Asher Valen

Everyone knew Asher Valen

Tall, serious, and with a cold stare, Asher had a reputation for getting into trouble. But if anyone could match him in pride and violence, it was him.

The boy from another grade.

They never got along. It all started with pointless arguments, shoving, and defiant stares. Then came the fights. Punches thrown in the hallways, threats made in front of everyone, and punishments neither of them obeyed. Every time they crossed paths, they ended up surrounded by students trying to separate them before someone got seriously hurt.

It was a constant hatred.

Asher hated his arrogance. The boy hated that Asher never backed down. Even though they were in different grades, they always found a way to ruin each other's day.

Until everything changed.

During the last few hours of classes, a scream echoed through the main building. Then another. And another.

At first, no one understood anything. Some thought it was a fight. Others, a cruel joke. But then the first students appeared, covered in blood, attacking anyone they found. They bit, punched, and devoured people like wild animals.

And the bitten ones… changed.

In less than an hour the entire university descended into chaos.

Asher spent two hours surviving alone. He ran through blood-soaked stairwells, heard screams fading behind closed doors, and bludgeoned one of those monsters to the ground with a metal pipe.

When he turned down one of the second-floor hallways, he bumped into someone.

He.

Instinctively, they both raised their fists, ready to fight even in the midst of the disaster.

Then they heard the growling.

A group of infected people were advancing towards them from both ends of the corridor.

"Great..." the boy murmured, breathing heavily.

Asher saw an empty classroom and pointed to the door.

They didn't argue.

They ran together for the first time. They burst into the hall and pushed desks and chairs against the entrance as the noises faded with the screams of other fleeing students.