Chapter 3: Child's Request

“A request?”

“Please, please look for my grandpa…”

Eh?

“Actually I came here to meet my grandpa before everything started…”he began, explaining.

It took a while to understand his story since he lack the strength to speak. However regardless of his weakness he did not stop till he finished his story.

Apparently the kid always come here to meet with is grandfather whenever he had time. So when everything happened he was on his way to the library where his grandfather works. Fortunately despite the chaos he was able to hide in the cleaning cabinet located at the second floor. His small stature was his saving grace since the cabinet couldn’t accommodate the size of any high school student. It also helped that everyone was running towards the exit instead of looking for a place to hide, not that they can fit where he was located but at least no one opened the cabinet lest they expose his location.

“I see…”

I looked at the child’s pale face as I tip my head to the right. “Come to think of it… you look to young to be in high school,” I whisper.

Looking at his build and young face, he might be an elementary student. Since I was too preoccupied on bandaging his wounds I did not notice it a while ago . It turned out that he was going to meet with his grandfather.

Thought it was rare to have elementary or junior students to be seen here, it was not entirely impossible because the Elementary and Junior Division was located at the same area as the High School Division. It was just that each division was separated by a certain distance thought since the whole campus is too broad, it will take about 15 to 20 minuets of walk from here to any of the two division.

Green Woods Academy, this school was a well-known school. It was not only known for its high standards in education but also to the large area that it occupies. As the name states, the academy was located at the heart of Green Woods forest. The whole forest and areas near it was also owned by the academy.

The academy was so large and famous that most of the students from cities near it studies here. There are also some students that came from far cities so there is a boarding facility for them.

On the other hand, I usually commute from house to school everyday. I have once submitted my application to boarding features of the academy however I was declined. Apparently the academy gives priority to those who are from far places and since I live at Flur which is the nearest city here they said I can just commute to school.

I still remember how upset I was when my application was declined since I still have a hard time commuting from home to the school. Imagine the 30 or more minutes of travel. Now that the apocalypse is here I'm now in a dilemma of how to go back to the city and look for my family. The problem of distance and location is definitely big.

After a heavy sigh, I shook my head and got back on the current conversation.

‘Speaking of which…’ “You mentioned the library… So your grandfather is a librarian?”

“En”, He nodded in agreement.

In the whole building, there is only one library which was located at the top floor. The library together with the gym took most of the space in the 5th floor making them really spacious for students.

Hm?‘Was there an old librarian there?’

I tried to remember if I had ever encountered the old man before since I frequently visited the library because of Aya, a close childhood friend, was a member of the library committee. There were many times that she had to stay at the library until late hours after school to arrange and fix the books thus I usually accompany her during those times.

I frowned as I tried to recall all the times that I have gone to the library but I have never met the old man.‘How weird…’

“Will you go look for grandpa?”

My thoughts were pulled away by his voice, pulling my eyes towards his face which was looking earnestly at me. Hope and anxiety both mixed in his eyes as he waited for my answer.

A dying child and his request, an old man whose status is unknown and me an ordinary high school student in a school full of danger. However you look at it, the situation was definitely in the red zone.

If I think logically, for me to risk my life to look for someone whose status was unknown should definitely be a no-go.

You might ask why… well to start of – survival.

The kid was about to die so why should I risk my life for him? Thought his request of looking for his grandpa seemed easy, especially I already came from the fifth floor and did not encounter any zombie, I was not able to check the situation of the whole floor aside from the area where the infirmary was located. Moreover I only walked the hallway and did not really exploration the whole place. So it will not be surprising if there are dangers lurking in the area.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Another issue is the person I was to look for – the child’s grandpa…

Usually in a settings where danger is everywhere especially to situations similar to this zombie apocalypse, the children or the old people are the first to fall if they don’t have any protection. So somewhere deep inside I have this feeling that his grandfather might have died or zombiefied.

I opened my mouth decline the request however as I look at his eyes, the voice did not come out.

“I’ll... I'll go…” I finally answered after a while of indecision. Looking at the bright side, I might encounter another survivor and there might be little to no zombies outside since I have not encountered anything when I left the infirmary.

“I’ll go and look for your grandpa…” I repeated. My voice was strong as my determination.

Since it came to this, I’ll see it through the end…

The child’s face lit up and a wide thought weak smile bloomed. Thought his face was as pale as paper his happiness can be seen. This alone made me smile and see something other than the depressing situation we are in.

“Thank you…” the child whispered before he closed his eyes to rest.

I stared at the child’s face which was still smiling and my smile disappeared as a bitter feeling swept me. ‘For a child to die like this…’

‘This will be the first but not the last…’ These thoughts suddenly popped in my head and I can’t help but shudder. ‘Maybe next time it will be me who will die…’

I bit my lower lip and closed my eyes.

‘Inhale…exhale…’

I calmed and pushed these negative thoughts away. It’s not like it will help me in anyway. Furthermore, I already decided to live and survive so that’s exactly what I’ll do – survive. Nevertheless, even though survival is the priority, I’m not yet in the state to disregard a request form someone near death or the hope of helping another person.

After getting my priorities and thoughts straight I started to get ready to leave. I decided to just take few items with me and leave the bag with the kid.

“I’ll leave the bag here… there are food and also water inside…”I said as I left the bag beside him where he can access it easily. After a pause I noticed that he was already asleep so I left him silently. Before leaving I went and opened the lights of the classroom to make sure there is no other possible threat inside. Aside from the zombie impaled and the messy room, there seemed to be no problem.

Assured,I locked the other door of the room. All rooms in this building were the same; each room has two sliding doors, one in front and one at the back. After making sure to lock the back door I left the room thru the front door. I also made sure to close the lights because it might attract unwanted attention to this place. Making sure everything is in order I closed the door tightly, not locking it since I do not have any keys.

Satisfied with the arrangement I was able to remove some of my worries in regards to the kid’s safety.

Standing in front of the room with only the curtain pole in my hand I decided on what to do next. As I was thinking I unconsciously looked outside the window and saw that the sun was about to set. In less than 20 minutes the sun will surely be gone and darkness will plunge the whole school.

Night, school and zombies… Ah! What a combination!

I can’t help but shiver as I imagined the outcome. I should hurry and check the library before then because I can’t trust my courage if I can move around the school during the night. It will be safer to go back here and rest until morning. It’s good thing that I have enough food and water to last me, the child and the old man if I found him for as long as tomorrow morning…Somehow I hope that his grandpa is fine especially that I was also able to survive the chaos while I was inside the infirmary. If he was able to find a place to hide then the chances of survival will be high. However I can’t also remove the possibility that he might have left the library.

Pulling my thought back into the current issue, I looked at the pole in my hands and gave a heavy sigh.

For a weapon this pole was too soft. It might even bend of I put pressure on it. The possibility of fighting can’t be removed in the equation. Since I have not really explore the whole floor there are possible zombies lingering there. Even if they are not many there bound to be one or two. So with a weapon this shabby I can only sigh heavily. It’s not like I can find something better.

Thought it might be considered shabby, it was enough for me.

In fighting I definitely can say that I am not the fighter type. With my current strength I can’t even run fast! So if you imagine a weak girl using a weapon hitting the head of the zombie I can already guarantee that the zombie might not even sway a little. Furthermore I have no courage to fight zombies close combat.

So with this pole I can use it not as a direct weapon but a support weapon to escape!

Escape! Huhuhu… Did you think I will fight zombies head on? Not a chance!

After checking the pole, I also pulled out the flash light from my pocket. Whatever will happen I made sure to bring it together with 4 bars of chocolate and small bottle of water.

‘All set!’ I thought and walk towards my classroom.

I decided to first check my classroom and look for my phone before going back to the top floor. Since I was already here, I might as well go and follow my original plan. It’s not like it will take a long time especially my classroom was the one following this room.

Full of energy and determination I walked towards to next room.