It was the sight straight out of a nightmare, a worse nightmare. The world around me looked at me with red eyes that filled with unknown rage and I was running away from them, I kept running with no direction.
Far away the showroom Televisions followed up by The Presidents of US and UK talking about the madness unfolding before me, "We are aware that many poor and innocent souls are still hoping for a helping hand, but the Island of Future is completely overrun by undead aliens. As a desperate measure to save the world, we are sacrificing that country. This was a unanimous decision among all nations. As of right now, an atomic bomb will land on the country. Rest in peace to all the poor souls. Initiate the launch."
I saw it then, like a small drop descending from the sky, growing closer as it pierced through the clouds. All I could see was a distinct red glow far from where I stood, and then a massive fireball spread into the clouds.
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Out of nowhere you heard and felt a loud siren pass next to your right ear.
you startled and looked to your right side and the movie on your mobile screen shows a title screen "ZOMBIE" with a dark moody track
you looked around and With a heavy sigh, you removed the earbuds and leaned back on the seat and looked out of the bus window.
You said, "That Idiot driver ruined the best moment of the movie."
The girl next to you rested her hand on your thigh and asked, "Is that movie good Sam?"
You replied, "It had a decent flow until that Idiot driver ruined my fun with his loud ass Horn."
She had a chuckle after hearing you say, "Ok, but watch your language Sam." You gave her a toothy smile as a response while scratching your forehead with your pointy finger, she continued, "Well, I will go sit in the front seat with my friends. So see you at the class."
She got up and started to move but you held her hand and asked, "Why are you changing seats NITA?"
She took her hand back and pointed at you with the same hand. She stated with a furious tone, "My name is Natalie."
You raised your both arms up as a gesture of surrender and replied, "Ok fine, we don't need bloodbath on the bus. Why are you changing seats?"
She gestured head to her left side and said, "Look at him, It is so embarrassing when someone looks at you with no break, Is he planning to eat me with his eyes or what?"
You and Nita looked at each other and had a small smile and she walked towards her friends.
You leaned back and looked at your phone and the time was 8:30, "It still takes a half an hour to get to the University, I can take a little nap in this time." You closed your eyes
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"Hey, Sam! Wake up, we're almost at college," the guy next to you called out.
you muttered to yourself, "Ah, we climbed the hill,"
"Oh, I'll get off last. You go ahead."
"Shut your crap and move your ass! We've got that psycho Thermodynamics professor for the first period. You really wanna mess with him this early?"
"Ok, I'm coming!" you grumbled, reluctantly agreeing to go along with him, despite your annoyance.
"That's Trident. The same asshole who was staring at Nita before and this freak Been hounding me about my step-sister, yeah Nita is my step sister and he is offering bribes for info. Truth is, he's just a total asshole. Who am I saying this too..."
He is nagging your ears while glued his eyes on Nita who was getting out of the bus., "I really missed her in these past two months, please let's talk to her or give me her number."
You didn't gave it a thought but you unintentionally looking at her you can't take eyes of her and she looked back and both of your eyes met and then you thought, "I don't want to give info about her and make a conversation with her while he is around just because he was an asshole, I love her. If only that incident never happened, we would be sitting right next to each other and get down off this bus while holding hands."
While you're engraved in your thoughts Trident pushed you forwards and yelled in your ears, "She looked at me. she stared at me like she wanted to be with me."
You were down right pissed but you composed yourself and thought, "If only he was not the son of the University founder and dean, I would have punched him right in his neck."
You gave a fake smile, "Good for you, but don't forget about the thermodynamics professor."
Trident made a big sigh and replied, "Because of your sister's beauty, I forget about that psychopath, Let's move."
You and Trident got off the bus and hurried to your class.
As you passed by the volleyball court . A man's voice called out your name.
You paused momentarily and glanced to your right side.
"YO, SAM!" He's sprinting toward you.
The man is six feet tall, has tan skin and a strong physique. He wears a mask over his face, along with sports shorts and a jersey.
You pondered, "What does the Volleyball Club president want with me?"
"What's up, bro? What do you need from me?"
"Hey, Sam! We're short a player for the team, and with the Prefectural tournament coming up, I was Hoping if you'd be interested in joining us?"
"Well, Thanks for considering me. Let me think it over, and I'll give you my answer at lunch."
The club president responded, "Alright, bro." understanding your need to consider the offer.
With a nod, you continued on your way to class alongside Trident, thinking over the unexpected invitation to join the team.
After taking a few more steps you entered the Engineering block and both hurried to the stairs hoping to go to the class before the professor.
As you climbed the stairs, you noticed the funny and happy Peon, who used to wish everyone Good morning, zoned out and He looked pale. You gave it a little thought but going to class on time is your primary priority, So you ran upstairs.
Eventually, you both arrived at the classroom and entered Class 2B, just before the professor.
Right after you entered the room, Thermodynamics professor followed in the room wearing a mask, a necessary precaution due to a virus that had spread two months prior.
The professor began speaking, his voice muffled slightly by the mask covering his face.
"After two months of being cooped up, I hope none of you have forgotten how to read. As you all know, I don't like to waste class time, but even the principal himself insists we address this virus situation." the professor remarked, his tone is a mix of seriousness and Irritation for wasting his class time.
"You all likely heard enough about it from social media and the news, so I'll keep it brief. The virus that spread two months ago is a type of flu, so for the next few weeks, it's imperative that we all wear face masks."
"Secondly, it's crucial to maintain a significant distance between individuals."
"Now, open your textbooks," the professor commanded bluntly, clearly uninterested in any further discussion on the matter.
The morning classes proceeded as usual and it was lunch time but something weighed on you, the environment around had a change that you can't put in words properly and the rumours about the cannibal cases put you on the edge.
As you were thinking about the cannibal cases, two girls next to your seat talking to each other while looking at their phones, "This is the third case in 10 days after the lockdown was lifted. Are we really fine coming to college at a time like this? Who knows how many cases they covered up."
Second girl replied to her, "All three cases that were made public had a large social media presence before police made their official statement."
As they both talked to each other you thought, "What they both think makes sense, one of the cases was from the nearby railway station and people don't know the reason behind these cases and why they are doing it. There are rumors and speculations that the cause of these cases was Vaccine that was given to infected people for that virus that spread two months ago." You paused packing your bag and looked around thinking, "I don't believe those speculations but If what they said was true, is anyone who got vaccinated in this class wants to eat people." You shook your head side to side "What the hell am I thinking?" as you were in your thoughts your phone was vibrating in your pocket. You took the phone out of your pocket and saw the message from the Volleyball club president.
You realized, "I forgot about the Volleyball club president offer. Well, should I accept his offer?"
As you were thinking about accepting his offer, someone from the back of the class started yelling your name, "YO, SAM."
As you turned back you saw, Trident sat among the girls, his right hand casually resting on one of their shoulders,
you muttered under your breath "What does he want with me now, Let's see what kind of nonsense Trident spouts this time." and started walking towards him.
Trident began his nonsense while placing his hand on this quiet girl next to him. You went on with his rambling but looking for a chance to get away from his Narcissistic ramblings
Trident boasted, "You know, I actually saved him yesterday from a big accident. A bike almost hit him,"
The quiet and one hell of a pretty girl, her name is Hina, cast a concerned yet scared glance at you.
"Are you okay, Sam? Did you get injured anywhere?" Hina asked, her tone a mix of concern and fear.
"I'm alright." You reassured Hina.
Trident interjected with a smug expression, "Who saved him? It was me. There's no way I'd let him get injured. Haha..."
You think back to what happened a few days back. "In reality, he actually pushed me from the footpath while spouting his lame-ass jokes. Pulled me back in the nick of a second, but he still almost killed me," you were clearly pissed at him but not getting into fight because of him being the son of college founder and people who fight back nah just because they raised their voice on him got expelled from college with a very bad conduct. Who wants that!
"Yeah.., Yeah, you saved me. Guys, you continue. I have to go to the volleyball club," at last you found a way to get out of this conversation and swiftly walked towards the door.
Before you could leave the class, Trident once again stopped you and asked, "Would you like to swap places with me for the volleyball team?"
"Well.., Fine you take the place, either way I'm not interested in joining the team that much. I still need to tell them what I think, so I'm going," you responded before heading out.
As you began walking outside of your class, Trident yelled out. "Put in a word for me,"
"Well, I will try." you replied with a nod and continued on your way to the stairs.
As you were walking downstairs, you thought, "It's a waste of time to argue with him about the spot. Who knows what that Jealous and selfish asshole will do, if I Don't agree with him."
By the time you stepped on Ground Floor, the peon grabbed his shirt and fell down to the ground asking for water, all the students in the vast ground floor ran towards him and Our block Nurse my Aunt came in clutch looked around she spotted me in the big crowd, she requested both me and other professor, "Hey, Sam! You came at the right time." She looked at one of the professors and Continued, "Can you both carry him to the Medic Room."
Both of you carried him to the medic room and placed him on the bed and she told you, "You seem to be in a hurry, you can go Sam. I can take care from here."
You can't help but ask your aunt, after seeing the peon grunting with pain, "Is he going to be fine?"
Your aunt replied, "He will be fine, you seem to be going somewhere right, go there before the lunch break is over."
You gave a nod and left the medic room, ran towards the Volleyball club in a hurry.
You went and informed the volleyball club president of your disinterest, he replied with a smile, "If you're not interested, you don't have to come all here to tell us just a Message was enough."
You replied back, "Well you must have given a thought to choose me into your team right, so I thought it would be rude to just say no through a Message."
The Club President and a few others around him had a big laugh, He said, "You really are a peculiar one, you respect everyone and you're so normal but Still I can't digest that, the calm and laid back guy like you, can beat us all in a brawl if you want."
You replied while scratching your forehead, "You still remember the first year incident, There is no way I can beat all of you in a fight, even at that time you are all just trying to stop me from beating the shithead, who mocked my mom."
The Club president shook his head, "No way I'm sure. but still I remember, you beat the shit out of that professor, he pissed himself. Whatever, do you still have anything to say? Otherwise feel free to leave."
You thought for a sec and some came up in your mind, "Yeah I forgot to ask you, Do you guys interested in taking Trident into the team."
Almost all of the boys and even cheerleader yelled at unison, "NO fucking way." The Club President continued, "Now I understand, That Idiot asked you to swap places right. You regular students are really having a hard time with him. If I'm not the son of a certain celebrity, That Idiot would have used his leverage to join this club. I can't help much but You can happily go back and I won't let him in and your sister is safe and also tell him, 'Go fuck youself.'"
You gave him an empty laugh and left the room. As you were leaving the Volleyball field, you saw cheer girls practicing their dances. Among them you can't find your step-sister who was also the cheer girl for the volleyball club
"Where has she gone?" you wondered aloud, perplexed by your stepsister's absence.
You walked back to your classroom with your thoughts preoccupied with NIta, you forgot to tell Trident about the volleyball club President's answer and started eating your lunch.
"Where did Nita go? She wasn't in her class, and she's not at the volleyball clubhouse either. Where has she gone? Maybe she's eating her lunch on the rooftop as she always does,"
As you eat a ruckus comes from the back of the class. You turned back to take a look, Again that asshole Trident bullying somebody, you thought to yourself, "I hope It doesn't escalate."
You finished your food and left the class. As you were walking towards the Washroom, which was right next to the stairs, you saw a couple kissing on the stairs, "They are kissing in the middle of the walkway. Don't they feel embarrassed?" You felt disgusted and rushed into the washroom and by habit closed the door.
You started by washing your hands and adjusting your hair. After that, you walked to the hand dryer to dry your hands and thought, "She might be still on the Rooftop, Let's go take a look."
After drying your arms, you opened the door, hoping to go to the rooftop. Instead, you were met with a grotesque figure standing right infront of you, its face stripped of flesh, leaving only exposed bone and oozing blood. The sight of it sent a shiver down your spine and made your blood pressure rise…
"What is this? Something is not right. What is this? What should I do?" as part of your brain fogged up with confusion and scared, The other part of the brain instinctively reacted.
It all unfolded in just a few seconds. You pulled your hand back as far as possible, while the Monstrous creature's hands were reaching for your neck and chest.
You thought to yourself, "Get away, What is this!" You yelled out loud, "GET AWAY!"
You threw the punch, landing it squarely on the exposed nose bone. The force of your blow sent the monstrous creature stumbling back, causing it to lose its footing and stumble.
You immediately slammed the door shut and bolted it.