Prologue: One Shot Kill

'It's over' Ash could only think as he stared at the crimson pupils of the grey furred hyena.

Even though Iris punched it, it paid no mind to her. Maybe it was because it was so weak, the hyena was confident in killing her after dealing with Ash, or it had a vendetta against him, no one knew as it raised its paw to crush Ash's head.

Bang!

Thinking all hope is lost, Ash could only close his eyes. But a loud sound reverberated the surroundings. 

Ba Thump

Ba Thump

Ba Thump

Ash's heart was racing, blood splattered over his face as the once imposing hyena whose paw was just inches away from his face halted after the gunshot.

He could feel the overbearing pressure on his chest subside as the beast wobbled and fell to his right, with half of its face blown to smithereens.

The rats that were chasing earlier stopped and scurried back to the school after witnessing the hyena's head blown off.

The group of 13 caught up to Ash and Iris, wearily looking at the hyena and trying to gauge where the bullet came from.

"Here" Iris took off one of her boxing gloves and offered to help Ash stand up, which he gratefully accepted. As he stood, his legs wobbled, nearly making him drop again, but Iris caught on and supported him with her shoulder.

"Thank you…" Ash hoarsely said, still coming to terms with his near death.

"Glad to see you okay"

Hearing a familiar voice, Ash turned his head towards his home room teacher, Mr Benson. Still a bit out of it, he could only nod as a response.

"Oh yeah, and glad to see you two use us as bait to run away" A male student with a cap walked over, glaring at Ash and Iris, with his fists clenched.

Ash only gave him a glance, infuriating the student even more. But before he could say anything else, Mr Benson intervened.

"Enough, it is not the time to argue, we need to find a place to hide, it's not safe to be out here."

"Tch"

The student with a cap was displeased and turned his head away with an annoyed look. Though the other students did not say anything, they were equally angry from Ash and Iris's behaviour.

"Now, if we could find where the shot came from…" Mr Benson muttered, snapping Ash out of his daze.

'Right…since I can't see the person who helped us, they must be far away…so it could only be done by a sniper. '

'To fire, they must be pretty high up, the school gate is to my right, when the hyena was on me, the top half of its head was blown up horizontally…so it was shot at a 45-degree angle?'

'The shot had to come from my left, on a tall building that isn't too far, as time from the bang to hitting its head was near instantaneous'

'The only building that fits my criteria…is my sister's!'

Taking a few minutes, Ash deduced where the sniper should be, the revelation made him nervous but also at ease as he hoped his sister was still in the building.

'For once… I hope you were running late again…please'

He couldn't imagine if she was already on her way before the disaster.

"I think the shot came from where my sister works, sir"

"Is it far?"

"It should be about a 20-minute walk?"

"Okay, we should go, if we are lucky, we will run into the police on the way. Hopefully they can explain what's happening"

Ash and Mr Benson conversed, leaving Iris and others no choice but to group together as they are heading to the same place.

With Ash and Mr Benson in the lead, the group moved through alleyways, checking each street to make sure it's clear before moving.

While they traversed, they could hear gunshots from the distance, making them all uneasy and vigilant.

'It's not only our school affected…' Ash couldn't help but lament.

The group did spot some abominations during their journey, a pack of the grey furred crimson eyed hyenas, strange beetles with huge sacks sticking out of their backside and zombies.

Yes, zombies. Some corpses would suddenly spasm and stand up, walking around aimlessly.

The group was horrified at witnessing such a sight, one of the girls unintentionally screamed, which drew the attention of the zombies. Though they were corpses, they ran fast, very fast. Ash and the other could not continue to hide and made a run for it.

'Fuck! I should have split from them!' Ash complained as they tried their best to reach the destination before the other beasts noticed them.

Thankfully, there were only three zombies within the vicinity, who had already launched on to the slower individuals.

Just like that, they lost three more people, reducing the combined group numbers to 12.

Luckily, these zombies didn't continue the chase and continued to feast on the prey they caught, unlike the rats, who pounced on everything before feasting.

'Nearly there'

Before that girl, who is somehow alive, attracted the zombies, they were already travelling for about 20 minutes.

They were slightly over the approximate time till destination as they were careful in moving around, which made them slow.

It may have been due to the gunshots or helicopters that were flying across the city, but the streets weren't ridiculously packed with the creatures.

Only a few here and there which they bypassed through using vehicles as cover. Normally, the creatures were occupied with something else.

After what felt like an eternity, Ash finally saw the 100-floor skyscraper, but the sight that greeted him made him worry. The glass door was completely smashed apart, leaving a clear unobstructed entrance and inside the bottom floor was completely dark, with no lights.

He quickly crossed the road and made his way inside the building. Inside, the reception was a complete mess with furniture destroyed, desks broke apart, a ceiling light was dangling, bodies of humans and hyenas were littered across the floor.

Shortly after, the remainder of the group joined him, and seeing that Iris and Mr Benson were okay, Ash sighed in relief.

Though the reception was a mess, Ash was sure there must be survivors on the higher floors…the sniper had to be here.

'Please sis…be okay'