Wei Zhi woke up in a state of confusion.
His mind was blank.
The last thing he remembered… was running. Fleeing the school.
Then—he was attacked?
His body jolted.
He flinched, heart racing, eyes darting in every direction, expecting a bloodthirsty face, sharp teeth—anything.
But all he saw… was the sky.
Open. Blue. Endless.
And four other people.
Four other people who for some reason were covered in blood
Though he wasn't exactly one to judge given his recent exploit
Two of them looked familiar. He might've seen them—just before everything went black.
Was he safe?
He didn't feel safe.
But when no zombie leapt at his throat, he forced himself to breathe. Calm down. Think.
He was on a roof.
But how? When? Who brought him here?
No matter how hard he tried, his thoughts hit a wall. The timeline was a mess.
With no hint as to how he ended up.in this place
And now, here he was—though he isn't too sure where here is
Stranded with four blood-covered strangers and a silence so thick it scraped his nerves raw.
Across from him, Mori Aoi glanced warily at the others, then quietly inched closer to him.
Her presence should've been reassuring, but all Wei Zhi could offer her was a helpless look.
What was he supposed to do?
Then, a low growl shattered the silence.
Wei Zhi flinched again.
His heartbeat spiked, cold sweat beading on his back. His eyes swept the rooftop. No one. Just them.
The door to the roof was shut.
The sound didn't come from there.
There was nothing else up here—no crates, no vents, no cover. Just wind and exposure.
His gaze drifted to the edge of the roof.
The others noticed and followed his line of sight.
And then, she moved.
Shae Harris stepped forward like she didn't have a care in the world.
Her expression was unreadable, almost annoyed—as if someone had interrupted her nap.
The last thing she remembered was chasing down a zombie in the clinic. She should've blacked out mid-fight.
Yet, here she was. Somewhere else. On a rooftop, apparently.
She couldn't remember how she got here.
But she didn't care.
What pissed her off was that she couldn't remember how the fight ended.
Her fists clenched.
She wanted another round.
If the growls were coming from the edge, then maybe—just maybe—there was still a chance to dive back in.
The other people here? Not her concern. They could do anything they wanted
Well as long as it didn't bother her
She walked stiffly to the ledge and peered down.
Zombies.
Clawing at the doors, slamming against the walls. Their eyes were red, bloodshot, unblinking—and they locked onto her the moment she appeared.
They growled louder.
She smirked.
"Wow. These guys are really dumb~"
Her voice cut through the stillness.
The tense awkward silence was interrupted and the others felt it to be better
Behind her, Ming Jun blinked.
She was insane. That was his first thought.
Especially after what happened in the clinic
The second was that maybe—just maybe—he liked insane people.
He didn't know why he passed out after meeting her. Probably just fainted from sheer terror.
Superpowers? Please
That was only for the main characters or the chosen ones
He firmly believed that he probably fainted from terror
Still, who were these people? What was he supposed to say?
He was used to silence. Used to being ignored or insulted. Talking wasn't his strong suit.
Especially if you lived with a bunch of servants who enjoyed degrading you
Or more accurately as they say.. putting me in my place
So, he stayed seated.
Until the girl with the brown hair started making comments about zombies.
Then… curiosity won.
No matter what, he was a full-blooded otaku. Zombies were zombies. You couldn't not look.
It would be a shame especially after someone so kindly stepped forward
He stood up, walked over, and stopped beside her—not too close, but close enough.
The zombies below went wild again.
Now there were two fresh humans in sight.
"Look at that one," Shae said casually. "He's getting bullied."
Ming Jun followed her finger.
One zombie was being stepped on by the others—flattened to the ground, yet still crawling, eyes fixed on them with… hatred?
"Did I kill his whole family or something?" Ming Jun muttered. "Why's he so obsessed with me?"
Shae burst out laughing.
"I agree. He looks quite passionate."
They stood together, casually discussing the hatred of a single zombie like they were in no danger
It was absurd.
Wei Zhi stared at them.
They weren't dead.
They weren't panicking.
They were joking.
Maybe… things weren't that bad.
He stood up too—slowly—and made his way to the ledge.
He stopped beside Ming Jun, still keeping a bit of distance.
Then he looked down.
And his breath caught.
The building was surrounded. A sea of decaying bodies scraped at the walls, desperate to find a way in.
Wei Zhi nearly collapsed again.
He forced himself to stay upright.
If even one of them managed to climb… he needed to be ready to run.
His mind didn't even consider the other four people
Mori Aoi turned to the last person.
Noi Karn stood still, silent, his face unreadable.
She hesitated. Should she speak? Ask if he was coming?
But the words caught in her throat.
She said nothing.
Instead, she simply gave him a small nod and walked to the edge. She stopped beside Wei Zhi, her hands trembling as they gripped the fabric of her uniform.
Tears welled in her eyes.
She blinked them away again and again.
Crying would only annoy the others. She didn't want to be a burden.
Noi Karn tilted his head.
Unlike the others, he was… different.
He couldn't tell who was a zombie and who wasn't.
Everyone looked human to him.
The shapes, the outlines—they were all too similar.
He didn't even know where he was, exactly. Just that the space was open, and the wind was strong.
Probably a rooftop.
He couldn't answer how he got here either.
So, he waited. Observed.
One person walked forward. Another followed. Then another. The final girl nodded at him.
He couldn't see her face, but he guessed it was a nod.
They didn't seem hostile.
So, he followed.
He stopped beside Mori Aoi.
Now, five blood-covered students stood at the edge of the rooftop, staring down at a world gone mad.
Shae Harris was already plotting how to leap down and fight.
Ming Jun was mentally flipping through zombie manga lore.
Wei Zhi was trying not to collapse.
Mori Aoi was trying not to cry.
And Noi Karn… was still trying to understand what separated zombies from humans.
No one said a word.
No one offered help.
No one expected help.
They all knew—painfully well—that no one was coming.
No one ever came.
Not for a very long time
The breeze blew against their backs.
The city was a graveyard, soaked in blood, devoid of hope.
Then Wei Zhi saw it.
A flash of metal.
Movement.
A vehicle.
His instincts screamed.
"Get down!" he shouted, crouching immediately.
His heart thundered against his ribs.
Mori Aoi dropped beside him on instinct. Noi Karn, sensing urgency, followed.
"Why—?" Ming Jun started.
"There are people coming!" Wei Zhi hissed, eyes sharp. "Get down!"
He didn't care if the rest of them got caught. But if they were seen, he would get dragged into it too.
What if the van stopped? What if they came up here?
He didn't want to face scary people
He could already imagine the horrible things that might befall him
After all, people were just as scary as these zombies
Ming Jun finally spotted the vehicle. His face changed.
He knew the truth of the apocalypse.
Zombies were terrifying.
But humans?
Humans were worse.
He dropped down beside Wei Zhi.
Shae Harris stayed standing.
Her eyes gleamed with curiosity.
The van didn't slow down. It was heading right for the horde of zombies.
This was going to be good.
She wanted to watch.
"If they catch us, we're probably done for," Ming Jun muttered, trying to pull her down.
"Um... can you please stay down with the rest of us?" Mori Aoi's voice wavered.
She was terrified. One wrong move, and they'd all be found.
Shae paused.
The girl looked like she was going to cry.
With a sigh, Shae finally crouched down.
Wei Zhi and Ming Jun both exhaled in relief.
Wei Zhi cast a silent, grateful glance at the trembling girl beside him.
Shae, however, wasn't completely done.
She tilted her head slightly—just enough to watch.
She didn't want to miss the show.