Cannibalism

Kiaan leaped to Jerry's side, panicking, and said, "We need to go, now!" But Jerry was so dazed that she didn't hear anything. The only thing she did was stare at the chaos around them with dead eyes.

Viren's voice echoed in Kiaan's mind: "Keep the sword close." He turned, looking for the sword. The golden sword was lodged in the dead zombie's head. He went to the zombie, grabbed the handle, and pulled hard, but the zombie's head also lifted along with it.

"Ahh crap," Kiaan muttered. "This is going to take time."

Kiaan then looked at Jerry as he jerked the sword. "Go towards the ground. Sarah and Maya are there," he called, hoping his words would reach Jerry. "Don't head for the hostel yet. There are three infected blocking the way."

Kiaan's awareness of their surroundings was sharp. Even during the chaos, he remembered where the potential threat was or could be.

Yet, his words barely registered with Jerry, who moved her head from the dead kids around her and looked at her brother as if a hypnotized scared person was looking at someone.

Kiaan's frustration reached its peak as he shouted, "I SAID RUN!"

The loud voice of Kiaan finally jolted Jerry from her daze, and she started tearing up. "Bhai!....Bhai!" she cried and spoke at the same time. "Not now, sweetheart. Just go to safety, QUICKLY!" Kiaan replied.

Now that Jerry was out of her daze, Kiaan knew she would run towards the football field as he instructed her. But she ran towards the hostel since she really didn't hear anything Kiaan said earlier; all she heard was muffled sound.

Kiaan didn't notice Jerry as he was busy trying to pull out the sword. He eventually did. "No, not there," he managed to shout. But before Kiaan could react or Jerry could turn, a fallen zombie lunged and grabbed her ankle.

"No!" Kiaan screamed, finally yanking the sword free and charging towards his sister. As he saw the zombie pulling her towards itself and moving in front at the same time, "NOO!! NOO!!!" Jerry shouted and cried loudly.

Kiaan tried his best, running towards the zombie. But before he could reach her, a deafening bang echoed through the air.

Kiaan's foot came to a halt as he saw Anju standing outside the hostel, a rifle clutched tight in her hands.

She couldn't have arrived at a better time. Anju's shot aimed for the infected's head as it was the only part she could see with a vital organ. With the intention to kill, she shot the zombie. Even though Anju had nice aim, rather than the bullet hitting the center of the eye, it found its mark in one of the eyes and pierced the zombie's skull.

Kiaan's heart was beating at a rapid speed, and it was so loud that he himself was able to hear it. "Still two are left," he thought as he slowly moved forward, with one hand on his heart.

He knew two more zombies were in that pile, so he didn't waste time relaxing or taking a breath of relief. He sprinted towards Jerry, who was tearful but at least she was no longer paralyzed by fear. Jerry managed to crawl behind Anju for protection, while mumbling as tears fell from her cheeks, "Save me! Save me! Ma'am, please save me."

Hearing these words, Anju's heart sank a little. "Don't worry, kiddo. I'll save you with my life," she said in her mind.

Meanwhile, Kiaan scanned the pile of zombies. The middle one had a bullet hole in its eye, the bottom one lay motionless, but the top one… it was chewing on the zombie beneath it.

"What… is he… but… is he really?" Kiaan was not sure what to make of this scene in front of him, but he managed to piece together the horrifying picture. It was clear: the topmost zombie was eating the middle one.

Kiaan was shocked and didn't know what to say or do. He stayed watching this cannibalism for a while.

Until a voice snapped him out of his shock. "Kiaan! Sword!"

Kiaan looked up, seeing Viren surrounded by a zombie. His situation was dire.

....

Earlier

Viren charged towards the infected mob, his mind racing with different types of strategies he could use to defeat them all.

Just as he reached the grabbing range of a zombie, he immediately grabbed it and shoved it to the right, sending it off balance into the two other zombies. All three fell to the ground like bowling pins.

Now he faced three infected on his left and one on his right, all snarling towards the terrified students, as if they didn't even notice Viren and his strike.

Suddenly, a roar echoed behind him. It was Kiaan who desperately shouted, "I SAID RUNN!", and managed to attract all the infected.

Viren, too, instinctively turned his head around to look. "What was that?" he thought and soon realized that at this moment he messed up.

But before Viren could turn back around, he felt sharp teeth sink into his shoulder. "Ahhh," he grunted as he tilted his head to look at his shoulder.

Viren spotted an infected biting him on his shoulder. He shoved it back. "Duck off, crackhole," he cursed at the infected.

Then he saw his new situation. Even though the yelling and shouting kids were now safe, all the other zombies were heading towards Viren now. Three from the left and two from the front.

"Too many, there are too many to take on with bare hands," he thought, noticing a queue of students passing behind the distracted zombies. These kids were smart; they were trying to make as little noise as possible and still maintaining the pace.

But still, the noise of footsteps and rumbling did manage to catch the attention of the infected, and once again, those zombies were now heading for the kids!

Viren saw the infected. "I'll kill you first, son of a female doggy," he shouted as he ran towards the one who bit him, even though he spotted two more approaching from his left.

"I can't fight them all at once," he thought, seeing the students going past the zombies without any harm, since the zombies were still a little away from them.

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard throughout the chaos.

The zombies beside Viren were distracted, the zombie heading for kids were distracted, but Viren had learned his lesson; he kept moving forward.

He punched the zombie who bit him, a hard punch in the nose, sending it stumbling back a few meters.

"Kiaan... sword!" he yelled, spotting Kiaan staring at the pile of dead infected, holding the sword in his hand. "If he doesn't need it, I do." He thought as he saw himself surrounded by five zombies at once, and that too from different angles.