The campus… had become nothing but an open-air sughterhouse. The ground... soaked in blood... clung to Kael’s hurried footsteps. With every stride, dark crimson spshes spattered out, staining the cracked concrete. The air vibrated with a monstrous cacophony. Human screams. Guttural roars. Death rattles... A wall of sound so dense it felt like it was crushing his eardrums.
Kael choked on every breath. Each gulp of air reeked of iron, burnt flesh… death.
"This is a nightmare… it can’t… it CAN’T be real…"
25%...
Kael smmed himself against a crumbling wall. His heart pounded so hard it felt like it would rip through his ribcage. All around him, horror was unleashed. Dismembered bodies littered the ground. Shattered skulls cracked open on the cobblestones. Entrails dangled from gaping windows. Suddenly, a girl’s scream tore through the air, high-pitched, piercing, inhuman. Then it was abruptly cut off by the sickening rip of tearing flesh.
Kael dared a gnce.
"No… no…"
A misshapen creature. Grotesque. A familiar silhouette... or what was left of it. It cwed at the girl’s face, nails scraping bone, jaws ripping chunks of muscle with wet, slurping sounds.
Kael gagged, stumbling back. Then… a strangled gasp. He saw the girl convulse. Still alive.
"Holy shit… it’s not… it’s NOT over?!"
Her body spasmed with dry, jerky tremors. Bck, swollen veins snaked beneath her skin, ready to burst. Her eyes rolled back… and then, with a sickening crack, her spine snapped, arching grotesquely. Bck foam oozed from her lips, and… she screamed.
But that scream… wasn’t human anymore.
Her arms stretched unnaturally. Fingers curved into talons. Her skin swelled, bubbled, and cracked. She writhed violently, each joint snapping and reshaping. The creature that had bitten her recoiled, almost curious. And then she rose. Or… what was left of her did. Panting, a maniacal grin splitting her face wide open. And she lunged, straight onto another student.
Kael reeled, breathless, legs shaking.
"No… it… it SPREADS?! It INFECTS?! Oh fuck… OH FUCKING HELL!!!"
Kael stumbled back, tears blurring his vision. 'Run… I have to run away…' His eyes locked onto a group barricaded behind overturned tables, desperately trying to fight back. A pathetic illusion of safety. The creatures pounced, smashing through the barricade like cardboard. Screams twisted into wet gurgles as bodies shattered under the ferocity of the assault. Blood… chunks of flesh… shards of bone… sprayed everywhere.
"This is hell… THIS IS FUCKING HELL!"
40%...
Further down, his eyes locked onto another scene. A guy. Barely older than him. Face twisted in rage. Screaming as he smashed a cssmate’s skull with a rock. The final blow nded with a hideous crunch, bone and brain matter spraying like gore confetti.
Kael staggered back, gasping.
But the killer slowly straightened. His breath was ragged. His muscles swelled, tightened. Veins bulged under pale skin. He raised his head, a grin splitting his face. He let out a wild, animalistic roar, drunk on power.
A shiver tore down Kael’s spine.
"They… they get STRONGER… by killing?! What the fuck is this… what the FUCK is going on…?!"
50%...
Kael tried to run, but his legs buckled beneath him. He tripped, hands sinking into something soft… warm… What the…? Gu-guts?
"NO!! AAAH!!!"
He screamed, shoving the slick mess away and scrambling to his feet. Around him, insane ughter echoed. Shrill, grotesque. The walls trembled under cwing, desperate blows. His head spun. Ears buzzing. Heart hammering like a drum about to burst. He ran. Blind. Frantic. Anywhere. Just away...
He crashed into a dark storage room and smmed the door shut. Wedged a shaking chair under the handle. Then colpsed, back against the cold wall. Eyes wide. Staring into nothing. His whole body was shaking, spasms wracking him.
"Wake up… fucking wake up… this isn’t real… THIS ISN’T REAL… THIS ISN’T REAL!!!"
60%...
Silence. Nothing else.
Just the pounding of his heart. In his ears. His skull.
Then… a noise. Light. Dry. Barely a whisper. There… right there.
The handle. Slowly turning. Ever so slowly.
Kael, frozen, stared at the door. Breath locked. Hands cwing at the freezing concrete.
"No… no… please…"
And then a crack. As if… something… was scratching. Just behind the door.
