"Holy shit… they're everywhere," Lili's friend muttered, her voice shaking.
The others hiding stepped out slowly, their fear mixing with relief at the sight of other survivors.
"What are you even doing in the girls' toilets?" one of the girls asked sharply, pointing at Xender.
Before he could reply, the boy from the 'fun' stall walked out too. His shirt half-unbuttoned, hair messy.
Xender smirked. "Seems I'm not the only guy here."
"Boys inside the girls' toilets? You pervs. Why didn't you hide in the boys' toilets?" one of the girls snapped.
"Hey, slow down, we didn't have time to think," Xender shot back. His eyes lingered on her. Wait… I know this girl. Lucy. Yeah. The one with the perfect GPA.
Everyone slowly emerged from their stalls, still crowded inside the toilets, restless.
"What the hell is happening out there?"
"Didn't the police show up yet?"
"I tried calling a thousand times, it's the same shit, no answer."
"Fuck… it's been like two hours now."
Their voices rose, panic feeding panic.
"Shut the fuck up," Xender hissed. "Keep your voices down."
"Chill, bro. The girls are scared," the other guy muttered, keeping his arm around his girlfriend.
Xender's tone turned cold. "This didn't just start here. Might've begun outside the school and spread its way in. If that's the case… the whole country's fucked. Maybe even global."
The words hit them like ice water.
"What the fuck, dude?"
"You saying it's some epidemic shit?"
"Virus? No way, the news didn't say anything about a virus outbreak."
"What the hell do you mean global?"
The students threw back questions, refusing to grasp what was right in front of them.
Lucy, silent until now, bit her lip. He might be right. I saw it, normal people bitten… changing. This isn't normal.
"Crap," Lili muttered. "The service is gone now. No network."
"What?" The others pulled out their phones, one by one. No bars.
"Listen," the guy with his girl said, trying to sound calm.
"No need to panic. The government's probably handling it right now. They'll send soldiers, clean this mess up. If it's a virus, there'll be a cure."
The others latched onto his words like lifelines.
"Yeah, he's right."
"We should just wait for help."
"The military will come."
Xender stared at them. Idiots. Blind sheep. What kind of virus makes the dead walk again? That woman was dead, then she stood up like nothing happened. This isn't any flu.
Lucy clenched her fists. Viruses make people sick. Weak. But those things outside… they're stronger. Hunters. Designed to spread.
So they waited.
Hours slipped by. Outside, the same chorus: guttural growls, restless footsteps, teeth gnashing against the air. No sirens. No gunshots. No humans. Only the Z's.
"It's getting dark," one of the girls whispered, staring at her phone.
"Fuck, look at the time. It's almost seven."
"Yes… it's late."
"Where are the police?"
"The police won't be enough."
"Maybe the military…"
"Quiet," Lucy cut in sharply. "Girls, don't make too much noise. They're still out there."
And then... a phone rang. The sharp, shrill tone pierced through the silence, echoing against the tiles, carrying straight through the doors.
Everyone froze.
Outside, the growling stopped.
"Girl, switch that shit off!" Xender barked.
The sound wasn't a call, it was an alarm reminder. Some girl had set it to meet her boyfriend. She fumbled with her phone, silenced it, but too late.
Outside, every Z froze mid-step. The silence was worse than the growling. Then, like a hive mind, they all turned toward the toilets.
BOOM! The first impact rattled the door. Then another. Then dozens more, pounding in unison.
"Fuck! They're here! Block the door!" Xender shoved his shoulder against it, gritting his teeth.
The other guy rushed to help, but the rest? The girls stood frozen, paralyzed with fear.
"What the fuck are you standing there for? Help us, NOW!" Xender roared.
The door creaked open a sliver, just enough for a pale, gnashing face to shove through. The dumb bastard on Xender's side tried to push it back, what an idiot, but a Z clamped down.
CRUNCH!
The fingers came off in bloody chunks. He screamed, high-pitched and raw, blood spraying across the tiles.
The girls screamed too, shrill, piercing and feeding the chaos. Their noise carried down the corridor. Every Z in the health block heard it. The growls multiplied, closing in fast.
"Shit, shit, SHIT!" Xender's mind raced. The bitten guy was done for. The door wouldn't last.
"Move! Back toilets, windows, GO! Lock the doors behind you!" he yelled.
But the boy's girlfriend clung to him, sobbing. "No, babe! Your fingers! We can help..."
There was no time. Xender spun, bolting deeper inside. The other stalls, to his surprise they were already locked. His heart sank.
Fuck. Lili. She locked me out.
The main door buckled. Then splintered. The horde poured in. The bitten boy went first, dragged screaming. His girl didn't last much longer, blood smeared across the mirrors, staining them red.
A stall door swung open. Lucy's voice: "Here! Quick, inside!"
Xender dove in. She slammed the door shut, bolting it.
Somewhere else, Lili and her friend crouched low, whispering.
"Why didn't you wait for him?" her friend hissed.
"What? Maybe he's bitten already. You saw it, once bitten, you turn," Lili snapped back.
"Lili, he came back for you!"
"So what? Forget him. Focus on surviving." Her tone was cold and final.
They climbed the toilet seats, cracked a window. Outside, it was empty. Most of the horde had gone to the front. One by one, they squeezed through, dropping down.
Back in Lucy's stall, she eyed Xender sharply. "You're not bitten, are you?"
"I'm fine. Come on, up the seat. Window."
Lucy climbed, but her skirt snagged on the iron bar. For a split second, Xender caught more than he should have, but she yanked free fast, flushed and dropped outside.
Xender followed, vaulting through just as the stall door splintered under the pounding.
Behind the toilets, only a handful had made it out alive. The unlucky ones still inside were torn apart in seconds, their screams cut short.
Lili froze when she saw Xender land beside Lucy.
"You… you made it," her friend whispered.
Xender dusted blood off his hands, glaring back at the chaos inside. "Anyone else alive?"
"Xender, you're okay!" Lili threw herself around him, hugging like she hadn't just locked him out to die.
The bitch was faking. Even her friend's eyes widened at the act.
"We don't have time for this," Lucy cut in, voice sharp. "We need a safe place, fast."
Now it was Xender, Lucy, Lili and six other girls. Night had fallen. The only light came from the buzzing lamps scattered across campus, flickering against the shadows.
"Where do we go now? The whole block's overrun."
"An empty lab. Somewhere with a strong door. We hide till morning."
They moved in a tight pack, backs pressed to walls, skirting around broken windows and dark corridors. Every lab they peeked into was crawling with Z's.
"What about upstairs?" one girl whispered.
"No way. We ain't going there." Xender's tone was sharp.
"But maybe it's safer..."
"Yeah, we could barricade the roof..."
"How the fuck are we even taking the stairs? Every corridor is blocked with Z's," Xender snapped.
"He's right," Lucy added. "If we go up, we're trapped."
"But… what if help comes?" Lili pressed.
"Help?" Xender gave her a flat look. "Where the fuck is it now?"
They kept moving until Lucy pointed. "There."
An empty lab. Windows locked tight, door blocked by Z's on the other side.
"We need that lab," Xender said. "It's safer than running all night."
"We can't use the door."
"No shit." Xender pressed his hand against the glass, tapping lightly.
"What the hell are you doing?" Lili hissed.
"Shut up. Listen."