It's a jungle out there.

---

The schoolyard had descended into chaos. Students murmured in shock, whispering among themselves, trying to make sense of the horror they had just witnessed. The weight of disbelief clung to them, their voices filled with confusion and fear.

"Students, can I have your attention?" Professor Zane called out, but her voice barely cut through the noise.

They kept talking, their panic overriding the authority in her tone. This wouldn't do. If they couldn't listen now, how would they survive working alongside the military? She could already imagine the complaints from those hardened brutes—how her students lacked discipline, how they failed to follow orders. No, they needed to understand that when an authority figure told them to stop, they stopped.

She scanned the crowd, considering her options. How could she silence them?

Fortunately, she didn't have to think for long.

"Professor, please tell us the truth!" a voice called out. "This is a trick, right? You're just trying to humble us, teach us a lesson?"

Despite the uproar, the voice carried. The students fell quiet, clinging to the hope that this was all a cruel joke.

Ella shifted uneasily. The question was absurd—ridiculous, even—but if given a choice, she'd rather believe this was a hoax than accept the alternative.

Professor Zane's gaze swept the crowd until she found the speaker.

"What makes you think this is a joke, Dr. Ethans?" she asked, her expression unreadable.

The student—Nate Ethans—hesitated, searching for an answer. But his thoughts were a mess, looping over and over in his mind: *This isn't real. This can't be real. Zombies don't exist. They never have. They never will.*

He whispered the last part.

Professor Zane smiled faintly. "Dr. Ethans, have you discarded everything we've taught you? What happened to your scientific reasoning? Have you forgotten? We never dismiss evidence without thorough examination." She gestured toward the live feed still playing. "And you've just been presented with plenty of evidence… and an unfortunate scene."

Ella frowned. She had a point. The evidence was right in front of them. But could they trust it? *Did she want to believe it?*

Nate Ethans fell silent.

"But it doesn't make sense," another student spoke up. "How? When? *Why*?" Her voice trembled with disbelief.

*That's what I want to know too,* Ella thought.

They had been in this institution for six years. They had gone out into the city. They had heard no rumors, no media reports—nothing out of the ordinary. Everything had been *normal.* The end of the world couldn't just *happen* without warning.

Then, a realization struck her.

"Last year," she muttered, her gaze dropping to the ground.

Professor Zane caught it immediately. She pointed at Ella.

"Dr. Ella Thompson, have you figured something out?" Her sharp gaze pinned Ella in place. "Perhaps you can answer your fellow students' questions. Do you *know*?"

Ella swallowed hard before straightening up.

"Last year," she repeated. "The university suddenly *required* all students to move into the dorms—no more commuting from home. They even expanded the dorm buildings."

That was all she had. At the time, it hadn't made sense. But everyone had assumed—

"But that was just because we were in our fifth year, right?" another student interjected. "The school wanted us to focus more on studying instead of wasting time commuting."

*Exactly,* Ella thought. That's what she had believed, too.

She turned to Professor Zane, silently willing her to explain.

The professor chuckled lightly. "For future doctors, your instincts are quite *rusty.* Yes, we moved all of you into the dorms last year. But no, it wasn't about your studies. You were already burying yourselves in books just fine without our intervention."

A murmur rippled through the students.

"It was because of the outbreak," she stated.

Ella's breath hitched. *Did I guess it right?*

Professor Zane continued. "Last year, we had our first recorded case of the Z.O.—the zombie outbreak—in a small town called Sundale. The government contained it, but we took precautions. That's why we brought all of you into the city."

*…Sundale?*

Ella's stomach twisted. That was close to where she was from.

Her fists clenched, nails digging into her palms. *No. I won't think about it. They're fine. Safe. They have to be.* She forced the thought away, but doubt gnawed at her.

Professor Zane's voice pulled her back.

"Some areas were affected while others weren't. But it spread—slowly at first—until it became a full-scale pandemic. So, we locked the city down, just like we did with COVID."

The students stood frozen, the weight of her words crashing down on them.

"Then why didn't you tell us?!" someone shouted. "We just *continued* like nothing was happening—like the world *wasn't* ending?"

"Yeah! What about our families? Are they *safe*?" another voice chimed in, filled with desperation.

Professor Zane remained calm. "You were still training to become qualified doctors. We didn't want anything interfering with that."

Silence.

"And as for your families…" she continued, "a relief project was put in place to evacuate people to safer parts of the country. Their survival depended on *them.* Our primary concern was *you*—our students."

Ella's breath hitched.

*Damn it.*

She bit the inside of her lip. *Now* she couldn't suppress the fear clawing at her chest. No amount of positive thinking could erase the nightmarish images of what could have happened to her mother and younger brother, Adrian.

And she wasn't alone. The air was thick with silent prayers, every student begging—*pleading*—for their loved ones to be safe.

Then, chaos erupted again.

A student broke free from the crowd, rushing toward the stage with a wooden plank in hand.

"That's bullshit!" he roared. "If we were important to you, then so were our families! You *could have* protected them!"

Gasps echoed across the yard. Security intercepted him before he could reach Professor Zane, forcing him to his knees.

"That's David," a girl near Ella whispered. "His family is from Sundale."

A heavy hush settled over the students as the implications hit.

Professor Zane's expression didn't waver. "Don't be foolish. The school only has enough resources for its students. Everyone else… it's a jungle out there. Survival of the fittest."

Ella frowned. That was *harsh.* David's family was likely among the first victims of the outbreak. Couldn't she have been *a little* more compassionate?

David didn't take it well. Enraged, he wrenched himself free and lunged toward the professor.

More security guards blocked his path. He ran in circles, trying to get past them, screaming, "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU AND SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!"

Professor Zane merely watched.

"Professor, he's violent!" one of the guards warned.

That snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned to the mic.

"This discussion will continue at a later time," she announced. "For now, if any of you received mail from your families, please step forward. Perhaps you'll find some closure in their words."

She stepped off the stage.

Students rushed forward, forming a disorderly line as someone began distributing packages in alphabetical order.

Starting from the letter A and the letter E arrived faster than Ella would have liked.

"ELLA THOMPSON!" the person called out.

Ella remained frozen.

Did she want to know?

Did she have the *courage* to read what her family had sent her?

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