"Panic spreads faster than infection and hits harder when it's someone you know."
"EVACUATE."
The intercom crackled as the last word echoed through the hollow halls of the school. Silence lasted only a second then came the chaos.
Screams erupted from every corner. Chairs scraped. Doors slammed. Footsteps pounded like a stampede as students surged from classrooms, sprinting in every direction.
Aarav froze for a heartbeat. Then instinct kicked in."Bags. Class!"
"Sports room," Kabir shouted, already veering off toward the athletics wing. "Might find something useful!"
"Be fast!" Aarav yelled after him.
Naro and Aarav darted through the corridor, dodging bodies and flailing arms. The air was hot with panic, like the building itself had begun to suffocate. Lockers were thrown open, books spilled like confetti across the floor. A student tripped and crawled away from a slamming door. Screams continued, raw and animal.
As they reached the hallway outside their classroom, the sharp, wet sound of tearing flesh pierced through the noise.
Aarav's breath caught.
Their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Sharma, was on the ground—arms raised weakly—while a student, face soaked in blood, bit down hard into her shoulder. Blood sprayed across the tiles like paint.
"Oh god" Naro choked, stumbling backward.
The teacher's scream gurgled into silence.
Naro slipped, fell hard on his side, scraping his elbow. "Aarav!" he cried, but couldn't move fast enough.
Aarav reached down, grabbed Naro's arm, trying to pull him up—but the panic had become a tide. Other students, blind with terror, crashed into them. Aarav lost grip and was knocked to the floor.
Then came the growl.
The infected student, face twisted and jaw slick with blood, turned towards them. For a moment it was eerily still. Its eyes—bloodshot, unnatural—twitched erratically. Then it lunged.
[1]
Aarav kicked out, his foot slamming into its chest and sending it rolling back across the floor. But it didn't stay down. It scrambled back to its feet, arms jerking like a broken puppet, and charged again.
A silver flash cracked across the hallway metal against flesh.
The infected collapsed mid-sprint, a deep thud echoing from the impact.
Kabir stood a few feet away, breathing hard, blood splattered across his cheek. In one hand was a cricket bat slick with red. In the other, he held a javelin.
"Catch," Kabir said, tossing the javelin to Aarav. "We're gonna need this."
Aarav caught it, hands shaking.
"We need to go. Forget the bags," Naro gasped, pulling himself up. "Forget everything!"
Before Aarav could respond, Mrs. Sharma groaned.
They turned to see her rise slowly arms stiff, mouth gaping unnaturally wide, eyes lifeless.
Kabir cursed. "She's turned."
Without hesitation, she lunged at them faster than anyone should have moved in her state.
Aarav raised the javelin and rammed the blunt end into her midsection, sending her stumbling back.
"Run!" Aarav shouted.
They sprinted toward the back exit, ducking under shattered windows and overturned benches. Other infected students had begun pouring in from the classrooms, some dragging their limbs, others sprinting like predators. The air stank of blood, sweat, and something foul and chemical.
Aarav led, swinging the javelin like a staff to knock away any that got close. Kabir followed close behind with his bat, while Naro clutching his scraped arm zigzagged to avoid the chaos.
They reached the back stairwell just as a group of infected burst in through the main doors behind them. Kabir slammed the stairwell door shut with all his strength.
They burst into the back field and froze.
It was a scene from a nightmare.
[2]
Dozens of students ran aimlessly across the field, chased by infected, tackled mid-run, pulled down into pools of red. Blood soaked the cricket pitch. A girl near the swings screamed before vanishing under three figures. A teacher tried to fight them off with a hockey stick and failed.
"Don't look," Aarav muttered, grabbing Naro's wrist. "Just run!"
They veered left, toward the fence at the edge of the school grounds, ignoring the paved path. Kabir used the bat to smash aside a desk that had been flung across their path.
At the fence, Naro struggled to climb, wincing.
"You okay?" Aarav asked.
"Rail.....scraped me," Naro gritted his teeth. His sleeve was torn, and blood ran down from a shallow cut. "It's not a bite."
Kabir helped him over, then vaulted the fence himself. Aarav followed last, javelin clutched tightly, heart pounding.
They ran through the woods, their hill in sight through the trees.
When they reached it, they collapsed onto the rocks, gasping for breath. Wind rustled the leaves, but it couldn't calm their hearts.
Aarav looked toward the city.
The skyline was burning.
Dark smoke rose in thick columns. Sirens wailed in the distance, swallowed by the rumble of chaos. Helicopters cut through the sky, their blades loud and panicked. Drones hovered in formation like a dark swarm over the high-rises.
Kabir's voice broke the silence. "This is... bad."
Aarav didn't speak. His eyes were locked on the horizon.
Flames reflected in his pupils.
He muttered under his breath, almost to himself.
"This isn't stopping."
Naro stood beside him, brushing blood from his arm, face pale. His glasses reflected the drones above.
He whispered softly,
"It's already here."
[3]
[1] Aarav and Naro faceoff with infected student.
[2] Trio at the School's Ground.
[3] The End is here.