Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End

The classroom of 1A was an ordinary place on an ordinary day. The second floor of the building, filled with the buzz of a dozen conversations and the sound of typing keyboards, felt like the kind of place where nothing extraordinary ever happened. Not until now.

Ash sat in the middle of the classroom, his gaze flickering over the pages of a textbook, though his mind wasn’t entirely on the material. The chatter of his classmates filled the air, punctuated by the occasional click of a phone screen. He glanced over at Ben, who was hunched over, engrossed in a mobile game, his thumbs moving frantically over the screen.

“Hey, Ben, that game any good?” Ash asked, trying to sound interested as he leaned back in his chair.

Ben didn’t look up. “Not really. Just some stupid grind. I’m bored out of my mind,” he muttered, then smirked. “I’d rather be out there right now. This place is so... dead.”

West, sitting a few desks away, grinned without lifting his eyes from his phone. “Dead? What are you talking about? You mean to tell me you’d rather be dealing with exams than this? Come on, Ben. You’d be miserable. Like Tony here.”

Tony, who was at the back of the classroom, gave a half-hearted glare but didn’t engage. His earbuds were in, and he was bobbing his head to some unknown beat.

“I’m just chilling,” Tony muttered, not looking at anyone. “You guys can talk about whatever. I’m happy here.”

Across the room, Daniel had his nose buried in a textbook, seemingly the only one who was attempting to study. Ash couldn’t help but respect that. As the room filled with noise and distractions, Daniel’s focus was unwavering.

“Honestly, this is too much,” Ash said, glancing at the clock. “Only half an hour left, and I can't focus at all. Maybe I’ll go for a walk after this.”

“No way,” West replied, rolling his eyes. “You walk, and you’re asking for the teacher to find you outside, looking like a total idiot.”

Ash smirked. “Yeah, well, it’d be a nice change from this place.”

But before the conversation could continue, a blood-curdling scream shattered the relative calm of the classroom. The kind of scream that sent a chill down your spine.

It came from the ground floor.

The class fell into stunned silence. Even Tony pulled his earbuds out, his face suddenly serious. Everyone turned toward the window, trying to peer through the blinds, but it was hard to see anything. The scream had echoed through the entire building, followed by a few seconds of tense silence that seemed to stretch into eternity.

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“What the hell was that?” Ben muttered under his breath.

“I don’t know…” Ash’s voice trailed off as he stood, his heart racing. His mind was already processing the possibility of danger, though he hadn’t yet allowed himself to believe it.

“It’s coming from downstairs,” West said, eyes wide. “What the hell’s going on?”

Without another word, a few of the braver students rushed toward the door. Ash stood frozen for a moment, but curiosity—and a surge of adrenaline—pushed him forward. He wasn’t about to stay in the classroom, pretending nothing was happening.

The class spilled out into the hallway, and as they approached the stairs, a second scream tore through the air. But this one was different. It was a scream filled with terror, as if someone’s life was being ripped away in an instant.

“Run!” someone shouted from the front.

The students on the second floor didn’t need to be told twice. They rushed to the edge of the stairs and looked down. What they saw made their blood run cold.

Monsters.

Two-meter-tall creatures with gnarled limbs, sharp claws, and glowing red eyes were chasing after students in the hallway below. Their massive forms were inhuman, their skin covered in jagged scales that shimmered with an unsettling light. As the students bolted, the monsters howled in pursuit, their movements swift and brutal.

Ash's heart skipped a beat as he stared down at the nightmare unfolding before him. Panic began to rise, but he suppressed it. There was no room for hysteria. Not now. He turned to the others, his voice low and calm. “We need to get back to the classroom. Now.”

The students scrambled, making their way back up the stairs and into the classroom, slamming the door shut behind them. Ash could hear the heavy footsteps of some of his classmates as they gasped for breath, their nerves on edge. Some were crying, others were shouting in fear, but Ash only allowed himself a single glance out the window before he closed the blinds.

Inside the classroom, panic took root. People were starting to argue, their voices rising.

“We need to get out of here!” Ben yelled, clutching the back of his chair. “We can’t stay here! They’ll come for us next!”

“No, we stay put!” Daniel interjected. “We don’t know anything about those monsters. They could be hunting us or—”

“Who cares? We have to run!” Tony shot back, his voice cracking. “We’re sitting ducks!”

The chaos intensified as others began to join in, each voice a different opinion, none of them rational.

Ash remained silent, his gaze steady as he surveyed the room. He was just as scared as the rest of them, but he wouldn’t let fear control him. Panic would do nothing. It was a reality he had to accept. Running without a plan was just as likely to get them killed as staying where they were.

“Ash, what do you think?” Ben’s voice cut through his thoughts.

Ash blinked and looked at him. “There’s no point in panicking. We need to be smart.”

Before anyone could speak, the class representative, a calm-headed girl named Mia, stepped forward. She was holding a trembling hand against her mouth, but she forced herself to speak clearly. “Listen, everyone. We need to stay quiet. The monsters might be able to hear us if we don’t. It’s better to stay here for now and wait for help.”

“Help?” West scoffed. “You think the government’s gonna show up and save us in time? Look at what’s happening!”

Mia held up a hand to silence him. “No one knows what’s going on. All we can do is stay here and keep our heads down. Screaming won’t do us any good. Trust me, we need to stay quiet.”

Ash watched Mia, her composure a sharp contrast to the chaos around her. Maybe she had a point, but part of him couldn’t help but think she was just grasping at straws, just like everyone else. The outside world had already fallen apart, and the monsters weren’t something that would just disappear.

Gradually, the sounds of screams outside started to quiet. The chaos ebbed, but it didn’t alleviate the fear in the room. The heavy silence pressed down on them like a weight.

Ash kept his eyes trained on the door, his mind racing. He needed information. The monsters weren’t the only unknown in this situation—there was no telling who or what else might be lurking.

He pulled out his phone and quickly checked the news.

The headlines were as absurd as they were terrifying. Reports of similar monsters attacking various cities. People were posting frantic pleas for help. Chaos had erupted across the country, and the world seemed to be descending into madness. No one knew what was happening. But one thing was clear—this wasn’t a local event. It was global. And no one was safe.

His heart sank as he tried calling his family, but the line was dead.

“Anyone get through to anyone?” Ash asked, his voice calm but tense.

Mia nodded, pulling out her phone. “I’m trying to contact my parents.”

Ash sighed, then turned to his closest friends. “I need you all to check for news. We need to know what’s happening everywhere, not just here.”

Ben, West, Tony, and Daniel nodded. The urgency in Ash’s tone was enough to quiet their bickering, if only for a moment. As they began tapping away at their phones, Ash felt the weight of the situation settle on his shoulders.

The monsters were just the beginning. They had no idea what they were really up against.