"-Due to the increased call volume, all lines are currently unavailable. Due to the increased call volume, all lines are currently unavailable-"
"T-there must be an explanation for what's happening!" Tamanawa stuttered, his voice trembling as he leaned against one of the weathered cabinets in the corner of the room. Just then, a distant explosion echoed from outside, and the community center shuddered ominously, causing dust to fall from the ceiling.
A collective gasp filled the air, followed by cries of panic. Some of the people around me fell to their knees, hands instinctively covering their heads as if that could shield them from whatever danger lurked outside. I caught a glimpse of Iroha stepping back in alarm, her foot sliding on a fallen rolling pin. In an instant, I reacted on instinct and rushed to her side, wrapping my arms around her just as she was about to fall onto the corner of one of the work stations. We tumbled to the ground together, and I felt a sharp jolt of pain shoot through my back as we hit the hard floor, the impact driving the breath from my lungs as I shielded Iroha from harm.
"Senpai!" Ishiki's voice called out.
"Hikki!"
"Hikigay-kun!" The voices of Yui and Yukino surged through the chaos as they dashed to help me get back on my feet.
"I'm alright," I managed to say, though my voice was strained. I glanced at their faces, which were etched with shock and dread. I couldn't deny that I felt just as shaken, but I pushed those feelings aside, relying on logic to navigate through this turmoil.
Don't panic! I reminded myself fiercely. If you do, you'll only become a liability to everyone around you.
It was at that moment, amidst the frantic atmosphere, that we all heard it.
The screaming.
What began as a single piercing scream grew into an overwhelming chorus, the sounds of despair rising like a dark tide outside. The cacophony enveloped the building, drowning out any semblance of calm.
However, among those screams. I was able to hear something different.
Are those... growls?
Compelled by a mix of fear and curiosity, I found myself moving toward the windows, driven by a desperate need to understand what was unfolding outside.
Just as I reached out to the glass, I felt a firm grip on my wrist. I looked back in surprise to see Yukino's worried expression, her eyes wide and filled with determination. She was holding onto me, a silent plea for me not to go any further away.
"N-no, Hikigaya-kun. N-Nee-san said not to," Yukino shook her head. I nodded numbly and looked away from the windows, causing her to let me go.
"Now, what's going on?!" Tobe yelled as the sound of breaking windows could be heard outside. Hina and Yumiko looked down at the ground as several voices began to scream outside.
"No! Let me go!"
"What are you doing?! Stop-GAH!"
"What the hell?! H-he's biting her!"
I swallowed the lump in my throat and glanced over at Hayato. The ever calm and collected white knight was just as shaken as the rest of us, but he seemed determined to follow Haruno's orders. He stood in front of one of the two doors like a great gate guardian. The other door was guarded by Yamato and Oka, probably after being told to by Hayato. However, I could see his hands and feet tremble with anxiety and fear.
"S-Senpai. What's happening?" Iroha asked me as she grabbed one of my arms tightly. Yui looked at Yukino and me inquisitively; I shook my head and turned to Iroha.
"I'm not sure, Isshiki. But… we need to stay in here until the authorities get here. It's... It's not safe." I said and looked over to Hayato. "Hayama... Do you see Haruno out there? Is she back?"
Hayato slid open the door slightly but then closed it. He turned to me and shook his head. "I don't see her. The halls are empty."
A loud slam from a door echoed somewhere in the community center. The sudden noise caused us all to jump and turn to Hayato. He opened the door slightly and peered outside. He turned to everyone and shook his head.
"We need to understand what's happening," I said, pulling my arm free from Iroha's grip. "We can't keep going without knowing what is happening out there. For all we know, the police could be down there right now."
I ignored Yukino and Yui as they told me to stop and walked over to the windows. When I reached them, I looked down at the street where the bus had crashed.
What I saw could only be described as hell on earth.
A few feet from the bus were two men hunched over a woman. They were moving like a pair of wild animals as they yanked and ripped large chunks of flesh and entrails out of the dead woman's bloodied stomach. A large pool of crimson began to spread out from under them as one of the men reached into her torso and pulled out a thick line of organs.
The large intestine.
The man brought the organ to his mouth and began eating it like a hungry, desperate animal. Bile and pieces of half-digested food were squeezed out of the organ with every bite the man took with his bloodied teeth.
Several feet away from the front entrance of the community center was a man lying with his body sprawled out. But I wasn't sure if you could still call a headless corpse a man. Standing over the body was a woman with long brown hair dressed in a blue skirt and a white blouse. Her arms were covered in several bite wounds that had bled profusely. But what caught my attention the most was the half-eaten head resting in her hands. She leaned down and took a mighty bite of the head's cheek muscle.
Off to the right, I saw a pair of students. They didn't look much older than us and were dressed in a different uniform. But their uniforms didn't seem as important as the fact that they were trying to fight off seven violent adults and four other students as they piled onto their bodies and began to tear them apart. Seeing that their prey was no longer struggling against their hold, the mob of people began to eat away at their corpses like hungry hyenas. They all had bite marks similar to those of the woman from earlier.
My eyes scanned the bloodied streets and continued to see pure violence and murder as several more bodies were being devoured by severely bloodied or injured people. Turning away, I saw that the violence didn't stop here. It seemed to stretch as far as I could see. Fire and pillars of smoke rose all across the city as pandemonium reached everything.
What is this?Is this… happening everywhere?
Looking back down, I saw one of the students who was once trying to fight off the mob rise up. It was impossible. The student was missing their jaw and half their stomach. Yet they rose as if nothing had happened.
I tore myself away from the window and held myself back from throwing up on the floor. I heard my name being yelled, but I couldn't focus. My body was trembling. I was terrified.
I wasn't sure how long I stood there until I heard a sudden ear-splitting scream from beside me. I spun and saw Kaori screaming as she watched several of the man-eating people from below freeze and look up to where Kaori was screaming. Due to their close proximity, I glimpsed that their skin had taken a grey and bruised appearance; several dark veins were visible from under their skin. Their eyes were glazed over with a white, mucus-like texture. Despite that, they were looking up at us.
Snap out of it! Stop her!
I dashed towards Kaori and slapped a hand over her screaming mouth. I pushed her down to the ground, and I felt my heart beat vigorously in my chest as she struggled in my hold; I used all the strength in my arms to hold her still. "Shut up!" I hissed, finally getting her to stop her struggling.
"Hey! Take your hands off Orimoto-chan!" Tamanawa yelled and marched towards us with angry eyes.
He grabbed me by my collar and pulled me away from Kaori. Then, with a rough motion, he tossed me aside, and my back slammed against one of the glass windows, producing a loud cracking sound from the impact. I slid down to the ground, but Tamanawa quickly yanked me back to my feet. He glared at me, but then his gaze shifted to something outside. I followed his line of sight and felt a chill run through my body.
"What the hell happened out there?!" Tamanawa yelled as he let me go and looked around in horror at the gore-filled streets. The building the bus had crashed into earlier had now begun to catch on fire. The flames began to roar as they danced higher and spread widely.
Out on the streets, not a single one of the raging, bloodthirsty people could be seen. The only remaining people who were left were the headless corpses strewn on the ground.
"They're... gone," I said. "Where did they go?"
My words ignited a powerful wave of curiosity that swept through everyone in the room, drawing them toward the window. Hayato, Oka, and Yamato, however, stayed where they were. One by one, they approached, anticipation flickering across their faces.
However, the moment they caught sight of the horrors outside, that eager curiosity rapidly transformed into gut-wrenching horror. The streets beyond were a scene from a nightmare—bloodied bodies strewn across the pavement and flames licking at buildings that were once homes.
Several individuals leaned perilously close to the window, their expressions shifting from intrigue to sheer revulsion. They doubled over, losing their grip on their stomachs as the gruesome sight prompted an overwhelming wave of nausea. The girls from Kaihin Sogo High shrieked, a cacophony of terror that echoed against the walls as they turned away, tears streaming down their faces in frantic disbelief.
Yumiko and Hina stood frozen for a moment, eyes wide with terror as they desperately scanned the devastated surroundings. Each new revelation of brutality turned their shock into a visceral reaction; their breaths quickened, and they instinctively turned their backs on the carnage. Meanwhile, Saki's eyes grew impossibly wide, reflecting a mix of horror and disbelief as she tried to process the shocking reality unfolding before her.
Before Keika could even pivot in her sister's arms to catch a glimpse, Saki made a swift decision. She dashed toward the cabinets, her heart racing as she sought to shield her little sister from the horrific scene. There was no way she would let Keika bear witness to such madness.
Iroha, on the other hand, crumpled under the weight of the nightmarish sight. Tremors coursed through her body as she wrapped her arms around herself, seeking solace in her own embrace. It seemed that courage evaporated from her in that moment, leaving her vulnerable as she slid helplessly down to the ground, fresh tears cascading down her cheeks, marking her profound despair. The atmosphere was thick with fear and sorrow as the reality of the world outside seeped into the very bones of those around me.
"Wh-what is this?" Yukino said as she stood frozen. Yui reached over and gripped her hand, her eyes wide in fear.
"A-are these some type of g-ghouls?" Zaimokusa said his ever-present delusional grin was gone, and he seemed ready to throw up as well.
"How terrible..." Meguri Shiromeguri said with her hands in front of her mouth. Her eyes were petrified as she looked on.
"Wait! I think I'm hearing footsteps!" Hayato said quickly. His eyes showed a small, hopeful look as he turned to the door. "Maybe Haruno-san is on her way back?"
Before Hayato could open the door, a fast and heavy object slammed into it. A loud crash echoed in the room as Hayato fell back on the floor in fright. Several students cried in fear at the sudden noise, which proved to be a fatal mistake. After a brief pause, several more slams and bangs began to resound at the door and walls. Slowly and surely, the bangs multiplied as more rabid people joined in on attacking the door. Hayato scrambled to his feet and ran next to Tobe, Yamato, and Oka as loud and feral roars and growls howled behind the wall.
Why are they banging on the door? Why haven't they tried to slide it open?
Yui and Yukino slid behind me as everyone else watched the door with fright. Tamanawa and his friends were yelling at one another in a panic. They were trying to figure out what to do. Tamanawa was kneeling beside Kaori as they watched the doors shake and bang.
Suddenly, the glass on one of the sliding doors broke open; a mangled and bloodied head had bashed its way through its surface. We all watched in horror as the head tilted up, revealing a mangled man with black hair.
"Raghwr!" The bloodied man, no, not a man, the creature growled.