That swing landed hard.
The zombie flipped violently from the impact, but Kitahara Sosuke didn't let his guard down. The creature groaned hoarsely, then staggered and slowly stood up again. Its deformed mouth, twisted by the force of the blow, didn't seem to bother it at all.
"It's still moving! She's not dead!" Tobe Kakeru shrieked in terror. The other students in the room were just as paralyzed with fear, none of them daring to step forward.
"Quiet! You want to draw more of these freaks here?" Sosuke shot him a sharp glare. Tobe immediately slapped his hands over his mouth and frantically shook his head.
The zombie lunged again.
This time, Sosuke was fully ready. He swung the bat with all his strength, aiming straight for the skull.
The bat smashed directly into the zombie's head. Blood and rotten flesh burst from the impact, releasing a foul, familiar stench. Even though Matsuda Yuko had only just turned, that unmistakable scent of death was already there.
The zombie's skull caved in, and this time, it collapsed for good.
"…Finally." Tobe slumped to the floor by the door, completely drained from the fear.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, still pale, slowly approached Sosuke. "Kitahara… did you really kill her?"
"If I didn't, she would've killed us," Sosuke replied bluntly, casually shaking the blood off his bat.
Utaha's mouth moved, searching for the right words. Even if that thing wasn't human anymore, watching a classmate get beaten to death was something she couldn't quickly accept. She had lived in peaceful times until now.
After a long breath, she forced herself to speak. "If the police come, I'll testify for you. I'll tell them it was self-defense."
"You're thinking too normally," Sosuke said as he turned to Tobe. "Hey, you. You saw what happened downstairs. Tell everyone what's really going on."
The other students, shaken by what they'd just witnessed, had fallen silent. None of them dared speak out against Sosuke. His calm brutality had stunned them all.
But now, when Sosuke shifted the spotlight to Tobe, the tension in the room turned.
He first shook his head instinctively, but seeing the tightening edge in Sosuke's eyes, he quickly nodded. He definitely didn't want to piss this guy off.
"Okay, so, I don't know everything. But when we were evacuating earlier, some people suddenly just went crazy. They started attacking everyone around them, biting them."
He pointed at Matsuda Yuko's lifeless body. "Just like her."
His voice trembled as he continued, "I watched one of our classmates get his throat ripped open. He bled out in seconds. I thought he was dead. But then, not even a minute later… he stood back up. His eyes were all gray and foggy, just like Yuko's."
His words sent a fresh wave of terror through the room.
"That's when I remembered… it's just like those zombie games. The virus. If you get bitten, you turn."
Everyone's eyes slowly shifted.
They all looked at Hayama Hayato.
Just now, Hayama had been bitten.
"Stop looking at me like that!" Hayama snapped. "I'm fine! It's just a small injury. It doesn't even hurt now!"
He clenched his fist to prove it, but blood continued to drip from the wound.
His forced smile only made the mood worse.
"You saw it too, Hayama. You were there," Tobe said, subtly backing away.
"Shut up, Tobe!" Hayama barked, his eyes burning with frustration and panic.
But when he looked around, he realized all of them were already edging away from him.
These were his classmates. His friends. Yet no one dared come near.
"Hayama… maybe you should just sit over there, you know, for safety. Just in case," said a hesitant boy named Miura Hiratsuka.
"Yeah… no offense, but we don't really know how this thing spreads."
"There's a first aid kit in the storage room. I'll go get you some disinfectant. Just… just don't move, okay?"
"Let's just observe for now. If something happens, we'll notice right away."
One by one, they distanced themselves. No one dared approach.
They spoke gently, but their actions were clear.
Hayama's fists clenched tightly. His jaw trembled.
"Fine… Fine… FINE!!!"
His sudden laughter filled the room, but there was nothing sane about it. His face twisted with rage and madness.
"If I'm going to turn, then none of you are getting out of this either!!"
His gaze locked onto the nearest target.
Before Tobe could react, Hayama lunged at him with a roar, tackling him to the ground and aiming straight for his neck.
But Sosuke had been waiting.
He stepped in and swung his bat with precision.
The blow landed squarely on Hayama's skull.
Hayama collapsed immediately, motionless.
"Aaaaahhh!! I'm gonna die!! I'm infected!! Mom, I'm still a virgin!!" Tobe shrieked in pure terror, kicking and flailing as he scrambled to push Hayama's body off him.
The others in the classroom could only watch, their faces pale.
The ugliness of fear, selfishness, and desperation had bloomed in full.
And this was just the beginning.