"Stay close to me."
She nodded immediately.
The tone in his voice told her this was not a suggestion.
Behind them, Victor had just shouted about movement near the trucks, and the entire group had slowed down. Several students raised their phones and pointed their lights toward the dark spaces between the vehicles.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then a metal container somewhere behind the trucks tipped over with a loud crash.
The sound echoed across the narrow road.
Everyone froze.
A second later a low growl came from the darkness.
Not one, they were Several of them.
The first infected stepped out from between the trucks. Its shirt hung in shredded pieces and its mouth was smeared with something dark that had already dried. The creature's head twitched unnaturally as it looked toward the group.
Then more shapes appeared behind it.
Someone screamed.
The road erupted into panic.
Students shoved each other as they tried to run in different directions. Some ran toward the main path, others tried climbing over the trucks.
Victor had expected confusion.
He had not expected a swarm of infected.
"Move!" one of the security officers shouted.
But the command was useless now.
The infected rushed forward the moment the crowd started running.
Josh pulled Mira behind him.
"Don't run in the middle," he said quickly. "We'll get trampled."
A boy rushed past them and slipped on the pavement. Before he could stand, one of the infected jumped onto him. Its teeth tore into his neck while he screamed and clawed at the creature's face.
Blood sprayed across the road.
Another student tried to help him but froze when the infected looked up, its mouth still chewing.
Josh grabbed Mira's arm.
"This way."
Instead of following the main group, he moved toward the side of the road near the laboratory building.
But more infected were already climbing over the trucks.
Victor shoved two people aside and tried to push forward with his supporters.
"Stay together!" he shouted.
One of his followers grabbed his sleeve.
"There's too many!"
Victor turned and saw three infected sprinting straight toward them.
For a moment his confident expression cracked.
"Run!"
They scattered. Moving towards one direction.
Two of his supporters were too slow.
One was dragged down immediately. The infected tore at his back, ripping through his jacket like paper. His scream cut off when another creature bit into his face.
The second tried climbing onto one of the trucks but slipped on the metal surface. The infected pulled him down by the leg.
Victor didn't stop to look.
He jumped over the truck hood and ran down the opposite side of the road.
Two of his supporters followed him.
The rest were gone.
—-----(＠_＠;)
Josh pushed Mira behind a parked vehicle and pulled the sword from his inventory.
The blade appeared in his hand instantly.
The two students who had followed them stared in shock.
Josh ignored them.
There wasn't time to be mysterious now, he was in danger. What do you expect, it's not like the this world isn't already fucked as it is already.
Three infected were rushing toward them.
"Aegis," he thought.
Combat assistance active.
The first creature lunged forward with its arms wide.
Josh stepped to the side and swung.
The blade cut through the infected's neck with a wet sound.
The head didn't fall off completely but it hung at an angle as the body collapsed.
The second one came immediately after.
Its nails scraped across Josh's shirt as it reached for him.
Josh pushed it back with his shoulder and stabbed upward under its jaw.
The blade pierced through the skull.
Warm black blood spilled down his arm.
The third infected slammed into him before he could pull the sword free.
Its claws raked across his chest.
His shirt tore open from the left side of his chest down toward his abdomen.
Pain flared across his ribs due to the force.
Josh gritted his teeth and kicked the creature back. He yanked the sword free and swung again, cutting deep into its shoulder before finishing it with another stab to the head.
The infected collapsed.
Josh stepped back, breathing heavily.
Mira grabbed his arm.
"You're bleeding!"
"It's shallow," he said quickly.
The torn fabric of his shirt revealed long scratches across his skin. Blood seeped from them but the wounds were not deep enough to reach muscle.
He had been lucky.
A scream came from the road again.
Josh looked up and saw Silar fighting with one of the infected near the group.
The older man had grabbed a metal pipe from somewhere and smashed it against the creature's head. The infected staggered but didn't stop.
Another one jumped onto him from the side.
Josh ran forward.
The sword flashed once.
The infected's arm dropped to the ground.
Silar shoved the second creature away and Josh finished it with a quick stab.
For a moment the two of them stood there catching their breath.
Then Josh noticed something wrong.
Silar was holding his side.
Blood was leaking between his fingers.
"Are you hit?" Josh asked.
Silar didn't answer immediately.
When he finally moved his hand, four deep bite marks were visible just below his ribs.
Mira's face went pale.
"No…"
The two students behind them stepped back in fear.
Everyone knew what a bite meant.
Silar looked down at the wound quietly.
For a moment he didn't say anything.
Then he wrapped part of his torn shirt around it.
"We keep moving," he said.