"What… what should we do now?"
The question escaped Summer's lips yet again, thin and unsteady. She had repeated it so many times that the words no longer faded after being spoken. Instead, they lingered, circling endlessly inside Thino's thoughts, pressing against his focus like a dull ache.
The situation had already been dire, but fate seemed determined to make it worse. An unforeseen turn had cornered them completely. They were no longer just trapped inside a powerless room—they were surrounded. Monsters prowled beyond the walls, their movements unseen but unmistakable, their presence weighing heavily in the air like an approaching storm.
Ella noticed the change in Thino immediately. The way his jaw tightened, the stillness in his stance—signs that the pressure had settled deep within him. She understood the weight he carried. Yet instead of giving in to fear, she steadied herself and began to think.
Because she trusted him.
Even now, she believed Thino was forming a way out.
"It's really not working," Light muttered, irritation lacing his voice as he flipped the switch again, then pressed the remote harder than necessary. "The lights are dead. Even the air-conditioning won't turn on."
Nothing answered him. The room remained dim and lifeless, the stale air clinging to their skin, making the silence feel even heavier.
"And why did you even come back inside in the first place?" Rian snapped, his gaze constantly roaming, as if expecting the walls themselves to give way. "You should've gone straight outside."
"We didn't expect this to happen, alright?" Ella replied, forcing calm into her voice. "The plan was to pass through the school and reach the auto service area while the monsters were distracted by the generator's noise."
"If that was your plan," Rian said, narrowing his eyes, "then how did you end up here?"
"Because the generator wasn't enough to draw all of them."
Thino finally spoke. His voice was quiet, controlled, yet firm enough to draw everyone's attention.
"We planned to stop here first," he said. "We already knew the auto service area had become one of their nesting grounds. Before looking for the vehicle that matches this key, we needed to make sure they weren't occupying that space."
He lifted the key in his hand, its metal catching the faint light. Rian's expression shifted—not with confusion, but with dawning understanding.
"Really?" Light said, relief briefly flickering across his face. "That's great! I thought you came here just to wait for the rescue."
Rian didn't respond. His eyes remained fixed on the key.
"You took that from the security room, didn't you?" he asked.
Thino met his gaze and nodded.
"I see," Rian murmured. "Then maybe the world had another reason for keeping you out from reaching the service center."
"What are you talking about?" Ella asked, puzzled.
Instead of answering, Rian stepped forward and gently took the key from Thino's hand, examining it with practiced attention.
"The vehicle of this key belongs to isn't in the auto service area," he said. "If you had gone there, you would've been walking straight into your end life."
"H-how can you be sure?" Light interrupted. "There are plenty of vehicles parked there."
Summer nodded quietly. She had been to the auto service before. She knew how crowded it could be.
"There are many," Rian replied, unshaken, "but not this one. This key belongs to a mini truck."
Light frowned. "How can you tell? There's no name on it."
"The size and curve of the key," Rian explained. "And only mini trucks leave their keys in the security room. They carry food supplies and other stock for the school. Service vehicles and private cars don't leave theirs behind cause they used it daily. Unless it is a closing hours."
He placed the key back into Thino's palm. Thino stared at it, the implications settling slowly, heavily.
"R-right… perhaps that also explains why you two also ended up here, to inform that to us." Ella said, forcing a weak joke that barely cut through the tension.
Rian shook his head.
"Maybe," he said, "but that still doesn't solve how we're getting out of this place."
Light exhaled sharply and glanced toward the hallway. Shadows shifted beyond the doorway, clustering and moving. The path they needed remained infested with monsters.
Minutes passed, thick with unease.
Then—
"Wait…"
Summer's voice cut through the silence, urgent enough to pull everyone's attention toward her.
"W-what… again?"
"H-how about using the fire alarm system?" Summer stammered repeating what she said, her thoughts racing faster than her words. "D-don't those things have their own batteries? Cause They're included for emergencies—ah!"
Her sentence was cut short when Ella suddenly lunged forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, unable to contain her excitement. Thino's eyes widened at the same time, the weight of Summer's idea hitting him all at once.
"That's a brilliant idea, Summer!" Ella exclaimed, holding onto her a little longer than necessary.
"Well then, we finally have a plan," Light added quickly. "We activate the fire alarm—but where do we find one?"
Before the question could linger, Rian stepped forward and dropped a large sheet of paper onto the floor. The sound alone drew everyone's attention, and they immediately gathered around it.
"We already have an exit plan," Rian said, pointing to the layout. "This was posted on the wall earlier, near the fire extinguisher."
It was an evacuation map. They all leaned in, studying it closely.
"We're here," Thino said, tracing a spot on the map with his finger, "and our destination is here. There are two hallways we can take, but this route is better."
He pointed to the hallway on the west side.
"It's closer to both the nearest fire alarm and the exit door."
The others nodded almost immediately. They could see it too—the path was shorter, more direct, and closer to the outside.
"So the plan is," Light said, following along, "once we activate the fire alarm, we head straight to the exit door. And then?"
"We go to the warehouse," Rian answered. "That's where the mini trucks are parked."
"But wait…" Ella frowned slightly as she scanned the labels on the map. "Didn't we come from this direction, Thino?"
Thino followed her gaze, recognition dawning on his face.
"Yeah," he said slowly. "This is the same way. If I'm not mistaken, this is also where I picked up the fire extinguisher." He paused. "Which means there are probably a lot of monsters blocking that route now."
"Then we take this one instead," Rian said decisively, circling the eastern hallway. "We don't really have a choice."
"I think this might actually be better," Ella added after a moment. "It's farther, but it has more turns and corners. We just need to secure the fire alarm and the exit door."
"But there's still one problem," Summer said quietly, her eyes drifting toward the door that continued to shake under relentless pounding. "How do we even get out of this room first?"
They wanted to look outside, to assess what waited for them—but they couldn't. The windows were completely obscured, smeared and covered as if red curtains had been drawn across them by the blood splattered outside.
In a twisted way, it was better that the monsters couldn't see them. As long as they remained hidden, nothing would try to break the glass.
While the others fell into tense silence, each lost in thought, Thino's gaze wandered around the room. Slowly, deliberately, as if he were searching for something he couldn't yet name.
Minutes passed.
Then his eyes lifted.
He stared upward, toward the ceiling, intending only to continue thinking—but instead, an idea sparked sharply in his mind.
"At the ceiling…" he murmured.
He glance at the air duct connected to the split-type air-conditioning unit.
"We can crawl."
The words snapped the others out of their thoughts.
"C-crawl?" Ella repeated, blinking.
Thino nodded once in response.
Seeing their confusion, he pointed upward and look again. One by one, their heads followed his gesture. Ella stood up abruptly, her breath hitching as understanding struck her.
"T-that's it," she said. "The air duct. We can crawl through it until we reach the area near the exit door."
It was the final missing piece of their plan.
The duct was wide enough—tight, but manageable. Just enough space for them to fit through, if they were careful.
And for the first time since being trapped, the path forward no longer felt impossible.
"Then it's decided. This is the route we'll take," Rian said without hesitation. "But we need to send our belongings ahead first, so crawling through won't be too tight."
Without wasting another second, he pulled the evacuation plan out of its frame. Meanwhile, Thino, Ella, and Summer carefully began organizing the items they intended to place inside the air duct, making sure nothing unnecessary would slow them down.
"Now for the table," Light added. "Since this room is soundproof, we can drag it without drawing attention."
He moved toward the table and positioned himself properly. The others followed at once, placing their hands against its surface and pulling together. The furniture scraped quietly across the floor, the sound muted by the room's insulation.
Once it was in place, Thino climbed onto the table immediately and steadied Rian as he went up first. Rian balanced carefully, set a chair in the center for extra height, and reached up toward the air duct, his fingers searching along the metal panel.
After a few seconds, he felt something give—a slightly loosened section. He pulled gently, and the metal cover shifted open, creating a narrow opening into the duct.
"Who goes first?" Rian asked, glancing back at the others.
"Let's send our things up first, like we agreed," Thino replied. "After that, you should go first, Rian. You're the tallest—you'll be able to pull us up more easily. And you already know where the correct passage leads."
"I agree," Ella added quickly. "We also need to get moving before the monsters notice anything."
She glanced at Thino and Light, who both responded with silent nods.
"Light, you go next," Thino continued. "That way, Rian won't be alone once he gets down there. After that—Summer, Ella, then me. We still need someone watching our rear." He paused, then reached into his bag. "But before you climb up, you need to wear these—ladies."
He handed a pair of jogging pants to the two girls. Their expressions immediately shifted into visible confusion, clearly wondering how he had managed to bring something like that along.
"I picked them up back when we were still at the storage room locker," Thino explained, his expression serious.
"I brought them in case we'd need them—especially for basic medical treatment. But I think we'll need them here first. They'll help prevent scrapes and cuts. Since, once the monsters taste blood, it becomes harder to escape."
The girls exchanged glances before nodding, silently acknowledging Thino's foresight.
Ella couldn't help but think to herself that she shouldn't be surprised. He had always read more books than she ever did—far more prepared than he appeared.
"Alright," Rian said once everything was set. "Now that we're prepared, let's start moving."
He began lifting their supplies into the air duct one by one, pushing them ahead into the narrow space—before finally preparing to follow them himself.