BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The sound of my alarm started going off. I groaned before tiredly rolling out of bed. I switched off my alarm before grabbing my phone from my bedside table.
I frowned when I saw a ssage from my dad. We haven't spoken in almost a week. I clicked on the ssage and patiently waited for it to open.
My eyebrows furrowed as I read the text.
Hailey-Jade, lock the doors and the windows as soon as you see this ssage. Stay inside the house. Don't open up for anyone. I'm in Upstate New York at the mont, working on a project with Luke King. Turn on the news and wait for my call.
I rushed out of my room and headed straight into the living room. I switched on the TV before skipping through the channels until the news channel popped up on the screen.
"-Authorities are responding to what they are calling a ' wave of violent outbursts' in multiple cities across the country. Reports indicate that individuals are exhibiting erratic and aggressive behavior, attacking bystanders without provocation." The news anchor spoke in a calm but uneasy tone.
"Initial investigations suggest the incidents may be linked to an unidentified illness currently being studied by the CDC." The woman continued.
"And while it's too early to confirm, there are concerns that this may be the result of a rapidly mutating pathogen. Early symptoms include fever, nausea, and severe confusion, escalating to hyper-aggression within hours. We recomnd anyone experiencing these symptoms isolate themselves imdiately."
My eyes widened as the broadcast was interrupted by a breaking news alert.
"This is an ergency alert. The National Guard has been deployed in response to escalating violence. Citizens in the following areas are advised to seek shelter. Repeat, seek shelter imdiately." An ergency broadcaster announced in a robotic voice. He started listing the affected areas.
I grabbed my phone to text my dad but he didn't respond to any of my texts. He didn't answer my calls either.
I switched the TV off before squeezing my eyes shut. I nervously shook my hands before getting up from where I was sitting. I paced across the room, feeling jittery all of a sudden.
I tried calling my dad one last ti but the line imdiately got cut. Panic started growing inside of with every second that passed.
I went back inside my room and pulled a black hoodie over my head. I pulled on so grey sweatpants before slipping my feet into a pair of sneakers. I hastily made my way out of the house.
"Good morning, Hailey-Jade!" I heard Mrs Smith greeting , I shot her a brief smile before waving at her. I quickly locked the door behind and made my way across the lawn.
"Morning Mrs Smith!" I greeted in a friendly tone before I lightly started jogging down the road.
I decided to drop by the pharmacy where my dad worked, just in case he was there, but the doors were locked and the "Closed" sign was still hanging on the other side of the door.
There was not a single person in sight. Not on the sidewalk or in any of the surrounding stores. Except for and a sickly-looking man. He was silently staring at , his head violently twitching to the side.
A dog barking at nothing and an ambulance speeding past made jump in shock.
I looked over to where the man was standing before but he was gone. It was almost as if he had just- vanished into thin air.
My heart started beating faster and faster in my chest. I ran away from the pharmacy as fast as I could, fear taking over almost all of my senses.
●●●
Two Hours Later
I quietly sat in the University cafeteria with my friends. I had completely zoned out of our conversation since all I could think about was my dad and that guy creepy guy I saw in town.
The university was like a completely different world. Nobody here seed to have seen the news.
But this virus thing- it sounded serious yet nobody except myself seed to be worried about it.
"Hailey-Jade!" Josh loudly yelled into my ear and I jumped in shock.
"What?" I asked him in confusion.
"Where's your head at? I've been asking you the sa question for the past five minutes." He uttered in annoyance.
"I'm sorry what were you saying?" I asked him, my eyebrows pulling together in a tight frown.
"Never mind." Josh groaned before modeling away from our table.
"Don't mind, Josh. He just wanted to know if he could copy your notes. Apparently, he overslept yesterday. Again." Mika uttered in annoyance.
"Which actually ans that he was hanging out with Aaron-" I started but got interrupted by a scream coming from our left.
The cafeteria dawned in silence as Evan Jones stumbled into the room. His mouth was covered in blood and his head was violently twitching to the side.
Evan stord at a group of girls and attacked one of them. He bit into the girl's neck before roughly tearing a piece of her skin out of her neck. Blood started oozing from the girl's neck and Evan's chest heaved up and down as he watched her.
He stord at another group of students and the cafeteria erupted into chaos as more students started noticing what was happening.
I got up from where I was sitting and ran as fast as my feet could carry . The hallway was packed with students as everyone tried to get out of the building.
I found Mika standing beside so I grabbed her hand. Horrified screams started filling our ears again.
"We need to turn around!" I yelled at Mika in panic as the hallway started growing more crowded.
"Gym! Let's go to the gym!" She yelled at , and together, we made our way toward the gym.
We abruptly stopped in our tracks when our eyes landed on Evan. He was waiting for us at the end of the hallway. In front of the gym.
He quietly stood in the center of the now-empty hallway, his chest rapidly moving up and down as he watched us. His eyes were bloodshot red, his skin pale, and his hands violently twitching as if he were resisting the urge to attack us.
A screeching sound escaped his mouth before he stord at us and Mika froze beside . For a split second, I was paralyzed by fear.
"Run!" Mika yelled at in horror.
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