A piercing scream shrills through the air. All heads turn towards the source, confused. It's coming from the same group of fleeing people, the same direction which Leo has come from.
And then I see her—a familiar face. Her bob hairstyle and geeky glasses help me recognize the falling figure.
Ella. A girl that I know from biology class. She's nice, quiet and an extremely bright student.
I still remember the first day we met. By sheer coincidence, it was in the hallway too. Some crazy chicks had pushed her to the floor. They bullied her and called her names for her zits until I came to her defense.
Ella was grateful for my help. Overtime, we chatted and became friends. I recall the times we were project mates and how she had given me study tips to pass my finals last year. In classes that Avery and I don't share, Ella is always there.
Through the gap of human bodies in the hallway, our eyes meet. I remember our last conversation this morning—she had passed me a bag of Skittles to last me through the day. She knows I have issues sitting still and not doing anything.
Seeing her helpless on the ground, my first instinct is to help her.
Ella has fallen once again, but this time, she can never stand on her feet again.
Horror crosses her features and her mouth forms a circle. Before she can release another scream, something crashes through the glass wall, pounces onto her back and buries its face into her shoulder. The figure's all dark brown, massive and full of scales. There are fins growing at the back of its body and it has elongated, sharp claws with two oddly shaped feet.
"Ella!" I scream, but two pairs of hands hold me back—Avery and Leo. "Guys, let me go! Ella!"
At my desperate cry, the creature's head snaps up. The sight causes my heart to leap to my throat in pure terror. Bright blood drips from its fangs and a pair of red, gleaming eyes watches me hungrily. The hallway is silent with bated breath as everyone stares at the bizarre monster in great horror.
It's one of those Fang-tooth fishes, I realize, but several times larger with...limbs?
What the hell?
Teeth bare, a snarl erupts from its throat. Returning its attention to a screaming Ella, it sinks its fangs deep into her flesh once more, drawing more bright red liquid. She thrashes against it, but her efforts are futile. Her body's trapped in the creature's claws. The more she resists, the more her wounds deepen. I shriek as her strength falters. Her eyes roll back into her head and she collapses.
She's the first victim we see, but not the last.
Hell unleashes itself in the school's hallway. Shadows—sea creatures, to be exact—come barreling through the glass walls and into the hallway to catch us. Petrified screams fill the air as people panic and scramble for safety. But they don't get far. They attack several people that I know; Elias from Math class, Roxanne the snobby cheerleader, Charles the student counselor and a teacher who teaches physics, Mr. Rhodes.
Those things catch them and there is nothing we can do to save them.
"Run!" Leo's frantic voice jolts me from my shock. His hand grips my wrist almost painfully. "Run!"
He drags Avery and me out of the building as we struggle to regain our bearings. Together, we dash towards his car and narrowly avoid the monsters that have already invaded our school grounds. They are everywhere around us; on the roof of cars, the buildings, the compound. They are attacking and feeding on every living person they can get their claws on.
We throw ourselves into the backseat of the car and Leo activates the lock function. As he starts the engine with shaking hands, I watch the mayhem through the window in horror. Colors drain from my face quickly at the ghastly scene. Bodies are strewn everywhere. Aquatic creatures of all shapes and sizes seize the rest of the living humans like they are simply food and rob them of their lives.
"What's going on, Leo?!" Avery shrieks beside me in the backseat and clutches at her seat tightly. "What are they? Where are they coming from?"
"I-I don't know!" He's practically shouting. "We were in the laboratory on the highest floor of Block B! From the windows, we saw t-this dark mass coming from the sea and closing in–"
"Spencer!" I cut Leo off with a cry and point at the window where his best friend is running towards us for help. Blood trickles down his ashen face. "Don't drive off yet! Let him in–"
I don't get to finish my sentence. One of those deadly things launches itself onto Spencer's body and plunges a pointed tail into his shoulder, rooting him to the ground.
Bile rises in my throat and chokes me. My vision blurs as I turn away, my body's shaking uncontrollably.
I can't watch their last moments.
I really can't.
At the front seat, Leo swallows shakily and speeds the car off. He doesn't need to say anything for me to understand. Clearly, he's devastated to leave his friend behind, but there isn't much of a choice left for us. We go or stay behind and die.
As the car shoots across the road, I feel as if I've left something important behind. And soon, I realize what that really is.
"Maddie!" I gasp, placing a hand on the handle. "Oh my god, Maddie! I left her behind! Shit, I need to go back!"
Avery and Leo gapes at me in disbelief. She hooks her hands around my waist in case I attempt to jump out of the car. "Don't be crazy!" she yells into my ears. "Can't you see how swarmed the whole place is? If you go back there, you'll die!"
"But she's my cousin!" I break down into tears, grief-stricken at the image of Maddie's dead body in my mind. "And I need to find Mom. Mom..."
I pull out my phone from my back-pocket and dial her number. She picks up on the second ring and her tone sounds awfully frantic as well. "Baby?"
Relief floods through me. "Mom! There are creatures out there, from the seas–"
"I know! I saw them earlier!" Her voice sounds breathless and heavy, and I can hear her running faintly in the background. "Where are you? Is there anybody with you?"
I see Leo drive us past the famous donut shop in town. "It's just me, Avery and her boyfriend," I sob. "We just drove past The Donut Shack."
"That's towards the town's exit," she deduces. "I'll meet you there ASAP. Love you, sweetheart. Wait for me, I'm coming for you."
The call ends. I inform Leo about Mom's message and collapse in my seat, feeling emotionally exhausted. Beside me, Avery contacts her family members as well and instructs them to meet us at the town's exit.
Beyond the window, the bloodbath rages on. For as long as I've lived, I've watched many apocalypse movies, but I can compare none of their fear factor to this reality that we're currently seeing—a mob of monstrous sea creatures who are hunting humans down. And exactly how large their group is, I don't know.
But the one thing I'm certain of is that my greatest fear has come true.
If those creatures are from the seas, it can only mean one thing.
The ocean ecosystem has officially collapsed.
Leo plays the news over the stereo and to our dismay, we hear that the same situation is happening not just in our town, but in neighboring ones as well. The panicking officials have not issued an evacuation point yet. All they are saying is that there aren't just hundreds of the monsters, but at least several thousands of them.
And that absolutely does not sound assuring at all.
Everyone in the car is tense and silent; Leo busies himself with driving. Avery trembles and clutches her phone tightly. I'm hugging myself and keeping my eyes away from the sight outside of the car. I'm scared. Afraid that I might throw up if I witness another person dying. Afraid of what's about to come next.
Something hits the trunk and we scream. Leo speeds up the car, trying to outrun whatever's chasing after us. Mustering my courage, I whip my head around.
I'm stunned to see not just one, but three enormous serpents slithering after us. They hiss and bump their heads against the steel tailgate, trying to force us to stop.
Fear chokes me. "Oh my god, Leo! Please go faster!"
He does as I say. They are approaching us fast and none of us is prepared to fight and protect ourselves.
From the look of things, we're outnumbered, weaponless, and overpowered by strength. It's as if we're meeting Death himself right in the face and he's laughing and mocking at how defenseless we are.
For centuries, humans have always been ruling the world and taken the seas for granted. Yet right now, we're being trampled under the feet of something monstrous. Something far beyond our understanding. There's no logical explanation for what's happening around us, but one thing's for certain?
I don't want to die.