Neil approached Zayn and said, "Hey, what happened?" He too was shocked as he looked at the sight and then yelled in a loud booming voice, "AHHHHH!" getting the attention of both the waiters as they looked at Zayn and Neil. Their eyes were red, and blood was all over their mouths as they held pieces of flesh in both their hands, munching on something.
"YOU IDIOT!" Zayn yelled at Neil. "RUN! EVERYONE!" Neil said as he ran towards the door followed by Zayn. At the sight of this, both waiters also got up and started running towards the kids as they could not see their lunch getting away from them.
Neil burst out of the infirmary, holding the door open for others to escape.
"What are you guys waiting for?!" Zayn yelled, rushing through the door behind him.
The other students were confused. They felt safe inside the hostel, so why the panic? But then they saw two figures emerge from the same direction as Neil and Zayn.
These figures were humans, but not for long. Their eyes glowed red, and blood smeared their faces. They walked with a shambling gait, arms outstretched, reaching for the students with low growls.
The moment the students saw these "zombies," they all screamed in unison, "AHHHH!" and scrambled for the door.
Unfortunately, the door was narrow, only allowing one person through at a time.
There was a struggle as students squeezed through, but eventually everyone escaped the infirmary safely.
As the last uninfected student left, Neil slammed the door shut and braced himself against it, expecting the zombies to try and break in. He was right.
The two figures thumped against the door, growling for several minutes before giving up and going back to chew on Diya.
"What now?" a scared, skinny, dark-skinned kid panted.
The sound of his voice triggered the figures again. They slammed against the door, but Neil held firm with quick reflexes. Eventually, they gave up once more.
With a sigh, Neil put a finger to his lips, shushing everyone. He then tiptoed towards the exit door at the other end of the hallway. After covering some distance, he whispered, "Let's call Warden Sir."
As they reached the halfway point to the gate, a voice called from behind, "Zayn! We got the stretchers for the injured, sorry it took so long."
Four students emerged from the storage room next to the infirmary, dragging stretchers. Their voices attracted the zombies' attention. Shockingly, it wasn't the waiters who burst out the door, but a fellow student!
This infected student limped out, growling with red eyes, her orange t-shirt soaked in blood. It looked just like the waiters.
The roar of the zombie student – like a lion's – turned everyone's heads, including the humans and infected inside the infirmary. More infected students, wearing the same uniform, shuffled out slowly.
Terror froze most of the kids, but Neil yelled, "To the stairs! Fast!" Everyone followed, including the zombies who lumbered after them, eager for a bite.
Reaching the stairs, Neil screamed in panic, "Run! Run fast and don't look back!"
Some smarter kids, however, decided against following Neil and Zayn. They bolted for the main exit instead.
The running crowd and zombies created a loud commotion, but Neil's panicked voice boomed above it all: "No! The doors are locked! Up the stairs!" He scrambled up the stairs himself.
The kids who ran for the exit gate soon regretted it. Not only were the doors locked, but some zombies were now heading towards them!
Seeing this, all the other students, including Neil, abandoned them to their fate and raced upstairs as fast as possible. Even Kartik's loud voice boomed clearly from the stairs, "Neil! Is that you?!"
Neil's eyes met Kartik's who was cautiously peeking down. Neil thought, "Kartik could help us!" But his hope crumbled as Kartik suddenly started running away, yelling, "Zombies! Run! Close the gates!"
"Zombies? Is he crazy? He just said we were safe inside!" shouted a guy who had left his room. Several others peeked out to see why Kartik was screaming in terror.
This was a terrible decision. They saw some of their seniors being chased by other blood-soaked students.
Neil was focused on Kartik, wanting to be with his roommate Zayn in the same room. But other students scattered, some slamming doors shut behind them, while others failed as bloodthirsty creatures burst into rooms, followed by screams of pain.
Kartik reached Jerry's room and slammed the wooden door, locking Neil and others outside. "Let us in, Kartik, please!" Zayn yelled, banging on the door in panic as zombies approached.
"Open the door or we'll break it down! We'll all be in danger!" Neil yelled in anger.
Kartik grew scared. Neil had used those same words before, even though he was bluffing. But Neil wasn't known for lying, and Kartik knew he was strong enough to break the door. So, Kartik quickly opened the door and let Neil and Zayn in.
As they rushed inside, the door rattled with zombies pushing from the other side. The boys slammed it shut, but the pressure continued.
"Move that desk!" Kartik shouted at Riya, pointing towards a study table near the door. Before she reacted, Neil used his strength to easily drag the heavy desk and block the door.
Everyone sighed with relief and collapsed onto the floor, realizing they were safe... for now.
They were safe for now, but others weren't so lucky. Some zombies had broken into rooms, while others continued banging on doors. Suddenly, everything stopped. Loud, repeated gunshots echoed from outside the hostel.
Confused voices filled the room: "What was that?" "Are the people outside okay?" "We don't have guns like that in the armory. Where's that sound coming from?"
The trapped students were filled with worried thoughts: "What was that?" "Are they safe outside?" "Where's that shooting coming from?"
But the zombies had a different focus. Their growling stopped, replaced by a single-minded hunger. They lurched away from the doors, drawn towards the wall separating the girls' and boys' hostels. It seemed like food, not destruction, was their only goal now.
"What was that shooting?" Hanu asked anyone who might know, after the gunfire finally died down.
Before anyone could answer, a massive explosion boomed from the football field across from the boys' hostel. The sound sent the zombies shuffling away from the wall, now drawn towards the opposite side, right in front of Jerry's room.