Narrator:"Hope is heavy. When you carry it too long without relief… it starts to feel like a curse."
Day 4 – 7:00 AM – AV Room
The walls felt tighter every morning. Like the building knew we weren't meant to survive here for long.
Kartik was staring at the window. Same window. Same corner.
Kartik: "We need to know what's out there. Not just upstairs or the next classroom. The real outside. The city."
His voice wasn't a suggestion. It was a challenge.
I stood beside him. Finally, we were thinking the same thing.
FLASHBACK – What Happened Outside (as told by Vikram)
That afternoon, we forced Vikram to speak. The real story.
Ayush: "You said you saw what happened after the first day. Start talking."
Vikram (nervous): "I saw the chaos from the third floor lab. I didn't try to help anyone… I just watched. I survived by hiding. That's all."
Ananya: "Tell us what you saw."
He gulped, then nodded.
Vikram's Recollection:
•Parents came to pick up students. Some were already infected but not fully turned – they looked sick, not dangerous.
•Security guard bit a mother in front of Gate 2. No one reacted fast enough.
•Within 40 minutes, every open gate became a funnel for death.
•Civilians, teachers, outsiders — infected or eaten at the gate.
•Police tried to seal the school. But some infected followed the cops back out.
•Eventually… everyone stopped coming.
Vikram: "There's no one outside now. No rescue. No army. Just them."
Ayush (Narration) : We all leave our parents to search and our loved ones because they feel and believe that they all would have died as Vikram said, that is why they first think about the parents who are alive and then if the need arises, they will search for their parents. The probability is low. We all know that our parents too must be roaming on this road now, cutting people, so searching for them is just a waste of time. That is why everyone gets happy just by seeing the photo of their parents which they always keep in their wallets.
Rest in peace : all parents who have died in this apocalypse.
10:30 AM – South Tower Observation Point
We moved silently through the back corridors. Shivam was still limping. Tanya was coughing. But this had to be done.
We reached the broken window in the south tower — the only one with a wide enough view of the ground.
Kartik moved the curtain.
And what we saw… stole the breath from the room.
EXT. SCHOOL GROUNDS – CONTINUOUS
The entire field — the basketball court, the open ground, even the assembly stage — was crawling with infected.
Hundreds. NO,no,no .At least a thousand.
Some walking. Some twitching. Some just… standing.
Lucky (shaking): "We're never getting out of here."
Sana: "Why are they just… standing?"
Isha: "They're not waiting. They're watching. That's not a horde. That's a trap."
Silence.
Kartik: "Then we stop waiting. We fight smarter."
He turned to me.
Kartik: "You and I — we lead this. We get everyone out. One shot. No retries."
1:00 PM – The Plan
We met in the biology lab [neighbour of AV room]— the only place we could talk without echoes.
Kartik and I laid out the plan on an old roll-down board.
◆ OBJECTIVE: Escape the school
Get out without attracting the horde. Reach a known safe zone.
Phase 1: Diversion
Lucky builds a sound-emitter using old walkie circuits and the PA system wiring.
He'll program it to broadcast pre-recorded class bells through external speakers — placed at the north wall to draw the horde away from the south gate.
Lucky: "I'll wire it to play the 7:30 bell. That should confuse them."
Phase 2: Exit Path
We discovered the old sewer drain from the chemistry storeroom. It leads beneath the grounds to an outer culvert 500 meters south — past the field.
Ananya: "It hasn't been opened in years. It might be flooded."
Ayush: "We'll check. But it's the only path they're not watching."
Phase 3: Safe Zone
Vikram remembered his dad's apartment above Galaxy Medcare Hospital in Sector 18.
It's 4 km from the school. The rooftop is locked, and the lower floors were sealed on Day 2.
Ananya: "We'll move rooftop to rooftop, use alleys, avoid open roads."
3:45 PM – Sewer Entrance Check
The six of us — Kartik, Ananya, Vikram, Shivam, Sana, and me — pulled back the grating in the chemistry storeroom.
The air was sour. Water dripping. Darkness absolute.
Kartik (testing flashlight): "It's narrow but passable. If the exit isn't blocked, this works."
Sana: "If it collapses halfway, we're dead."
Ayush: "Then we don't crawl. We run. One team goes first, checks the route. Other follows after 30 seconds."
6:00 PM – Final Prep
Group Splits:
Diversion Team: Lucky, Tanya, Isha
Task: Activate bell diversion and stall anyone who hears movement
Escape Team: Ayush, Kartik, Ananya, Sana, Shivam, Vikram, Ayesha
Task: Crawl the sewer, reach exit, signal with green flashlight from rooftop
Sana (hugging Kartik): "If this fails—"
Kartik (calmly): "It won't."
"Here we know that Sana probably have feelings on Kartik"
7:25 PM – Countdown Begins
PA system activated.
We heard the bell.
Sharp. Loud. Familiar.
And just like that — the horde turned.
Dozens of heads snapped toward the north wall.
They moved.
Away from us.
7:27 PM – The Crawl
We entered the sewer.
Vikram first, since he claimed to know the outer exit.
Ayush (narration):
"It wasn't just darkness. It was claustrophobia. Breathing others' fear. Each inch felt earned with sweat."
We passed broken pipes. Flooded patches. Scratches on the wall.
But no bodies.
That scared me more.
7:41 PM – Outer Exit
We reached the iron grating.
Blocked.
Shivam (whisper): "Of course it's jammed."
Ayush: "Use the crowbar. Three on one side. Push on my count."
1…
2…
3—
GRKKK— It gave way.
Light.
Fresh air.
We stepped out — onto dry grass, south of the school.
And behind us — faint, but audible —
ROARS.
Ananya: "They heard us."
Kartik: "Move. Fast."
Final Scene – Rooftop Signal
We reached a small, locked rooftop two blocks away.
Vikram's father's flat. Empty. Supplies intact.
We climbed.
Ananya flashed the green flashlight three times.
Lucky's group would see it.
And in that moment — for the first time in four days —
We weren't trapped.
We were survivors.
But not for long.
◆ AV Notebook Entry – End of Day 4:
•AV base abandoned.
•Sewer tunnel successfully used.
•Confirmed 1000+ infected on grounds.
•Diversion using PA system worked.
•Group split successfully.
•Current safe house: Flat 18B, Galaxy Medcare Tower
•No bites. No deaths.
Final Voiceover – Ayush
*"We thought the school was the worst of it. That if we just got out, we'd be free.
But we were wrong.
This world doesn't want survivors.
It wants silence."*