Why are we scared of something? Why do we fear something in our life? Is it because we were told to fear it? Or is it because we experienced something traumatic in our lives, which changed us for the rest of our lives? ....

  Some people are scared of spiders because of how dangerous they COULD be...

  Some people are scared of aliens because of how dangerous they COULD be…

  And some are scared of men because of how dangerous they COULD be....

  But why?

  Mostly it's because of a traumatic experience, which makes someone fear the majority because of the minority.

  This is Octavia, and now she's stuck in a room full of men.

  _____________________________________________

  As those infected people try to get inside, Octavia sits on the couch next to Ben.

  Ben: So, you decided to return to your clubhouse after the outbreak?

  Octavia: Yes...

  Ben: Okay... Understandable. Hey, you should go to the bathroom and wash the blood off your hands and face.

  Octavia stays silent and just looks around, seeing all these guys walking through the clubhouse.

  She nods and goes to the bathroom.

  As she stands in front of the mirror, she turns the water on and washes the hardened blood on her skin away with the water and soap.

  Octavia: I think... I'm scared.

  After she washed the blood away and washed her face, she looked at the mirror and tried to calm down.

  All the blood from the deadheads she killed floats into the sewers while washing it away. The red color slowly disappears and mixes with the water.

  Octavia: I'm... No, I'm okay. I'm not scared. Who am I lying to? Liar...

  I'm not... Oh, I don't know. There are so many. I-I I-I can't...

  But she decides to return, and as she looks at everyone, multiple scenarios run through her head. One being stronger than her, overpowering her, and beating her.

  Kai wasn't so nice at the beginning, and so he might hurt her badly.

  Everyone here could hurt her.

  But her thoughts are being interrupted as more infected people appear.

  Kai: Here they are... Deadheads.

  Maybe we could just take the guns we found and use the crossbows to kill all of them.

  Kai thinks he's the leader, and the part about him making reckless decisions sometimes is already clear.

  Niklas: I'm pretty sure that this is a bad idea if we consider the amount of those so-called "deadheads" and that most of us don't know how to handle a gun or a crossbow.

  Except the girl over there with a crossbow

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  He smiles at Octavia and nods towards her.

  Niklas is a clever, strategically thinking man. He usually knows what to do and is definitely a nice guy.

  While the whole conversation keeps going, Octavia notices Jason staring at her, which creeps her out a bit.

  Jason is a quiet and reserved person. To be honest, he's also quite a suspicious guy.

  Then there's also Felix, who just minds his own business and observes the deadheads.

  He seems like a normal guy, but he keeps more to himself.

  And another dude is Chris, who's not made at all for the apocalypse and acts like a scared cat.

  Those deadheads try to get in, but they don't succeed. As everyone tries to find out how to get out, Chris suddenly runs to a door and tries to get out, only to run into a bunch of deadheads.

  Chris: No...No. No!!!

  Octavia takes her crossbow and quickly shoots one, but only more and more of those deadheads come in, which makes the situation problematic. Even terrifying...

  Kai: The hell did you do?!

  Chris: I...I- help me!!!

  Kai: We'll just fight them off!

  Kai takes a machete, which he was carrying with him throughout the whole outbreak, and starts killing the deadheads.

  So anyone who can use a weapon starts pushing those deadheads back.

  Kai changes his weapon to a shotgun and shoots at them too, but this doesn't help at all.

  The whole situation just turns into a nightmare with a dead end.

  Felix took a bat and pushed some back. After that, one of those infected, which he pushed away, landed on a pike.

  Felix: Derek?....

  As everyone around keeps fighting, he sees his friend, his only friend he had after everything that happened before in his life.

  Felix: No... Not you... Why?...

  His eyes well up with tears as he sees him growling and moving around while a huge pike is shoved through his stomach.

  The guts and blood coming slowly out of his stomach.

  Suddenly Niklas quickly goes and takes a broom and opens a way to the rooftop.

  Niklas: Come on!

  Felix quickly wipes his tears away and runs up.

  Everyone follows him upstairs while sweating like crazy after this stressful fight, but now they're just trapped on a rooftop, surrounded by monsters that want to kill them all and chew on their meat.

  Now they're all on the rooftop, and Octavia lets her crossbow fall to the ground and sits down after this stressful moment.

  Kai directly walks up to Chris and pushes him down.

  Kai: What the hell did you do?!

  Chris: I...I-

  Kai: I I I—Enough! God, you're such an idiot!!! Fuck it...

  All right. Let's find a way down!

  Niklas: I'm pretty sure no one will be able to even run away after this moment.

  Kai: What? We can! Let's go!

  Niklas just ignores him and walks a bit further away as he lands a glance on Octavia.

  After that he just walks away, searching for a ladder.

  Ben walks to Octavia to find out how she feels after this fight. After all he considers himself a friend of Octavia.

  Octavia sits there and looks at him.

  Ben: Is everything alright?...

  Octavia: Yeah, I guess... I guess it is. We need to find a way to get down.

  Suddenly, out of nowhere Niklas says loudly.

  Niklas: Solved! This idea might fit Kai more, since we already saw how reckless he can be.

  Kai: Shut up...

  Niklas: But, we could jump on the bus over there, where there's a bunch of deadheads, and run away after that. If everything will go according to my plan.

  Kai: That's crazy... But I think we can try it out.

  The whole group walks over to the front of the rooftop, preparing to jump on the bus where a part of the deadheads came from.

  But Felix stays behind for now and stands over the place where they got out of the clubhouse and just looks into the eyes of those deadheads. He notices a neighbor there, a policeman, a soldier, a kid...

  He sees all these familiar faces and realizes that every single so-called "deadhead" had a family, friends, maybe a girlfriend or boyfriend, or even a wife or husband, and these people will find their loved ones like this, full of blood on their mouths with the look of a terrifying monster in their eyes.

  What an awful nightmare....

  Kai: Hey, Felix! Are you coming?!

  Felix quickly snaps out of his trance and runs towards the group.

  As the whole group looks down, they decide who will jump first.

  Niklas: I will, and I'll just wait on the bus for you all.

  Kai: Okay...wait, no! I will jump first!

  Niklas: Does that really make any difference?

  Niklas laughs and shakes his head as he allows him to jump first.

  Niklas: Wait a second... Someone else has to make some sounds from the entrance into the clubhouse... Or else they'll notice our jumping.

  Ben: I'll do it. I'm not that bad at being loud.

  He smiles at him and runs over, making various loud sounds from the other side. The deadheads look up at him and are distracted.

  Niklas: Alright... You have to jump now, Kai.

  Kai just stands there with a bit of a scared expression, but he clears his thoughts and quickly jumps on the bus.

  Luckily for him, he lands on the rooftop.

  Kai: Alright... I'm here.

  Niklas: I'll go next.

  Niklas jumps without any hesitation on the roof of the bus, and the deadheads don't seem to notice anything.

  Niklas: We're here... who's next?

  Jason jumps over without saying anything.

  Niklas: Oh, okay...

  Jason: Yeah ... I can go down and search for some stuff inside the bus.

  Niklas: I think...

  Kai: Do it. We can need that.

  Jason gets down and searches for some stuff, like medicine, tablets or knives inside of the bus.

  Now Felix jumps over and lands on the roof of the bus.

  Niklas: Okay... Not bad… Chris, You're next!

  Chris hesitates and refuses to jump.

  Kai: We don't have enough time for your stupid games! Jump!

  Chris runs and tries to stop in front of the edge. But because of the speed he gained while running towards the edge, he couldn't stop and fell over the edge.

  Chris: Aaaaaaaah!!!!

  Niklas manages to catch his hand and tries to get him up, but Chris just panics and doesn't even try to get up, and due to that, Niklas can't hold him any longer and lets go of him.

  Chris falls with pure terror in his eyes and a fear which cannot be described with words.

  He bumps his arm and holds it tightly with his other hand after that. His breathing gets quicker and louder as he just runs away into the woods.

  What Ben was doing didn't help anymore, since the deadheads noticed Chris and walked after him. But turned their eyes towards the bus and walked forward.

  At the same moment, Jason got stuck in the bus, and Ben and Octavia were on the rooftop of the clubhouse.

  But after some short period of time all the deadheads managed to surround them all.

  Now they're all trapped without any way out of this situation.

  Kai: We're fucked....

  Niklas: Oh, you're so right...

  _____________________________________________