The man got back to his feet.
Matthias watched him sway in the middle of the street, blood soaking through the front of his shirt and dripping steadily from his fingertips.
"Sir, stay where you are!" he ordered, to no avail
The bloody man took another step.
"Stay back!"
He didn't.
The second officer moved around from the side, reaching for his radio.
"Dispatch, we've got-"
The man lunged.
It happened fast enough that Matthias barely followed it.
One second the officer had his radio in hand, the next the wounded man crashed into him shoulder-first and sent both of them stumbling against the hood of a parked car.
"Get him off! Get him—AH!"
The officer screamed.
The sound cut through everything else.
Matthias saw the man's head jerk downward toward the officer's arm.
Then blood sprayed across the windshield.
"Holy shit," Samuel breathed.
The officer struck the wounded assailant in the side of the head.
He struck him again, and again, and again.
Nothing changed
The other officer rushed forward and grabbed the bloody man around the shoulders.
The man tore his head back, and a chunk of flesh came with him. The bitten officer dropped to one knee, clutching his forearm as blood spilled between his fingers.
Someone behind Matthias screamed.
Students who had been standing around filming suddenly pushed in every direction at once. Matthias caught an elbow in the ribs, Samuel nearly disappeared behind two people sprinting past, and a girl dropped her backpack directly in front of them before somebody else kicked it beneath a parked car.
"Matt!"
Matthias kept staring across the road.
The first officer fired again.
The wounded man's body snapped with both impacts.
"Matt!"
Samuel grabbed a fistful of Matthias's shirt and yanked hard.
"Move, you giant fuck!"
Matthias stumbled backward, nearly stepping on someone's foot.
"We need to get to the car," Samuel said. "We're getting the fuck out of here."
"Yeah."
"Yeah? Good... Now move!"
They ran.
The parking lot had turned into complete chaos in less than a minute.
Cars were already trying to leave from every row at once, horns blaring as drivers panicked, trying their best to will the other cars out of their way.
A black sedan reversed directly into the side of an SUV.
The driver jumped out.
"What the fuck are you doing?!"
"You were behind me!"
"I wasn't moving!"
"Well, neither was I until—"
Samuel ran straight between them.
"Have fun with that!"
Matthias followed.
They soon reached the shitty Honda.
Samuel hit the unlock button and threw himself into the driver's seat.
Matthias yanked open the passenger door, dropped into place, and immediately looked forward.
Nothing moved.
Cars filled the lane from end to end.
Samuel stared through the windshield. "You're fucking kidding me."
A horn blared behind them.
Samuel leaned out his window.
"Where the hell do you want me to go?!"
The horn sounded again.
Samuel sat back down.
"Yeah, that'll help," he muttered, flipping the bird at the guy, only leading to more honking.
Matthias looked toward the far end of the lot.
People were running between cars.
More security officers had arrived near the street.
Then a woman stumbled out between two vehicles.
At first Matthias thought she'd fallen.
Her blouse was torn open along one shoulder, and blood covered the side of her neck.
A student approached her.
"Ma'am?"
She grabbed him.
The boy shouted and shoved at her chest.
Her mouth snapped at his face.
Samuel went still. "Okay, that's all sorts of fucked."
Matthias watched the student kick her backward.
She hit the pavement hard.
Then immediately started pushing herself up again.
Samuel turned toward him.
"That's two now, man."
"Two what?"
"Two fucking people doing that!" he exclaimed, pointing at the women who advanced toward the student
Another car slammed its horn.
Samuel looked at the jam ahead.
Then at the building behind them.
"Fuck the car," he said, opening the door, leading Matthias to do the same
"Shit, ok, where are we going to go now?" Samuel asked.
"Other side of the building. There are service roads behind the department."
"And then?"
"We figure that out once we're not standing in the middle of... whatever this is." he said, waving toward another bloody person in the distance.
"Fair enough."
They ran back toward the history building.
The doors opened, and people poured out around them.
Matthias had to turn sideways to squeeze through.
The halls filled with sounds of shoes pounding tile, doors slamming, phones ringing, and people calling names down hallways.
Samuel stayed close behind him.
"What about the stairs?" he asked, in between breaths
"Too crowded."
"Then where?"
"Faculty corridor. Professor Hall knows another exit, that is, if he is in there."
They turned down the hallway.
A young woman sat against the wall twenty feet ahead.
Matthias recognized her from one of the seminars.
'What was her name, Rachel? Rebecca?' he thought, dismissing the pointless endeavor as they neared her
She held one hand over her shoulder.
Blood had soaked through her shirt.
Samuel slowed immediately.
"Hey, are you alright?" he asked slowly
Matthias stopped with him.
The woman looked up.
"Please... help me," she whispered, barely getting her words out as she cried
Samuel crouched.
"What happened?"
"Some guy attacked me. I don't know, he just... he fucking bit me."
Matthias's eyes dropped to her shoulder.
The fabric had been torn open.
Teeth marks. Deep ones at that.
Blood ran down her upper arm and dripped from her elbow.
Samuel's face tightened.
"Jesus. Matt, give me a hand."
They helped her up.
She cried out as Matthias took her good arm.
"Easy, easy."
"I'm okay."
"You're not okay," Samuel said. "But we're gonna get you downstairs."
"I need to call my mom."
"You can call her after we get you out."
"My phone's gone," she said, frantically looking around
"It's ok, we have phones."
Footsteps scraped somewhere around the corner ahead.
Matthias looked up.
A man stepped into the hallway. He was older, wearing a gray polo.
But what caught their attention was the blood covering his chin, as if he bit into a particularly messy burger or something.
Samuel stopped talking.
The man looked at them.
His eyes were dull, almost... empty.
"Sir, are you... are you ok?" Matthias called.
No response.
The man started walking toward them.
The injured student tightened her grip around Matthias's arm.
"That's him."
Samuel looked at her.
"What?"
"That's the guy who fucking bit me!"
The man came closer.
"Sir, stay back," Matthias said.
No response came from him as he continued forward, walking toward them step by step
Samuel shifted the girl behind them.
"Matt..."
"I know, Sam. I can see him too."
The man picked up speed.
Matthias looked around for anything he could find, and his eyes soon landed on an emergency wall box. He smashed the glass and grabbed the red fire extinguisher, ripping it free.
The man lunged just as Matthias swung.
The metal cylinder struck the side of his ribs with a hard, hollow thunk.
Matthias felt the impact all the way through his wrists.
The man slammed into the wall.
Something cracked, maybe a rib or something else vital, hopefully.
He dropped to the floor.
Samuel stared.
"Jesus Christ."
Matthias lowered the extinguisher slightly.
The man rolled over.
Started getting back up.
Matthias's mouth opened.
"What the fuck?"
The man's right arm hung wrong now, shoulder sitting lower than the other.
Despite how fucked up it looked, he didn't seem to mind it as he kept advancing.
Matthias swung again as he neared them. This time the extinguisher caught him across the chest and sent him backward through an open office doorway.
Samuel shoved the door closed.
Matthias threw his weight into it.
"Lock it!"
"I'm trying!"
Samuel fumbled with the handle.
The lock clicked.
A second later, the door shook before an impact came.
Bang.
The injured student whimpered.
Samuel slowly backed away.
"You broke one of his bones, right?"
Matthias stared at the door.
"Yeah, I think so," he trailed, as the door continued to shake from the man's impact
"I mean you hit him hard enough that I definitely heard something fucking break."
"I know what I did."
The door shook again.
Matthias looked down at the fire extinguisher.
A smear of blood ran across the white label.
"Come on, we need to move," he said.
They soon found Professor Hall near the rear stairwell.
He had a messenger bag over one shoulder and his phone pressed to his ear.
"Come on, sweetheart. Pick up."
"Professor!"
Professor Hall turned. His eyes moved from Matthias to Samuel, then to the bleeding student between them.
"What happened?"
"She was attacked." Matthias answered
"Bitten by some freak at that, can you believe it?" Samuel added.
Professor Hall's forehead creased.
"What, she was bitten, seriously?"
"Yeah, and the guy who did it is still trying to get through a locked office door after Matt beat the absolute shit out of him with a fire extinguisher."
Professor Hall stared at Samuel, disbelief almost oozing from him.
"I'm serious."
Another scream echoed from deeper inside the building.
Professor Hall looked toward it.
Then back at them.
"Let's stow the talk of whatever is going on, we need to leave. There's a service exit at the basement level. Come on."
With that, the group left, the banging from the man locked in the room growing fainter as they did.
After some time, they reached the stairwell, which smelled like concrete dust and old mop water.
Professor Hall took the stairs fast for a man his age.
"Professor, what the hell is happening?" Matthias asked.
"I have no idea, Matthias, truthfully, not a single clue."
"You heard what we said."
"Indeed, I did hear you."
"And?"
"And I don't know, Matthias! My daughter is ten miles away, my wife can't reach her school, and every emergency line is busy. I'm sorry, but I just don't have an answer for you."
Matthias shut his mouth.
Professor Hall stopped at the bottom of the stairs and pushed through a metal door.
A narrow service hallway stretched ahead.
"That door goes behind the building. Stay away from the main lot. While I'm not sure what exactly is going on, it doesn't look good."
Samuel shifted the girl's weight.
"What about you, Professor? Are you not coming with?"
Professor Hall shook his head.
"My car is on the north side, and I need to get to my daughter."
"You don't even know if the roads are clear."
Professor Hall looked at Matthias.
"No. I don't."
For a second neither spoke.
Then Professor Hall squeezed Matthias's shoulder.
"Get home, Matthias. Lock your doors. Keep your phones charged. And for the love of God, don't go wandering around trying to figure this out."
Samuel glanced toward the hallway behind them.
"Probably the best advice we've heard today."
Professor Hall gave him a tired look.
"That's not saying much."
Then he left through another corridor.
Matthias watched him disappear.
"Matt, we need to go."
They pushed through the service exit as the three of them moved around the back of the building.
The injured girl was starting to drag her feet.
Samuel looked at her.
"Hey, are you still with us?"
"Yeah," she replied slowly, her eyes fluttering
"You sure?"
"I don't know... I'm dizzy."
"That's probably because of the loss of blood, and flesh too, for that matter."
"Thanks," she replied sarcastically
They soon reached the far side of campus and found the roads there less clogged.
Samuel pointed.
"Shit, the jams are still holding just as bad as it was before, we can't move through that sea of cars," he said, noting the ocean of vehicles stuck and practically ramming into one another.
"There's another entrance on Red River."
"That's a fucking walk."
"You got a better idea?" Matthias asked, leaving no room for further argument
Samuel opened his mouth then closed it, thinking it better not to say anything sarcastic.
"No."
They kept moving.
By the time they finally reached the far side of campus, the girl between them had gone pale.
"My apartment's near Dean Keeton," she said. "My roommate should be there."
Samuel looked at Matthias.
Matthias nodded.
"We'll get you there."
They found an abandoned campus golf cart near a maintenance shed with the keys still in it.
Samuel stared.
"You're joking, right? What is this, a TV pilot? The keys being left in the cart is so damn cliché."
Matthias climbed into the driver's seat.
"You keep complaining, and you can walk."
"Sorry, I love this thing actually, no clichés here."
The girl gave a weak laugh from the back.
For the first time in the last twenty minutes, Matthias smiled as they took off, admittedly not as fast as they would like, but it beat hoofing it there.
As they took the side streets, they saw glimpses of civilization still going, despite the chaos on campus.
A man was loading groceries into his car as though he had somewhere normal to be. And people were out walking and chatting away.
Then two blocks later, three police cruisers screamed through an intersection.
They dropped the injured student at her apartment building.
Samuel helped her to the door.
"Lock it."
"My roommate—"
"Lock it anyway," Matthias said. "If she comes back, make sure it's her before you open it."
She looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Matthias glanced down at the blood on her shoulder.
"I don't know."
They took the golf cart another mile before abandoning it and cutting through side streets on foot, circling back to get Samuel's car.
Eventually they found Samuel's Honda exactly where they'd left it.
The lot had emptied enough to finally get through.
Immediately, they both noticed the driver's side window was smashed in.
Samuel walked around, inspecting for any other damage.
"Why my car?"
Matthias looked inside, and funnily enough, nothing had been taken.
"Maybe they hated your music."
"Fuck you."
As they climbed in, the car started, and the radio came on immediately.
"...residents are advised to remain indoors and avoid direct contact with individuals displaying violent or erratic behavior. Do not attempt to restrain affected persons. Contact local emergency services where possible."
Samuel barked out a laugh.
"Where possible? That's reassuring."
Matthias pulled out his phone as he called his mother.
Nothing.
He tried again, but this time, the call failed.
Samuel looked over.
"Try again. Maybe they just have a bad signal."
"Yeah, maybe."
He called again, this time, it began to ring.
Then—
"Matthias?"
He exhaled, letting go of a worried breath he had been holding in for a while now.
"Mama."
Samuel's shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Was ist los? Wir sehen Nachrichten—"
"What's going on? We're seeing news reports—"
"I know, I know. Are you and Dad home?"
"Ja. Dein Vater ist hier. Was passiert bei euch?"
"Yes. Your father is here. What's going on over there?"
'I wish I knew,' he thought, breathing out once again
"Something's happening. People are attacking each other, and Campus has been fully shut down."
"Are you hurt?"
"No, im fine, truly."
"Matthias."
"I'm fine, Mama."
Samuel glanced sideways at the blood smeared across Matthias's shirt.
Matthias ignored him.
His father's voice came faintly through the phone.
Then clearer.
"Matthias?"
"Dad."
"Go home. Stay there and lock everything."
"That's the plan."
"Call us again tonight, son."
"I will."
"You promise?"
Matthias looked out the window.
A man ran across the street ahead carrying a little girl.
"Yeah."
The line crackled.
"Ich liebe dich."
"I love you."
"We love you too, son."
The call dropped.
Matthias stared at the dead screen.
Samuel drove for another block before speaking.
"Well, are they okay?"
"For now."
"That's good, maybe whatever's happening right now is contained to only here or something."
Matthias nodded. "Yeah, maybe."
When they reached Matthias's street, Walter Stevens was standing in his driveway with a rifle.
Samuel slowed.
"Well. That's new."
Stevens recognized the Honda and lowered the barrel.
"You boys finally get your asses back."
They got out.
"What happened here?" Matthias asked.
"Nothing yet."
"Then why the rifle?"
Stevens looked at him as though the answer should have been obvious.
"I've got a television; I can see what's going on out there. It doesn't look too good now, does it?"
Samuel rubbed one hand over his face.
"We saw some crazy shit."
"I figured."
"People are getting shot and getting back up," Matthias said.
Stevens's expression changed.
"Shot where exactly?"
"Chest. Body. Didn't matter."
"Are you sure?"
"I watched it."
Stevens looked between them.
"Both of you get inside. Fill your bathtub. Every bottle, every pot, anything that'll hold water. Charge your phones. Find every flashlight you own."
Samuel frowned.
"You think the power's going?"
"I think I don't know what's going. And that, you annoying brat, is an issue."
Stevens pointed toward Matthias's house.
"Move."
They chose to obey the man with a rifle without much pushback.
Inside the home, the television stayed on while they filled containers.
News from Dallas, Houston, and even San Antonio.
Then soon came footage from outside Texas.
New Orleans.
Atlanta.
Chicago.
Nothing made sense.
Anchors repeated the same phrases.
Tales of violent incidents, people getting back up when they really shouldn't, and hospitals were also beginning to become overrun with injured folks.
Samuel stood in the living room with his arms folded.
"That guy was dead, man, there's no way any normal person eats multiple bullets to their chest like that."
Samuel turned from the television.
"The one outside campus. Matt, he got shot three times, dropped, got back up, then got shot again. The guy in the building, you broke his ribs or his arm or something, and he didn't even slow down."
"We don't know if he was dead."
Samuel stared at him.
"Come on, be so for real right now."
"I don't know what you want me to say."
"I want you to say you saw it, stop making me seem like im going crazy, dude."
Matthias looked back at the screen.
More footage of odd sightings began to play. The cops were now out in full force, and talks of the national guard being deployed were starting now too.
"I saw it," he sighed, not wishing to believe it
Samuel nodded slowly.
An hour later, Matthias went upstairs.
He changed out of the bloodied shirt and packed.
Water, Food, a couple of flashlights. He also grabbed a first-aid kit, phone charger, and even his passport.
He also packed a few pairs of clothes.
Then he opened the small gun safe in his closet.
His pistol, a Colt 1911, classic 45 ACP, went into his waistband after he changed into cargo pants and put a belt on. He also grabbed his M4 Carbine, chambered in 5.56, loading it just in case and slinging it around his shoulder.
When he came back into the bedroom, his eyes moved toward the wall above the bookshelf, toward the messer.
For years it had been decoration, an expensive decoration at that, along with the occasional fun time slicing some targets in the back yard.
It had been Samuel's favorite thing to mock, but now, he thought it might have some use.
Matthias reached up and lifted it from the mounting hooks.
The leather scabbard felt cool beneath his hand.
He drew the blade a few inches. Steel slid softly against wood and leather.
Samuel appeared in the doorway.
He stopped when he saw it.
For once, he didn't smile.
"You really think we're gonna need that?"
Matthias looked at the blade.
From a man taking multiple bullets and rising as if nothing happened. To another hammering against a locked office door with broken bones. Matthias didn't know what they would need anymore.
He slid the messer back into its scabbard.
"I hope not, but it doesn't hurt to be too prepared."