The projector in the AV room clicked once, then fell into stillness.
A faint red light blinked on its panel—power-saving mode. Around it, ten terrified students huddled together, their breath the only sound in the stillness.
They didn't speak.
Not because there was nothing to say.But because silence was the only thing keeping them sane.
Ayush sat cross-legged in the far corner, staring at the single, narrow window on the opposite wall. It was dusty and scratched, but through the smudges, he could still see the world outside.
And what he saw chilled him.
The open ground below—normally filled with cricket practice, lunchtime races, and bored PE lectures—was now a warzone.
A girl ran barefoot across the mud, blood trailing from her calf. A boy chased her—not to help, but to hunt. His face was torn, flesh peeling, eyes glowing a lifeless red.
Behind them, three more students sprinted. Two carried metal chairs like weapons. One tripped. The others didn't stop.
She screamed as they left her behind.
On the far edge of the field, a small group scrambled up the cafeteria fence. One made it over.
The rest did not.
"Ayush?" Kartik's voice cracked from behind.
Ayush didn't turn. "We can't stay here."
Kartik stepped beside him. "You said it was safe—"
"I said it was safer. Not safe."He pointed through the window. "That construction building. See it?"
The concrete shell loomed a hundred meters beyond the school's outer fence. Four unfinished floors stood under rusting cranes. Plastic sheets fluttered in the wind.
Kartik's voice dropped. "That's where those bullies used to take kids. Beat them."
Ayush nodded. "And now? No movement. No infected. No students. That place... might be our best shot."
Kartik hesitated, then exhaled. "You really want to run there?"
Ayush turned.Every eye in the AV room was already on him.
"We move at sunset," he said. "Pairs. No noise. No panic. One scream, and we die."
Meanwhile: The Parents
At the other end of the city, phones rang and went unanswered.
Mrs. Ahuja sat frozen in front of the television, tears building in her eyes. The news anchor repeated the line for the fourth time:
"There are no confirmed reports of violence inside any schools. Authorities urge citizens to remain calm and avoid sharing unverified rumors on social media."
Her husband paced near the window, phone to his ear. "I called the school again. Nothing. It keeps disconnecting."
In another flat, Ayush's mother sat beside a landline, a plate of untouched food on the table. She had dialed her son five times. No answer.
In homes across the city, parents waited.Hoped.Believed.
They didn't know their children were already in hell.
Inside the Hospital
The stretcher burst through the ER doors.
The infected girl from St. Ravencroft thrashed against her restraints as four orderlies held her down.
"Seizures—possibly rabies!" a nurse shouted.
Dr. Khanna rushed in, syringe in hand. "Sedative, 5 milligrams. Now."
The girl bit at the air, snarling.
They injected her. Slowly, her body slackened. Her limbs stopped jerking.
Her eyes opened.
Calm.
Then her neck snapped sideways—unnaturally fast—and she sank her teeth into the nurse's face.
Screams filled the ER.Blood hit the walls.
Containment failed in twelve minutes.
Government Command Room
Beneath the Delhi Secretariat, inside a locked government bunker, red files spread across a circular table.
"Thirty-two students unaccounted for," a junior officer said. "Ten presumed dead. Confirmed chaos in three schools."
"And this," the chief said, tapping a paused CCTV frame from Ravencroft.
The screen showed a girl collapsing. Then biting. Then the chaos.
The Defense Minister leaned in. "Media blackout. Full suppression."
"But, sir—"
"Shut it down," the Minister snapped. "If word gets out we lost control of a test subject—"
"Test subject?"
The room fell silent.
The meeting ended two minutes later. No one asked more questions.
The Canteen – A Knife and a Monster
Under a broken bench, beneath the overturned counter, a tall boy crouched alone—knees pulled tight to his chest.
His fingers clutched a bloodstained kitchen knife.Stolen from the chef's corpse.
His name was Rahul.Yesterday, he had laughed while another boy was beaten on the rooftop.
Today?
He watched the infected shuffle past the shattered canteen entrance. He didn't move. Didn't breathe.
He didn't cry.
Because crying would get him killed.
Flashback: The Rooftop Boy
One week ago.
The boy sat in a dark room. His wrists were strapped to a table.
A man stood behind glass. Lab coat. Cold eyes.
"You'll be the proof," the man said. "They say your generation is weak. But I know better."
The boy trembled. A clear fluid dripped from an IV in his arm, glowing faintly under the dim light.
"Dad... please."
But the man didn't answer.
He just watched.As if this wasn't his son—but a subject.
Back to Present: Inside the AV Room
Ayush paced quietly.
"I know a way," he whispered.
Suraj looked up. "What?"
"That building. We cut through the staff hallway, past the auditorium, down to the sports shed. There's a hole in the fence behind it. Then—construction site."
"That's suicide," Shivam murmured. "They're everywhere."
"So is staying here," Ayush replied coldly.
Ananya stood. "We follow him."
Kartik looked at her. "You sure?"
She didn't speak. Just fastened the straps on her bag and stepped beside Ayush.
Ayush checked his phone.
One new message.
[Drake Lesnar] is within 0.5 km.
He stared at it.
"Who…?"
Then, through the tinted window—He saw movement on the rooftop of the construction site.
A silhouette.
Motionless.
Watching.
Waiting.
And Ayush felt it.Not just eyes.
But judgment.
Someone out there already knew this day would come.
And they were ready for it.