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The Infected

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Hello Dad!!

We barricaded the door with chairs. Didn’t matter that the lobby was empty. None of us felt safe.

We huddled in one corner. Whispering. Like they could hear us.

“We can’t go,” Priya said. “To the cafeteria. We’ll die.”

“We’ll die here if we don’t eat,” Rohan shot back.

No one had an answer.

Then Rosy turned to me. “Sara. Your dad… he’s a scientist, right?”

I blinked. “Yeah. Why?”

“Call him,” she said. “Tell him what’s happening. He might know what these things are. Weak spots. How the virus works. How long before someone… turns completely.”

I almost laughed. “You think I didn’t try?”

Everyone went quiet.

“I called him,” I said. “When it started. This morning. Before we jumped.”

My throat closed up remembering it.

“He screamed,” I said. “Into the phone. Then the call cut. I don’t think he—”

“Try again,” the teacher said. His voice was softer than before. “Please.”

I pulled out my phone. 8% battery. One bar.

I dialed.

It rang. Once. Twice.

Then—

“Sara?” His voice. Breathing hard. Like he was running.

“Dad—”

“No time,” he cut me off. “Listen. I left a letter. My lab. Science lab at the school. Get there. It’s got everything. The parasites. The virus. How to kill them.”

I heard crashing in the background. Glass.

“Dad, where are you? Are you—”

“I love you, Sara.”

Click.

The call died.

I stared at the screen. 7% battery now.

“He…” I swallowed. “He said there’s a letter. In the science lab. At school. It has answers.”

“He just… hung up,” I said. My hand was still gripping the phone. “After saying ‘I love you.’”

The room was quiet.

“Why would he say that?” I looked at them. “Like that?”

“Sara.” Sam’s voice was soft. Too soft. “I don’t want to make you sad. But I have to say it.”

He looked at the floor. “I think he’s dead.”

Something snapped.

I grabbed his collar and shoved him back against the wall. “What did you say?”

“Sara—”

“What do you think you’re talking about?” My voice was shaking. “He’s not dead. You don’t get to say that.”

“Sara, stop!” Priya grabbed my arm. “Calm down!”

Rohan pulled me off Sam. “He didn’t mean it like that. We’re all scared.”

I was breathing too hard. My hands were trembling.

“He’s not dead,” I said again. Quieter this time. Like saying it would make it true. “He can’t be.”

No one answered me.

Because none of us knew.

No one spoke after I shoved Sam.

My hands were still shaking. The phone said 7% in the corner, mocking me.

I looked around at them. Maya picking at her sleeve. Rohan staring at the floor. Nisha biting her nails. Priya, Mira, Rosy, the teacher. All of us bloody. All of us scared.

We couldn’t just sit here. We’d die.

Dad said there was a letter. In his lab. Answers. How long until Lia was gone for good. How to kill them.

I wiped my nose on my sleeve. It came back red. Not mine.

“Okay,” I said. My voice was rough. “We’re going to the lab. Science lab. My dad’s lab.”

The teacher opened his mouth. I cut him off. “Five of us. Not all. Me, Maya, Rohan, Sam, Nisha.” I didn’t look at Sam. Couldn’t. “The rest stay here. Barricade the door. Don’t open it for anyone. Not even us. Not until you hear my voice. My exact voice.”

“Why five?” Priya asked.

“Because five can run fast. And five can fight.” I kicked one of the metal rods toward Rohan. “Grab your weapons. We leave now.”

Nobody argued.

We each took a rod. Mine was cold and too heavy. My palms were still scraped raw from the window. I gripped it anyway.

The teacher nodded. “We’ll wait. Be careful, Sara.”

Careful. Right.

We slipped out. The lobby was still empty. Dust floating in the 3 PM light. Outside, the road was worse. Quiet. Cars with their doors hanging open like broken jaws.

We moved slow. Every step, I expected one of them to come lurching from behind a car.

I knew the way to Dad’s lab. Down the main hall, left at the burned-out trophy case, second door on the right. I’d done it a hundred times. Never with blood drying on my jeans.

We made it to the school. The main doors were smashed in. Glass everywhere.

“Stay close,” I whispered.

The hallways smelled like copper and bleach. Black smears on the lockers. No sound except our breathing and the tap of our rods on tile.

Left at the trophy case.

There it was. Science lab. The door was closed.

Maya grabbed my arm. “Hey. Wait.” Her voice was barely there. “What if… what if there’s parasites in the room? Like, the little worm ones? We have to be alert.”

She was right. My stomach twisted.

I nodded and reached for the handle. My hand was shaking so bad I almost dropped the rod.

I pushed the door open slow.

And Dad was there.

He was standing by his desk. Lab coat torn. Blood on his shirt. His face was pale, and there were black lines crawling up his neck. Not to his eyes yet. But close.

“Dad,” I breathed.

I dropped the rod. It clattered. I didn’t care. I ran to him.

“Stop!” Dad’s voice cracked like a whip. He threw his hands up. “Sara, stay back. Please. Distance.”

I froze. Two steps away from him.

His eyes. They were Dad’s eyes. But the black was right under them now. Moving.

“I think I’ll turn,” he said. Each word sounded like it hurt. “Soon. Into one of them. A parasite.” He fumbled on his desk. Knocked over a beaker. It shattered. “Take this.”

He shoved a folded paper at me. A letter. His handwriting. My name on the front.

“Take it and go. Fast. Please.”

My throat closed up. “Dad—”

He wouldn’t look at me. He kept his head down, shoulders shaking. Then he lifted it.

The black had reached his eyes.

He wasn’t Dad anymore. Not really.

But he didn’t lunge. Not yet. His body twitched. Like he was fighting it.

Then his head snapped toward me. Too fast. His mouth opened.

I didn’t think. I just moved.

I was out the door before I even realized I was running. I slammed it shut behind me. My whole body hit it, holding it closed.

On the other side, something thumped against the wood.

“Dad?” My voice broke. I was crying again. Couldn’t stop. “Dad, I’m sorry—”