We were sitting there, eating cereal like it was the most normal thing in the world, when the sound of a beeping car pierced the air, followed by more guttural groans echoing from outside.At first, the groaning was faint, just a low, eerie sound in the distance. But then it grew louder and louder—a noise that made your skin crawl, like nails on a chalkboard mixed with the growl of a hungry predator.
I froze, my spoon halfway to my mouth. "Do you hear that?"
Everyone stopped eating. The room went silent, except for the distant groans that were getting closer by the second.
"Zombies," Alex whispered, her eyes wide.
"No kidding," I muttered, dropping my cup of cereal. The milk spilled everywhere, but no one cared.
"Shh..." I said, holding a finger to my lips. Alex nodded and started gesturing frantically, pointing toward the door and then toward the school. Her ssage was clear: Let’s run. Now.
The others, Ben, Lila, and Jake, whispered among themselves but quickly agreed to follow us. We moved as quietly as we could, slipping out of the store and into the open.
The sight that greeted us was enough to make my blood run cold.
Zombies. Dozens of them. Maybe more. They were still a fair distance away, but they were coming this way, and they were moving faster than I’d ever seen zombies move before.
Questions flooded my brain. Did they migrate or sothing last night? Like Birds? Have their senses gotten so rotten that they need to move in groups now?
I shook the questions out of my head. This wasn’t the ti to play zombie scientist. This was the ti to run.
"Go!" I hissed, and we took off, sprinting toward the school.
The groans intensified as the zombies heard the sound of our footsteps. I didn’t dare look back, but I could feel them getting closer. My heart was pounding, my lungs burning, but I didn’t stop.
We reached the school gate in record ti. One by one, we started climbing over it. Alex went first, then Ben, then Lila. I was next, and I made it over without too much trouble.
But then disaster struck.
Jake, bless his clumsy, sword-wielding heart, didn’t know how to jump over the gate. He just stood there, staring at it like it was so kind of unsolvable puzzle.
"Jake!" I yelled, my voice a mix of panic and frustration. "What are you doing? Climb!"
"I, I don’t know how!" he stamred, his face pale.
Alex, who had already made it over, muttered sothing under her breath and jumped back to Jake’s side. "Co on, man. I’ll help you."
The zombies were getting closer. I could hear their growls, their shuffling footsteps. My heart was in my throat as I watched Alex boost Jake over the gate.
Jake made it over, but now the zombies were much closer. Alex scrambled back over the gate just as the first few zombies reached it.
"Run!" I scread, and we bolted for the main door.
We barricaded it as quickly as we could, using whatever we could find, benches, chairs, even a vending machine we managed to tip over. The gate outside was rattling as the zombies slamd into it, their groans echoing through the air.
For a mont, we just stood there, breathing heavily, listening to the sounds of the horde outside.
"Well," I said, breaking the silence, "that was fun."
Elliot shot a look. "Fun? Really?"
"Okay, maybe not fun," I admitted. "But we made it. That’s what matters."
Alex nodded, her face still pale. "Yeah. We’re safe. For now."
Ben, Lila, and Jake were leaning against the wall, looking like they’d just run a marathon.
"Thanks," Jake said, looking at Alex. "I... I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t helped ."
Alex shrugged. "Don’t ntion it. Just... maybe learn how to climb a gate, yeah?"
Jake nodded, looking embarrassed.
Lila, who had been quiet this whole ti, finally spoke up. "So... what now?"
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Now, we figure out what to do next. Because sitting here and waiting for the zombies to break in isn’t exactly a long-term plan."
As if on cue, the gate outside rattled again, the sound sending a shiver down my spine.
"Great," I muttered. "Just great."
****
The school was still a safe place, for now. We sat around, trying to act normal, which is hard when you’re surrounded by zombies and eating cereal that’s probably past its expiration date.
"So, uh, did you guys know we found a radio?" I said, trying to lighten the mood.
The three newbies, Ben, Lila, and Jake, perked up imdiately. Their faces lit up like they’d just been told there was free Wi-Fi in the apocalypse.
"A radio?" Ben asked, his eyes wide. "Does it work?"
"Sort of," Alex said, fiddling with the dials. "It’s been playing the sa ssage on a loop. Sothing about rescue being on the way."
The three of them looked hopeful for a second, but I quickly crushed their dreams. "Don’t get too excited. It’s probably just a pre-recorded ssage. No one’s actually out there organizing rescue efforts."
Their faces fell, but they still wanted to hear it for themselves. So, we made our way to the broadcast room where we’d left the radio.
When we got there, Alex turned it on, and at first, it just spat out static and garbled nonsense. But after a bit of fine-tuning, the sa old ssage ca through: "Caution. Stay in hos. Danger outside. Rescue is on its way. Caution. Stay in hos. Danger outside. Rescue is on its way."
The three of them listened carefully, their faces going from hopeful to disappointed in record ti.
"Okay, I get it," Ben said, sighing. "We’re on our own."
"Pretty much," I said, shrugging.
That’s when we heard it, a loud, heavy noise from outside. Everyone’s faces turned dark, and we imdiately rushed to the windows to see what was going on.
And there it was. The f*cking gate had fallen.
"Damn it!" I cursed, slamming my hand against the windowsill. "Just like that, the zombies are running wild, waiting for us to co out so they can eat our brains. Because, you know, that’s what zombies do."
Elliot sighed. "Well, this is just great. What’s next? Zombie pigeons?"
"Don’t even joke about that," Alex said, shuddering.
I turned to the newbies. "Oh, by the way, we forgot to introduce you to our dear zombie hamsters. Yeah, they’re a thing. Cute, but deadly. You’ll love them."
Ben, Lila, and Jake just stared at , their faces a mix of horror and confusion.
"Zombie... hamsters?" Lila asked slowly.
"Yep," I said, popping the ’p.’ "Welco to the apocalypse. It’s a real party."
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