"This isn't a fucking fairytale! It's real life, and if you don't get your shit together, we're all going to fucking die!" David snapped, his voice sharp as broken glass, at their homeroom teacher, Im Nayeon. Alaija pressed herself against the door with her brother, Mahkio, and David. The wood shuddered against the shoving, snarls, and clacking teeth from the other side. Every slam rattled her bones, every scratch reminded her how thin the barrier was between survival and being torn apart."I'm scared," Nayeon whispered, fingers white-knuckled around the window ledge. The only thing between her and freedom was the drop. "We wouldn't be in this mess if you weren't sneaking around!" Alaija's voice cracked with desperation. "For the love of God, please—just jump!"Nayeon's wide eyes lingered a moment before she took a leap of faith. At the bottom, Chris caught her in his arms."Go," Mahkio ordered. Alaija shook her head, panic gripping her chest. "But—"
"Go!" His voice cut through her fear like a blade. Her heart hammered as she forced herself to move. She sprinted, lungs burning, and hurled herself from the window. The world tilted into chaos. A scream tore loose before she collided with a warm, steadying embrace. "I've got you," Felix said, his thick accent grounding her as he set her gently on her feet. Above, David and Mahkio hit the ground in rolls, not even pausing before scrambling back to their feet. "Let's go," Anyia hissed, her tone sharp and urgent as she slung her bag of supplies tighter to her side. Alaija mirrored her, clutching her own like it was the last thing anchoring her to life.
"Where the hell are we supposed to go?" Mahkio muttered as they pressed into the shadows. His voice wavered between anger and exhaustion. "Four days in this shit, and we've already lost what was probably the best hideout. It's safe to assume everyone else is dead. We just so happen to be God's strongest warriors." Alaija didn't argue. The words echoed inside her, heavy and suffocating, as the memory of this morning clawed at the back of her mind—reminding her just how close they all had come to never making it this far. Earlier that morning, Nayeon's slip-up had nearly gotten them all killed. She'd stumbled across a gruesome scene—zombies tearing into what was left of their latest victim—and her scream split the silence like a gunshot. Panic had carried her racing back to the nurse's office, where the group was hiding, leaving them barely enough time to snatch their bags before the horde came crashing inside. They'd managed to barricade themselves in another classroom, but it hadn't lasted. The only escape had been through the window—forced into that desperate leap.
So technically, Mahkio's fury was justified. They called them Day Walkers; unlike the other zombies, these creatures could both see and hear. They stalked the daylight with unnerving precision, though come nightfall, they froze—immobile and idle, like corpses waiting for dawn."What about the school dorms for international students?" Nayeon asked suddenly. Mahkio stopped dead in his tracks, forcing Alaija to collide with his back. He spun on her, his glare sharp enough to cut glass. "For a teacher, you're pretty fucking stupid," he snapped. "It's nearly sunset. The dorms are at least a forty-five-minute walk, and that's without the time we'd waste sneaking past barricades and lockdowns. If the bombing didn't already flatten them."Silence pressed down, broken only by their ragged breaths.
Then something sparked in Alaija's mind."What about the student scooters?" she blurted out. Nayeon's immediate shake of her head nearly crushed the idea before it could take root. "You need faculty permission to use them."The words almost sank Alaija's heart—until she remembered. Her eyes narrowed, sharp with urgency."You packed your laptop," she said, her voice steady despite the storm in her chest. "Let me see your computer." "What's your plan? There's no Wi-Fi," Chris asked, uncertainty heavy in his voice."Just follow me."The group crept through the shadows until they reached the row of abandoned school buses, their windows shattered and streaked with dried blood. Alaija crouched against the rusted metal, heart pounding, as she pulled open Nayeon's laptop.
Her hands shook, but not from fear—her fingers always twitched before she worked. She slid a flash drive into the port, then plugged in her phone, the cracked screen flickering as she rerouted its signal. "If I'm correct, I can bypass the main network. The school's system still connects to the satellite uplink. Nayeon's VPN is garbage, but it's enough for me to tunnel through." Her voice was low, rushed. "Once I'm inside, I can override the scooter lock protocol."Her fingers flew across the keyboard, windows of code spilling across the screen. Lines of red error messages blinked back at her until she forced her way through the firewall. "There," she hissed. "Scooters unlocked. Now, once you grab one, cut the brakes and strip the black wires—the ones that force a remote shutdown if they go too far from school grounds or the dorms. After that, it's all fuel-powered. Siphon gas from cars, generators, whatever you can. They'll run until we die."The words hung like a curse, but her focus didn't falter. Sparks of green text filled the screen—success pings—four scooters activated. She yanked the flash drive out just as a chorus of snarls erupted nearby. Day Walkers, they lurched from between the buses, their skin slick and gray, chunks of rotted flesh sloughing from their faces. One's jaw hung half-off, teeth gnashing wetly as strands of sinew stretched and snapped.
"Oh shit!" David barked.
They scrambled, each of them vaulting onto a scooter. Chris took one alone, leading the charge, while Alaija clung to Mahkio's waist, the engine's vibrations rattling her bones as they tore down the ruined street. Behind them, the Day Walkers howled and gave chase, claws scraping against the pavement. The group didn't stop until Chris finally raised his hand, signaling a halt. His voice carried over the sound of sputtering engines. "Fifteen more minutes. If the dorms are intact, we'll climb the gates and use whoever's room is closest. If not..." His gaze hardened. "We scavenge, rest, and move again."Alaija passed out bottles of water, her throat raw as she gulped one down. She leaned into Mahkio's back, gripping him tighter when she recognized the landmarks. They were close. Too close.
"It's okay," Mahkio murmured, his husky voice muffled by the roar of the scooter. She wanted to believe him, but nothing about this was okay. It was the end of the world. At last, the gates of the dorms loomed ahead. The scooters slid under a bent section of iron, metal screeching against concrete. Anyia crawled through first, pulling their bags in after her, while the others clambered over the jagged bars one by one.
The dormitory loomed like a hollow corpse. Windows were black, save for the faint red glow of emergency lights on the second floor. Ash clung to the building's walls, and the smell of charred flesh mixed with damp concrete. A massive hole yawned near the building's side, plunging at least a hundred meters down into darkness. As they rounded the back, Alaija spotted the bent bars of a service entrance—pried apart, either by someone desperate to get in... or out. Chris and Mahkio strained against the doors. Nothing. The metal held firm."Are you infected?" The voice came from the other side, deep and commanding. "No," Alaija answered quickly, her words carrying for them all. "We came from the school. No one's bitten—we checked thoroughly." The silence stretched long enough to make every heartbeat echo like thunder. Then, finally, the lock clicked. The door creaked open.