Campus of the undead

Cracks in the plan

The storage building was eerily quiet. Inside, the air was thick with unease. The group had done their best to barricade the door, but the makeshift barricade of old shelves and desks didn’t feel strong enough.

Favour perched on a crate, thumbing through the battered virology book he’d salvaged from the library. He mumbled to himself, occasionally glancing nervously around. Justin, unfazed as usual, was munching on a pack of biscuits he’d somehow stashed in his bag.

“You seriously brought snacks during a zombie outbreak?” Collins snapped, his irritation rising.

“What? Comfort food,” Justin said with a shrug. “You’d be amazed how thinking clearly works when you’re not starving.”

Collins grunted, muttering something under his breath as he resumed pacing.

Luke leaned against a wall, his arms crossed, eyes fixed on Akin and his small group of students. They had been in the building before the outbreak started, and that fact gnawed at Luke. Akin seemed too relaxed, too prepared, which only heightened Luke’s suspicion.

Mira noticed his scowl and nudged him lightly. “You’re staring.”

“I know,” Luke replied, his voice low. “It doesn’t make sense, Mira. How were they already here?”

“Maybe they got lucky?” she offered, though her tone lacked conviction.

“Luck doesn’t feel right. Look at them,” Luke said, nodding subtly toward Akin, who was seated in the corner with Charles and two other students. “They’re too calm. They knew something, Mira. I can feel it.”

Before Mira could respond, Luke spoke up, addressing Akin directly. “So, Akin. Care to explain how you and your buddies were already holed up here before everything went to hell?”

Akin glanced up, his expression neutral. “What’s your point, Luke?”

“The point is, everyone else was blindsided, running for their lives, and yet here you are, chilling in the safest spot on campus. Feels a bit too convenient.”

Akin’s face darkened. “You think I planned this? That I knew this was going to happen?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Luke admitted. “But I know when something doesn’t add up.”

“Hey, enough!” Charles interjected, his voice sharp. “We’ve all been through enough today without turning on each other. Focus on surviving, not pointing fingers.”

Collins, however, seemed to latch onto Luke’s suspicions. “Luke’s right. It’s weird. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how you got here so fast.”

“Maybe because I’m not as slow as you?” Akin shot back, his voice laced with sarcasm.

Collins took a step forward, fists clenched, but Jeff was quick to place a calming hand on his shoulder. “Easy, Collins. Let’s not lose it.”

Mira grabbed Luke’s arm, pulling him aside. “Seriously, Luke? We don’t need this now. If you piss him off, he might turn on us when we need him.”

Luke sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I just... I don’t trust him, Mira. And if he’s hiding something, we deserve to know.”

“Maybe, but don’t make an enemy out of him just yet,” Mira advised.

The tense atmosphere in the room eventually settled, but the undercurrent of suspicion lingered. Luke kept a wary eye on Akin, determined to uncover the truth.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the room, followed by the unmistakable sound of scratching at the barricaded door.

“What the hell?” Justin blurted, dropping his biscuit packet.

The room fell silent, everyone frozen in fear as another bang rattled the door.

's**t you've brought them to us" one of the student with Akin muttered angrily. Everyone ignored him.

“They’ve found us,” Jeff said grimly, gripping a broken chair leg like a club.

Collins grabbed a metal pipe, his knuckles white. “Let them come. I’m ready.”

Luke moved toward the barricade, his jaw clenched. “Everyone, stay quiet. If they get in...”

“If?” Favour squeaked, clutching his book to his chest.

“...we fight,” Luke finished, his voice firm.

The banging grew louder, more insistent, the wood creaking ominously under the pressure. Luke exchanged a look with Mira, who nodded, her hand steady on a piece of broken glass she’d picked up earlier.

As the infected outside continued their assault on the door, Luke couldn’t shake the feeling that the real danger wasn’t just outside—it might be sitting in the room with them.