Time crawls slowly; one night turns into two, then three. Hope turns to despair at the thought of us not being rescued from this madness.

Once we realize the military isn't coming, a handful of people run out of patience and leave the school grounds of their own volition. They hot-wire some vehicles and leave town to head into the city for answers. I really do hope they find survivors there and stay safe from the monsters.

As for the rest of us, the cafeteria remains a safe place, but it doesn't hold out as long as we think it could.

It's 7.30 pm on the clock when something bangs on the doors. It startles everyone; scrambling to their feet with their weapons raised, eyes wide on alert. We have already stacked all the tables and chairs against the entrance as our only first line of defense. Studio lights are set at their brightest and turned towards the doors.

A panic-stricken cry comes from the other side of the doors. "Help!" Bang, bang, bang. "Open the doors! Let me in!"

Maddie's face pales after recognizing the voice–a student of ours. "It's Sammy! Didn't he leave the school today with someone else? Why did he come back?"

Jace swears under his breath. "Maybe he realizes it's a lot safer here."

Everybody shuffles between their feet as the pounding persists. Someone from the back hisses out angrily. "Idiot! What do we do? He's going to get us all killed while making such a ruckus. They will come."

The tension in the room ratchets up a notch as we all watch the doors in trepidation. I creep closer to Zarius and clutch his arm tightly, wondering if we should help save my poor classmate, who's crying hysterically outside. Guilt gnaws at my chest, knowing that he's going to die at this rate if we don't do something.

"Zarius. Is there something we can do?"

His body tenses up, the muscles on his forearms tighten. "It's too late."

My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. The pounding comes again, each one sending a jolt of terror and guilt through us.

Bang, bang!

"HELP! HELP ME PLEASE! HELP—"

The cries grow louder, blood-curdling, until it suddenly ceases to a complete silence. Everyone waits with bated breath and gets horribly frightened when something rams up against the doors violently, followed by a couple of sickening crunches, like bones breaking.

We can't hear Sammy anymore.

To our horror, a trail of bright red liquid seeps through the tiny gap between the door frame and the floor towards us.

Blood.

Somewhere in the crowd, a girl lets out an appalled scream before someone claps over her mouth to silence her.

But it's too late.

The creatures have heard us.

Something massive thrashes against the doors relentlessly, creating dents in the thick steel frame. Above us, the air vents rattle and something thrashes about on the inside. A grille cracks open suddenly and monstrous eels rain upon us.

Pandemonium ensures; the entire room erupts in screams and shouts. People shove and push their way to the exit. Some unfortunate ones trip on their feet and get trampled on by the rest.

Those creatures slither fast between our legs, yanking their victims' feet and biting into their ankles. Our studio's equipment falls over and shatters, killing most of the light in the room. Soon after, the cafeteria doors give way as well, and more creatures crash through the opening with hungry eyes. Ramming through the furniture we've propped up like a wall between us and the doors. Gunshots fire off around us, leaving my ears ringing in pain.

Maddie yells at us to get moving as she fires at the horde.

"Mia! Someone get her!"

The poor girl stands in the center of the room, rooted to the ground. Her body shakes like a trembling leaf. She's clearly petrified, her doe-like eyes wavering with fear.

In a swift motion, Zarius picks her up with one arm and hands her over to Jace. "Get to the back! And Delia–your dagger! Use it like how I've taught you."

For the past two days, I pulled Zarius to the rooftop and got him to teach me a few simple moves with the dagger. Although I'm mentally and physically exhausted from all the running, I definitely need to learn how to fight against those creatures. I can't depend on Zarius forever. I've to assist him.

What if he gets hurt someday and I'm left to fend for us both? The thought itself is enough to kill me on the inside.

I wish I can fully tap on my merfolk abilities.

I repeat Zarius's instructions in my head like a mantra. Dodge. Go around their backs. Thrust upwards into their skulls or hearts.

A crazy Piranha fish snaps at my feet and I lurch out of the way, slamming my weapon down onto its head. An arrow sails through the air, striking at another creature that's sneaking up on me.

Mr. Daniels yells from behind me. "Get to the top!"

I do as he says, following Maddie and Jace. For a brief second, as I jerk my head around, I see multiple happenings at the same time. Creatures plunge their teeth into someone's neck or limbs as people rush towards the exit. Somehow, amid everything, a crazy Matteo is wrestling with Rey over something—a walkie talkie—and Max is struggling to pull his younger brother away.

What the hell? Does that man not care about his own life?

Zarius grabs me by the arm and pulls me out of harm's way, growling back fiercely at the creatures who's eyeing me ravenously. His luminous eyes burn brightly in the shadow. His hoodie is thrown back to reveal the black markings along his neck that are morphing into gills.

He rips off a steel bar from a railing and I watch in sheer fascination as he reconstructs it into another shape that he wants–a sword. After slicing off a creature's head neatly, he grabs me by my waist, carrying me up the stairs by leaping at five steps each time.

We are the last ones to arrive at the rooftop. Zarius slams the metal door behind us and Jace chains the door shut. Maddie gathers whatever materials she can find and Mr. Daniels anxiously sets them on fire with his lighter. A fire soon crackles brightly, sparks and embers raising into the night sky.

The glow of light would keep the monsters away, at least for a while for us to catch a breather.

A quick count of the group tells us that there are eight of us who made it out of the cafeteria alive–me, Zarius, Jace, Mia, Maddie, Mr. Daniels and two other students. If the rest have made it out too, there's no telling where they've all run off to.

But that's something we'll find out in the morning once the sun is out, I guess.

Chest heaving as I try to catch my breath, I scan our surroundings for the monsters, glimpsing a flash of red eyes in a distance between the trees. My breath hitches and I squint. The shape is an opaque black, and it looks a little strange from its outline. Like it has a pair of wings.

And it's just watching us.

When I blink my eyes, it's gone.

A sound cracks from the corner on the other side, stealing my attention away. Tentacles slowly emerge, as if peeking over the wall, but Zarius extracts from the flame and flings it towards the creature like a ball of fire. It catches on fire and falls off the roof with a screech of pain.

Jace heaves a sigh of relief and sweeps his hair away from his sweaty forehead. "Nice shot, bro."

Zarius barely acknowledges the reaction of the people from around us. He stares at me with concern, running his gaze over my face and arms for injuries. "Are you hurt?"

Still shaken by the earlier fight, I try to dispel the fear shivering through my bones. Gosh. I'll never get used to running for my life. "No. What about you?"

He sweeps away my fringe that's sticking to my cheeks. "I'm fine."

Unlike us, who already know about Zarius's true identity, the remaining humans are shell-shocked by his formidable display of powers. The students look terrified, but not Mr. Daniels.

"Oh wow." He breathes heavily, his face turning into a look of awe. "What are you?"

🥲

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