AV Room — Moments After
The projector clicked once, then flickered off into standby mode. A faint red light blinked on its panel — a sign that the backup generator was running low.
Around it, eight terrified students huddled close. Ayush, Ananya, Kartik, Suraj, Lucky, Shivam, Sanaa, and Tanya. Riya hadn't made it.
They didn't speak. Not because there was nothing to say — but because silence was the only thing keeping them from falling apart completely.
Ayush sat cross-legged in a far corner, eyes fixed on the single, narrow window. Dust and scratches blurred his view, but he still saw enough.
Outside, what used to be a sunlit cricket ground was now a field of horror.
A girl limped barefoot across the mud, blood dripping from a gash on her calf. A boy — face torn and eyes red — stumbled after her. He wasn't running to help. He was hunting.
Farther off, three students dashed toward the cafeteria fence. One made it over. The others screamed as the infected caught up.
A shriek rose and cut off suddenly.
Kartik shifted behind Ayush, wincing as he adjusted the bandage on his split knuckles. "Ayush… we can't just sit here forever."
Ayush didn't turn. "We won't."
Kartik pressed. "You said it was safe—"
"I said it was safer. Not safe." Ayush pointed through the window. "That construction building beyond the fence. See it?"
The skeletal concrete structure stood silent in the distance, four unfinished floors under rusting cranes. Wind whipped the plastic sheeting tied to the beams.
Kartik's voice dropped. "That's where those bullies dragged kids before… you really want to run there?"
Ayush finally turned, taking in the group. Sanaa huddled beside Tanya, wiping tears from her eyes. Lucky pressed a torn cloth against his bruised leg. Shivam sat trembling, a ripped sleeve revealing scratches on his arm — thankfully not from a bite.
Ananya stood slowly. Her eyes, red from crying, met Ayush's. She wiped her face with her sleeve, took a shaky breath, and stepped forward. "We follow him," she said, her voice breaking — but firm.
Kartik stared at her. "Are you sure?"
She didn't answer. She only tightened the strap on her bag and stepped closer to Ayush.
Ayush nodded. "We move at sunset. Pairs. No noise. No panic. One scream, and we all die."
Meanwhile — Parents' Side
Across the city, panic brewed in living rooms.
Mrs. Ahuja clutched her phone with white knuckles. She had already called four other parents. One mother had tried driving to the school. She hadn't returned any calls since.
"Pick up, pick up, please…" she whispered, dialing again.
At Ayush's house, his mother stood frozen at the window, eyes darting to the empty street. The TV behind her droned on —
"There are no confirmed reports of violence inside any schools. Authorities urge citizens to remain calm…"
She threw her phone down, grabbed her purse, and ran to the door.
Hospital — ER Chaos
The infected girl from St. Ravencroft thrashed violently on a stretcher as four orderlies struggled to hold her.
"Secure her arms! Restraints!" Dr. Khanna barked.
A nurse hesitated. "Is it rabies? Shouldn't we use protective gear?"
"We don't have time! Move!"
They underestimated her. Even as they injected sedative into her arm, her eyes darted wildly.
Suddenly, her neck twisted unnaturally fast. She lunged, teeth sinking into the nurse's face.
A scream tore through the ER.
Blood spattered against the glass dividers. The nurse fell backward, crashing into a tray. Another orderly scrambled, slipping in the spreading pool of blood.
Within twelve minutes, the entire emergency wing fell into chaos.
Government Bunker — Delhi Secretariat
Underneath Delhi, inside a sealed bunker, a dozen officials hunched over flickering monitors. Red files, labeled "R-Protocol," littered the table.
"Thirty-two students unaccounted for. Confirmed fatalities rising," a junior officer stammered.
The Defense Minister leaned forward, pointing to a paused CCTV frame from St. Ravencroft. A girl biting. A teacher falling.
"Media blackout. Total suppression," he ordered coldly.
"But… sir, the parents—"
"They will be handled."
A colonel at the far end hesitated. "If this leaks… about the test subject…"
The room fell into stunned silence.
"Test subject?" another officer whispered, eyes wide.
The Defense Minister didn't respond. He closed the file slowly.
Meeting adjourned.
The Canteen — The Hidden Knife
In the ruined canteen, under a broken bench, a tall boy curled into himself.
Rahul.
His fingers wrapped tight around a kitchen knife stolen from the chef's fallen body. Dried blood crusted under his nails.
Through a gap, he watched the infected shuffle past the entrance. His breathing slowed to nearly nothing.
No tears. No shaking. Just raw survival.
Flashback — The Rooftop Boy
Two days before the outbreak.
A small, dim lab. A boy strapped to a metal chair, eyes wide.
Behind glass, a man in a lab coat watched.
"You'll prove them wrong," the man said coldly. "You're stronger than they know."
Clear liquid dripped into the boy's veins, glowing faintly.
"Dad… please…"
The man only turned away, as though the boy wasn't his son — just another experiment.
AV Room — Plans and Shadows
Ayush paced. He checked the scratches on Shivam's arm again — not a bite.
"We move past the auditorium, slip into the staff hallway, then to the sports shed. There's a gap in the fence behind it. Beyond that — construction building," he whispered.
Suraj's voice cracked. "That's suicide. We'll never make it."
Ayush's eyes hardened. "Staying here is slower suicide."
Silence.
Then Ananya stepped forward, trembling but resolute. "We can't just wait to die."
Ayush's phone buzzed softly.
[Drake Lesnar]: Within 0.5 km. Awaiting your signal.
Ayush's heart stopped. He knew Drake's codename. He had seen it in Discord. But seeing it here, so close…
He glanced toward the window.
A flicker on the construction rooftop. Barely a shape. Perhaps a figure. Watching.
Not clearly. Just enough to feel eyes on him.
Judgment.
Ayush felt the weight settle on his shoulders.
We trained for this, B.S.A. We knew it would come.
Then why does it still feel like we're alone?
END OF EPISODE 4