Arjun hissed, "Run!"
They sprinted instantly.
The zombie roared, alerting others.
Lily fired—bang!
The gunshot echoed across the entire dorm.
Outside zombies heard it.
They started rushing inside.
Arjun slammed the glass door shut, twisted the knob, and locked it.
He turned—
Zombies were closing in from every direction.
"Don't stop!" he shouted.
They dashed toward the lobby.
More gunshots—Lily firing nonstop, Arjun helping when he could, Sia swinging her rod, Ahmad pushing zombies aside.
Lily reached the lobby first—
Five zombies.
Five bullets.
BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.
Sia slammed one lobby door shut.
Ahmad sprinted to close the other.
Arjun ran to the desk to look for the ledline.
It wasn't there.
"Where is it?!" he shouted.
He scanned the lobby—
The ledline was hanging off the opposite side of the table.
He grabbed it quickly.
But the glass doors were already cracking—
Zombies slamming, pounding—
The sound shaking the whole lobby.
Arjun dialed the number, hands trembling.
He pressed 1—1—3—
Wrong.
"Shit…" he panicked.
Ahmad grabbed his arm.
"Leave it! RUN! The doors are about to break!"
Arjun — "No, no, no…" (his voice cracking, eyes filling with tears as Ahmad drags him away; the ledline slips from his hand and hits the floor)
They sprint toward the wooden storage room — a tiny space filled with props, racks, and old equipment.
They rush inside, slam the door shut, and lock it.
Behind them, the glass doors outside finally shatter.
A deafening wave of growls floods the lobby as zombies storm in.
The ledline is tossed around in the chaos, kicked and crushed until it snaps into pieces.
Inside the storage room, everything falls silent.
They're surrounded by racks, old sports equipment, and cleaning supplies.
Arjun collapses into a crouch, letting out a broken sob.
Sia leans against a shelf, chest heaving, trying desperately not to cry.
Ahmad stands frozen, trembling, shaken by the growling and smashing outside.
And Lily…
She can't hear any of it.
She's scared, yes—but not shaken like the others.
Her silence is different.
The world outside is chaos, but inside her mind, she only sees the fear on their faces… not the sound that caused it.
While everyone sat in distress, Lily noticed a figure standing behind the shelves.
Her breath hitched. She grabbed Sia's arm and pulled her closer, ready to shoot.
The figure stepped out — trembling badly.
Arjun wiped his tears, squinted into the darkness, and slowly walked toward him.
It was a boy, scared, holding a plastic cone as a weapon.
Arjun: "Who are you?" (confused)
The boy's eyes widened with hope.
He suddenly hugged Arjun tightly.
Boy: "You're alive… I'm not alone."
His voice cracked as he began crying.
Ahmad quickly covered the boy's mouth to stop the noise from escaping.
Outside, the growling, banging, breaking, and thumping continued…
until it slowly faded and finally stopped.
They all sat in silence.
Boy: "I'm Vijay."
Arjun: "I'm Arjun."
Ahmad: "Ahmad."
Sia: "I'm Sia… and she's Lily."
Vijay: "You're really not infected?"
Sia: "No. None of us are."
Vijay: "How did you even reach here without getting bitten?"
Ahmad: "Long story.
Short version — we ran for our lives… and we had guns.
Now you tell us, how are you here?"
Vijay: "I got stuck. I was with my friends when one of them suddenly turned.
To save myself, I ran. Then I got surrounded, so I hid here."