My name is Brandon Felthorpe, I am eighteen years old, and I am going to die. I didn’t think it would be today of all days, given how ordinary it had started, but it suddenly took an unexpected turn. This morning I woke up, took a shower, put on some fresh clothes, ate some breakfast, and headed straight for school, as I do every weekday morning. I wasn’t feeling the best when I got in so I stopped in to talk to the school nurse, Ms. Juniper. She brushed it off as being tired or stressed, but I slept pretty good and we were about to have a long weekend. She was probably just tired of my complaining, I feel like shit every second day. Anyways, I walked over to my first class, Chemistry, and sat down near the back corner of the classroom. My friend Alex was already sitting there, looking down at his phone. I sat and talked with him for a little bit, before Mr. Black came in and class started. 

About ten minutes into the class Brent Dart stumbles in, not looking so hot. Mr. Black glared at him as he walked across the room and slumped into his chair. He resumed right after, but I was staring at Brent like everyone else. Something wasn’t right about him. Eventually Stacy Jenkins raised her petite arm and pointed out to Mr. Black that something wasn’t quite right with Brent. All of a sudden, Brent sits up completely straight and starts talking really fast. Everyone was stunned and staring at him, but I didn’t hear a single word he said. I was too confused. Before I could catch up with his rambling, he stopped and completely froze. Not one person moved or said anything. And then Eren Holt was impaled. A long tendril had extended from Brent’s torso and punctured a 3-inch diameter hole straight through her chest. 

I don’t remember what happened quite after that, all I can recall is being in the hallway, surrounded by screaming teenagers and teachers. Everyone was running around in a panic. Some were just slouched against the wall crying. And some were dead. I didn’t understand what was happening so I just bolted outside as fast as I could go. Outside was the same situation, people running around panicking and screaming. A strange looking large lady was running backwards after a couple people at alarming speeds. I just went on past them towards one of the houses on the edge of the field. I ran up to the extension of the house that was covered in leafy vines and pulled on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. That’s when I saw a hideous woman turned half into a bush walk around the corner of the extension. She shuffled toward me at a slow speed, slow enough for me to run back out towards the field. I took a sharp turn when I saw the backwards running lady finishing up with her prey and moving towards me. Lucky for me her attention was shifted by someone else fleeing across the field. I could hear their ear-piercing scream seconds later as she caught up with them. 

After running for a bit longer I got to the forested part of the field, where it seemed awfully quiet. I paused trying to catch my breath for a moment, but something else showed up. From what I can recall, it was the bottom half of a torso, building its upper body out of the synthetic beehives. One arm had already been made at the time when I arrived. It had no senses to determine that I was there, and yet, it turned to me as if it knew I was there. It even stumbled towards me, but I ran off back towards the field where the commotion was still going on. More and more people were pouring out of the school, along with all sorts of grotesque creatures. I made the stupid decision of going towards the area of activity, I don’t know why. I watched as the bush lady extended vines from her strange bush dress and wrapped them around two poor kids, squeezing the life out of them. The backwards lady also caught someone while I was running around. It was Alex. He’s legs were bent the wrong way and the lady was stomping on his spine with immense speed and force. I couldn’t believe my eyes. In my daze, somehow I managed to get inside the outdoor education shed and block it off. 

And this is where I am now. Huddling in the corner of a shed, while the world falls apart around me. The screams are still echoing through the air, but less often. I don’t know what to do. I’m too scared to move and I know that if I leave this shed, one of those vile creatures will kill me. I guess I will just… wait.

It’s been a few hours now, I think I’ve finally gathered myself. I don’t feel as shocked anymore and I think I can think through this situation somewhat. I’ve been watching outside one of the small shed windows to see what creatures are roaming around. To make things easier, I’ve been naming the monsters and trying to understand their activity. The biggest issue right now is the backwards running lady, I call it Ms. Backwards. It screams some gibberish every few minutes while wandering around in circles, backwards of course. Whenever it “spots” someone, it screams aggressive gibberish nonstop and chases them at extremely high speeds. Faster than any normal human can run. Thankfully, it won’t chase for longer than about 30 seconds. It seems to need a minute long break before it can chase again. It also can’t see like a human would. It sees through its back somehow, not with its eyes, despite having a face that mostly resembles a human. 

The other creature really close is the half bush woman, Ms. Bush. It is about 7 feet tall and quite large, resembling a stereotypical lunch lady in a high school drama movie. It’s bottom half resembles a prickly, thick-vined bush in the shape of a large dress. It’s slow, but it can extend vines from its dress about 20 meters out at decent speed. It seems to hover near the house, only extending out into the field slightly. I doubt it will be an issue once I have to inevitably move. 

One other creature is way over by the front of the school, I can see it running about, but I can’t quite make out what it is. It seems to roll very fast at people, impaling them with spikes covering its body. It took out a group of three people an hour ago. At some point the bodies disappeared, I’m not sure where they went. I’m mostly worried that these monsters either ingest the corpses at some point, or the people they kill also turn into monsters. Either way, if I am to get out of here, I am going to have a lot to deal with. But, I’ve worked out a plan of sorts. 

Every ten minutes, both Ms. Backwards and Ms. Bush are furthest away from the school in their paths. At that point, I’m going to run to the school and try to get to my stuff. I left my phone in the rush and it’s my only way to contact family.  I need to know that they are okay. But before that, I need to make sure I can fend for myself. Luckily, I’m in the outdoor education shed. The most dangerous stuff you can find in probably 20 miles is all in this shed. On the left hand wall is a bunch of baseball bats, cricket bats, and all sorts of sports equipment. On the right hand wall is football padding and tons of sports balls. The back wall is the gold mine. There are a bunch of bows with hundreds of arrows and cheap quivers. The arrows have a tip thankfully, so they can actually do some damage. It’s strange for a high school to own this shit, but I’m glad they do. This could potentially save my life when I do the dumbest thing ever. There are also some backpacks and hiking equipment in the corner by the bows, spares for the senior graduation camping trip that was supposed to be happening next week. Not anymore I guess. 

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I’ve spent an hour gathering equipment that seems to suit me best. I feel ready to move. I’ve got a bow and lots of arrows, an aluminum bat, and I put on one of the hiking backpacks. It’s a lot better than the bag I use for school which can barely fit two books. I’m not carrying anything in the bag anyways, but it could come in handy later. Now I just have to wait a few more minutes before the creatures are on their farthest loop and I can move into the school… I hope. I’ve been timing them with my watch, so I’ve got the timing down so I can have the biggest opening. Detail has never been one of my strong suits, but the situation I am in seems to be awakening something in me. Maybe it’s just the adrenaline or something. I don’t know. Only two minutes are left before the opening will begin. I can feel my heart pounding. I’m not sure I can do this, I feel weak. I will literally be facing a potentially gruesome death if I mess up or miss something. How is anyone supposed to do something like this? I don’t know. But I will die either way. I’d rather it was by choice rather than being a coward. Just a minute left, I’ve got to be ready to move fast. I can see the two creatures wandering farther off into the field, Ms. Bush is moving behind the house now. 

I’m running, as fast as I fucking can. The two creatures are way off in the field, I seem to be out of their sight for now, but I only have a full minute to get from the shed to the nearest open door. I’m running alongside the school so I don’t have to worry about anything on my left, but I don’t know how far off the furthest unlocked door is. Usually during the day, most of the doors are locked due to security reasons. I just hope this doesn’t get me killed. I can see a set of side doors coming up real quick, a couple bodies are lying on the concrete outside. Their blood is dried onto the cement, painting it a reddish brown. I don’t recognize any of them thankfully. The door opens when I pull on it, exposing me to the hellish scene inside the school. The bodies of my classmates are strewn across the halls, laying lifeless and in pieces. The stench of death is overwhelming, I nearly throw up from the smell. But I don’t have time for that so I run towards the left hand side of the school. The classroom is only a few meters away, but I stop in my tracks. Something is inside the room, I can hear it. And it doesn’t sound like a human. It’s gurgling and stumbling around, bumping into things every few seconds. I shift over, towards the door and peak in. It’s Brent. At least, I think it is. His body looks to be covered in tendrils, emerging from his shoulders. His head is… not exactly there. It looks like it’s morphing into something, but I can’t really tell what. It’s like it’s melting into his body. This could be a good thing, it seems he can’t see anymore. He stumbles around, bumping into things and then stops to readjust quickly. I just hope he can’t hear. Slowly, I walk into the room, trying not to touch anything. Brent is on the other side of the room right now and doesn’t seem to notice me. Not yet, at least. I move quickly between the desks towards the back, where my bag is. A few of my classmates are dead in their chairs. I don’t think too much about it, I can’t be distracted right now. My life depends on it. As I reach my desk, I slowly pick up my bag to make as little noise as humanly possible. I turn back around once I’m holding it up, but something isn’t quite right. I glance around the room momentarily and realize that Eren is missing. I watched her die in her seat just a few feet in front of me, but now she’s gone. Maybe Brent ate her? But why wouldn’t he have eaten the other bodies? Was he full? Something is not right. I move towards the door as quickly and quietly as I can, still trying to avoid stirring the clumsy Brent, but I hear the ceiling creak. I stop dead in my tracks and look up. 

Hanging from the ceiling tiles is Eren. Or was Eren, whatever it is now is hardly Eren anymore. It’s arms and legs are spikes made of flesh and bone past the joints, the head of Eren is mounted backwards on the neck, and the mouth is three times larger than a normal humans. It’s also looking right at me, panting like a dog. I stare for a quick moment before bolting off. I hear it screech and drop from the ceiling onto the floor as I run for the door. I turn and look over quickly as I pass through the doorway and capture a glimpse of the creature clacking across the floor tiles straight towards me. Very fucking fast. I nearly slip as I pick up the pace, sprinting down the hall towards the doors. Eren, now Ms. Hangy, is on my ass. I can hear it breathing like a hungry wolf, finding prey after a week without food. I keep running until I reach the doors and push outside, into the field. Despite the short time I was inside, both Ms. Bush and Ms. Backwards are moving closer to the school. Ms. Backwards is facing almost directly at me, but doesn’t seem to be getting “activated.” Only moments later, Ms. Hangy crashes into the doors behind me, making a giant crash. I turn around and stumble over out of surprise, but thankfully Ms. Hangy did not get through. Turning back around, I spot Ms. Backwards pause for a second and crane its head, as if looking closer. I pick myself up off the ground and start running back to the shed. Ms. Backwards is slightly following me with its gaze, still appearing to be unsure what it is seeing. I pick up my pace, hoping to avoid being detected by Ms. Backwards. A screech rings out through the field all of a sudden, and as I turn back, I spot Ms. Backwards charging full force towards me. The speed catches me off guard and I trip up, but I catch my footing again. It’s closing the gap fast, I don’t know if I can make it. I’m only a few meters away. As I grip the handle of the shed, I can feel it’s movement behind me. It’s only a couple meters away. I tear open the door and close it behind me, falling to the ground. Ms. Backwards crashes into the doors, nearly knocking them off their hinges. I sit there, frozen for a few moments just waiting for it to bust down the doors, but it doesn’t happen. Looking out the window, I can see that Ms. Backwards has wandered back into the field, away from the shed and school. 

I’ve been trying to use my phone for the past 10 minutes, but I have no service. Something is really wrong and not just here. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it, but I need to get home next. The only problem is I can either drive my car home, but risk making a shit ton of noise and attracting the creatures. Or… I can walk and leave myself very exposed. The other issue is that the parking lot is on the other side of the school, and I have no idea if anything is over there. If anything, it’s probably worse. I’m certain most people would have tried to get their cars. Not sure why I didn’t try, but I’m guessing it was the right choice. I haven’t seen a single car drive past since I first entered the shed. Before I try to do that, I’m going to rest for awhile. I have some food and water in my school bag, which should help me settle before I set out again.