The classroom had gone silent, but faint screams echoed from the other lecture halls. The sound carried through the walls, chilling every student in the room.
They gathered around the fallen body, their voices trembling.
"Is she dead?"
"What's wrong with her?"
"Oh my God…"
"I want my mom…"
Adrian's chest tightened, his breathing unsteady. It was the first time he had ever seen a body up close, and the sight shook him to his core.
Professor Harrison pushed through the crowd, his tone sharp but steady. "Back up. Everyone back up and sit down. Now."
Scared and shaken, they listened, retreating to their seats. Harrison knelt to inspect the student, his face grim.
He rose quickly and turned to the class. "I need someone to run to the Dean's office and another to the clinic. We need medics here immediately."
No one moved. The room filled with uneasy glances, but not a single student volunteered.
"Come on," Harrison urged. "Someone has to go."
To Adrian's surprise, Derek's voice cut through the silence. "I'll go."
Adrian blinked, stunned that Derek of all people had stepped forward.
Harrison gave a quick nod. "Good. But you can't go alone. Someone else has to go with you. Graves, go with him."
Adrian froze, eyes widening. "What? Why me—"
But every face in the room was already turned toward him. Even Kyle. For once, Kyle, his shield, his defender, didn't step in. He looked away.
Adrian felt the weight of betrayal sink in as Derek smirked. "Come on, let's not waste time."
Before Adrian could argue, Derek grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the door.
The heavy silence of the class followed them out into the hallway, where the distant screams grew louder.
The halls were unnervingly quiet as they walked, the usual chatter of students gone. Their footsteps echoed against the polished floor, making the silence heavier.
"So, Chubs," Derek finally said, his voice casual in the emptiness. "What do you think happened back there?"
Adrian's jaw tightened. "Don't call me Chubs."
Derek chuckled under his breath. "Relax. That's what your buddy calls you, right? I'm just keeping it friendly. So, what do you think it was?"
Adrian glanced at him, confused why Derek was even trying to make conversation. He let out a tired sigh. "I don't know."
They walked in silence for a while longer until they reached the corridor where they had to split. One hall led to the Dean's office. The other, toward the clinic.
"See ya, Chubs," Derek said with a grin before turning off.
Adrian shook his head and kept walking.
The deeper he went, the stranger it felt. The entire building was too quiet.
After everything that had just happened, the screams, the chaos, shouldn't people be flooding the halls, demanding answers, trying to leave? Instead, it felt like the school itself was holding its breath.
The walk to the clinic didn't take long, but when Adrian reached the door, he froze.
Blood streaked across the frame. Dark smears, hand-shaped, dragged downward.
His breath caught. Slowly, carefully, he leaned closer. From inside came faint, wet sounds, chewing, tearing.
Adrian's hand trembled as he pushed the door open.
The first thing he saw was the floor, stained red, a trail of it leading further in. Then, crouched low over a body, was a figure. Shoulders hunched, head dipping and jerking with each bite.
The sound was unmistakable.
Adrian gasped, too loud. The figure froze.
It lifted its head and turned toward him. A man's face, human, but wrong. Eyes wide and frenzied, mouth dripping blood, teeth stained crimson.
Adrian stumbled back, falling hard onto the tile. His chest heaved as the figure shrieked and lunged, sprinting toward him with impossible speed.
Scrambling to his feet, Adrian slammed the door shut just as the body crashed against it. The impact rattled the frame, and bloody hands slapped against the glass.
Heart racing, he braced the handle, the thing thrashing wildly on the other side.
"He looks human… but he's insane… blood everywhere…" Adrian whispered to himself, eyes wide. "Cannibalism."
As if his discovery had triggered something, screams erupted across the campus.
Voices rose from every direction, students shouting, doors slamming, panicked footsteps pounding through the halls.
Someone sprinted past, eyes wide with terror. "RUN!"
Adrian's pulse spiked. He pressed harder against the clinic door, heart hammering. The thing inside kept hurling itself at the barrier, the wood shaking under each impact.
He forced himself to breathe, clinging to the hope that the door opened inward, not outward. That was the only thing keeping it closed.
But just as he tried to steady himself, the figure slammed forward again, this time with its head. The glass panel in the center cracked, then shattered.
Adrian jerked back, his skin crawling as a blood-soaked face pushed through the jagged hole, pressing close enough that their foreheads almost touched.
The creature growled low in its throat, eyes fixed on him with ravenous hunger.
It was stuck, wedged halfway through, but still straining violently. Adrian staggered backward, horror locking his body in place for a moment.
Then his eyes snapped to the classroom door beside him, the handle beginning to turn.
He didn't wait to see what was coming out.
Adrian bolted, his shoes slapping against the floor as he ran down the hall, the screams of the campus swelling all around him.
He sprinted down the hall, his breath ragged, the echoes of the creature still rattling in his ears. He turned a corner and froze.
The hallway ahead was collapsing into chaos.
Students were running in every direction, some shoving past, others slamming against locked doors in desperation.
Screams filled the air, mixing with the sound of breaking glass and heavy footsteps.
Adrian staggered back as a girl barreled past him, her face streaked with blood.
Behind her, another student stumbled and fell, only to be swarmed by two figures that crashed down on him with animal ferocity. The hallway shook with his screams.
Bodies pushed around Adrian, nearly dragging him with the current of panic. He tried to keep his footing, his chest burning.
Where was Derek? He had gone toward the Dean's office. Had he seen this yet? Adrian's mind spun as he was forced forward with the crowd.
A boy slammed into him, eyes wild. "Don't stop! Don't stop!" he cried before disappearing into the stampede.
Adrian ducked low, weaving between the bodies, desperate just to breathe.
He couldn't tell where the safe places were anymore. The school, the place he thought he knew, had turned into a nightmare maze.
Still, in the back of his mind, the question burned, Where the hell is Derek?
For a brief moment, Adrian's thoughts pulled back to Derek. A part of him wanted to turn around, to look for him, to make sure he was alive.
But just as quickly, another memory surfaced, every shove, every nickname, every cruel laugh at his expense. Derek had never been kind, never treated him like more than a target.
Adrian clenched his jaw. Why should I risk myself for him?
The answer came fast. He wouldn't.
He pushed the thought away and kept running, forcing himself deeper into the panicked crowd. His lungs burned, his chest tight, but all that mattered now was survival.
The hallway ahead split into two corridors. Students surged down both, some tripping, others screaming as figures leapt onto them from side doors. The smell of blood was everywhere, sharp and metallic.
Adrian kept moving, shoving past anyone in his way.