Liora's pointed claws tore through the zombies as if they were nothing. Her eyes were slitted with a deep shade of yellow. With just a mere glance, you could see that she possessed more fighting experience than the others.
The three of them dispatched the zombies without anyone getting hurt. Just as they were about to celebrate their victory, I revealed myself, walking while holding Sarah's hand.
The president and vice president looked happy to see us, but Liora immediately frowned when she realized it was me.
When the president noticed that Sarah was blinded, she immediately rushed to our side. Hearing the president's voice and feeling her warm hand on her face, Sarah broke down in tears.
The two of them embraced each other in a tight hug. The vice president, on the other hand, immediately turned his attention to me.
"What happened to the others? Are there any more survivors?"
I shook my head.
"We were attacked by zombies. I took Sarah and ran since she was blind and couldn't help herself."
"You did the right thing," the president assured me with a kind smile. "We were just heading to the auditorium."
It seemed everyone had the same idea. With that information, Sarah and I joined the student council present, Ava's group. For now, it was the safer choice. I took a brief estimate, and there were about fifty of us in total. That was a significant number of people to protect in a building crawling with monsters, yet they managed to do it without anyone getting hurt.
When we got to the auditorium, we quickly barricaded the door with desks and chairs we found inside. Luckily, there were no windows, so we didn't have to worry about moths breaking in. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, feeling temporarily out of danger.
Liora didn't utter a word to me. She only stared quietly, looking visibly annoyed. I sat on the floor with Sarah, trying to comfort her, and that's when Liora decided to make her move. With folded arms and a murderous gaze, she approached me and Sarah.
"Can we talk?" she said.
"Sure."
I assured Sarah I would be back soon, then went with Liora into a secluded corner to talk. She wasted no time and got straight to what she really wanted to say.
"What are you still doing here?"
"What do you mean?"
Of course, I knew exactly what she meant, but I didn't feel like answering her questions.
"You know what I mean!" she protested, growing more agitated by the second. At this point, some of the students in the room were staring at us. Liora noticed, lowered her voice and began speaking more calmly. "You're forgetting that I know exactly what you're like."
"I'm only here to help my classmates."
"Liar. If you wanted to help them, you wouldn't be acting weak. You would actually use your abilities to save them. Tell me, how many of your classmates died because you stood around and did nothing?"
"They died because I wasn't strong enough to protect them," I explained, but she only looked at me even more skeptically.
"We both know you are strong enough. If you wanted, you could've easily prevented their deaths. The only reason you didn't was because you saw it as too much of a bother." She sighed and started pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "I'm pleading with you. As your sister. Just help. Help the students here survive this. That's all I'm asking of you. The president and vice president do not have the combat experience or strength to handle this. If we don't, students will die."
Liora looked at me pleadingly. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. It looked like she was fighting with everything she had not to break down in front of everyone. Given her personality, it must have taken considerable strength for her to ask for my help.
She always acted coldly and wore a serious expression on her face but beneath it all she was a gentle and kind girl who cared a lot about others. Normally, nothing could shake her resolve but this incident had gotten to her.
It wasn't just her either, just one glance around and you could see how scarred the students were. They were scarred both physically and mentally. There were injured students here, slowly bleeding out. In their final moments they clung to their friends. They cried. Some even recorded heartfelt messages for their family.
There were also students whose wounds weren't physical but psychological. They curled themselves up into a ball, shaking while muttering incoherently.
Time was ticking. If the injured students died then their classmates would be forced to put them down so they don't turn into zombies. But being regular students, I bet none of them thought that far ahead. It was a grim task but it had to be done. Someone had to take up the responsibility of doing it. My sister knew that perfectly.
I slowly placed my hand on the top of her head, which caused her face to soften into a pink blush.
"Liam?"
I made sure to keep eye contact with her as I spoke.
"Liora, I'm only here as a spectator. I'm sure you and the other student council members have it under control."
"You!"
Immediately, her eyes glowed yellow with a predatorial gleam. In a fit of rage, she swatted my hand off her head and stormed off.
To many, my words and actions might have seemed cold, but that was far from the truth. I had no evil intentions toward any of the students. I actually thought it would be good if everyone made it out alive.
The true reason why I decided not to act was far more boring and plain. The truth was that it sounded like too much of a hassle. My goal here was to observe and watch the flow of things. My only tie here was Liora, and I would only act if her life was in danger.
Though she was angry with me, I was still her brother. I would still watch over her and guide her if she needed me. To be honest, I think this is exactly what she needed to grow as a person, and I was happy to protect her from the sidelines and see how far she goes.
After my talk with Liora, I went to take a seat beside Sarah. The student council was currently debating the idea of going out and rescuing more students. My sister and the president were all for it, but the vice president seemed to disagree.
His argument was that if they left right now, they would only be putting the students here in more danger. Meanwhile, my sister and the president argued that maybe there were more fighters out there who could help us.
Personally, I agreed with the vice president. Why risk it? We were safe right now. The vice president seemed like a reasonable person, the type who prefers logic rather than banking on emotions. He used harsh words when talking about the students outside, mostly driving home the point that they were most likely dead.
As the heated discussion raged on, a loud bang suddenly came at the door. The room fell silent in that instant. We all thought the same; that a zombie was drawn to the room because of the commotion we were making. But that idea was quickly discarded as a voice shouted from outside the room.
"Open up! We need your help!"
Without a second's delay, President Ava dashed toward the entrance and opened the door. My eyes widened when I saw who was outside.