Chapter 005: Rolling Over
Rezvan held his breath, watching Rafandra, who still stood alert beside the tilted seats.
The man's eyes swept relentlessly across the mist outside, sharp and vigilant.
"This isn't just an animal... Something bigger. Something far more dangerous is out there."
Rafandra kept the thought to himself as he shielded the two female students sitting close together, along with another student in front of them.
The air inside the bus grew increasingly suffocating.
The cold crept across their skin, yet cold sweat still streamed down their temples.
Rezvan's heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Then, a realization struck him.
"It's not just one thing... There are many of them."
"They're coming from different directions..."
"We're trapped in the middle of... something..."
Pak Marta finished his thought.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Heavy footsteps shook the earth.
The vibrations spread through the bus, traveling from the floor into the passengers' spines.
Each impact was far too heavy to belong to an ordinary animal.
Harsh breathing echoed from outside.
Low growls followed, raising the hairs on everyone's neck.
The students couldn't see anything.
The mist was too dense, swallowing everything beyond the cracked, darkened windows.
Yet it was precisely because they couldn't see...
that their fear became even more uncontrollable.
Again and again, Rafandra motioned for them to stay low and remain silent.
But the sounds outside alone were enough to spread terror.
Several students began crying silently.
Some bit down on their own sleeves to keep from screaming.
Others squeezed their eyes shut, desperately pretending this was nothing more than a nightmare.
THUD! BANG! THUD! BOOM!
The creature slammed into the bus again.
Once.
Twice.
Over and over.
Whether it was trying to overturn the vehicle...
or searching for something inside...
no one knew.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Heartbeats echoed throughout the cabin.
Held breaths.
Shaking bodies.
Fear accumulated until it became almost tangible, so dense that even the air itself seemed frozen.
Their primitive instincts understood one thing.
Don't make a sound.
One single noise might be enough to attract whatever was outside.
Tears began falling uncontrollably.
Cold sweat soaked their necks and backs.
The young bodies froze in terror as their imaginations conjured the worst possibilities.
"M-M-Mom..."
"D-D-Dad..."
"I'm scared..."
"I'm terrified..."
"I shouldn't have come..."
"I should've stayed home..."
"Why did the school trip have to come here?"
"Why couldn't we have gone to Borobudur or somewhere like that..."
"This has to be a prank..."
"It has to be..."
"I want to go home..."
"This is just a dream..."
"It's just a dream..."
"Idiot! I should've gone to a regular high school! Why'd I choose a technical vocational school where it's all guys?! At least if I'd gone to a regular high school, I could've experienced dating!"
Regrets.
Whispered prayers.
Quiet sobs.
Trembling confessions.
Everything blended together within the suffocating darkness.
Meanwhile, Rafandra remained standing near the bus door.
His body leaned slightly to maintain his balance.
His gaze never wavered.
Alert.
Like a predator waiting for the next attack.
Nearby, Rezvan crouched between the slanted seats, his jaw clenched.
He forced himself to stay conscious.
To keep thinking.
To remain a teacher for his students.
GRRHH... HUFF... GRRHH... HUFF...
That harsh breathing came again.
Close.
Far too close.
The creature hadn't left.
And no one knew what was standing outside.
KRAAANG!!
A violent impact slammed into the side of the bus.
Bodies were thrown violently.
Screams instantly erupted throughout the cabin.
The entire bus shook violently.
Then—
SCREEEEEEEEECH...
...the bus slowly began to roll over.
Metal screamed.
Glass shattered.
The bus slammed against uneven ground.
"AAAHHHHH!!"
"HOLD ON!!"
"WE'RE ROLLING!! WE'RE ROLLING!!"
CRASH!! BOOM!!
Impact after impact battered their bodies.
Trees.
Rocks.
Hard earth.
The entire bus felt as though it were being hurled around and beaten repeatedly by something vastly larger than itself.
Bodies collided with one another.
Some students were thrown into the aisle.
Others slammed into the seats.
Their screams mixed with the shriek of twisting metal and shattering glass.
Every second felt like a wager between life and death.
Rezvan was hurled violently against the side of a seat.
His shoulder smashed into the metal frame so hard it felt nearly torn from its socket.
Yet even through the pain, his reflexes took over.
He grabbed the hand of a student who was about to be thrown toward a shattered window.
"Hold on to this!"
"Don't let go!"
he shouted while struggling to keep himself anchored.
His heart pounded wildly.
But his mind continued searching desperately for a way to protect the children.
Elsewhere, Rafandra caught several students before they could be thrown farther.
His own body slammed repeatedly into the bus wall.
Still...
he forced himself back to his feet.
His eyes never left the mist outside.
CRAAASH!! BOOOM!!
The bus slammed into something solid.
Everyone was thrown again.
Several students began screaming hysterically.
Rafandra immediately covered one student's head with his own body, shielding him from the twisted metal.
"Stay calm!"
"Hold on to anything that's secure!"
he shouted over the deafening impacts.
Rezvan gave a quick nod despite struggling to breathe.
"Stay down!"
"Grab the seats!"
"Don't stand up!"
he shouted to the others.
Outside...
a massive shadow moved faintly through the mist.
Its shape was impossible to make out.
Incomplete.
Indistinct.
Yet enough to send chills racing through every spine.
KRRRAAANG!!
At last...
the bus stopped rolling.
But it now rested at a steep angle.
Almost upside down.
The sounds outside continued.
Heavy.
Echoing.
As though something enormous were slowly pushing against the bus from outside.
THUD!! GROOOAN!! THUMP!!
The ground trembled every time the thing touched the vehicle.
HHHRRRGGHHHH!!
A deep, harsh breath drifted through the mist.
Extremely close.
Everyone's skin prickled.
No one dared approach the windows.
Much less look outside.
Then—
Silence.
No more impacts.
No more roars.
Only slow, ragged breathing.
The hiss of damp wind.
Or perhaps...
the mist itself.
The bus leaned at nearly a seventy-degree angle, wedged between hard ground and the trunk of a tree.
Gravity itself seemed altered.
The floor had become a wall.
The seats were now both footholds...
and traps.
The windows along the left side had shattered completely.
Glass fragments were scattered everywhere.
The twisted metal groaned softly whenever anyone moved.
Rezvan slowly regained awareness.
His body lay wedged between seats that now hung above him.
His shoulder felt crushed.
His head throbbed.
Warm blood trickled down his right temple.
"...Ah..."
he groaned softly.
Every breath stabbed through his chest.
Inside the bus...
the situation had become even worse.
Crying.
Groans of pain.
Calls for help.
Fear.
"Help..."
"I can't move..."
"My leg...!"
"I can't see anything...!"
"It's so dark... help!"
"Pak... Pak Guru... please..."
Rezvan heard every voice.
Yet his own body could barely move.
The world spun around him.
Blood dripped from his forehead.
His shoulder felt as though it had been ripped apart.
He tried to speak.
Only broken, raspy breaths escaped his lips.
Not far away...
Rafandra slowly pushed himself upright.
One side of his face was covered in blood.
His breathing was heavy.
Yet his eyes remained sharp.
Focused.
His survival instincts were operating at full capacity.
Count the casualties.
Protect the living.
Stay conscious.
"Pak... Marta...?"
Rafandra's voice was low and heavy beneath the groaning metal.
He crawled toward the driver's compartment.
Pak Marta was barely conscious.
His body trembled violently.
Blood trickled from his forehead.
But he was still alive.
GGRRRRUUUUHHHHHH...
The creature's voice echoed from outside once more.
This time—
it sounded farther away.
But it hadn't left.
Its presence...
was still there.
No one knew what it was doing outside.
One thing was certain.
Whatever it was...
it was still somewhere nearby.