Sacrifice

“It’s behind you!”

Inaya jolts up in her bed, sweat coating her forehead and her pillow. It was the daily recurring nightmare that haunted her every night.

Every night she dreams of getting stuck in a zombie apocalypse at her school. She knows how silly and ridiculous it would sound if she were to say it aloud so she kept it hidden in the darkest corner of her mind. Everyone knows zombies aren’t real.

Or are they?

After calming down, Inaya checks her phone. 6:30 am stared back at her. Groaning, she drags herself out of her bed to get ready for school.

She repeats her daily mundane routine consisting of getting up, brushing her teeth, doing her skincare and eating a plain breakfast.

She hums to herself as she munches down on her egg and toast. Plain as it is, Inaya enjoys her quiet, minimalistic life. She finds it peaceful, more peaceful than the lives of her classmates.

She softly places the dishes in the sink after she’s done eating, the dishes have to wait until after school to be washed. She gets her bag and heads out for the day.

Little did she know it’d be the worst day of her life.

The school is buzzing with people’s conversation. Gossip and information about dramas hang heavy in the air. Even though it is merely 7:00 am in the morning, students are filled with energy and gossip about the party last night.

Inaya quietly takes her seat beside her best friend, Kaira, who is too busy fixing her hair. Kaira is the opposite of Inaya. While Inaya is the quieter one of the duo, Kaira is the absolute sunshine. You’d barely see her quiet.

“Hey Aya! Come here give me a hug. Oh, how I missed you these past two days! Why didn’t you come to see me?” Kaira demanded as she took Inaya into a bone-crushing hug.

“Sorry, I couldn’t come. My grandma was sick, I had to take care of her. Ouch Kai you’re suffocating me!” Inaya’s voice was muffled due to the tight hug that was taking her oxygen away. Kaira chuckled as she let go of Inaya.

The day presumed, as usual, the energy of the day was tiring Inaya out but she knew she couldn’t do anything about it. It was their last period, history, the most boring and uninteresting subject according to the duo. Kaira was touching up her hair when Inaya decided to doze off for a couple of minutes to escape the boring lecture.

✢

It was the screaming and rustling sounds that woke Inaya up from her sweet slumber.

Rubbing her and looking around suddenly made her feel more awake than ever. It was chaotic, to say the least. Students were running around everywhere, screaming and throwing any object that might come their way.

Inaya was confused more than anything. She didn’t understand what caused such chaos. Even the teacher looked pale and scared. Before Inaya could turn to Kaira and ask her any question, a hand grabbed her by her right hand and ran towards what Inaya could make out as the door. Nothing could prepare Inaya for what was happening outside.

Students were running everywhere, screaming. Bodies were on the floor, limp and covered with blood. But the most shocking part was the selected few students. They weren’t running or screaming. They simply just walked around with their hands out in front of them, it seemed like they were the reason all the chaos was happening. The nature of their action almost made them seem like…

No, no, no, no, no!

The realization hit Inaya like a truck. Her brain wanted to debunk the theory, but in her heart, she knew what was happening. It was as if the haunting reoccurring nightmare she had every night.

But they aren’t real! THEY CAN’T BE REAL!

Inaya screamed in her head but she knew it was very much real and it was happening right now.

They were stuck in a zombie apocalypse.

✢

After what felt like an eternity, they stopped running. Panting, Inaya doubled over to catch her breath. Steadying herself, she looked up to see who had taken her from the classroom. It was her best friend, Kaira.

Overcoming with emotion, Inaya hugged her best friend, sighing with relief that her best friend was safe. This time, Kaira was the one to break the embrace first.

“Oh my God, Inaya, what’s happening? I’m terrified! This doesn’t feel real. Zombies don’t exist in real life!” Kaira shook her head as tears formed in her eyes. Almost as if she was in disbelief.

Inaya knew this didn’t feel real but what does it matter anymore? It was already happening.

“Kai I know this doesn’t feel real but it IS happening. I need to understand. I need you to calm down and tell me what happened from the very beginning.”

Kaira looked at her for a few moments. Finally, she took a few deep breaths and started the story.

“Everything was going as it normally does. Everyone was talking and laughing, the teacher was writing something on the board and you dosed off. Then all of a sudden I heard a loud thud, followed by screaming and noises of people running around. Everyone was confused until we saw it. Someone’s body was slumped on the other side of the window, covered in blood. Suddenly a figure appeared behind the body and it…it didn’t look human Aya. Blood was covering half of its face and the eyes, my God, its eyes were completely white, void of any pupil. That is when everyone started to scream and run towards the door”

Kaira looked defeated as she finished the story, slumping on the ground, with her head in her hand. Inaya, however, was in another state of shock. This was all too familiar to her. It felt like she was back in her nightmare. This is exactly how it starts each night.

No, this can’t be…but that would mean…

Inaya looked around the room that they were currently in, it was an abandoned room that no one really used other than the staff member who came here to smoke.

It was a spacious room with blue paint on the walls. There wasn’t much furniture, the room only had a few tall cupboards, a table and a few chairs.

A chill ran down Inaya’s spine. It wasn’t the same room as the one that occurred in her nightmare but something about the room was subtly unsettling. Inaya brushed it off, with an excuse that was just the unfamiliarity, nothing too alarming.

Inaya sat down next to Kaira, who at this point was crying. Inaya tried to comfort her crying, distressed best friend but it was of no use because deep down Inaya knew there wasn’t much hope left for them.

“Kai, don’t cry. I’m sure there is something we can figure out to get out of this mess.” Inaya tried to offer.

“How can we get out of this mess, Aya? There is no way! The whole school is probably infected by now. I don’t think we will get out of here alive.” Kaira managed to mumble in between her sobs.

Inaya knew Kaira was right. There isn’t anything they can do. They’re already surrounded by hundreds of zombies, ready to sink their teeth into them. If Inaya had to guess, there were only a few, if not just them who were unaffected.

✢

Time dragged on and on as they sat on the cold marble floor of an unfamiliar room, not uttering a single word, as if waiting for their fate.

They heard many screams and gut-wrenching sobs as many of their classmates took their last breath right outside of the very door that was shielding them.

It wasn’t long before they heard another commotion. This time it wasn’t screaming or yelling like before. It was the sound of gurgling coming from the other side. They held their breath, waiting for something to happen.

And then it happened.

Someone or something started to pounce at the door, banging so loudly that the noise started booming through the partially empty room.

The girls slowly but certainly realized what was happening. The zombies were trying to enter the room that they considered safe. The door was old and rusty, so they were certain it wouldn’t last against the angry pounces. They immediately got up to their feet and started grabbing anything and everything near them that they could use as a shield or weapon.

As the girls had predicted, the door didn’t last long against the zombies. In a few moments, zombies burst through the door. Hungry, looking for their next victim.

Inaya and Kaira froze at their spot. It wasn’t one or two zombies. No, there had to be at least 50 of them. They both looked at each other and nodded. They knew their time had come, but they wouldn’t go before putting on one hell of a fight.

✢

The girls were coated with sweat by the time they had killed 10 of the zombies. It wasn’t getting easier for them. There were zombies constantly filing into the room. They were heavily outnumbered. Inaya knew they wouldn’t last longer but she kept fighting for Kaira.

Suddenly a thought crossed her mind. She knew it was foolish but she also knew it would distract the zombies long enough to get Kaira out through the back door she noticed a while ago.

Suddenly she turned towards Kaira, who was getting weaker with each blow.

“Hey Kai, remember how we wanted to adopt a cat when we grow older?” Inaya managed to get out in between hitting the zombies.

“Yeah… but why are you bringing that up right now?! We are literally going to die if we don’t keep fighting!” Kaira panted.

“Yeah, well, name the cat waffles and make sure it’s a brown kitten. Keep her safe for me and always know that I love you.” Inaya mumbled with a sad smile on her face.

By the time, Kaira realised what was happening, Inaya had stopped putting up a fight. She was now running at the door, distracting the zombies.

Kaira let out a gut-wrenching scream as she watched her best friend, the very girl who had been with her since day one, running at a herd of zombies, only to keep her safe. Her last words racing in her mind.

“Inaya no! It’s behind you!”

Those were the last words Inaya heard before she embraced her death with open arms and a smile on her face.

___x___

Hi! So I know this is not my usual writing or even a part of my ongoing story, [I haven't forgotten about it dw! Will upload it soon, just lagging a bit] but it's a short story I wrote at the beginning of my writing journey.

It was mainly for a school project but I ended up liking the storyline a bit so I thought about keeping it. It's the first piece of my writing that I show to people when they want to see my work and usually they like it so I thought about sharing it with you guys!

It's really not something mind-blowing, in fact, it's quite simple but I really enjoyed the writing process of this one [took me 45 minutes lol] and I like the chemistry I somehow managed to create between the two best friends :)

I hope you guys enjoy it too and if you do please let me know! If you think I should write more of these then kindly let me know in the comments!

I love you guys so much and make sure to stay hydrated and eat plenty of nourishing food <3

Until the next one, aii baii <3