The notification lingered on every screen in the engineering lab.
BREAKING NEWS
Authorities are responding to multiple violent incidents across the city.
Residents are advised to remain indoors until further notice.
Silence settled over the room.
“…Probably another gang fight,” one student muttered.
Another shrugged.
“Or another virus scare.
Remember COVID?”
Laughter rippled through the lab.
It sounded forced.
Elias looked out the rain-speckled window again.
The column of smoke he’d noticed earlier had grown larger.
Fire trucks screamed somewhere beyond the campus.
Too many of them.
His phone buzzed.
News Update
Hospitals overwhelmed after dozens of unexplained violent attacks.
Noah frowned.
“That’s…
fast.”
“It is.”
Elias frowned at the wording.
Not riots.
Not a terrorist attack.
Violent incidents.
Whoever wrote the alert didn’t know what was happening either.
The television mounted above the lab flickered to life.
“…reports are coming in from multiple districts.
Police have advised citizens to avoid unnecessary travel.
Witnesses describe individuals displaying extreme aggression…”
The reporter stopped.
Everyone in the newsroom turned toward something off-camera.
A scream echoed through the broadcast.
The screen abruptly cut to black.
Static.
Then an emergency broadcast logo appeared.
The room fell completely silent.
“What the hell…” Noah whispered.
Suddenly—
BEEEEEEEEEP!
The campus emergency siren roared to life.
Every student froze.
Someone laughed nervously.
“Isn’t the drill next week?”
“I think so…”
Another announcement followed.
“Attention all students.”
The automated voice sounded calm.
Too calm.
“Please remain inside your current building until further notice.”
That got everyone’s attention.
Professor Harrison walked into the lab carrying a stack of papers.
“What are you all staring at?”
“The emergency alert.”
He glanced at the television.
“I’m sure it’s precautionary.
Stay calm.”
No sooner had he spoken than the lab doors burst open.
A young woman stumbled inside.
Her university hoodie was soaked in blood.
She collapsed onto the floor.
Everyone rushed toward her.
“Oh my God!”
“Call an ambulance!”
Professor Harrison knelt beside her.
“Miss!
Can you hear me?”
She trembled violently.
Blood dripped from a deep bite wound on her shoulder.
“I…
h-help…”
Her breathing became ragged.
Her entire body convulsed.
One student screamed.
“She’s having a seizure!”
Someone dialed emergency services.
No answer.
The room watched helplessly as the girl suddenly stopped shaking.
Silence.
Professor Harrison reached for her pulse.
“I think she’s—”
Her eyes snapped open.
They weren’t human anymore.
Cloudy.
Bloodshot.
Empty.
With an animalistic growl, she lunged.
Her teeth tore into Professor Harrison’s throat.
Blood sprayed across the laboratory.
For one impossible second…
Nobody moved.
Nobody understood what they had just seen.
Then everyone screamed.
Students ran in every direction.
Desks overturned.
Laptops crashed to the floor.
The infected girl continued biting long after the professor had stopped moving.
Noah grabbed Elias by the arm.
“Elias!”
He didn’t respond.
His mind raced.
Don’t panic.
Calculation.
Door.
Twenty-three students.
One infected.
Windows.
Fourth floor.
Fire escapes.
Too many people.
No time.
Another scream.
Professor Harrison’s body twitched.
His fingers curled unnaturally.
“…No…”
He slowly pushed himself upright.
His neck bent at an impossible angle.
Blood poured from the wound.
Then…
He looked directly at the nearest student.
And charged.
Elias’s eyes widened.
“They’re turning…”
“What?”
“The bite…”
Another student was dragged to the floor.
The classroom descended into complete chaos.
Elias scanned the room once.
There.
The heavy welding benches.
Steel cabinets.
Tool racks.
He pointed toward the storage room.
“Noah!”
“What?”
“We barricade that room!”
Noah didn’t hesitate.
“Everyone!”
He grabbed a steel chair and swung it into the advancing infected professor.
The impact staggered the creature.
“For once in your life,” Noah shouted with a grin that didn’t reach his terrified eyes,
“Tell me your crazy plan actually works!”
Elias seized a welding table.
“Help me push!”
Outside the engineering lab…
More screams echoed through the university.
Not one.
Not ten.
Hundreds.
The apocalypse had arrived.