The hallway reeked of sweat, fear, and the faint coppery tang of blood. The air was heavy, like the walls themselves were holding their breath. Mason pressed an eye to the door's narrow gap, his knuckles white against the handle.
"Clear?" Ava whispered, her voice trembling.
Mason shook his head. "No. But staying here is suicide."
Ryan was curled in the corner, pale and shivering. His breaths came in ragged, uneven pulls, each inhale sounding like it scraped his throat raw. The bite on his arm had darkened, veins spidering up toward his shoulder. He muttered under his breath, the words slurred and broken, like pieces of a nightmare he couldn't wake from.
The tied-up girl across the room let out a deep, rattling groan. Heads turned just in time to see her arms snap free from the rope. The sound of the frayed strands slapping against the floor made Zara's heart lurch.
"Now," Mason hissed.
He cracked the door open and they slipped into the hallway one by one, Zara holding it steady. Just as the last person passed through, the girl lunged from inside with a guttural scream. She slammed into the doorframe so hard her teeth clacked together. Her mouth snapped just inches from Zara's cheek before Mason yanked her back. He shoved the door closed with a bone-rattling thud and held it for a heartbeat.
But the noise had already done its damage.
From the far end of the hallway came the sound of dragging feet—slow at first, then building into a jagged rhythm. Shadows began to stretch along the walls, twitching unnaturally. The first infected appeared, head tilting to one side with that eerie, jerky motion before it let out a choking hiss.
Then it ran.
"Run!" Ava shouted.
They bolted. The pounding footsteps of the infected followed, joined by more from side hallways. The sound was like a stampede, except each footfall was uneven, almost broken.
Liam's lungs burned, his mind screaming at him to keep going, but Ryan's uneven stumbling slowed them down. His head lolled weakly, sweat soaking through the back of his shirt.
Halfway down the hall, Ryan tripped and fell hard, his body skidding on the tile. "Go—" he tried to say, but his voice cracked into a groan.
Mason didn't hesitate. He slung Ryan over his shoulder like a sack, his own legs straining under the weight, and kept moving.
They rounded a corner—only to freeze. The stairwell ahead was blocked… not by zombies, but by a barricade of overturned tables and chairs stacked floor to ceiling.
"Now what?" Zara gasped, looking back.
The infected were pouring into the hallway behind them, their mouths open in silent, shaking hunger. One of them—faster than the rest—dropped to all fours and scrambled forward like a spider, its fingers scraping the tile.
Everyone looked at Mason.
Blood dropping down from Ava's thighs as she is on her period.
No one could focus on anything, everyone's survival instinct pulled in.
Then they saw it.
"Guys in here" Liam shouted
Liam led them into another building of the school.
The storage room.
All of them ran inside but mason stop Ryan from entering.
"What are you doing" Zara said
"Dont you have common sense?, he is literally infected do you want to kill is all in here" mason snapped in anger
"Get the fuck out of my way before I leave you outside with him"
Zara's eyes widened as she entered the building leaving Ryan outside.
Blood still trailed down Ava's thighs, but no one dared to comment. Survival instinct had stripped away embarrassment, leaving only fear.
"Guys, in here!" Liam shouted, his voice sharp and urgent.
He led them to another building — the old storage room at the far end of the block. The heavy metal door groaned as they pushed it open, revealing a narrow space stacked with dusty shelves. Broken chairs leaned against the wall, mops and brooms jutted out from a corner, and the air smelled of rust and damp wood. At the back, cardboard boxes were piled to the ceiling, some sagging with the weight of years.
Everyone scrambled inside, panting. But just as Ryan reached the doorway, Mason slammed a hand against his chest, blocking him.
"What are you doing?" Zara's voice shook with panic.
"Don't you have common sense? He's literally infected—do you want to kill us all in here?" Mason's tone cut like a knife.
"Get the fuck out of my way before I leave you outside with him," Zara snapped, fury flashing in her eyes.
Mason didn't move.
Zara's breath hitched, but she turned and slipped past him into the storage room, her hands trembling. Mason shoved the door closed before Ryan could step forward.
On the other side, Ryan's fists pounded against the metal — bang, bang, bang — each strike rattling the shelves inside.
"Open the damn door!" he shouted, his voice breaking.
The pounding grew weaker… then stopped.
Silence.
Everyone froze, breaths held.
A low, wet gurgle seeped through the door, followed by a sharp, animalistic growl.
"Shit," Liam whispered.
Ryan wasn't Ryan anymore.
Inside the storage room, no one dared move. The metal door was old but solid, with a single sliding bolt keeping it shut. They could hear faint scraping outside — claws or nails dragging along the surface.
The only light came from a narrow, high window covered in grime, casting thin beams of dusty sunlight across the room. Every creak of the building felt like it might give them away. No one spoke. No one even breathed too loudly.
And outside, the sound of slow, dragging footsteps began to fade…
For now.