At this moment many emotions went through Jim. Shock, fear, and most of all anger. Not only because his classmates were currently dying and he was witnessing the gruesome death of his teacher.

No, he was angry at himself for his own stupidity. He knew exactly how dangerous the city was and still didn't expect a group of apes to lay an ambush. He had yet again underestimated them just like the spider.

They were completely unprepared and defenseless against the apes who suddenly ambushed them. He thought the way was safe after they went through here once. Never did he think that such a large group of apes could lay such a coordinated ambush.

Careful my ass. I want to protect everyone but didn’t check for ambushes? Pathetic, that is what I am! How can I be so STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!

Fueled with many emotions but most of all fury Jim felt his temperature increasing, his muscles tensing and his blood rushing ever faster through his veins.

With a loud cry, Jim temporarily got the attention of every ape and human in the vicinity, stunning them for a brief moment.

Jim’s skin was gradually turning red. He could feel newfound energy rushing from his chest up to his face, along his arms to his hands, his back, and all the way down to his legs ending at his feet.

It was like a complicated construct of multiple channels intervening in one another and forming a whole construct.

“Huuuu”

Jim opened his eyes and breathed out hot air before he bent his knees slightly and shot off.

Before the apes could even make sense of the situation a slaughter began. Jim's first target was the ape who killed Miss Flora. Arriving before the ape he grabbed his throat and put as much force as he could in his grip, strangling him just like it choked his teacher.

The ape began to struggle before soon realizing that the force was way too much and with a braking sound his neck snapped and he instantly died. He threw the corpse with as much force as could to the nearest ape, knocking it over.

Quickly arriving before the ape who lost its balance he slashed with one clean cut, of his machete, the head off the ape before quickly turning to the next target.

Breaking free from their initial shock, the others started to help him in killing the apes. Now the apes also realized the disadvantage they were at and started fleeing in every direction.

By then it was already too late. Charlotte shot from the distance, while the others caught up with the various apes and killed them from behind. Jake controlled the situation by guiding the other classmates to safety so that they didn't get in the crossfire.

In only about two minutes more than a dozen apes lay around the area. Over half of them were killed by Jim alone. While he was slaughtering the apes Jim’s mind was completely focused, he had a goal and was doing his best to achieve it most efficiently.

Only after the last ape fell by his blade did he relax. In the heat of the moment, he didn’t even realize how skillfully he dispatched the apes. After relaxing Jim felt his rushing blood calming down and his heart stabilizing.

Making sure everything was fine he went over to Jake who already had control over the situation. “Looks like you have everything under control. How many are injure-

Before Jim could even finish his question his body broke down and he felt how his consciousness slipped away while his vision turned dark.

He stumbled a few steps forward before collapsing on Jake's shoulder.

***

After an indefinite time, Jim slowly regained consciousness. He could feel how he was moving up and down.

Am I moving? What happened? Oh right, I fought the apes, and then... I lost consciousness.

After a moment Jim could see clearly again and looked at his surroundings. He was piggybacked by Clay and could see everyone in his group just doing fine. He turned his attention to him.

“Clay, what happened after I lost consciousness?”

“Oh are you awake, sleepy head?”

“Very funny, how long was I out for?” Jim asked with a concerned face.

“I don’t know for a few minutes,” replied Clay without worry.

Jim nodded his head in understanding as he noticed that Jake came to him with a grim expression as he noticed that Jim was awake.

“Nothing really happened after the ape accident but that doesn't change the huge casualties we suffered.”

“haaa”

Remembering his own stupidity in this accident Jim sighed in frustration, before looking Jake straight in the eyes.

“How bad is it?”

“In total, we lost thirteen people. One of them was Miss Flora and the others were students, we also have two severely wounded. No idea if they make it, but it doesn't look good. After the battle, Chris also underwent his second transformation. Fortunately, it went without a problem compared to Lukas, and is recovering right now.”

“Fuck... Everything's my fault I should have been more careful of ambushes, especially after the incident with the spider. Now thirteen people are dead.”

“Jim, it wasn't your fault. No one expected this, we are only human after all. We can’t think of everything and constantly make mistakes. Some are smaller and others bigger.

Our losses this time were big and it was a very grave mistake on our site, but we can learn from that and prevent even more people from dying. Today another thirteen people died and it is on us to make sure that never happens again,” replied Jake with a grave face.

“Yeah, you are right.” Jim smiled at Jake as he nodded his head and turned around to go back in formation.

“Jake!”

Jim called out as he turned around again, “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“Nothing to thank me for, you know that I'm always there if you need me. Especially in these crazy times.”

With a smile, he turned around and left Jim and Clay alone. Shortly after, Clay asked Jim a question, “Sooo… Could you get off my shoulders?”

“Oh yeah, sorry.”

Slightly embarrassed, Jim got down from Clay and joined the others in the front again. After another hour of walking the group finally saw the school again. Strangely there were shadows moving around the staircase.

Realizing what was currently happening Jim cursed at himself for their bad luck and shouted, “The school is under attack, we have to defend it!”

After saying this Jim was the first to storm off to the School. Being at the front of the group he saw Lukas and Dennis defending the door of their makeshift wooden wall. This forced the mutants to attack them at a focus point, where it was easier to defend from.

A group of five cats was currently attacking them. From the looks they were only of the first rank so without much thought, Jim sprinted to the two cats at the back and got into a brawl with them.

Another cat turned around, wanting to support the other two cats-

*THUD*

An arrow came from the distance hitting the cat straight in the eye socket killing it instantly. Avoiding another claw that rushed past his face, Jim beheaded one of the cats with his machete.

Then Clay and Chris rushed past Jim to support Lukas and Dennis in their fight. Shortly after the cats were killed, without anyone getting injuries. In the meantime, Jim finished the last cat and then sat down to rest.

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He was still somewhat exhausted from the weird move he used while fighting the apes. Looking up he saw Lukas and Dennis breathing heavily as they broke down to rest. He looked at them curiously before asking, “What happened? Why were you attacked, and where is Max?”

With a tired expression, Lukas looked at him, “He is resting behind the wall. All that fighting was just too much.”

“All that fighting? Were you attacked by other mutants apart from the cat?”

“Hahahaha.”

With a crazy laugh Lukas looked at Jim with wide-open eyes, “Come behind the wall, then you will understand.”

Now that he looked at Lukas and Dennis more clearly, he noticed that they were pretty injured, their armor full of slashes and blood. Some leather straps were cut and were just briefly knotted together. Even the wall was badly damaged and reinforced multiple times.

With a grunt, Jim stood up and got past the damaged wall. With a shocked and perplexed expression, he looked at a pile of corpses. More than two dozen animals were stacked on each other and formed a huge pile of corpses. Jim could see all kinds of mutants.

Resting before the main entrance with his spear standing tall from the ground, always ready to stand up and attack sat Max.

Almost completely covered in blood, with armor multiple times repaired and an unfocused, no more like obsessed gaze staring in the direction of the wall, his eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he came straight out of hell. He wasn’t even noticing Jim's presence.

“Max what happened!”

Torn out of his trance, Max slowly turned his head to look Jim straight in the eyes, taking a moment to focus before he realized who was standing before him, “Oh… you are back.”

After saying that he fell backward and immediately lost consciousness. Seeing Max collapse Jim rushed over to stop his falling body. Turning around he questioned Lukas and Dennis who weren’t far away.

“What the fuck happened here!? We were only gone for a few hours.”

He was also checking Max's pulse, which was fine, he seemed to be just very exhausted. Looking at his body he could spot many scratches and bite wounds, but nothing too serious. After checking his body, he turned his attention back to Lukas.

“What happened, you ask? Hell happened! This was fucking hell, you can’t imagine how often and close I was to dying today.”

Taking a breath to calm himself Lukas began to recount the events after Jim and the others left to go to the supermarket.

“After you left at first nothing happened and like we agreed we continued to reinforce the school. To be more efficient we split up. Dennis went to the two underground floors. I was responsible for the ground floor and Max went to the floors upstairs.

After about an hour I heard the faint sound of fighting from underground and started rushing down. Getting to the storeroom of our chemistry class I saw Dennis fighting against five mutated rats from which he had already killed one.

Thankfully he got only slight injuries on his legs so I helped him with the others and we were able to kill them all shortly after. They started to make their lair down there and broke some chemicals so we quickly disposed of them before something could happen.

Afterward, we agreed that it is smarter to stay in a group in case we have to fight again. Barely reaching the ground floor we heard glass breaking from upstairs.

Rushing to the first floor we saw Max fighting four birds. Thankfully their mobility was very restricted in the hallway of the first floor and Max carried his weapons with him and his spear gave him enough reach to fend them off.

Using this advantage we were able to kill three birds and the last one fled out of the window it had come from. Unfortunately for us this bird was out for revenge and started flying in circles above the school, shrieking as loud as it could. Gathering the attention of every mutant in the vicinity.

Realizing what it was doing Max grabbed his longbow killing the bird with one precise shot but by then it was already too late. From the first floor, we saw how mutants came lurking out from the numerous shadows they hid in.

Afterward, it was a battle of pure endurance. In the beginning Dennis and I defended the front wall, while Max shot the mutants with his arrows. Sadly they soon ran out and we had to hold them off in the melee.

Max spear was at this moment a heavenly gift and with the narrow doorway of the wall he was able to hold the wall alone. So we took turns. When we were not fighting we tried our best to repair our armor, fortify the wall, or bind our wounds.

Crisis struck when suddenly Dennis had his second transformation mid-fight and forced me and Max to hold the wall by ourselves. That cost many injuries and after Dennis was finally able to go back into the fight he was standing on his last legs. Not long after this group of cats came and are hopefully the last for today. Not that I care. You can surely hold the wall while we are sleeping. We will talk later. I need sleep!”

Before Jim could ask any other questions Lukas grabbed Max and got inside. Dennis followed closely behind him.

Looking again at the huge amount of corpses Jim couldn’t find the right words before he just screamed, “WHAT THE FUCK!”

After calming down Jim explained the situation to the others and left the rest for Jake to manage. He was the most capable when it came to organizing the defense of the wall and the saved students. This was what he was best at. Managing people and organizing stuff.

Just like Max, Dennis, and Lukas, Jim was too exhausted to stay awake. The side effects of his… whatever it was were no joke. So he also went inside to sleep.

Since the start of this whole catastrophe not even two days passed and so much happened already. Jim really couldn’t foresee what the future held for him.

The whole trip from going to the supermarket and getting back took all day and the sun was already beginning to set. After some organizing and defending from the last stragglers, everyone went to sleep.

After sleeping for nine hours Jim woke up in the middle of the night. He was fully rested and full of energy. After looking around him Jim remembered that he had slept in the storeroom as there were some blankets that they used to sleep on.

The body of the spider was long disposed of and only some blood stains remained. Dennis, Max, and the rest of the group were still sleeping, while Jim couldn’t find Clay and Chris, which was a bit weird.

Getting out of the storeroom Jim could see the ground floor was littered with multiple camps of students sleeping together. They were sleeping on a variety of objects like jackets, clothes, or curtains which were ripped from the windows.

Like everywhere else this hall also had corpses that they already brought away. They temporarily stored them outside on a small football field, where Jim had often played on.

He could also see how some students already started to form groups. Jim’s group slept in the storeroom to get some privacy and because the food and other supplies were stored there.

Nobody in Jim’s group wanted someone to come up with the stupid idea to steal food or other supplies, so they just slept there to make sure no one could steal something.

One important point was that Jim and the rest of the group agreed to let Emma in, as she could hold her composure in this whole situation and were friends with Charlotte so she was more or less trustworthy.

Looking around the huge hall where the students were sleeping Jim couldn't find Chris or Clay either so he got back to the storeroom to grab some food. It had been a bit since the last time he ate.

After getting the food Jim got out of the back door to eat in the garden. At least there he could get some fresh air, admire the beautiful night, and enjoy the evening breeze.

Getting out of the storeroom Jim was almost blinded by the bright moon, as the sky was especially clear tonight. The moon was shining in its whole beauty, while the stars decorated the emptiness around it.

Not a single cloud could be seen and for a moment Jim just admired the sky. After he had seen enough he continued his way to the garden. He seemed to be not the only one with this idea as he found the missing Clay and Chris.

Entering the garden he noticed them talking, while Chris was drawing something under the moonlight. After getting closer Jim realized that Clay, on the other hand, was exercising. With curiosity, Jim made his way over and called out for them.

“Hey! What are you guys doing?”

Looking at Jim for a brief moment without stopping his exercise Clay said, “I’m exercising.”

“Yeah I can see that but why? It was a hard day so we should rest.”

“I’m fine. I noticed how lacking my physical fitness is so I thought that I should start exercising if I wanted to survive for another day.”

Clay had multiple scratches and slash wounds littered around like everyone else. They couldn’t avoid all injuries and Clay was fighting a lot the last two days. The only good thing was that they weren’t too serious and that since they reached the second rank they have way stronger bodies.

The wounds weren’t bleeding but he was still injured and shouldn’t be exercising. Stopping his exercise Clay stood up and looked Jim in the eyes.

“Jim, I had a bit of time to think about this whole situation, and do you know what I realized?” Before Jim could even answer, he continued, “That we all are in deep, deep shit and I will survive no matter what. I’m way too young to die and before I haven’t confirmed that my family is dead or alive I’m not leaving this world. I don’t want to leave them alone,” briefly looking into the distance he said,

“You know, this whole situation is really weird. I still can’t fully comprehend how absurd our situation is and how it continuously forces me to go out of my comfort zone and go over my limits again and again. But you know what? I find this goal of surviving surprisingly thrilling. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I want to be there and witness it for myself.

I never really fit in this society and like you noticed I do not have many friends apart from Chris here. That might sound weird to you but never before did I feel so… free.” Saying what he wanted to say Clay just returned to his training, leaving Jim with his thoughts alone.

He was a bit startled by Clay’s words and his speech. But he was right, the most important point in surviving was your will. He had a goal and judging from his eyes he looked even a little obsessed.

Jim also has a goal. He had to find his family as fast as possible and if they were only corpses he needed to know. He had to prioritize his goals. He can’t possibly save everyone he encounters.

As long as Jake and I find our family, what does the rest matter? My family is more important than some kids I don’t even really know. Especially my sister. She is only eleven and is now maybe completely alone. Maybe even… No, they are alive and I have to find them.

Mia, just wait for your big brother. I will find you.

With his newfound determination and more than enough energy to spare he also began to exercise beside Clay. Even if he wanted to get to his family right now it would be nearly impossible to achieve.

The sun was long gone and when the last two days showed one thing, then it was the cruel truth that he couldn’t possibly survive alone out there.

Jim needed to form a group to survive and get to his family. The problem was that his school was located southeast, while Jim's house was all the way in the west of the city.

After training for two hours with Clay they got back to the school going their separate ways. At about six am the sun began to rise and the third day officially started.