Chapter 53: The Final Sprint
Meanwhile...
The students taking shelter inside the men's washroom on the third floor were suddenly startled.
Only moments ago, the room had been so silent that they could hear one another's uneven breathing.
But now...
The entire washroom trembled beneath the powerful echoes of music.
The melody blasted through the loudspeakers, bounced off the walls, and reverberated throughout the room until even the floor seemed to vibrate beneath their feet.
"So be kind, be strong, let your heart awake..."
Hasnain slowly raised his head in surprise.
"What...?"
The words died on his lips.
Sam turned toward the door, his eyes wide with confusion.
"That music..."
"It's coming from the broadcasting room!"
Borak immediately lowered his voice.
"Do you think the people on the second floor have started their plan?"
Jinjin remained silent.
But for the first time in hours, a faint spark of hope returned to her eyes.
She closed them for a brief moment and prayed silently.
"Ms. Selena... please... let everyone be safe."
No one knew what was really happening outside.
But they were all certain of one thing.
That song wasn't playing without a reason.
Something important...
Something big...
Was happening somewhere beyond those walls.
---
Meanwhile...
On the second floor, the plan was almost complete.
With every passing moment...
Another classroom was sealed from the outside.
Click.
One more door locked.
Click.
Then another.
Inside the classrooms, the zombies continued charging relentlessly toward the loudspeakers.
Not one of them realised that the doors behind them had already been locked.
Now...
Only one final classroom remained.
Elsewhere in the corridor, Ms. Selena, Jackson, and Mary had already secured every door on their side.
The three of them turned toward Mr. Samit at the same time.
He stood in front of the final classroom.
A victorious grin stretched across his face, as though he had single-handedly won the entire battle.
He rested the golf club across his shoulder...
Folded both hands behind his head...
And slowly began swaying to the rhythm of the music.
"Whoa-oh... Whoa-oh..."
He hummed cheerfully along with the chorus.
Then, with a playful wiggle of his hips, he laughed,
"Now that's what I call a fantastic song!"
Standing farther away, Ms. Selena instinctively pressed a hand against her forehead.
"Mr. Samit!"
she called in a hushed but urgent voice.
"Lock the last door first!"
Jackson also waved urgently.
"Sir... hurry!"
Mary's heartbeat grew faster with every passing second.
A terrible feeling refused to leave her.
Something...
Something was about to go terribly wrong.
But Mr. Samit...
He had completely lost himself in the music.
The chorus grew even louder.
"We're the voices that won't disappear..."
Mr. Samit closed his eyes.
Now he was singing along at the top of his lungs.
Meanwhile...
Inside the broadcasting room...
Yaram remained completely focused on the sound control panel.
His eyes never left the switches and sliders.
Then suddenly...
His finger accidentally brushed against a small switch.
Click.
Just one tiny mistake...
And every loudspeaker throughout the school fell silent.
The music stopped instantly.
It was as though someone had suddenly stopped the heartbeat of the entire building.
On the second floor...
Mr. Samit didn't even realise the music had ended.
He continued singing happily.
"Whoa-oh... Whoa-oh...!"
Now his voice alone echoed through the empty corridor.
One by one...
The zombies inside every classroom froze.
Slowly...
Their heads turned away from the silent loudspeakers...
And toward the new sound echoing through the hallway.
For one terrifying moment...
Everything became completely still.
Mr. Samit slowly opened his eyes.
Then...
He glanced over his shoulder.
The colour drained from his face.
Behind every classroom window...
Dozens of bloodshot eyes were staring directly at him.
The next instant—
"GRAAAARRRHHHHH!!"
A horrifying roar exploded through the corridor with such force that the walls themselves seemed to shake.
Mr. Samit let out an involuntary scream.
"Oh my God!"
Moving with lightning-fast reflexes, he slammed the final classroom door shut and locked it.
Click!
The instant the lock engaged—
BANG!!
The zombies inside hurled themselves against the door with terrifying force.
The entire door shuddered violently.
"Samit! Run!"
Ms. Selena shouted at the top of her lungs.
Without wasting another second...
All four of them sprinted toward the broadcasting room.
At that exact moment...
Inside the broadcasting room...
Yaram realised what had happened.
"Oh no!"
he gasped.
He immediately flipped the switch back on.
A heartbeat later...
The loudspeakers came back to life.
"Rise again—let the fire burn bright! Through the darkness we will fight!"
The music once again thundered throughout the entire school.
The zombies immediately turned back toward the sound...
While Mr. Samit, Ms. Selena, Jackson, and Mary raced toward the broadcasting room as fast as they could.
The pounding of their footsteps...
Their desperate breaths...
And the triumphant song echoing through the loudspeakers...
Merged into one unforgettable moment—
As though life and death had begun their final race against each other.