Defy The Alpha(s)-Chapter 801: Crisis In Lunaris

"Be on alert." Those were the words Micah told the young wolves after night fell.

Floodlights lined the courtyard and the surrounding walls, casting long beams across the grounds. Wolves could see in the dark, but a little light never hurt.

Nearby, the witches had already begun their ritual, drawing ancient symbols into the soil with salt. Symbols Micah recognized instantly. Witches dealt in the occult, and demons were practically family.

The main spell would not begin until a few minutes to midnight. Which meant the witches’ safety was also a priority.

Once they began the ritual, nothing would be able to penetrate their circle. The magic would seal around them until the barrier was fully restored.

Micah couldn’t help but rack his brain.

Why hadn’t Mary seen this attack coming?

She had practically drawn an entire storybook across the walls with her prophecies, yet he hadn’t recognized anything connected to Lunaris Academy.

He and Adele were still trying to decipher the visions she had left behind.

Micah could only hope this incident wasn’t serious enough to appear in one of Mary’s prophecies. Perhaps that was why she had never given them even the slightest hint.

Still, the thought nagged at him.

Time dragged slowly until sometime around ten o’clock, Micah heard a rustle.

Well, not just him. Every wolf in the courtyard heard it. Conversations stopped instantly as they all straightened.

Something was out there.

The air was so tight with tension that no one moved. Even the witches had gone still, holding their breath. The courtyard, which had been buzzing moments earlier, now sat in complete silence.

Every wolf was listening.

Then it appeared right at the cobbled pathway leading to the academy gates.

A lone figure stumbled into the pale wash of the floodlights.

The zombie moved with an unnatural gait, its body twitching in stiff, jerky motions as though its limbs no longer remembered how to work together. One leg dragged slightly behind the other, scraping against the stones with a dry, uneven sound.

Its head tilted at an odd angle while a wet gurgling noise escaped its throat.

The creature looked almost human at first glance. But the closer it staggered into the light, the more obvious the corruption became. Its skin had turned a sickly gray, stretched tightly over hollow cheeks. Dark veins crawled beneath the surface like rotting roots and blood crusted the corners of its mouth.

Its eyes were milky and empty. And it looked hungry.

The creature lurched forward again, sniffing the air like a predator that had caught the scent of prey.

Behind Micah, he could hear the students trying to act brave, but he could still feel the nerves rippling through them like a silent wave.

This was the first time most of them were seeing a zombie up close. Watching them on news broadcasts and shaky videos online was one thing but standing a few meters away from one was something entirely different.

Micah kept his eyes on the approaching creature.

Elijah’s strategy was working, whether anyone liked it or not. Sending wolves out to hunt the infected had slowed the spread.

But the problem remained.

This was a virus. For every zombie destroyed, another seemed to appear somewhere else. And Aster City was the capital of the United Dorminia. It housed a massive population which meant an endless supply of new hosts if the infection continued spreading.

Fortunately, the zombie ahead of them was an easy target. It moved quite too slowly, almost killing them with anticipation.

Oh for crying out loud.

Micah stepped forward slightly, ready to end this misery when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Let me handle this," Commander Malakai said calmly.

Micah stepped aside.

Malakai moved forward with the quiet confidence of someone who had done this many times before. He lifted the long rifle resting against his shoulder and settled it against his cheek.

The barrel pointed directly at the creature’s head. As the zombie took another dragging step, Malakai exhaled slowly and pulled the trigger.

The crack of the rifle split through the courtyard like thunder and the zombie’s head snapped violently to the side.

For a brief second it remained standing.

Then its body collapsed, dropping onto the cobblestones with a heavy, lifeless thud.

Dead.

For a heartbeat, the courtyard remained silent then cheers exploded through the night as the tension finally broke. Some of the students rushed forward, slapping Malakai on the back while others whooped loudly in excitement.

The fear that had been gnawing at them moments ago seemed to vanish as hope rushed in to replace it.

If it was this easy, then maybe the creatures weren’t as terrifying as everyone feared.

If only they knew.

Meanwhile, inside the ballroom, the sharp crack of the gunshot echoed across the academy grounds. The reaction was immediate.

Several of the human students screamed, panic rippling through the crowded room like a spark hitting dry grass.

Chairs scraped across the polished floor as students shot to their feet, some already looking toward the exits.

"The zombies are here!" one boy shouted.

A wave of terrified murmurs followed.

Adele immediately stepped forward, raising her voice above the chaos.

"Calm down!" she shouted. "Everything is under control!"

But fear had already taken root, pushing several students over the edge.

"I said calm down!" Adele barked again, uncomfortable with the rising tension. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

But the words barely reached them. Not even Jameson could calm them, not when she herself looked like a chicken about to be sacrificed for Thanksgiving.

"I can’t stay here!" one girl cried suddenly. "I need to get out of here!"

Before Adele could stop her, the girl rushed toward the door.

Adele’s eyes widened.

"Hey—!"

She lunged forward and tackled the girl to the ground before she could reach the exit. The two crashed onto the floor in a tangle of limbs.

The girl struggled beneath her, shrieking wildly.

"Let me go! I need to go to my mother! she screamed.

Adele cursed the day she stepped into this school. Stopping spoiled kids from ending up as zombie food was definitely not the way she forsee her future!

But the girl’s words spread through the room like poison and the fragile calm shattered instantly.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly teachers were moving everywhere, grabbing students who were trying to bolt for the doors.

"Lock the door!"

"Stop them!"

"Stay back!"

"Do not let them get to that door!"

Professor Alwen had two girls pinned against the wall while another teacher wrestled a screaming student away from the exit.

However, the population of the students were more than the teachers. It was too late. A few of the more foolish students slipped through the chaos and managed to reach the doors, shoving them open.

Once they left, the others lost what little sense they had left. After all, no one wanted to be left behind. Hence several more students rushed after them.

Within seconds a handful of the most empty-headed teenagers had already fled into the night.

Adele stared at the open doors in disbelief.

Just like that, she had a full-blown crisis on her hands.

Micah knew something was wrong the moment he heard the shrill screams. His head snapped toward the academy building, and what he saw made his stomach drop.

Students were running toward them.

Humans.

Dozens of them.

"Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me," Micah cursed under his breath.

Were these kids fucking out of their minds?!

The courtyard that had been so carefully secured moments earlier was now being flooded by panicked teenagers pouring out of the doors like a broken dam.

Some of them were already being intercepted by the wolves stationed closer to the building. A few unlucky escapees were grabbed mid-run and dragged back kicking and screaming.

"What the hell are they doing?" Micah muttered.

Malakai and Coach Harrington both stared at the chaos with the same stunned disbelief.

"These children have lost their minds," Harrington growled.

"Humans," Malakai muttered under his breath with exasperation.

As if the situation wasn’t already bad enough, Micah’s ears twitched.

Another wet dragging sound drifted from the darkness beyond the academy gates.

His expression hardened.

Not just one. More zombies were approaching.

What perfect timing.

Micah didn’t waste another second.

"You two handle those idiots," he said sharply. "I’ll deal with the zombies."

He cocked his rifle, pulling the bolt back with a sharp metallic click as he moved forward.

At once Malakai and Harrington sprang into action.

Malakai stepped ahead of the line of wolves guarding the courtyard and raised his voice like a battlefield commander.

"Catch the humans and put them back in their pen!" Harrington shouted, pointing toward the academy doors.

"I repeat, do not let come any closer!" he barked,"Move! Move! Move!"

The wolves moved into action at once.

Meanwhile Micah stepped toward the edge of the courtyard, rifle raised, his eyes locked on the darkness beyond the lights.

The first zombie had been easy. But the sounds creeping closer now told a very different story.

After this nightmare was over, he was so done with Lunaris Academy.