The president dashed toward the door and pulled it open without a second's hesitation. On the other side were students covered in blood. Students from my class. The grim look on their faces told the story of what had happened. We had originally left the classroom with all 40 of our classmates, plus the additional ones we picked up along the way.
Now, only 10 students stood at the doorway, Damien and Jason included. Damien's eyes looked completely lifeless, while Jason kept the cold expression he always wore. Without a word, all 10 students stepped into the auditorium.
Out of respect, the president and my sister didn't dare ask what had happened, but there was someone else who didn't care for such sympathies. The vice president marched up to Damien, who was standing with his head held down and shoulders slumped.
"Tell us what happened to the others," he demanded.
No one answered, causing an awkward silence to envelop the room until someone finally spoke up.
"Maybe I can shed some light on what happened," an elegantly dressed boy standing among them said.
I partially knew this boy. If I remembered correctly, his name was Victor. Victor was someone you could describe as an odd duck. The hairs on my body always stood on end whenever I was near him. For whatever reason, I didn't particularly like Victor, but I didn't hate him either. The feeling I got from him was hard to put into words.
I don't think I was the only one. Victor wasn't liked by many people. He was arrogant, boastful, and looked down on everyone. Even the teachers showed signs of disliking him.
To his right stood a beautiful, doll-faced girl. Her face was just as lifeless as the rest of the students, but the thing with her was that her expression was always blank and lifeless. She was always at Victor's side, referring to him as 'Young Master.' The two were an odd pair, and I tried to stay away from them as much as possible.
The vice president folded his arms and stared at Victor expectantly.
"Well, go on then. Tell us what happened."
"What happened was truly a tragedy. You see, I happened upon them while looking for survivors to help. It was a massacre. The dead students rose to life and started killing those who were still alive. Once the zombies bit or even scratched one of the students, that student would become infected and turn into a zombie. It was a sickening process to watch. Damien and Jason were overwhelmed, fighting off the zombies while trying to protect the remaining students. When I arrived, I lent a hand and took care of the remaining zombies."
"You?" the vice president's brow furrowed. "You killed all the zombies they were helpless to stop?"
"Well, yes. I don't know if you'll believe me, but a hollow graphic screen suddenly appeared in front of me right before the earthquake occurred. From then on, I was able to do things… Things that shouldn't be possible for a human being."
The vice president nodded, seemingly believing everything Victor had said. His story matched up if you consider everything that had happened so far. Plus, there was a considerable amount of blood on his uniform, suggesting he had fought many zombies. There was also the fact that his heartbeat didn't fluctuate at all as he spoke.
Everything pointed to him telling the truth, except my instincts. I knew a liar when I saw one. My instincts told me not to believe everything he said, so I took it with a grain of salt.
"It is regrettable what happened to the students. But… our priority right now should be taking care of ourselves." The vice president said solemnly then placed his hand on Victor's shoulder. "We can use the help of someone strong. With the three of you, we can survive this."
"I don't know how much use I'll be, but I'll do whatever it takes to help us out of this situation," Victor said with a confident smile.
Another thing that caught my attention was how polite and humble Victor was acting. This wasn't the arrogant man I thought I knew. With nothing to do, I decided to leave it for now.
…
With the added reinforcement, everyone gathered to plan a new strategy to get us out of this mess. While they spoke, I activated my thermal vision. Things were much worse than before. The building was like an anthill, swarming with zombies. It wasn't just the ones inside the school we had to worry about either. More were pouring in from the outside.
It was as if our presence was attracting them. After some back and forth, they finally agreed on a plan of action. Their first move was to take care of the already injured students. For that, they needed supplies only available at the nursing station.
They also needed food and water, which could only be found at the cafeteria. Their plan wasn't a bad one. But if Liora went out with them, I wouldn't be able to keep her safe. My parents would kill me if I let anything happen to her, so I decided to speak.
"I think there is a flaw in your plan," I said.
Everyone immediately turned to look at me. The vice president, in particular, was glaring at me, the corner of his mouth slightly twitching.
"A flaw?"
"Yes. It will be hard to carry back supplies when you are all too busy fighting zombies and moths."
"Your point? There is nothing that can be done about that; we don't have enough fighters to come with us as it is."
"Maybe some of the non-fighters can go with you. You can protect them while they carry the supplies."
The vice president chuckled and shook his head.
"And who would want to take on that risk?"
"..."
Silence.
He looked around, but everyone was holding their heads down, desperately trying to avoid eye contact.
"I can do it," I said boldly. "If Sarah's eyes aren't properly cleaned and sterilized, they could get infected, so I'll do it."
Sarah turned toward the direction of my voice with a surprised look on her face. She wasn't the only one; Liora was looking at me with a look of disbelief, too.
"You would do that… for me?"
"Well, it seems you care about this girl more than you do your own sister," the vice president said bitterly.
This thought had crossed my mind many times before, but I think he has strong feelings for Liora. It would explain his bitterness toward me and the longing looks he keeps giving her.
"Fine," he continued. "Do as you wish, but we won't be held responsible if anything happens to you. Alright then, we'll separate into two groups and leave right now."