Isamu's face turned a little red. "Oh, thanks. Anyways, that's the main layout. Sounds good right?" he asked nervously.

They all nodded with a slight smile.

Isamu took a deep breath and sighed, "Hold on, I gotta do something first."

He walked up to the locker and took out his bag along with his shoes then sat back down on the bench.

He reached into his bag and took out a lighter and a joint.

Takumi and Sato looked at him with a bit of judgment but for Denji it felt like any other day.

"You bring that shit to school?" asked Sato surprised.

Isamu put the joint in his mouth and lit it. "Sometimes, it helps me take the edge off. Certainly glad I brought it today."

Isamu took a puff and then offered it to them. Sato and Takumi completely disregard him but Denji reluctantly took the joint and smoked it as well.

Isamu chuckled as Denji coughed a bit. "Okay, we don't want to get bit by those things out there so let's all change back to our uniforms. We can't go running around in our shorts and sleeveless jerseys. Let's keep the sneakers though, we'll be moving around a lot. Hold on to your bags as well, dump the heavy stuff but keep any sharp objects or resources," he said as Denji handed back his joint.

They all took their uniforms out of their lockers and changed back into them. They all sat down on the bench with their bags strapped on their shoulders with a bunch of books on the ground.

"We're f**ked aren't we?" asked Sato as his leg kept shaking nervously.

"Probably, but we have to try. If there's anything anyone wants to get off their chest, now's the time. We're not guaranteed a single minute of life once we step out of this room," Isamu pointed out.

Sato was a little hesitant to speak. "I... I killed a kitten once. I didn't mean to, I was riding on my bike at night and she came out of nowhere."

Isamu and Denji looked at each other dumbfounded, not knowing how to reply.

Takumi patted Sato on the back. "I think you should've kept that one on your chest. I'm pretty sure we were all expecting something much deeper."

Sato quickly nabbed the joint on Isamu's hand. "I know, but it kept coming in my dreams. I had to tell someone," he said looking at the ground with his thoughts somewhere else. He smoked the joint then flicked it away.

Isamu got up from the bench. "Okay, let's slowly move the locker away from the door."

They all got up and slowly lifted the locker from each side then softly set it down in front of the window.

"I don't suppose anyone wants to go first?" asked Isamu looking at them as they stood behind him. "I guess I am the one who suggested we leave," he said then looked back at the door.

He softly grabbed the handle and opened the door without making a sound. He slowly stepped outside and looked to his left, there was a zombie staring at the wall four rooms away with his back turned to them. Isamu turned his back to his friends and signed to be quiet by putting his finger on his lips and then pointing in the zombie's direction.

He then turned to his right and saw the stairs were clear. He slowly started walking towards the stairs and they all quietly followed him.

Isamu tried slowly going down the stairs but the metal creaked almost with each step down. The zombie staring at the wall softly growled a bit, they all quickly turned to him and froze in place.

The zombie continued to stare at the wall. Isamu looked around the area and saw no other zombies. He continued to go down the stairs, Takumi behind him, Denji behind Takumi, and Sato behind Denji.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

(Map: main locations)

Club room: South and other end of the school gate

Gymnasium: North-East of the club room (close distance)

Cafeteria: North-West of the club room (mid-distance)

Main hall: North-East of Cafeteria (long distance)

Green Area 1: South of Cafeteria (close distance)

They all made it down the stairs without grabbing too much attention. They were out in the open and could see everything from any direction, but their focus was completely on the cafeteria which was about 250 meters away.

But they could see a lot of movement around there from afar, still they slowly carried on. "Let's go to the garden, the path to the cafeteria is clear from there," whispered Isamu looking back at them, they slightly nodded and agreed.

They walked over to the garden and opened the metal barred doors. Just as they all entered a zombie came from their left, dragging one of its broken legs through the grass. They all looked at it terrified, eyes wide and adrenaline pumping. At that moment all they could think was 'Run!', yet too scared to move.

The zombie turned its face towards them, then started to slowly walk towards them. The zombie stood face-to-face with Isamu.

'Why the f**k can't I move? I should run!'

The zombie then walked past him and went out the door, they all looked at it with confusion and relief. "What the f**k?" mouthed Sato without a sound as he slowly closed the door behind the zombie. The entire garden was fenced with bars of metal like the door.

They continued going towards the cafeteria alertly through the garden passing small green trees and stone benches along the way.

"Are this things blind?" asked Takumi walking beside Isamu.

"I'm not sure, his eyes were gray like a blind man. It could be he turned blind or was already blind before turning."

They saw a small fountain ahead of them as it started to get dark.

"Let's all fill our bottles with water from the fountain, we can't rely on the cafeteria completely," Isamu quietly suggested.

The fountain was small with two small bird figures pouring water in the center. Once they reached it they all took out their bottles out of their bags and started filling it up.

Sato felt thirsty and kept drinking directly from the fountain, putting his head under it.

As he opened his eyes underwater he saw soft traces of red liquid flowing. He quickly stood straight and wiped away the water on his face and spit the water in his mouth. They all looked at him, seemingly acting weird.

"What's wrong?" asked Denji.

Sato slowly walked around the fountain and saw a zombie completely submerged underwater on the other side. He just stared at it, ignoring as the others called out to him.

Then they saw the zombie as well… "It's fine, let's just go to the cafeteria before it gets too dark," said Sato nervously.

Isamu chuckled a bit. "Yeah, it's nothing."

Then a flash of light started to go on and off repeatedly, coming from one of the cafeteria windows.

They all looked at it and knew it was a sign from another survivor. Isamu slowly walked toward it.

"It's coming from the cafeteria, it must be safe there!" Takumi happily announced. As he did, his voice attracted other zombies in the garden which they had passed behind them. They all started sprinting towards them.

"Run!" yelled Isamu. Takumi and Denji quickly ran passing Isamu.

Sato started to run as Isamu did as well just in front of him. As they were running, Sato quickly looked back and Isamu dropped his bottle as he was jumping over a stone bench.

Sato slipped on the bottle as he was about to jump behind him then hit his knee on the stone bench and fell down screaming.

They all looked back and stopped. "I got him, you guys go!" said Isamu running back towards Sato as he crawled on the ground.

Isamu kneeled down to Sato and then looked back and saw Takumi and Denji running away. He then looked back at Sato with a blank expression, Isamu didn't look like he had a single shred of fear.

"You really screwed up there Sato. You couldn't just fill up your bottle like the rest of us?" he asked as he looked at the zombies quickly approaching.

Sato stared at him, terrified to his core and confused out of his mind. "What the f**k are you doing? Help me!"

"I can try," Isamu said then his expression changed back, looking terrified and trying to pick up Sato and dragging him.

A zombie then suddenly grabbed Sato's leg and dropped him to the ground again. Isamu let go of him and ran as Sato screamed for help. The zombies all surrounded Sato and started feeding on him.

Scratching and biting down on his flesh, some completely ignoring Isamu as he ran.

'Did he drop the bottle on purpose?' wondered Sato as his eyes closed possibly for the last time.

"Get in quick!" yelled Denji and Takumi as they stood at one of the doors of the cafeteria. Isamu sprinted out the garden door and inside the cafeteria door.

They shut the door immediately after.