"Come on man, We're gonna be late!"
Connor's eyes slowly flutter open and the first thing he hears is the knocking on the hotel door and a voice with a Greek accent calling out to him. He slowly turns to his side and turns on his phone, seeing its 1 PM. "Shit!" He groggily says under his breath.
He sits up in bed, holding his head. His throat feels dry, and his head is pounding. "Ugh, I'm coming!" the young adult calls out grumpily to the person outside the hotel room.
Connor complains softly under his breath, wondering how his bandmates managed to drag him to the bar the night before, knowing they had a gig the next day.
He quickly gets dressed in a dark red hoodie, white undershirt, jeans, and olive-colored sneakers. Connor runs a hand through his messy hair, knowing full well it won't get any better. He never really cared anyway.
When he opens the door, his best friend and band drummer, Zephyr, lean against the doorframe, arms crossed. The dim hallway lights glint off the metal studs and rings on his face. His jet-black hair falls over his eyes as he tilts his head, impatient.
"Took you long enough." Zephyr punches Connor's shoulder playfully with a smirk, his Greek accent still strong despite years of living in the Netherlands.
Connor rubs his arm slightly, grinning. "Yeah, whatever. Where's the others?" He asks, referencing the other band members, his voice is a little tired sounding, accentuating his Dutch accent.
"Waiting in Max's car outside,"
"Alright, what 'bout Azra?" Connor questions as he starts walking down the lit hallway.
"I don't know, haven't seen her today, She's probably doing god knows what, you know her, unpredictable as fuck!" Zephyr responds as he walks next to Connor.
"Or still knocked out from last night," Connor points out, earning a chuckle from Zephyr.
Their footsteps on the wooden hotel floor prevent complete silence as they walk through.
"So, I assume last night had a good hit on ya?" Zephyr asks jokingly, getting a glare from Connor in response.
"At Least I don't drink until I faint on Carnival," Connor mutters.
"Hey! I'm at least using your country's traditions unlike you! And you are the one who's native to The Netherlands!" Zephyr counters.
Connor and Zephyr keep bantering as they walk to the car they rented with Max, who's waiting in the driver's seat, waving at them, in the passenger seat is his girlfriend Luna, who's strumming her guitar while resting her head on Max's shoulder, and Raven, who's in the back and was putting on some makeup while looking in a small mirror she has with her.
The door makes an audible click sound as Connor pulls on the handle of the car. However, the door won't open immediately, so he sighs and pulls as hard as he can to forcefully open it.
"Goddamn, Why did you hire this shitty car?" Connor complains, making Max laugh a bit.
"It's just some rusted door hinges. Chill. The car works fiiiiine," Max replies sarcastically, with a chuckle. "It's just for today, so you just have to deal with it."
"You're a damn mechanic! You should know better than to pick this shitty car!" Connor exclaims, earning a chuckle from Max, and slams the car door shut. He and Zephyr get in and buckle their seatbelts.
"Alright, I'll give you that one," Max replies as he turns on the engine and starts driving to their destination; A Venue.
Zephyr leans forward and reaches for the radio from the backseat. "Let's see if some music can make this deathtrap more manageable."
Luna barely glances up from her guitar, playing a soft melody as she leans into Max like she's half-asleep. "Better be our music," she mutters without looking up.
As soon as Zephyr twists the knob to change channels, a voice breaks through.
"Reports indicate that riots have erupted in northern Minnesota, with disturbances quickly spreading to neighboring states. In response to the escalating situation, SWAT teams have been deployed to help regain control. Further details are currently unavailable to the public, and updates will follow as more information becomes available. Stay tuned for more coverage on this developing story."
The group looks at each other for a moment before Connor interrupts. "Isn't Minnesota close to Wyoming or something like that?" Getting a chuckle as a reply from the only native American; Raven.
"No dimwit, it's close to New York," She sarcastically replies, gaining an "ohhh" from Connor, who missed the sarcasm.
Unaware Connor is autistic and doesn't always notice sarcasm, Raven sighs. "It's near North Dakota, idiot, I was being sarcastic,"
"Wait, Aren't WE in North Dakota?" He questions.
"Yes, you dumb fuck!" Luna sighed, annoyed, having eavesdropped. "Look, it's probably nothing. We've nothing to worry about. We should worry about the show more than some random ass riot that's probably for something useless per usual. Now let's drop the subject!"
The entire car fills with awkward silence, only being disturbed by the sound of the truck driving over the road and the hum of the engine before Connor speaks up again.
"I'd say sending in SWAT teams does mean it's someth-" He gets cut off by Luna, who chucks her guitar pick in his face as an indication to shut up, this time, he gets the hint and keeps his mouth shut.
After a long time, Max pulls into the venue's parking lot. "Can I carry the lightweight stuff?" Connor asks quietly. "Don't you always do that?" Max stated bluntly. "You're the weakest in the group."
The others laugh a bit while Connor doesn't bother to reply, used to be the main one teased due to his inability to speak up, but it does not mean he is particularly fond of it and questioning why he is this way.
The venue was probably the biggest one the group had been in so far; the stage was elevated with barricades in front of it to keep fans from climbing onto the stage, and the stage was blocked by black curtains which were currently closed. The venue even had balconies where fans could watch the show from higher grounds.
"Holy shit, this looks way better than those small venues we've had before," Luna glances around, guitar slung over her shoulder.
"If the whole tour has this big of a venue at the other locations, then we'd be so used to that, the bars in our town would feel like we're in a goddamn closet!" Zephyr jokes.
The band walks up to the sound guy, who seems to be in their late 40s and seems like the type of guy who'd deal illegal substances, and a few security guards who seem like they have better things to do other than having to keep guard at a show of young adults making all sorts of weird noises.
"I assume you guys are Death of Time?" the sound guy asks, to which the group nods in agreement. Connor hesitated as the others confidently introduced themselves. When it was his turn, he mumbled a quick, "Connor," barely making eye contact with Matt. He felt the sound guy's assessing gaze linger on him for a second longer than he liked, and he resisted the urge to adjust his hoodie. "Okay," he continues, "I'm Matt, the sound engineer, and these men over here," he gestures to the two security guards, "are Adam and James. They'll make sure no fan climbs on stage."
"Nice to meet you, I guess,"
"Yo,"
The band, except for Raven, exchanges glances for a moment. It suddenly dawns on them that they are not dreaming and are actually about to perform on a huge stage, with who knows how many people watching them live.
Matt smirks, clearly amused at their moment of realization. "Now hurry up and let's prepare, otherwise you might live up to your name and waste our time,"
He chuckles at his own joke, all the while the security guards and Raven facepalm. The others just glance at each other as they are used to the jokes of their band names.
"I thought the comment section under our Instagram posts was awful," Max stated.
After a couple of hours of readying their gear and checking their sound, the lights flash. The lights only shine onto the stage, leaving most of the fans in the dark, leaving the fans as the silhouettes moving around as a crowd.
When the intro of the first song began, both Zephyr and Connor were clearly nervous, their introverted nature showing as Connor gripped his mic like a lifeline and Zephyr slightly shying away behind his drum kit as he tried not to look at the number of faces looking at the bands, something Connor obviously can't do, due to being the frontman.
Raven notices this and she walks up to him, bumps her shoulder against him, and whispers. "Dude, just stop thinking about the crowd and focus on the song, you're gonna do great." She tries to be comforting to keep Connor's anxiety at bay.
Connor averts his attention from the crowd to the song, as Raven suggested and as soon as the first vocals leave his mouth and he can see the audience bobbing along, he calms down as the music drowns out the nerves, singing and moving about as if he is born to be on stage.
Connor gives Raven a thumbs-up, trying to say "Thank you." She notices this and smiles sweetly in return. By the time the second song comes on, the same happens to Zephyr.
Soon, the sound of Connor's vocals, Zephyr's drums, Luna's and Max's guitars, and Raven's bass echo through the building while fans are headbanging and mosh pitting. Everyone seems to be having fun, except for Adam and James, who are at the barricade doing their best not to cover their ears when hearing Connor's screams and the heavy instrumentals, and each time sighing in relief the vocals and instrumentals calm down for the more emotional vibes.
Raven and Connor both notice this. However, Raven, having toured with other bands before, is unbothered by the reaction. In contrast, Connor feels sympathy for the security guards and wishes he could at least apologize.
Max, who was standing beside Connor, shredding his guitar, noticed it. When the song came to an end, he nudged the younger fella's shoulder and softly whispered, "Dude, don't be apologetic toward them. They're getting paid to do this. Just focus on entertaining the crowd. " He nodded his head toward the crowd.
Connor sighed, and the show continued without issue until the sounds of fists banging against the doors and screams could be heard through the instruments.
The crowd seems to stop vibing along as the banging sound seems to ruin the mood.
Connor stops his head-banging, and he raises his hand to the others, gesturing to stop playing. The others obey. Zephyr uses the opportunity to stretch his legs after sitting for so goddamn long.
"Who the hell decided to disturb the show right before my guitar solo?!" Luna's voice cuts through the silence like a knife. "What if there's an emergency out there and someone needs help?" Connor retorts, annoyed.
"Yeah well, maybe someone just wanted some goddamn attention!" Luna takes her guitar strap off her shoulder. "Either way, I deserve my time to shine! You're not the only one who gets the spotlight just cause you're the vocalist!"
Connor opens his mouth to reply, but she cuts him off. "Do you know how many hours I've spent perfecting that solo? Hours, Connor. Blood, sweat, and calloused fingers. And you think I'm just gonna let some nobody with a potential stubbed toe ruin it? Please."
"I'd like to say that if someone stubbed their toe they wouldn't keep slamming their fist against t-" Zephyr began to say but Luna glared at him, she did not want him to point out how flawed her point was, so he quickly cut himself off.
The others remained quiet for a moment, knowing full well that Max was the one who made up the guitar solo but Luna was the lead guitarist so she had to do the solo, the sound of banging continuing.
Raven lets out a groan, watching from the side, shaking her head. "Classic Luna. We should put that on a shirt: 'Nobody ruins Luna's solos.'"
"Damn right!" Luna snaps, completely missing the sarcasm. "If you guys don't want me to be the best part of this band, just say so. But good luck without my riffs stealing the show."
Some boos can be heard from the crowd, who all obviously saw how self-centered Luna actually is and losing respect for her.
"You're only part of the band just cause you're Max's girlfriend, as soon as you two break up you're a goner… if that ever happens," Connor thinks to himself before signaling the crowd to calm down.
Connor moves his eyes to James. "James, can you go and see what's going on?" The security guard nods and smirks to Adam as if bragging that he gets to get away from the sound of the instruments before he walks out the door.
Thinking the situation will be taken care of, The band restarts the song and they start jamming again, the heavy instrumental deafens out the sound of a body hitting the floor, and only one member of the crowd who's standing at the back hears it.
"Did any of you hear that?" The fan asks her friend, who looks at her like she grew a second head. "The screams and pounding? Yeah, but we all heard that"
"No, no, I swear I just heard someone collapsing to the floor!" the fan retorts. Her friend is annoyed that she is interrupting the show for them.
"Look, I believe it's in your head, someone from security went out there to help so they'll be fine. Don't worry about them."
The fan sighs, "Okay, fine, fine." Then she returns to paying attention to the band, although the sound of someone hitting the floor still makes her feel uneasy due to the spreading riots, fearing the riots made it to the city.
Then, the door handle gets pulled down from the outside and the door opens, signaling James' return.
A few moments later, screams emit through the venue, causing the band to stop.
"Ugh, can't these idiots just enjoy the music instead of causing drama?" Luna shouts frustrated, her left eye twitching.
"Shut it Luna" Max snaps.
"B-but my sol-"
"Nobody cares for it!" Max interrupts her, but before anyone can say anything else, A tearing noise emits from the crowd, drawing their attention back to the situation.
Matt, who's watching from the sidelines, turns on all the lights, allowing the band to see the crowd's situation more clearly, but once they see what's going on, they prefer they have the option to remain unaware.
James crouches over the fallen fan, his teeth sinking into their throat. Blood spurts in messy arcs as the victim weakly pushes at him, their hands trembling before going limp.
Adam quickly runs up to James, wraps his arms around his fellow security guard, and pulls him back. "James! Stop that! What the hell is wrong with you?!" He shouts while other fans go to attend to the fan who's bleeding out.
James lets out an animalistic growl, startling Adam enough for him to loosen his grip on the wild staff member, allowing James to turn around and push him into a wall and sink his teeth in his neck, blood spurting onto the wall and James' face as Adam lets out screams of agony.
Now everyone is in utter panic, starting to run in different directions to get as far as possible from the carnage.
"Every man for themselves!" Matt shouts in fear before running off backstage.
The ones who run to the exit are the unlucky ones as more people with the same violent behavior run in through the open doors, tackling them to the floor before they start clawing and biting people left and right.
Some other fans climb past the barricade up the stage and run past the band backstage.
Connor is frozen in his spot as he sees the bloodbath unfold in front of them, all the while the others back away backstage, trying to stay out of everyone's sight.
"Connor! Come on!" Max shouts, but two of the assailants look up from their meal, looking at the band and spotting Connor frozen in shock. He can't get a clear vision of their faces, but all he sees is blood coating their faces.
Connor's heart is hammering in his chest as he watches the bloody attackers get up and start to run past other assailants who are chasing other victims or feasting on a random person and dead bodies that suddenly start to convulse.
They climb over the barricades in a very fast way, like freerunners but then without the clean and graceful movements as one of them face plants and the other gets their leg stuck for a moment before getting up and starting to climb on the stage, which allows Connor to finally see their faces now they are up close.
The whites of their eyes have turned completely black, Their chests don't rise or fall, no sign of breathing, while their skin is deathly pale. Their faces are coated in blood from their prior victims and their clothes are ripped and torn, as if they had been in a fight earlier. Some bite marks are on one's neck and the other's arm.
Connor's mind screams at him to move, but his legs feel like they are made of lead. His heart beats against his ribcage, feeling as if his heart is about to burst through it.
To Connor, those things can't be human, they just cannot be. Those soulless eyes are as dark as ink, chest not rising nor falling, as if it's not breathing. The blood dripping down their chin and staining their clothing makes the image more horrifying to him.
"Dead..they should be fucking dead!" Connor thinks to himself, his body trembling, His breath catches in his throat. His stomach turns."But they're moving, how?! I-it's like they're…" He has a moment of realization. "This isn't real. It can't be real."
A choked sound escapes Connor's lips, a mix of whimper and gasp. His fingers move slightly at his sides, the mic still clasped in his hand, wanting to help the ones who are still alive but guilty that he can't, making him feel useless.
One of the figures lunges at him, this snaps Connor out of his trance and he stumbles back, tripping over his own feet, his heartbeat deafening in his ears as the figure bends down over his face, licking its lips.
CRACK! The sound of a guitar colliding with bone fills Connor's ears as the assailant sprawls onto the floor. He barely registers Max standing over him, panting with his guitar grasped tightly.
Both Max and Connor look at the figure starting to get up, but its limbs move very unnaturally as it does so, like a puppet controlling it. Meanwhile the other also gets onto the stage.
Connor can hear some of the people's screams getting replaced with wet gurgles while some other screams get more distant from the ones who somehow manage to escape the bloodbath.
He doesn't even register Zephyr pulling him up to his feet and backward. "Connor, fucking MOVE!" His voice is sharp, borderline terrified as Connor's legs finally seem to wake up.
"But we have to-" he begins when he sees a third figure climbing onto the stage, one arm completely torn off but seems unaware of it.
Connor turns around and runs completely into Max, who still holds his guitar like a baseball bat.
"We need to fucking go!" Raven shouts from backstage, watching the three running towards them with Luna next to her, both of them gripping their bass and guitar respectively.
"Where?!" Zephyr exclaimed, his Greek accent clearly audible in his panicked state.
"The green room maybe? Just wait until help arrives?" Raven suggests, eyeing the figures who are starting to gain on them.
"Better than standing here!" Max barks and the group starts running.
Connor doesn't look back, he doesn't dare to as he stays with the pack.
They run past one of the emergency exits and they see the door slammed open, one of those fiends eating away at a fan that made their way backstage in the chaos.
"I'm gonna be sick…" Luna says beneath her breath while running, alerting the assailant with her voice and the group's loud footsteps. It gets up and starts chasing the band members down.
"Shit, go go go!" Max slams his shoulder against the greenroom door, the door hitting the wall with a loud slam that might have scared the ghosts in the building. Luna whips around and slams the door shut before Connor and Raven can enter. "You asshole!" Raven shouts as she bangs her fist on the door.
Connor barely notices the door being slammed shut before quickly halting to a stop, his heart pounding in his chest and sweat dripping off his forehead.
The last thing he remembers is Raven shouting "Watch out" before he feels his body hitting the cold floor and everything turning black.