In The Ruins

Prologue

It was March 15, 2018 when the outbreak happened.

I was proudly standing amongst other newly graduates waiting to throw their hats in the air, my best friend Irish stood a few feet away with her back turned to me and my classmates and on either side were holding my hand in a tight grip of anticipation. I could see my aunt Denise with my cousin Hannah waving at me, ecstatic smiles on their faces while my aunt's arms held my mother's kindly smiling picture.

I felt a tear drop on my cheek as a loud shrill of a scream echoed through the gymnasium. I immediately glance at the sound and a scene formed in front of my very eyes.

My best friend stood in the middle of a circle that a large group of students made as they pushed their way away from her. Her shoulders were heaving and she was scratching herself madly. As I pushed my way to her, her cap suddenly dropped, revealing a head of maggot infested swelling bruises, chunks of her dyed red hair fell to the ground and one graduate screamed at the sight.

I stopped dead in my tracks as her back arched backwards inhumanly. She threw herself to the ground and began grinding her nails at the cement, damaging the paint and coloring her fingertips in bright red blood.

She was muttering something. No mumbling. It was inaudible.

The commotion in the center grew louder as the guards made their way towards her.

When they made an attempt to stand her up, she lunged at one of the three guards. Biting into his neck. I could still hear the crunch of flesh and bones echoing in my ear like a fresh new pop song. The two others lifted her up and cuffed her but she broke the chain and smashed her head into one of the guards.

She stood up like a rag doll. The upper left of her head, which hit the guard, were now a mass of blood, flesh, and brain matter. The strongest of my batchmates threw up and she snapped her head towards him, sniffing the air like a dog, she began her way towards him.

The students all started to fled at this point but I was too stuck in the moment to even think of lifting my feet. The guard who had survived fled with the students, talking into his small radio probably calling for back up.

Due to the old age of the school, the gates were rusted and was shut this morning prior to keep every graduate in their seats until graduation was over. And the school guard had a hard time pushing and pulling the gates so they could open wider.

The bleachers, where the guests -parents, family, friends of the graduates- seated, were separated by an iron fence and they were all frantic as to what was happening to where we were. Their eyes searched for their kids while the others fled to the safety of the outside.

I noticed a movement to my left.

The guard who Irish left to die with an open bleeding throat now sat upright, back slouch and palms turned to the ceiling. He was staring at nothing and was obviously not faze about the ruckus around him. My eyes darted to my best friend again, she had her head stuck in some guy's stomach which made my own lurch.

I gasp for air as my feet instinctively back away.

The other guard who had his head bashed in stood in his own pool of blood. I noted a big black bruise on his hand that looked like a bite. He was looking directly at me and when I finally got hold of my sanity again, he lunged towards me. Running like a menace.

My heart skipped and my legs pumped, taking me as fast as I could go. The turmoil had caused a stampede but I dodged every panicking gradute, looking for a way out.

Suddenly, I was tackled to the ground.

In a daze, I fought for my life. The guard had seemed stronger than he looks. He kept clawing at me, pinning me down but I got a good grip on both his wrist. He tried biting me like a dog, kept growling like some beast. My head swirled and my body felt hot from adrenaline as I took a notice on his gun.