The walls shook like they were alive groaning and rattling under the weight of things that didn't belong.
Arin's breaths were quiet, shallow. She stayed low behind the teacher's desk, every muscle tight, senses screaming for movement, but her mind screamed louder: Don't panic. Don't make a sound.
Outside, chaos was a tidal wave crashing through the halls. The screams bloodcurdling, desperate pierced the thick door.
Her phone lay on the desk, screen cracked but still glowing faintly with a single message: 7:46 AM.
Only one minute had passed since the clock's dead stop.
Only one minute.
Her thoughts drifted back, sharper now, to the poison burning through her veins, the cruel smile she never forgot.
She remembered how Zara looked not like a sister, but a predator.
That smile wasn't just cruelty. It was fear. A fear Arin couldn't yet understand.
If Zara had wanted her dead before, what was she capable of now, in this world gone mad?
The door trembled again. Something heavy slammed against it.
Arin's hand reached out instinctively, clutching a broken ruler from the floor a flimsy weapon, but better than nothing.
Her eyes scanned the room. The other students were nowhere to be seen.
Some had run. Some had hid. Some… weren't coming back.
She was alone.
A sharp noise outside made her freeze.
Footsteps. Heavy. Sloppy. Not human.
The infected.
Arin's heartbeat thundered.
She backed away slowly, clutching the ruler like a lifeline, every second stretching into forever.
Her mind whispered again Focus. Survive. One step at a time.
She remembered the faint pull in her mind earlier a strange calm she couldn't explain.
It wasn't a voice. It wasn't commands.
It was something like… a shadow just behind her thoughts, steady and patient.
A promise.
---
Her fingers brushed her neck. Her pulse still throbbed fiercely, but she could feel it steadying.
She took a slow breath and peeked through the crack under the door.
A pale hand, twisted and torn, reached for the handle.
Arin's muscles screamed to run, but she knew it would be no use.
She had to fight.
The door crashed open.
A creature stumbled inside, eyes milky and wild.
Its groans were guttural, mindless.
Arin's grip tightened.
With a scream she didn't know she had in her, she swung the ruler like a bat.
The creature yelped and staggered back, but it was relentless.
Heart hammering, she smashed the ruler again.
It was weak. Slow.
And that gave her a chance.
She ran past desks, past chairs, past the remnants of a normal day shredded into chaos.
The hallway was a nightmare of screams and shadows.
She spotted a side door half-open, leading to the stairs.
Running.
Not looking back.
Her lungs burned, her legs ached.
She reached the door and slammed it behind her.
She leaned against it, trembling.
Alone.
Breathing.
Surviving.
Her mind clicked again, soft and slow like a hand reaching for hers in the dark.
You're not done yet.