The 13

CHAPTER ONE: Either that or they missed the bus

The day the world ended was like any normal day. Boring, even. I remember it clearly—walking through the hallways of my school, thinking about how much I hated math tests. I was walking with Clove Marsh , my best friend. She was so small, barely taller than my shoulders, with glasses that always slid down her nose, black curly hair that I LOVE to play with. Today, she was wearing overalls and a pink-and-white striped shirt, and I just... couldn't deal with the fact that we had a math test at 10:00am.

"Ugh, I can't believe we have a test today," I groaned, kicking at the tile floor as we walked toward the classroom.

Clove shot me a sympathetic look, her curly black hair falling into her face. "Same, dude. I really hope our teacher's late so she doesn't have time to give it to us."

I laughed dryly. "As if she would ever be late. That lady's timing is scarily on point."

We stopped in front of the classroom door. The hallway felt cold, like it had been too quiet for too long. A sense of dread lingered, but maybe it was just the thought of the test.

"God, I really do not want to go in there," Clove muttered, leaning against the wall beside me.

I nodded, giving her a side glance. "Tell me about it. But let's get this over with."

We walked in and found our seats at the back corner of the room, the same spot we'd always claimed. The class was barely full, I noticed all the empty seats. Where were the others?

The teacher, Mrs. Robbins, stood by her desk and started speaking to the class. "Everyone has their books ready, correct?"

A chorus of "Yes, ma'am" rang out across the room, and Mrs. Robbins gave a nod of approval before turning to her desk.

"Alright, as you can all see, I also have your tests ready." She gestured to the stack of papers in front of her.

A collective groan filled the room. I let out another, deeper one, slumping in my seat. Clove didn't even look up from her desk. She was already resting her head on her arms, giving in to the misery of it all.

The teacher began handing out the papers, and I could feel my anxiety rise. My mind wasn't even on the test. Something felt... wrong. The class felt quieter than usual. Even the empty seats stood out to me, like an odd puzzle that hadn't been completed. I always hated puzzles, my stupid dyslexia made the words float like fucking alphabet soup.

"Clove?" I whispered, trying to distract myself from the creeping unease that was starting to grow in my gut.

"Yeah?" Her voice was muffled from her arms, but I could tell she was still paying attention.

"Have you noticed how people keep not showing up?" I asked quietly. I had seen 16 people absent, and that wasn't normal. I wasn't the only one who'd noticed, right?

Clove lifted her head just enough to glance at me, looking around the room. "Yeah... I've been noticing that too. that's like the fourth person who hasn't shown up today."

"It's weird, right?" I continued, trying to figure it out. "Do you think they're all sick?"

Clove shrugged, rubbing her eyes. "Either that or they missed the bus."

I gave a low laugh at that. "Missed the bus? All 200 of them?"

Clove finally sat up, her face serious now. "Yeah... something doesn't feel right about it, huh?"

I nodded. "I don't know, but—"

Before I could finish, the emergency alarm blared. It cut me off completely, sending a jolt of panic through the room. The familiar sound of the emergency broadcasting system blasted through the loudspeakers, and every person in the room froze, the air thick with confusion and tension.

Mrs. Robbins, her face pale, looked up from her desk. "What in the...?"

The message on the broadcast was clear, but no less alarming.

EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM

THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HAS ISSUED A CIVIL SAFETY COMPROMISE.

LOCK ALL DOORS AND BAR ALL WINDOWS.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. My breath hitched. What the fuck was happening? I turned to Clove, my hand gripping her sleeve. She didn't even seem to notice. Her eyes were locked on the door, wide with panic.

"What... what's going on?" I whispered to her, but before she could respond, chaos broke out.

A boy in the front row suddenly jumped from his seat, ignoring the teacher's frantic calls.

"No! I want to know what's going on!" he shouted, and before anyone could stop him, he made a break for the door.

"Stop!" Mrs. Robbins shouted, rushing toward him, but she was too slow. The boy yanked his arm free from her grasp and kept going.

I glanced at Clove. Her face was pale, her mouth open as she looked between me and the boy.

"What if it's bombs?" I whispered, the thought creeping into my mind like a shadow.

Clove turned to me, her eyes wide with fear. "Bombs?! What fucking pills did you chug?! Its a shooter!"

Before I could respond, another noise filled the air—gunshots. Loud, jarring cracks of metal against flesh. It sounded like it was happening just outside the classroom, and that realization made my blood run cold.

More screams followed, distant but unmistakable.

"What do we do?" someone asked from the back of the room, but no one had an answer.

I turned to look at the teacher. She was holding her phone, her hands shaking as she stared at the screen, but then the phone rang. She didn't answer. Instead, she kept her eyes glued to the door.

More gunshots. The sounds of people shouting, of something... wrong, happening outside.

"Should we... should we make a run for it?" the boy who had tried to leave earlier asked, his voice trembling with panic.

I stared at him. "Are you fucking high?" I was never one to speak out. I didn't really have much to say to anyone other than clove, but this guy was just dumb and I was freaking out a bit .

He turned back to look at the door. "Well, sitting here just waiting to die isn't any better now, is it?"

The teacher began to sob quietly in the corner, her phone forgotten on the floor. She was beyond words now, unable to do anything but weep as the sounds from outside grew louder.

Then came the most terrifying sound of all—the footsteps. Heavy. Slow. definitely not a shooter or a human.

Thump... thump... thump. It wasn't a normal set of footsteps. These sounded... wrong. Too big. Too heavy. There was a distinct heavy dragging sound following the footsteps.

The door shuddered under the weight of whatever was outside. blood from under the door spread, seeping like a living thing, reaching for us. My chest felt tight as the room became colder, heavier with each passing second.

The footsteps grew closer, and all I could do was hold on to Clove while she cried, my breath shallow and rapid. The air smelled of blood. Of death.

I never would have imagined that the footsteps would stop at our door, that whatever waited outside would know we were here. But it did.

I felt my heart stop.

The sound of the dragging stopped right outside the door. Then came a sniffing sound—low, deep, like whatever was out there was breathing us in. And then, the most terrifying thing of all happened.

The shadow appeared at the crack under the door.

A shape. Large. Impossible. It loomed there, blocking out the light from the hallway, and in that moment, I knew.

We weren't safe anymore.