BOOM!
The windows shattered with a deafening blast. Screams followed. The lecture hall turned into chaos in seconds. Broken glass rained down like knives, and students threw themselves to the ground, covering their heads.
Rayan Carter's ears rang. He blinked in shock, lying flat on the floor behind his desk. The ceiling lights flickered above. His phone buzzed in his pocket, but he couldn't think straight enough to check it. The smell of burning wires and blood filled his nose.
"What the hell was that?" someone shouted.
More screams echoed from outside.
Rayan slowly lifted his head. His hands were shaking. One moment ago, he was half-asleep during his Advanced Biology class. Now… this.
His best friend, Leo, crawled over from the next row. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," Rayan muttered. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, man… but it sounds bad."
Then the loudspeakers crackled to life. A woman's voice came through, panicked and breaking up. "All students… evacuate immediately… do not engage… stay away from—"
The message cut off with a horrible scream.
Rayan and Leo exchanged a look. Fear.
They both stood up slowly and rushed to the broken window. Outside was a nightmare.
Students were running across the campus. Some slipped and fell. Others never got back up. A few were being chased—no, hunted—by pale, twitching figures with glowing yellow eyes and torn clothes.
"Zombies," Leo whispered.
Rayan's breath caught in his throat as the coppery scent of blood mixed with smoke filled the air.
Then, as if things couldn't get worse, something dropped from the sky. A body.
It hit the ground hard—and then moved. Cracking bones, twisting limbs. It stood up slowly and opened its mouth, letting out an inhuman shriek.
More bodies were falling. Dozens. Dropped from black helicopters hovering above the campus.
"They're throwing infected people down here!" Rayan shouted.
Leo stared up at the sky, frozen. "It's not just chaos… this is planned."
"Why would they do that?!"
"I don't know, but we need to get out of here!"
They turned and ran into the hallway. Panic spread like wildfire. Students were pushing, tripping, yelling. Some were bleeding. A girl screamed behind them, but Rayan didn't look back.
He just ran.
Glass crunched under his shoes. Someone shoved past him, nearly knocking him into the wall. Another student slammed into a locker and didn't get back up. His blood smeared across the metal.
They turned a corner—and came face to face with a zombie.
It stood in the middle of the hall, twitching, neck twisted at an unnatural angle. Its mouth was soaked in red.
Leo grabbed Rayan's arm. "Go left!"
They darted into a side hallway. The zombie screeched and lunged after them. Rayan fumbled for something—anything—and grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall. He spun around and smashed it into the thing's face.
It crumpled. Just for a second.
"Go!" Leo shouted.
They kept running, breath burning in their lungs.
They reached the stairwell and stopped for a second to catch their breath. That's when Rayan saw her.
Alyssa.
His ex-girlfriend.
She stood in the hallway, frozen, eyes wide in shock. She wasn't running. Just standing there like she didn't know what was happening.
Rayan's heart skipped. Memories flashed—her smile, her laugh, their late-night calls. And the betrayal. The texts he found two nights ago. The way she didn't even deny it.
She looked at him. Mouth opened slightly. "Rayan…"
He hesitated. His legs refused to move.
He saw her lips form his name, her eyes full of fear—not just for herself, but for him.
He wanted to move. He wanted to pull her away, to say something—anything—but the moment shattered.
From the shadows behind her, a zombie lunged. It grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to the floor. She screamed.
Rayan took a step forward.
But it was already too late.
Leo grabbed his arm. "We have to go!"
Rayan's jaw clenched. Every part of him screamed to fight, to save her.
But he didn't.
He ran.
---
Two Days Earlier…
The dorm room smelled like cheap cologne, energy drinks, and pizza. Music thumped from someone's speaker, and the boys were laughing, teasing each other over video games and midterm scores.
Rayan leaned back on the couch, one arm around Alyssa. She rested her head on his shoulder, smiling at something Leo said. Everything felt perfect.
He didn't know it was fake.
Later that night, when she left the room to "take a call," her phone buzzed on the table. Rayan wasn't the type to snoop—but the name that flashed on the screen wasn't just some friend.
"Can't wait to see you again tonight."
"Last night was amazing."
His stomach dropped.
The next morning, she acted like nothing happened. He didn't say anything either. He just smiled. Numb.
Maybe it was cowardly. Maybe he should've ended it then and there.
But now… none of it mattered.
---
Back to Now…
Rayan and Leo reached the back exit of the science building. The door was blocked by a vending machine someone had pushed in front of it. Rayan shoved it aside with all his strength. His muscles screamed, but adrenaline gave him power he didn't know he had.
Outside, the sky was dark. Black smoke rose in the distance. Sirens echoed through the city. The faint sound of gunfire crackled beyond the buildings.
They stepped into the open.
It looked like the world was ending.
"Where do we go now?" Leo asked.
Rayan stared at the chaos around them. Helicopters still hovered. Zombies hunted. People screamed.
He clenched his fists.
"We survive," he said. "One way or another."
To be continued...