The Devil's Blade

𝟹 || 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚗𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗: 𝙷𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜

The footsteps were slow, deliberate, and accompanied by a heavy, almost rhythmic breathing. As the figure drew closer, the panic in the group intensified. Liam, his grip still firm on my shoulder, signaled for us all to stay quiet. I couldn't help but hold my breath, my heart pounding in my chest.

The unknown creature slowly moves closer to our view. It was a sight that defied any logic, with a body figure that resembled a human's, but facial features that would suggest otherwise. Its limbs were pale and long, his mouth filled with sharp teeth, and its entire body covered with black veins. Its eyes, however, were the most disturbing, they were bloodshot and shone with great intelligence and malevolence. But even with this evil look, I could still recognise the student in its demeanor.

With each step the creature took further into the lunchroom a cold shiver ran over my body. My hands eventually made their way to my mouth, covering my unsteady breath as the fear grows. The creature pays no attention to the students in hiding instead it keeps growling and sniffing as if its searching for something. I try to control my breathing while I pray it wouldn't find us.

Finally, the creature seems to lose interest in our area and it crawls away. We all stayed frozen in place for a long time, fearing it might return.

Once we were sure that it was no longer around, we cautiously emerged from our hiding spots, still trembling with fear. A student bleeds on the ground, her panicked gasps desperately pray for help, but her body eventually gives in. I stare down at the body, denial evitable in my eyes.

Eventually, the realisation sinks in and Jude, Liam, Noé, Tyler, and I, start to run towards the exit. Outside, was a horrific sight waiting for us. The schoolgrounds had turned into a canvas painted in crimson red, along with countless bodies, and screaming students everywhere. Without hesitation Liam grabs us all one by one and pushes us in one direction, "Run, run!" he yells as he starts pacing up forcing us to run. We run as fast as we can through the complete mess that we ended up in. All around us were the same creatures attacking and murdering students. While running through the trail of bodies, I witnessed nothing but pure hell, a girl holding her death friends hand while crying, a guy getting his throat ripped out by the creatures, and countless more people begging us for help but all we can do is run. I feel sick to my stomach.

As we round a corner, we find ourselves trapped between two creatures with no way out. Panic swept through the group. "What do we do?" Jude pleads, met with no answer. The creatures are closing up to us causing Jude to outburst, "Well? Say something will you!?". Noé screamed as one of the creatures attacked him, and in a quick impulsive movement I take off my shoe to fend off one of the creatures. "Go for the window!" Liam's voice emerged from behind me. A window, barely two meters above us, caught our attention. Jude positions himself to help Noé ascend. "Step on my hand," he urges. Noé is the first to escape through the window. Liam and I struggle to hold off the creatures. The thing has almost bit my entire shoe into crumbles and I try my best to prevent my hand from being bit off. I use my other hand as support and grab the creature by its neck, so I can push its head away from my hand a bit. Within that time Tyler had gone up too, leaving me, Jude, and Liam on the ground. "Liam, now!" Jude cries amidst the struggle. With great effort Liam manages to fight the creature off, and Jude boost him up to the window. Then, I pushed the creature away and scrambled through the window. As Liam pulls me up, the creature lunges at Jude. "Jude!" I shout. "Grab my foot!" I dangle from the window. Jude, quick on his feet, uses the creature's head to climb up to reach my foot. My arm felt like it was dislocating as Liam, Noé, and Tyler hoists us up, and I let out a painful scream. Eventually, we were all safely pulled to the other side.

Exhausted and filled with adrenaline we all basically collaps onto the floor. With our heavy breaths harmonizing and echoing through the room, realisation, fear and despair slowly enter our body. "Is it like this everywhere?" Tyler asks, his voice shaking.

"I don't know." Jude answers.

The room fills with silence.

"It's like a zombie apocalypse." Liam suddenly says.

"What?" Noé responds, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Liam turns his head towards Noé. "What? It's the same isn't it?, aren't they zombies."

I get up and make my way towards the window and take a look outside. The two creatures are still roaming around the window, in fact their dictating eyes are fixated onto the window. On the ground and on the buildings are all trails of blood splattered everywhere. With the horror on the ground, you could see a little bit of peace in the distance, as the sun slowly sets.

"These things aren't zombies... they're humans." I say, softly.

Liam sits up almost immediately. "What?" he responds.

"They are way too smart to be zombies." I say.

I turn to Liam and point to the window. "See for yourself, they're looking right at us."

Liam hesitantly walks to the window and looks down.

"Jesus Christ." Liam mutters.

It was at that moment that the harsh reality sank in. These weren't mindless zombies, they were something far more sinister, with a clear intend to kill humanity.

Jude, Noé, Tyler, and I stood in silence, trying to come to terms with the apocalyptic nightmare unfolding outside. It was a dark and chilling realization that the world, as we knew it, had crumbled before our eyes.

"We need to find a safe place," Liam said, breaking the silence. "Somewhere we can hide and figure out what's happening. Maybe there's a way to stop this madness."

"What about our families..?" Tyler says softly, facing down to the ground with a sad expression on his face.

Liam grits his teeth. "I don't know what's going on out there, but let's not lose hope, okay?" Liam reassures.

I nodded in agreement, my mind racing with thoughts of survival. We needed a plan, but the enormity of the situation weighed heavily on our shoulders. There was no guarantee that we would make it out of this alive, but we had to try.

As the sun dipped lower on the horizon, casting long shadows and painting the sky with shades of orange and red. It was a surreal contrast to the horror that surrounded us. For a brief moment, we allowed ourselves to appreciate the beauty of the setting sun, but it was ruined when we realized that a day had already passed, and we hadn't seen our family, and the village we love so much for so long, and we might never see them again. The weight of that reality was almost too much to bear.

Just as we were about to share a moment of silent acceptance, Tyler suddenly lurched forward, clutching his nose. Blood gushed from his nostrils, staining his hands and the floor.