"Alright you guys, I'm heading out."

  I ended up staying behind an extra 30 minutes after all to help them out with the equipment. It turns out that Lily's mom, who was also our manager, never showed up after the concert like she usually does so we could load all the instruments into her huge SUV.

  So with the help of the owner of the pce, we were able to work something out and they allowed us to store all of our stuff here for the night. My guitar, however, always stayed with me.

  I threw my brown backpack over my shoulder and picked up my guitar case, ready to leave.

  My band members started to wave goodbye but we all jumped when the auditorium was suddenly filled with terrified blood curdling screams.

  We all rushed out to the middle of the stage in panic to see what was going on.

  A handful of our fans from the concert had lingered but were suddenly fighting each other like they were out for blood. Others were either running away outside by people chasing them or bent over on the floor vomiting uncontrolbly.

  "What the hell is wrong with them?!" I asked. This was ridiculous! I hated seeing people fight each other like senseless apes in public. And I bet it was over something stupid too, like knocking over someone's beer or stepping on someone's new shoes.

  Lily shook her head frantically and took a step back on the stage, her eyes were wide and still glued to the scene in front of her. "I-I don't know but this seems a lot more violent than how it was in Nashville!"

  "Hey! HEY! Calm the hell down!" I screamed while cupping my hands around my mouth to project my voice.

  No one stopped or even gave me a single gnce. I rolled my eyes before dashing backstage to find a microphone to use.

  "Where is security? They should have been out here taking care of this by now." Lily asked, coming up behind me.

  "Actually," I looked up and spun around to face her. "Where the fuck is our sound techs, the owners or hell, even our manager?"

  "I don't know about the staff, but my mom said she was doing overtime at her other job today but this is even ter than usual.' Lily trailed off.

  "Have you tried calling her?" I asked?

  She blushed. "No...I accidentally left my phone at home tonight before the concert."

  "Great." I replied sarcastically.

  "Uh Guys?" Shaun called out. "I think you should get out here."

  We both ran out to him and looked over at the crowd.

  "Oh God!" Lily cried, covering her mouth.

  I couldn't tear my eyes away from what I was seeing.

  The fighting had turned into a bloodbath.

  In one corner of the room a woman in a green dress was screaming as someone sank her teeth into her shoulder and blood spilled out from the bite. More people grabbed onto her and they didn't stop biting, even though she was kicking and thrashing her body around to fend them off. I wanted to faint when I saw the people attacking her pull back with chunks of her skin inside their mouths with dark red blood dripping down their chins. T

  hey kept chewing and biting whatever exposed flesh they managed to get their teeth on until her whole body was covered in bite marks..

  "What the fuck?! Are they on some kind of drugs?!" I cried out and covered my mouth to stop myself from puking.

  When I didn't receive a response from my peers, I tore my eyes away to find that they were just as stunned as I was.

  When I turned back at the crowd again, I saw a security guard running for his life towards the exit only to be forced down to the ground by five of our fans from outside the door. They began feasting on his body, almost fighting over him like a pack of starving wolves. I felt bile rise up to my stomach and I finally turned away.

  "I think I'm going to be sick...we need to get the hell out of here now!"

  I tried to run back to the staff area but I slid to a stop when I heard a low ominous growl coming from over there.

  The owner of the auditorium came crawling out of his office with one of his legs gnawed off. He raised his hand up and reached out for us. I couldn't move. I was frozen. I saw that the skin of his entire arm was practically gnawed to the bone.

  "P-Please...you gotta help...me..." He managed to get out. His voice was hoarse and he was barely clinging to life before his body suddenly started spasming awkwardly. He started gurgling, grasping onto his throat for air. The white of his eye turned a shade of yellow before he dropped like a sack of potatoes on the stage. A pool of blood formed around his head and his body went still.

  "Lily, Shaun! Get off the stage now! Get our cars!" I screamed and ran back the other way towards the emergency exit.

  Shaun got the memo, the bastard even sped past me to the door and shoved it open, setting off the arm in the entire building.

  I slowed down to catch my breath at the doorway and gnced around the dimly lit room to see if Lily caught up. But I couldn't spot her anywhere.

  "Lily?" I called out.

  I pressed open the door and looked around the dirty alley to find Shaun sprinting through, heading towards the parking lot.

  "Shaun! Wait! What about Lily?!" I called out to him.

  "I don't care!" He yelled back. "You guys are on your own!" He rounded the corner, almost slipping on his own sneakers before he disappeared into the night.

  "Oh why don't you grow a pair Shaun?!" I screamed after him then turned back inside to search for Lily.

  I found her still on the stage and she dropped to her knees on the wooden floorboards, frozen in fear.

  "Damn it Lily!" I dropped my bag and used my guitar case to hold open the door and then ran back towards the stage, shoving people out of the way that tried to grab me. When I went to hop up onto the stairs, I was suddenly yanked back by a fan who managed to grab the back of my tank top.

  "What the hell man! Back off!"

  I reacted impatiently and kicked the guy as hard as I could in his chest. He released me and toppled back into a mosh pit of those freaks.

  "Lily! COME ON! HURRY! WE HAVE TO GO!" I yelled as I hopped up the small flight of stairs to the stage.

  She didn't respond. Her eyes were wide as dinner ptes and glued to the corpse in front of her. I reached under her arm to yank her up but she wouldn't budge at all.

  "She's not gonna like this, but she's not giving me any other choice." Retracting my hand back as far as I could, I nded a hard bitch sp to Lily's face, knocking her curls back and even stinging my own hand.

  She blinked several times before cupping her cheek and then her eyes turned dark and gred at me. "What the fuck was that for?!" She hissed.

  "Get. The. Fuck. Up. Now!" I growled through my teeth. I grabbed her by the arm and forced her up on her feet.

  I led her over to the exit with me, keeping her close but stopped for a moment to quickly grab my things before bolting out the door.

  "Wait where's Shaun?" Lily asked.

  "The bastard abandoned us. We need to get to my truck, get my brother and then find out what's going on here. Or at least get the police involved in this shit."

  As on cue, my ringtone went off inside my pocket and I pulled it out to answer it. "Ray? Yeah. Shit! What?! Really?! Yeah, no it's happening over here too. Just whatever you do, don't go outside and find a safe hiding pce for now. I'll get to you as soon as I can."

  As we raced down the alley, I checked behind me to see that a few of the deranged people managed to shove their way out through the door.

  "Shit." I swore out loud. "Come on Lily, we need to run faster! Some of them got through and they're chasing after us."

  "What is WRONG with them?!" She shrieked as she ran beside me. "Why are all these people acting so crazy tonight?! Wait, Sarah! STOP! LOOK OUT!"

  I was too busy gncing over my shoulder again, counting how many there were until I suddenly ran into two more in front of us that were blocking the parking lot. I tripped backwards over one of them and shivered in disgust when I realized I was touching their cold cmmy flesh.

  I found myself sprawled on top of the hairy sweaty chest of some grotesque fan who had painted his entire stomach and face in our striped dark band colors as if he was at a football game . He was grinning wildly up at me and I instantly scrambled to get up off him. His pudgy fingers suddenly tched around my wrist and he yanked it towards his bloodstained mouth. A foul odor masked all my senses when he opened his mouth, practically stunning me, and I could see inside that his teeth were horribly jagged and was stained crimson from his previous victim.

  "No! Let go of me you sick freak!" I shed out at him while desperately trying to pull my hand out of his ridiculously strong grip.

  I stomped my foot down against the man's face roughly and pulled backwards to try and free myself from him, but he wasn't budging. I could still feel the stench of his rotten hot breath against my fingers and I balled up my fists to keep them away from his mouth. I retracted my foot back and stomped on his face harder this time. I felt the bone in his nose crack when it connected and the huge man growled and released me to shield his face. The minute his grip weakened, I stood up quickly and stepped back away from him.

  Lily let out a scream and I turned to find her backing up into a brick wall with a skinny rocker chick standing in her path. "Sarah! Hurry! She keeps trying to bite my face off and her breath smells GOD AWFUL! OW! WHAT THE-HELP! NOW SHE'S TRYING TO EAT MY HAIR!

  "I know Lily! Just- give me a minute ok?!" I panicked and ran my fingers through my hair nervously.

  I couldn't believe it.

  The guy on the ground was already unphased by the blow and blood was gushing down his face as he started getting back up to his feet again. I had to keep backing up just to avoid him and ended up next to Lily who was still screaming.

  Okay, how can I stop him?

  Maybe...

  I could try knocking him out? He'll at least stop crawling after me.

  Without giving it any more thought, I punched him hard in the gut hoping it would stun him. He froze for a moment before doubling over and vomiting some weird bck gunk. This stuff had to be what was making his mouth smell bad, because that horrid smell from earlier was suddenly in the air around us.

  "Oh I think I'm going to be sick..." Lily groaned. My stomach turned unexpectedly, letting me know it had enough. I doubled over on my knees away from the man's face and threw up everything I had eaten today. I tried to climb back up to my feet, but I suddenly felt woozy and my vision was fading in and out. Lily was grunting and screaming my name while trying to fight off the other girl but she sounded so far away. I wiped my mouth and looked over to see that the guy finally stopped moving. His face was ft on the ground, the bck ink stuff he spit up still oozing out of him.

  "Damn it Sarah! Get this bitch off me!"

  I wobbled back up to my feet and stumbled behind the punk rocker harassing Lily. I wrapped my fingers around her colorful dyed ponytail and yanked her back roughly. This one was feisty though and refused to let go no matter how hard I pulled her hair. I gnced over to see it's hands were still tched on Lily's arm and hair. Wait a minute. Her hair? "Lily! Are you kidding me?!!"

  "What?!"

  "Take the damn wig off already!"

  "Are YOU kidding me?! This is my favorite one! Do you know how many hours I spent trying to get it into this style?! YOU make HER let go!"

  "Stop being so damn dramatic!" I yelled while still struggling to pull the girl away.

  It's not worth getting killed for!"

  The teenager suddenly threw up that bck stuff all over Lily's face and got it all over her dress.

  Lily wailed in despair and hell, I didn't bme her. "FINE! TAKE THE DAMN WIG!" She screamed and tugged it off, letting the zombie have it.

  The girl still had a grip around Lily's wrist, but once I wrapped my arm around its neck and snatched her hand off, Lily was able to escape.

  The edgy teenager then turned her attention to me. Before she had a chance to shift her weight, I switched the hand around her neck to the back of her head and tried to keep her steady.

  She was fighting back with everything she had to bite me or make me fall. I forgot about everything about knocking her out and just smmed her head against the brick wall. The first time it hit she howled loudly and squirmed against me, became more aggressive and was now throwing her head back forcibly to hit me. I smashed her head against the wall again and again until she finally stopped moving.

  I was breathing heavily and released her cold limp body on the ground next to the other guy.

  "So what, are you just OK with killing people now?" Lily cried hysterically.

  We both looked down at their bodies and I saw blood bubbled from the man's cracked lips.

  "What other choice do I have?" I asked and started running towards my truck again. "They're coming at us like a bunch of psychopaths and acting like the others in the auditorium. Do you want to end up like all the others who got eaten?"

  She didn't say anything but cleaned her face off with her skirt while running quietly beside me. "Can you just take me home already? I want to be rid of this nightmare." She mumbled.

  "Of course, as long as you don't mind me stopping to get my brother first."

  She said whatever under her breath but I ignored it, continuing to keep my gaze straight ahead.

  When I checked behind me, I couldn't help but feel a sickening relief when I saw that the ones who made it through the door became interested in the two bodies we left behind.

  Screams and cries of terror echoed in the night all around us, crowds of people all running frantically to their cars from the exits of the auditorium. What I didn't understand was why the hell did so many people stay behind after the show? It ended over an hour ago!

  When we finally approached my red Chevy truck, Lily suddenly grabbed onto my arm. "Hang on, isn't that Shaun's car? I thought you said he left ages ago?"

  My gaze followed to where she was pointing and spotted his silver Sudan parked in the same spot it was three hours ago.

  "That is his car..." I trailed off suspiciously and stared bnkly at the tinted four door. I walked over to the driver side and almost jumped out of my skin when something cracked under my foot.

  It was a pair of sungsses.

  They looked like the ones Shaun was wearing tonight. There was also a puddle of that bck goo mixed with puke inches away from it.

  "Ew sick..."

  A dark figure sat slumped over in the driver seat and I stepped over the mess to tap my knuckle against the car window.

  "Hey Shaun? Are you ok in there? It's me, Sapphire."

  Nothing.

  I opened the door and gasped when his body came tumbling out of his seat and hit the concrete with a thud. "Shaun?! Shaun, can you hear me?!" I ran to his side but he suddenly growled and pushed his torso up with his arms. When I took a step back, I saw that his entire shirt and steering wheel was covered in that bck bile.

  I stood there paralyzed in shock and my heart was pounding hard in my chest seeing him this. I gulped before turning back towards Lily. I didn't know what to say. I was in a trance and couldn't bring myself out of it. I couldn't even begin to believe what I'm seeing.

  Shaun turned into one of them.

  "Lily, get inside my truck now!" I screamed while heading towards her

  "What do you mean? Is he okay?"

  "NO!"

  I could feel him on my tail. He pulled himself to his feet and was chasing after me faster than the others. I raced for the driver seat that was just a few feet away but from how loud I heard him breathing, I didn't think I would make it. I could see Lily's eyes widen in horror from inside the truck and I wondered if then that was it for me, and I would be devoured like the rest.

  A loud horn bsted loudly, shattering the night silence and my screams as a rge monster truck came zooming in right past me, barely missing the hairs on my skin. There was a sudden "thud" not even a second ter and I fell over on the ground. I sat up flipped my head around to turn to see that the truck had Shaun pinned down right underneath it.

  "Shaun." Both Lily and I groaned.

  "You dies need to go on and get the hell out of here quick!" Said the man from the driver seat. All I could see was his beard and the terror in his eyes before he revved his engine, his tires skidding all over Shaun's body and practically tearing him to shreds, before the man drove off into the night like the devil was on his heels.

  I sat there on the ground a few inches from my truck, wide eyed, staring off where the man disappeared to and then down over to Shaun. I couldn't pry my eyes away from the sight. I could hear Lily sobbing from inside.

  I eventually scooted backwards, my eyes still locked on Shaun's corpse, until my back hit the truck. I used it to give me support to climb up to my feet and I finally turned away and let myself inside.

  When I didn't say anything, Lily's eyes filled up with tears as she held onto herself. "What the hell is happening tonight? " She whispered, her voice shaking.

  I tossed my backpack and bass in the backseat with her. Then I sat there, dazed. "

  That's something I would like to know too, Lily." I thought and started the engine.

  ****

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