THE MUTATED

Ch.2: It's All Real

Richie and Sam walked through the library doors, with the other students looking up at them. They quickly shut the door behind them, barricading it with a bookshelf.

One of the students, a girl with short blonde hair, stood up and approached them. "What's going on out there?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Richie took a deep breath and looked at the group. "It's not a school shooting," he said. "It's zombies. We saw them in the hallway."

The group looked at him in disbelief. "Zombies? Are you serious?" a tall, muscular boy asked skeptically.

Leah, who was sitting in a corner with a group of her friends, rolled her eyes. "Stop joking around, Richie," she said. "This isn't the time for your stupid pranks."

"It's not a prank, Leah," Sam said. "We saw them too."

The group began to murmur and whisper amongst themselves, some still skeptical, while others started to panic.

"What are we going to do?" a girl with curly brown hair asked, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Richie looked around the library, trying to think of a plan. "We need to barricade this place up and stay put until help arrives," he said.

Sam nodded in agreement. "We can use the bookshelves and tables to block the doors and windows," he added.

The group started to work together, moving the furniture to barricade the entrances. Richie and Sam helped, while Leah and her friends sat in a corner, watching.

As they worked, Richie tried to convince Leah and the others that this was serious. "We need to stay alert and be ready for anything," he said. "These things are dangerous and we don't know what they're capable of."

Leah just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever, Richie," she said. "I'm just going to wait here until the cops come."

Richie knew he couldn't force Leah to believe him, but he hoped she would come around eventually. For now, he just focused on making the library as safe as possible for everyone.

As the group was barricading the doors, they heard a loud knock from the outside. Everyone froze, not sure what to do. Leah, still skeptical, warned them not to open it. However, the curly-haired girl, who was sitting nervously in the corner, jumped up and rushed to the door. She looked through the peephole and saw two people, a man and a woman, standing outside.

"Please, we need your help!" the woman cried out.

The curly-haired girl hesitated for a moment, but her compassion won out over her fear. She quickly unbolted the door and let the strangers in. The man, who was holding the woman up, appeared to be injured, with a deep gash on his arm.

As soon as the newcomers stepped inside, chaos erupted in the library. The woman screamed and fell to the floor, the man convulsing violently. The group watched in horror as the injured man turned to the nearest person and lunged at them, revealing a set of blood-stained teeth.

The zombie tried to attack Richie, who had been standing closest to the door, but he managed to hold it off with a book. Sam quickly sprang into action and grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher, using it to knock the zombie to the ground.

The entire group was shaken by the sudden attack, but Sam was particularly affected. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He had always been a pacifist, and the idea of killing someone, even if they were already dead, was horrifying to him. He looked at his blood-stained hands in shock.

"Are you okay, man?" Richie asked, placing a reassuring hand on Sam's shoulder.

Sam nodded, but his face was pale and his eyes were wide with disbelief. "I... I never thought I could do that," he said softly.