Do you believe in zombies??? Well, I do.
My name is Noah, a Grade 11 student from Section Peridot. It's summer here in the Philippines, and it is scorching hot. the kind of heat that literally burns your skin.
We don't have a regular class right now because the teachers are having a meeting. Our teacher just told us to watch a movie instead... The Walking Dead.
The girls in my class are screaming their heads off. I'm sitting with Mark, Vincent, and Jacob------the hottest guy in our group.
There are 35 of us in this class, and we're the Science Section.
"Seriously? The Walking Dead again?" Jacob asked, leaning back in his chair. Being the pogi of Section Peridot, he looked bored even when the girls were shrieking.
"Just watch it," Mark teased. "Maybe you'll learn how to outrun a zombie before the Philippine heat fries your brain."
Vincent nudged me.
"Noah, you're the future Doctor here. Is it actually possible? I mean, could a virus really reanimate a corpse?"
I didn't look up from my Veterinary Anatomy Science Direct book. "If it's a rabies mutation CDC or a parasite affecting the nervous system, maybe. But honestly? I'm more worried about the local stray cats than these actors."
Jacob chuckled, kicking the back of my chair. "Typical Noah. We're watching a horror movie and he's worried about animal welfare World Animal Protection. Just don't try to 'rescue' a zombie if they start biting, okay?"
"I'd rather treat a biting dog than deal with you guys," I muttered with a small smirk, finally closing my book as the classroom lights flickered.
The classroom was a mess of intellectual chaos. While the movie played on the projector, half the class wasn't even watching.
In the back corner, a group was intensely playing Mobile Legends, their thumbs flying across screens as they whispered strategies. Near the windows, the girls were gossiping while fanatically waving their notebooks to catch a breeze.
"Noah! Help!" Sarah called out, pointing at a giant moth fluttering near the ceiling. "It's a monster! Save it, Mr. Future Vet!"
The whole class laughed. Jacob stood up on a chair, pretending to be a hero, while Vincent started beatboxing for no reason.
I just shook my head, smiling. "It's just a Lepidoptera, Sarah. It's more scared of your screaming than you are of its wings."
"See? This is why he's the top of the class!" Mark shouted, throwing a crumpled paper ball at me.
Despite the sweltering heat and the smell of floor wax and teen spirit, this was home. We were the nerds, the geeks, and the pogi boys of Peridot------35 students who thought we had all the time in the world.
We didn't know that in a few minutes, the screaming on the screen would be replaced by real screams in the hallway.
^^Faculty meeting ^^
While we were messing around in the classroom, the teachers were gathered in the air-conditioned faculty room, unaware that their agenda was about to become irrelevant.
Mrs. Ramos, the strict head teacher, cleared her throat.
"First on the list: disciplinary actions Law Insider. We've caught several Grade 12 students smoking cigarettes behind the gym. This needs to stop."
"And the tardiness," another teacher added, scribbling notes. "Students are arriving late without their proper uniform. We need to enforce the dress code strictly starting Monday."
"Lastly," Mrs. Ramos sighed, looking at a spreadsheet. "The academic performance . We have too many failing grades in the lower in science sections. We need a remedial plan..."
She was interrupted by a loud thud against the faculty room door. Then came the scratching.
^Peridot Section^
"I bet they're talking about the smokers again," Jacob joked, mimicking Mrs. Ramos's stern face. "Or how our uniforms are always crumpled from the heat."
"Probably my grades," Vincent muttered with a grin.
"I'm the reason for these emergency meetings."I laughed, tucking my Vet Med reviewer into my bag.
"At least they're not worried about a viral outbreak. Cigarettes and late students seem like small problems compared to what's happening on that screen."
I pointed at the projector where a zombie was currently tearing into a survivor. We all laughed.
The laughter in the room died instantly. It wasn't the movie that silenced us----it was a blood-curdling scream from the courtyard.
We rushed to the windows. Below us, a man---eyes bloodshot and looking completely unhinged had jumped over the school fence. He was being chased by a police officer, but the intruder was faster.
In a flash, he grabbed a Grade 7 student by the collar. He pulled a jagged knife from his pocket and pressed it against the kid's throat.
"Stay back! Get away from me!" the man screamed at the officer. He looked like he was on the edge.
"Noah, what's happening?" Vincent whispered, his face turning pale.
"It's a hostage situation," I said, my heart hammering against my ribs. I noticed the man's erratic breathing and the way his hands were shaking. He wasn't just a criminal he looked severely distressed.
The girls in our class started crying. Jacob grabbed a heavy wooden chair, his knuckles white. "He's right below us. If that cop doesn't move fast, that kid is done "
The Science Section was no longer watching a movie. We were watching a real-life horror story unfold in our own backyard.
Inside the faculty room, the air conditioner hummed, drowning out the distant shouting.
"I'm telling you," Mrs. Ramos said, tapping her pen on the table. "The tardiness is becoming an epidemic. Students think they can just stroll in whenever they like. We need to lock the gates at exactly 7:30 AM."
"And the uniform policy," another teacher chimed in. "Noah Clyne, for example. He's a brilliant student, but his lab coat is always stained with something. It looks unprofessional."
Outside, in the scorching sun, the reality was much darker. The police officer had his gun drawn but lowered, his voice trembling as he tried to negotiate.
"Drop the knife! Just let the kid go and we can talk!"
The intruder didn't listen. He had jumped from the third floor of the neighboring building into the school plaza, and he looked shattered both physically and mentally. He held the screaming Grade 7 student like a human shield.
Back in the meeting, Mrs. Ramos adjusted her glasses. "Lastly, the cigarette smoking behind the science building. It's a safety hazard. We cannot have dangerous elements on this campus."
CRASH.....
The faculty room window shattered as the dangerous elementslammed the hostage against the glass. The teachers screamed, their papers flying everywhere. The agenda for the day-----late students and messy uniforms-----was literally torn to shreds.
The peace of the afternoon didn't just break-----it shattered.
From our window in the Science Building, we had a front-row seat to the nightmare. The crazy guy was backed into a corner, the police officer still shouting orders that were being ignored.
Then, in one movement, the man's hand jerked.
The jagged knife sliced deep into the Grade 7 student's throat.
Time seemed to slow down. Crimson blood sprayed across the white tiles of the plaza, staining the kid's neatly pressed uniform. The boy didn't even have time to scream he just slumped, his small hands clutching at a wound he couldn't close.
Pure pandemonium broke out. Students who were watching from the corridors began screaming at the top of their lungs. Some froze in shock, while others turned and ran blindly, knocking over chairs and trash cans. Even the teachers, who had just been lecturing about school discipline, were frozen at the faculty windows, their faces pale with sheer terror.
"Noah, don't look!" Jacob yelled, trying to pull me back, but I couldn't move.
As a future Vet Med student, I had studied circulatory systems and arterial spray, but seeing it on a human------on a child----was different. The smell of copper filled the air, rising even to the second floor.
"He's dying," I whispered, my voice trembling. "He's bleeding out in front of us."
The police officer finally fired, but the world was already drowning in noise and blood.