Seven hours had passed since David and Martin had died. The sun disappeared from the horizon, only to reveal a more frightening sight. The moon... there were active explosions on its surface.
No one in the class had a powerful binocular to see what was happening exactly, but they could see the explosions clearly. However, they had more things to worry about.
Important things like survival.
Some people inside the class were sleeping to conserve energy, while others were teetering on the edge of losing their minds. Who could blame them? After everything they saw, it was a miracle they lasted this long.
To top it off, they had been trapped in the classroom for over twelve hours without food or water. Blaze had expected them to tear into each other by now.
Other than them, four people were sitting around the teacher’s table, Alaric, Neha, the professor’s pet, Rico, the second top scorer, and Min, who was filling the seat in Blaze’s place.
As for Blaze, he was still looking outside the window. That tendril-head woman had left the campus after resurrecting David, so it was comparatively safe for the moment. As for David, he had walked back inside the building and no one had seen him since.
Alaric rubbed his tired eyes before speaking.
"We can’t stay here any longer," he said. "We don’t have any resources to survive on and it doesn’t seem like anyone is coming to help us."
"I agree," Neha chimed in. "Staying here is just delaying the inevitable. We should at least stay in the canteen where we can have some food and water."
"I agree we have to do something about it, but leaving is dangerous. You saw what happened to Martin and David!" Rico exclaimed.
"I mean... if we’re going to die, I’d rather die with a full stomach—"
"Min, just stay quiet."
Neha scolded him, but Min just rolled his eyes. They kept debating and in the end; it was decided they would send a couple of volunteers outside to check the surroundings before making the final decision.
"Fine, let’s look for volunteers—" Alaric said, but was interrupted by Blaze.
"No need," Blaze said. "It’s not safe outside."
"How do you know?" Neha scoffed.
She had never liked Blaze, someone who was gifted by birth. Top grades, a decent face, more than a decent physique, those veiny arms wrapped around her neck—
Neha shook her head, snapping back to reality before her dreams took her beyond the point of no return.
"You wouldn’t need to ask if you looked around," he said, stepping away from the window.
The group quietly approached the windows, only to stagger backward in fear. Hundreds of people who had died were on their feet, walking around the campus.
Anyone whose limbs and head were intact was out there, walking around aimlessly.
"Are those... zombies?" Neha gasped.
"They fit the description," Blaze replied. "Surprisingly, they are quite slow, both physically and mentally, unlike those monsters we saw before."
"And how do you know that?" Min said, rolling his eyes.
Blaze sighed and didn’t elaborate further, letting them form their own opinions. The only reason he came up with the explanation was from looking at their interaction.
As Blaze said, the undead were very slow, too slow to even run, and equally clumsy. They saw as two of them collided and fell over, knocking others in the process.
Out of the thirteen zombies, only three stood back up. The rest were stuck on the ground, crawling or groaning, until the ones still walking stomped on them, killing them all over again.
"They are clumsy, alright..." Min mumbled.
"That said, we need food, right?" Blaze asked, turning toward his father.
"Alright, Min, you’re coming with me," Blaze said, preparing to leave.
"Eh, why me? I’m not going out there!" Min replied, waving his arms.
"You’re the fastest runner here."
"How do you know that?"
Blaze looked at him before smiling.
"Do you really want me to tell the girls about the washroom incident?"
Min’s eyes widened in horror and he quickly shut Blaze’s mouth before he said anything else.
"Alright! I’ll come! Jesus... blackmailing me in broad nightlight..."
"See, that wasn’t difficult, was it?"
The two grabbed a couple of phones to use as flashlights or distractions, as need be and were set to leave. The five of them removed the barrier, and just when they were about to open the door, Alaric pulled Blaze back.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked. "Those things are still out there."
"Careful, Dad. If you keep worrying like that, people might say you favor your son too much," Blaze said, grinning. "Besides, you told me to lead by example, so that’s what I’m doing."
Upon hearing those words, Alaric pulled Blaze into a hug, patting his back.
"If they want to talk, then let them talk," he said. "But, you’re correct. We must lead by example, especially in these trying times."
Alaric turned to Min next. "You too. Stay alert."
"Of course, professor. Don’t worry about me!"
"That overconfidence is what I’m worried for..." Alaric sighed, shaking his head. "Now go. Don’t take too much time out there and be back in half an hour."
Blaze nodded, stepping out into the new world for the first time. The two waited until the doors shut and the barrier was back in place before walking away.
Min kept looking at Blaze as if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t set his mind.
"If you have to say something, then do it quick," Blaze said. "We might not get the time to even breathe downstairs, let alone talk."
"Um... that washroom thing... how do you know about that?"
Blaze looked at him before sighing heavily. The world had gone to shit, and the guy was worried about his reputation.
Well, I might as well answer, since you’re about to die and I don’t want your ghost haunting me.
"I saw you sneaking out of there. Then a girl came out screaming, saying someone smeared a stall with poop."
"Ugh... you could have kept the latter half to yourself," Min said, frowning. "That was by far the worst day of my life. That fucker Martin, he spiked my drink with laxatives and locked all male washrooms—"
"Zip it. I don’t want the details."
"Right," Min nodded. "Let’s forget about that shit..."