All Chapters of If You Were Infected: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

16 Chapters

01 - The Gossip

News. Rumors. Gossip. For weeks, I’d been hearing the same scraps, the same impossible claims.I never had the chance to watch television, but tonight, I eavesdropped from my room. I pressed my ear closer to the door, trying to catch snippets of the broadcast while my stepfather’s heavy snoring overlapped with it in random beats. It surprised me that the TV didn’t disturb him from his slumber. My mother must have already gone upstairs to sleep, abandoning me once again with this monster. She always had a headache. It was her nightly alibi.My hand trembled as I turned the doorknob, only to find it stubbornly fixed in place. My stepfather must have locked it again on the other side.A sharp discomfort twisted in my stomach, and I shifted anxiously from foot to foot. His instruction echoed in my mind: ‘Pee in the corner.’ I shivered at the thought. It was a last resort I resisted so hard. It made me feel dirty, yet the pressure in my bladder was relentless.The TV made a whooshing sound

02 - Day One

Coming home was more dreadful than the photoshoot… or the news anchors smiling creepily. Opening the door, I saw my stepfather watching me as I entered through the kitchen. He didn’t say a word and didn’t show any reaction. The smell of stale beer and fried oil lingered in the air, as if it had never left the walls.I headed straight to my room and heard his approaching footsteps. Slow, measured; each step pressed into the floorboards like a warning. A metallic click sounded at the door. It was locked again. I was stuck all afternoon in my little cage, my windows locked with screens on the exterior, at least so that some fresh air could come inside. The screen was dented in one corner—my failed attempt to escape last time. I stared at the ceiling until it went dark, waiting for my stepfather to unlock the door once again for dinner and a shower. The paint above me was cracked, a thin line running from one corner to another, as if something had split the room in half. It didn’t take lo

03 - Reunited

It felt like an hour had passed when I opened my eyes again.I remembered the news: chaos, burning houses, loud sirens, and city-wide power outages. That boy on the school grounds who was bitten, died, and then rose again as if nothing happened. And the teacher who almost attacked me did the same thing—dying and then coming back alive—with dead eyes and torn skin, reeking of decay.They rose despite their mutilations, as if they felt no pain. They became wild, aggressive monsters, rising from death.I gathered my knees to my chest as I gripped the doorknob tightly in case they would open the door.“That was pretty brave,” a voice said. Mark approached, casting a shadow over me. He sat beside me and pried my fingers from the doorknob, placing my hands on my knees.“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice trembling.He sighed, his deep hazel-green eyes watching those who sat in front of us. None of them had said a word, shock obvious on their faces. His slightly bearded chin showed under

04 - Alive

It had been a while since Mark and Isaac had retreated from each other. There was nothing we could do.Alia was missing.Lenore got to her feet and pulled out her phone. She had been carrying it for almost an hour. Frustration painted all over her frowning face. She was also anxious, biting her nails as she furiously tapped on the screen.I sat in a seat near the back door, watching her while staying aware of my surroundings.Fortunately for us, the sickos couldn’t find us here. The thick wall played a huge part in our survival. Its narrow windows at the ceiling were the only way we could check outside.Josh had been carrying Andrew on his shoulders while standing on a chair, slightly shaking as he kept his balance. “What do you see? Tell me!” he asked.“Just wait a sec, and keep me steady,” Andrew said as he peered through the glass.Lenore approached me with frustration evident in her heavy steps. “This is insane! There’s no signal here at all,” she exclaimed. “I can’t call my mom,

05 - The Big If

Then, Mark looked around. “We’re not making a move.” He snatched the makeshift board from Isaac’s hand and slammed it on his knee, breaking it in two.It thundered across the room, and it made me jump. It felt like my heart left my body for an instant.He strolled around, wiped his frustrated face, and groaned. He stopped at the teacher’s desk and lowered his head, palms stretched out on the wooden surface.I stood still and heaved in panic, my fingers tapping the skin of my arms. She wasn’t there. Now we weren’t leaving.But the other group must not have recognized Alia. They must have been mistaken. She had to be there, and they just didn’t know it.“No,” Gwen’s normally loud voice scraped. There was no persuading Mark, I figured. Especially knowing Alia wasn’t there. Gwen continued, shaking Isaac’s arm. “We have to do something! We have to get Ivan! Don’t listen to him, he doesn’t care about us!”“Oh, now I don’t care?” Mark argued. “I’m protecting you, stupid!”Gwen continued whin

06 - Death Trap

The rooftop had a spacious helipad for air transport. But somehow, it was a death trap, too. Getting up there would be a dead end if the monsters found us before we were rescued.My schoolmates desperately discussed the helicopter that was about to save our lives. We opened the windows and waved our hands as if to get the chopper’s attention. However, it seemed to stay overhead, its blinding light cutting through the glass panes.I glanced below. The sickos flailed violently with their hands reaching skyward, roaring angrily at the hovering vehicle. Then, a sudden shattering of glass interrupted the whirring and roaring. The windows splintered in the neighboring rooms, and the undead inside began to stagger through the broken glass. A waterfall of bodies overflowed the lawn, joining in the flailing herd.The rooms were thinning out of monsters.The noise from the helicopter must have angered them. It must have pulled them away from the rooms.“Mark!” I called, frantically looking for

07 - Clawed

We were sprinting. The neighborhood was in ruins. Cars crashed into one another, flames devouring everything in their way. Sparks flew at the streetlights, the electricity dying. Dead bodies lay flat on the street, and puddles of blood painted the concrete. Their flesh hung from bones, limbs fractured and half-eaten. There were only the dead. I coughed as we ran through the thick smoke. A few yards away, sickos swarmed toward a blaring car, allowing us a chance to get past them. Turning and detouring, we staggered as Gwen fell on the ground, and the others fell on her. Ivan quickly pulled her back up. I held Lenore’s hand so tightly I could break her bones, pulling her away to overtake the stampede. Mark stopped at a corner, peeked, and waved his hand.“Come on!” Isaac exclaimed. We took a turn.And then another turn.It seemed we ran for almost a mile. The next turn led us to a thick mass of ugly faces, their heads tilted to the moon. My breath was stuck in my throat. I tried to br

08 - In the Dark

Before we could process it, the body arched backward, her spine cracking. A snarl escaped her lips as she tried to rise from the ground. But Mark drove her back down with his foot. He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the nearest house. When we reached the doorstep, a hand broke through the wooden door. I shrieked. Mark pulled me again, heading for the basement doors. He pulled the heavy cellar doors with all his strength, and dust flew around the frame of the hole that gaped darkness beneath us. “Go!” Mark hissed. Then I heard roars.I hesitated, but I descended first, my heartbeat racing from the blinding blackness of the underground. The doors closed behind me, and the only thing I could hear was Mark’s footsteps, but I couldn’t see him. The suffocating silence and the thick air were familiar, flashing a glimpse of my own wretched bedroom. Until his cell phone lit up. His silhouette made my body feel lighter. I stood still on cold feet and gooseflesh; the recent memory of

09 - Picture on the Wall

I watched him in frustration. Annoyed. I wanted to know more. At the same time, I felt dumbfounded by the fact that I had never known about it until now. Mark cheated on Nathalie… It made me doubt my knowledge about Mark. It made me doubt myself. If he cheated, who was the accomplice?“Also, stay where you are.” I found a finger pointing at me. Mark’s log-thick arm stretched out toward me, almost reaching my nose. He cracked one eye open. “Can’t lose one more friend on the same friggin’ day.”I had witnessed so many deaths in just a few hours. I imagined seeing my friends die right in front of me. Well, I thought I’d seen it in the helicopter incident, but they lived. But now that we were outside, where the danger was even more unpredictable, I couldn’t possibly bear to see them bitten, mutilated, or eaten. The thought only made fear grow larger inside me. Tears began to well up, and my heart was beating painfully. I pushed the stool aside and lay flat on the dusty floor. I looked up

10 - The Scratch

We had a stare-down for what felt like an hour. He watched my every move, my every breath, anticipating what might come next.I panted, afraid. My hands shook as I clasped my injured arm that hung low at my side. Blood trickled to the floor, mixing into the puddle. I could barely look at it as I felt it spitting out more red. I felt like I could collapse, my knees giving out from under me. My heavy breaths trembled as my fingers ran through the wound. Deep scratches. Gurgling sounds. This could kill me. He could kill me.I saw how tightly he gripped that pry bar. I saw how deeply furrowed his eyebrows were.I saw how firmly he gritted his teeth.He was anticipating my change. He was waiting for the moment I fell to the floor, with my body stiff and frozen, like the woman earlier. But I was still standing.Well, barely.It already felt like a gallon of blood had spilled from my arm. It numbed, but there was no pain just yet. But I was expecting it. My eyes squeezed shut.Don’t think

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