"KYLIAN!"
She tipped backward. He grabbed her by the wrists at the last moment, his arms shaking with the effort.
"Hold on!" he growled.
He yanked her violently toward him. She crashed against his chest, panting.
Kylian exhaled, a nervous smile on his lips.
"That was close… I almost became a widower before getting married."
Mei grabbed him and hugged him without thinking.
"Thank you for being here…" she murmured, her voice trembling.
"It's my job," he replied, more seriously. "Anyway… let's move."
He wiped the blood running down his forehead with the back of his hand.
"You can't walk barefoot. Get on my back."
"What? But it'll slow us down."
"I'm used to carrying you anyway, Mei," he shot back, glancing sideways at her.
She immediately understood the reference and let out a small nervous laugh.
"Okay."
She climbed onto his back. Kylian resumed running, descending two more flights of stairs before finally reaching the exit.
When they passed through the doors, the outside offered them a raw glimpse of the apocalypse.
Mei, on his back, murmured:
"Do you think the world is this chaotic too?"
Kylian didn't slow down.
"The world is fucked, Mei. Everything you've known won't exist anymore."
"…"
She fell silent as Kylian ran across the courtyard with Mei still on his back.
The outside air was heavy, thick with dust and a metallic smell that was hard to bear. The ground was littered with severed limbs, dismembered bodies, fresh blood trails that stuck to shoes. The earth was cracked in places, split as if after a violent earthquake, and screams echoed from all sides.
Some were still dying. Students sprawled on the ground moved weakly, letting out their last breaths. Others no longer moved at all, eyes open, frozen in an expression of terror.
Mei looked away, gripping Kylian's shoulders a little tighter.
"Don't look…" she murmured, voice trembling.
"Stay focused," he replied without slowing. "We're almost there."
He managed to enter the boys' dorm, forcing the already cracked front door. The hall was deserted, lit only by natural light filtering through broken windows.
They quickly climbed the stairs. Reaching the third floor, right in front of his door, Kylian stumbled heavily on the landing. He dropped to one knee, breathing hard. His face was pale with exhaustion, covered in sweat and dust.
"Kylian!" Mei exclaimed as she immediately slid off his back.
"I'm fine… just a second," he replied, catching his breath.
Mei quickly opened the door and helped him inside the room. She closed it behind them, locked it out of reflex, then stood motionless for a moment, heart pounding too fast.
Kylian scanned the room. No one was there. At this hour, most students were in class, and his roommate clearly hadn't come back.
"Perfect," he murmured.
He immediately went to his small fridge, opened it, and grabbed a bottle of water. He unscrewed the cap and only wet his throat, taking a very small sip before closing the bottle again.
Mei frowned.
"You should drink a bit more, no?"
"No," he replied firmly. "Not now. We don't drink to quench our thirst anymore. We hydrate, that's it."
He then handed her the bottle.
"Here. Just a few sips."
"… Okay."
She obeyed without arguing. Meanwhile, Kylian quickly went to the other side of the room, rummaged in a closet, and pulled out a pair of sneakers.
"I think these are more or less your size."
Mei took the shoes, surprised.
"Thanks…"
She then turned to the window. Outside, the sky finally seemed to have calmed. No more trails of fire crossed it.
"This meteor shower has finally stopped," she said with a slight laugh of relief.
But Kylian's face tensed even more.
"But it happened too quickly."
She turned back to him, worried.
"What do you mean?"
"The meteor fall wasn't the beginning," he explained while grabbing a bag. "It was just the introduction. The real shit starts after."
He quickly explained that they had to raid the rooms as fast as possible and take as many food and water rations as they could. Things that kept for a long time, nothing raw, and prioritize those that didn't require cooking.
"We take everything we can," he insisted. "After that, it'll be too dangerous."
He handed her two bags.
"We meet back here in about thirty minutes. Hurry."
"Thirty minutes?" she repeated.
"Not one more."
Kylian didn't stay in the room. He left immediately and went up to the fourth floor. He already knew what the one below looked like. He had to check above. He forced several doors, some already ajar, others he smashed without hesitation. He collected bottles of water, chocolate bars, juice cartons. He also took anything that could serve as a weapon. Several kitchen knives. Three baseball bats found in one room.
"Perfect, it couldn't be better."
He continued forcing doors, checking if there were still students around. Some dorms were empty. Others showed signs of hasty flight.
Arms loaded, his big bag almost full, he went up to the roof. He briefly looked down, then toward the horizon. The city seemed unrecognizable. After a few seconds, he went back down and returned to his room.
Mei hadn't arrived yet.
He took the opportunity to rip off a few planks near the bed. Since he had no nails, he improvised a barricade with his roommate's setup cables, partially blocking the window to reduce access.
When Mei finally appeared, he hurried to move the fridge and other heavy objects against the door.
Mei was out of breath. But above all, her face was pale.
"Fuck... It's..."
"What's going on?" Kylian asked, straightening up.
She sat on the floor, legs trembling.
"Even I… I don't understand what I saw."
"Try anyway," he encouraged her.
She swallowed.
"I might have seen wrong… but at one window, I saw a woman bite a man in the neck. He fell to the ground. And she started devouring him. I ran here without thinking."
So it has already started…