The afternoon rain was the absolute worst kind. Not heavy enough to cool things down, but just enough to trap the heat inside the Hudson University Law School cafeteria. The air felt sticky. A stuffy mix of wet linoleum, spicy smashed chicken, and cheap coffee made every breath feel heavy.Daniel leaned back against the hard wooden chair, his eyes glued to his laptop screen. The bluish light reflected in his pupils, displaying a scene where a man’s intestines were being pulled out by a horde of the living dead. He couldn't care less about the gruesome details. His stomach was growling, and he just wanted to eat.“I’m gonna literally starve to death before your movie is over,” Daniel grumbled under his breath, wiping the sweat from his face.Next to him, Xavier was completely unfazed. The curly-haired guy was busy munching on potato chips with his mouth half-open, the sound of his chewing competing with the screams coming from the laptop’s speakers.“Damn, that’s a lot of zombies,” Xavi

“Daniel, behind you!” Chania’s piercing shriek sliced through the air.Daniel’s instincts reacted faster than his brain. Without looking, he dropped to one knee on the blood-slicked tile. A split second later, a pale hand with long, black nails swiped through the air, missing the back of his neck by inches. The rush of wind from the attack felt cold against his skin.Before the lunging creature could correct its stance, a long shadow flashed from Daniel’s left.THWACK!A thick wooden broom handle slammed hard against the creature’s jaw. It sounded like a dry tree branch being snapped in half. The creature was flung sideways, its head cracking against the leg of a cafeteria table.Bianca stood there, breathing heavily, both hands gripping the broom handle. Her face was ashen, her eyes wide, but there was a wild glint in them. “Die, you son of a bitch!” she cursed, her voice trembling.“Nice one, Ca!” Daniel yelled. He shot back to his feet and darted to the round table where Xavier was

“Not my blood?” Daniel repeated the words in a low tone. He didn’t lower his club. The flashlight beam remained locked on the dark red stain on the knee of Chania’s jeans.“Prove it,” Daniel hissed coldly.“Niel, are you crazy?! She’s terrified!” Xavier cut in, trying to get up from the mat.“Shut up, Vier!” Daniel snapped without turning his head, his eyes still fixed on Chania. “In the world we’re in now, sympathy gets you killed. If she’s hiding a bite, we’re all going to end up as corpses in this room. Prove it, Chan. Now.”Chania swallowed hard. Her hand trembled violently as she slowly rolled up the leg of her jeans past her knee. The flashlight illuminated her pale skin. There was no gash. No festering scratch or bite mark. Only a dark blue bruise from the hard impact with the asphalt.“When I fell in the parking lot… I landed right in the puddle of blood from that dead security guard near the lamppost,” Chania sobbed softly, looking at Daniel with tear-filled eyes. “It’s his bl

The drop of black saliva felt cold on Daniel’s cheek, carrying a stench of rotting meat and rusted iron that instantly triggered his gag reflex.A split second before the blistered creature's jaws could clamp down on his face, Daniel's survival instinct took over what was left of his functioning body. Using his left heel as a pivot, he thrust his hips upward and drove his left knee with all his might directly into the mutant’s solar plexus.Thwump!The kick wasn't enough to kill, but it was enough to shatter the monster's balance. The creature staggered sideways, its jaw snapping shut with a loud crack, barely missing the collar of Daniel’s shirt."Dammit!" Daniel cursed hoarsely.He scrambled away in a panic. His right shoulder screamed with a blinding pain. His right arm dragged on the floor like a piece of dead meat, completely useless. He was crawling with one arm and both legs, just like a wounded animal.The creature hissed in fury, repositioning itself to leap again.Daniel’s ey

The morning drizzle felt like icy needles against their skin. From the second floor of the convenience store, Daniel and Xavier watched the sea of death migrate. Tens of thousands of corpses shambled through the thin fog, heading straight for the main gate of Hudson University."We can't go through the front," Daniel decided quickly, adjusting the logistics backpack on his left shoulder. "We'll circle around through the alley behind the strip mall, climb the wall to the faculty parking lot, and get in through the faculty's emergency exit. We can't be late, Vier. If that giant horde surrounds the building before we get there, our friends are finished."Xavier swallowed hard, his face still as white as a sheet. "This is the craziest cardio of my entire life, Niel. This bag is full of canned beef, I swear it's so heavy. My back feels like it's about to snap.""Better your back than your neck," Daniel replied coldly. "Let's move!"They hurried downstairs and slipped out the back door of th