Narrator: "Fear doesn't shout. It whispers. And when you're stuck in silence… those whispers can tear you apart."
We'd made it through the night. Barely.
The AV room still smelled like rust and mold, but at least it had a bolted door. No windows, no cracks. For now, it was a bunker.
People were scattered across the floor, curled in awkward sleeping positions. Kartik had a chair pushed up against the door, chin resting on his cricket bat. I had the early morning shift, notebook in hand, eyes flicking between everyone… and everything.
The red emergency light overhead flickered. Again.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
It was quiet — too quiet. Like the silence was plotting something.
Isha stirred. Her sketchbook was still open beside her, and she hadn't let go of her pencil all night. I peeked at the latest drawing.
It wasn't the symbol anymore.
It was a face. Pale. Hollow-eyed. Mouth wide open — like it was screaming. But the paper was silent.
Isha (softly): "I heard it again."
Ayush: "Heard what?"
She looked up at me, eyes still half in a dream.
Isha: "Scratching. From the vents."
That's when I realized something. The AV room had a ceiling vent — small, rusted, bolted. But connected to every other room through the school's duct system. If anything moved in there…
I didn't want to finish the thought.
By 7:30 AM, everyone was up. A quick headcount: all 13, still alive.
We gathered near the center, trying to shake off the fatigue. Tanya was the first to break the silence.
Tanya: "We can't sit here forever. We need more than food. We need to know what we're dealing with."
Kartik nodded, unrolling Isha's map sketch.
Kartik: "We know two types of infected so far:"
He grabbed a red pen and circled two spots on the map.
Kartik:"Walkers – slow, confused, move like they're sleepwalking. But they're everywhere. Easy to avoid, hard to kill if they pile.""Runners – fast, aggressive, eyes fully black. One scream and they charge. No hesitation."
Dev (quietly): "Like that girl from yesterday."
Nobody replied. The silence said enough.
Lucky stepped up, pointing to the old science wing.
Lucky: "The rooftop exit might still be open. If we can get up there, we might get a signal — or at least send a flare."
Ananya: "And what if they're already up there?"
Sana: "Then we fall back. Simple."
Ayush (Narration):"We were starting to move like a team. Not just reacting — thinking. But even then… we didn't realize that not all threats come with claws."
Midday Plan:
We split into two groups.
Group A: Kartik, Sana ,Tanya, Shivam, and Lucky – scout the science wing and roof access
Group B: Me, Ananya, Isha, Dev, Ayesha , Manish – secure the AV room, check vents, inventory supplies
Tanya handed me a flare gun, just in case.
Tanya: "If we're not back in 30 minutes, shoot this straight out the back window."
Ayush: "Got it."
She looked at me for a second longer — like she wanted to say something. Then she left.
Back inside, Isha climbed onto a stool, examining the ceiling vent.
Isha: "It's scratched. From the inside."
Dev: "So something's in the walls?"
Ananya picked up a metal rod, eyes sharp.
Ananya: "Or someone."
She wasn't being dramatic. Just realistic.
We removed the vent cover slowly, carefully. Inside, the passage was dark, narrow, with what looked like fingernail marks along the metal sides.
That's when we heard it. A sound none of us could mistake.
Whispers.
Not words. Just breathy, rapid patterns. Echoing through the ducts.
Ayesha (whispers): "Are they… talking?"
Isha shook her head.
Isha: "No. They're not talking. They're remembering."
15 minutes passed. Still no sign of the scout team.
I checked my watch. My hand was shaking slightly.
Dev: "Should we fire the flare?"
Ananya: "Five more minutes."
Then…
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Three loud knocks on the AV door. Not banging. Not smashing. Just… knocking.
Deliberate.
Ayush: "Who is it?!"
No reply.
Just another knock.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Ananya stepped forward, hockey stick raised. Dev stood beside her.
Then we heard it — Kartik's voice.
Kartik (muffled): "It's us! Open up!"
We rushed to the door. The second it opened, Kartik stumbled in, bleeding from his arm. Lucky followed, limping. Tanya's eyes were wide, breath ragged. Shivam was last, holding a broken chair leg like a weapon.
Kartik (panting): "Runners. Two of them. We made it up the stairs — but they were already there. One jumped from behind a cabinet.I am safe not bitten"
Tanya: "We got the door locked behind us. But they're fast. Way too fast."
I handed him a towel. The cut wasn't deep — just enough to scare.
Ayush: "What about the roof?"
Shivam: "Still accessible. But we need to go together next time. One group's too risky."
We spent the next few hours fortifying everything. The AV room, the doors, even the vent covers. Every small sound from the hall made us flinch.
The whispers hadn't stopped.
Then, as I sat down to update the notebook… Isha came over again. This time, holding a folded paper.
Isha: "I found this outside door of AV room. I swear I didn't write it , I found it"
It was a note. Scrawled in pencil. Barely readable.
"You're not alone in here.The walls hear everything.Stay quiet.Don't let the fast ones hear you. — A survivor"
We all stared at it. No one spoke.
Ayush (Narration):"That was the moment we knew the truth. There were others. Maybe still alive. Maybe… worse."
Evening Journal — Day 2
•13 survivors still alive
•2 infected types: Runners + Walkers
•First known vent activity
•Rooftop accessible but dangerous
•Isha found mysterious note
•Whispers in walls continue
•Group morale: shaken, but alert
End Quote:
"It's not the monsters that scare us. It's the silence before they strike. The moment right before everything falls apart. That's when the real fear begins."
— Ayush