Every 30 Minutes

Chapter 9

10.02 pm, October 2020

-Ella's POV-

I wanted to scream. To yell. To beat the crap out of a certain somebody, but I knew I could not. Not until we are out. How many more of us are staying behind before we can escape though?

These thoughts just swirled in my head, an endless stream of other questions running round and round. I was scared, but I was strong. I kept it within myself, pushing through the challenges that came, but who knows how long I can keep this up?

So far, the four of us were just wandering around the school, hopping from one room to another, trying to look for they keys or our friends. "AHHH!" All of us jumped back in shock, Paul's hand finding mine and I held on to Hannah. We took off running, holding onto each other for dear life as I lead the group. My throat started getting parched as I realised that our night has mostly been filled with screaming and running.

My legs went as fast as they could while my hands pulled the rest behind me. I prayed that no one was in trouble and maybe it was just a roach that scared someone. We skidded to a halt in front of a horrible sight. The monster, that used to be Jeff, was there chasing Liz and Jack.

My instincts perked up as I brought out my racket and left the other three at a side. 'Sorry Jeff...' I thought as I ran up to that monster, yelling a war cry. Before it could even turn around, I whacked it off its feet, making it slide about a meter or two away from up. It hissed at me, a criss-cross mark imprinted onto its skin. "Ella get back here!" Isabelle yelled. I ignored her, signaling to Liz and Jack to run away with the other three.

"You guys run. I'm helping Ella," Paul said, running up to my side.

I wanted to scream at him to leave but instead, I mumbled a quick, "Don't die."

A smirk formed on his face as he replied, "You too." I just nodded in reply as that monster ran towards me at an impossible speed. We dodged him, making him crash into a pillar. Its head cracked to the side a little, making a sickening sound echo through the hallway. I cringed but stood firm. "I got this," Paul told me, pulling a small knife out of his pocket.

I ran up and hit the monster once before it could fully regain balance, giving Paul enough time to run and plunge the knife into its skin. It cried out in pain as a chunk of flesh detached itself from the body. I looked away in disgust and kept my racket, which was still clean, luckily.

"Ella! Duck!" What? I did so without knowing what was going on and the monster pounced over me, barely scraping my back.

"Thanks." The monster hissed once again, this time coming for Paul. It was slower however, the knife still stuck in his back. As he jumped towards Paul, I kicked it away and the knife loosed and dropped off, falling to my feet. I aimed the knife at the monster and threw it, praying hard that the knife would plunge into him. I watched as that moment came, when the knife dug itself into its skull, a loud, shrill cry which almost made us deaf. The monster crumbled into a heap of flesh and bones. I gave Paul a quick high-five before whipping out my bottle and downing half of it.

I looked at Paul and noticed the way he was looking at my water, probably thirsty too. I hesitated for a moment before handing my bottle over to him. "Have some if you are not saliva conscious. Just leave about half of what's left for an emergency." He smile before grabbing my bottle and drinking some, before handing it back to me and saying a quick thanks. With that, we were off on another hunt to find some people... Again.

We wondered around aimlessly, trying to listen out for any talking or screaming, until I heard a soft grumble. I tensed up and looked out for anything when Paul sheepishly informed me, "That was just my stomach..." I face-palmed and we headed for the kitchens once again.