Rain fell hard on the Stanford Campus grounds, thunder rumbled as the storm grew more intense. A huge flash of lightning crashed and lit up the whole Exam Hall, students jumped in their seats and grumbled as they tried to refocus. Among the many stressed Law students, there were some who by all rights, were too sick to be there. Their heavy breathing could be heard, even over the thunder. It was very distracting and was making other students nervous.
Right in the middle of the group, a focused young man scrawled away on his exam paper. Sam Winchester wasn't going to let anything get in his way of acing his finals. He'd worked too hard to lose what he'd scarified years of his life for. Nearby, he could hear a girl gasping as she struggling to breathe, her constant sniffs and groans getting louder. Sam was near the end of the final page, his heart pounded as he neared what would be the last exam he would have to do. He was usually calm because he studied so hard, but there had been a lot of stress the last week.
Sickness had swamped California, and many students, friends of his, had been forced to miss exams. There had been a recommendation that anyone with the illness stay home so as not to infect others, but there were students here who'd ignored it and dragged themselves in anyway. Dean had been phoning Sam every day, knowing this was an important week, and was worried about him being so close to the epidemic.
Sam blocked everything out as he carefully began to review his exam paper, with fifteen minutes to spare. The sound of the storm vanished as he perfected answers here and there. A sudden loud thump broke his concentration and he glanced to where it had come from.
The girl next to him had passed out on her desk, a small pool of blood formed at her nose and ran over her paper. Sam stood up immediately and moved to help her. He waved at a Professor at the front of the hall for assistance. A scream rang out from the back of the Hall and there was a sudden scurry of students. Sam couldn't see what was happening, but students were running from the disruption. He caught a flash of what looked like a guy grabbing another guy. Was that blood? Sam stared and finally got a view of the scene.
Larry, one of his peers, was biting into the face of another student. Sam's gut dropped at the site, and he clung the table. Sam was ready to interfere, to pull Larry off the student. He went to make a move, when further screams came from his left. A door on the left side of the hall had burst open and several very sick looking students poured in and started to lunge for his classmates. His instinct told him to run. Before he did, Sam grabbed his paper and shoved it in his bag. He grabbed the girl who had passed out and hoisted her over his shoulder. Whilst many students were running, he calmly jogged towards the exit. He didn't look back.
As Sam made his way through the campus halls, he caught site of more groups of sick looking people trying to attack others. What the hell was happening? He began to panic as he thought about his girlfriend, Jess. The hall was growing congested, and Sam could see there was little chance of making it to the exit, both directions now blocked by people, more people coming up the stairs from lower floors. He spotted a window and went for it. Sam fumbled with the latch, the task difficult with an unconscious body over one shoulder and more bodies started to press against him. He popped the window open and rain poured in. It was a bit of a drop into a dumpster. Maybe this was a bad idea. Sam was about to back away when a bloodcurdling scream pierced his ears. Within a few feet, an attacker had come from a stair way and had torn into a girl, blood sprayed over the walls and other students.
That was enough for him. He threw his bag down into the dumpster, then he lowered his class mate out the window by her arms and let her drop. He swung his legs out and readied himself to jump. At the last second, a hand grabbed him, a growl gurgled in his ear. He slipped and was hanging by his neck as a sallow faced professor gnashed at him. Sam choked and flailed. As he hung there, he felt his phone going off. Jess. That was enough for him to grab the window and slam it against the professors arms as hard as he could. He dropped, his head hitting the side of the dumpster as he landed in it. The world swam and after a few second, everything went dark, his ringtone the last thing he heard.
