I was debating how to make a lot of noise to attract the zombies and one of the ideas I came up with was to either smash a few car windows or beep a few horns to get them over here but quickly discarded that idea as the teachers cars where parked in front of the building and the zombies would have to walk right past the students to get there making it pointless. I then realized that I still had my phone on me and while I couldn't stream anything from the internet because of lack of signal I could naturally access the playlist that was downloaded on my phone. Scrolling through I wanted something loud and came across the song that was both perfect and fit the situation well. It was Bodies by Drowning Pool. I put the volume up as loud as possible and started to run through them in the opposite direction as the fire escape.
I kept an eye out for both the spawn point and the boss type zombie but I had no luck in finding either of them. To be fair I was focussed on running for my life so I guess that was to be expected but it is a shame as I could have stopped them from continually spawning or at least found out where they were spawning and came up with counter measures. The zombies ambled towards me as quick as they could which wasn't saying much. At this rate I could stop for some tea and biscuits and still have room to spare. Their movements were slow and jerky and I thought maybe they moved slightly quicker then a tortoise will lots of groaning in-between. To be honest I kinda know how they feel as I have been like that when I have woke up in the morning with a hangover after one too many drinks the night before.
Eventually I saw a steady stream of students move towards the underpass connecting the other side of the school grounds with students with weapons on the outside and unarmed students in the middle. I didn't see anyone bother to look over here which left me feeling a bit under appreciated. I mean I wasn't doing this for fame or the good of my health but it would be nice to be acknowledged that I was putting myself in danger for them. After the flow of students stopped I turned off the music and circled round the building where the changing rooms for physical education were and sprinted to catch up as the zombies lost sight of me.
I caught up without incident and joined the other students. Off in the distance I saw other monsters but they didn't come towards us. Maybe they didn't notice us or maybe like a game you have to be close to aggro them to get them to come after you.
Standing outside the cafeteria we had to shout through the closed door to the people behind as they were extremely reluctant to open the door as we might have been monsters. That fact that we all looked human and could talk to them rationally while not trying to eat them would go a long way to disproving that theory. After talking to the teacher in charge and replacing the door guard as he was of no use as scared and flustered as he was we were aloud inside.
What greeted us was a few hundred students sitting or standing around with varying expressions of fear, hopelessness and despair. With the few hundred that came with me this is a far cry from the seven thousand students enrolled into the school.
The situation was grim inside the cafeteria as it seemed that the teacher had got the students there then waited for others to arrive and tell her what to do. The teacher was a new hire by the name of Miss Naomi Burke and had just started that term and I remember the first time I met her. I thought she looked so young and must have transferred her from another school and enrolled into the final two years as she wasn't wearing uniform so naturally I being the lustful gentleman that I am immediately tried chatting her up only to be just as quickly turned down. Wasn't until my English lesson that I saw she was teaching that the terrible truth hit me. Oh the embarrassment! She has always been hard on me and finding fault in anything I do even if I so much as breath too loudly since then onwards. Pretty faced bitch. She should have been proud that I took an interest in her or so I tell myself to make myself feel better.
It seemed nobody thought to check the cafeteria food supply or build a barricade to stop any attacking monsters that turned up. If there were any monsters swarming here it would be a massacre. A complete bloodbath of epic proportions. Common sense would dictate a small one or at least blocking some of the entrances or windows. Guess the age old saying of common sense not being all that common holds true or maybe I am being to harsh on them as we have all just had our entire world turned upside down and it seems it is not only me but nobody can get signal to dial out to reach their families.
The group I came with seem to be more proactive then the group already here and we immediately set about stripping the tables and building a barricade at the rear entrance. There were two entrances to the cafeteria the front is the one we came in and outside there is the teachers car parking then the rest of the academy were we came from and the other entrance opens out to this side of the academy where there are lots of monsters and potentially more students yet to arrive. Yuki supervised taking entry of what the food supply was like which surprisingly was pretty good as we had just had a delivery the day before.
Now for the bad part which was that the freezers and chillers storing the food were working but nobody could say for how long for. Sure the school did have emergency lighting and backup generators and we were connected to the power grid but with the world being in the state it was in how long would the power grid be running for? How long would our backup generators last for?
Those questions brought a whole host of other problems with them. Some wanted to immediately turn off power to anywhere other then where we were right now to conserve energy. Others argued and say no what about other students that are out there? I mean there was a class being taught at the dojo at the time the shit hit the fan and there were the students in the dorm who had finished their classes for the day as well as others. Students all alone out there with monsters swarming around suddenly plunged into darkness is a recipe for disaster. It wasn't humane they said but personally I know where I stand on the issue and it wasn't a welcome opinion.
After everything that happened and the time it took it started getting dark so a watch was set and people started to settle down in for an uncomfortable evening. I decided to take a place against a concrete wall in the middle of the students reasoning that if we were attacked from either side then the noise of their screams and fighting and dying would wake me up and I would have time to asses the situation and react. Virginnia came over to speak to me even in this situation her beauty drawing the eyes of many while the bloke where looking at her bouncing chest. Even some of the teachers were looking the damn perverts.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Robert I was to thank you for everything that you have done today as I am not sure what would have happened to us or how many of us if any would have made it out of there if you hadn't put yourself in danger like that for our sakes. It was extremely brave of you. I know I couldn't do it"
"You are welcome" I blandly replied to her. It was all more for my self preservation then anything else. If they remember this then they will be willing to help me out in the future. I scratch their back they scratch mine. Beside I wasn't really in any danger as those zombies moved so slow.
"What is with that kind of response? I am being honestly thankful to you and you just casually brush me off. You have always been like this you know? We have been in the same homeroom and several classes while going to the same school for nearly seven years yet you have barely spoke a hundred words to me in all that time despite my best efforts. Why is that? Do you hate me and if so what have I done to deserve that?"
"Do you really not know the answer to that question? Are you sure you want to here the answer?" I shot back.
"Of course I don't know the answer and yes I want to know it was been bugging me for some time."
"Well it is very simply really. You are troublesome. Not you personally but you bring trouble just by being around you."
"What?" What is that supposed to mean?" she answered back angrily.
Sigh this isn't going the way I would like and she is taking it completely the wrong way.
"Very well I shall explain it to you. You are the academy's idol and everyone loves you. Ultra popular and have an exquisite beauty that could pull a goddess to shame. Not only that but you are near the top in most of the subject that you do so you are blessed with intellect as well but aren't arrogant about it at all and have a great personality. In short you are pretty much perfect while I am a complete loner that nobody pays attention to. If you are shining like the sun then I am like the dark void of space and I like it like that. I don't have fake friends and sycophants buttering me up in my ear all day and a lot less complications in life. I can study freely and do my own thing relatively hassle free. I remember more then one guy who has been beaten up just for talking to you. None of this is your fault it is just everyone desires you. Even now take a look around and see how many people are staring at us and notice that quiet a few are rather hostile to me."
She took a look around and saw that my words had some truth to them. She took a deep breath as if to calm herself then "it doesn't matter."
"Huh?"
"It doesn't matter if people are hostile or what they want from me. I have my own opinion on people and I will not be swayed by what anyone else says until I have the facts and make an informed decision. If people bully you or are nasty because of me to you tell me and I will either speak to the to make them stop or cease speaking to them. Do you have any idea how much of a pain it is to be popular? I would rather have my free time and time to myself like you. You say that I am always at the top of my subjects yet I know for a fact that some of the subjects we are in you have had better results then me then one day stopped trying and had average scores. Also were those your real thoughts about me?" she asked while looking away with slightly red cheeks.
"Of course they are my real thought about you otherwise I wouldn't say it. I will not stoke your ego any more then that as I know you hear it all the time and are always getting confessed to. I as a man can't go around telling you who has bullied me because of you as I would be seen as a snitch and my pride as a man means I can't hide behind a women and let her fight my battle for me and protect me. As for my grade well not sure how you found that out and I will neither confirm or deny your statement but I don't care so long as the ends justify the means. So long as when I graduate and all the necessary and important tests in-between I get high marks then I am happy. Keeps me out the limelight."
"I remember what you were like the first year you know. At the front of the class always the first to put your hand up and answer a question and I don't think you ever answered wrong. I remember even some of the teachers didn't know the answer when you asked them more detailed questions. I also saw you study a lot in the library so I know you were dedicated and holding back in classes later. I may hear compliments all the time but it is who is making the comments and compliments that matter. Quality over quantity if you know what I mean?"
I was starting to get a headache now. Seriously I want to be alone and get some rest and she keeps pestering me.
"No I don't know what you mean and you have an outstanding memory for useless and trivial details. Now if there is nothing else I want to try and get some sleep if you don't mind" I told her.
"Go ahead and have some sleep then I will just stay here and try get some as well."
"....Did you not pay any attention to anything I just said? About how I like to be left alone?" I asked in amazement.
"Of course I did" she answered. "Just I feel safe here as I know unlike the other people who like to blow their own trumpet you are reliable. All those other people who faun over me daily didn't step up and take charge like you did or do anything useful. Bunch of people blowing hot air and this gave me a chance to talk to you so despite everything this day has some silver lining to it."
"Wow you actually said something so embarrassing so easily and with a straight face. Well it is not like I can move you and I guess if I get up and move you will just follow me for some reason so what the heck just stay there. I am not giving my jacket or anything to keep you warm so provide your own means of comfort."
As I settle down for the night I could see Yuki glaring over at me for some reason and I must have heard an auditory hallucination as it sounded like she was grinding her teeth. Nobody can grind their teeth that loud. She must have been worried that I would take advantage of the situation and do immoral things with the academy's number one women while she slept. Honestly I do not have a death wish not am I the type to do it with people around no matter how quiet and discrete. Seriously I know I am not a people person and border on the extreme antisocial list but just how low are other people's ideas of me?