Stepping into the science block I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of protection as relief washed over me. We were finally safe – for now. Sending Liam and Harry out first, I kept the door open as Conor, Elle, Sophie and Sadie ran in. I shut the door and locked it, hoping it’d buy us time if anyone had followed us.

“Science room 3, you said?” Harry said in a loud whisper. I nodded and we all crept over to the door. Liam looked through the small window in the door and a grin appeared on his face, one I hadn’t seen for quite a while.

“They’re alright!” He said joyfully and flung the door open. Everyone looked over to us apart from Louis, who continued to look at the floor. My stomach dropped suddenly as I scanned everyone sitting there and didn’t see Susan. Liam and Harry walked in and over to everyone, hugging them and telling them we’d all made it without injury. Elle, Sophie, Conor and Sadie walked in carefully and scanned the people that were now going to be people you spent hours with. Conor nodded his head at the rest of the football guys and took a seat as I walked in, suddenly receiving evils glares from a couple of the people in the room.

“Hey, where’s Susan?” I shot a glare over to him. Why did he have to be the one to open his big mouth? Louis slowly looked up to him and then over to Zayn, who in turn looked over to me.

“She’s in the other room.” Louis pointed to the door to the right of me that was basically the science store cupboard. Conor went to get up from his chair but Louis shook his head. “It’s locked.” Conor scowled as he sat back down. I knew this was going to happen. I walked over to the only other space in this room, the floor underneath the whiteboard, and sat cross-legged. As silence took over the room like a disease, I couldn’t help but go through everything that had happened in my head. I’d woken up this morning hating the uniform I was in thinking school was going to be awful and ended up hiding in the school grounds with a bunch of people I’d never have hung out with in normal life, smacking in the heads of dead people and trying to survive. The images of being knocked over by a zombie and cutting my hand on the pipe ran through my head as a burning sensation radiated from my palm. I looked down at my right hand, covered in my sleeve but now stained a lovely red.

“What happened to your hand?” I broke from my thoughts and saw Zayn standing over me. He didn’t say it in a way that meant he cared, he just wanted to know if I was bitten.

“Scratched it on a bolt sticking out of the pipe I grabbed from the changing rooms.” I said, my poker face trying to shadow the anxiety I felt from him.

“Oh really?” Louis said in a conniving way. I could see his face light up at the fact he could have an excuse to lock me up in the cupboard.

“How can we be sure you’re not lying?” Zayn added, the whole room was now staring silently at us, waiting for the conversation to continue.

“Well Harry, Liam and Conor were there.” I said thinking I was clever but the look those three returned wasn’t one that filled me with confidence.

“Nothing against you, Yasmin…” Liam began, “But none of us saw your hand get scratched, we just believed what you told us…” His voice trailed off into a whisper as my gaze had narrowed. How can they turn against me? I was the one who warned them, fought off zombies and kept the whole bite turning into zombie scenario quiet from the others so they weren’t scared and now I’m sat here with the entire room ready to lock me away with two dead people. Well, I didn’t know how well Susan was so I assumed the worst.

“I don’t want her here then! She could turn on us all!” Louis demanded with a smirk on his face. I knew this was only happening because he had to let go of his beloved Susan. I could tell under the fake exterior of hating her for whatever reason he actually really still loved her.

“No!” Sophie jumped up. “She hasn’t been bitten; she got scratched with a bolt!” I smiled and thanked Sophie for her attempt to stick up for me but I could already see most of the room had made up their minds… Even Conor.

“We can’t take any chances!” Louis led the attack on me, saying the right things at the right times knowing it could alter everyone’s thinking. His gaze never left me as he spoke, like he wanted me to know how much he currently despised me.

“We can’t put her in that room.” Anthony suddenly added to everyone’s surprise. I looked over at him confusedly. Why was he sticking up for me?

“Why do you say that?” Zayn said without giving anything away.

“If she isn’t bitten, you’re putting her in a room with two people that have which means you’ll basically be responsible for her death. She’s the only person in this room who has actually helped people and fought those things; she’s not stupid enough to get bitten.” My jaw dropped as Anthony finished his speech. First off I was impressed with his quick thinking about putting me in that room and secondly I was shocked that he actually complimented me on fighting those things. The rest of the room exchanged glances as they came to a verdict – I felt like I was in court, not school!

“What do you suggest we do then?”  Niall asked, I could tell he was undecided as to whether he thought I should be locked away. I knew there was no point in fighting and shouting and standing up for myself because they’d already made their minds up. Anthony looked around the room and smiled as an idea came to his head. Minutes later I was tied to a chair that was tied against a huge set of drawers that must have weighed a tonne!

“If she turns, she’s stuck there.” Anthony finished his constructive DIY session and sat back down. I offered him a thankful smile but he didn’t acknowledge it, simply looked at me and looked away. The room went into a deadly silence again as we all wondered what kind of conversations we could even have in this kind of situation.

“I could do with a beer.” Harry said, breaking the silence that had been with us all too long.

“Or a cigarette.” Sadie added quickly. “Or both.” I could see the smiles appear as everyone in the room imagined something refreshing that satisfied a craving of some sort.

“You know what I could do with?” Louis began, but I was listening to something completely different. I heard movement coming from the locked store cupboard and I had the gut feeling it wasn’t Susan coming out to ask if she could have some water… “I really want-” I heard it again, whatever that nose was.

“SSHHHHHHH!” I interrupted Louis mid-sentence, silencing him instantly. He scowled over at me again.

“What’s your problem?” Louis said, anger taking over him.

“SHHHH!” I repeated again as I concentrated on the noise form the store cupboard. There were more noises than before – someone must be moving around. “What kind of state was Susan in when she went into that room?” I asked suddenly. Louis looked taken aback as everyone else just stared at me like I was stupid. “Just answer the question!” I ordered, every second counted as the noises became more audible.

“She was barely conscious b-” Anthony began but I interrupted him too. If she wasn’t conscious when she went in, she certainly wasn’t going to be the healthy girl we all knew a few hours ago.

“There’s noise coming from the store cupboard. I think someone’s up and walking about.” I said, instantly regretting the way I’d put it. “And I don’t mean in the healthy way.” Liam and Harry’s eyes widened, they had clicked on to what I was saying immediately but the others were slow.

“Walking dead.” Liam stated dumbly. “In the store room.” The whole group gasped and chatted amongst themselves, the general noise of chitter-chatter growing. The few sitting near the room moved back towards the back of the science room. The door handle rattled and everyone fell silent, all eyes on the handle as it twisted from the inside. It rattled again a few times before a loud bang came from the door; the zombies obviously thinking they could bang the door down.

“What if it’s just Susan trying to get out?” Niall asked, still unsure as to what he should believe and not believe.

“Well feel free to open the small blind on the window if you want, Niall, but I guarantee it’s not going to be what you want to see…” I said morbidly. Again I could feel Louis’ eyes on me but this time I chose to ignore it. Louis whispered something to Niall and before I knew it, he was walking over to the door. Niall grabbed the small pully string of the blind and pulled it down, releasing the lock on the blinds and they rolled up quickly, revealing two grey complexions staring back at us hungrily. The guy snarled and growled as he smacked the door heavily.

“Niall, get away from the fucking door!” Liam shouted across the room. Niall ran back over without a second thought but I knew it was too late, they’d seen and smelt us now. We were their prey and they were the predators. All they needed to do was get out of that door and we were all toast… Wait… Toast? Science rooms? Something clicked in my head and suddenly a plan had come together in my head.

“Guys! Get some supplies ready, we need weapons!” The guys ran around picking up acids, Bunsen burners and every possible material we could have within this room. I’d eyed the back door of the science room that led to the gardens of the school. That was going to be our escape route. All we needed now was to hold off the zombies that were getting closer to knocking this door down with every punch.