A jaw, fully open descended down, the moment flesh connected, it snapped shut.
"Akh!"
Pain raced from the shoulder to the brain in a single second.
The man's jaw stopped at that, not fighting for more ground and flesh to munch.
However, this wasn't of his own choice, it was the only option available as a warm blade stopped his teeth from sinking in deeper, piercing through the cheeks of the mouth the instant he fell.
Cale looked at him, struggling to get him off of him.
'How is something dead so hard to get rid of?!'
To his front, aside from the dead reanimating back, the previously docile dead looming surged ahead, clawing at the life they so envied.
'I can't waste anymore time on this agile monkey.'
Cale shifted his shoulder, sinking more to his sides as he kept the zombie at bay with his hand and knife that stabbed right through his mouth. Effectively locking it in place.
Thwack!
With a kick, it backed away from him, the hand of the little girl contracted around his shin.
A swift cleave through the air dismantled the hand in an instant.
Cale recovered, backing away to swallow a few more breaths for comfort.
In the spur of the moment, he glanced at his charred hand, or at least he thought it was.
'No burn.'
The hand was injured of course, dripping blood quickly, though not as quick as Cale expected, but there wasn't a single mark of burn stating in his hand.
"So that's what it meant by 'permanently colder?'"
As Cale monologued to himself, a cold barrel raised, scoping a line toward the zombies.
His index pressed on the trigger.
Clack!
"....?"
Nothing came out, just air.
Cale ruffled a hand through his hair.
"Uh..."
Cale looked at the crawling hands full of exposed bone and barely stitched together flesh.
"Short intermission?"
———!
The zombies howled in disagreement. Rushing with more passion than before.
Cale's expression shifted into an annoyance, displeased like how a knife would be when being left outside.
"So many and for what reason?"
Cale, seeing no point in killing them, decided to turn tail.
'I'll outrun them, they aren't that overpowered for zombies'
Twisting on his heel, he ran the complete opposite direction, the moonlight flashed at his sides as he covered ground, reanimated corpses of animals followed right beside him outside the tall window.
Hisss.
From every direction, a hiss came crawling.
It dug into the mind, the hum of the gun grew more in lucidity as the hiss of the radiators overlapped with each other.
Lungs burned, the corridor growing dimmer in light, clouds swirled close to the moon as Cale looked back at the zombies gaining ground.
'Is it just me or are they getting faster?'
The zombies also didn't seem to be affected by the lack of light, almost as if they knew exactly where Cale was at all times.
An unlikeable scenario to any breathing creature. He thought.
As he ran, the hammer of the Desert Eagle cocked back. The barrel hummed with intensity, metal reverberating.
The air around the gun distorted into a cold embrace, Cale's breaths grew rabid with a chill.
It felt as though the gun were trying to communicate with Cale in simple indications. A hum being one such indicator.
Cale's steps drowned, a hiss of the radiator covered him as he drifted toward the dark edges of the corridor that stopped expanding.
Cale came to a slow stop, something within him stirred up uncomfortably.
The hiss of the radiators grew more erratic, shifting into a gurgle.
All sound except for the radiators stopped, the zombies behind of course didn't stop moving.
Not caring whatsoever, or perhaps it was because they weren't the target.
Cale wanted to move, but the red bead of liquid trickling from his eyes made him freeze, as if the act of looking away wasn't an option any longer.
The reanimated corpses closed in. Now a single step away from Cale.
Cale on the other hand....
Spurt!
Could only watch as one by one, the teeth of the dead started to sink in his sides, shoulders, thighs and arms.
The sound of blood spraying drowned.
Cale stood at the edge of the darkness, the corridor's unnatural darkness blended a mix of feelings.
Click! Click!
Click!
The radiators clicked with clarity, the scent of iron crashed into his nostrils as every limb refused to move.
Not even thoughts could be made, as if the measly act of being distracted was also not allowed.
Cale was forced to look ahead, eyes, ears, nose and mouth blasting away blood on full volume.
Legs wobbled, face paled, throat constricted, breaths caught in a limbo.
Then, as the unease settled.
"....."
Everything stopped, the rapid clicking of the radiators ceased, the feeling of skin being crunched dismissed, and the hums of the gun retreated.
Cale then witnessed it, two pale dots of white and a thin smile curved illuminated themselves within the dark corridor.
BANG! BANG!
BANG!
Radiators woke back to life, banging hard in the ears.
More blood spurted out from every crevice where wounds were inflicted.
But, the fibers of muscle inside Cale responded.
Cale's hand, numb, tightened around the dagger yellowed with warmth that melted the skin.
His wrist snapped back. Slashing a hand that clawed at him along with the neck.
Eyes flew open as old instinct soon burst with desperation.
A hand, a jaw, anything that grappled onto his skin met the dagger steaming heat.
He cut, slashed and hacked away the corpses envying his vitality. Not leaving a single one unattended.
Like a true gentleman would.
As distance between them were made, a cold barrel met them head on, finger curling on the trigger.
Bang—!
Frost-filled metal left its cozy home, rippling through the air as it made the surrounding solidity of bone and flesh cave in.
It stopped, dead in its tracks.
The world seemed to freeze itself as the bullet bulged with a pale light.
It shone, brighter and clearly more powerful than before.
And then it started to condense to a singular point.
Crack!
Cracks formed on the bullet, the next instant shattering as a second wave of glow washed over them all.
"Haaa....Haaa...."
White breaths came smoking out of his mouth.
Spikes of ice rose in front, only for a moment however.
One by one, each glacier started to shatter into particles of blue as dismembered pieces of flesh lain strewn all over the corridor.
Pale particles seeped into Cale's skin, blood and bones, the sudden shift of cold caused a shiver to spread contagiously.
Unconsciously, the hammer of the gun cocked back, already lined up for another shot. Cale's torso twisted back into the dark corridor where the creature was.
"....."
It wasn't there, the two dots and curved line of white had long disappeared.
Outside, yellow light poured out indiscriminately.
The sun had risen up.
A singular day since the start of the practical exam.
Had finally passed.
It felt like multiple days had passed, but only one had really passed since the start.
Many short breaks were taken due to how fatigued Cale felt since the start of the exam.
Not that it mattered now.
Cale pressed a foot forth.
Splashes of liquid rippled below the soles of his shoes.
Cale's gaze naturally fell down.
"H-haaa"
Cale sighed, blood continued to flow out from his wounds as he made out the letters red with his own blood.
'Run, My Little Coward....'