Then an announcement was made, "Good morning students and teachers, this is Principal Daisuke Tanaka. The school is now on lockdown due to an emergency. No student or teacher is allowed to leave the school campus until told otherwise. Please remain calm as you are not in any immediate danger, classes will proceed as usual. More information will be announced once we are aware, thank you."

Isamu slowly sat up straight. "What the hell is going on? If there's a lockdown they should tell us everything about why."

Denji chuckled, "Yeah, don't worry Isamu it's our last year here. Did you decide on a college yet?" Isamu laid his head back on his desk. "No actually, I'm still exploring my options."

'Why does everyone keep asking me about college? Everyone thinks college is where their lives will change or something. It's just another waste of another four years of our lives. Whatever, I'll just let the day end.' Isamu then shut his eyes.

** A few hours earlier. The dog was still barking at the small house when a neighbor was passing by—a short old lady wearing a thick pink jacket over her gray dress.

BANG, BANG.

She looked over to the door as something slowly kept banging against it from the inside. The wind blew loudly, making a loud sound and blowing away the old lady's hat off her head. She felt nervous but she approached the door anyway.

"Hey, Taka are you home? Your dog has been barking since yesterday, let him in. He's disturbing the whole neighborhood."

She moved closer and stood at the doorstep, then suddenly the door broke as an old man tackled through it on top of the old woman and bit her as she screamed.

** Isamu and Denji were walking through the hallways in the school on their way to the club room about to go to the gymnasium for practice.

"Why aren't they letting anyone outside the school? Must be serious, a terrorist attack or something like that," Denji said bumping against students walking the other way on their way to the principal's office.

Isamu sighed looking at the students, "I don't know why they even bother. They won't let them out or give us our phones. I doubt it's a terrorist attack, sirens would've been blaring if it was."

They got to their club room along with the rest of the volleyball team. They sat on a bench next to their lockers.

"So what do you think it is?" asked Denji as they were changing into their practice jerseys. Isamu pondered on the question for a little bit then answered, "Maybe it's a disease."

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"A disease?" said one of their teammates. Takumi Yamada, one with blue eyes, and short wavy silver hair. He was just a little taller than Isuma and Denji, coming in at about 186 cm. But he had a lean yet athletic figure similar to them. He was the 'popular guy' of the school.

"Yup, a disease. Like COVID-19 or something. That's probably why they want us to stay in the school. But I doubt we'll last, we can't stay in here forever." Isamu replied as he bent down tying his shoes.

"I guess that's possible, can't lie COVID days sucked though. I hope that's not the case," said Takumi leaving the room.

They went to the gymnasium and started practicing like any other day. Takumi receives, Isamu sets, and Denji spikes. They were a trio well-known throughout school and prefecture having taken their teams to nationals the last two years.

As they were practicing they heard a bang at the door on the other side of the gymnasium behind them and they all turned their faces to it. The ball dropped and kept bouncing as the door banged again.

"Hey, what the hell is that?" asked one of the players.

Takumi picked up the ball and someone barged through and opened the door.

A man walked through the doors bloody, clothes torn, and softly growling.

Denji looked at him with concern. "Are you okay sir? Were you in an accident?"

But the man didn't listen, he just kept going to the other side of the gym as they watched from afar. They kept softly calling out to him but he wouldn't listen. Takumi got frustrated thinking he was ignoring them, he threw the ball up into the air and spiked it toward the man.

The ball bounced off the man's head and then towards the ground. The man quickly turned and kept chasing the ball erratically and growling aggressively as he kneeled on the floor.

"What's wrong with you man?" asked one of the players looking down on the man with a bit of fear.

The man quickly turned his face to him and jumped on him making him fall to the hardwood floor. They all got scared at that moment and moved back a little bit. The man then bit down on the player's neck as he screamed loudly. Everyone's eyes widened immediately, and one of the other players kicked the man off. "What the f**k is wrong with him?"

The man then jumped and attacked him. Then a few other erratic similar to the man came in sprinting.

"Run!" Denji screamed then sprinted to the other door. Everyone's hearts started racing. Takumi and Isamu quickly followed behind Denji.

They barged through the doors and started running out on the campus towards the club room. Some followed them while others ran towards the cafeteria or the classrooms.

Denji, Isamu, Takumi, and one short player all ran up the stairs with haste. They quickly went into the club room and shut and locked the door behind them.

Denji put his hands behind his head. "What the hell is going on out there?!" Isamu sat on the bench panting. "Those people, something was wrong with them!"

"You don't say!" the short player sarcastically said.

Isamu quickly shut the blinds in the window next to the door. "Come help me push this against the door, we can't let anyone inside." They all pushed the locker against the door grunting and sweating.

Isamu then looked through the blinds slowly and saw one of the players who was with them in the gym had also started acting erratically. He was bloody and had a bite mark on his hand.

'It's contagious!'