Inside Jerry's room
Jerry sat huddled on her bed, sobbing and clutching her pillow. Jhanvi, Hanu, and Kartik sat with her, trying to comfort her.
Across from Jerry's bed, Neil, Riya, and Zayn soothed Rosey, Minnie, and Layla.
"What are we going to do now?" Jerry cried, her face flushed and hair messy.
"Can everyone please whisper?" Zayn hissed, annoyed. He was tired of reminding everyone to stay quiet.
"Hey, she's only 14," Kartik defended his girlfriend.
"We need a plan," Riya said as she comforted Minnie with a hand on her shoulder.
Half an hour had passed since the explosion, and the students were growing restless. They wanted to escape, to find somewhere safe, but all they could do was hope for help.
"Warden Sir will definitely come for us," Hanu reassured them.
"Maybe not," Neil said sadly. Everyone glared at him.
"What do you mean?" Kartik demanded.
"Well," Neil stammered nervously, "when we helped the injured students, Warden Sir... he was bitten. And judging by how everyone turns..." He trailed off, unable to finish the thought. He looked down, filled with grief.
"Then we have to figure something out ourselves," Hanu said, locking eyes with Kartik with determination.
....
Outside the girls' hostel.
After throwing grenades at the infected crowd, everyone cautiously searched for any survivors. Finding none, Viren decided to check the campus for any straggling zombies who might not have been lured by the music.
"There's no need, sir," Kiaan argued confidently. "I'm sure all the zombies on campus were drawn to the sound."
"It's always best to be cautious. We can't take any chances." Viren replied. He'd taken off his t-shirt to tie it around a shoulder wound, his white undershirt stained red on the right side.
Kiaan didn't argue further and joined the search. They found many dead students, and without wasting time, they destroyed their brains like Viren had shown them.
"This is awful," Anju muttered, holding her breath as she pierced a body's skull with a spear.
The sight of the vans surprised everyone except Kabir. Viren carefully peeked inside and saw a couple of zombies wearing seatbelts, reaching out to grab him. He quickly killed them before heading towards the exit.
Moving towards the exit, they saw the security guard turned into a zombie, kneeling and chewing on a dead person. Jai glanced at Kiaan, who explained, "He must have turned after the chaos started."
"Doesn't matter why," Viren said, his voice serious. "Leaving him alive would have been a disaster."
They took care of the guard as well and then followed Kabir's path from where he first encountered the zombies. Destroyed brains became a gruesome trail – students half-eaten, insides exposed, blood staining the ground red like a violent Holi celebration.
After clearing the path and making sure there were no more immediate threats, the group stopped.
"How will we ever clean this up?" Anju asked Viren, overwhelmed.
"We'll worry about that later," Viren replied. "First, let's get some rest and check on the others." He led them towards the entrance of the girls' hostel.
.....
Reaching the channel gate, the girls were relieved, hoping for a break. Viren rushed to the gate and yelled through the bars, "Kids! Open the door!"
Suddenly, six infected lunged at him through the opening, startling everyone. Fear widened their eyes as they realized what must have happened inside.
Kiaan panicked the most. He started screaming his sister's name like a madman, running around the building until he reached Jerry's window.
"JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!" he yelled, his voice echoing clearly inside the room.
"Shit shit shit, this idiot will get us all killed!" Zayn shouted in panic, rushing to the window to silence Kiaan.
"JERRY! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Kiaan yelled again, seeing the window open. These windows had metal bars to prevent anyone from entering or leaving secretly.
"Be quiet! We'll all be in trouble!" Zayn hissed, annoyed. He saw Kiaan cupping his hands around his mouth to shout, while Viren tried to calm him down.
Ignoring Zayn, Kiaan continued, "Where is my sister?" His voice was filled with worry and fear.
"I'm okay bhaiya (It is a term used in India for elder brothers.)," Jerry said softly, peeking out the window.
Kiaan sighed in relief and let Viren take over.
"Are you all safe?" Viren asked. Kartik, who had pulled Jerry away from the window, answered, "We don't know, sir. We're safe in the room for now, but we don't know what happened outside."
"Do you have the key to the gate?" Viren asked. Riya reached into her pocket but found a hole and panicked.
"The key... it's gone!" Riya exclaimed, jumping up from the bed and searching the floor.
While everyone looked for the key, Kartik explained everything that had happened inside the hostel to Viren and others.
After a few minutes of searching, they realized the key must have fallen outside.
Viren sighed. "Stay inside for now. We'll figure something out."
"Sir, there has to be a way in!" Kiaan argued, staring at Viren as if threatening him. "Tell us, or I will!"
Viren sighed again. "There's a way through the control room, but only teachers are allowed in there."
Anju wanted to scold Viren for revealing this secret, but she knew Kiaan had probably figured it out and would likely mention it in front of everyone anyway. She just held back the urge to smack him on the head.
The group headed towards the entrance of the boys' hostel, which was near the generator.
"Sir, you said only teachers are allowed in the control room," Rahul said worried about his aunt and uncle. "Are you really going in there alone with Ms. Anju?"
Before Viren could answer, Kiaan interrupted. "No sir, please let me come too!"
Viren denied his request firmly. "There are rules for a reason, Kiaan. We're not in such a desperate situation that we need to break them now."
"Look, Kiaan," Anju said, her annoyance clear in her voice, "I know you're worried about your sister. But come on, use your head. We've been dealing with this kind of stuff for years. You'll just slow us down."
As they entered the hostel and climbed the stairs, Viren instructed everyone, "Students, keep your weapons close and stay in your rooms until we get back."
Viren and Anju then headed towards the control room located at the end of the hallway. It was different from any other room they had seen - it had a metal door and a fingerprint scanner on the right side.
The moment Viren placed his thumb on the scanner, the door slid open with a voice greeting him,
"Welcome, Viren Bharat."
Viren and Anju entered the control room, leaving the students in the hallway wondering if they would be safe. Most reassured themselves that the wardens were experienced and would be alright.
However, Kiaan, Kabir, and Maya were thinking differently.
Kabir and Maya focused on the voice's greeting. "Bharat... Viren is also a Bharat? Just like us." they thought.
"Bharat" was a last name only given to orphans who chose to serve the nation. Since orphans didn't have a family name to inherit, the government gave them the nation's original name as a surname.
It was an honor to hold this name, and people with the Bharat surname were respected by civilians and even the head of the army.
Kiaan had a different thought. "Should I rush through the control room to get to the girls' hostel?" he wondered.
Before Kiaan could decide, the door silently closed just as silently as it had opened.
"I need to use the washroom," Kiaan mumbled with a sigh. "I'll see you guys in the room." He headed towards the washroom.
Seeing Kiaan's emotional state, Maya felt the need to comfort her closest friend. "I'll go check on him and bring him back," she said, following Kiaan.
Kabir was annoyed by Maya's action, especially since it involved Kiaan. But needing to maintain a good image in front of Maya, he held back his urge to yell or fight.
Jai said to Sarah as he waved her to follow him while moving towards the stairs. "My room is on the first floor."
Rahul corrected him, "Our room." There were only four senior boys and two senior girls in the hostel, so their rooms only had four sets of furniture. The rest were similar to Jerry's room.