This Beautiful World - Book #1 (BxB)

Chapter 4

The zombie girl was still in front of the door, but she was too occupied to notice us. The monster was feasting on our classmate who tried to escape. Even when the monster tore her flesh apart, I had a hard time looking away. I was scared that if I did then she would come after us. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only monster down this hallway.

There was one other creature that was farther down the hallway, close to our exit. If we tried to get past the zombie who was eating, that would lead us farther within the building. Things could have been much worse closer to the main building. Either way, we were risking getting close to these things. It was better for us to go past the one instead of potentially trapping ourselves among many. 

The zombie close to our exit didn't seem to notice us. It was banging its head up against the wall. Out of all of the zombie movies I've seen and from watching Alex play his video games, I never saw a zombie act like this in those. Movies and games couldn't capture this reality. We didn't know how these creatures actually behaved besides them wanting to eat our flesh.

After stalling for long enough, Jonathan stepped out into the hallway. Reluctantly, me and my friends followed. I looked back for a brief second, only to see that none of the other students were willing to follow our lead. They might not have come with us, but they were quick to shut the door on us once we were all outside. I heard them moving the desk back in place. We couldn't back out of this now. 

We slowly made our way towards the zombie that was still banging its head against the wall. There were bloodstains where it was hitting its head. Our weapons were ready in case this thing decided to finally notice us. I saw that Jonathan didn't have a weapon. He was leading us through this with no protection at all. I didn't know if he did this because he thought that it was too late for him or what.

With each step, we got closer to the door, and eventually, we finally reached it. Neither zombie paid attention to us until Jonathan reached out and pushed the door open. The door made a loud noise when he opened it, which attracted the zombie's attention. This was just our luck.

"Guys, go!" Jonathan held the door open for us.

There wasn't any time for us to stand around. The zombie girl was on her feet and she began to sprint at us. The creature moved so much faster than I was anticipating. These were not the slow-moving type that were usually depicted in movies.

Alex and Riley were already running towards the stairwell. While I was in shock from seeing how quickly these creatures moved, Jonathan grabbed my arm. He pushed me towards my friends, then shut the door. He was still on the other side with those things.

"Aiden, we have to go." Alex grabbed my hand.

I wouldn't budge, though. "Jonathan is back there. We have to help him."

Alex was just as stubborn as I was. He wasn't going to let me go back there to help him. "Put your fucking hero complex on hold right now and think about yourself for once. Jonathan stayed behind so that we can escape. Don't let him die for nothing."

I knew as well as he did that we couldn't do anything to save him. It was two against one, and Jonathan didn't have a weapon. With how fast those things moved, I knew that they had already reached him. I just hated the fact that I couldn't do anything for him.

"You can't save everyone, so stop feeling bad about it. Especially when those people made their choice to stay behind. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here." Alex squeezed my hand to comfort me.

As harsh as his voice was, Alex was trying his best to make me feel better. I nodded, and let him lead me down the stairs. He kept a hold of my hand as we swiftly made our way down the stairs. Riley was farther ahead of us. She stopped at a window and looked outside. Alex and I joined her shortly after.

Outside seemed peaceful. There was no one outside from what we could see. If there were other infected, then they might have been farther within the building. I didn't know how quickly people changed. I didn't know exactly when our professor was bitten and Jonathan was still human when we parted ways. It seemed like it only took mere minutes for the change to happen.

This was only just the beginning and this seemed to come out of nowhere. There weren't any signs and we never heard anything about it on the news. There were no broadcasts about people starting to act weird and attack others. You'd think that we would hear something beforehand, even if it was the smallest detail. Yet, there was nothing.

Riley looked away from the window to us. She glanced down and saw that Alex and I were still holding hands, but she made no comment about it like she normally would. Instead, she said, "Let's go before this place is swarming with those things."

She didn't wait around for us, which was odd for her. I knew that she was desperate to get out of here, but even in this sort of situation I thought that Riley would have waited for the two of us. Seeing those people die in front of us must have affected her. That would take a toll on anyone. I was still trying to process everything that was going on as well.

I pulled my hand away from Alex and followed my friend. This stairwell led to the back entrance of the campus, which would eventually lead us to the parking lot. If it weren't for the loss of Jonathan, then this escape would have been going smoothly. Since it didn't seem like there were many zombies as of now, we weren't facing many obstacles. That might change once we got to our hometown.

Riley waited for us once she reached the backdoor. From here, all we would need to do was locate Alex's car and run for it. It sounded so simple. I prayed that the three of us would make it in one piece. The parking lot wasn't that far away.

"I'll take the lead now. Follow me and stay close. Keep running no matter what." Alex stepped in front of Riley.

He slowly opened the door and peeked outside. From what I could see, there were no zombies. With the coast clear, it was time to make our escape whether we were ready or not.

Without waiting for a second longer, the three of us fled the building as fast as we could.