After saying goodbye to the girls, Bruno and João Paulo ran up the hill, their quick steps echoing through the deserted streets. The sound of their own heartbeats seemed louder than the chaos waiting for them at the school where Samira studied. When they arrived, the scene was pure despair.
Cries of pain and panic came from all directions, mingled with the sounds of things breaking and the grotesque groans of the infected. Bruno paused for a moment, analyzing the situation with cold, calculating eyes. The school was almost entirely overrun, and the main gate on the street wouldn't hold for much longer before the infected spread chaos throughout the entire neighborhood.
"We have to be fast," he muttered, more to himself than to João.
Bruno's eyes focused on the low school wall. Without wasting a second, he crouched and intertwined his hands to give João Paulo a boost. "Climb, Zé. Go."
João Paulo hesitated for a moment, but then pushed himself up, grabbing the top of the wall and pulling his body with effort. Once secure, he extended his hand to Bruno, who took a few steps back, ran, and jumped, gripping the wall and climbing up with agility.
Inside, the metallic smell of blood and the heavy air of tension were almost suffocating. Both moved lightly, stealthily, until they reached the school's rooftop, which offered a broader view of the chaos.
As soon as they reached the roof, Bruno and João surveyed everything carefully. The sight was a nightmare. The main gate was wide open, completely destroyed by a car that had violently crashed there, scattering debris across the ground.
"At least we have an exit," Bruno commented, analyzing the destruction. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth but quickly vanished. He knew Samira wasn't athletic. Jumping a wall or running fast wasn't exactly within her skill set. He began to formulate a strategy to protect her during the escape.
While Bruno was lost in thought, João Paulo scanned the area, his eyes filled with worry and fear. He murmured quietly, almost like a prayer, as he searched for any sign of the girls.
Then something caught his attention. "Hey, Zé…" he tugged on Bruno's sleeve and pointed. "The infected… they're heading to the cafeteria. Look at that."
Bruno followed his friend's finger, observing the coordinated movements of the infected. They moved as if drawn to the same place, an unusual concentration for that kind of behavior.
"What do you think it could be?" João asked nervously.
Bruno gave a small, proud smile—something dangerous and almost insane. He knew exactly what it meant.
"She remembered," he muttered, more to himself than to João Paulo.
"What?" João frowned, confused.
Bruno continued watching the cafeteria, certainty growing in his mind. "Samira… she must have remembered what I always said when we were playing RPG."
João Paulo looked surprised and a little hopeful, but still tense. "You really think she's in there? What if—"
"She is," Bruno interrupted, eyes fixed on the path ahead. The determination on his face left no room for doubt. "And we're getting her out before it's too late."
He then gave João a solid pat on the back and, with full confidence and conviction, said:
— Man, I'm sure Samy's in there with Hadassa. How about we risk checking it out?
João Paulo hesitated, unsure about venturing over there, especially since he still wasn't fully convinced they were actually there. With caution in his voice, he asked Bruno:
— I know Samira and Hadassa stick together, but how can you be so sure it's really them in that cafeteria surrounded by all those infected? Don't you think it might be too risky?
Bruno heard screams for help coming from that direction, mixed with the shouts of the infected. Amid the chaos, he recognized his sister's voice among the others. Feeling proud that she had followed some of his ideas from when they used to play RPG, he turned to João with a spark in his eyes and said:
— Damn it, asshole, that's her voice… lock it up and let's get down there, damn it!
Before Bruno could rush down recklessly, João Paulo stopped him, insisting they needed a plan.
— Dude, don't get ahead of yourself. You really want to go down there without any plan? Wait a bit and let's take advantage of the fact that the infected haven't noticed us yet…
João Paulo stepped closer to the edge of the rooftop and added:
— Hmm… it's not too far down to jump from here. Now we just need to figure out how to get them out… Got any idea?
Bruno didn't hesitate.
— Yeah, I do.
Curious, João Paulo looked at him and asked:
— Really? What is it?
Bruno walked toward João with a confident, slight smile. When he reached the edge where João was standing, he looked down at the infected below and spoke casually, as if it were no big deal:
— One of us goes down there, the other stays up here, drawing their attention away in the opposite direction. Then, when they come to check where the first person was, the other goes down and gets them out as fast as possible. The meeting point will be the Serve Bem market, and if possible, try to escape through that gate down there—it might be easier for you. Sound good?
João Paulo listened to the plan, thought quickly, but knew he had no better idea. Resigned, he gave a short nod.
— Alright, Zé… Rock solid. But, uh… who's going down there?
Bruno smirked, letting out a breath through his nose as he raised his left hand to his chest. João Paulo already knew what that meant. Rolling his eyes, he muttered:
— Goddammit!
Without another word, they played rock-paper-scissors. On the first round, João Paulo threw paper, and Bruno, with scissors, won. João Paulo's face contorted in indignation, and he let out:
— Damn it, Zé, you're a bastard, huh? If anyone had to go down there, it was you, man! Lazy… You run way faster than me, damn!
Bruno shrugged, stepping back with that annoyingly calm ease only he could muster:
— Think about it, man: I can't run fast if I have to carry the girls out of the gate. Besides, it's way easier for me to stay up here giving cover and distracting those bastards than trying to carry them from here. Now, go! Get down there and get ready for when I start yelling.
João Paulo huffed, but he knew Bruno was right, even if it stung his pride. With no more arguments, he carefully began descending to the ground, while Bruno hurried along the roof, searching for a spot where he could shout and draw the infected without being seen.
Once Bruno positioned himself, he let out a loud, unmistakable shout:
— Hey Samy! Get ready, damn it! Big bro and the fat guy are coming to get you outta there!
Samira heard Bruno's voice echo through the cafeteria. Her heart raced, a mix of relief and adrenaline flooding her. She glanced at the other two girls with her and murmured, trying to sound confident:
— Now's the time. Stay behind me and do as I do, alright?
Meanwhile, Bruno kept shouting nonstop, using every ounce of his voice. He banged on a nearby metal structure, making enough noise to attract anything alive in the vicinity. The infected, drawn to the commotion, began leaving the cafeteria entrance, moving clumsily and frantically toward Bruno.
João Paulo, already on the ground, positioned himself near the cafeteria door, waiting for the right moment to act. His heart felt like a runaway drum, but he stayed focused. The infected were moving away, exactly as Bruno had planned.
Bruno continued his performance on the roof, shouting insults and provocations with a wicked grin:
— Come on, you bastards! Up here to try my wonderful Tuscan sausage! Let's go, damn it!
The infected responded with growls and howls, charging toward the sound, while João Paulo prepared for the decisive moment.
He descended the other side of the roof and approached the area they were supposed to pass through, noticing that the path was clearing. Inside the cafeteria kitchen, Samira's classmate, peeking through the door cracks, realized the exit was becoming unobstructed. Desperate to escape, she hurriedly pushed the door open. The door, swinging outward, slammed right into João Paulo's face, who had just arrived there.
Startled, the girl let out a piercing scream. It was disastrous—for her and for João—who was now more exposed outside the kitchen. The infected who had left refocused on João, abandoning their chase of Bruno on the roof to pursue him instead, making him an easy target.
Sensing the imminent danger, Samira grabbed the hand of the other girl beside her and, without hesitation, ran through the door, preparing to flee. She started to thank João, but he interrupted her with a question:
— Samira, where's Hadassa???
Samira, desperate to get out of there, replied hastily:
— I don't know. I haven't seen her since recess ended and all this started…
João Paulo, still holding onto hope of finding his sister, decided he would search for her inside the school. He turned to Samira and the other girls, speaking urgently:
— Bruno told you three to run to the supermarket now. I'm going to find Hadassa!
Hearing this, Samira remembered what Bruno always said: if something like this happened, he would do everything possible to save everyone around him.
Meanwhile, the girls began running toward the supermarket, but as they moved, infected started appearing from all sides, surrounding João. Bruno, noticing that the area was becoming crowded with infected, ran to the other side of the roof, trying to gain an advantage to descend before the number of infected increased even further.
Bruno descended the roof as quickly as he could and sprinted forward. However, in the distance, he heard Samira screaming for help once again.
Bruno's face changed completely, shifting from concern to intense rage. His plans, which had seemed simple, were falling apart. Without hesitation, he raised a knife and began attacking anyone in his path. Even seeing uninfected people trying to escape, he ignored them, appearing more like a monster than a human being, crushing everything in his way. Children, teenagers, or infected adults—whatever appeared in front of him, he killed.
Adrenaline took over his body so completely that everything around him seemed to move in slow motion. His heart pounded so hard it made breathing difficult, and wherever he passed, bodies fell and blood gushed. Yet, amid the chaos, the only sound he could hear was a white noise, growing sharper and louder until it seemed as if the world had lost all other sound.
João Paulo, on the other hand, couldn't react to the situation around him. Without the courage to kill anyone, he ran back and forth, trying to survive while simultaneously searching for his sister. Samira, however, moved with the determination of someone who wanted to live, doing everything possible to escape with her friends. The panic was so overwhelming that no one could think of anything beyond just getting out alive.
As Samira neared the gate—toppled by a car with an infected trapped in the driver's seat—the younger, slower girl holding her hand was grabbed by an infected. Samira's other friend managed to slip through the gate, lucky that few infected noticed the commotion.
With no other choice to avoid being caught, Samira let go of the younger girl's hand and ran through the gate, tears in her eyes, fleeing with the only hope of surviving. Meanwhile, the infected devoured the small child.
João, already in extreme despair, felt his heart pounding so hard he had to fight his own body just to breathe. In the heat of the moment, without thinking, he swung the knife in his right hand instinctively when he felt something approaching from behind. Only when the blade sank into flesh did he realize what he had done. Turning quickly, he saw that the child he had struck was his younger sister.
João's scream, full of desperation, barely left his throat. Overwhelmed by grief and guilt, he couldn't even hear his own voice. Seeing his sister lying lifeless made him vomit, and an infected grabbed his left arm. In a surge of pure rage and survival instinct, before the infected could bite him, João drove the knife into the creature's neck, piercing upward through its skull. Blood sprayed everywhere, and with the bloodied knife still in hand, João, consumed by panic, began swinging wildly, blindly striking in every direction.
Bruno, observing from a distance, watched the scene with a strange sense of detachment. In his mind, everything seemed so unreal that, for a moment, he felt like he was acting in an action movie, playing the role of a ruthless, bloodthirsty killer. The sound of knives slicing through flesh, the metallic scent of blood in the air—it all felt disconnected. The only thing he could focus on was the slippery blade in his hand, becoming increasingly coated in blood with each strike.
The chaos only stopped when Bruno realized he had killed all the infected approaching them. He hadn't even noticed João nearby, who, in a frenzy, had just killed four infected. When Bruno finally paused, at least fifteen bodies lay around them, all dispatched by his knife.
Bruno approached João, who had his back to him, and tried to call him to move out. But in a panic-induced reflex, João, completely disoriented, made a sudden, awkward swing with the knife. The blade cut cleanly, slicing through Bruno's cheek from the jaw upward, leaving a long, painful gash.
The shock was immense for both of them. Bruno reacted instinctively, delivering a strong kick to João's stomach. João fell to the ground, still crying and writhing in pain. As soon as he realized what he had done, his eyes filled with remorse. He scrambled to his feet, sobbing, and apologized to Bruno, overwhelmed with guilt for injuring his friend in such a critical moment.
Bruno glanced back and saw Hadassa's bloodied body lying on the ground. João Paulo, still consumed by irreparable grief, couldn't stop the tears from falling. Seeing his friend in that state, Bruno's anger vanished. Instead, a wave of empathy washed over him, and he reached out, helping João to stand.
Once he was upright, Bruno spoke firmly but with a subtle lightness, reflecting the moment:
— Man, we have to go after the girls… There's still time to catch up with them before more tragedies happen…
João Paulo took a deep, heavy breath, and the two started running. Exhaustion, almost unbearable, made every step a battle against their own bodies. Both were drained, but stopping wasn't an option. Survival depended on it.
When they finally reached the girls, Bruno, panting and covered in blood, scanned the surroundings and felt that something was deeply wrong. He stopped abruptly, his gaze tense as he looked at everyone.
— Hey… guys… wait… something's very wrong here…
Samira, already used to her brother's demeanor in moments of tension, looked around and immediately understood what he was trying to convey. The streets were empty, the silence deep, and the only sounds came from distant screams, mixed with the strange, far-off noises of the infected. A frown crossed her face as a shiver ran down her spine.
— You're right… I can hear screams from far away, besides the noises… but…
Samira's classmate, the only one who had managed to escape so far, stepped closer and confirmed what Samira had already suspected:
— That's true… There's no one on the streets. It's almost completely deserted…
The feeling that the worst was yet to come hung in the air, like a shadow ready to swallow them all. The tension only grew as the silence of the street pressed down on them, and the sensation of being watched felt more real than ever.