The view before them was disturbing as hell.
Final-year students—thirty-six children who had once carried bright, promising futures—were now nothing more than lifeless bodies scattered across the ground. Their corpses layed twisted in unnatural positions, some half-buried in sand, others exposed under the open sky as if abandoned by the world itself.
The smell of fresh blood hung thick in the air, suffocating everything it touched. It wasn't just a scent—it was something you could feel, something that clawed its way into the lungs and refused to leave.
"Why is everyone dead… are there even survivors here?"
Kael muttered, his voice barely holding together as his eyes trembled violently at the sight before him. His gaze locked onto the corpses, sympathy tightening around his gut like a coiling snake.
But deep down—buried somewhere in his soul—he didn't feel sorry for them.
If anything… he felt proud that they died. Each and every one of them.
The only thing that bothered him was the fact that he wasn't the one who killed them.
Sabrina kept glancing back toward the path they had come from, her movements hesitant.
"We don't have a choice," she said under her breath. "We need to figure out what happened in case the cops ask us. And while we're at it—we should look for any survivors."
The idea sounded insane and completely reckless. But they had no better option.
Step by step, they pushed deeper into the campgrounds, weaving between torn tents and scattered belongings. With every step, the stench of blood thickened, wrapping around them like an invisible fog.
Even in death, the bodies told stories.
Different stories.
Some quiet… others horrifying.
A few had holes drilled clean through their faces, blood still slowly leaking out, mixing with the sand beneath them. What made it worse was how untouched the rest of their bodies were—a detail that could only mean the holes had been made while they were still alive.
Kael stepped past a corpse so disfigured it barely looked human anymore. "I'd hate to be that guy…" He pondered.
But then—
He stopped.
Because in front of him… was someone he could recognize no matter what.
The boy who used to mock his mom at school.
The first one who suggested Kael's name when they talked about going to the tar road.
Unlike the others, his body told a more personal story.
He had two holes.
One drilled straight through his chest.
The second… through his genital area.
For a brief second, Kael found himself wondering how the second wound even happened—but just as quickly, he shut the thought down. His morals, or whatever remained of them, pulled him back.
On the other side of the campgrounds, Sabrina wasn't focused on the corpses like Kael was. Her eyes scanned their surroundings instead, sharp and alert.
Whatever had done this…
Could still be here.
And she wasn't about to let her guard down.
Jamie, on the other hand, approached things differently.
He knelt beside a corpse, his movements eerily calm—like a detective in one of those thriller movies. His eyes traced patterns, connecting invisible lines between bodies as if he were unraveling a puzzle only he could see.
"Guys… I think I've figured out what killed them."
His voice cut through the air.
Kael and Sabrina immediately moved toward him.
Jamie raised his hand slightly, his mind already racing ahead.
"These holes—look at them. They're too uniform. If it were something like claws or paws, the edges would be jagged."
He paused, counting off his thoughts on his fingers.
"That means whatever made these… is rigid like a pipe or horn."
Jamie looked up, eyes narrowing.
"But that doesn't make sense. If it were an animal, something that big would've left footprints."
"That rules out animals then," Sabrina added, catching on instantly. "And humans too… because if it were people, you'd need a lot of them to kill this many."
Kael's eyes widened in realization.
"Oh my God… it has to be something like that alien we saw on the tar road."
A heavy silence fell over the scene.
Their worst fear wasn't chasing them anymore.
It had already found them.
"You're right—that's the only explanation," Jamie said, standing upright. "But this one's different. The killing method isn't the same… so we have to assume it looks different too."
No one spoke after that.
They didn't need to.
They all understood the same thing—
If they stayed, they would die.
Sabrina suddenly snapped her fingers as something clicked in her mind.
"The school bus—we need to get to the bus. It's our only way out."
It was the same bus they had used to transport equipment when they arrived at the mountain. And more importantly—it led straight back to the road.
The same road where they saw the first alien.
They rushed into the teachers' tent, grabbing the keys from Mr. Knuckles' lifeless body before sprinting back out.
Suddenly—
Thud!! Thud!!
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Small stones began to bounce, dancing violently with each vibration.
All three of them turned toward the right side of the trees, where the vibrations were stronger.
And just like that—
Splash!
It appeared.
Another alien.
It stood as tall as a professional basketball player, its massive frame casting a long, terrifying shadow. A thick, rhino-like horn protruded from its head, glistening under the light. Its eyes were small—almost useless-looking—and its ears hung like loose strings at the sides of its head.
Its feet were flat.
That's why there were no footprints.
"Run!"
This time, no one hesitated.
They bolted from the scene toward the side where the bus was. The alien charged after them immediately, its movements aggressive and relentless—like a magnet locking onto metal.
Seconds passed.
Yet somehow…
It wasn't catching up as fast as the first one.
"This one's slower!" Jamie shouted, his breath tearing through his throat as he ran.
"It has to be its body type!" Kael replied between breaths. "Its strength is in the horn—the other one had speed!"
Even while running for their lives, they were learning.
The yellow bus finally came into view.
A string of hope appeared in their hearts—real, tangible hope.
Sabrina reached it first. Kael followed. Jamie trailed behind.
For a moment—
It felt like they might actually make it.
Until—
SMASH!!
Another horned alien appeared out of nowhere, slamming its horn straight through Jamie's chest with a force that didn't just hit him—it completely stopped him, like he had run into something that wasn't supposed to exist.
His body didn't fly back or collapse immediately.
It folded slowly around the attack instead, getting stuck on the horn in a way that made the moment stretch longer than it should have.
The world around Kael didn't just stop—
It dragged.
Everything slowed as his eyes locked onto Jamie, watching him cough blood from his mouth. For a second, his brain refused to connect what he was seeing with reality.
He stopped running.
Then turned back.
Not instantly—but like his body needed time to catch up with his thoughts.
His eyes widened bit by bit as realization forced its way in.
That's Jamie… that's actually Jamie.
His chest tightened as he leaned forward, ready to run back to him, to help him somehow—even though he didn't know how.
But none of that mattered.
He was about to move—
When Sabrina grabbed his hand.
Her grip tightened instantly, stopping him before he could take a step, pulling him back with a force that didn't match her size.
"We need to go, Kael… we have to!"
She screamed it more than once, her voice breaking as she pushed him backward while he tried to move forward, his feet dragging against the ground like he could anchor himself there and refuse to leave.
Jamie, on the other hand, felt cold.
Not the painful kind.
Something quieter.
Something that spread through his body like everything inside him was slowly shutting down.
He looked down at the horn lodged through his chest, like he was trying to understand how it got there.
Then he raised his head.
His eyes found Kael immediately.
And then—
Jamie smiled.
It wasn't forced or dramatic.
Just small and tired.
Blood stained the corner of his mouth as the world around him began to blur.
The moment didn't feel real anymore.
It felt like one of those slow scenes in a movie that drags on just to make sure you feel everything before it ends.
Jamie's last words didn't make it hurt any less. "You've been a good friend to me… now live for the both of us."