Chapter 3: Dead in the Halls

Rudolph Alinsky

May 19th 2022

0 days before outbreak

Minnesota: Armstrong HS

Season 1

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"Open the door, Rudolph," Ms. Parkensin told me as we began to hear the halls fall silent.

I opened the door slowly and quietly, Ms. Parkensin went out first. As I began to leave too I saw one of the monsters and it jumped straight at her. It tore the flesh from her neck, she screamed in pain as she fell to the ground. Her blood covered the floor. I watched in horror, unable to move, unable to help. Looking back on it I now know, that's when I knew I would never be the same.

"Rudolph!" She screamed in pain. I didn't help her, I should have but I couldn't. Her voice still rings through my ears. I moved past her and the monster, quickly running down the corridor. There were more of those things, they seemed to be everywhere.

They were all slowly making their way to the exits where everyone had made their escape to. Not many of them chased after me, luckily.

I got too tired to run anymore but there were too many of them to stop and avoid death. I opened the door to my old freshman geography teacher's classroom, Mr. Durben. Someone was in there but they weren't the same.

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Ethan Warren

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"I need to find my sister," I said to Edin as she took a seat at one of the desks.

"We shouldn't go back out there, Ethan."

I needed to find Addie but I know she would have already left the building. She goes with the crowd, it's all she knows how to do. But what if Aiden needed help? I couldn't just stand there and wait and if Edin wasn't going to help me then there's nothing I could do about that.

I opened the door slowly, peaking my head a little into the hall.

"What are you doing?" Edin whispered, suddenly right behind me.

"I'm going to help Aiden, you're welcome to join me." I saw that there were none of the creatures that I could see. I opened the door fully and stepped out, Edin was right behind me.

"We can't split up. Do you know where he could be heading?" Edin asked as we started to walk, being cautious of our surroundings.

"Considering Rudolph was not in class he would probably have been forced to go to the guidance counselor," I assumed. We started heading that way but a few minutes later, we ran into people.

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Aiden Palton

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After Dallen and I split up I ran to the counselor's office. Those things were everywhere. Some chased after me but they were relatively slow. When I got to the office door I saw Mr. Parkensin. She was dead, eaten alive. It was fascinating and terrifying at the same time but I was too worried about Rudi to care.

"Rudi!" I yelled, barging into the counselor's office. No one was in there and there was no sign of his death. "Rudi where are you!" I ran out of the door, stepping over Ms. Parkensin's rotting corpse. I felt a hand grab my ankle, I'll never forget the feeling. Cold and dead, just like her.

I quickly kicked her in the face with my other foot without thinking. I got free from her grasp and stepped back. She slowly rose from the floor, never not making eye contact. I was too young to know how to kill her, I should have.

I still hadn't run away by the time that her insides that were left over from her killer spewed on the floor, now stained with blood. I backed away slowly as she started to get closer but I still didn't run away. I turned away, making my way down the passage. I never ran, they didn't scare me. I just needed to find Rudolph.