One can never truly know one's own end...
For a moment, you're alive and breathing... then you'll come to notice that you already took your last breath... and life starts to flow away from your finger tips...
...
...
"AHHHHH!!!"
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
"ROSE! AMY!"
"OH, SHIT!"
*Screams*
*Barf*
Everyone gets up their seats and panics. The sight of their ran over classmates make their stomach curl inside out.
The students were instantly killed.
Ethan freezes in shock. He closes his eyes as he tries not to vomit. If he could make a wish, he'd wish he's still fast asleep, having a nightmare. He's having trouble breathing from seeing all the blood. He's trying to snap out of it.
The class is futilely trying to pull their friends from under the wheels and rubble, despite knowing it is hopeless.
"What the hell... what the hell just happened?!" Brock is sitting on the floor, hyperventilating.
"Someone, call for help!" James shouts while glancing at the others.
"Stop pulling! His arm's coming off!" Cindy screams and points.
"Rose! Amy!" Stella cries while holding her friends' lifeless hands.
"Do CPR or something!" says Kate.
"I don't know how!" says Alan.
"Oh, God!" Mary turns away.
Thomas is still vomiting from shock and nausea.
The other students run out of the classroom, horrified.
"Hey, wait!" Trevor calls out to them.
Ethan stares at the horror. He slowly approaches the school bus to take a look inside. He peeps through the side windows.
The passengers are all laying on the floor of the bus, not a single one is moving. They seem to be middle schoolers from another school, a little younger than them.
Suddenly, one starts to twitch and move. A girl wearing a yellow hooded jacket, drenched in blood slowly stands up. Ethan watches her silently. She's making abnormal movements: shaking, twitching, and slowly leaning from side to side, trying to maintain her balance. She looks around, confused of the screams. She slowly turns to Ethan, revealing her face as pale as death. He stares at her gray eyes like gazing into a broken television. A mysterious black liquid oozing out like tears.
She's like a walking corpse.
Ethan feels uneasy.
She strides her way to the window.
Something strange catches his attention: a bite mark on the neck of one of the lying passangers. A deep, bloody bite... to him, it definitely doesn't seem to belong to any familiar animal... rather, as unnerving as it sounds... it looks like a human's.
As the girl approaches the window, she attempts to claw her way to Ethan. She plants her face against the window, trying to get to him, growing more aggressive every second.
At that moment, he finally notices her blood-stained teeth... and a horrifying chill climbs his spine.
What...?
Ethan takes a step back, absolutely frightened.
"Hey, you! Look what you did. You crushed and killed my students!"
Mr. Brown says in panic to the injured driver, now standing up.
"Hey, take it easy..." Mr. Brown approaches the man, reaching out for his shoulder.
The driver, having trouble staying upright, slowly looks up, revealing his bloody and messed up face.
"Ughh," Mr. Brown is steps back from disgust.
Ethan notices a bite mark on the side of his face. Again, he feels uneasy.
"M-Mr. Brown, wait!" Ethan yells.
Mr. Brown glances at Ethan.
The bus driver suddenly attacks him.
"LOOK OUT!" Trevor shouts.
"GRRRRAAAAHHHH!!!"
"Ahhhhhh!" Mr. Brown screams.
"MR. BROWN!" James yells.
The bus driver pins down Mr. Brown on the floor, trying to bite him. He's clawing and tugging on Mr. Brown's white shirt.
James runs over to Mr. Brown and kicks the bus driver in the face. The enraged driver is kicked away.
The driver is running rampant. He's acting like a mindless wild animal. He's knocking over the chairs and climbing the desks.
He turns to Jane, Cindy, and Kate. He jumps at them.
"W-WAIT!"
"HELP!"
"AHHH!"
Jack runs in and punches the driver so hard, it knocks him down. However, it didn't seem to hurt him. He's still getting up. Jack tackles the bus driver, stopping him from attacking anyone else.
"Shit! What the hell is happening?!" he asks, struggling to keep him down.
"Don't let him go! Please!" Jay yells.
"What the hell is wrong with him?!" Jane screams.
"Everyone, stay together! Get away from him!" Mr. Brown says.
Jack and James work together to throw the driver outside the classroom and immediately slam the door shut.
The driver crashes his body against the door, trying to force his way back in.
The class huddles together in a corner, scared for their lives. The students are hiding behind other students.
Out of the blue, Stella sees Amy and Rose's crushed corpse slowly moving at the corner of her eye.
They're staring at Stella and the class, trying to crawl their way to them.
Amy? Rose?
She is confused.
She stares at their eyes, which are now noticeably different. They're not like before. Their pupils have faded like a dead fish's, and their eyes are crying a black substance. A sense of bloodthirst and violence could be felt from her friends.
A couple students run past their classroom, screaming.
"What's happening?!" asks Hailey.
All of them shut up to listen outside. They hear groaning and screams of agony.
With all the craziness happening inside the classroom, they fail to notice the absolute madness happening right outside the door.
They peep through the glass window on their classroom door to see Ms. Daisy being devoured by the bus driver. She's lying on the hallway floor, dead.
The girls close their eyes in fear and quietly cry. They all panic.
A while later, they observe their teacher twitching and moving. She slowly stands up, stares at them, and runs her body to the door, trying to break in like a rabid beast.
*SLAM!*
"GRRRRAAAHH!"
"AHHHH!"
"Ms. Daisy..." Mr. Brown watches in horror.
Meanwhile, there are street cleaners, construction workers, skateboarders, and office workers outside of the school slamming their fists against the windows, trying to get inside the classroom. They have all become bloodthirsty and violent savages.
"T-They're surrounding the windows!" Michael's voice cracks as he yells.
"We're dead! WE'RE ALL DEAD!" Brock hyperventilates and panics.
"Shut up!" Sasha yells at him.
"NO!" Mary sits on the floor, covering her ears.
They are surrounded and have nowhere to escape.
Students, teachers, and adults inside and outside the school are all chasing and biting each other. People are devouring other people's guts, like straight out of a horror movie. People dying, then coming back to life, becoming just as violent.
"What on earth is happening here?! Why is everyone turning into cannibals?!" Alan asks.
"How are the dead people coming back to life?!" Jay asks.
Thomas and Mary are covering their ears, scared and hiding in the corner.
The class can do nothing but watch in horror and hide in fear, locked inside their classroom.
Soon enough, the passengers in the school bus have all risen, they're rampaging inside the bus, groaning and banging their hands against the windows.
"What do we do?!" asks Kate.
"Relax, they don't seem to know how to get out." says Trevor.
Everyone takes a deep breath.
Suddenly, the girl in the yellow jacket pushes the button for the doors. The bus door opens.
"Oh, no..." Trevor's calmness crumbles.
She slowly steps out. The students all step back in fear. She stares at them.
She attacks.
"GRRRRAAAAAAHHH!"
"RUN!!!"
The class slams the door open, pushing Ms. Daisy and the bus driver out of the away, and runs outside the room, screaming.
In the hallway, they stop to witness what you'd believe is just a twisted nightmare.
Students are being eaten alive by the savage students in the hallway, begging for help. Their organs and blood are all over the floor and walls.
"Oh, gosh." Jane backs off.
"Keep running!" says James.
Suddenly, a dying student having his organs devoured grabs Jane's foot.
"H-Help... Please..." he begs in pain.
"AHH! LET GO OF ME!" Jane screams as she kicks his arm away, freeing herself.
The savages look up and now have their bloodlusted eyes on Mr. Brown and the class. They charge at them.
"AHHH!!!"
They run away while the savages are right behind them.
"OH NO, NO PLEASE!" Brock is leaping over the blood.
"We have to get out!" says Michael.
"W-Wait!" Thomas shouts.
Mary and Thomas are behind, struggling to keep up and stay alive while screaming.
The class run as they dodge and shove away the savages in front of them until they see the exit.
They run past the gymnasium. From the windows, they see teachers and students on the top benches, trying to keep the savages away.
"HELP! PLEASE!" They yell for help.
The benches are toppled over and they fall. They are hopelessly eaten alive.
The class runs past the cafeteria. The lunch ladies are running on top of the tables, screaming.
"AHHH!"
The savages pounce and knock them down. They devour them instantly.
The class stares in horror as they watch familiar people get mercilessly murdered, and they're not able to do anything but run.
Soon, Mr. Brown and the class spot the exit. There are dozens of them blocking the doors.
"They're blocking the exit. There's too many!" says James.
"We're surrounded!"
"Where do we go?!"
They huddle together in fear. The savages behind are quickly approaching Mr. Brown and the class.
"AHHHHH!" they scream.
"Over here! Climb the stairs!"
Ethan leads the class up the stairs.
They climb to the second floor. They catch a sight of more teachers, students, and school staff being eaten. They swiftly sneak past the savages devouring the people on the floor.
Jack and James push away the incoming savages, clearing a path for them.
The class rush to the third floor.
"Those things are still on us!" Jack says.
They see a couple savages running after them.
Ethan comes across a fire ax inside an emergency box. He breaks the glass with his elbow and takes the ax.
"Look out!" Trevor yells and points behind.
Ethan turns around and swings his ax, decapitating one. Its body falls to the floor.
They stand still in shock as they see Ethan kill one. He is covered in blood.
"Everyone, grab a weapon! Anything to defend yourselves!" Ethan says.
They look around for anything they can use for self-defense.
Fire extinguishers, baseball bats, brooms and mops, Home Economics tools, books, and scissors. They arm themselves with anything they could get their hands on.
They continue running.
The class runs past the cooking class.
Sasha spots a frying pan on the floor. She runs to grab it, but Jane takes it first.
Sasha stops by the cooking class where she sees multiple students eating their teacher.
"Oh, fuck." Her guts curl up.
She spots a kitchen knife on the countertop. Staring at it, she decides to rush in and get it.
Suddenly, one grabs her foot.
"GRAAAAHHHHH!"
"SHIT!"
She tries to pull her leg loose, but it gripped on tight. It pulls her leg closer to bite. The other savages approach her.
"AHHH!"
*STAB!*
Sasha stabs its head with the knife and it dies. Blood splatters all over her face.
She kicks its face away and quickly runs back to the group.
The group reaches the fourth and final floor, which just has unused rooms and libraries, but they're locked.
"Shit! We're done!" says Brock.
"Don't give up! Check all the doors!" James yells.
They run to every door, hoping to find one unlocked. Trevor finds an unlocked room at the end of the hallway.
"Here! It's open!" he yells.
Everyone rushes in the room while the savage students climb the stairs.
Before shutting the door, Ethan stops. He looks around outside.
"Ethan! What are you doing?!" Mr. Brown asks.
"Sasha! Where's Sasha?!"
Everyone looks around the room, trying to find her. They never noticed she was gone.
"Ethan!"
Sasha reaches the 4th floor. The savage students are blocking the hallway. They turn to attack her.
"Sasha!"
Sasha pulls out her knife and charges at them. She stabs their head, then shoves them away. She's able to create distance by blocking their way with bodies.
Ethan runs in to help. He slashes them with his ax.
Jack and James follow him.
"Hey, wait!" Michael reaches out for them.
"Hey, I need some help over here!"
Trevor is pushing a big bookshelf.
"What are you doing?!" asks Jane.
"We're making too much noise... it's drawing too many of them up. The door won't stand a chance alone. We have to barricade it!" says Trevor.
The class stands still in fear.
"Guys, you heard him!" Stella runs to help.
They push the shelves near the door, ready to barricade it as soon as Ethan and the others enter.
Jack and James push the savages against the walls, clearing a path for Sasha.
More of them are climbing up the stairs. Their groans and footsteps are echoing through the building and are getting louder every second.
They have their eyes on Sasha.
"Sasha!" Ethan extends his hand.
She makes a giant leap over the bodies as the savages almost grasp her. She grabs Ethan's hand and they make a run for it.
Trevor watches as they make a run for their lives. The savages are just behind them.
"Moron! Close the door! We're all gonna die!" yells Jane.
"Not yet! They can make it!" Trevor shouts.
"Oh, gosh..." Michael is feeling nauseous.
"Please..." Stella whispers.
This is their only shot to save themselves. They grit their teeth and hear their hearts pound.
"Get ready!" says Trevor.
Just in time, the four of them enter the room. The savages are just outside, ready to step in and kill them all.
"NOW!"
Mr. Brown and Trevor close the door and move away.
*BOOM!*
The rest knock over the shelves, blocking the door.
*THUD!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
"GRRRRAAAHHHH!"
"RAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"FFRAAAAHHHHH!"
The savages slam their bodies against the door. Hearing their loud bloodlust groans make their ears bleed.
*SLAM!*
The barricade is moving.
"PUSH! DON'T LET THEM IN!" Ethan yells.
Mr. Brown and the class push with all their might, not wanting to let even one of them slip inside.
Meanwhile, the school, along with all of Pineville spiralled into complete chaos. Multiple explosions are heard from the town. The savages are climbing fences, breaking doors, and running for the sole purpose of murdering and transforming every single life they see into one of them.
"Don't give up... PUSH!"
"AHHH!"
It went on for ten minutes, then thirty, then an hour, until it went on for two full hours of nothing but relentless groaning and pushing.
They've been battling, fighting for their lives to not let the monsters in.
Sweat... tears... blood... all fall to the floor.
All they can do is push... and hope that... mercifully, the monsters would get tired and go leave them alone.
Soon enough, most of the savage students and teachers stopped prying. Most of them roamed elsewhere to find flesh. The barricade alone is enough to keep them out now.
They fall to the floor. Some are crying, some are still, most are afraid, and all are exhausted.
But even though they're pitiful, they survived. They survived as a team. Mr. Brown and the class would live to see the next dreadful day.
Everyone is catching their breath. Silence stretches through the room. The only thing you'd hear are the savages trying to claw their way inside.
Mary buries her face behind her knees, still catching her breath.
"What is happening...? What are they...?" she asks.
"They ate people... they killed them... then, they came back to life?" Hailey says in disbelief, covering her mouth.
Everyone is just as confused as her.
The room is silent.
"Something on the bus caught my attention... A girl had a bite mark on her neck..." Ethan says.
"A bite mark?" asks Jack.
"Yes." Ethan replies.
Ethan looks at Mr. Brown.
"The bus driver had the same bite mark." He says.
Everyone is listening to what Ethan has to say.
"I don't think they were an animal's. There weren't any animals on the bus..."
"I think... whatever... or... whoever... bit them, caused them to go mad." Ethan says.
"That bus driver was eating Ms. Daisy... and she DID turn..." says Trevor.
"So, if you're bit... you'll turn into them?" asks Michael.
"Not just that. Amy... Rose... They weren't bit. They were ran over, yet they still turned," says Stella, curled up in despair.
"Yeah. I saw it, too," says Jack.
"Mr. Brown, is this like... rabies?" asks James.
"I... I don't know... This has never been seen before... Not in history, the news, or any academic book in Biology," says Mr. Brown.
"People going savage from a bite? Even dying differently causes you to turn? How did this happen? And where did it even start?" he asks himself, frustrated.
"If you die... you'll... turn?" asks Thomas.
Everyone feels their blood curdle.
"Mr. Brown, do you think the fever that was spreading around school had something to do with this?" Ethan asks.
Everyone turns to Ethan.
"Back at the nurse's there were a few students laying terribly sick on the beds." he points out.
"I think... whatever it is... maybe, slowly weakened them, then gained control over their mind and body...like some kind of brain parasite... like something you see in horror movies," asks Ethan.
The room goes quiet again as the class tries to take it all in.
"I think we should dial it back a bit?" says Michael, respectfully.
"Yeah, you're sounding like you should be wearing a tin foil hat," says Jane, not so respectfully.
"Well, at this point, what ISN'T possible?" asks Cindy.
Mr. Brown looks at Ethan.
"A parasite..." he thinks.
"A parasite that controls your mind and movements even after death..." Mr. Brown takes off his glasses.
Ethan grabs his fire ax.
"And the only way to stop them... is to-"
"Destroy the brain altogether..." Sasha finishes his sentence, holding her bloody knife.
"If that's the case and your hypothesis is correct... because Amy and Rose turned... it would be logical to assume that all of us here are already infected..." Mr. Brown cleans his glasses with an empty expression.
The class goes silent. They feel a chill climb up their spine. Their minds are filled with fear.
"We're all... infected?" asks Stella.
"Will we... turn?" asks Mary.
"Who knows... It could just a matter of time..." Mr. Brown tiredly rubs his forehead.
They all stare at the floor in silence, processing what on Earth is happening.
"I wanna go home!"
"Papa... save me..."
Cindy and Kate start to cry.
"Is everyone out there... gonna die?" Michael asks.
"Mom... Dad..." says Hailey.
"I hope mom is safe..." says Jack.
"Grandma..." says Trevor.
Evan... Mom...
Everyone is deeply worrying about their family.
"As far as the situation goes, they're all in danger." Mr. Brown says as they look outside the window.
There are multiple smokes rising to the sky all over town. Suddenly, there was an explosion from the distance.
*BAAANG!!!*
Their faces freeze in shock. A gas station exploded... that's what they could assume. They all look down in despair, fearing for the worst for their loved ones.
"What the hell is this?!" says Brock in anger.
"Where are the police?!" he adds.
"Look outside, dumbass. This madness is happening everywhere. I doubt they'd waste their time to save a few kids locked in a dirty storage room." says Sasha.
"The military is what we should be waiting for." says Jack.
"But how do we know they're coming?" asks Jane.
Everyone is arguing. Discussing any hope of being saved from the overrunned school.
"I'll make some calls," says Mr. Brown.
Mr. Brown pulls out an old phone and walks around, trying to find a signal.
"The signal's always been bad around this school. It's probably gonna take a while... I'll tune in to the radio while we wait," he says as he places it on the floor.
"We should have a head count... To know who didn't make it..." says Mr. Brown.
"Class President, Mr. Armstrong." he looks at Michael.
Michael does a head count.
The only ones who made it in their class are, for the boys: Brock Jones, Alan Davis, Jay Miller, James Grey, Michael Armstrong, Ethan Graves, Trevor White, Jackson Rocks, and Thomas Smith.
For the girls, Stella Hopes, Jane Brooks, Hailey Welker, Sasha Woods, Mary Baker, Cindy Clyde, and Kate Armstrong.
"Out of 30 students in our class, only 16 survived, plus Mr. Brown." says Michael.
As they look out the window to watch the fires all over town and savages running in hordes, they can only imagine what chaos the people out there are witnessing.
They all sit in silence. Waiting for help to come.
They waited for hours until midnight.
"Still nothing?" asks Jane.
"Just go to sleep already," says Hailey.
Jane grumbles as she lies down on the dusty floor.
"Really... I just wanted to go home and play baseball after school... now, here we are..." Trevor quietly says, staring at the ceiling.