The schoolyard was surrounded on all four sides, though only on one side stood a fence, to large to climb over without being found out by the monsters.

If you stood with your back to that fence, then you could see the three distinctly different buildings enclosing the schoolyards other three sides.

Starting on the left side, was the building commonly called the "bunker". A block of pebble concrete, just as ugly as its nickname suggested. Originally supposed to be a temporary solution to deal with the increasing number of students, it was just as rancid as you would expect from a twenty years old "temporary solution". A new building had long been planned but got delayed for several years already for many different reasons.

In the middle stood the main building. Most of the time only called "the old building". Four stories high old brick and beautiful, latticed windows with a gym in the basement. Cut into three parts by two big stairwells, the offices, and the janitor's storeroom were on the ground floor in the left-most part.

Another of my goals, the lockers, could be found on all four floors in the middle section. And lastly, the right section had a bridge, connecting the first floor of the old building and the new building, the last of the three.

The new building was a fairly modern building. Its walls were covered in dark red metal sheets and it has high windows. It also contained the last of my targets. The cafeteria was on the ground floor of this building.

The first step I had to take was obvious, no matter how many goodies I found, I had to be able to carry them. The middle section of the ground floor was currently occupied by a monster, I could still hear it scratching and pounding on a door.

Quickly, I made my way up the stairs to the first floor completely. Once I reached the top, my breathing had become a little heavy, clearly reflected by my [SP] that had gone down by two points, now standing at 15. God, I hate stairs!

Carefully, I look around the corner in both directions. With me being in the stairwell connecting the middle and right sections of the building, I was lucky that I couldn't see any monsters in both of them. Looking a bit further, my luck ran out. In the other stairwell, I could see one of the velociraptors looking around.

Quickly, I duck down. The heavy doors separating the stairwells from the corridors only had glass windows in the upper half. If I was lucky and the small dinosaur didn't lift its head, it wouldn't see me if I kept close to the floor.

Slowly, I crawled towards the door. I quickly noticed a problem. While the monster couldn't see me like this, I couldn't see the monster either. I slowly lift my head over the edge. The monster wasn't looking in my direction, so I quickly pushed open the door and crawled into the corridor, my [SP] ticking down another two points. I clearly wasn't made for this much physical activity.

The door closed behind me, making a noise. I freeze like a doe in a headlight. I never noticed how loud these doors were when there weren't any monsters around that I couldn't allow to notice me.

Originally, I thought I would have to pry one of the lockers open, but now I noticed that this wasn't the case. Only a few meters away, a backpack was lying on the ground. A big backpack full of books. Just what I needed, the backpack, not the books.

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I slowly crawled over and lifted it up. Careful, to not make too much noise, I lift the backpack up from the ground and take out one book after the other. Noticing a small notebook, I quickly flip through it. Only the first few pages had been filled with notes and a few more with silly drawings. Still, it was mostly unused.

Once the backpack was empty, I noticed just how great my luck was. The backpack was the kind that could be enlarged quite a bit by loosening several straps and unfolding the top. Quickly, I put the notebook, pencil case, and lunchbox back in the backpack, and shoulder it.

I carefully lift my head. The monster still hadn't noticed me.

Suddenly, I hear a silent whimper to my left. I notice one of the lockers standing slightly open. Straining my ears, I could hear the breathing of the person hiding inside the locker. Ironic, since the only reason I could hear it in the first place was that the sound got amplified by the metal walls.

As I get close to the locker, I whisper: "You can come out, but be silent and don't stand up. There is still one in the left stairwell."

A hand came out from the locker, slowly pushing the creaking door open. A mousy girl crawled out, her big glasses only partly covering her puffy red eyes.

I had always been good at remembering faces, though I also always had difficulties to connect them with names. Considering her age and the fact that I couldn't remember this girl, I could be pretty sure that she was one of the new first years.

"Let's go in that direction. Keep your body down.", I whisper to the girl while pointing in the direction I had come from.

The girl nods frantically, her lips tightly pressed together.

Just as we had reached halfway to the door, I notice a creaking behind me and look back.

"Fuck! Run!", I swear.

Jumping to my feet with all the graze an overweight person is capable of, I start running to the door. I look behind me again as I tackle the door open with my shoulder. The girl is only two steps behind me. And not much further behind her is the monster.

The beast is fast, insanely fast. For a normal human, there was no running away from it. Quickly grabbing behind me, I pull the girl through and push the door closed. Throwing all of my two hundred kilograms of weight against the door, I brace for the impact of the monster that comes not a second later.

I had clearly made the right decision not to run.

"You take the door. Open it on my command.", I tell the girl as I take the ax into both hands.

After I pulled her through, the girl had fallen on her ass and was now looking around in panic. I could tell that she was thinking about running away.

"Now or I open the door myself and use you as bait!", I threaten her. There was no time for this.

The girl scrambles to her feet and presses her entire body against the door. Not a moment too late as it shudders from another impact.

I quickly take a step to the side and get in position to swing my ax at the beast as soon as it comes through the door.

Before I can give the command, the door shudders again. But with her holding the door alone she couldn't even bring up half my weight. The door got pushed open just a bit before the girl could close it again, but that was enough.

The beasts head shot through the gap, snarling. But when the girl pushed the door close again, the head didn't get stuck. Instead, the other wing of the door opened in the other direction.

Before any of us could react, the monster snapped at the girl's leg. Her scream was only muffled by her lips she had still tightly pressed together.

As surprised as I was, I reacted quickly. With all the strength I could muster, I brought down my ax on the creature's neck in a horrible crunch.

In a silent scream, the monster's maw opened, releasing the girl's leg. Both, monster and girl, fall to the floor. The monster dead, with an ax in lodged in its neck, the girl whimpering as she clutched her leg. I follow, exhausted.

Congratulations!

You have committed a worthy deed!

Level +1