The world's filled with monsters... but you're not one of them...
Don't forget about me when you're gone, okay?
Ethan... you're my bestest friend in the whole wide world!
...
...
...
"... Isabelle...?"
After passing out, Ethan finally opens his eyes.
"Guys, he's awake!"
Ethan wakes up to Stella washing the blood off his face with a piece of cloth.
"Ethan... are you okay?" Stella asks, worrying.
"My head hurts..."
Ethan tries to get up, but notices that he can't move. He looks behind him to find both his hands behind his back and handcuffed to a jail bed in a cell.
"Uh..."
The others come running to the jail cell.
"Stella, what are you doing?!" Jane shouts.
"I... I was just..." Stella tries to explain herself.
"Keep your distance... what did we talk about?" Mr. Brown pulls her aside.
They have uneasy looks on their faces and are keeping a long distance from Ethan.
"Um... did you guys handcuff me?" Ethan laughs playfully. His voice is as dry and dehydrated as his lips.
They don't say anything.
"Did... you guys take my jacket off? Can I have it back? It's cold."
Soon enough, Ethan notices the awkwardness in the air and stops talking.
"Ethan, is that you?" Mr. Brown asks, kneeling down. His question confuses Ethan.
"O-Of course, it's me..." he replies.
"Y-You're not gonna... attack us?" Mr. Brown asks feeling uneasy.
"No... why would I attack you guys?" Ethan assures them.
"Guys, I really think it's him..." says Trevor.
"Yeah, we don't need to handcuff him... he wouldn't hurt us..." says Stella.
"We don't know that! Do you fools really want all of us to take that risk?!" Jane complains.
"Shh!" Mr. Brown shushes them.
They all quiet down. Ethan grows anxious.
"Ethan... you were bit on the shoulder... and your left eye... it's pale and cloudy... like those savages'..." Mr. Brown points at his shoulder, then his eye.
"I... uh..." Ethan stutters.
"Your classmates witnessed it... you were surely bit and left to die back at the school... how are you still here?" Mr. Brown asks.
He looks at his friends, one by one.
Sasha steps forward.
"We thought you were dead..." Sasha says, holding back tears.
Ethan just stares. He doesn't know what to say.
Everyone is confused and dying with questions. They demand an answer. Ethan looks down at the ground as the class waits for a response.
"Yeah, I saw this coming... I don't blame you... I'm just as confused as you guys..." he says with a hint of despair.
"Ethan... tell us what happened..." Jack kneels down and looks at him sincerely.
...
...
Yesterday morning, back at the school.
...
"It's over for me... Fight... and survive!"
Those were Ethan's final words to his friends before he was left to die at the school.
Jack and the others look at him one last time before leaving.
"GRAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"GRAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"GRAAAAAHHHHH!"
*SLAM!*
The Freaks are rampaging outside the classroom, trying break the door to get to Ethan.
The girl in the yellow jacket is chewing up Ethan's shoulder. The vicious bite tore through his jacket, and he cries in pain. He glances out the window.
My friends are running... They'll make it out of this mess... I'm sure of it!
...
...
This is it for me...
Mom... Evan... I wish I could go back to the morning before all of this started... If I knew what was gonna happen to me today... I would have told you... that I love you both... I'm sorry...
Ethan tears up.
"GRAAAAAAHHHHH!"
The girl in the yellow jacket groans at him, her mouth covered in his blood.
He looks at her empty white eyes, mirroring his dying self. Ethan stares at the face of death, while the infection painfully crawls through his body, slowly killing him, and turning him.
"W-Why... why am I supposed to die like this?"
The boy questions his existence... was he born in the world just to die young? To endure a painful and depressing death, while reflecting over a short, meaningless life?
He will never get to see his family again... and there is nothing he can do about it...
"I haven't... even done anything, yet... I haven't even s-seen my dream... I didn't... even get to live my life..." Ethan continues to push her away.
He will never get to see his dream come into reality. In his short time alive, he had never accomplished anything that was worth remembering... that is his biggest regret.
And in his final moment, he blames the remorseless, mindless monster in front of him.
"It's all your fault..." Ethan blames the infected girl, his eyes fill with spite, and his sorrows turn to hate.
He forces his body to fight despite getting weaker by the second. His body is suffering from the infection.
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
"GRAAAAHHHHHH!"
The Freaks outside the classroom slam into the door, as they groan loud enough to make the ears bleed.
"BASTARDS! I WON'T DIE TODAY!" he yells as loud as he can, making them more aggressive.
"I WON'T DIE! Not until I see... that place..."
Death is not a debate. Ethan, however, refuses to accept his end... no matter how futile it is.
He gouges the eye of the infected girl with his thumb and grits his teeth, desperately trying anything to hurt her.
"I'LL KILL YOU!!!" he yells at the top of his lungs, as loud as he can.
His hatred and determination roars, even in the brink of death.
However, Ethan is already turning into one of them. His veins are popping out and eyes cry a black fluid. He gasps for air and starts to choke. The life in his eyes begin to fade away.
"Bastards... you think this is the end...? I swear... I'll live... and I'll... kill... you... all..."
"GRAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
"Raaaaahhhh!"
"Grrrr..."
...
...
...
The infected girl stops attacking him and walks away. The Freaks outside the classroom all calm down. They can no longer sense the life in him, so they wander around, searching for more flesh.
Ethan stopped moving. He stopped breathing. He died with a blood-stained face frozen in agony.
A minute passes, Ethan's body starts to twitch. He slowly stands up, struggling to maintain balance. The transformation has been complete. He takes a step.
But, wait... he grabs the wooden stick from the floor.
Ethan slowly walks to the infected girl in the yellow jacket, silently looking at the dead one on the floor. She slowly turns around.
...
...
...
"Die."
*SMACK!*
Ethan hits her head hard with the stick, causing her to fall to the ground.
But, for some reason, she doesn't attack him, or fight back. She extends her arms at random directions, seemingly as if she can no longer sense him. This leaves her confused. She tries to block and grab with her hands at random directions.
Ethan holds the stick with both hands, then mercilessly bashes in her head as hard as he can.
*Smack!*
*Smack!"
"Die... die..."
"Smack!
"Kill..."
*Smack!*
"... MORE!!!"
*SMACK!*
Ethan repeatedly smashed the infected girl's head so hard, he crushed her skull and turned her brain into mush.
Exhausted, he stops to catch his breath.
He tilts his head to the left and looks at his reflection from the window. His left eye is a lifeless white and crying black fluid. Blood vessels are popping out around it.
Ethan panics and starts to hyperventilate. He pats himself all over, still feeling his touch. He checks his heart... It's still beating... but his skin is cold.
Ethan looks at his reflection, once again, frightened. He knows that he's definitely not the same anymore... he changed... turned... into a Freak. But, for some unknown miracle, he is alive.
He notices that the Freaks are not trying to get to him anymore. Ethan walks to the door and takes a deep breath.
With a calm mind, he slowly opens the door. The Freaks turn to him, trying to sense him. But, not even one attacks. He nervously walks out of the classroom and picks up his fire ax on the floor.
Ethan hears more groans outside the school. He takes a peek through the iron gate's gaps. There are hundreds of infected civilians roaming pass the school, walking to the next town on the main road. He pulls his hood over his head, tightly grips his ax, and takes a deep breath. He gathers his courage, slides open the gate, and steps outside.
Ethan walks through the crowd of Freaks. A few turn to look at him, closely observing if he's human. Suddenly, one steps in front of him, looks him in the eye, and growls.
"GRAAAHHH!"
Spit and blood sprays on Ethan's face. Trying his best to stay calm and keep his cover, he glares back with a spiteful expression. It steps closer and sniffs Ethan, inspecting him closely. He holds his breath and stares at it, dead in the eyes. Soon enough, it walks away.
He breathes a sigh of relief.
That is it... a positive result to his hypothesis. After getting bit, Ethan is almost completely invisible to them. Yet, he still has consciousness and control over his body.
In conclusion, Ethan has become half human, half Freak.
Wanting to find his friends and classmates, he runs to get his bike. He unlocks it, hops on, and cycles along the mainroad beside the Freaks, thoroughly observing their behaviours. Noticing that they can hear him, he makes sure to cycle really quietly and keep his hood up.
After a while of cycling, he hears a man's scream and gunshots up ahead.
Gunshots?
Ethan leaves his bike on the grass, on the side of the road and runs to see what's happening.
There's a police officer standing on top of a van, surrounded by a hundred Freaks. They wobble and shake the van, trying to make him fall. The policeman screams in fear, pointing at them with his revolver.
"Hey!"
Ethan throws his fire ax on top of the van, catching the panicked officer's attention. He looks at Ethan, confused.
Suddenly, he begins to laugh quietly.
"Ha... Ha... Ha..."
"W-What?" Ethan is confused.
"T-T-They're... They're talking now... HA HA HA HA HA!"
The officer laughs hysterically and points the gun to his own head.
"W-WAIT!" Ethan yells.
He pulls the trigger.
*BANG!*
The sound of the gunshot could be heard a mile away. Blood, brains, and pieces of skull spurted from his head. His body falls to the horde of Freaks, happy to devour him.
"GRRRAAAAAHHHHH!"
"GRRRRAAAAHHHHH!"
With an aching stomach from the unpleasant sight, Ethan croaches down, holding his puke in.
He spots the officer's revolver being kicked around by the horde. He runs to grab it.
Ethan carefully checks the cylinder. There's only two bullets left. Never holding a gun before, it is heavier than he expected. On the side of the road, he points it around, working on his posture. Because he'd only seen guns held in movies, his isn't so great.
Ethan stares at his fire ax on top of the van, wanting to get it back, but it's too crowded.
Wanting to find a melee weapon, he checks the line of abandoned cars on the road.
After seven minutes of scavenging weapons from cars, he found boxes of tissues, cable wires, cigarettes, and dirty laundry. But as expected, Ethan couldn't find a weapon.
Up ahead, he spots a wrecked pick up truck on the side of the road. Checking the cargo, there are piles of chopped wood, with a small hatchet. He picks it up, testing its lightness and speed.
This will do.
After proceeding to cycle for a little more, tired and hungry, he hears multiple gunshots from the forest. He drops his bike and runs to check where it came from, finding his way back to the class.
...
"That's what happened..." Ethan tells everyone.
...
After listening to Ethan's story, they couldn't believe it.
"Y-You didn't turn?" Michael is in disbelief.
"How is that possible? Everyone turns once they're bit!" asks Hailey.
"Also, can we not ignore that those things can't see you now?!" Brock is absolutely shocked.
"How is that possible?" asks Thomas.
"Whatever it may be, what's important is that he's alive," says Mr. Brown.
Everyone quiets down and stops asking questions.
"Yeah. We're glad you made it back to us, Ethan," says James, holding back tears of joy.
His friends smile in relief.
"We should get him something to eat and drink," says Trevor.
They bring him a bag of chips from the vending machine, two cans of tuna, and a bottle of water from the pantry.
"Sorry, Ethan. This is all the food we have in here," says Trevor.
"It's fine, thank you," Ethan smiles at them.
"We should let him out the cell now. He needs to eat properly," says James.
"What? No way! What if he attacks us?" Jane is still against the idea.
"Are you serious?! Ethan still being here... him talking to us... isn't that enough to prove to you that he's still himself?!" Sasha says, annoyed.
"Maybe you need to think... you people said it yourself... those things are not mindless. They can turn door knobs, they can block attacks... if they can do all of that, who's to say they can't do a LOT more like gaining our trust before he attacks?! We know absolutely NOTHING of what they're capable of, so we shouldn't even be debating. How can you be sure freeing him doesn't lead to our deaths?! He's dangerous!" Jane strongly says.
"Why you..." Sasha, insulted for Ethan, steps closer, but Kate runs to stop her.
"Don't, Sasha... please..." she whispers.
Sasha sighs and stops herself from adding more problems on their plate. She leans on the wall.
Michael, quietly sitting, finally speaks up.
"I-I'm sorry... I agree with Jane,"
"Yeah... me, too..." says Brock.
"Don't take it personal..." says Cindy.
Jay, Alan, Mary, and Thomas nod.
Sadly, more than half the class quietly agree with Jane. At this point, they didn't want to take any chances.
Ethan looks down at the floor. He realizes that he needs to further convice his classmates that he wouldn't hurt them. He doesn't have a clue how to do that, though.
"B-But, we should at least un-cuff him to let him eat, right?" says Stella.
The class decides to un-cuff Ethan but keep him in the cell.
"Sorry about this, son. I know you're mature enough to understand," says Mr. Brown while un-cuffing him.
Mr. Brown walks out and they lock him in the cell.
"They just need a little more time to trust you... give them time, Ethan," says James, encouraging him.
"Yeah..." Ethan sighs without complaints. He's too tired.
He's finally free from the handcuffs. He rubs his sore wrists. He eats his canned tuna and chips, finally getting something to fill his stomach.
The class watches him eat straight from the can. They feel pity for him having to go through so much.
"Slow down, dude," says Trevor.
"You're gonna choke, man..." says Jack.
He opens the water bottle and chugs it down.
"More, please?" Ethan asks for more, wiping his mouth.
"That was the only food left... we set it aside as soon as you came..." says Stella.
"W-Well, we should go find more, right? Maybe there's a grocery store nearby... or a vending machine... or an apartment... or maybe we can hunt something... we have two guns now, after all," says Ethan.
"Yeah... about that..." Trevor bites his finger.
They look down in despair, not saying anything.
"W-What's wrong... guys?" Ethan asks curiously.
Ethan hears groans coming from outside. He peeps through the iron bars on his little window and sees a horde of Freaks surrounding the station.
"GRAAAAAAHHHH!"
Ethan sits back down on the dirty cell's floor.
"We're surrounded... again..." he realizes.
"Those gunshots earlier drew them straight to us," says Alan.
"We dragged the dead policeman inside, too... He had a couple mags, those handcuffs, cigarettes, and car keys," says Brock.
They sit together, feeling hopeless.
"W-What do we do now?" asks Mary.
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
They hear slamming coming from the entrance they barricaded.
The class panics and runs to check the barricade. The Freaks are moving it just a little bit.
The boys run to push it, preventing them from moving away the barricade.
Kate peeps through the blinds of the windows. She looks around, and is terrified to see the Freaks climbing the station's pillars and window frames.
"No!" Kate runs to the class.
"Everyone guard the windows! They're climbing their way in!" she yells and informs them.
Their eyes grow large in fear. The girls quickly rush upstairs in pairs, guarding every window with their weapons while the boys push the front door.
"Trevor, Thomas, help them..." Jack says.
"Are you sure?" Trevor asks.
"Go... we'll hold it... somehow..."
James, Brock, Alan, and Jay nod. Trevor takes Thomas' hand and pulls him upstairs to help.
"Mr. Brown! You have to let me out!" Ethan asks on his knees, clenching the iron bars.
"I-I..." Mr. Brown is panicking, holding Phil's gun.
"Now's not the time, sir. Let me out. I need to help!" Ethan says.
Mr. Brown grabs the key and opens Ethan's cell. Ethan runs out and grabs his hatchet and revolver. They rush upstairs to help.
Upstairs, Sasha and the girls are guarding the windows, carefully knocking the climbing Freaks away with brooms and chairs, stopping them from entering.
*SMASH!*
"GRRRAAAAAHHHHH!"
Suddenly, a Freak smashed itself through a window and leaped inside before Hailey and Trevor could guard it.
"Ahhhhh!" Hailey screams.
"BREACH!" Trevor yells.
The two run away as the Freak rises up from the floor. It runs as fast it could across the room to bite them.
"GRAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
The others hold out their weapons, preparing to fight.
Without a thought, Sasha runs toward it with her knife.
"Wait!" Kate shouts.
"Oh no!" Thomas covers his eyes.
The Freak has got its eyes on Sasha. She ducks to avoid its grasp and tackles it to the floor.
Ethan and Mr. Brown enters the office. They're surprised to see Ethan out of his cell.
"Sasha!" he yells, worried.
Ethan runs to them with his hatchet.
Sasha plants her forearm against the Freak's chest, preventing its head from moving and biting her. She stabs her knife through its head, effectively killing it.
They take a breath of relief.
"Umm... guys..." Stella anxiously calls them.
Frighteningly, more than a dozen have started climbing the station, heading to the office.
They start breaking through the windows.
*SMASH!*
*SMASH!*
*SMASH!*
"RUN!" Ethan yells.
Mr. Brown and the others back away from the windows to run away. The Freaks stand up from the floor to chase them, groaning.
"GRAAAAAHHHHH!"
"FRAAAAAAHHHH!"
Mr. Brown pushes the office chairs to block their paths, while they all run out the office.
He points and shoots a gun for the first time.
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
It hits their chest, arms, and shoulder. Slowing them down, but failing to kill them.
Once they made it out, they slam the office door shut.
*SLAM!*
They rampage inside, knocking the chairs and tables. The Freaks have breached the station and have taken the second floor.
"Guys!"
They hear James yell from the downstairs. Mr. Brown and the rest quickly run to check.
"H-Help!" says Jay, struggling.
"I can't... anymore!" Brock shouts, exhausted.
Jack is giving it his all to push the barricade.
The boys are having trouble keeping the bloodthirsty Freaks out.
They all help to push, but no matter what, the horde of Freaks kept moving the barricade. An entire horde outside is pushing to get in the station.
"We can't hold it... there's too many!" Jack yells.
They hear the Freaks upstairs about to break the door and run down to bite them.
"Fuck! What do we do?!" Jane panics.
Stella looks at the floor, she sees the keys to the cells. She runs to get it and opens one.
"Guys, get inside!" She yells to call them.
They enter the cell one by one, making sure someone's still holding the barricade, so all of them can safely get inside.
"Jack, come on!" Trevor yells.
Jack, who is last, sprints to the cell.
*CRASSHHH!*
The Freaks instantly moved the barricade aside and got in the station.
"GRAAAAAHHHHH!"
"GRAAAAAAHHHHH!"
They're right on Jack's tail. He runs as fast as he can and successfully enters the cell.
"Hurry!"
"Close it!"
The class grit their teeth, as they close the cell door as fast as they can before the savages could enter.
*SLAM!*
They successfully shut the cell and kept the Freaks out.
"GRAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
The Freaks reach through the bars, trying to get to the class. Their load groans could make the ears bleed.
"GRAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"RAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
They back themselves to the wall as much as they could, avoiding their deadly grasps. The class watch as several arms try to grab them from inside the cell.
They try to smash their heads with their weapons through the bars.
*SMACK!*
*SLAM!*
Suddenly, they grab on to James' bat.
"Crap!"
Ethan cuts their hands with his hatchet, freeing James' bat. The bloody hands fall to the floor.
"There's no saving us this time, huh?" says Trevor.
"Yup..." Alan replies.
The class looks around the cell, but there really is nothing they can use and nowhere to escape. They're caged.
They continue to futilely hit the Freaks through the bars.
"I hate this... I wanna wake up... please let this all be just a dream..." Michael cries.
"Mike... shut up!" Kate tries to snap his brother out of it.
"You shut up! This shit we're in... after we just got out of a pile of crap, we fall into another one... what are we even fighting for?" he asks, covering his ears.
"Don't give up... there must be some way..." James continues to swing his bat, grunting.
"There's nothing left out there so why are we even here?!" Michael yells in tears.
They stare at him.
"We should just let them in... and get it over with!" he says in a broken tone.
The class watches him break down in tears.
"Death... isn't that our destination from the start? We should've known better... a bunch of stupid kids... could never last long in this fucked up world," he adds.
The class look at the monsters through the bars, in despair.
Ethan is staring at the bloody hands on the floor, thinking. With all his might, he's thinking of a way to get them out once again... some route of escape out of this hellhole... a chance to live... at any cost.
After a while, he finally got one... though, this would be their riskiest plan by far.
Ethan stares blankly at the class.
Knowing that look, they undertood that he already knows what to do.
"I have a plan..."
After Ethan tells them their only way of escape, fear crawled up their spines.
"Y-You're insane..." says Jane.
"You want us... to open the cell?!" says Jay
"Are you nuts?!" Brock shouts.
Ethan nods.
"No... no way!" Brock yells.
"They can't see me... but they can see you..." he replies.
"Ever since I left the school, I've been observing these Freaks. We know they're attracted to sound... but I learned two more things they're attracted to... maybe it's the same reason why they can't see me..." Ethan adds.
"What is it, Ethan?" asks Mr. Brown.
"Odor and body heat..." he says.
"You need a way to imitate their odor and body heat..."
"Like camouflage?" asks Trevor.
"Exactly. If you can do that... you'll blend in like me..." Ethan replies.
"Then, we'll just be able to open the door and walk out?" James asks.
The class is hesitant and strongly against the idea. Seeing his classmates terrified and out of hope, Ethan knows that he needs to step up as a leader and get them out of this mess.
...
"We can't just give up like this..." Ethan looks at them.
"The world ended... we're trapped again... no one's coming to save us... we don't know if our families are alive... and it all seems pointless..."
The class listens to what Ethan has to say.
"I know how it feels... that's how I felt when I was dying back in Pineville... I thought there was no purpose anymore... and I was born just to die a meaningless death all alone..."
The class looks at the ground with sorrow.
"But, that's not true... I'm still alive..." Ethan declares.
"As long as we're still breathing, we make our own purpose for living..."
His words light their eyes with hope.
"We're getting out of here, and we're finding our families..."
He stand in front of them, gripping his hatchet, firm and determined.
"Are you guys with me?" Ethan asks.
...
Ethan's determination fuels them with confidence, once again. The class looks at each other, then nods.
"Where do we get camouflage?" asks Sasha.
"We have all the camouflage we need, right here..."
Ethan turns to the Freaks reaching through the bars. He carefully grabs the arms of one, pulling it against the cell. It tries to resist, but Ethan hardens his grip. He glances at Sasha, giving her a signal.
Sasha, with her knife, makes a clean, lateral cut at it's abdomen. Its guts spill out and fall to the floor.
Mr. Brown and the class try their best to hold in their puke. Thomas and Mary almost faint as they witness the insides of a human body spill out to the floor.
"We'll need more..." Ethan says.
The two cut a few more until there is enough guts to cover all of them. It's now time to blend in.
"God, help me..." says Jane.
"This is what our insides look like?" asks Alan.
"It smells like roadkill..." Hailey complains.
"Why are you covering yourself, Ethan? Aren't you invisible to them?" asks Brock, annoyed.
"We're in this together... if you're covered in shit... well, so am I..." Ethan says.
Mr. Brown and the class cover themselves with cold, stinky guts and drench their faces with blood. After that, they stay silent to observe.
Noticably, they see the Freaks disorienting. Their focus slowly starts to shift from them.
"Is it working?" Stella asks.
"Yes... I think they're slowly losing interest," says Ethan.
"Their calming down..." says Jay.
Soon enough, the Freaks quiet down. Their rampaging stopped as their senses are deceived.
Ethan reaches his hand between the bars to slowly turn the key left in the lock. He looks at them, being the most anxious he's ever been.
"Everyone stay absolutely silent..." he whispers.
The class hold their breath and grit their teeth.
Ethan turns the key and opens the cell.
*Squeeeaaak...*
Terrified by the cell door's squeak, they clench their weapons.
"Grrrr..."
One walks in the cell. It slowly makes its way to Mr. Brown, scared and backed up in a wall, inspecting him.
"Graahh!"
Spit and blood sprays on his face.
Mr. Brown is shaking. He closes his eyes and tries to stay as calm as possible to not arouse suspicion.
They begin to sweat bullets as suspense fills the cell.
Fortunately, the Freak walks away.
They would let out a big sigh of relief, if they only could.
Ethan signals them again to stay quiet once they start to walk out of the station.
He extends his hand to Stella. Without a thought, she grasps it. Before walking out they all hold hands for comfort and to prevent seperation.
The class walks out the cell, as silently as they could.
Ethan leads them through the wandering horde of Freaks, navigating their way out the station.
The class is in the most critical situation... out in the open, surrounded by Freaks. At the moment, they are walking on very thin ice... a death march... that even the slightest mistake will get them all killed.
They grip each others' hands, trying to stay calm.
Mary is having the hardest time. She's shaking the most.
"Grrrr..."
A Freak turns to face her. She looks at its eyes, losing herself in its paleness. She begins to tear up, about to break.
Jack grips her shaking hand, steady and strong... Mary looks into his eyes... without an utter of a word, they speak to each other.
Stay calm...
He snaps her out of it and pulls her mind back on drive. She grasps his hand.
On the floor, Mary spots the officer's car keys. As it slowly comes within reach, she nervously picks it up between the deads' legs. She quickly puts it in her pocket, just in case.
They march... and march... and march... praying to God they make it out alive.
Soon enough, they make it out of the station.
Outside, there are still about a hundred Freaks wandering around. The class slips and passes through the crowd.
We can make it to the edge of town... We're almost...
*Drip*
...
A drop of water fell on Ethan's nose. It drips down his face, washing away a little gunk.
W-Water?
He looks up, wandering where it came from. Everyone looks up.
*Drip*
*Drip*
*Drip*
*Rumble!*
"Oh, no..." he whispers.
The afternoon sky turns gray and starts to rain.
Out in the open, surrounded by the horde, the class gets wet. They panic as they notice the gunk slowly washing off. Their diguise is vanishing.
They stride faster pass the horde before it all washes off.
"Graahhhhh!"
"Grrrrrr!"
The Freaks are starting to notice them again. Suddenly, one jumps to attack Hailey.
"AHHH!"
Sasha pulls it away and stabs its head.
The rest of the horde turn their heads to them.
"RUN!" Ethan yells.
Ethan points his gun and shoots at the Freaks, hitting one in the shoulder.
They start to run and avoid their grasps.
"JACK!" Mary yells.
As the others run, the Freaks crash into each other, blocking Jack and Mary's path.
Jack shoves them away, and the two begin to run in a different direction.
"Shit! Shit!"
Jack punches the Freaks and runs, using his large body as shield for Mary.
Thinking quick, Mary pulls out the remote controlled keys, pointing it at every police vehicle, trying to find the one.
The Freaks run toward the two, ready to tear them up.
"Mary, RUN!" Jack yells.
Terrified, Mary runs under a car screaming, and Jack follows. They crawl to the other side, where there's another vehicle. A police van.
Mary points the remote and presses it.
*Click!*
...
Meanwhile, Ethan and the class are running for their lives. They run along Stanford's street, meeting several Freaks in each every alleyway. They evade abandoned cars and other obstacles.
James and Ethan take the lead, guiding the class.
The class is getting tired from running. The Freaks are relentlessly catching up by the second.
They stop by an empty, dark alleyway opening to another street and start to run to the end.
"Come on!" James yells.
Unfortunately, they are cut off at the other side by Freaks rising from under the pile of cars.
"Crap!" Ethan shouts.
"We're dead... WE'RE DEAD!" Jane panics.
"Kids, stay behind..." Mr. Brown hides his students behind his back, pointing his gun.
With nowhere to go, they are surrounded in the alleyway with Freaks enclosing them from both ends.
The class prepares to fight. Thomas is hiding behind a trashbin, horrified.
Ethan points his gun ahead, ready to pull the trigger.
*Vroooooommm!*
*CRASHHH!*
They stand surprised as a van suddenly crashed against the Freaks, and sent them flying several feet away.
They are surprised as their lives have been saved by an apocalyptic guardian angel driving a dusty police van.
The driver's window rolls down.
"Guys, get in!" Mary yells behind the wheel.
The class smiles, relieved.
Jack opens the door and pulls them in, one by one, with the Freaks running to catch them.
They shut the door, and a Freak crashes agaist the side of the van.
"FLOOR IT!!!" Mr. Brown yells in the front seat.
Mary hits the gas, and goes in reverse, dodging trashcans, sign posts, and abandoned cars before turning at an intersection and driving at full speed away from Stanford's ruins.
"Who knew you could drive?" Trevor asks Mary, still catching his breath.
Mary keeps her focus on the road.
"You guys came back for us..." Sasha says.
"Thank Mary..." Jack says, exausted.
"We can't leave you to die... we're in this together..." Mary says.
Sasha says nothing more.
"You guys saved us... thank you," Ethan thanks them sincerely.
The others nod.
The class breathes a sigh of relief, glad that they live to see another day.