Outside the building
All the students who had managed to escape the initial threat of the infected were exhausted and terrified. Arjun and Shivaji's students didn't believe any of their friends as they told each other about what happened.
"Huh... That can't be," a boy said, laughing.
"You guys should have chosen a better prank," another taunted.
"Or maybe this could be some sort of drill exercise, like we used to have before summer breaks," a girl argued.
And similarly, every kid on the field gave their theories about this... No one believed the students who managed to outrun the threat, which was making them frustrated.
But Maya didn't care what these kids believed in or not. She was scanning the crowd for Jerry. "Jerry!" she yelled, looking here and there.
That's when she saw both Kabir and Jai standing near Rahul. "Oh, since they are here, Jerry must be safe," she took a breath of relief as she headed towards all of them.
"Guys, where's Jerry?" she asked calmly, then noticed both of their faces were filled with guilt. Instantly she asked them, "Did you just leave her?"
There was no point in yelling; she simply decided to head back and get the kid herself. But Kabir cut past her and stood in front, stopping her way. "I don't care if you hate me more, but I won't let you go," he said in a firm voice.
"Get the fu..." she started to say but was interrupted by another announcement.
This time it was Diya, her voice shaky and barely audible because of the students constantly talking. "Silence, idiots' eggs!" Kabir yelled as he tried to hear what Diya was saying.
"All students below class ten," she stammered, "proceed to the girls' hostel – boys and girls, both. It's an emergency. Lock the doors from the inside and stay put until further orders."
Relief washed over the kids who had witnessed the zombies biting and eating their friends. Without caring about any kind of protocol, their fear forced them to run towards the hostel.
Others hesitated as they still didn't believe them. "Move, brainless bugs!!" Kabir shouted again as he too was panicked, and all the students finally complied with the instructions.
Jai was looking in the crowd of students for a particular person, and now he spotted them. "Sarah!" he shouted as he raised his hand to be seen by her.
In no time, Sarah saw Jai and rushed towards them.
Rahul clutched a mace and a long spear, while Sarah held a sword and a belt with two short swords.
Behind her, a group of older students, seventeen in all, stood ready. Some held air rifles and pistols, not much use against the infected but better than nothing.
Rahul thrust the mace into Kabir's hands. Sarah was afraid, but still, she decided to do anything she could and passed the belt to Maya.
"We have to hurry," Sarah paused before finishing her sentence, her voice panicked and fast. "Kiaan… he ran straight towards the chaos the moment these kids arrived."
Jai's jaw clenched. "He did what?" he yelled in disbelief.
.....
Kiaan was overlooking a sparring match between Sarah and Zahera, a junior girl.
Kiaan wasn't much focused on the fight as he knew Zahera would win; he was just standing and dazed off, thinking random things. "What if the school was attacked by terrorists? I would then reveal that I am a god and save all the kids," he thought. "Then, I will save Sarah, and she will leave that psycho and date me."
"What does she even see in him?" Kiaan wondered as he looked at Sarah defending herself from Zahera's attack. "He only looks nice; there is nothing nice about him."
And that's when he heard and saw kids running towards the Volleyball court. "Another surprise drill? But, I didn't see anything like this on the teacher's portal last night," Kiaan wondered.
Kiaan was a tech genius, and he had tried hacking the computer systems of the entire Academy but was not able to, except the teachers' portal. This place had access to notifications and other legal orders given to teachers regarding any kind of tests, holidays, drills, etc.
"Guys, hold," he said as he told Sarah to hold. "RAHUL!" he yelled across the field. "WHAT!!?" Rahul asked, shouting as he was too far.
"WAS THERE ANY KIND OF DRILL SCHEDULED TODAY?" Kiaan asked. "NO, WHY?" Rahul replied, making a cup from his hands in front of his mouth.
"No drill." Kiaan looked back at the kids and saw they were now on the field and yelling "Zombies, run, run Zombies, run."
"What did you say?" Kiaan asked one of the kids, who was breaking into tears. "Sir..." he said as he took a large breath, "Zaw.. Zaw.. Zombies, attacking." He managed to speak between breaths.
"No, this must be some prank." He looked at the volleyball court but saw Jerry fall and there were people behind her running towards her. This sight filled him with worry, and without thinking, he grabbed a sword which was kept on a stand beside him.
"Sarah, grab all weapons, distribute them, and come to the volleyball court. A.S.A.P," Kiaan ordered as he pulled out the sword from its sheath and rushed off.
*Features of sword:- It had a golden guard and golden pommel, with a blue crystal as its button.
Nothing mattered to Kiaan as he saw Jerry in danger, not Sarah shouting something to him, not Kabir and Jai whom he passed, not even the fallen kids on the ground. His mind was focused on Jerry, vulnerable on the ground with a red-colored human approaching her.
The human was very close to Jerry now. "Fasert... Faster, I should have worked out," Kiaan thought.
Even though Kiaan was fat, he was still pretty fast. In a few seconds, he reached the volleyball court.
Without hesitation, Kiaan unleashed a kick on the human's chest, sending him stumbling back.
Kiaan then scanned the human: "Blood over his torn clothes, and dripping from his mouth. I must say it's nice makeup," he thought.
He raised the shiny sword, inches from the person's neck. "This is a real sword, so I suggest you back off, or I'll slice your throat without giving it a thought!" he warned the actor, looking him dead straight in the eyes, even his voice was uncharacteristically brave.
But the zombie didn't flinch. Instead, he stretched out his hands and walked towards Kiaan, while groaning.
"I am not kidding. I will kill you and call it self-defense," Kiaan warned again. "Think about your family, your loved ones before taking another step."
The man ignored Kiaan's threat and kept moving forward.
Kiaan thought, "Maybe a little thrust would scare him," and then he thrust the sword at the man's neck, stopping it inches away.
But the man didn't flinch, didn't stop. And before Kiaan could react, the man had shoved his own neck onto the sword.
Blood splattered all over Kiaan's face, T-shirt, and his head recoiled to his left as he closed his eyes, overwhelmed by the sudden horrifying sight.
"What the freak was that?" he wondered. "No, it was an illusion."
Before Kiaan could compose himself, a voice cut through the air. "Don't look away from your enemy."
Kiaan opened his eyes to see Viren standing outside the girls' hostel exit.
And he saw there were humans surrounding him, eating the kids, and the kids were shouting in pain.
Kiaan's eyes widened. "Thi... This... This is no drill?" he wondered at the sight.
But because of Viren's warning, every zombie in the area, including the one Kiaan had supposedly "killed," turned towards the warden.
With a chorus of growls, zombies got up. Kiaan stared in disbelief at the zombie who just walked into Kiaan's sword, even though its neck was impaled by the sword, it was groaning and very much alive.