Chapter 4

Joyfully, Juliet hummed the song that was chiming from the radio of her car while she was driving to the hospital. The track changed and another one of her favorite songs sounded from the speakers, which, however, was hard to listen to as a bunch of police cars and an ambulance passed her car, driving in the opposite direction.

"What the…?" she mumbled to herself as her gaze followed the wailing vehicles in the mirror, but then let it drop as she had almost reached the hospital. "Holy fucking Jesus!" she then additionally gasped, seeing the countless cars in front of the clinic.

Acting quickly, Juliet turned over and stopped the vehicle, knowing that she would never be able to get her car back out of that mess once she drove in there. She just wanted to get out and make her way to the hospital by foot, as – out of sudden – the passenger's door got ripped open and Dana slumped down on the seat, her left arm partially wrapped with a white bandage.

"Thank god that you're here!" gasped the young cheerleader, fastening her seatbelt.

"What's going on?" asked Juliet in return, as she turned around the car and drove back to Blackwell.

"I don't know. Some shit about an emergency. They were about to put the whole hospital under quarantine as I grabbed my stuff and got the fuck outta there. Too bad that Trevor was still in ICU… Gosh, I hope he's okay."

Hearing the concern in her best friend's voice, Juliet gave her a short glimpse and realized that something was bothering her. So, she asked "What happened anyway?"

Her demeanor darkening even more, Dana told "Some crazy junky asshole attacked me and Trevor while we were making out in an alley. Trevor tried to fend him off after he bit me in my arm, but… Somehow he must've been high, because…even after Trev had wrestled him down he kept on going and…"

"SHIT!" suddenly called Juliet out as she had to evade a person, who was running over the street. She lost control over the vehicle, which eventually impacted into a close-by lamp post with a dull thud.

Shaking off her daze from the accident, Juliet groaned a quiet "Fuck!" and tried to orientate. "Dana, you okay?" she then asked her friend and rubbed her shoulder.

"What. An. Asshole!" the cheerleader exclaimed, massaging her sore neck. "Not like I already had a hell of a headache anyway."

A loud inhuman scream sounded from close-by, letting both girls turn their head to the source, where a man was struggling down a crying woman to the ground and began to rip open her chest. With horror, both watched the bloody scene, the color almost entirely vanishing from their faces.

"Jules," spoke Dana with a quiet, shivering voice, "we should get the fuck outta here!"

"Yeah!" gasped the budding reporter in reply. However, as she tried to start the car, only the ignition chimed, but the engine stayed dead. "FUCK!" she cursed and punched the wheel as it would help to start the car. Sadly, her efforts only drew the attention of the still feasting creature, letting it turn towards the two friends. Screaming once again, that bloodied thing jumped up and sprinted towards the car.

Panicky, Juliet tried to start the vehicle once more, but to no avail. The engine stayed dead, and as the creature jumped onto the hood and began to constantly hammer against the windshield, both girls shrieked. First cracks appeared, and it was only a matter of time until Juliet and Dana would share the same fate like the poor woman on the street.

With one last blow, the creature's arm pierced through the windshield and reached for Dana.

"Out!" yelled Juliet, and she and Dana disembarked the car, making a run for it as long as the formerly human thing tried to free its arm again. But as they witnessed that the entire street was swarming with screaming crazies and was plastered by dozens of bodies, which also started to scream and rise, both stopped in shock. Luckily, both young women weren't characters who accepted their upcoming deadly fate.

"C'mon, this way!" said Dana and tugged on her friend's sweater, before the creatures would become aware of them.

Leading the way, Dana guided Juliet to the near-by gas station. As the light-brown-haired girl glimpsed over her shoulder, she saw that their perpetrator was back, following them in a fast pace. It had almost caught up to them, as they finally reached the empty station and headed for the door that led to the storage in the back. Right away and simultaneously, the two friends turned around on their heels as soon as they had passed the doorframe, slammed shut the sturdy metal door and locked it.

As the furious creature impacted against the door with a loud bang multiple times, both jumped backwards and held each other tightly. But it didn't budge and kept them save. Without wasting another second, Juliet locked the backdoor as well. Glad to have found a secure place and their bodies still flooded with adrenaline, Dana and Juliet sat down onto some wooden crates. Both were out of breath and shaky. Dana, however, looked way more exhausted and paler than her friend.

"Fuck! What the freakin' fuck is goin' on out there?" asked Juliet as her mind still struggled to cope what it had just experienced.

"I don't know," replied Dana. "But that guy who attacked us this morning acted the same. But…that dude wasn't him."

"D, it were dozens of 'em. And the most fucked up thing is I recognized some of those people. It's like…they got crazy."

For a moment, Dana stayed silent and took some deep breathes. With every passing minute she was feeling worse. She knew that, as long as her condition was that bad, she wouldn't be able to outrun those creatures outside.

"So, what are we gonna do now? 'Cause I'm not feeling like running away right now." said Dana, dizziness starting to take over.

Juliet realized that her best friend was in bad shape and already shuffled closer to the cheerleader. "D, what's wrong?"

"Jules… I think I… I…fuck!"

From one moment to another, Dana lost her balance and almost had fallen off the crate, if Juliet hadn't caught her during the fall. Cautiously, the young reporter laid her best friend onto the ground and then wrapped her up in some emergency blankets she had found in a first aid kit. Luckily it took Dana only a few minutes to regain consciousness.

"Dana?! Are you alright?" spoke Juliet a bit panicky, but relaxed immediately as she received a warm smile.

"So, you and Max, huh?" the beautiful cheerleader asked out of a sudden, making her friend look at her with a frown, whereas she replied with a scoff. "Oh come on, Jules. We're in a shitty situation, so gimme some cheer up, girl!"

Huffing out some air, Juliet scoffed as well and said "Yeah. Last night it became official."

"Oh believe me, Jules, you made sure that it's official to anyone on the floor since last night. And I'm really happy for you two." replied the cheerleader, making her friend blush.

But the color didn't last long in her face as a horrible fact and even more worry were crawling up her mind. "Shit!" she cussed. "Listen, D, I have to call Max and warn her to stay at Blackwell."

Of course, Dana supported this idea right away. "Yeah, do that! I'll stay here… Not that I feel like going somewhere else, anyway."

Giving her friend a soft pat on the shoulder, Juliet got up, pulled out her phone and speed-dialed Max's number.

"The number you've called is temporarily not available!" it chimed from the speaker, making her curse once more. Again, she dialed the number, coming out with the same result.

"Dammit, babe! Turn on your fucking phone!" she quietly spoke with some anger and was about to try it again. However, a loud scream behind her, let her freeze on the spot. Although she knew what probably just happened, the light-brunette girl slowly turned around. And as she saw her best friend standing there, looking at her with milky eyes, she couldn't hold back a flood of tears upon the sadness and desperation she just felt.

"D-Dana…" she only managed to whisper and received a further scream as an answer that – literally – ripped her out of her stupor. As the creature – that once had been her best friend – charged right at her, she turned around and sprinted towards the last save spot: the bathroom. Yet, before she could reach it, Dana had already clawed into her sweater and tried to pull her back.

Desperately, Juliet managed to hold on to a shelve, which luckily was fixed to the wall. Still, the creature tried to use the moment to dig its teeth into the reporter's flesh. With a ripping sound, the zipper of the sweater broke and Juliet could squirm out of the garment.

The sudden loss of resistance, paired with the strong pull, let the creature lose its balance and caused it to stumble backwards. It tripped over one of the crates and hit the ground, which gave Juliet the chance to enter the bathroom and lock the door right on time before the murderous creature impacted on and then incessantly banged against it.

This continuous terror, plus the sadness that it was Dana who graved for her life, caused Juliet to crawl into the next corner and cry, her loud sobs mixing with the ongoing noise. Her hand still clenched around her phone, she hadn't realized that she once more had dialed Max's number. Though this time, the connection was successful.