The laboratory wing of the school had become strangely quiet.
It wasn't peaceful quiet. The kind of silence that made every small sound feel too loud.
Aren moved through the corridor carefully, his breathing still uneven from the last fight. His shirt was smeared with dark stains that were already drying. The metal rod in his hand felt heavier now, not because of its weight but because of what he had already used it for.
He had checked classroom after classroom.
Most of them were empty, while some were not.
The ones that weren't, had infected inside students, teachers, cleaners. At first he hesitated every time he saw their faces. By the time he reached the science block that hesitation had started to disappear.
Not because it got easier, but because he had to kill them.
Two more infected had come at him near the stairwell leading toward the laboratories. One of them had lunged unexpectedly, almost catching him off guard. Its fingernails scraped the wall inches from his shoulder when he twisted away.
For a moment he thought it had scratched him.
That moment froze his blood.
But when he looked quickly there was no tear in his skin, Nor burning pain. Just the rough brush of cloth.
He didn't waste time thinking about it. The metal rod came down hard twice, and the creature collapsed at his feet.
Aren stood there breathing hard for several seconds before forcing himself to move again.
His senses felt sharper now. Every echo of footsteps. Every faint movement behind walls. The system inside him flickered briefly in the corner of his vision lines of information beginning to appear.
"Upgrade in progress…
Energy threshold reached…"
The words hovered faintly, but He ignored it.
Right now none of that mattered, His siblings was what really nagged him to move on, the feeling was persistent.
He moved faster down the hall.
That was when he heard it.
A faint sound from deeper inside the laboratory section.
It sounded like Moaning and Crying.
A woman's voice.
For a second his mind jumped straight to the worst possibility.
His sister.
The thought nearly shattered his focus.
He started running before logic could stop him.
His steps echoed through the hallway as he rushed toward the source of the sound. He barely noticed another infected staggering out from a side door until it was already reaching for him.
It almost caught him.
The creature's hand grazed his sleeve as he jerked sideways. The metal rod swung instinctively, cracking into its skull with a sickening sound. It dropped immediately.
Aren stood there panting.
That had been too close, he was too careless. What is the use of running all the way here and getting infected just by a margin mistake.
It would be useless.
But the crying sound ahead pulled his attention again.
He ran.
The laboratory doors came into view at the end of the corridor. The sound was clearer now muffled voices mixed with crying.
His grip tightened around the rod.
He pushed forward and slammed into the doors.
Bang!!!
The crash echoed through the room as the doors burst open.
Inside the lab, the scene froze.
The two boys and the teacher stopped and looked at what came in.
The teacher was shocked and the the boys were confused.
Before anyone spoke, their conversation from moments earlier still hung in the air.
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"Yo bro aren't u done it should be my turn.
Calm down bro this am not through this teacher is damn hot no wonder I liked her before."
While they talked the teacher was crying under them as they held her down.
"Yo bro do u hear that?"
"Am pretty sure it should those damn zombies"
"What about that other girl with the little kids?"
"Don't worry when we done with her we get them, damn if the apocalypse can bring this sooner I won't be able to enjoy this now."
Now all three of them stared at the doorway.
The metal rod in Aren's hand was dark at the tip. His chest rose and fell slowly as he looked at the scene in front of him.
One of the boys frowned and stepped slightly forward.
" who the fuck are you?"
The room went silent again.
Behind a partially closed side door deeper in the lab, Alero heard the crash.
Her heart jumped into her throat.
Someone had just broken into the lab.
She couldn't see who it was yet.
Since hiding in that room, the sound didn't feel like another nightmare arriving.
It felt like something else entirely.
Hope.