The campus…
was no longer a school.
It had become an open-air slaughterhouse.
The ground—drenched, drowned, dripping in blood—clung to Kael's frantic steps.
Each stride sent dark red droplets leaping upward, flecking the cracked concrete in violent constellations.
The air trembled with a monstrous cacophony—
human screams, guttural groans, strangled wails,
all merging into one choking wall of sound
so dense it seemed to squeeze his skull,
as if every note sought to burst his eardrums from within.
Kael gasped for breath.
Each inhale reeked of metal,
of scorched flesh,
of death—raw and immediate.
"No… no no no… a nightmare… it has to be… it HAS to be…"
[ 28%… ]
He slammed against a ruined wall.
His chest heaved so violently he feared it might rip open.
His heart hammered—
wild, feral, frantic—
as though it meant to claw its way free from his ribs.
Around him sprawled horror in its purest excess—
torn limbs, shattered skulls,
organs hanging from broken windows like grotesque, dripping garlands.
And then—
a scream.
Human.
Female.
He froze.
His eyes scoured the chaotic mass.
And he saw her.
"No… Clara…?"
Small frame.
Short black bob.
Bag dangling from a single shoulder—
the girl from sociology.
Always seated just in front of him.
Always scribbling in her notebook.
Always gifting him that brief, bashful smile when their eyes met.
But now—
She was screaming.
A creature pinned her to the ground.
Claws raked across her cheek, slicing skin clean to the bone.
Its jaws sank into her throat.
Her flesh ruptured.
A monstrous, wet suction followed.
Kael's stomach twisted upon itself.
But Clara moved.
She was still breathing.
A violent spasm tore through her body.
Her fingers scraped desperately at the concrete, nails splitting like brittle shells.
Her legs jerked—twisted—dislocated into a grotesque angle.
Her chest rose in brutal, choking jerks.
Her veins blackened before his eyes, swelling beneath her skin like serpents writhing to burst free.
Her eyes rolled back—white, empty, devoured by terror.
Her neck snapped with a sharp, decisive crack.
And still—
she moved.
Her jaw clamped at empty air.
A vile gurgle crawled up her ravaged throat and then—
A scream.
Not human.
Not remotely so.
Her bones cracked—
Kael heard each one:
snap, split, slide—
like wood being sawed,
like ice fracturing under a crushing weight.
Her mouth stretched—wider, wider still—
her jaw tearing from its hinge with a sickening, wet pop.
Her arms dangled loose and disjointed, swaying like broken marionette limbs.
Her fingers lengthened—
sharpened—
became blades.
Her facial skin tore in jagged seams, oozing black, viscous fluid that stank of iron, rot, and cold ash.
Strips of muscle still clung to her, flapping wetly against the ground with a spongy slap.
Clara was gone.
Kael could not scream.
Could not speak.
Could not even breathe.
His mind rejected the sight—
refused it violently.
The thing that had been Clara rose slowly—
its joints cracking like dead branches snapping under frost.
Then it laughed.
A hollow laugh—
airless, skinless, vibrating in its torn throat.
And it leapt.
Straight onto another student.
A crack—
a stifled gasp—
a jet of blood erupting in a hot arc.
Kael staggered backward, panting.
His legs quivered, rebellious and weak.
Around him, bodies convulsed.
Bites.
Wounds.
Spasms.
Screams.
One by one, they rose.
Too fast.
Too many.
Like a wave swallowing the shore.
Kael tripped backward.
A single thought pounded inside his skull, sharp as shrapnel:
"It's spreading… it's INFECTING…!!"
Tears burned his eyes.
His throat closed.
His legs locked in pure terror.
All around him—hell unfolded.
Screams.
Collapses.
Convulsions.
Resurrections.
An instant epidemic.
Immediate.
Absolute.
With what little strength still clung to his bones, Kael forced himself to run.
[ 42%… ]
His legs buckled under each step.
Every stride heavier, denser, more desperate.
Behind him—
screams, cracks, bodies rising.
Ahead—
a boy.
About his age.
Face twisted by terror.
Hands dust-caked, blood-dried.
Another student approached him.
Slow.
Vacant eyes.
Teeth clenched.
Breath wet and animalistic—
a predator's breath.
"Stop… please… stop!"
Nothing.
No flicker of reason.
Only steps—
slow, scraping, certain—
and the metallic stink of blood.
The first boy backed into a wall.
His hands groped wildly—
found a broken piece of concrete.
Ragged.
Sharp.
He clenched it until his knuckles bleached white.
The other student raised his hand—ready to strike.
The boy screamed—
raw, instinctual—
and swung.
CRACK.
A dry, decisive snap.
The attacker's head twisted violently.
Bone fragments scattered.
Blood burst in a scalding spray.
Then—
a second blow.
Lower.
Harder.
CRACK.
The wall vibrated.
The skull collapsed inward.
Brain matter erupted like an overripe fruit crushed underfoot.
A grotesque smear of red and grey spread beneath them.
The body crumpled.
Arms twitching with dying nerves.
The boy remained frozen—
panting, trembling concrete still clenched in his fist.
Staring at the corpse.
Not yet understanding what he'd done.
Then something shifted.
At first invisible—
but Kael felt it.
A hum.
A pulse.
Electric.
Primal.
The boy straightened.
His breathing steadied.
The trembling ceased.
He seemed… larger.
Heavier.
Rooted.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
Was he imagining it?
No.
Real.
The boy looked stronger.
Not only in muscle—
but in presence.
Something kindled in his gaze—
a spark, sharp and new,
a certainty that had not been there before.
He stared at his hands.
At the corpse.
A shaky laugh escaped him—
incredulous, nervous, almost euphoric.
He had killed.
And he felt… better.
Lighter.
Sharper.
Alive.
Bile rose in Kael's throat.
A brutal thought slammed through him:
"They get stronger… by killing…?"
He stepped back.
Around him—noise swelled.
Screams.
Cracks.
Laughter—
gleeful, grotesque, growing.
"What… what is this world…?"
[ 54%… ]
He tried to run.
But his legs—
weak, weary—
gave out.
He fell.
His hands plunged into something—
soft.
Warm.
Wet.
Splosh.
"Wh—what—ARE THOSE—GOD—DAMN—GUTS?!"
"NO!! NO NO NO—AAAHHH!!!"
He screamed—
scrambled back—
forced himself upright on trembling legs.
A high, demented laugh slithered through the air.
Shrill.
Inhuman.
Childlike in its twisted joy.
The walls vibrated—
scratched, hammered, splitting under pressure.
A violent impact shook the floor.
Then another.
Something enormous was pounding.
Kael staggered.
Ears ringing.
Vision spinning.
Heart thundering.
He ran.
Blind.
Panicked.
Running on shreds of strength and instinct.
Anywhere—
anywhere but here.
He stumbled into a dark storage room—
slammed the door—
jammed a chair beneath the handle.
Barely a second later—
BANG.
The impact rattled the hinges.
Claws raked against the wood.
Then silence.
Kael collapsed.
Back against the cold wall.
Eyes wide.
Mouth dry.
Body shaking,
convulsing,
crumpling.
"Wake up… WAKE UP DAMMIT… it's not real… IT'S NOT REAL… IT'S NOT REAL DAMMIT!!!"
[ 68%… ]
Silence.
Total.
Absolute.
Only his heart—
beating in his chest,
in his skull,
in the dark.
Kael curled into himself.
Small.
Alone.
Frozen.
Outside… the world was ending.
And inside…
something else had begun.