Day Zero : 9:17
The first scream cut through the college campus at 9:17 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Jake Thompson looked up from the anatomy textbook he was reading, irritation and concern flickering across his tired face.
Fourth year in medical school had trained him to ignore distractions, but a scream like that didn't sound normal. It lacked excitement, or the horror of failing an exam.
Across from him, his friend, Ryan Scott slowly lowered his laptop screen. "That didn't sound like someone failing an exam." Ryan muttered, mirroring Jake's thoughts.
"Let me go take a look." Jake said and stood up, walking to the library windows that overlooked the schools central front.
There were usually students outside, formed groups, laughing, bullying, gossiping, filming TikToks, complaining about professors.
But that was far from what Jake saw. It was chaos down there, there were few bodies on the floor.
A group of students ran past the fountain, fear twisting their faces. One girl stumbled, fell, and didn't get back up.
The a boy lunged at her. The horrid sight had Jake's breath catching in his throat, rendering him silent.
"What the hell?" Ryan said from beside him. Jake didn't even notice when Ryan got there.
"Jake.... that doesn't look normal. Right?, It can't be normal. " Ryan asked, voice shaking.
"It's not...."
The boy wasn't helping her. He was tearing into her neck.
In seconds, the girl who had been bitten, rose at a weird angle, her arms were sickenly bent, neck nearly turned off. Her skin was pale as sheet, horrifying black vein appeared under the nearly transculent skin. The two of them watched the transformation in horror.
Screams erupted everywhere.
"Jake." Ryan said sharply, his usual calm facade cracking for the first time Jake had ever heard. "We need to go. Now."
"Fuck." Jake swore as they immediately went back to their table to pack their stuffs.
"We need to get out of here Jake, we need to...the girls." Ryan said in realization and Jake looked up, mirroring his terrified expression.
"Where are they?" Jake asked.
Ryan gulped, heart slamming into his chest. "The last time I spoke with Chloe, she said they were in the studio." He replied as they walked out of the library.
The hallway was in disarray of confusion, fear and horror. They immediately scanned around, trying to spot anything unusual or abnormal, but there was nothing, just people running around in panic, probably aware of the gruesome attack going on downstairs.
"The studio..." Jake stopped, turning to face Ryan. "That's literally on the other side of the school."
The fire alarm suddenly began to blare. A scream erupted from somewhere around them, they knew in that moment, that they were no longer safe.
✧
Day Zero : 9:45am
Harris walked out of one of the stalls in the restroom and immediately went to wash his hands. He sighed and looked at himself in the mirror defeatedly, he was bored out of his mind in class.
He was contemplating whether to skip or go back to the class when there was a sudden violent disturbance from one of the stalls.
He walked closer, confused. Wondering why there was so much movement in the stalls that only contained one person.
"Hello?....Are you alright?". He asked, but there was no reply.
He was about to ask again when the door of the stall suddenly slammed open, and someone stumbled out onto the floor, thrashing and convulsing. He stared wide eyed, horrified at the sight in front of him.
The person....no, that was no person. It had ghostly white skin, black ugly veins visible everywhere on the skin.
The eyes had no pupils, it was white, the neck was snapped at an odd angle, and bloody ink-like liquid dripped down it's chin. The sight was disgusting. And the sound it was making was horrifying.
Harris immediately stepped back and clamped his hand over his mouth to prevent any sound. His form trembled as his eyes refused to leave the sight in front of him.
The unidentified being in front of him began to get up, it looked overly deformed, it's shredded clothes barely clinging to his body.
The moment it was able to stand on his shaky feet , someone barged in.
He was immediately tackled down, then there was blood, so much blood, screaming. The guy was screaming his lungs out as the thing bit into him, tearing his skin apart.
He realized too late that he was screaming too. The thing's neck snapped in Harris's direction, a sickening crack echoing in the air.
Harris stared wide eyed as it immediately stood to it's wobbly feet and lunged at him.
Harris screamed.
✧
Day Zero : 9:45 am
Emma had always believed fashion was armor. She didn't feel armored now.
She and Chloe barricaded themselves inside the design studio, immediately blocking the door with mannequins. Chloe's hands shook as she clutched a pair of scissors like a weapon.
"They were biting people." Chloe said, voice barely audible. "Emma, I saw someone get bitten and then, then they just got back up."
Emma swallowed hard. "Those things.....they didn't look normal."
"I don't think they're normal." Chloe said.
A thud hit the door.
Both girls screamed.
"Emma!" a voice shouted from the hallway. "Chloe!"
Ryan.
Emma rushed forward, shoving mannequins aside. Jake stood beside Ryan, face pale but focused, roughly disheveled, they looked like they just escaped the blood thirsty jaws of the jungle.
"Thank God." Chloe sobbed.
Jake shut the door behind them and immediately began scanning both girls. "Are you bitten?"
"No." Emma said quickly.
"Oh thank God, I'm glad you're both okay." Ryan said as he hugged Chloe, his girlfriend.
"You guys are the only one in here?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, we locked ourselves in as soon as-"
A body slammed against the door again.
Jake flinched. "Okay. That's good. That's very good."
"What's happening?" Emma demanded.
Jake hesitated. "I don't know what caused it. But the symptoms, aggression, lack of pain response, rapid deterioration, it's like nothing I've ever seen."
"... which means?" Emma urged.
Jake met his sister's eyes. "The dead aren't staying dead."
Silence swallowed the room.
✧
Day Zero : 10:00 am
James was halfway through finishing a long overdue assignment when the professor stopped teaching mid-sentence.
There was numerous shouting from the hallway, and it kept increasing by the second.
James lifted his head from his notes, eyes narrowing. His gaze locked at the entrance, wondering what was happening. "That's... not normal." He muttered to himself as he tried to dial his friend's number on his phone.
He raised his head just in time to see a student slam into the classroom door, blood streaking the glass. Someone, or something, collided with him from behind. The glass cracked.
"Everybody out the back!" the professor yelled.
Panic detonated.
James grabbed his bag on instinct, even as fear clawed up his spine.
They burst through the rear exit into an alleyway behind the science building. More screams echoed across campus.
"What is happening?" He heard someone whisper from behind him.
"Whatever it is.... it's spreading fast." someone replied.
They regrouped in the underground maintenance tunnels beneath the administration building, cold, dark, and temporarily safe.
There were only a few of them, barely up to ten. There was about 50 students in that lecture hall. Could they all be dead?. Thier professional unfortunately, didn't make it either.
James leaned against the wall, pushing his glasses up with shaking fingers.
"From a zoological standpoint, this shouldn't exist." A student James recognized as Charles said, drawing out chuckles from a few students, despite the fear in the air.
"From a medical standpoint, neither should half the things I just saw." Another student contributed to the slightly playful atmosphere to lighten up people's mood
He let out a humorless laugh.
Charles took charge without asking permission. "Okay. We don't panic. We stay together. We find food, weapons, and a way off campus."
"And if those things follow us?" A student asked.
James answered quietly. "Then we learn how to survive them."