The once calm and peaceful streets have been replaced with sheer carnage.
Streets are painted in red and bodies are littered across the streets. Some are motionless while others are being torn apart by former loved ones, their faces twisted into expressions of pure hunger. Screams from pain and fear fill the air along with the groans and moans of what used to be humans.
SWAT teams and military are trying to contain the situation, but it seems almost impossible for them to do so. They are trained for riots or war, where people actually stayed down after being shot or stepped back after warning shots. But this is different, whenever they shoot someone in the chest, they only stagger forward, snapping their teeth.
Each time one does finally go down, more just keep on attacking, alerted by the loud gunshots.
A woman who's missing the right side of her face, her skull visible, throws herself on a soldier, her eye a pitch-black void that lacks any sign of life or emotion. The soldier hesitates, not wanting to shoot her. She's still human…right?
Before he can react further, her teeth sink into his throat. His gurgling cry is drowned out by gunfire as the woman turns her focus on the soldier's comrades, who fire a magazine of bullets into her torso. They too are soon getting tackled onto the floor and being brutally slaughtered.
Panic has struck even the toughest soldiers; Some of them hesitate to pull the trigger, unsure if they could shoot a mother, brother or hell, even a child. Others just fired without a second thought. It didn't matter, the bullets don't put them down unless they strike in the right place.
A car crashes into a storefront, glass exploding out the frame, allowing those things to climb into the car without a problem to tear the people inside the car apart.
The sound of explosions rips through the night as debris and glass shards rain onto the streets below.
It's a bloodbath…
"Luna! What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Zephyr shouts at Luna, his voice a mix of fear and anger, almost as if steam was leaving his ears like a teapot. "You just locked Raven and Connor out there, with those things chasing us!"
He steps closer to her, reeling his fist back to hit her. Max quickly holds onto his wrist, shaking his head in disapproval while trying to defuse the situation, but Zephyr's eyes are locked onto Luna.
"You have killed my best friend you god fucking damn-" He cuts himself off and takes a deep breath before he insults her even more. His body trembling with adrenaline and rage, his mind racing with worst-case scenarios.
Lune flinches a bit at Zephyr's outburst. In all the time she has known him, the Greek never so much as raised his voice at her, but she quickly gains her composure, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's not like I had a choice!" She snaps, though her voice wavers slightly. "I wasn't going to stand there and get torn apart!"
Her eyes flicker to Max, silently seeking backup, but Max remains next to Zephyr, holding him back.
"You really wanna throw yourself in the horde for your bestie?" She asks, but her fingers drum against her arms subconsciously, betraying her nerves. "Then go ahead, Zephyr. Chase after them. See if they are still alive somehow and then get yourself ripped apart. Really lean into the whole 'death and misery' you emos love so much."
Zephyr's eyes widens at the comment, his hands clenching so tight his nails dig deeply into his palms. "That fucking does it," He thinks, his emotions reaching a boiling point as his hand reaches into the pocket of his hoodie, his fingers wrapping around cold metal.
He flicks his wrist and a small, sharp blade catches the dim light.
Luna's body stiffens as her tough girl behavior gets replaced with terror. Max reacts instantly, grabbing Zephyr's other wrist before he can do anything reckless. "Whoa, whoa! What the hell, dude?!" he blurts out, holding on tightly.
Zephyr blinks and he glances down at the pocketknife that's tightly in his grip, his reflection staring back at the polished surface of the knife.
"What am I doing?" His heart hammering in his chest as he feels the weight of the situation wash over him.
His grip on the knife loosens, and Max yanks the knife from his grasp before shoving it in the pocket of his jacket. Zephyr doesn't argue. Instead he just shakes his head and without another word, he suddenly bolts to the door, pulling himself out of Max's grip.
All he hears is Luna making a comment about him having a death-wish before bursting through the door.
The first thing Zephyr sees is the figure knelt down next to Connor, reaching forward to make him its next meal. Raven holds onto its arms, trying to pull it back. This only causes the figure to turn its attention to her, its pitch-black eyes hollow of emotion.
It lets out a growl. Then…BANG!
A loud sound pierces the air, and the assailant jerks in a violent manner, freezing up mid-motion. For a second, it seems confused by what has happened. Then its knees buckle as it collapses with a thud onto the floor next to Connor's unconscious body. A dark pool spreads beneath its body.
The duo stands in silence for a moment. Their breathing is ragged, and the loud sound of the gunshot's echoes through the hallway. The silence settles, heavy and tense, until a voice calls out from the corridor.
"I found two more living!"
The group turned to see two soldiers approaching. One is 5'9 with a lean yet muscular build and looks to be in their late 20s; the other is 6'1 and looks like he has been through a lot in his career. Both of their uniforms look like they've seen better days.
The younger soldier is gripping his rifle so tightly that his knuckles turn white. The terror is obvious by the way his body is trembling and his wide eyes glance at every corner as if something can jump out at him at any time. Besides him, the older soldier stands firmer, more grounded and masked, a stoic look on his face, but his body language still shows otherwise as his fingers still seem tightly wrapped around his firearm, a flicker of unease in his eyes. It's pretty clear that he thinks the same: What in the fuck is going on?
The younger soldier swallows nervously, his rifle barrel wavering between Zephyr and Raven. The loud growls of more infected emanate from somewhere in the building, along with the sound of something being dragged.
Max and Luna, having heard the gunshot, both come rushing out. Max has a worried expression on his face. Meanwhile Luna still looks a bit shaken up from Zephyr's outburst, but next to that, she seems indifferent.
"Was he bitten?" The younger soldier questions, snapping Zephyr out of his daze.
The Greek kneels next to Connor's body, his fingers trembling as he presses his fingers against his neck and feels a steady pulse. He then realizes what the soldier said.
"Bitten? That's a weird thing to ask." He looks at them with a confused expression.
"Answer the question!" The older soldier demands sternly.
"Th-that thing has n-n-not bitten him…" a quiet, feminine voice replies, and the soldier looks over to the source of the sound to face Raven. "N-now let's get into saf-safety be-b-before more of those bastards co-come…" Her voice trembles, and her body is visibly shaking. She stands there like she just watched someone get shot…oh wait, she just did.
Before anyone can say another word, the sound of pounding footsteps echo down the hallways.
The group turns their attention to the direction the sound is coming from and they see Matt running towards them with a wide-eyed panic, and right behind him are three, no four of them.
Their snarls reverberate through the hallway as they stretch their hands out to reach Matt. Their movements are jerky, but terrifyingly fast. The one in front stumbles for a bit before falling over, getting trampled over by the other three, their pitch black eyes locking on their prey.
"Shit!" the younger soldier curses as he raises his rifle to aim and shoot, but the fingers that rest on the trigger are stiff with fear.
The older soldier doesn't hesitate, raising his rifle and pulling the trigger.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
One of them collapses, their body instantly falling over and sliding down against the wall next to it, a smear of blood left behind. The second one gets struck in the shoulder, stumbling back before regaining focus and goes back to chasing Matt. Meanwhile the third one doesn't get struck but it seems to realize that rifles are fatal so it whips around and runs off to search for another victim.
The one who tripped gets back up and lets out a groan as if trying to ask why the other is fleeing, only to get grabbed by the ear and get dragged away.
The only one remaining of the group looks at his two fleeing comrades and throws their hands in the air as if to say "Are you kidding me right now?" before getting shot in the head by the younger soldier, sending it crumpling to the floor.
Matt stops by the group's side, trying to catch his breath. "I thought I was a goner, thank you so much," he says in between gasps of air.
"No time to celebrate," the older soldier grunts. "We just rang the dinner bell for every freak in the area."
The younger one lowers his rifle. "W-We need t-to hi-hide, NOW!"
Zephyr doesn't wait for instructions; he hooks his arm beneath Connor's and starts dragging him to the green room. Raven quickly grabs Connor's legs so they can move faster.
"Let's go, go!" Max calls out as he urges everyone to enter, ready to throw the door shut.
Once everyone is inside, Max throws the door shut with a heavy SLAM that echoes through the silence.
Zephyr and Raven put Connor's unconscious body on the couch and Zephyr softly slaps him. "Connor, wake up please…" He pleads, scared something happened to his friend.
Connor remains still, his chest rising and falling, signaling he's still alive, just out cold.
Silence fills the air as nobody even dares to speak. Growls and groans from outside occasionally breaks the silence, as well as the bursts of gunshots from the military and SWAT teams trying to control the situation.
Raven sits near Zephyr, her hands resting in her lap, her eyes never leaving Connor.
Suddenly, Connor stirs. His fingers twitch a bit before the sound of a sharp inhale as his eyes slowly flutter and his body jerks slightly. Zephyr nearly jumps at this. "Connor!"
Connor groans as he slowly sits up, leaning on his arms. "Wha...?" he mumbles weakly, as if lost in his own thoughts.
Zephyr pulls the barely awake young adult into a quick and shaky hug, letting out a shaky sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that again, dumbass…"
Connor blinks as he looks around a little, trying to register his surroundings. Raven smiles softly and does a small wave while Max nods in acknowledgement, happy that his friend is alright now.
"I had such a weird dream…" Connor begins as he embraces Zephyr's hug. "At our gig, some people starting attacking each other…It was a fucking bloodbath…"
Zephyr looks at the others before looking back at Connor, not knowing what to say. "Weeeeell, about that-" He begins.
"It's not a dream, it's real," Max interrupts Zephyr. The guitarist is leaning against the wall as he looks Connor in the eye. "It's real alright…" He then adds in a softer voice after seeing the fear creeping in Connor's eyes. "But we're safe now; these gentlemen will bring us to safety." He gestures to the soldiers.
Connor then spots the soldiers standing on the other side of the room; the younger one is holding his rifle a bit more loosely, starting to relax a bit while the older one keeps his guard up, still unsure about Connor.
"So, the situation is contained? We're gonna be fine?" Connor questions, his voice filled with a hopeful tremor, barely a whisper.
The older soldier sighs and shakes his head in reluctance. "We're trying to, but it's tough." He answers, running a hand through his short hair. "We're doing our best, but for now, let's hide here. We alerted quite a few here trying to save this guy." He nods his head at Matt, whose breathing has become deeper, as if he is struggling to breathe.
The green room falls into a tense silence. The moans grow louder, reminding the group their safety is short-lived if they find out where they are.
The older soldier leans against the door, pressing his ear against it and hearing the moans outside. "Okay…In a few minutes, we should be good." He then hears a confused groan from the other side. "Did they hear me? I swear I didn't speak that loud"
He quickly puts a finger to his lip, signaling everyone to stay quiet. After a couple seconds that felt like hours, a group of footsteps can be heard moving away.
"If anyone has been bitten, now is the time to say so." He mainly directed this comment to Connor, unsure if he was actually fine.
"He's not bitten. I wanna know why you keep asking that." Raven speaks up, giving the older soldier a look that screams to explain.
Suddenly, Matt speaks up in between labored breaths. "Do you mean this?" He lifts up his bloody sleeve, revealing a bite from human teeth that's deep enough to draw blood.
As soon as the older soldier sees the bite mark, he pulls out a handgun with a silencer on it and shoots Matt in the head; blood splattering on the wall as his body goes limp.
Luna and Raven both jump back while the four guys, including the younger soldier, look at Matt's body with a look of horror in their eyes.
"Why the fuck did you do that?!" Zephyr questions, his body trembling, wondering if the same is gonna happen to him.
The younger soldier looks as if he's about to puke while Luna has a look of horror on her face, for once having no snarky comment ready. Raven's hands cover her mouth in shock. Even Max is now wide-eyed.
"H-he wasn't o-one o-of th-em du-dude…" he looks up at the soldier, unsure what to think right now.
The older soldier sees their reaction and flashes a small smile, trying to reassure them he won't do them any harm. "As long as you're not bitten, I won't do anything bad." He holsters the handgun.
"But why?!" Max demands, raising his voice a bit. "What is going on outside? And what happens if you get bit?!"
The older soldier doesn't reply, looking around the room at each of them. Connor is still shaking and pale, Raven covering her mouth, Max trying to stay composed but the shock is evident and Zephyr is trembling.
The younger soldier gains his composure and decides to speak up instead.
"We haven't been told much…" He pauses for a moment before continuing. "But I can promise you…what we do know is something you will not like…"