Kael Thorn had always thought the end of the world would be louder.
Instead, it came with whispers. The slow spread of panic. Sirens in the distance. News flashes that people ignored until it was too late. And when the screams finally did start, they didn't stop.
Kael sat hunched in the back of a city bus, headphones blaring music, eyes half-lidded from a night of gaming. He was on his way to campus, tired, mildly annoyed, and totally unaware that this would be his last day as a normal nineteen-year-old.
Then the screaming began.
The bus swerved suddenly, brakes screeching. People stumbled forward, some falling. Kael yanked off his headphones and looked out the window. Chaos.
A man was sprinting down the street—bloody, torn shirt, wild eyes. A woman was chasing him… except something about her was wrong. Her movements were jerky, unnatural. Her face was pale, and her mouth—
Her mouth was covered in blood.
"What the hell…" Kael muttered.
The driver yelled, "Everyone off the bus! Now!"
No one needed a second invitation. Kael grabbed his backpack and bolted. As soon as he stepped off the bus, the scent of fire and death hit him like a wall. Police sirens wailed. A building down the street was ablaze.
People were running in all directions, screaming. Cars collided. The infected — Kael didn't know they were called that yet — were tearing into civilians in broad daylight.
He barely had time to react when one of them lunged at a nearby man. Blood sprayed. The victim fell, gurgling, twitching.
Kael turned and ran.
---
He didn't stop until his legs were about to give out. He ducked into a nearby alley and leaned against a dumpster, breathing hard, heart hammering. "What the hell is happening…?"
That's when he heard it — a muffled scream.
Kael looked toward the sound. It came from a nearby clinic. The door was half open. Inside, the lights flickered.
He didn't want to go in.
But someone was screaming. Someone alive.
Gripping a metal pipe from the ground, Kael crept inside.
---
The scene inside was straight out of a horror movie.
Blood smeared the white walls. A body lay slumped behind the receptionist desk. He stepped over it cautiously, trying not to gag.
The scream came again — down the hall.
Kael moved silently, pipe in hand. At the end of the hallway, a nurse in blue scrubs was fending off an infected man who had her pinned against the wall.
She was stunning — long auburn hair pulled into a messy bun, curvy and mature, with sweat gleaming on her forehead. Her uniform was torn, revealing creamy skin beneath. Her eyes met Kael's.
"Help!" she cried. "Please!"
Kael didn't hesitate.
With a yell, he swung the pipe with all his strength. The metal cracked against the infected's skull. It staggered, then turned toward him with a snarl. Kael hit it again, harder. And again. Until it stopped moving.
Panting, he looked at the nurse. Her chest heaved as she clutched her side.
"Are… are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded shakily. "I think so. Thank you. If you hadn't come…"
He stepped forward and helped her stand. Her body pressed against his, soft and warm. She smelled like antiseptic and vanilla.
"I'm Kael," he said. "Just… some guy who was running for his life."
She gave a weak laugh. "Mia. Nurse Mia Carter."
He blinked. "You're calm."
She shook her head. "I'm freaking out inside. But I can't afford to panic. Not yet."
"Is there anyone else in the clinic?"
She hesitated. "No. I think… they're all dead."
Kael swallowed hard. "We need to get out of here. It's not safe."
She nodded. "Wait. There's a supply room in the back. Medical kits, some food, water, maybe even a weapon or two. Help me carry what we can?"
---
Fifteen minutes later, Kael and Mia exited the clinic with two backpacks full of supplies. The streets were quieter now — eerily so. Smoke rose in the distance.
"What now?" Kael asked.
"There's an abandoned school three blocks west," Mia said. "High fences, thick walls. I treated a security guard there once. He showed me a way in, just in case." She gave him a faint smile. "Seemed paranoid at the time."
Kael smirked. "Paranoia just became survival instinct."
They moved fast, staying low. Kael led with the pipe, Mia close behind, occasionally guiding him through shortcuts. They reached the school just as the sun dipped below the horizon.
The place looked like a fortress. Steel gate, reinforced windows, tall concrete fence.
Together, they slipped in through the side entrance Mia remembered — a maintenance door behind the gym.
Inside, it was dark, but safe. At least for now.
---
They set up camp in the nurse's office.
Kael sat on the cot, still trembling a little from adrenaline. Mia sat across from him, cleaning a scratch on his arm.
"You were brave back there," she said quietly.
He shrugged. "You would've done the same."
"No," she said. "Most people would've run. But not you."
Kael looked at her. In the low light, she looked even more beautiful — full lips, long lashes, and a softness in her eyes that comforted him.
"You saved me, Kael."
His face flushed slightly. "I guess we saved each other."
She smiled. Then, surprising him, she leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.
"For now," she said, standing up, "get some rest. I'll take first watch."
He watched her walk to the doorway, her hips swaying slightly.
And for the first time since the world fell apart, Kael felt… alive.