Morning never truly came anymore.
The sky stayed gray, heavy with clouds that refused to move, as if the world itself had forgotten how to change. The rain had slowed, but the air still smelled damp—old books, dust, and something rotten hiding underneath.
The boy closed Pandora: The Mysterious Ship and slipped it into his bag.
> "So it really started before I was even ready to live," he muttered.
The classroom was silent again.
Desks were overturned.
Chairs lay broken like fallen bones.
Names were still written on the blackboard—half-erased, meaningless now.
He stood up and stretched, joints cracking softly.
No fear.
No rush.
Just a quiet decision.
---
He walked through the hallway.
Each step echoed too loudly, as if the school itself was listening. Lockers stood open, spilling notebooks and uniforms that would never be worn again.
A clock on the wall was frozen at 10:17.
> "Guess time died here," he said flatly.
He passed the nurse's office.
The door was smashed from the inside.
He didn't look in.
Some memories were better left untouched.
---
At the entrance, sunlight filtered weakly through shattered glass.
Beyond the doors lay the city.
Empty roads.
Abandoned cars.
Buildings standing like gravestones.
The boy stopped in front of the exit.
For a moment—just one—his fingers tightened.
This school had been his shelter.
His cage.
His excuse to stay still.
But staying meant rotting.
---
A sound echoed outside.
Slow footsteps.
Dragging.
He turned calmly.
A figure stood across the courtyard—a former teacher, judging by the torn ID card hanging from the neck. The eyes were dull. The posture wrong.
It didn't run.
It didn't roar.
It just stared.
The boy sighed.
> "Yeah… figures."
He grabbed a metal rod from beside the door, resting it on his shoulder.
Not heroic.
Not angry.
Just tired.
The creature took a step closer.
The boy stepped past it instead.
Didn't fight.
Didn't provoke.
He simply walked out of the school gates.
---
The rain began again.
Light.
Gentle.
Green lightning flickered far above the clouds.
He adjusted his bag and looked down the empty street.
> "If Pandora opened the door," he said quietly,
"then I guess I should see what walked through it."
The school stood behind him—silent, forgotten.
Ahead lay the city.
The truth.
And whatev
er waited beyond the rain.
The last student didn't look back.
---
[End of Chapter 3 — The Last Student Leaves the School]