DIERY Of The Dead: War against the Zombies (A Zombie Apocalyptic Novella)

Chapter 5: Spider Zombie

I wasn't a big fan of love bites. Especially if it came from a zombie.

So as Rizen or Zombie or whatever monster it was, was about to sink his pearly white teeth into Dami, I pulled out my stun gun and gave it a little shock therapy. Rizen convulsed and finally released his hold on us. We wasted no time and sprinted toward the pantry. Not the one on our floor since we knew we didn't have much stock. We went to the one downstairs.

I carefully scanned the staircases and the hallway ahead for signs of zombies while Dami guarded my back.

Several doors in the hallway were left open or broken apart, their tenants missing or worse dead. I shook my mind free of such thoughts. They must have escaped. I reassured myself. Suddenly it struck me what a funny situation it was. Just yesterday when I had had the worst day ever and here I was, in the beginning of an apocalypse. I couldn't tell if the apocalypse was better or my drafting. On one hand thanks to the zombies I doubted I could join the drafting ceremony. Forget that. Was there even going to be a drafting ceremony?

On the other hand, it was an apocalypse... an equally harrowing reality. One evil had replaced the other. I had to survive either way. I just hoped the others would too.

Inside the Vigil dorms, each floor had a pantry with a refrigerator, stove, microwave and sink. It was like a mini kitchen. But in our case, the stock we had was mini too. Who would want to cook when we had the largest Mess in the Empire? Besides, according to our daily training, we had to eat double the amount of food than a normal person our age to maintain our form and energy. Who would have enough patience to cook so much food? And time. We never had enough time to breathe during a normal day, let alone cook. So it made sense that our pantries had less stock. Adding to the list of reasons would be our never ending appetite.

As soon as we reached the pantry downstairs, we quickly started gathering non-perishable food items into our bags. Canned food, energy bars, and bottled water were our top priorities Unfortunately this pantry too, didn't have most of this. The refrigerator was filled with ice- cream packets, juice bottles— which I happily shoved in my bag, chocolate bars, bread, vegetables and food that should have been thrown out days ago.

Dami had more luck raiding the cupboards. She found several packets of instant noodles and ready-to-eat breakfast. We had managed to navigate our way here with relatively little trouble, encountering only two zombies on the way— people we did not recognise. With some quick thinking and Dami's suitcase, we pushed them inside a storage room and locked them inside. I was beginning to think my firearm would prove to be useless if I could not make up my mind on shooting them. Were they truly no longer human?

Suddenly a deafening alarm pierced through the air. The sudden cacophony was followed by a stern, urgent broadcast emanating from the speakers above.

"Attention all Vigils! This is an emergency announcement. Hostile entities have infiltrated the campus. Exercise extreme caution. These creatures are to be considered a direct threat to your safety. Engage and neutralize them on sight. Evacuate to secure locations as practised. We must ensure the safety of the campus. Our instructors and security personnel are working to regain control. Further instructions will be relayed through official channels. Remember your training, stay calm and prioritize your safety. Stay vigilant and act swiftly. This is not a drill."

I rummaged for my phone in my pocket as Dami did the same. Clicking open the phone, I headed over to our official Vigil messenger. After typing the password, the page opened to our forum. It was flooded with messages and videos. I tapped open the Pinned message. It read as follows:

A critical situation has unfolded within the academy. There are reports of hostile entities on the premises. Please adhere to the following directives for your safety: