MARCELLA PACINO SAT IN THE LECTURE HALL, HER LAPTOP OPEN.

She wasn't typing. Wasn't even pretending to. Her screen was split between news tabs—stories of civilians attacking each other, cops shooting unarmed people, something about a flu outbreak spreading fast through college campuses.

Fifteen people gone from the class of sixty. Fifteen.

She stared at the empty seat beside her. That was Lexi's. Her best friend. Her constant. Lexi had texted earlier: Caught the flu. Not coming in today.

But no one was connecting the dots.

Separate events, they kept saying. Random.

But Marcie's gut told her otherwise. This wasn't random. This was wrong.

Suddenly, there were screams coming from outside.

Everyone turned their heads towards the windows. The professor ordered them to stay in their seats while he walked towards the right side of the room.

The college students watched as his eyes widened. They all stood up and ran to the windows as more screams pierced the air.

Marcella gasped as she watched a student attack a campus security officer, even after he tased him.

"Everyone remain calm." The professor stated before everyone began running out of the room.

Marcie grabbed her things, stuffing them into her backpack before following everyone else. She followed the crowd, taking out her phone to call Lexie, only to be sent to voicemail, "Holy shit, of all days for you to miss. The security dude tased another dude but it didn't stop him. They're fighting now, I'll try and record it for you."

Marcella opened the camera app and tried to get to the front of the crowd. She elbowed her way through and pressed the record button.

That's when she registered the security man's scream. Then she saw the blood.

"What the-"

The crowd began pushing, panicking, as the student moved away from the bleeding security guard. It went towards the nearest kid and grabbed him.

They all began to scream.

Marcella gripped her phone and began pushing towards her dorm building. She scanned her card to get in and rushed towards the stairs.

Once in her dorm room, Marcella called Lexi and walked towards the window to see everyone running in panic two floors below.

"Okay, look, I'm coming to get you. This place is chaos. Call your family, let them know you're alright. We can go back home, back to Helen." Marcella hung up the phone, hoping her friend got the message.

She grabbed her duffel that she used for weekend trips to her house and put some clothes inside. The brunette grabbed her backpack and took out her notebooks and textbook, instead filling it with her snacks and water bottles that she bought from the cafeteria. 

There's no refunds on that stuff.

Once everything was packed, Marcella grabbed her things, including her car keys, went out the door. She went over to the stairwell but paused when she heard screams coming from below her.

"Shit." She mumbled.

Marcella ran back into her room and shut the door behind her and locking it. She went over to the window again and opened it, "You're crazy, you're crazy, you're crazy." She repeated as she glanced down at the green lawn below.

She was only on the second floor. It wouldn't be that bad... would it?

Her phone rang and Marcella reached into the back pocket of her jeans, hoping it was Lexie. Instead, it was her mother,

"Mama?" Marcella answered, setting her bags down,

"Oh, mi stellina, you're okay." Her mother's panicked voice reached her ears,

'little star'. Her mother only called her that when she was worried about her safety. She remembered her mother calling her that when she was in the hospital after her first car accident when she was seventeen.

"Uh, to an extent." Marcie responded, glancing back at the door where the yells were getting louder,

"Cara, get home, now." Her mother ordered, "The neighbours, they're attacking each other. The army said to go to Atlanta, but I'm not so sure."

"Don't." Marcie told her, "It's crazy here, too. Don't worry, mama, I'm coming."

"Hurry, cara." Her mother said before putting the phone down.

"I'm trying." Marcie mumbled, putting her phone back into her pocket.

The brunette reached for her mattress and ripped the pillows and blankets off. With a slight struggle, Marcella tossed it out the window, followed by her comforter and pillows.

Marcie went to her roommate's side of the room. Geraldine had gone home for the week after her mother came down with the virus. 

She grabbed the second mattress and pushed it out of the small space. Once it landed nearly on top of the other one, Marcella reached for her bags and they followed the mattresses.

"Oh, my god. I'm insane." Marcella mumbled sticking her leg out the window, "Oh, god." She stared down at the mattresses that she hoped to break her fall, "On three. I can do this. On three. One... two..." The door behind her busted open and Marcella let go of the window sill, "Three!" She screamed as she fell.

She let out an 'oof' as she landed on the mattresses. She laid there for a moment, trying to catch her breath.

"God, I'm brilliant." She grinned before sitting up and grabbing her things.

She made a break for her car, quickly unlocking it before shoving her bags inside. As she locked the car doors, she reached for her phone and dialled Lexie's number again and turned the car on,

"Hey, Lex, I'm on my way to your building now. Be ready, we need to be quick." She hung up the phone before pulling out, dodging all the kids running around.

In minutes, she was outside the Piedmont North building. Marcella grabbed her phone and turned off the car before getting out. Locking it quickly, she moved the key chain around until she got her self-defence tools.

Marcie called her friend again as she entered the building and walked up the stairs, "C'mon, Lex." It kept going to voicemail.

It was eerily quiet. The lights were off, and no one was in the halls.

She got to Lexie's room and knocked. She heard shuffling on the other side and Marcie pressed her ear to the door, "Lex." She whispered, "Lex, let me in."

Still, nothing. Marcella pushed her shoulder against it, trying to break the door open. She looked over her shoulder before trying again.

With a sigh, Marcie took a bobby pin out from her hair and kneeled down. She jammed it into the lock and twisted it until she felt the click.

She threw the door open and sighed when she spotted her blonde friend facing the window, "Jesus, Lex, did you get any of my messages. We gotta go."

Marcie grabbed her friends shoulder and turned her around, only to be met with faded blue eyes.

Twelve years of friendship. Summers at the lake. Prom night. Studying until sunrise. Lexie with her hairbrush microphone, belting Katy Perry like she owned the world.

Lex let out a growl and reached for Marcie. The brunette let out a short scream and pushed her back, "Oh, my god. Lexie." Marcella gasped, "What happened to you?"

What used to be a bubbly blonde woman, was now a shell of a human being. Marcie's best friend since she moved to Helen when she was ten. Twelve years, gone in a day. In an instant.

It wasn't Lexie anymore. It was a monster.

It kept reaching for Marcie, only to be pushed away, "What am I supposed to tell your parents?" Tears welled up in her eyes, "What am I supposed to do?"

With one last push, the reanimated girl fell against the desk, its' head hitting the corner, causing it to still. Marcie let out a sob and kneeled beside her, "I'm sorry, Lexie. I'm so sorry."

Marcella reached for the bracelet that was on the dead girl's wrist. Marcie made it when they were twelve. It was nearly identical to the one that was on her own wrist, except different colours.

Marcie quickly took the pink bracelet off Lexie's wrist, stuffing it into her pocket before grabbing the blanket from her friend's bed and laying it over her body, "Until another lifetime." She whispered, brushing the blonde hair from the girl's face.

Marcella shut the door before rushing back down the stairs. She still hadn't seen another person and she was afraid of running into another one of those things.

She got back into her car and rested her head on the steering wheel. 

She needed to go back home. But she didn't want to go back without Lexie. She couldn't face telling her parent's of her fate.

"Okay." Marcie whispered to herself, "Okay, okay. I can do this." She turned the engine over and let out a small scream as someone jumped onto the hood of her car.

Dead eyes looked back at her as she hit the gas. Blood smeared on the windshield as it banged its' hands on the glass. Marcie slammed her foot on the breaks and the body slid off her car.

Using the windshield wipers and the liquid, she got most the blood out of her vision.

The body stood up in the road and stumbled towards her again. Marcie pressed on the gas and smacked into the body once again, sending it flying. 

She watched as it got up in her rearview mirror as she drove away.

Marcella was smart. She stuck to the backroads, not wanting to get caught in traffic. Eventually, the silence got to her and she turned on the radio,

"Atlanta is the safe zone. We recommend everyone to get to the city immediately. We have food, water, shelter... protection. Atlanta is safe." It kept repeating.

After five minutes, Marcie turned the radio off, "Yeah right." She mumbled, reaching for her CD case. She slipped the Katy Perry CD in and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of Teenage Dream.

It was Lexie's favourite song.

"You think I'm pretty without any makeup on. You think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong. I know you get me, so I let my walls come down, down." Lexie gripped her hairbrush in her hand, mimicking a microphone as she rolled down the passenger side window and turned the radio up.

Marcella laughed, putting her sunglasses on and rolling back the sunroof. They were on their way to their senior year of college. Soon, they'll have to live their adult lives.

"Before you met me, I was alright, but things were kinda heavy. You brought me to life, now every February, you'll be my Valentine," Lexie put the brush towards Marcie's mouth and she sang along, "Valentine."

"Let's go all the way tonight. No regrets, just love." The two girls sang together as they drove down the highway, "We can dance, until we die. You and I," They glanced at each other, "will be young forever!"

Marcella slammed her finger on the off button, making the song shut off. She'd rather drive in complete silence.

It took longer than usual to get back to Helen. And the silence made it feel like a lifetime.

It was nearly dark. And that made Marcie nervous to leave the safety of her car. What if she couldn't see a threat in time?

She pulled up to her house and gulped. Her father's truck wasn't in the driveway, and that wasn't a good sign.

She told her mom to stay in Helen.

Gripping her keychain and turning on the mini flashlight, she approached her house. The front door was locked. She shined her light through the window, not seeing any movement inside.

Marcie grabbed her house key and opened the door. She wrapped her hand around what's considered the glass-breaker for if you were trapped inside a car, seemed more useful as a stabby weapon.

"Mom." Marcie whispered as she walked into the house, "Mama, papa."

Still, no sound. She told them to stay here. Why would they leave?

Marcella searched the rest of the house quietly, trying to find any sign of her family. She walked into her parent's bedroom and noticed clothes and photo albums gone.

She sat down on their bed and sighed, where would they go?

After securing the house, she moved the couch in front of the door in case anyone... or anything... tried to break in.

Marcie went into her bedroom and laid down on her bed. It looks untouched, as if her parents didn't take any of her things. Why would they?

She sighed, looking up at her ceiling where the glow in the dark stars were. She needed to find them, before it was too late.

Before they ended up like Lexie.

Tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks as she curled up into a ball and sobbed into her pillow.

She didn't want to be alone.