Ralph, Monica, Tyler, and Katie sprinted toward the basement, which served as the storage room for sports equipment. Once everyone was inside, Ralph and Tyler pushed heavy racks and desks against the iron door to barricade it. "Blam... blam," violent pounding echoed against the metal, causing the door to buckle inward. Dents from fists, palms, and kicks began to warp the surface, making the atmosphere even more terrifying. Ralph and Tyler threw their weight against the door to keep it from bursting open. After a while, the pounding stopped. Ralph and Tyler slumped to the floor, panting with relief.
"What is happening? What was that giant metal ball coming out of the sky?" Ralph asked.
"How should I know... whatever it is, it's definitely not friendly to humans," Tyler replied.
Ralph looked back and saw Monica and Katie huddled together, hugging each other. Their bodies were shaking, and their faces were deathly pale from terror.
"We stay here for now," Ralph said.
"Yeah, I'm not going out there either," Tyler added.
"How did it come to this?" Monica whispered from behind them.
"Hik... hik... hik," Katie's quiet sobbing filled the room.
Ralph and Tyler were speechless; they were just as terrified and had no idea what was going on. They remained in the stuffy, damp room for hours. Monica and Katie eventually drifted into a restless sleep, and Tyler's head began to nod as he grew drowsy.
"We can't stay here forever... it's getting harder to breathe," Ralph thought to himself as he watched his friends.
"Thud... thud... thud... is anyone in there?" Someone knocked and asked from behind the door.
Hearing a voice, Ralph stood up and began moving the desks and racks with Tyler. But as he reached for the handle, a wave of hesitation hit him. He grabbed Tyler's hand.
"What is it, Ralph?" Tyler asked.
"I don't know why, but I have a really bad feeling about this," Ralph replied.
"Move, let me do it," Tyler said, gently pushing Ralph aside.
"Wait, Tyler!" Ralph hissed.
"Hey! We're in here!" Tyler shouted.
He swung the door open. Standing behind Tyler, Ralph saw a student on the other side. Behind him, countless cables were slithering through the air like living things. When Ralph got a clear look at the student, he saw a face of pure nightmare: half of it was a mechanical skull with a red camera lens for an eye, and his body was partially metallic, with bloody steel fibers replacing his muscles. The thing's mouth moved, repeating: "Is anyone in there?"
"Close it, Tyler!" Ralph screamed.
Too late. The student lunged, thrusting his hand through Tyler's chest and dragging him out. Ralph slammed the door shut and barricaded it again with the racks and desks, his heart shattering. "Kyaaaaaa!" Katie, seeing Tyler stabbed and dragged away, became hysterical. She tried to run out after him, but Monica caught her in a bear hug, pinning her against the wall to stop her.
"Tyler... Tyler!" Katie screamed.
"Calm down, Katie... calm down... there's nothing we can do! Please, don't do this!" Monica cried out.
Ralph moved toward them, but "bang... bang... bang," the door was under attack again. Ralph spun around and threw his weight against the desk. Seeing him struggle, Monica let go of Katie to help him hold the door. The banging eventually stopped, but then they heard a scuttling sound coming from the air vents. Suddenly, the vent above the hysterical Katie burst open. Dozens of cables poured in, instantly binding her hands and feet. Several more forced their way into her mouth and up her skirt.
"Ogh... ogh," Katie's body convulsed violently. Her eyes rolled back, and blood began to leak from her ears, nose, and eyes.
Seeing Katie being forcibly transformed, Ralph realized they were trapped. He kicked the desks and racks aside, threw open the door, and pulled a stunned Monica out of the basement. They sprinted up the stairs hand-in-hand, dodging students who had already become half-machine zombies. They ducked and wove past cables lashing out from the walls.
"Hurry, Monica!" Ralph yelled.
"I.. I am!" Monica sobbed.
Ralph grabbed a long, broken wooden leg from a table and swung it wildly to bat away the attacking cables. They kept running until they reached the very top level: the roof. Ralph burst through the door with Monica and led her to the small concrete structure housing the water tanks.
"Huff... huff... we'll hide here for a bit," Ralph said, peeking through a tiny slit in the door.
"Tyler... Katie," Monica whimpered.
Seeing Monica shaking and pale, Ralph pulled her into a tight embrace. He held her close, partly to comfort her and partly to keep her hidden from view. Ralph peeked out again. The midday sky had turned pitch black, obscured by millions of cables flying through the air, twisting like snakes around the massive iron sphere that blocked the sun. The sky directly above the sphere was still open like a gaping wound, surrounded by swirling black clouds. Ralph squeezed Monica tighter; he was trembling himself at the horrific sight.
Monica clung to him, silent and shivering. She buried her face in Ralph's chest as he held her. Both stayed perfectly still, not daring to make a sound.
"Help... somebody... help me!" a scream erupted from outside.
Ralph looked out and saw several students running across the roof, chased by cables. The cables in the sky descended like a wave, snatching students who ran toward the center. Those caught vanished instantly, leaving nothing behind but a severed foot. Ralph looked the other way and saw four more students suffering the same fate as Katie. Suddenly...
"Blam!" A bloody hand slammed against the small window of their hiding spot, startling them. Monica clamped her hands over her mouth to stifle a scream. "Sreet," the hand slid down, leaving a streak of gore on the glass. When Ralph peeked, he saw the hand belonged to a girl being dragged by cables toward the center of the roof to be processed. Ralph, paralyzed with fear, held Monica. But then...
"Ra... Ralph... I... I don't feel good,"
Monica looked up at him. Ralph's heart stopped. She looked like she was in agonizing pain. Suddenly, "Blergh," Monica coughed up a spray of fresh blood, soaking Ralph's shirt.
"Monica!"
Ralph looked behind her and saw a single cable had snaked in through a small gap in the building's masonry and gone up her skirt. Ralph let go of her and grabbed the cable, desperately yanking it out of her body. He succeeded, and Monica slumped down, gasping for air as blood pooled between her legs. But as Ralph reached out to help her, a cable lunged through the gap and wrapped around his arm. As he struggled to break free, more cables poured in, binding his legs and his other arm, pinning him helplessly against the wall.
"Monica... run... get out of here!" Ralph screamed.
But Monica was too weak to move. The cables began to coil around her body, forcing themselves into her mouth and clothes. Ralph, watching Monica suffer the same fate as Katie, fought against his restraints with everything he had.
"Monica... Monica... Monica... Moni... ogh,"
A cable shoved itself down his throat, cutting off his scream. He watched as Monica's body was slowly replaced by machinery right in front of him. He felt an unbearable pain himself, as if something was being ripped out of his soul. His vision began to blur, and eventually, everything went black. His consciousness faded, and Ralph felt nothing as the darkness took him.
But this was not the end for Ralph. Suddenly, a brilliant light erupted from within his chest, vaporizing the cables attached to his body. A holographic interface flickered into existence before him.
[Wolf's Monarch System Activated.]
[Host Condition: Checking... Condition: Dead.]
[Reviving and restarting to early this day... Commencing 10... 20... 30... 40... 50... 60... 70... 80... 90... 100... Completed.]