From afar, police sirens wailed, blending with the horrid screams of the corrupted. Many in the group began doubting whether this was a good idea—they were essentially heading straight into the heart of where the corrupted would be congregated.
Ethan took the opportunity to observe the group. Nearly all of them held metal bats—except Fred, who was too busy carrying him to defend himself. Fred's bat had been handed off to someone else, who slung it over their shoulder like a mere accessory. The university's football insignia was emblazoned on their matching jock jackets. Of course, Ethan realized. They were Tod's inner circle.
But it was the girls he recognized immediately. Their faces were burned into his memory—after all, they'd made his first year on campus an absolute nightmare. And then there was her. Eve. Standing at the center of them all, her fingers laced with Tod's—the same person who had destroyed everything.
His mind dragged him back to those early days. He'd been content then. Against all odds, he'd earned enrollment at one of the most prestigious universities in the United States. Professors admired his keen intellect, and for the first time, he felt like he belonged.
Then he met her.
Eve.
Brilliant. Radiant. Effortlessly charming. She was everything he'd ever imagined in a fellow scholarship student. And for some reason, she always sat next to him in class. Every time she leaned in to whisper a joke, his pulse would race, his palms turning slick with sweat as their fingers brushed. She made him feel something he hadn't since his parents' death—something like love.
So when he'd finally saved enough to buy her that necklace she'd been eyeing for months, he went to her apartment—only to find her in bed with someone else. He remembered kneeling on the floor, begging her to tell him what he'd done wrong, apologizing for things he hadn't even understood.
She just laughed, lounging against the man Ethan recognized as his senior. The words she spat out still stung to this day:
"I never liked you. I was only with you because you're smart—made cheating on tests easy. But now I don't need you anymore, so… shoo."
She dismissed him like a bug.
That night, he almost ended it all. Only the thought of his sister kept him from the edge.
The next day, campus was different. Students who'd never spared him a glance now pointed and laughed. Everywhere he went, it was the same—relentless mockery. It wasn't until later that he discovered why: videos of him begging for Eve's affection had been leaked. But the world didn't pity him. No, they mocked him. Ruthlessly.
He shut himself away after that, drowning in video games—anything to numb the pain. That was when he found Apocalypse, the game he instantly fell in love with. For a while, it made him forget reality's agony. He became a shut-in, spending days, weeks, months—then years—lost in that digital world. The strangest part? No matter how much he searched, he couldn't find a single trace of the game online.
A scream.
It yanked him back to reality. He whipped his head around to see a girl on the ground, heaving, foam bubbling from her mouth. Her skin flushed an unnatural red, her eyes clouding over into marbles of white. She let out a blood-curdling shriek.
SHIT.
Ethan knew what this was. The girl was turning into one of them—a Corrupted.
Around the group, clicking noises erupted. Others were coming. Drawn by her screams.