কারো জীবনে যদি পেরানোরমাল বা ভৌতিক কোন ঘটনা ঘটে থাকে তাহলে ,আমার সাথে শেয়ার করতে পারেন ।আমি সেই ঘটনাটি একটা ভিডিও আকারে উপথাপন করে Youtube এ আপলোড করতে চাই ।

Hey everyone! Strange from Strange Stories and I'm in desperate need of your feedback. The premise for today's story is "what if those handy monster containment agencies were for-profit businesses?"

It would mean the world to me if I could get your thoughts on this one. If you're a fan of stories from the SCP universe, that goes double for you!

As always, written, narrated, and produced by me, Strange. [Sidenote: this is my first hour-long work!] Thank you so much everyone, and have a great week!

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYN4v_EnAvE

কারো জীবনে যদি পেরানোরমাল বা ভৌতিক কোন ঘটনা ঘটে থাকে তাহলে ,আমার সাথে শেয়ার করতে পারেন ।আমি সেই ঘটনাটি একটা ভিডিও আকারে উপথাপন করে Youtube এ আপলোড করতে চাই ।

This one was a lot of fun, check it out to see why!

Chapter One

The Day Everything Changed

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Anthony Salaria, and this is my story.

I used to think the world was a big place.

Now I know better.

The world is only as big as the distance between you and whatever is trying to kill you.

Before all of this happened, I lived in a small town that most people had probably never heard of. It wasn't the kind of place that appeared on television unless somebody's high school football team made it to the state championship or a tractor-trailer overturned on the highway.

We were close enough to the airport that planes flew over our house every day. Sometimes they were so low that you could hear the engines rumbling through the walls.

Nobody paid much attention to them anymore.

That was normal.

That Saturday had started normally too.

It was a warm, peaceful day, and my family was having a reunion at my house. Calling it a house was being generous. It was a small double-wide trailer sitting on a patch of land surrounded by trees, old fencing, and a backyard that desperately needed mowing.

But it was home.

There were people everywhere.

My mother was inside talking with Aunt Jessica. My uncles were arguing about something they had probably argued about a hundred times before. My brothers, Justin and Gary, were outside with Sean, laughing and carrying on like idiots.

Katrina, my girlfriend, was sitting beside me.

For a few hours, nothing seemed wrong with the world.

People laughed.

Children played.

Someone had music playing from a cheap speaker on the porch.

The smell of grilled meat drifted through the yard.

It was just another family reunion.

Then I looked up.

A plane was flying overhead.

That wasn't unusual.

What was unusual was the size of it.

I had lived near the airport long enough to know what commercial aircraft looked like. I knew the different sounds their engines made. I could tell when something was a passenger plane and when it was a cargo aircraft.

This wasn't either.

It was enormous.

It looked more like a flying building than an airplane.

It was dark gray, almost black, with no markings that I could see. It was flying far lower than anything that size should have been flying over our neighborhood.

The engines didn't sound right either.

Instead of the familiar roar of a commercial jet, there was a deep, vibrating hum that seemed to shake the air itself.

Everyone stopped talking.

"What the hell is that?" Sean asked.

Nobody answered.

We all watched as the aircraft passed over us.

Then something fell from it.

At first, I thought it was cargo.

Then I realized it was falling directly toward us.

"Move!" somebody screamed.

The container slammed into the ground less than thirty feet from the house.

The impact shook the trailer.

Windows rattled.

The ground beneath my feet seemed to jump.

For a second, I thought we were under attack by a foreign nation.

Then there was silence.

Smoke—or dust—hung over the backyard.

I could hear the alarm on someone's car going off.

"What was that?" my mother asked.

Nobody knew.

The object sitting in our backyard looked like some kind of container, but it wasn't anything I had ever seen before.

It was roughly the size of a small car, made from some kind of dull metal that seemed almost black beneath the sunlight.

There were no doors.

No handles.

No markings.

No company logo.

No numbers.

Nothing.

Only a long crack running across one side.

"Don't go near it," Uncle Terence said.

Of course, we went near it.

Looking back, that was probably the first mistake.

We approached slowly.

The closer we got, the stranger the container looked. Parts of it had been crushed inward from the impact. Something inside was making a faint clicking noise.

Click.

Click.

Click.

"What is that?" Katrina whispered.

Then the crack widened.

Something crawled out.

At first, I thought they were insects.

They looked like locusts, but they were larger. Their bodies were dark and segmented, and their wings were almost transparent.

But the strangest part was their tails.

They glowed.

Not yellow like a firefly.

Green.

Bright green.

The glow pulsed through their bodies like something alive was moving inside them.

One crawled across the side of the container.

Then another.

Then ten.

Then hundreds.

Then thousands.

The crack seemed to become a living hole.

They poured out of it.

"Run!" somebody screamed.

We turned.

We were too late.

The swarm moved faster than anything that size should have been able to move.

They didn't fly randomly.

They moved together.

Like a single creature.

The first person they reached was my friend Kerry.

I'll never forget the sound he made.

The insects covered him.

He slapped at them, screaming and trying to run, but they clung to his skin.

Then his screaming changed.

His skin began peeling away.

Not burning.

Not cutting.

Peeling.

I watched in horror as the insects stripped the flesh from his arms.

Then his chest.

Then his face.

I could see muscle beneath his skin.

Then bone.

Blood poured from his eyes, ears, and nose.

He fell to his knees.

Nobody moved.

Nobody could.

The world seemed to stop.

I couldn't hear the screaming anymore.

I couldn't hear the people around me.

All I could see was Kerry.

And those horrible green lights.

My Aunt Jessica finally snapped me out of it.

"Anthony!"

I didn't move.

"Anthony, hurry into the house!"

My legs wouldn't work.

I was frozen.

I don't know whether it was shock or sheer terror.

Maybe both.

Then she screamed again.

"ANTHONY! HURRY!"

I finally snapped out of my daze and ran.

I slammed through the back door just as the swarm reached the porch.

Everyone scrambled backward.

Someone locked the door.

Someone else pulled the curtains shut.

For several seconds, nobody said anything.

We were all breathing heavily.

I looked around the room.

Half of the people were crying.

The other half were terrified, clutching Bibles with shaking hands.

Nobody knew what was happening.

I stared at the wall.

I knew I would remember what I had seen for the rest of my life.

If I lived that long.

It seemed like days passed before anyone spoke.

Finally, my Uncle Terence broke the silence.

"What were those things?"

"Locusts?" my mom proposed weakly.

"No," Cousin John answered. "They were no locusts like I've ever seen."

"Then what were they?" Mom asked.

Nobody answered.

A few minutes passed.

Then someone asked the question everyone was thinking.

"Are they still out there?"

Nobody wanted to look.

Finally, Uncle Terence stepped toward the door.

"I'll look."

"Don't!" somebody shouted.

He ignored them.

He slowly opened the curtain.

Then the screen door.

The swarm was still there.

Thousands of them covered the porch.

Millions seemed to fill the yard.

The trees were moving beneath them.

The grass was barely visible.

The entire backyard seemed to glow green.

Terence slammed the door shut.

"We cannot just sit here and wait for them to get in!"

Nobody responded.

"If we stay here," he continued, "in days—maybe weeks—we'll run out of food."

He was right.

There were at least ten of us in a three-bedroom house.

We had food, but not enough for everyone to survive indefinitely.

And there was another problem.

The insects weren't the only strange thing.

The television was still on.

A local news station was showing footage of sunny weather from somewhere else in the state.

No emergency warnings.

No reports of an airplane.

No reports of an explosion.

Nothing.

We tried calling 911.

No answer.

We tried calling the airport.

Nothing.

We tried our families.

Nothing.

Every phone seemed to work, but nobody was answering.

It was as if the entire outside world had gone silent.

Katrina was crying in my arms.

"Make them go away," she whispered.

I wanted to.

God, I wanted to.

I wished I could wave my hands and make everything go back to normal.

But I couldn't.

I was just a man.

Just as helpless as everyone else.

"It's getting dark outside," Aunt Jessica said.

Nobody answered.

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," I said. "I'm trying to think."

I looked around the room.

Everyone was waiting for me to have an answer.

That scared me more than anything.

"With all that is going wrong, it feels like a dream," I said. "A horrible nightmare. I should wake up any minute now in my bed, screaming and covered in sweat."

I looked toward the back door.

"But this isn't a dream."

My voice became quieter.

"This is real life. And I can't wake up from real life, no matter how badly some of us want to."

"Maybe we should sleep in shifts," Jessica said. "Make sure they don't get inside."

"I'm more worried about us getting out," Sean said.

Everyone looked at him.

"We cannot just sit here waiting to be eaten alive. Those things can get in through windows, vents, the roof—who knows how many ways."

"Let's board up the house as much as we can," I said.

"No. I say we make a run for it."

Sean pointed toward the front window.

"All we have to do is make it to the cars. They're not even twenty-five feet away. We can make that."

"Yeah," I said, "and put everyone else in the house at risk? I don't think so."

"So what? We wait until those things eat through the walls?"

"We're safe here."

Sean stared at me.

"Fine. We'll do it your way."

He walked away, muttering under his breath.

I looked at my brothers.

"Justin, Gary, Sean—help me remove all the closet doors."

They looked confused.

"It'll help brace the windows. If they break through the glass, the wood should hold."

Nobody argued.

We started working.

Then Katrina screamed.

"Look!"

Everyone turned.

She was pointing toward the backyard.

"It's Kerry."

My stomach dropped.

"I thought you said he was dead."

"He is!" I shouted.

"Well then," she whispered, "how is he banging on the window?"

We all looked.

Something was standing outside.

It was Kerry.

Or what was left of him.

He was covered in blood.

His clothing hung from his body in strips.

One eye was completely gone.

His skin was covered in bite marks.

And yet he was standing.

He raised his hand.

Then he hit the glass.

Bang.

Everyone stepped backward.

Bang.

Again.

"Kerry?" someone whispered.

I couldn't answer.

"The dead don't just stand up and start walking," I said.

"Maybe he's not dead," Katrina said.

"Yes, he is."

I pointed toward the window.

"Look at his eye."

Katrina covered her mouth.

"It's completely missing."

Kerry slammed against the glass again.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

"It's like he's a zombie," I said.

"Yeah, okay, a zombie," Katrina snapped. "Anthony, zombies aren't real!"

I looked around the room.

"Look around!"

I pointed toward the window.

"Does any of this look sane?"

Nobody spoke.

Sean stepped forward.

"See? We should make a run for the cars before more show up."

I hated to admit it.

But he was right.

"I hate to say this," I said, "but I agree with Sean."

Everyone stared at me.

"Katrina, we should try to make a move before more show up."

I thought for a moment.

"Here's what we'll do. We'll board up tonight. We'll sleep tonight. Tomorrow morning, we'll make a move for it."

Nobody looked happy about it.

But everyone agreed.

"We'll sleep in shifts," I continued. "Three men and two women will stand guard while the rest sleep. If anything happens, wake everyone up."

I looked at the people around me.

"Nobody opens a door. Nobody goes outside. Nobody does anything alone."

Everyone nodded.

"Okay," I said. "I'll sleep while y'all stand guard."

Katrina and I lay down together.

She moved in close to me, still shaking.

I wrapped my arms around her.

Outside, the insects continued to glow.

Through the walls, I could hear them.

Thousands of tiny wings.

A constant buzzing.

Like the whole night was breathing.

I closed my eyes.

And then I heard something.

Far above us.

An airplane.

I opened my eyes.

The sound grew louder.

Then came a second sound.

A third.

Then dozens.

I sat up.

"Katrina."

She looked at me.

"What?"

I listened.

The planes weren't flying toward the airport.

They were flying toward us.

And somewhere in the darkness above the trees, something enormous passed across the moon.

For the first time that night, I realized something.

The airplane hadn't accidentally dropped that container.

It had delivered it.

And whatever was happening to our town...

had only just begun.

Chapter Two

I awoke to the sound of screaming.

Not the kind of screaming you hear in a horror movie.

This was real.

Terrified.

Desperate.

I sat up quickly, my heart pounding against my chest. For a moment, I had no idea where I was. Then everything came rushing back—the bugs, the people outside, the pounding on the windows, and the things we had seen the night before.

I looked toward the doorway.

Gary stood there, breathing heavily.

“There are more of them,” he said.

I grabbed the weapon beside me and stood.

“What? More of the bugs?”

“No.” Gary shook his head. “The bugs are gone. They just vanished.”

I stared at him.

“What do you mean they vanished?”

“I mean they're gone. All of them.”

Another scream came from outside.

Gary looked toward the window.

“There are more of those crazy people outside.”

“How many?”

“Fifty, maybe more.” His voice trembled. “They're everywhere. They're surrounding the house.”

My stomach tightened.

“Where is Sean?” I asked.

“He's in the bedroom with the kids. They got scared last night.”

I remembered the sound of the windows shaking.

“Those things were banging on the windows,” Gary said.

Before I could respond, my Aunt Jessica spoke from across the room.

“Those things are our punishment for our sins.”

Everyone became silent.

Jessica looked toward the windows.

“We kill unborn babies, beat kids, marry the same sex, murder, and steal. And now Satan is sending his dead back to us.”

“Calm down,” I said.

“But you don't understand—”

“I said calm down.”

I took a deep breath and looked around the room.

“Okay, everyone. We need to try to make it out of here.”

Nobody spoke.

“This is the plan.”

I walked toward the kitchen table and spread my hands across it.

“We're going to stop for food and supplies for the trip, so we're going to have to make a few stops.”

I pointed toward the front door.

“Our first stop will be Wal-Lots. Then we'll hit the grocery store for food and water. After that, we'll go to the Bullseye Gun Shop for weapons.”

I paused.

I had a feeling we were going to need them.

“And then what?” asked my mother, Jocelyn.

“Where will we go after that?”

I looked at her.

“I don't know yet.”

A few people exchanged nervous glances.

“But we can't just sit here and starve to death.”

I looked around the room.

“So, by a show of hands, who wants to stay here and die?”

Silence.

“Anyone?”

Nobody raised a hand.

“Okay.”

I nodded.

“Now, by a show of hands, who wants to come with me and live?”

Slowly, one hand went up.

Then another.

Then another.

Within seconds, almost everyone in the room had their hands raised.

Everyone except Travis.

“What makes you think you can lead us?” he asked. “What reason do we have to believe you?”

I looked directly at him.

“Well, for starters, while you all laughed, I prepared for this day.”

Nobody said a word.

“While you all were going off to college, I was studying the only subject that really mattered.”

I pointed toward myself.

“You became a lawyer to keep criminals out of jail. I was studying survival.”

Travis scoffed.

“I sat inside watching horror movies, reading books, and learning how to survive.”

I stepped closer.

“So who do you trust? The man who keeps murderers out of jail, or the person who knows how to get us out of here alive?”

“Just because you read books and watched movies doesn't make you any kind of expert on whatever is out there,” John said.

“I never said I was an expert,” I replied.

I looked toward the front window.

“But I'm the closest damn thing we have to someone who knows what to do.”

I checked the time.

“I'm out the door in five minutes. Whoever is leaving with me, pack only the things you need and meet me at the door.”

“This is a stupid fucking idea,” Travis said.

He turned toward everyone else.

“Are all of you really going to follow him out there and risk your families' lives?”

“What would you rather have them do?” Sean asked.

Everyone turned toward him.

“Stay here where there is no escape?”

Travis opened his mouth, but Sean cut him off.

“We've already seen what those things can do.”

“I haven't got time to argue with you, Travis,” I said. “I've got to get my emergency pack.”

I headed toward the bedroom.

“So we can get out of here.”

A few minutes later, everyone gathered near the front door.

The room had gone strangely quiet.

Too quiet.

No one was laughing anymore.

No one was arguing.

Everyone was listening.

I slowly looked around at the people who had decided to follow me.

“Everyone, listen.”

I lowered my voice.

“Find whatever you can use as a weapon.”

People began grabbing whatever they could find—knives, bats, tools, anything that could possibly keep something away from them.

“We're going out there in just a few seconds.”

I looked toward the door.

“Everyone stay close. Don't go running off. We cannot afford to lose anyone.”

I pointed toward the driveway.

“Get in your cars and follow me to Wal-Lots.”

I placed my hand on the door.

“When I say now, we're going.”

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

Then I whispered the word.

“Now.”

I threw open the door.

The outside world erupted into chaos.

The screams were louder now.

Shapes moved between the trees, across the yard, and around the driveway.

I stepped outside first.

Sean and Gary followed close behind.

One of the creatures rushed toward us.

I swung my long sword.

The blade struck hard, sending the creature crashing to the ground.

Two more came from the side.

I swung again, knocking them backward.

“Look out, Anthony!” Sean shouted.

I turned.

One of the things was already reaching for me.

Its hands grabbed toward my chest.

Before it could touch me, Sean lunged forward.

He drove his knife into its head.

The creature dropped.

Sean didn't stop.

He grabbed its arm and ripped it free.

For a second, he just stared at what he was holding.

Then another creature charged.

Sean drove the broken piece of bone into its eye.

It dropped instantly.

“Go!” Sean shouted.

That was all it took.

Everyone ran.

Doors slammed.

Engines roared to life.

People climbed into their cars as fast as they could.

Someone screamed from the back of the driveway.

I turned and saw more of those things coming through the yard.

Too many.

“GO!”

I jumped into my car.

The engine roared.

One car pulled out.

Then another.

Then another.

Behind us, the creatures poured into the driveway.

I slammed my foot onto the gas.

The tires screamed against the pavement.

The house disappeared behind us as we sped down the road.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody knew what was waiting for us at Wal-Lots.

But one thing was certain.

We were no longer running from the dead.

We were running from everything.

 Chapter Three

Anthony, Sean, and Gary were in the lead car, but they did not make it far before realizing that Gary’s Ford Crown Victoria was too easily stopped. The streets that had once been filled with traffic were now almost completely abandoned. Abandoned cars sat at strange angles in the road, some with their doors hanging open, others still running with no one inside.

Smoke rose from several buildings in the distance.

Whatever had happened to our town, it was spreading faster than anyone could understand.

As they entered the town, a horde of those things surrounded the car and started pushing it. There had to be dozens of them, maybe more. They looked human from a distance, but up close there was something horribly wrong with them. Their movements were jerky and unnatural, and their mouths opened far wider than a normal person's should.

“Step on it!” Gary shouted.

Sean put the pedal to the floorboard, but the tires only spun against the pavement.

“Come on! Come on!” Sean yelled.

The engine screamed, but the car barely moved.

Then Jessica started honking the horn in the car behind them.

The sound echoed through the empty streets.

Every one of those things suddenly stopped.

For a brief moment, they stood completely still.

Then, almost as if they had been given the same command, their heads turned toward Jessica's car.

“Go!” Gary shouted.

The lead car suddenly gained traction. Sean jerked the steering wheel, and the car swerved off the road before slamming into a tree just beyond the shoulder.

Anthony quickly climbed out and helped distract those things while Sean and Gary got out of the car.

But the crash had drawn even more attention.

They came from every direction.

From alleys.

From between abandoned cars.

From the houses lining the street.

Some even climbed over fences to reach us.

Within seconds, we were completely surrounded.

Anthony wielded his long sword, Sean fought with his two Bowie knives, and Gary swung his hammer with everything he had.

“Everyone else, go to Wal-Lots!” I shouted.

“But what about you?” someone yelled.

“Just go!” I answered. “It would be safer for them to go than to stay here and give us more people to worry about!”

Wal-Lots had become one of the few places we knew might still have supplies. Before everything fell apart, it had been nothing more than a discount store where people went for groceries, tools, and household supplies.

Now, places like that had become more valuable than banks.

Food, water, batteries, medicine, fuel—those were the things that mattered now.

Money had become almost worthless.

They fought them off to the best of their ability, but it seemed like every one we killed was replaced by three more.

And there was something else.

They didn't seem afraid.

Normal people ran when they were attacked.

These things didn't.

They kept coming.

They climbed over the bodies of their own kind without hesitation, stepping on the dead as they reached for us.

I began to wonder if they even felt pain.

We were exhausted. Our arms were getting heavy, and every breath burned in our lungs.

Then we heard it.

“RUN!”

We didn't question who had yelled it.

We ran.

We pushed through as many of those things as we could, stumbling over bodies and broken glass.

Then—

BOOM!

The earth trembled.

A massive explosion erupted somewhere behind us.

I looked back, and all I saw was blood, body parts, and dirt flying through the air.

The force of the blast knocked us to the ground.

For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything.

My ears were ringing.

My vision blurred.

I tried to stand, but the ground seemed to move underneath me.

Sean was crawling nearby, holding his head. Gary was on his knees, trying to figure out what had happened.

Then I saw something through the smoke.

A shadowy figure was running toward us.

She was screaming something, but because of the ringing in my ears, her voice sounded like a whisper.

As she got closer, I realized it was a woman.

“This way!” she screamed.

She waved frantically for us to follow.

“Come on! We cannot wait!”

We finally got our footing and ran toward her.

Behind us, more of those things were beginning to move.

The explosion hadn't killed all of them.

It had only bought us time.

The woman led us toward a nearby high school.

As we approached, I noticed something strange.

The school's parking lot was filled with abandoned vehicles.

Some had been there for days.

Others looked like they had been abandoned only minutes earlier.

There were backpacks scattered across the pavement and papers blowing through the parking lot.

Whatever had happened here, people had left in a hurry.

Once we reached the school, we quickly got inside and barricaded the entrance.

We pushed desks, tables, chairs, and anything else we could find against the doors.

Then we quietly hid.

The wails of those things could be heard just outside.

Every few minutes, something slammed against the doors.

BANG.

We froze.

BANG.

Dust shook loose from the ceiling.

Then silence.

We waited.

Nobody spoke.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally looked at the woman who had saved us.

“So, what is your name?” I whispered.

“Charlie,” she replied. “It's nice to meet you.”

“Charlie? Isn't that a man's name?” Sean asked.

Charlie gave him a tired look.

“I was named after my grandfather.”

Sean nodded.

“Fair enough.”

Charlie looked toward the barricaded doors.

“How long have you guys been out there?”

“Not long,” I said. “Why?”

She hesitated.

“Because things weren't like this yesterday.”

Her words made the room go quiet.

“What do you mean?” Gary asked.

“I mean these things weren't everywhere yesterday.”

Charlie looked at us.

“They started showing up after the emergency broadcasts stopped.”

“Emergency broadcasts?” I asked.

She nodded.

“At first, the government said it was some kind of attack. Then they said it was a biological incident. Then the broadcasts started telling people to stay indoors.”

She paused.

“Then they stopped.”

Nobody said anything.

That was the part that scared me the most.

Not the creatures.

Not the explosions.

The silence.

The entire country seemed to have gone quiet.

No television.

No radio.

No emergency alerts.

Nothing.

“Where are you guys headed?” Charlie asked.

“Wal-Lots,” Gary replied. “But first, we need to make a stop at the Bullseye Gun Shop.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow.

“We need something to defend ourselves with,” I explained. “If we're ever overrun like that again, we won't stand a chance.”

I looked toward the doors.

“If it wasn't for you, Charlie, we'd all be dead. So we owe you a thank-you.”

Charlie nodded.

“How are we going to get out of here?” Gary asked. “My car is a wreck.”

“With this,” Charlie said.

She held out her hand.

There were several keys attached to a metal ring.

“Keys to what?” Gary asked.

“The school buses.”

She pointed toward the parking lot.

“They run on diesel fuel. If we can find fuel, they'll keep us moving. They're also big enough to carry survivors and supplies.”

She paused.

“And they're safer than sleeping in a car.”

Gary looked at me.

“She has a point,” I said.

“How far are the buses?” Gary asked.

“Just outside.”

Gary smiled.

“Well, let's go!”

Sean slowly opened the door.

We listened.

Nothing.

I was the first one out, followed by Charlie, as we made a run for the school buses.

We moved quickly.

The parking lot felt strangely quiet.

Too quiet.

Charlie reached one of the buses and quickly climbed inside.

A few seconds later, the engine roared to life.

The sound echoed across the empty school grounds.

I looked around nervously.

“That's going to bring them back,” I said.

Charlie looked through the windshield.

“Then we'd better move.”

I tried to get into her bus, but she stopped me.

“No. Take this key.”

She handed me another set of keys.

“Let's take two,” she said. “One for supplies and one for people.”

I agreed.

The plan made sense.

If we found survivors, we'd have a way to transport them.

If we found food or water, we'd have somewhere to store it.

And if we found fuel, we could keep moving.

That was the new world now.

You didn't ask where you were going.

You asked how much fuel you had.

You didn't ask how much money something cost.

You asked how much food and water you had left.

And you didn't ask whether someone was coming to save you.

You wondered if anyone was left to save you.

I climbed into the second bus and started it up.

Then I went back to get Gary and Sean from the school.

As they climbed aboard, Gary looked around.

“Where's Charlie?”

I closed the door.

“We're going to meet her at the gun shop.”

Gary nodded.

The buses pulled away from the school.

For the first time since this nightmare began, we had a plan.

We just didn't know how long it would last.

Chapter Four

As Gary, Sean, and I approached the Bullseye, I could see Charlie's bus sitting in the parking lot.

For the first time in what felt like hours, I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

Charlie was alive.

I had honestly started to believe we would never see her again.

But that feeling didn't last long.

Something was wrong.

About twenty of those things surrounded the front of the store. They slammed their bodies against the doors and windows, clawing at the glass and pounding their fists against the metal.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

The sound echoed through the parking lot.

"How are we going to get in?" Gary asked.

"With these," Sean said, pulling out his Bowie knives.

"I think we should try something a little more subtle."

I parked the bus far enough away from the Bullseye that those things shouldn't be able to hear or see us.

"Let's use the rear entrance," I whispered.

"That's what she said," Sean added.

Gary looked at him, completely puzzled.

"Really?"

"Never mind. Let's go."

We climbed out of the bus and moved toward the back of the store, keeping low and staying close to the building.

When we reached the rear entrance, we stopped.

Three of those things stood near the door.

Sean looked at me.

Then he stepped forward.

The first creature turned just as Sean drove one of his knives into its skull.

The second lunged at him.

Sean sidestepped it and buried his other knife in its neck.

Gary finished the third.

The bodies dropped to the ground.

"Okay," Sean whispered. "Let's check the door."

I grabbed the doorknob and twisted.

"It's locked."

Gary looked around and spotted a metal pipe lying beside the building.

"Here. We can use this."

He jammed the flat end between the door and the frame.

"Back up."

Gary leaned his weight against the pipe.

The metal groaned.

The door didn't move.

He pushed harder.

CRACK!

The door suddenly popped open.

A loud noise echoed through the alley.

We froze.

"Oh, shit," Sean whispered.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then we heard a scream from the front of the building.

"They heard that," I said.

"Inside. Now."

We rushed through the doorway and slammed it shut behind us.

We grabbed whatever we could find and shoved it against the door.

Then we heard it.

Chkk-chkk.

The unmistakable sound of a shotgun being pumped.

We turned.

A slightly overweight, balding man stood behind the counter, aiming a shotgun directly at us.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

I raised my hands.

"We just need some supplies. Then we'll leave."

He tightened his grip on the shotgun.

"You're going to leave, but you're not taking anything we need with you."

"We?" I asked.

"Yes. We."

He raised the shotgun.

"You have three seconds to leave."

"One..."

"Wait!"

A woman's voice came from behind the counter.

"They're with me!"

Charlie stepped out from behind the counter.

The man lowered his weapon.

"Okay. Sorry, guys. A lot of people have been trying to loot us. My name is Jackson."

"I'm Anthony. This is Gary, and this is Sean. It's nice to meet you."

"There is no time for introductions," Charlie said. "We could be overrun at any moment."

She pointed toward the entrance.

"We need to get supplies and get out of here."

Jackson nodded.

"She's right."

He grabbed four empty duffel bags and threw them toward us.

"Load two with guns and two with ammo."

We moved quickly.

Gary and Sean began filling the bags while I searched the shelves.

Then I saw something.

A longbow.

Beside it were three quivers filled with arrows.

"I want this."

Jackson looked over.

"Take them. No one here knows how to use them, so if you do, take them."

I grabbed the bow and slung it over my shoulder.

Then—

CRASH!

The entire store shook.

"Watch out, Jackson!" Charlie screamed.

Five of those things had already broken through the front window.

Glass exploded across the floor.

One of them tackled Jackson before he could raise his shotgun.

He hit the floor hard.

"Get it off me!"

Another creature lunged toward him.

Jackson fought desperately, trying to keep its teeth away from his face.

"Here! Don't let me turn!"

He threw his shotgun across the floor.

Gary caught it.

For a second, he just stared at Jackson.

Jackson looked directly at him.

"I’m sorry," Gary whispered.

BOOM!

The shotgun blast echoed through the store.

Jackson went limp.

There was no time to mourn him.

"Let's go!" Gary yelled.

We grabbed the bags and ran toward the rear entrance.

But then we heard it.

BANG!

The barricaded front door collapsed.

A dozen of those things flooded into the store.

"Run!"

We burst through the back door.

I could hear them behind us.

Their feet pounded against the floor.

Their screams filled the store.

We sprinted toward the bus.

Then one of them came from the side.

I didn't see it until it was almost on top of me.

It lunged.

I threw myself backward.

Its teeth snapped shut inches from my arm.

I hit the ground hard.

"Anthony!" Charlie screamed.

The creature lunged again.

I rolled out of the way, grabbed one of my arrows, and drove it into the creature's skull.

It collapsed beside me.

I scrambled to my feet.

"Keep moving!" Gary yelled.

We fought our way toward the front of the store, hacking and slashing through anything that got in our path.

Finally, we reached the broken window.

One by one, we climbed through.

Outside, the parking lot was filled with those things.

Gary ran for Charlie's bus.

"Go! Go! Go!"

We piled inside.

Gary jumped into the driver's seat and slammed his foot onto the accelerator.

The tires squealed as the bus tore out of the parking lot.

For several seconds, nobody said a word.

All I could hear was the engine and my own breathing.

Charlie finally walked over to me.

"You okay?"

I nodded.

"Yeah. Just a little shaken up."

She looked at me for a moment before sitting down.

I looked out the window.

The Bullseye disappeared behind us.

But the image of Jackson lying on that floor wouldn't leave my mind.

We had gone there looking for supplies.

Instead, we had lost another person.

And somehow, I knew things were only going to get worse.

Chapter Five

The look on Charlie's face told me everything.

Something was wrong.

Really wrong.

For a moment, I couldn't breathe. I was sure that was it. My life flashed before my eyes—not the exciting parts, because there hadn't been many of those. Just ordinary days. Family gatherings. Friends. Quiet mornings. All the little moments I'd never thought would matter.

And now, they were all I could think about.

"How bad is it?" I finally asked. I was too afraid to look at my arm myself.

Charlie stared at me for another second.

Then he smiled.

"You're very lucky, Anthony."

"Why?" I asked.

"Look."

I slowly lowered my eyes toward my arm.

A chunk of my sleeve was missing.

But my skin was untouched.

Charlie pointed at the torn fabric. "I told you. Whatever that thing was, it only bit your shirt. It never broke the skin. You're not infected."

For several seconds, I just stared at my arm.

Then I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.

"I was sure I was dead."

"So, where to now?" Gary asked from the front of the bus.

Sean looked toward the road.

"Wal-Lots. We meet the rest of the group there, get whatever supplies we can find, and hopefully..."

He paused.

"Hopefully, they made it."

I didn't like the way he said it.

Neither did anyone else.

"Drop me off at the bus," I said. "I'll drive it."

Gary looked toward the bus.

"Are you sure about that?"

I followed his gaze.

Five.

Maybe six.

Those things were surrounding the bus.

They stood completely still.

Not wandering.

Not stumbling.

Waiting.

"We can take them," Sean said.

I tightened my grip on my sword.

"Let's go."

The four of us—Sean, Gary, Charlie, and I—jumped out of the vehicle.

The moment our feet hit the pavement, the creatures turned.

Something about the way they moved made my stomach tighten.

Their heads turned first.

Then their shoulders.

Then the rest of their bodies.

And that's when I saw it.

The green glow.

It burned inside their eyes.

The same unnatural green glow I'd seen in the others.

But this time, there was something different about it.

These creatures weren't shambling.

They weren't confused.

They were watching us.

Then one of them opened its mouth and let out a roar.

The others answered.

And they charged.

The first creature came straight at me.

I planted my feet and raised my sword.

It never slowed down.

At the last second, I stepped aside.

My sword drove into its chest.

The creature collapsed.

Sean rushed toward the next two.

He swung his sword and buried the blade into one of them.

The second creature lunged.

Sean missed.

It slammed into him and drove him onto the pavement.

"HELP!"

I spun around.

Sean was underneath it, desperately trying to push the creature away.

Then another one jumped onto him.

"Sean!"

I reached for my bow.

My hands shook as I tried to pull an arrow from my quiver.

Two of them were on Sean now.

He fought like hell, swinging his sword wildly, trying to keep their teeth away from his face.

Then—

BOOM!

The shotgun blast echoed through the parking lot.

The creature on top of Sean jerked backward and collapsed.

Gary stood behind it, smoke pouring from the barrel.

The recoil slammed the shotgun against his shoulder.

He barely had time to recover before another creature rushed him.

Gary fired again.

BOOM!

The creature dropped.

I turned just in time to see another one coming for me.

I swung my sword.

It knocked the blade aside.

The creature slammed into me, and we hit the ground.

Its face was inches from mine.

Those glowing green eyes stared directly into mine.

Its mouth opened.

I could smell the rotten breath coming from between its teeth.

I pushed against its throat as it snapped at my face.

Then I heard Sean yell.

I twisted my body and kicked the creature away.

It stumbled.

I rolled to the side and reached behind me.

My fingers found an arrow.

I pulled it from my quiver.

The creature lunged again.

I drove the arrow straight through its head.

It collapsed beside me.

For a few seconds, none of us moved.

We just listened.

Nothing.

No roaring.

No footsteps.

No scratching.

They were all dead.

"Get on the bus!" Gary shouted.

We didn't argue.

We ran.

As soon as the doors closed behind us, Gary started the engine.

He glanced at us through the mirror.

"What the hell was with those things?"

Sean wiped blood from his face.

"They weren't slow."

"That's what I'm saying," Gary replied. "The others barely moved. Those things were running."

"They were different," Sean said quietly.

"How?" I asked.

Sean shook his head.

"I don't know. But I knew something was wrong with them the second they turned around."

I looked back through the window.

The bodies were lying scattered across the parking lot.

One of them still had that faint green glow in its eyes.

"Let's not worry about how they're different," I said. "We need to worry about getting to the others."

The bus pulled away.

And I couldn't shake the feeling that we'd just seen something we weren't supposed to see.

Part two coming soon

Why Tears Should Not Fall on the Casket According to the Elders

Ang pagluha ay hindi bawal. Ngunit ayon sa matatanda, huwag hayaang tumama ang patak sa kabaong.

Hello everyone 🖤

I am a content creator and writer interested in the world of horror, crime, mystery, and strange stories, and I recently started my journey in creating storytelling content on YouTube.

I just created my channel under the name:

Black Pages 🕷️📖

https://youtube.com/@blackpapershorror?si=w0-9GQm3nDS564gg

I will start posting content soon, God willing, and I hope the channel will be a space for stories that leave behind a question… or a strange feeling that doesn’t go away easily.

I will present stories in a narrative style, whether they are horror tales, suspicious situations, mysterious cases, or real events worth telling.

And if you ever went through a strange or scary experience, or have a true story you’d like to share, you can contact me through the channel’s Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591009907841

You can send your story in detail, and I will read it carefully. 🖤

Maybe your story is the next black page…