "Mom. Eat something before it all gets cold."

"But the mess," she looked stricken at the idea of leaving the job unfinished.

"Will be there when you finish eating. In spite of what dad seems to think; hot food tastes good. I promise."

"Thank you Harm," she smiled as she sat down at the table and picked a little of this and that for her breakfast.

Whistling atonally Harm grabbed the tray and headed out to the backyard, catching the screen door with his toe before it could bang. The Dong house was average enough for Teslaville. The siding was a light green color with white trim. A short picket fence ran down the side walk in front of the property and a clothes line ran between the house and the lab.

The lab was really the only feature of the Dong property which set it apart from the rest of the town. It was two stories tall and made of pre-stressed concrete slabs no less than ten feet thick. The walls formed an inverted trapezoid and were supported by massive triangular supports. Vents were set into the roof to help direct any explosions which happened within up and away from anything important. Radio antenna's and lightning rods densely populated the remaining space. In the end it resembled a bunker more than anything else. Harm had heard of people having bomb shelters but he doubted any of them would have held a candle to his dad's lab.

Harm angled across the back yard down the cobble stone pathway he had helped his dad put in. His dad, Ducky to most everyone save Harm, had tried building a robot to do all the heavy lifting first but like most of his father's creations it proved far more adept at destruction than construction. Harm still missed the big oak tree it had killed. Entering the twenty foot cube of a corridor which was the entryway to the lab, Harm walked slowly to make sure the sensors could get a good reading before he crossed into the red zone at the far end. Once he was on the steel grating he picked up his pace. The machine gun turrets hadn't spun up so everything was fine. "Now I just have to pry the door open with one hand," he thought as he appraised the inset steel pressure door. Upon reaching the door he found it unbolted so entry was made the easier.

Stepping inside Harm called out, "Dad! You in here? Mom made you breakfast!" silence was the only response except for the intermittent flashes of an arc welder. With a huff of mild frustration Harm began winding his way through the labyrinthine floor as the tray of food rapidly cooled. "You left the door unlatched again," he shouted, not really expecting a response. When he rounded the bend which should have led him to the work area his father was using, he found his way blocked by a short, dome topped, cylindrical robot on small rubber tank treads. A three inch cannon protruded from it's chest and it looked capable of significant adjustment regarding angle of fire. Behind the lifeless drone the flicker and sounds of his father working were evident. "Dad!" he yelled as loud as he could manage but was unsurprised when his father remained oblivious. With a sigh, Harm slowly began navigating his way around to the other side where the way was unobstructed.

Finally reaching his father, he was also able to get a better look at the back of the robot where a large hopper had been attached. Setting the food down next to a small collection of similar, half-eaten plates, Harm, pulled on a pair of goggles and then picked up a hammer. Standing back a bit from his dad Harm banged the hammer on the bench where his father was working. Instantly Ducky's head popped up and the welder swung wide as he looked for the source of the vibration. "Why is it..." his father questioned aloud, "Ah, the mask!" he realized and flipped up the blinder. "Holocaust!" he smiled widely seeing his son, "What are you doing here? Have you seen my new automaton? I made it to help you at the baseball practices." he rattled off with out a pause.

"Uh. Thanks dad," Harm smiled, suppressing the memory of the last time his dad had made a robot to help with practice. Poor Timothy. Poor, poor Timothy. "Mom, said you've been up all night so I brought you something to eat."

"Up all night?" he fished a pocket watch out of his lab coat. "It can't have been more than..." he checked the watch and briefly considered it's meaning, "Up all night it is then." he smiled taking off the welding mask and running a gloved hand through his black hair. Ducky Dong was a significant contrast to Harm's mother. Where she was tall, blond and classically beautiful; he was six inches shorter than his wife, thin and had not received the best combination of features from his Vietnamese ancestry. In that regard Harm had been lucky, the only odd thing about his appearance were his blue eyes and those were new. Fortunately everyone seemed to think they were cool so, again, no problems. "Excellent!" Ducky said rubbing his hands together after removing the heavy gloves. He quickly walked to the tray and began stacking the now chill food into small piles. That done he scooped a single pile onto the large spoon provided and chewed with a blissful look on his face. "Perfect!"

Harm smiled at his father's eccentricities. "Need anything else dad?"

"Well now that you mention it..." Ducky said turning toward his workbench.

Before he could finish the thought Harm jumped in, "'Cause I'd be happy to help but I need to get to school."

Ducky retrieved his watch, "Ah. It is that time. Yes. Off with you. You can help me after school."

"OK. See you then," Harm waved as he started back out of the lab. When he looked back he saw his father scoop up another pile of food and then head back to work. Harm considered telling him to finish the food but knew it was already too late. The muse had him.

Strolling back to the house with a tray full of dishes Harm took a moment to breath in the fresh southern California air and feel the morning sun beat down pleasantly. Returning to his whistling Harm ambled his way to the back door with a smile on his face. It was a good day. Inside he heard his mother talking. For a moment he thought she might be on the phone but then he heard Alice's voice and a good morning got even better. Walking into the Kitchen he was greeted by the lovely sight of Alice Powers chatting with his mother. As he entered Alice turned her head causing her long red locks to shift and fall, framing her face with fire. Seeing Harm a smile split her face, "Hi, Harm," she said warmly. "Your mom and I were just talking about you!"

"Heh," Harm coughed as his ears began to burn a little late, "What about?"

Alice's grin turned mischievous and her brilliant green eyes danced, "Oh, nothing. Your mom got out the photo album..."

Harm's stomach dropped and he sat the tray down a little harder than he intended, "Not... not the pink one?" He tried to keep the panic from his voice but was a complete failure.

"You mean THIS one!" Alice laughed as she pulled the offending photo album from her lap.

"Urk!" Harm gagged.

"Oh, come one Harm," she giggled opening the book, "You look so cute in your little dresses!"

"Give me that!" Harm lunged for the book. Alice didn't resist, instead just smiling all the wider. "They aren't dresses," Harm said defensively, clutching the album to his chest. "They are traditional baby clothes."

"But they were pink!" Alice laughed.

"Not all of them!" Harm protested just as the lights flickered.

His mother stood up and checked the Broadcast Electricity Receivers but found they were working correctly. "Probably just your father again," she muttered as she returned to where Harm was pointing at various pictures.

"See! Blue. Green. Yellow. Lot's of colors!"

Alice wiped a tear from her eye and stood up to give Harm a hug, "It's OK Harm," she chuckled a bit more, "I was just teasing. You were an adorable little girl."

"Sweet Peppers," Harm sighed in frustration as Alice laughed herself silly. "You know we're going to be late, right?"

Though in the midst of a paroxysm, Alice immediately sobered and stood. "We should probably get going then," she said very seriously.

"Yeah," Harm grabbed his back pack and the two of them headed for the front door, "see you after school mom."

"See you then sweetie. I love you."

Harm blushed. "Yeah. Yeah. Same here." he said with a flush. Alice giggled and elbowed him lightly in the ribs.

After negotiating the front gate Alice and Harm began the walk to school. For a moment both were caught up by how perfect the day was. Eventually Alice turned to look at him with out breaking stride, "You know I was just teasing you about the pictures, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah," Harm grumbled.

"Oh. Didums hurt your feelings?" she mewled. "Would a kiss make it better?"

"Yeah!" Harm said a little too enthusiastically.

Alice and Harm embraced loosely and Alice leaned in to press Harm on the lips. As their lips touched a snap of electricity passed between them, "Ouch!" Alice said recoiling from him.

"Are you OK?" Harm asked.

"Yes. I just caught a little shock," she rubbed her top lip lightly. "It's not puffy or red is it?"

"No more so than usual," Harm said with a smirk, earning himself a slap to the shoulder. "Sorry, dad was welding in the lab. I must have picked up a charge."

"I guess we'll just have to try again," Alice leaned back toward him with a smile on her lips.

Just as they were about to touch a voice shouted, "Right!" Alice's eyes went round and suddenly Harm felt himself twisted off his feet, a moment later a girl wearing torn jeans, a black t-shirt, and a bright red bandanna tying back her hair caromed past at breakneck speed. "Sorry!" she yelled but most of it was lost to the wind. As Alice and Harm watched, Angie Alaniz kicked up onto the Forester's concrete wall, rolled along the top for ten feet and then arced off the vaguely ramp-like protrusion which concealed the mailbox. Grasping at the board with one hand "the Psychochik" laughed like a lunatic as she gracefully cleared the neighboring hedge.

"That girl is insane!" Alice blurted as she watched her friend shoot back out onto the sidewalk in front of them and grind to a halt.

"Sweet peppers," he nodded and then began to laugh, "She wants the nickname to stick I guess," Not wanting to be late, Harm pulled Alice lightly to get her walking.

Kicking the back of the board Angie grabbed it with both hands and held it above her head, cackling like a mad woman. Her reverie over, she shouted, "You guys saw! Bwahahaha! I, at last, have witnesses to the depths of my psychosis!"

"That's not a good thing Angie!" Alice countered. She had to admit it was pretty impressive though.

"Not to you, perhaps, but to the Psychochik the madness is life!"

Harm laughed, "Come on Psychochik. We're all going to be late."

Angie shrugged and hopped back on her board. Rolling slightly in front of Alice and Harm, while blithely looking backwards at them, she grinned at the way they had surreptitiously entwined their little fingers. "So," her smile made her brown eyes dance, "Are you giving out kisses to everyone today?"

"Me or Harm?" Alice asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"You. Harm. Either. Both?" she said with a hopeful inflection.

"Ew!" Alice said sticking out her tongue, "You are so weird Angie!"

"True," Angie said wistfully and then shifted her weight causing her to decelerate such that her arms ended up wrapped about Harm's neck. "Well the girlfriend is out, so I guess it's just you and me Hol-o-caust. Be gentle!" she swooned in his arms while still keeping her feet on the board.

"Urk!" Harm grunted, Angie was always a lot heavier than he expected, "Knock it off Angie!"

With a laugh she righted herself and pushed off his chest to get rolling. "No love for the Psychochik?" she pouted and then smiled. "Oh Kay! See you both at prison!" With two hard kicks she shot out into the street and caught the back bumper of a car rolling almost silently by.

"What is wrong with that girl?" Alice asked as she watched Angie slingshot past one car to another moving more quickly.

"She's insane. Remember?" Harm laughed. "Let's go. We're going to be late."

Reluctantly Alice began walking more swiftly, "That was a heck of a jump she did."

"Crazy," was all Harm had to say.

---

The hallways of Teslaville High School were the usual madness one might expect. Winding their way through them Alice and Harm just tried to ignore the petty cruelties around them. To their right another couple were holding hands and talking quietly to each other as they leaned near a window. To their left Henry Dirkov was shaking down a smaller boy for his lunch money. "Dangit Henry!" Harm cursed under his breath and took a step toward them.

Before he could get any further, Alice pulled him back next to her, "Let it go Harm. He's a Junior. He's huge. And we're late as it is," distracted by the squishing sensation of Alice's beast against his arm Harm continued walking. A clatter and shrieks of horror rose from behind them. Harm tossed a look over his shoulder and saw that Dirkov was systematically shoving the smaller boy into his locker. Harm looked at Alice, imploring her to let him do something. After a moment she released his arm, "Fine. Catch up with me after next..."

"Let him go Dirkov," William Hastings threatened as he pressed his way through the throng.

"Or what, Willy?" Dirkov turned and straightened. At his full height he fairly towered over the football player.

"Just let him go Henry," William sighed. "We all know how this goes down if you don't."

As if on cue first bell rang and the hallway began to clear, "You're lucky, Hastings!" Dirkov postured.

"Whatever you have to tell your self, Dirkov," William replied and Henry slouched away.

Harm tossed a quick salute toward William as he helped the other boy back out of the locker. William nodded in acknowledgment and then both he and the boy took off for class. "We're going to be late!" Alice hissed and they both hurried off as fast as they felt they could get away with.

---

After that the day was like any other, though the occasional brownouts did spark a lecture in History about the contributions of Nikola Tesla.

"And what would you say is Mr. Tesla's most enduring creation?" Asked Mr. Ford as the lights flickered once more.

"The Death Ray?" Walter Adams suggested from the third row.

Harm shook his head in amusement; someone always picked the Death Ray.

"I asked for his most enduring invention Mr. Adams. Not his most amusing. Mr. Dong. Most enduring invention."

"Alternating Current Electricity," Harm replied with confidence.

"Very good Mr. Dong." he scanned the room for his next victim settling on a girl in the front row, "Miss Grey. What extension of Teslian theory allows..."

Camille interrupted, "Tesla Broadcast Electricity and the Tesla Broadcast Energy Towers, more commonly called T-BET's by the populace at large are the single technological breakthrough which allows life in Teslaville to exist as it does. Where other cities still rely on fossil fuels to propel their vehicles and heat their homes, Teslaville is 100% electric. This means less pollution, superior power distribution efficiency, and less over all impact on the environment. All these things make the Tesla Broadcast Energy Tower's intrinsic to our superior way of life."

"Thank you Camille," Mr. Ford said with jut a hint of annoyance, "For reciting the text almost verbatim.

Another boy raised his hand, "But what is causing the brownout's?"

Before Mr. Ford could respond Camille jumped in once more, "Most likely it is a result of atmospheric conditions or solar activity."

"Thank you again Camille," his tone was more annoyed than before, "And what could we do to help prevent this effect?"

"Talk to Harm's dad about changing the broadcasting frequency from a single frequency to a frequency array?"

Mr. Ford pushed her, "If it was so simple why would Dr. Dong have not built the towers that way in the first place?"

Camille was stumped, "He didn't think of it?"

Reluctantly Harm raised his hand and waited till called on, "When my dad was setting up the Teslaville power relay he had a very specific amount of electricity to work with. By using a single frequency he was able to maximize the efficiency of the energy transfer and minimize costs for building the receivers. Now that it is established the city council has been reluctant to overhaul a functional system for the rare days like today. You have to keep in mind that if you change how the towers broadcast then you have to change how everything else receives. Every car, lamp, stove, clock and toy which runs on electricity would have to be modified. It's a really big thing." Apparently some of the stuff his dad had talked about had sunk in after all.

Camile twisted in her seat to look at Harm, ignoring Mr. Ford entirely, "Why couldn't you leave the current frequency alone and just add the additional frequencies in a non-interfering range? That way you could hook new things into the new system and just retrofit things as needed. For that matter if you just refitted the cars and buildings..."

"We've gotten way off topic. Camille. Harm. Thank you for the interesting discussion but why don't you save it for science or debate? We're almost out of time," The bell rang, "You can pick up your assignments on the way out. See you all tomorrow."

Harm meandered toward his locker to drop things off before lunch. As he arranged things for easy access afterward, he felt a girl's breasts suddenly press up against him from behind, "Too short to be Alice," he thought "Knock it off Ang...oh. Hi Camille," he said as he turned to face her. "Need something?" Harm found himself staring at the small girl's chest. With the way she dressed it was impossible to tell by looking but the bumps he had felt were surprisingly large.

"Sorry." she mumbled, "I got pushed into you," she lifted her books to cover her chest. "I still think that you could at least make it so the the vital city infrastructure would be less likely to go down by instituting my plan."

"Like a dog with a bone," Harm thought. Aloud he said, "Probably so. Do you have written propose..."

Camille's hand snapped out from where she held her books holding a red folder marked 'Multi-spectrum Energy Transfer'. "I hope it not too long. I double spaced it and left really wide margins for taking notes. If your dad takes notes. Does your dad take notes?" Harm nodded. Nerd lust for his father. So weird. "I think it's a good plan and I hope to work with him on enacting it. Oh. Would you give this to your father," she smiled weakly.

"Sure, Camille. No problem. How about we get to lunch?"

"Lunch? Uh. Sure," she stammered.

"You, Alice, Angie and I can all eat together."

"I usually eat with Jackson," she said quietly.

"So he can eat with us too. No problem."

Camille smiled and this time it managed to fully bloom, "OK. I'll just drop this stuff off and I'll see you there!" Harm watched as the girl practically skipped away down the hall.

Harm laughed quietly to himself as he began the long walk to lunch. His headache was starting to come back but he knew he had a few more hours before it would really get bad. "Maybe I should see the doctor," he mumbled and with a deep breath began to queue. Over the next five minutes Harm's companions trickled into the line. Shouts of 'no cutting' were voiced and ignored. Soon everyone except Alice was at the table trying to decide what kind of meat had been stuffed into the ravioli.

Jackson Case sniffed at the split pasta which hung limply on his fork, "I've never had raccoon. For some reason I imagine this is what it might smell like," he grimaced and shoved it into his mouth. Without waiting to swallow he continued his critique, "Greasy," He chewed a little more. "Yet flavorless," He swallowed and his eyes lit up, "Oh! It's a subtle meal. All after taste," he stuck out his tongue as he reached for his milk.

"Jackson!" Camille said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry, Cammy," he said somewhat abashed. Looking around he saw that he had somehow become the center of attention. "So... you guys know what you're doing over summer break?"

"My family is visiting my uncle in Los Angeles," Angie said as she carefully scraped the red sauce from one of her ravioli.

"That sounds so... uh... normal," Camille commented.

"Oh yes," the crazed glint returned to her eyes, "Plus he lives only five miles from the Los Angeles river. Last time I was there, I hit a dead body with my board!" Looks of horror passed among those assembled. "Don't worry!" She smiled toothily, "All the gunk came off! Juanita was just fine!"

"And that's it for my meal," Jackson said pushing his plate away, "Thanks Angie."

"De nada," she grinned and then skewered his remaining ravioli and ate them all.

"Careful now Porkochik!" a voice dripping with scorn drifted from behind them, "You wouldn't want to end up shaped like your big sister, or mother, or father. Come to think of it, is anyone in your family not shaped like a greasy Mexican sausage?"

"Oh jeeze!" groaned Jackson. "The itchbay is on the owlpray!"

Harm glanced up to where Wendi Hoover stood sneering at Angie's back. Wendi was in Angie's sisters class and there had been bad blood for years. Wendi was tall, blond and built the way you would expect of a cheerleader who was pretty sure that meant she was in charge of the universe. When he looked at Angie, he saw fire blazing behind her eyes. "Angie?" Harm said with a worried tone, "Don't do anything you may regret."

A smile that foretold the doom of all spread across the Psychochik's lips. Holding up a hand to assure everyone things were going to be ok, she stood up and then spun on Wendi with a vacuous smile on her face. "Wendi!" she squealed. Harm could actually hear the little heart used to dot the 'i'. "I've missed you so much!" she bounced over and glomped onto Wendi like glue. After a moment her hands began roving across Wendi's back even as she rubbed her face against the taller girl's breasts.

"Ack! Get off me you homo!" Wendi gagged as she tried unsuccessfully to extract herself from Angie's iron grasp.

"Why do you deny our love!" Angie cried with tears in her eyes, "Does this mean you no longer wish to have our baby!"

"Yes!" Wendi blurted, "Wait. No! That never happened!" in a panic she cast her eyes about the room looking for help. Fortunately for her it was then that her boyfriend William entered the room. "Will! Help! She's crazy!" In spite of her protests her nipples had become visibly aroused.

Harm watched in mute fascination along with the rest of the cafeteria. "That's pretty hot," Jackson commented. Harm just nodded vacantly. He was pretty sure he shouldn't be enjoying this as much as he was.

Moments later William pulled Angie off of his girlfriend by the simple expedient of lifting her by the shoulders. When he sat her down she spun on him and then locked her arms around his waist, "Will! How are you!"

Will shook his head in wonder, "Just fine Angie. What were you doing to Wendi?"

"Reminding her what good friends we are?"

"Wendi was being a bitch," Camille interjected out of nowhere. Harm and Jackson stared at her as if she was speaking in tongues.

Patting Angie on the head in attempt to free himself William turned to Wendi and asked, "What did you do?"

"Me?! This crazy lesbian spic jumps me in front of the whole school and it's MY fault somehow! Ahhhh! This is just so..." in a huff she stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Wendi, wait," William said as he tried to follow but found his movement impeded by Angie's body lock. "Uh, Angie? Could you let me go?"

Angie was oblivious to his request, caught up as she was rubbing her face against his chest, "You are very firm." she mewled happily.

"Harm?" William implored, close to panic.

"Wendi was insulting her family. Camille is right. She was being a Queen Bee."

William nodded, "I kinda figured but I still need to go after her. Can you give me a hand?" he nodded down at the girl as she performed one half of a slow dance.

"Hey. Psychochik. Wendi left her tray. If you want, you can have it."

"Sweet!" Angie said releasing William without another thought and grabbing the tray. "Hey! Gum! And it's already soft!"

William hurried off after Wendi, while Angie busied herself with the new tray of food. "Sitting with you guys is a whole new experience Harm," Jackson said with a grin.

"Yeah. Things would have been even stranger if Alice was here."

"And speak of the devil," Jackson quipped and nodded toward the door. "Whoa."

Turning in his seat Harm was disturbed to see his normally vivacious girlfriend looking wan. Immediately Harm moved to her side, "You Ok Alice?"

"Yeah, I just don't feel very good. I may have a virus so don't get too close," she smiled weakly.

Harm reached out and hugged her, "There isn't anything you could give me that I would..."

"No touching!" shouted Mr. Edison from his perch.

Harm looked at him in disbelief, "Where the heck was he when Angie was groping Wendi?"

"Molesting Wendi! Thank you very much," Angie added from her seat.

Camille rolled her eyes, and let out a huff of irritation, "He was gawking like the rest of you."

Angie grinned, "Thank you! I'll be here all week!" she blew a bubble till it popped.

"It's ok Harm," she coughed into her hand, "I'm not really supposed to be in here but I wanted you to know I was going home early."

Harm was worried, Alice hated missing school, "You must feel pretty bad," She nodded. "Alright. When I get done with school I'll come over and help you feel better."

"That's sweet Harm. I doubt my mom will let you in but I appreciate the thought," she stroked his face and Harm felt a tingle of electricity run though his body. Alice was so awesome!

"I'll see you after school," he said in an assuring tone, "Do you want me to walk you back to the office?"

"Yeah, but we shouldn't. They think I'm just getting my things so I can wait for my mom in the Nurse's station."

"Are you sure? You really don't look good."

"Just what I want to hear from my boyfriend," she joked but the coughing fit which followed killed most of the humor. "I should go," she looked at him hopefully, "I'll see you later then?"

"Absolutely," Harm said with finality, "Even if I have to stand outside your window and throw rocks."

"Careful Mr. Pitcher, my dad won't like it if you break my window again," As Harm looked into her sweet face there was a dullness to her eyes he had never seen before. His stomach flipped with worry.

"I'll be careful," he said quietly and took her hand. A moment passed between them and then Alice began to slowly make her way out of the lunchroom. Fighting the urge to go after her Harm sat back down at the table.

"You aren't going with her?" Camille asked; she looked worried as well.

"She said I shouldn't," Harm replied still watching her almost stagger out of the room. With preternatural speed Harm managed to block a kick headed straight for his ribs. "Angie! What the heck are you doing?"

"Whoa," Angie boggled, "That was awesome. How did you block that?" Harm shrugged. "Oh, yeah. You used to get in all those weird fights, didn't you?"

"Why were you trying to kick me in the first place?"

"I think it was a subtle hint to go and help Alice regardless of what she says," Jackson said dryly.

"Oh. Yeah," Harm stood up and took a step from the table and then turned back to Jackson, "Thanks. Oh, and nowhere," Jackson squinted at him with a confused expression. "Summer Break. My family always stays in Teslaville."

"Will you just go already? We need to talk about you behind your back and you are making it very difficult!" Angie said hotly. Harm wasn't sure if she was kidding or not but he wasted no more time going after Alice.

This was turning out to be a less good day than he had hoped.

---

When William caught up to Wendi she was sorting through her locker looking for something. "What do YOU want?" she said coldly.

"Give me a break Wendi. You ride the Alanis' every chance you get and unlike Maria, Angie rides back. Can't you just let it go?"

"If this is you trying to make up for acting like a jerk in there you are doing a terrible job."

Will rolled his eyes and stepped closer to her, "I'm sorry I presumed you were at fault. Angie rubbing on you like that was totally out of line," Wendi got a far away look in her eyes and a flush of red colored her cheeks. "You Ok Wend..." was all he managed before she nearly knocked him to the floor with a kiss. The assault on his lips was relentless. When he finally managed to catch a breath, he gasped "What has gotten into you!"

In response Wendi began stroking the bulge in his pants and then led him off to somewhere more private.

---

Harm waved goodbye to Alice as her mother drove her home, "I hope she's OK," he fretted and then took off for his next class. He'd have a tardy but he was glad he had stayed with Alice anyway.

The day wore on as usual, though it seemed much longer as he worried about Alice. In spite of his distracted state Harm couldn't help but notice other students looking ill. Coughing became more and more common place and it began to look like there might be an epidemic spreading through the school. With the exception of his headache Harm felt fine. Thank god for small favors.

As Harm threaded his way toward his second to last class of the day he found himself flanked by Camille and Angie. "You feeling ok?" Camille asked.

"Yeah. Why?" he asked warily.

"I've been looking into the spread of this disease."

"OK."

"And near as I can tell Alice is probably patient zero."

Harm shook his head in disbelief, "What are you basing this on?"

"Classes she attended early in the day have the largest number of people complaining of symptoms and it seems to just be following her around," Camille said blithely. Harm stared at her, this wasn't the kind of information she could just compile by herself. "I snuck into the nurses office and checked her charts. Alice was first then about an hour later others started trickling in."

Harm nodded and felt even more ill, "Why are you here Angie?"

"I have been asking myself that all day," she huffed and then thought for a moment, "Because I can't find Wendi?"

"What?" Harm and Camille chorused.

"I can't torment her if she isn't here. Duh."

"Oh. OK," Harm acknowledged.

"Plus I want to motorboat her boobs!" her crazy grin returned, "Have you guys touched them? They're awesome!" Camille and Harm exchanged a look and agreed silently to just let it go. When he looked back toward Angie she had moved to a window and was staring at the sky along with half the student body. "What in the world? Guys! Check this out!"

"That isn't possible," Camille said, shielding her eyes. There shouldn't be a total solar eclipse here for years," Yet as they watched the sun gave way to the moon and an eerie twilight fell over Teslaville. There was something unsettling about the eclipse. Everyone stood waiting for it to pass but after almost two minutes the diamond ring still had not appeared. "This can't be happening," She glared at Angie, "Did you spike my drink with something?"

"Shut up a second," Angie said seriously, "What is that sound?"

It was at that moment that the school's lights failed. After thirty seconds it became clear the backups were not functioning either. Harm's stomach felt tingly. His headache was suddenly gone and he was left feeling inexplicably aroused. "I think we should get out of the hallway," Harm said firmly. "This whole thing is getting a little too weird," It was then that the screaming began.

Down the corridor toward the office streamed a panicked herd of teenagers. For a moment Harm considered trying to stop them but the fear on their faces told of that plans inevitable failure. Instead he pushed Angie and Camille into a nook formed by lockers and then protected them with his own body. Soon the wave had passed and only the slower students trickled by, though their fear was no less obvious. Realizing he needed more information Harm stepped out with the intent of stopping one of the stragglers and questioning them. Before he could do so the answer to his question presented itself.

Shambling down the hall at a disturbingly random velocity was one of the students. His skin was badly burned and Harm immediately recognized them as electrical in origin. With as bad as the burns looked he should have been dead or at least unconscious. He certainly shouldn't have been shooting electricity from his eyes and hands. That wasn't normal! The utter ridiculousness of the situation left him stunned, watching as the tendrils of electricity crept closer. A stray bolt caught a girl who had fallen behind the pack in the leg. As soon she she went down the electro-thing leapt upon her supine form. The girl screamed as electricity began flowing in and out of her leaving angry burns in their wake. As she screamed the creature bent near her face and a flow of electricity fed from her into him. Her body convulsed as the torrent of electricity increased and then she became completely still.

Watching the girl die in front of him seemed utterly unreal. He turned to where he had left Angie and Camille but found them gone. Was this a dream? That seemed more plausible than it actually happening. Turning away from the carnage Harm closed his eyes and willed the monster away. When he opened them Angie was charging at him with a fire extinguisher clutched in both hands, screaming like a banshee.

In the blink of an eye Angie tore past him, forcing him to wheel in place to avoid her. Without hesitation she ran right up to the electrified student and cracked him in the head with the Class C extinguisher, knocking him away from the girl. She let out a yelp as a current ran through the extinguisher but she managed to hold on.

From behind him he heard Camille yelling, "What are you doing? Don't hit him with it! Spray! Spray!" the edge of panic running through her voice was unmistakable and at last that shook Harm loose of his daze.

"Angie! Pass and clear!" he shouted and with characteristic alacrity she tossed him the extinguisher and then took off at a dead run the opposite direction making it to a corner before Harm had prepped the canister. As soon as she was away, Harm began hosing down the creature with non-conductive foam. Lightning and sparks fired from anywhere not covered but with an efficiency learned in his father's lab Harm quickly coated the student and watched as he slowed and eventually went still beneath it. "How did you know?" he said turning to Camille who had moved next to him.

"It was the only thing I could think of," she said vacantly, "Are they dead?" she swallowed hard trying not to throw up.

"I think so," Harm said gravely, "We should get Angie and try to find out what happened."

"Yeah. OK," she replied still staring at the bodies, "I wonder who he was, Oh god Jackson!"

Harm rested a hand on her shoulder and was momentarily struck by how pretty her eyes were when not concealed behind glasses, "It wasn't Jackson, Camille."

"I know!" she said near tears, "but I don't know where he is! We have to find him!"

Harm nodded and looked around, a light flicked past the corner Angie had taken, "An arc welder?" he mumbled and Camille followed his eye.

As recognition dawned for both of them Angie came running around the corner and slid on the tile into the far wall, hard. Scrambling to her feet she began to scream incoherently, without further pause she charged down the hall toward them with no signs of slowing.

The look of blind terror in Angie's eyes was all it took to get the other two motivated. "Angie! How many!" Harm huffed while trying to help Camille keep up. "If we can get enough extinguishers..."

"No!" was all Angie could gasp through her tears.

---

"We really shouldn't have done that," Will said seriously but his grin betrayed him. "It was awesome though."

"Yeah,it was great," Wendi said distractedly, "Why is it so dark in here?"

"The lights are off?"

Wendi rolled her eyes, "I know THAT, but they leave the top window shades open unless it needs to be dark in the auditorium for some reason," She stood up and looked over the top of the orchestra pit where they had secreted themselves. "And those lights should be on," she pointed toward the doors.

Will laughed, "How do you know so much about this place?"

"Uh. I've spent quite a bit of time in here," she said evasively and then fumbled around in her pile of things on the floor for her watch. "I didn't hear the bell for next class and what is that smell?"

Will finally regained his ability to focus and joined her at the edge of the pit. "Wendi, get your things on. That smells like an electrical fire," as quick as they were able they threw on the rest of their clothes and made their way to a side door to the auditorium. Will felt the door to make sure it wasn't hot and then pushed the heavy steel door open for his girlfriend. Without further ado Wendi rushed out into the hall and was immediately slammed into by something moving very quickly.

---

Images stabbed at Angie's mind and robbed her of control. It made her want to scream. The fact that she had screamed her throat raw didn't seem to register.

When she had gone around the corner she had found the hallway toward the offices deserted. Certain Harm could handle a single crazed monster, she move blithely toward the office. As she neared it, the smell of o-zone intensified. Looking in the wire reinforced window she had seen bodies littering the floor and more creatures like the one see had just hit.

Unlike the faceless boy these she recognized. Mr.Edison, Principal Farnsworth, Nurse Curry were all shambling about within and as they moved the bodies of the students and faculty who had fallen around them would shake and convulse. Then she saw one of the dead begin to rise and arcs of electricity began to chase about it. As she watched, those that had fallen all began to clamor to their feet, the electricity baked their flesh and the smell of burned meat turned her stomach.

She wasn't sure when she had started crying but the moment she screamed she knew. As one, ten sets of eyes burning with an intense blue light turned on her and began moving her way. The teacher's faces haunted her but the students faces were blank to her memory and all the more horrifying for it. Angie had always considered herself to be above worrying about a little thing like dying. If you live in fear of death then you never really live, had long been her philosophy. This was something different. The idea of becoming one of these things scared her so deeply that her legs were running before her mind registered it.

When she slid into the wall and saw Harm and Camille still alive, the faintest hope began to grow. If they could just get away. More running. Yes. That was the thing to do. With the singular goal of getting away from what she had seen Angie barreled down the hall next to the auditorium. Something rushed out into her path. There was no time to stop. No time to even slow down. They had her. Why did it have to end like this?

---

Harm paused to let Camille catch up with him. A moment later she reached him clutching at the stitch in her side. "We need to keep moving," he said quietly and without anger.

"Can't run anymore," she gasped. "Leave me. I'll find Jackson. Myself."

"We stick together. I would never have thought of that fire extinguisher thing. We need you."

"but..." He didn't let her finish.

"No. We will try and find Jackson but in all likelihood he got caught up in the panic and is long gone. We'll walk. Let's go. We cant let Angie get too far ahead," Gritting her teeth Camille began walking at the swift pace set by Harm. "Right now we just need to get out of here but we have to get Angie first. What the heck scared her like that?"

When they turned the last corner they had seen Angie take they were met with a curious sight; Angie was clutching desperately to Wendi and shaking violently with fear. Meanwhile Wendi was carefully wrapping bandages made of Will's t-shirt around the burns on Angie's hands. "Harm!" Will called from where he was keeping watch. Harm felt a wave of relief seeing someone else. "What the heck is going on?", more quietly he added, "Is Angie on drugs or something? Her hands..."

"What happened to her?" Wendi said with heat that was familiar though the cause was most curious. "How did her hands get burned like this?"

"The school is being overrun by electro-zombies," Camille said without thinking, and then considered her statement, "I've only seen the one but Angie must have seen more. The one we fought did that to her hands," Harm nodded confirmation.

"Electro-zombies?" Will said in shock. "Whatever. The burns are pretty bad. We should take her to the nurse."

Angie began thrashing about trying to get away. Wendi held her tight and whispered soothing lies into her ear. When Angie stopped trying to flee Wendi looked at Will and then at Harm, the fear, concern and compassion in her eyes at that moment seemed so out of character. "Shop," Harm said almost to himself.

"What?" Will asked.

"We need to get to the shop. They have first aid kits and fire extinguishers and other stuff for us to use to defend ourselves. We stock up. Get Angie bandaged as best we can and then head for my house."

"Why your house?" Wendi said in a tone more like what he would expect.

"Because my dad's lab is basically a fortress and it's loaded down with weapons. Even the stuff that isn't weapons tend to act like weapons," he nodded his head as certainty of his plan began to cement, "Plus he works with electricity all the time. If he's there he WILL be able to help us."

"What about Jackson?" Camille whimpered.

Harm turned and took her by both shoulders, "We don't know where he is. We cant just wander around randomly looking or him. We'll keep an eye out for him or anyone else that isn't a ... uh... electro-zombie but we have to get going. Now."

As stealthily as they were able the five of them quickly wound their way down the hall. Thankfully the shop proper proved deserted. "What now?" Will asked trying to keep the fear from his voice. All eyes turned to Harm.

Pressing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger to ward off a new headache he tried to get down to business. "Will. We need anything we can easily carry to fight these things, if we have to. Take Camille with you. She seems to have a better idea how these thing may work than the rest of us," with a little coaxing Will managed to get Camille focused on helping them survive rather than her best friend. "Wendi. See if you can find the first aid kit and tend to Angie's hands."

For a moment the look of queen cheerleader returned and it seemed as if she would object, when her eyes drifted to Angie however the resistance faded, "Ok. What are you going to do?"

Harm looked at the door, "We're going to need more fire extinguishers," They shared a nod and both got to work.

---

Ten minutes later the situation seemed less dire. Angie had partially recovered her wits and her hands had been treated with burn cream and wrapped in gauze. She would still burst into tears at seemingly random moments but she was no longer a wild animal. Camille and Will managed to find some wrenches and wrap them in electrical tape. Will had even cobbled together a makeshift spear. "Where's Harm?" William asked in hushed tones. Angie shuddered in the grip of crying fit, clutching to Wendi like a frightened child. Surprisingly Wendi didn't seem to mind. "Things are still quiet and we have our stuff."

Wendi absently stroked the smaller girl's hair, "He went off to find more fire extinguishers."

"What! Why did you let him do that!" Will responded hotly. "Now we have no way of knowing... When did he leave?"

"Maybe two minutes after you disappeared into the shop," Angie clutched at her more tightly, "It's OK. We're going to all be OK," she cooed.

Camille seemed to reach a decision and spoke up, "If he's been gone that long then we have to presume the EZ's got him."

"EZ's?" Wendi asked distractedly.

"Electro-zombies. EZ's. It was Will's idea."

"Whatever," Wendi said dismissively, this was all just a huge distraction from the plan, "We can't leave without Harm."

Will stepped in, "Yes we can and we're going to. I know where Harm lives. We head there and with a little luck he'll make it. We can't wait."

"It's OK sweetie," Wendi whispered as she carefully unclasped Angie's hands from about her and stood up, she was glad she was wearing her high wedges, it let her almost look William in the eye, "Harm's father is a genius. If his lab is as impregnable as Harm seems to think, then without him I doubt we can even get inside. Harm will be back. Just give him time," she sat back down and Angie grasped a hold of her again. "If we don't have Harm then we should just stay here."

"At the center of the EZ hoard?" Will said with exasperation, "That's got to be the dumbest..."

"She may be right," Camille said as she surreptitiously peeked out the small window they had covered with a greasy shop towel. "They haven't found us here yet. Once they," she choked and took a moment to collect herself, "Once they consume everything here they would logically move out from this point to find more sustenance. If we wait long enough this place should be clear," Will looked unconvinced. "It's like a fairy ring."

"A what?"

"Those rings of mushrooms you sometimes get in your yard that start small and then spread out in a widening ring," Wendi and Will nodded in understanding, "That happens because they eat everything in one spot and then dump spores and move out. The center is depleted so it doesn't get any new mushrooms. We're at the center of the ring."

"What do we do for food then?" Will asked prudently.

Wendi interjected, "Odds are Mr. Edison has some kind of food stashed in here," at the mention of Mr. Edison Angie began shaking, "Poor baby," Wendi said and held her more tightly, "We have water. If Harm doesn't come back we find what we can to eat in here and then wait as long as we can before heading to the cafeteria or maybe Home Ec for supplies. With luck by that time everything will have resolved itself," Will and Camille gaped at her. "What?"

"It's just that's..." Will trailed off.

"Yeah, it's a good plan," the disbelief in Camille's voice was clear.

"Nice. I may be a bitch but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot," she held Angie a little tighter, "I normally have other things on my mind is all."

"She's right," Harm said as he walked into the shop office looking a bit the worse for wear and bearing two large fire extinguishers.

"How?" asked Will looking at the door they had been watching.

"I circled around and came in the back."

"Oh my god Harm!" Camille rushed over to him and moved his shirt to the side revealing a nasty electrical burn, "We need to take care of this."

"No time," he handed Will one of the extinguishers, " I tried to get a third one and got caught. They zapped me but I used the third extinguisher to stop them. You get this on them they start to get weaker and they seem unwilling to pass through a field of it on the ground either," He sighed. "But they know I'm here so eventually..." he trailed off. "Sorry."

Angie's eyes got even bigger, "Coming?" she whimpered. Wendi held Angie's head and comforted her.

"Yeah. I slowed them down but there are still more getting up. We have to go. Get your stuff."

---

Exiting through the garage doors they found their path unobstructed and soon made their way into the streets of Teslaville. Once moving again Angie began coming back to herself but her wild eyes and jumpy demeanor contrasted completely with the girl Harm had known most of his life. Camille was only slightly better off and even Will looked near the breaking point after he was forced to hop-scotch through the burned bodies that were just laying in the street, waiting to rise. Wendi, on the other hand, was proving to be a rock. Maybe taking care of Angie was helping her stay grounded. Things were not going at all the way he would have predicted if asked to guess about this a week ago. The way was nearly deserted save the skeletal remains of electric cars littering the streets and the occasional body here or there. Harm wanted to scream but he knew if he lost it the others would never make it out.

"OK," He said aloud to himself, "Once we get off DiVinci Avenue we can take Popeil Lane, check on Alice and then it's just around the block to my house."

"What?" Camille said, stopping abruptly, "We aren't stopping to check on Alice."

"Of course we are. That was the plan," he didn't pause or stop looking for the telltale flashes which proceeded the electro-zomies.

"No," Camille said firmly, "The plan was to get to your dad's lab and figure out how to survive this!"

Harm turned, "Well, we're getting Alice."

"She started this!" Camille shouted. "We are not going to try and rescue Typhoid Mary but leave Jackson just... alone!"

"Shut up!" Harm barked trying to keep his voice down, "We have no idea where he is. We know exactly where she is and it's on the way. We. Are. Checking. On. Alice."

"You bastard! You think that just because you care about someone that makes them more important than someone I care about!" Camille turned and began walking back toward the school.

"Camille!" Will shouted, "Don't do this! We have to stick together."

"Will you all keep it down!" Wendi hissed. Angie was crying again. "Camille! If you want to kill yourself do it in a way that won't let them bring you back! Harm we... are... Oh god!" As one they followed her gaze and saw down a side street the telltale flickering.

"We have to hide!" Harm ordered, "Camille we need you! We'll discuss it after we aren't dead."

Camille looked back toward the school, then at Harm and then at the rapidly intensifying light. Squinting at the still eclipsed sun she nodded and hurried with them to find place to hide.

Running through the streets the full reality of the situation hit home. Though never discussed, they had all expected to find others like them, desperately trying to survive, but the more time that passed the more obvious it became that they were on their own. The zombie's were getting harder and harder to avoid as their numbers swelled. Harm was beginning to question if even his dad could help them. The whole town seemed to have been infected. As they crept past Duryea Bros. Garage and Towing Camille suddenly got excited and called them all back. "In here!" she said not waiting for anyone to object.

"Camille!" Harm hissed but she was already gone. Grumbling under his breath Harm directed the remainder to follow her into the garage.

Though it took longer than Harm would have expected they soon found Camille studying a pegboard covered with keys. "Where is it?" she mumbled, "Where is it?"

"What are you doing Camille?" Will asked. Meanwhile Harm started looking over the shop for equipment to improve their arsenal. Angie and Wendi say down and the blond began checking the younger girls wounds.

"This place does towing," Camille said distractedly.

"So?" Will rejoined.

"So they probably have a guzzler tow truck which won't be tied to the messed up power relay and if we can get our hands on it then we can just drive away without having to worry about the T-BET's range," she looked at him and shrugged, "If nothing else we can get to Harm's place faster."

"Harm," Wendi said quietly as she closed in behind him, "I think Angie is starting to run a fever. We need to get her real help."

Harm turned on her with a look of confusion on his face, "Why do you care so much all of a sudden? You always hated her."

"I did not," she defended. Harm just stared at her. "Fine, I tormented her," she admitted, "But that was... That was before she got hurt. She's so scared, Harm. We have to help her."

"Fine," he didn't have time to help her work through her own motivations. "Check the office. If this place is up to code they'll have a first aid kit and burn trauma kit prominently displayed."

'Really?" Wendi looked genuinely surprised.

"They work with electric cars. You have to be careful." Wendi nodded and turned to make her way back to Angie. Before she made it a step Harm touched her on the arm, drawing her attention back to him. "Any idea what scared her so bad?" Seeing Angie jump at every little things was tearing Harm apart.

Wendi pressed her lips into a tight line. It was obvious that whatever she suspected she did not want to give voice. Harm waited patiently for her to decide if she would share or not. "I think..." Wendi trailed off, dropping her head and trying to suppress a shudder, "When she first ran into me, in the hall, she kept saying hermana over and over," Wendi shifted uncomfortably, "At first I thought she was calling me sister. I mean she was completely out of her mind!" a half-crazed laugh escaped her lips before she could stifle it. She glanced back toward Angie where the younger girl sat in a stupor, glad she did not seem to have noticed her outburst. "Only I don't think that was it. I think she saw something happen to Maria," Wendi turned green, "God. I was so mean to both of them! Why do I have to be like that! I mean Maria and I were friends and now..." tears began to flow.

"Wendi!" Harm snapped grabbing her by the shoulders roughly. "You and I are the only ones keeping it together! Please, don't lose it now. I need you to take care of Angie. I can not do this on my own."

"OK," she nodded as she snuffled back her tears, "I'm going to see what I can do for Angie's hands," Leaving Harm to continue his search, Wendi carefully lead Angie into the office and closed the door quietly behind them.

---

Fifteen minutes later Harm sat atop a tool chest staring out the window into the street. Angie and Wendi were still in the office and Will and Camille had ventured out into the lot to find the guzzler truck Camille had fixated on. "We would have been at my place by now," he breathed as he watched a handful of zombie's pass by a couple blocks away with their disturbing gait. Looking down Harm realized he had run out of electrical tape again. Opening a new package he started wrapping another of the over sized sockets he had found. Once he finished wrapping it he tossed it in the air a few times to get the balance, "Yeah. I can throw this," he nodded to himself. "Sure do wish I had a bat though."

"...because it just isn't here. That's why. Now keep your voice down!" William said with barely restrained anger.

"It has to be here!" Camille objected, "I found the keys! It's here, we just have to find it."

"We are not going to the outer lot to look for something which probably isn't here anyway," Will countered.

"What's it look like out there?" Harm asked nervously as he put the last of the sockets in the satchel he had scrounged.

"Not good," Will said sourly, "It was getting to point where I was seeing zombie sign every time I looked up. We need to get out of here and to your place."

"It's going to be tricky," Harm said tossing a glance back toward the window, "There are a lot more of them now than there were when you left."

"I noticed. Where are the girls?" Will asked casting an eye about for them. "I should probably make sure Wendi is doing ok."

"Still in the office."

"Still? Doesn't that seem a little long to..."

"Eureka!" Camille cried. Both boys turned and emphatically hushed her. "Sorry," she whispered, "I was so fixated on the guzzler I didn't think to check for a car with batteries," Harm and Will just waited for her to explain. "Think about it! The T-BET's are down or malfunctioning so most cars won't work cause they don't have any power. This," she gestured to the car in front of her, "Uses the T-BET's most of the time but has batteries for when you go outside their range."

Harm smiled as he started to see the plan, "If we can get this going then we should be able to drive and it won't be nearly so loud."

"Yes!" Camille jumped for joy.

"Why is it here though?" Will asked eying the car.

"It's probably just some minor mechanical problem," she opened the door and hopped inside. "I'll check the diagnostic and see what it says."

Harm glanced around and found a pair of insulated gloves, "Hold on Camille. If it's in here then you should wear these."

"Oh come on Harm!" Camille scoffed, "I'm just pushing a button or two."

"Yeah, Harm. Calm down. Just let her work," Will interjected.

"Doesn't seem to be anything wrong according to the diagnostic. Let me see if it starts."

"Hold on!" Harm stepped up to hand her the gloves, placing his hand on the top of the car. "Here. Take these."

Camille rolled her eyes and blithely pushed the button to start the car.

Harm felt more than saw or heard the batteries discharge into her, he was thrown back in a tangle and his right hand was badly burned. "Shit!" William swore and hurried first to check on Camille and then on Harm.

"Harm! Harm!" he shouted, "Are you ok?"

The world seemed muted, Harm's eyes and ears didn't want to work right. He suddenly realized Will had asked him a question and he indicated in the negative. He most definitely not all right. "Camille?" he slurred.

Will shuddered and shook is head, "No she... she 's gone."

"Dangit!" Harm cursed and pulled away from Will jerkily. He felt weird. A tingling sensation tickled at his skin and his mind was going a thousand miles an hour with absolutely no direction. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" he screamed in frustration.

"Dude!" Will snapped in fear.

Harm realized his error and gestured for Will to check one side while he checked the other. Both hurried to their positions.

Zombie sign was every where. Leaning a hand against the corrugated steel of the garage wall Harm felt the strange tingling intensify. Pulling his hand away he saw several small arcs of electricity pass back and forth. "No!" he whispered. Looking at his palm he saw that the burns were mostly cosmetic. With as much amperage had hit him he probably shouldn't even have been able to use that hand but as feeling came back he found it was just a bit sore. Turning around he found Will waiting with a large insulated wrench at the ready. "What are you doing Will?"

"I saw," he said through clenched teeth "you're infected. Just let me finish you quick before you fully turn."

Harm searched his mind. He didn't feel infected. At least he didn't think he did. "Will. Look at me. I'm fine. I don't know what that was but I'm not infected," Will took a swing which Harm easily ducked. "Will! I'm talking. I'm lucid! I'm not infected!"

"No more stupid chances!" Will shouted as he caught Harm in the mid section on the reverse stroke of a wild swing.

Backing away Harm coughed and gasped for air, "Will! Knock it off man! We don't have time for this. They are on their way! We need to get the girls and run for it while we still can!" as he spoke he slowly fished a socket out of the satchel.

Circling to get a better angle Will switched his weapon from one hand to the other, "That's the plan. You just aren't part of it."

A sudden crack of electricity went off behind William, temporarily blinding Harm. For a moment he figured it was over only the final blow never fell. Instead he heard the sound of a struggle and more yelling. When his vision cleared Harm saw little Camille winning a wrestling match with the football player. Will had managed to get his hands on a fire extinguisher at some point during the struggle but he was unable to use it effectively. Thinking fast Harm grabbed another extinguisher to spray them both. As he did an arc played on he surface of Will's canister for a moment too long and it detonated, knocking Harm backwards and stunning him yet again.

When Harm could once again move he struggled to pull himself to his feet. The room was irregularly covered in a thin white coating of foam. Staggering to where Will and Camille lay he found them still and lifeless. A quick glance around showed the familiar strobe effect playing on the now frosted glass from just outside. Still dazed he stumbled to the office door to get Wendi and Angie. They had to make a run for it right now or it was all over. Deep down he knew it was already too late. "I have to get to Alice," he thought aloud as he opened the door. "I promised!"

Inside he found Angie and Wendi locked together in an intimate embrace. Harm stared slack jaw for a moment trying to decide if he was actually seeing this or if it was the concussion. "Angie?" he said in confusion even as they continued to kiss.

At the sound of his voice Angie broke the kiss and Wendi slumped lifelessly in her arms, "No!" Harm gasped as the previously suppressed electricity arced around her. Spinning, Harm tried to run but instead found himself falling to his knees. For a moment he was unsure why he couldn't move and then the smell of burned flesh and ozone at last reached his brain. He tried to rise but his body refused to obey. The world began going dim and he pitched forward to the floor. "Alice," he breathed out, never to inhale.

~End