Billy stood up, her legs trembling beneath her. She walked soundlessly towards the window, sweat pouring down her face as her muscles tensed and her eyes widened.
"Billy, don't!" whispered Cassy, a redhead girl with freckles, who was huddled up against a corner with two other guys dressed in school uniforms.
"I know what I'm doing," Billy whispered, her index finger pressed against her lips. She continued towards the window, her heart beating loudly against her ribcage.
The sliding glass window was covered with pieces of newspaper to prevent anyone from seeing into the room where they were hiding.
Billy tore a small hole in the paper and peeked through. What she saw made her blood run cold.
A security man in tattered clothes, his face partially devoured, neck twisted at an unnatural angle, with blood and gore dripping from his mouth.
Billy gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as if to stifle a scream, and she hastily retreated, her eyes fixed on the horror outside.
"Oh my God," she whispered, falling to the floor as she hyperventilated and burst into tears.
"What happened, Billy?" Dave, one of the boys in school uniform, asked in a whisper, not making any attempt to leave his corner. "What did you see?"
"Everyone—everyone—," Billy whispered, her voice trembling. Dave's eyes widened in horror.
"What do you mean everyone?" Adrian shouted at her in furstration.
Before Billy could respond, the quiet building was disrupted by the sounds of grunts and snorts emerging from everywhere. "Shit, shit, shit!" Cassy screamed, pacing around in panic. "We're all going to die!"
Dave turned and grabbed Adrian's shirt in rage. "You idiot, if you wanna die, you just had to do it on your own. Why drag us into it?" Cassy rushed towards them. "Guys, we don't have time for this. We have to get out of here now!"
The banging on the door grew more intense, with sharp breathing and snorts coming from behind it. Disgusting grunts echoed through the room as more zombies joined the fray. The iron door creaked under the pressure, and the glass window began to crack.
"We have to find a way to leave," Adrian shouted, looking around the room. "How? All our exits are blocked already. There's no way we can get out," Dave replied, kicking a table on his left. Billy's eyes welled up with tears as she sank to the floor, her body shaking with sobs.
"The table!" Cassy exclaimed, pointing at the kicked table. "What do you mean?" Adrian asked, walking towards her. "We have to get the tables to the door now. Those things will break in any moment."
Dave hurried towards the table and started dragging it towards the door. Cassy joined him, and they began to pile up the tables.
Adrian walked towards Billy, his face twisted in anger and frustration. "Stop crying and help out, or do you want to get eaten?" Billy shook her head, getting up shakily and walking towards the others.
As they pulled the tables towards the door and window, the window gave out, and multiple human zombies stretched their hands towards them.
The zombies were in a terrible state, their mouths bloodied, rotten stench filling the air, pus oozing out of their wounds. The group hastily retreated in fear.
The door started to pull out of its hinges as one of the zombies stuck its head in, pieces of human flesh hanging from its mouth. The sight of humans aroused its beastly instincts, and it began to thrash wildly against the door. The piled-up tables began to fall.
Billy screamed, turning pale. Dave fell down and began to crawl backward in fright. Bile welled up Cassy's throat as she bent down and threw up. Adrian started hurling things at the zombies, but it only sent them into a frenzy.
Adrian stopped and looked around. "This won't do. We have to find a way fast," he said, his mind racing. He began to pace around.
"We're going to die, we're all going to die," Billy murmured, trembling all over. "Shut the hell up! I'm trying to think here," Adrian shouted at her.
As he moved around, he looked up and discovered an opened part of the ceiling above them. "I think I have a way," he said, a glimmer of hope in his voice. Everyone snapped their heads towards him, their eyes filled with a mix of fear and desperation.