Vijay let out a low, inhuman growl. His head twisted unnaturally to the side. Veins bulged across his face, his eyes turned blood-red, and his skin shifted to a purple-blue shade from the lack of circulation.
His growl rose into a furious snarl—
and suddenly he charged straight at Arjun, tackling him.
Arjun fought desperately to keep Vijay from biting or scratching him. Lily tried to pull Vijay off. Ahmad grabbed a bottle and smashed it against Vijay's head, making him stumble.
Sia rushed to help Lily, and together they dragged Vijay off Arjun.
Ahmad: "Are you fine?"
Arjun: (breathing hard) "Yes…"
Vijay twisted violently, trying to bite Lily and Sia. He thrashed so hard they almost lost their grip. Suddenly, Vijay grabbed Lily's wrist, his nails inches from cutting into her skin.
Lily's eyes widened.
BANG!
A single shot echoed through the room.
A bullet went straight through Vijay's head.
His body dropped lifelessly to the floor.
Arjun stood behind them, the gun in his shaking hands, eyes squeezed shut. He had just killed someone he knew… someone who was his friend moments ago.
Sia and Lily stared at him—shocked, terrified.
Then—
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The door shook violently. Growls multiplied outside. The gunshot had attracted every zombie in the basement. ahmad took the last iron rod and placed it to block the door but the door shook violently.
Sia: "What the hell did you do?! Now we can't go out!" (panicked and angry)
Arjun: "But… but he was going to bite you. We couldn't knock him out—he attacked suddenly…" (guilty, horrified at his own action)
The banging on the door grew louder and louder, each hit shaking the room.
They were trapped.
No windows.
No back door.
Just a small cinematic room with suspended ceilings… and a vent.
The metal bolts on the door rattled violently, almost ready to snap.
Sia: "We could've bound him… like we did with the coach!!"
She tried to hold back her tears, her voice cracking with fear.
Arjun: "but ... But .. he attacked lily and...I—I'm sorry… it happened all of a sudden."
His voice trembled, guilt weighing on every word.
Ahmad: "We're dead now."
He backed away, terrified.
Lily stared at the door. The bolts were almost out.
Her eyes quickly scanned the room—desperate—until they landed on the ceiling vent.
Without a word, she grabbed Ahmad's sleeve and yanked him toward it, pointing upward urgently.
Ahmad: "A vent? …A vent!"
Outside, zombies flooded the corridor and stairway, piling over one another, blood smearing the walls. Their growls echoed like thunder.
BANG!
The door cracked.
CRACK!
The top hinge snapped.
BOOM!
The door burst open.
Zombies fell into the room, crawling over each other, entering like a wave of death.
But the room was empty.
The table and shelves had been dragged beneath the vent… used to climb up.
Only the open vent remained.
inside vent Sia crawled first, Lily behind her, then Arjun, and Ahmad at the back.
The vent was narrow and dusty, spiderwebs brushing their faces as they dragged themselves forward. Their breathing echoed inside the metal walls.
Slowly, the sound of zombie growls faded behind them.
The horizontal vent ended, opening into a vertical shaft leading upward.
Sia (whispering, but her voice echoed): "Now what?"
Ahmad: "Just climb up."
Lily frowned, confused, trying to peek past Sia.
Sia: "Climb up?"
Arjun: "The basement is packed with zombies. We need to reach the first floor."
Sia: "But how are we supposed to climb?"
Ahmad: "Shut up and stand up. Just climb."
Sia: "I'm asking how!"
Ahmad: "Didn't your parents teach you how to stand? You were walking earlier too."
Sia glared at him, then looked up.
The shaft was full of spiderwebs—thick ones.
Sia: "I'm not going up. There are spiders."
Arjun pushed his bag toward her.
Arjun: "Use this to clear the webs. Just move. The vent won't hold our weight for long."
Reluctantly, Sia grabbed his bag, lifted it over her head like a shield, and stood up in the narrow shaft. She brushed the webs away and began climbing upward—slow, shaky.
Lily followed her.
Then Arjun.
Then Ahmad.
One by one, they ascended into the darkness.
They continued crawling through the vent until Sia suddenly stopped whispering slowly.
Sia: "But… where are we even going?"