The plan had been simple. Dangerous, sure—but it made sense.
We moved fast, sticking to shadows as we made our way to the control room. A few zombies wandered the hallways, but they hadn't detected us. We took care of them quickly and quietly—Amrit's reflexes, Jay's precision, and my swings with the iron rod all in sync like we'd done it a hundred times. We hadn't. But training paid off.
Once inside the control room, we locked the door behind us. Jay fiddled with the audio system and played a loop of pre-recorded announcements and crowd noise through the loudspeakers installed on the far side of the sports field. Then we waited. Five minutes.
When we finally cracked open the door and peered into the hallway, it was empty. Silent. Eerie.
"Worked," Jay whispered.
The plan had drawn them away.
We made our way to the classroom, expecting chaos, maybe blood. But instead, it was... empty.
"They should be here," Amrit muttered.
I was about to speak when a voice called out softly, "Over here!"
It was Purnima.
We rushed to the windows—and there they were.
All of the girls from our class were clinging to the rain shed above the windows, having climbed up to avoid the zombies. It was a smart move, and seeing them alive sparked the first flicker of relief in my chest.
One by one, we helped them down, adrenaline slowly starting to subside.
And just like that... the speaker cut off.
The sound died so suddenly it left a ringing silence in its place. My stomach dropped.
"Shit," Jay whispered. "Something must've unplugged the system. Maybe a zombie tripped over the wire."
It didn't matter how. It had happened.
Now, with all the girls huddled around us, the scent of warm bodies would be like a flare in the dark.
We had to move. Now.
We sprinted through the halls. It didn't take long for the groans to start up again—first distant, then louder. Shadows moved behind us.
From the rooftop of the hostel, Aditya and Gaurav saw us. Without hesitation, they bolted down and rushed out to meet us, cutting off the zombies just long enough for the rest of us to get everyone inside.
There was no time for hesitation. We slammed the gates shut, reinforced them with everything we could, and collapsed against the wall, panting.
Some of us had scratches. Nothing deep. Still, we didn't take chances—we cleaned the wounds, drained blood where necessary, and poured disinfectant like it was holy water.
For now, we were safe.
---
Jay, of course, couldn't wait. The moment we settled, he was already pacing like a professor waiting for a lecture hall to quiet down.
"We need one more guy," he said.
He meant Snehil.
Technically, Snehil had been with us the entire time. Sort of. He'd slept through the chaos—bunked his class, locked himself in the hostel room, and missed every damn thing.
Amrit stormed into his room and dumped a full bucket of water over his head.
Snehil bolted upright, sputtering. "What the hell—?!"
"You missed the apocalypse," Amrit deadpanned.
Snehil blinked. "Wait, what?"
We caught him up on everything. His only response? "How the hell did I miss all the fun?"
Jay rolled his eyes. "You'll have plenty of chances to 'have fun,' trust me. But right now, you're delaying the meeting. And we're having it. Now."
Snehil grinned. "She joining us too?"
Jay's face stiffened. "She doesn't seem interested in joining. Also... Samarth's here. So let's not make it awkward."
Snehil shrugged, but didn't argue.
---
The meeting began with Jay's usual seriousness.
"So," he said, "do we discuss surviving here first, or start planning how to leave?"
Aditya leaned back, arms folded. "I'll skip my vote. You guys decide."
Typical.
I raised my hand. "Protocol says to wait three days. During that time, we're supposed to signal for help—maybe a chopper will spot it. If we survive those three days, then we move to the second escape protocol."
Jay nodded. "Alright. Three days it is. Survive first. Escape second."
Amrit spoke next. "Water won't be an issue, not yet. Electricity's out, but we've trained for worse. We'll manage."
"Food," Aditya added, almost as an afterthought. But his voice was serious.
It surprised all of us. It was the first time he'd voluntarily added something to the discussion.
Purnima joined in. "And water will become an issue if we don't secure access to the other hostel buildings. Once ours runs dry, we'll need to move."
"There's only one way to make that happen," Snehil said. "Clear the path. And block it off so they don't come crawling back in."
"But we'll face way more than the eleven or twelve we ran into during the rescue," Amrit reminded us. "That was nothing. This is different."
Purnima looked thoughtful. "If we had the neutralizing drugs—the ones that freeze their motor functions temporarily—we could clear paths without fighting all of them."
I turned to her. "Can you make them? If you had the right materials?"
She nodded. "Yes. But only if I can get access to those materials. I'll need proper lab components."
I looked around the table. Everyone was waiting. We had water for now, no food supply, no reinforcements, and an entire school crawling with undead.
"Well," I said, exhaling. "Then we know our goals."
Secure food.
Gather lab supplies.
Create the neutralizing drugs.
Survive three days.