His friend John used to be rather fat back then, but he never gave up on his passion. After banging some weights and running for a few months, he finally became fit enough to start learning martial arts.
Suddenly, a girl walked past him, lightly pushing his shoulders.
She turned back, glanced at him, and said hurriedly,
"Hey, I'm in a bit of a rush. Sorry!"
Then she ran toward the school gate.
A little startled, he muttered awkwardly,
"It's… it's okay."
He looked in the direction the girl had run, still confused.
Then he turned back.
Now he was pissed.
But before he could say anything, his friend spoke.
"Bro, the doors are closing. I wouldn't mind standing out here, but you know damn well our mother would skin us alive."
He snapped back to reality.
"Oh! Sh*t!"
Both of them bolted toward the gate like there was a rabid dog chasing them without a leash.
As soon as they reached the road, someone suddenly shoved him from the side. His anger instantly flared up.
But when he looked at the person's silhouette, he froze.
He recognized him immediately.
"Doc…?"
Before he could react, a truck roared down the road.
It crashed straight into the doctor.
The impact was brutal.
He ran toward him in panic, but it was already too late.
The doctor lay motionless on the ground.
There were no signs of life.
He collapsed beside him, grabbing his hand.
"Doc… Doc, wake up, man. You can't just leave me like this!"
His voice cracked as tears streamed down his face. He tried calling for an ambulance. But no one answered. No one came.
Then he slowly turned his head——and his brain refused to process what he was seeing. Standing right in front of him was a creature nearly eight feet tall.
Its mouth hung open, revealing jagged, broken teeth.
Its eyes bulged out grotesquely.
Before he could react, the monster reached down and grabbed the doctor's body.
"No—!"
He tried to pull the doctor back, but it was useless. The creature yanked hard. The only thing left in his hand was half of the doctor's arm, torn straight from the socket.
Then suddenly—A sharp pain exploded through his body. He was hurled backward and slammed into a parked car. Everything went black.
John ran toward him immediately.
"Leon! Leon, stay with me, damn it!"
Seeing he was unconscious, John dragged him toward a nearby car with its door open. He shoved Leon inside and quickly closed the door before hiding behind the vehicle.
Luckily, the keys were still in the ignition.
But John's hands trembled. He didn't have the nerve to start the car and risk making noise. So he waited. Minutes passed.
Eventually, Leon regained consciousness. The first thing he felt was the pain in his chest. It was f*cking unbearable.
He was about to scream——but suddenly someone clamped a hand over his mouth.
He looked up in panic. It was John.
John whispered sharply,
"Shhh! Don't make a sound, idiot."
John gestured toward the window. Leon slowly turned his head. Outside, people were wandering aimlessly down the street. Their clothes were soaked in blood. Their movements were stiff and unnatural.
Leon whispered hoarsely,
"John… what the hell is going on?"
The replied instantly,
"Can't you see? They're undead, man. Zombies or whatever the hell you wanna call them."
Leon frowned.
"You're kidding… right?"
John shook his head.
"No joke. That giant creature that knocked you out? It bit a couple of people. Then those people started biting others. Looks like some kind of virus."
Leon stared at the window again. One of the bloodied figures dragged its foot across the pavement.
"So… we're in the middle of a damn zombie outbreak?"
John shrugged nervously.
"Looks that way."
He added,
"But here's the thing… their hearing is crazy sharp, but their eyesight? Absolute trash. You can sneak right past them if you stay quiet."
Leon raised an eyebrow.
"You sound awfully confident. What, you tested that theory already?"
John scoffed.
"Hell no, bastard. I'm just going off the movies I've seen."
Leon sighed.
"Great. Our survival plan is based on freaking horror movies."
After a moment, Leon asked,
"What about the others? Anyone else make it?"
John rubbed the back of his neck.
"A bunch of people locked themselves inside the school building. The rest… I honestly don't know."
Suddenly—A loud crash echoed from inside the school. Both of them froze. Outside, the undead turned their heads toward the sound. One by one, the entire horde began shambling toward the school.
John whispered,
"Looks like someone screwed up."
Leon swallowed.
"Yeah… and we're lucky it wasn't us."
They both remained silent inside the car, Watching, Waiting. Hoping the horde would completely move away before they made their next move.