The security personnel reacted almost immediately.
"Remain calm!"
One whistle shrieked through the stadium.
Another followed.
"Everyone, stay where you are!"
"Do not push!"
"Head toward the exits in an orderly manner!"
Their voices echoed through the stands, firm and practiced, the same commands they had used countless times during sporting events.
This time, however, no one listened.
Fear spread faster than whatever order the security personnel tried to create.
The orderly rows of seats dissolved into a chaotic tide of bodies.
Jon instinctively stepped aside as a crowd rushed past him.
Coach Harris signaled, "Stay close!"
A scream tore across the stadium. It was so loud it cut through the screams and shouts of others hurrying to leave the stadium.
It came from the eastern exit.
Everyone instinctively turned.
A young man, perhaps not even twenty, stumbled away from the crowd and clutched his head with both hands.
"No...No! It hurts!"
His silver book slipped from his trembling fingers and struck the concrete. Unlike the others, the book did not attempt to return to him.
He collapsed onto both knees, and his body convulsed violently.
At first, people assumed he was suffering another wave of pain.
Several nearby staff hurried toward him.
"Someone call the ambulance!"
"I think he's having a seizure!"
"Call an ambulance!"
One girl reached for her phone only to realize that there was no signal.
It didn't take long before the young man's screams turned inhuman. So did his actions.
His spine arched backwards, and every muscle in his body tightened.
Crack.
The sound echoed unnaturally loudly.
Another crack followed, and his shoulders jerked violently. His fingers twisted at impossible angles before snapping back into place.
Dark veins then spread beneath his skin like ink flowing through water. They climbed his neck, wrapped around his face, and spread beneath his eyelids.
"What..."
The staff close to him stopped, not moving closer.
"What is happening to him?"
No one answered. Or rather, no one knew.
The convulsions intensified, and his breathing became ragged, wet, and gurgling.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Then...everything stopped. His body became completely still.
Silence settled around him.
The crowd instinctively took another step backward.
"...Is..."
"...Is he dead?"
Nobody dared answer.
One brave student slowly approached.
He knelt beside the fallen young man.
"Hey! Can you hear me?"
No response.
Carefully, he reached out. His fingers touched the collapsed student's shoulder.
There was a reaction.
The eyes shot open instantly, revealing something heart-lurching.
His irises were missing. His eyes were now fully milky grey and... empty.
Not a trace of humanity remained within them.
The student staggered in shock.
"W-what..."
The creature's head twisted unnaturally, and its mouth opened.
A low guttural growl escaped from somewhere deep inside its throat.
Then—
Slash!
Everything next happened in less than a second.
Its arm shot upward, and blood erupted into the air.
Fingers that moments ago had belonged to an ordinary human carved across the student's face, drawing blood.
The student stumbled backwards, both hands clutching his cheek, and screamed. Blood poured through the gaps between trembling fingers.
"My face! My face! What did you do to my—"
He never finished when his scream died abruptly, and his entire body stiffened.
"...Huh?" He blinked once. Twice. Then his knees buckled and collapsed onto the concrete.
People around stared in confusion.
"He..."
"He was only scratched..."
Then his body began to shake. His fingers curled violently, his back arched, and dark veins emerged beneath his skin.
"No..."
"No..."
One woman covered her mouth.
"It can't be..."
The transformation had begun again.
Panic finally shattered whatever composure remained.
They no longer ran toward the exits.
They ran away from each other.
"Move!"
"Get away!"
"Don't touch me!"
The crowd became a stampede.
Children cried. Parents shouted desperately for family members.
Several people were knocked to the ground beneath hundreds of frantic feet.
"BACK AWAY!"
One of the security guards forced himself through the crowd.
He drew his baton.
Years of training overrode instinct.
Protect civilians and control the threat.
He positioned himself between the creature and the fleeing crowd.
"You!"
He pointed the baton.
"Stay where you are!"
The original transformed young man simply stared. His cloudy eyes never blinked.
The guard slowly approached.
"What are you?"
No answer. Only that horrible growl.
The wounded student behind the creature suddenly sat upright.
The guard looked over.
"...You okay?"
Then the student slowly lifted his head, revealing the same milky grey eyes.
The guard's expression froze.
"...No..."
He instinctively stepped backward. However, he was too late.
The transformed student lunged.
His nails raked across the guard's forearm before he could raise the baton.
The guard cried out.
His weapon clattered across the ground.
Several other security officers rushed forward.
"Hold him!"
"Grab him!"
Three men tackled the transformed student.
For a moment, it looked as though they had succeeded.
Then the first guard stopped struggling. His breathing became uneven, and his entire body trembled.
One officer looked toward him.
"Just what in the world is happening? You alright?"
The guard slowly raised his head.
Milky grey.
The officer's blood ran cold.
"...R-Run!"
The newly transformed guard slammed into the nearest officer with frightening strength.
They both crashed into the stadium seats.
"Everyone, RUN!"
Screams erupted once more.
It wasn't only the eastern gate. Near the long-jump pit, another woman collapsed.
Foam gathered around her lips, her body convulsed violently, and black veins crawled beneath her skin.
Several spectators rushed toward her out of instinct.
"Someone help her!"
"Give her room!"
"Does anyone know CPR?"
An elderly lecturer knelt beside her.
"I think she's breathing..."
The woman's body suddenly went limp.
Then her eyes opened.
Without warning, she drove both hands into his face.
Her fingernails tore through flesh, and blood sprayed across the sand pit.
The lecturer screamed as he collapsed backwards.
She ignored him and leapt onto another nearby spectator.
A scratch.
All it took was just a scratch, and then within seconds, those she had attacked collapsed, convulsed, and transformed.
One became two.
Two became five.
Five became ten.
Until, all across the stadium, more people began falling.
Some collapsed where they stood.
Others transformed while running.
The nightmare spread faster than anyone could comprehend.
Jon stood rooted in place.
His heartbeat thundered inside his chest.
Everywhere he looked, someone was falling.
Someone was screaming, and someone was changing.
Whatever had descended from the sky...had not simply changed the world; it was ending it.