The day had started the same as always. Chatter in the hallways. The squeak of sneakers on polished floors. The sharp voice of her math teacher cutting through the air.

Scarlett sat at her desk by the window, pretending to copy notes while her gaze kept drifting outside. More accurately, it kept drifting to him.

He was across the courtyard, laughing at something one of his friends said. The way sunlight hit his face made her chest tighten. God, if I could just talk to him once... She'd been carrying the crush since freshman year, but the words never came.

"Earth to Scarlett." Jessica elbowed her with a smirk. "You're staring again."

"Shut up," Scarlett muttered, cheeks burning.

Then the first scream split the air.

At first, everyone laughed nervously—thinking it was a fight, maybe a prank. But when the classroom door slammed open and a boy staggered inside, face slick with blood, laughter died.

"Oh my God what happened to him?" someone whispered.

The boy collapsed onto another student, teeth sinking into her neck. The room exploded. Desks screeched across the floor, kids scrambled for the back door, screams overlapped into chaos.

Jessica grabbed Scarlett's arm. "Come on, we have to..."

Her words choked off as another infected student crashed through the window. Shards of glass glittered in his hair as he lunged. Jessica shoved Scarlett back, but she wasn't fast enough. The thing sank its teeth into her shoulder, tearing through flesh.

"Jess!" Scarlett shrieked, grabbing her hand.

Blood sprayed across Scarlett's uniform. Jessica's wide eyes locked on hers, already dimming. "Run," she rasped.

"I'm not leaving you!"

But then others swarmed, dragging Jessica down. Her screams turned wet, desperate, then silent.

Scarlett stumbled into the hallway, tears blurring her vision. She shoved past other students some crying, some already bitten, some pushing others into the monsters just to buy themselves a second longer.

"Out of my way!" a boy shouted, slamming her into a locker.

She hit the floor hard. By the time she looked up, he was gone, and the zombie that would've taken her had already pinned him down instead. His screams followed her as she scrambled into a classroom and locked the door.

The pounding began almost immediately. Fists slamming into the door, nails clawing at the wood, guttural snarls vibrating through the walls. Scarlett pressed both hands over her mouth, biting down sobs.

Hours passed. Maybe minutes. Time blurred. She sat curled against the wall, uniform sticky with blood, trembling so hard her teeth hurt. The sounds outside were endless—shuffling, moaning, the occasional shriek of another survivor cut short.

She thought of Jessica's eyes as the life drained out of them. She thought of all the faces she'd seen twisted in terror. And then, inevitably, she thought of him. If he was still alive. If he'd even remember her if she died in this room.

Her whisper cracked in the dark. "I don't want to die alone..."

The doorknob rattled.

Her heart seized. She pressed herself back, eyes wide, every nerve screaming. Another one of them. This was it.

The door creaked open.

And then she heard a voice.

"Scarlett?"

Her breath hitched. Recognition slammed through her chest. She blinked through tears, barely believing what she saw in the doorway.

It was him.

"You're alive—you're actually—" Her knees buckled, and she nearly collapsed against him, clutching his sleeve like he might vanish if she let go.

"I thought—" Her words dissolved into shaking breaths. "I thought I was the only one left."