The floor lurched beneath Adrian's feet. At first it felt like an earthquake, then the whole building rattled violently, as if the ground itself had been struck.
The walls groaned. Glass windows shuddered in their frames before bursting outward. The sound was deafening, a rolling boom that seemed to swallow everything.
Adrian staggered, clutching the wall. His ears rang, his vision split into blinding streaks of light and shadow. For a moment, it was like the air had been torn apart.
Students collapsed around him, some screaming, others clutching their heads as the shockwave passed through the campus. Papers, phones, and bags were thrown into the air, scattering like debris in a storm.
Adrian's stomach flipped. He blinked hard, but his sight doubled, then blurred. He couldn't tell if he was standing or falling.
It felt like a nuke had gone off somewhere nearby, not close enough to destroy the campus outright, but near enough to rattle every bone in his body and shake the world into chaos.
Around him, students groaned and staggered back to their feet, some rubbing their heads, others barely able to stand.
But in the chaos, Adrian's eyes caught something worse, figures hunched over fallen classmates, their movements jerky, their mouths tearing into flesh.
Adrian's throat tightened. "It's really the apocalypse," he muttered, struggling to steady himself against the wall. He hadn't even noticed the words slip out. Deep down, he almost smiled at the thought. He would be lying if he said he hadn't imagined something like this before, those late-night games and shows. But this was no fantasy.
The vibrations finally faded, and his vision sharpened again. Adrian blinked, realizing he was alone. The hall was eerily still now, except for the sound of chewing.
He turned his head and froze.
One of the feeders had stopped. Blood dripping from its mouth, it slowly lifted its head, locking eyes with him.
Adrian's breath hitched. He began backing away, hands shaking.
The thing rose, its body twitching unnaturally. For a moment, it seemed to hesitate, then it sprinted, bursting forward with terrifying speed.
Adrian bolted in the opposite direction, his shoes slapping against the floor. His chest burned almost immediately, his weight dragging on him.
His breath came ragged, foamy at the corners of his mouth as he pushed harder than he ever had before.
He couldn't stop. If he slowed, he was done.
Adrian's footsteps thundered through the hall, but behind him came more. The sound multiplied, screeches, snarls, and the pounding of dozens of feet. He risked a glance back and nearly stumbled.
There wasn't just one.
A swarm of them had noticed the chase, jerking and sprinting after him with inhuman speed. Their eyes glowed faintly in the red-tinted light spilling through broken windows, their mouths open in wild hunger.
Adrian's lungs burned, his vision tunneling. His legs felt heavy, every step like dragging lead. I can't keep this up. I can't…
Then, he saw it.
A maintenance closet halfway down the hall, its door cracked open just enough. He threw himself toward it, shoving the door wide and stumbling inside. The dark swallowed him.
He slammed it shut and pressed his back hard against it, clapping both hands over his mouth to stifle his gasps. The smell of mop water and cleaning chemicals filled his nose.
Outside, the pounding grew louder. Bodies rushed past the door, claws and fists scraping against lockers.
A shriek rattled the metal as one of them slammed against the closet door, making Adrian flinch. He held the handle tight, praying it wouldn't give.
Seconds dragged like hours. Slowly, the footsteps thinned. The screams faded down the hall, the horde chasing something else.
Adrian stayed frozen, chest heaving, sweat rolling down his temple. He had never felt so close to death.
Only now did Adrian notice how badly his arm hurt. Ever since bumping into that old man, the sting had spread. The ache was crawling through him, heavier with every breath.
Then, movement.
He froze, eyes darting across the cramped, dark room. The maintenance closet wasn't big; he could barely stretch his legs without hitting a wall.
His hand shot toward a broom leaning in the corner, fingers wrapping around the handle.
A voice stopped him. "No, wait—I'm not—"
He blinked, lowering the broom just slightly. It was a girl's voice.
From the shadows, she stepped closer to the faint strip of light seeping under the door. Her face was pale, her body trembling. "Did you… did you see them?" Her voice cracked as tears filled her eyes. "My—my brother…"
Her lips quivered, her face twisting into an ugly cry she tried desperately to stifle.
Adrian's chest tightened. Only then did the truth hit him like a hammer.
If this was real, if these things were everywhere, then what about his family? His mother. His sister. The people waiting at home.
And the shockwave, the blast that rattled the school. Had it reached them? Were they already—
The thought was too heavy to finish.
Adrian slid down the door, his body slumping until he sat on the floor. He pressed both hands against his head, staring blankly into the dark, his mind unraveling. For the first time, he wasn't just scared.
He felt lost.
The closet stayed quiet for a long while, broken only by the girl's soft sobs and Adrian's uneven breathing.
His arm still throbbed, the ache spreading further through his body, but he forced himself to stay silent.
Then, faintly through the door, voices carried down the hall.
"…that room's full of students!"
Adrian's stomach turned cold. That was the lecture hall. The same one they had come from. He didn't need to imagine what would happen if the feeders reached it.
He looked at the girl. "We can't stay here. We need to move."
She shook her head quickly, tears streaking her face. "My brother… he's still out there. I can't leave him."
Adrian clenched his jaw. "If we don't leave, none of us are going to make it. You saw what those things did. Staying here is a death sentence."
The girl buried her face in her hands, crying harder, her words muffled. "I can't… I can't…"
Adrian pushed off the door and stood. His body trembled, but his voice was firm. "Then you stay. But I'm not dying in this closet."
He slipped out, the hallway a hushed ruin after the chaos of before. His footsteps were careful, every sound too loud in the silence.
A moment later, he heard movement behind him.
The girl followed, wiping her face with trembling hands, her breath shaky but determined.
She had realized he was serious, and that being alone was worse than facing the unknown.