A Matrix Love Story

Two things I hate most in this world. Homework. And boys who compete against me.

Life, was always tough on me. First, I've been sent to this "college" in the rustic town of Kuala Pilah. The homework load was terrible. Then when I thought nothing could go any worse, he was assigned to my class. Now I have lots of homework, and a boy who competes AGAINST me to complete our homework!

Life is extremely kind to me. I hope you heard the sarcasm hidden in the sentence.

This kid, is seriously a pain in the neck. He wouldn't stop talking to me! Not in the talk-about-polite-stuff sense. He just wouldn't shut up about Arsenal FC and stuff that only people with a Y chromosome would like. Don't get too impressed. I only remembered the Arsenal thing because he wouldn't stop showing off his jersey.

Like I would be interested anyway. I AM A GIRL, DUH!

My friends keep telling me he likes me. OH MY GOD that had better not be true because you know what? I never felt anything towards him. Just two ordinary classmates, that's all. End of story.

Still, I've been feeling quite well the past week. It was the Chinese New Year holidays! Five days of glee in the shopping heaven of Kuala Lumpur. Yes. Yes. Yes yes YES!! Most importantly, I wouldn't have to see his face for five whole days.

Now that's music, to my ears. *Winks*

Usually he would pester me with his incessant text messages but I wasn't that bothered with the absence of his messages this holidays. Probably fooling around with some other girls.

But time flies. I'm now back in the college, heading to class on this devastatingly cold Monday morning. See, even Life is making it extra tough for me.

I walked into the class, late as usual. Weird, he's not here. It doesn't matter; it's better for me. :)

Suddenly, there was a frantic knock on the door, and he rushed in.

"Sorry I'm late sir."

Gosh. My personal nightmare returns. I stole a glance at him; he was looking at me intently, the cheeky smile back on his face.

The rest of the day passed by as usual. I left the classroom first, and he caught up with me. We walked all the way to our classes, went to look for the teachers and even ate together. Along the way, he couldn't seem to stop talking.

It's like being tortured in Hell. Everyday for the next eight weeks. Thank God it's not for eternity.

We were walking to our Chemistry lecture when it happened. Being extremely late for the class, I finally opted for a shortcut that required me to run across the field. I was halfway across the field when I realised he wasn't with me.

"Alvin?"

"Hey slowcoach Caroline, what's taking you so long?" He was standing in front of the lecture hall.

I was stunned. There was no way he could get there so fast. I mean, I was the one taking the shortcut and, he was still next to me twenty seconds ago. I wasn't possible; I didn't see him running or...even fly.

I frowned, but threw it to the back of my mind. He was fond of coming up with new tricks to surprise me. Bother him.

That was the start of many events.

You see, Alvin is an extreme-outdoor person. He loves soccer more than his life (I mean, he did get so many injuries and accidents while playing the sport that I flinched every time I imagined him playing) and he's the most auntie-like boy I've ever seen - once a rumour reaches his ears, you would bet it'll reach the ears of everybody in the college.

The thing is, nobody seemed to want to talk to him anymore. I was with him all the time, and nobody even gave him a glance. None of my classmates teased me about him; nor did any of my friends mention him when we were chatting. They acted like he never existed.

And nobody seemed to want to talk about him anymore. Whenever I mentioned his name, the topic would change instantly.

He started to shun company; he started to skip meals. The only thing he intensified his effort in was...his care to me.

Every night, he would have his dinner with me in the cafe in front of my dorm. He would always get a carton of milk and watch me eat. Then, as I prepared to leave, he would force me to finish that carton of milk. I pretended to be annoyed by his antics, but truly, I was touched to the core.

His hoodie, always the same one, was always in his bag. Whenever I felt cold Alvin would help me put it on. My friends were like, "It's his hoodie!!" with surprised expressions on their faces but I didn't care. Alvin...was starting to melt my heart.

As we all know, time flies. Soon, February was ending. We both received our results for our middle-of-semester-test. I got a pointer of 4.00 and he was a little behind with 3.87. It wasn't too bad, but we were having a study group consisting of the two of us nightly. All the time his gaze would not leave my face, and to tell you the truth, I was totally basking in happiness.

He gave me my first ever Valentine chocolates, and they were the sweetest chocolates I have ever tasted.

As March came creeping along, he was getting more and more protective. We were spending all our time together. Eating, studying, looking for teachers....you name it. Except for the time when I was in my room, we were never separated.

As April approached, he was always with a grimace on his face, which immediately turned into a sparkling smile whenever I look at him. It was all very mysterious, but with the final examinations looming, I didn't care much.

I was very, very, very touched with the attention he gave me, and I myself was basking in happiness each and every time we were together. When two people are in love, even silence is sweet when being together.

I never thought I would fall for him in this hell of a place. But...the attention he gave me, the adoration he has for me, they were...indescribable.

Finally, the day reached. The final paper was taken, and we were now going home. He pulled me to a side, and gave me a letter. His face was shining with tears and, without saying a word, he sprinted off.

I tried to follow but, he seemed to vanish into thin air. I stopped, and opened the letter.

There was a stack of photographs; pictures of us. Ah those happy times, wonderful to reminisce. Behind every picture, there were words of love.

"Caroline, don't forget to take more vegetables k!?"

"Carol dear, next time, please snug closer to me if you're cold..."

I couldn't stop myself from tearing up a little. There was a newspaper cutting at the bottom. I picked it up, and gasped.

Boy Killed On Journey Home.

There was a picture of him lying sprawled lifeless on the tar road, with a wrecked car next to him.

He died on the journey home from the college during the Chinese New Year holidays.

So that's why my friends ignored him. They couldn't see him at all. Only I could.

So that's why my friends refused to talk about him anymore. They were grieving.

So that's why he wouldn't walk under the sun anymore. He couldn't.

"Carol, I know you would be crying when you read this. I'm sorry I can't wipe your tears from you this time. Happiness doesn’t come easily for those who seek it; as it possesses wings and tends to fly out of our reach.

I rue the day I met with the accident, as it cost me the chance to walk down the aisle with you. I regret not listening to your advice, for if I did not speed, I wouldn’t have met with the mishap. Now I couldn’t be with you for the rest of your life, and it was all because of a moment of folly.

The play has yet to reach its end, but the lights have dimmed on our story.

Rub your tears off, dear! Be strong. Take care of yourself properly in honour of my memory. Don’t forget the milk; and get an optimistic outlook on life. If you do believe in reincarnation, then I would never want to separate with you just like this.

If there is a next lifetime for us, I hope for me to be your Guardian Angel once again. I want you to know I would be waiting for you for all eternity. Forever and ever.

I just came back to spend the last eight weeks with you. It was seriously the most genuine eight weeks of my life, and I hope it was a part of your best memories too."

All I could do was to hug my knees and sob.

Devil's Playground @ NSMC

Fung Sheng Fatt is nineteen years old. He studies in the “prestigious” Negeri Sembilan Matriculation College for “brainy” students. Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Besides that, he is a member of the student council. Now that’s cool. I mean, twenty nineteen-year-olds being representatives of two thousand teenagers living away from home? Wow.

Now, it so happened that the student council, being aware of the general inability of the students to take care of themselves properly without the chaperoning of their parents, organized a “Love Yourself” programme, designed to give the students awareness on taking care of themselves properly.

The act was pretty commendable huh? Yeah, obviously. However, who was to know that the free dental checkups were part of a drug trial by the government? For those who went for the checkup, a jab (of the H4N3 virus strain that was said to give immunity against the next wave of influenza which would drastically hit South East Asia) was given to them.

Sheng Fatt, being an active member of the student council, was among the first to volunteer himself for the checkup. Positively filled with glee after receiving the jab, he was seen boasting around, describing how stronger he felt after the checkup. The rest of the day passed as usual. Class. Quiz. Homework. You get the idea.

But when the night came, and the moon rose, everything changed. My name is Sean, and I live in the college compound as well. There is a really tough, buff guy called Tilak, and he lives in the room right above mine, We are in the same lecture and we study together in the ironing room of our hostel whenever we are free.

Everything was as usual. Our discussions comprised of a wide range of topics from Biology to automobiles; from the tyrannical school rules to girls. All of a sudden, screams shattered the peaceful serenity.

That was the sign of danger.

I am a boy, and no girls were allowed in the hostel. The only time a boy would scream with such enthusiasm would be when he was caught naked by a woman, unless he woke up and saw a cockroach on the back of his hand.

But it couldn’t be, because the screams came from everywhere! Different directions, different people. There couldn’t be so many cockroaches in a place at a time. Or SNSD (the Korean pop group, anyone?) couldn’t be in our hostel.

“What the?”

“Hey bro, let me go check out what’s happening. You want milo?” Tilak asked.

“Nope, thanks. Just go find out why – “

Just then, there was a crash and someone I didn’t know stumbled into the room.

Hey, hold on, it wasn’t someone I didn’t know. It was Eiswaran, Tilak’s roommate. I couldn’t recognize him at first because….his features were so badly disfigured.

He struggled to keep himself standing. “Run….Tilak…” was all he managed to say before collapsing onto the floor. Being a first aider, I rushed to his side immediately. He wasn’t breathing anymore.

Around us, the commotion was getting louder by the second. Howls, groans, moans and other inhuman screams were deafening from every direction. Without pausing to think, the two of us sprinted to Tilak’s room.

And what we saw made our hearts freeze.

Shawn, Eiswaran’s best friend, had changed completely. Not his size though, he still was expanded horizontally as the day before. The difference was, he was pale white, with blood oozing out of his orifices. In his hand he held Eiswaran’s guinea pig, and as we watched, he stuffed the rodent into his mouth, making an inhuman growl as he did so.

We did the most sensible thing we could think of. We ran.

We rushed to the room of our warden. It was empty. Fearing the worst, we tried to look for his car keys, only to see the warden, half transformed into one of the undead zombies, staggering into the room.

He stumbled towards us, but Tilak, an accomplished archer, took the warden’s set of bow and arrow, and shot him. The arrow flew through his left eye and he collapsed.. One zombie down, two thousand more to go.

“C’mon Sean, get the car!! I’ll cover you!”

I fished the keys out from the back pocket of the warden’s tight jeans. So much for banning the wearing of jeans in the college. Around us, the zombies, it transpired, had the ability to smell humans. They rushed out from the blocks towards us, the fresh meat that had not been devoured.

As we made our way to the car, the zombies started attacking us. Their speed and strength were obviously devastating assets to them. They clawed and roared, trying to get to us, but Tilak’s arrows were equal to their attack. A shot from his bow took out three zombies at once. Awesome.

“Hurry Sean!”

“Hop in!” The engine was started but there was no clear path in front of us. We were COMPLETELY surrounded!

“Sean, step on the accelerator!”

“But…but…they were our friends,” I wailed, suppressing a sob.

“And they want to eat us now!”

A crash brought me to my senses. An arm smashed through the passenger seat window and grabbed Tilak’s bow. I stepped on the accelerator, hard. There was a great ripping sound and the arm was detached from its owner. The zombies in our path were knocked down like pins in a bowling alley.

We sped uphill, all the way to another of the boys’ hostel. As I drove past the building, a body was thrown out of the first floor window. It was Petra, a good friend of mine.

There were no zombies around us so I hit the brakes. Tilakrushed down the car and in no time at all, Petra was in the back seat of the car, moaning for painkillers.

Nothing could be done to save the rest of our friends. It was all about escaping this Devil’s playground or being turned into tasty snacks for our ‘friends’. The zombies were advancing towards us at an alarming rate. It was an alarming sight to behold.

“Sean, we have to get out of here now,” Tilak whispered.

Petra moaned, “the girls’ block. Mickey, Mickey…”

I stepped on the accelerator. It was a tad too late. There was an almighty crash and both Tilak and Petra yelled. I looked into the rearview mirror and saw a zombie standing on the boot of the car.

Lucky I watched Initial D. I turned the steering wheel as hard to my left as possible. The car drifted as if it was a Subaru AE86 and the zombie was thrown off. I sped down the road to the girls’ hostel.

There was a riot at the area. Zombies were tearing the place down, looking for fresh meat. I knew there was no hope left. Mickey couldn’t be saved, nor the rest of our friends whom we have gone through thick and thin with.

And then I heard a scream. Not the inhuman scream the zombies make, but something…hmmm…human. Once again I looked into the rearview mirror, praying I wouldn’t see the sight I saw a while ago, and what I saw surprised me.

Mickey and two of her good friends were climbing out of a drain.

I stopped to let them in.

A girl named Felicia, supporting a bloody cheek, was helped into the back seat by the two girls. The other girl, Sung Cheng, leapt into the passenger’s seat (which was vacant because Tilak was caring for Petra in the back seat).

“Are there anyone else we might be able to save?” I yelled.

The girls were crying uncontrollably. Their inaudible answers were drowned by the inhuman growls from every direction.

“Sean, GO!” Tilak shouted.

I sped away.

You know I managed to drive all the way to safety now you’ve read this story. I expect to be arrested under the Internal Security Act for whistleblowing this national secret but don’t worry, I’ve gone into hiding just like Paul the Octopus. The Malaysian government is in the process of destroying the college and the town of Kuala Pilah, just to remove all traces of this destruction, and of course, those whom we had, once upon a time, addressed as friends. And so, I’m making a correction to the beginning of the story.

Fung Sheng Fatt was nineteen years old. He studied in the Negeri Sembilan Matriculation College and was a member of the student council …until the government’s sinister plan was put down to action.