"Shit, shit, shit! She isn't breathing!"
"I just saw her move!"
"Just get rid of her!"
"How!? They're still in front of the door!"
"Open the window!"
"And just throw her dead body outside!?"
There were too many students yelling at each other for anybody to really be able to think rationally. Most of the student argued with each other while others panicked as they tried to stop the blood gushing from a bite on their teacher's neck and shoulder. In the meantime, there were others continuing to move chairs and desks to the classroom's two doors in a desperate attempt for a barricade. There were even some students who began to take things out of the utilities locker in search of anything they could use to defend themselves.
Everyone seemed to be busy doing something.
Except for Alfred. He was still in his seat. Little blood spatters covered his notes. They were learning trigonometry this period but he was busy staring at the blood trailing to the door in the back of the classroom.
He wasn't sure how long their barrier out of desks and chairs would last. The banging was getting louder and the sliding door was obviously becoming loose with so much weight on it.
He thought it was pretty ironic, the whole situation. He would always joke about kicking ass if any apocalypse came their way. Always saying he would know exactly what he would need to do to be the hero of their world.
Now… he wasn't so sure what to do.
...
He turned his head when he heard a scream.
One of their barriers had fallen and the door was pushed off it's base.
"Yunno, I don't get why we should put all the gear away if it's not even our turn."
Matthew laughed as he grabbed a few baseballs and tossed them into a basket he carried with him. "Well, maybe you should've been absent, but of course that means you won't be paired up with me anymore."
Gilbert laughed dryly. "Ha ha. You're so funny. But if I weren't here he'd probably mark you absent, too."
"S-Shut up!" He nudged his shoulder before returning to his job.
"Well, anyways," He twirled the borrowed keys to the outside storage room on his finger. "We gotta hurry up before coach yells at us again for being late." He slid the keys in the lock but discovered it was left open. Opening the door, he shrugged it off as he walked inside. The last class probably forgot to lock it.
Matthew sighed as he set down the basket and few bats he had picked up as well. "I'm still not sure why this has to be on the other side of the school. It's always so empty."
"It's so nobody can hear you scream!" Gilbert picked up Matthew from behind.
"Let me go!" Matthew screamed and laughed as he was twirled around.
Doing as told, he snickered. "Anyways, let's hurry up. Lunch is soon and the lines in the cafeteria are always crazy."
Nodding, Matthew headed off towards the back.
He began to dump the baseballs into their separate basket before hearing something. He thought it was just Gilbert messing with him again, except the sound was coming from behind the gymnastics mats against the wall. Not to mention they were deeper than his usual voice. It sounded animalistic and he could've sworn he heard the disgusting sound of something cracking. His eyes widened as he noticed blood begin to trail it's way towards him.
Grabbing one of the baseball bats he had put away, he walked backwards towards the door he just went through. He almost screamed when he bumped into Gilbert.
"Woah, Mattie." Turning him around, he was surprised to see him so fearful. "You alright?" He noticed his grip on the bat was tight.
"There's something by the mats and theres, theres blood on the floor, too."
"Here. Let me see that for a moment?" He motioned towards the bat. "It's probably just an animal. Probably just lost and scared."
He swallowed harshly, nodding as he began to trail behind Gilbert. "Right… right, it's probably nothing." His voice had become even quieter than usual.
"Yup!" He arrived at the mats and moved to look behind them, ignoring the pool of blood. "Just some cute little ani-"
Matthew covered his mouth in horror when he looked behind the mats, too.
God, he wished it was an animal.
...
The bell rang over the intercom. It's scheduled chime an alert that the school's lunch period was starting.
Arthur had no plans to begin to rush to the cafeteria or even rooftop to eat. He was busy in the school library as he returned a few books back to their place. It was empty for the moment and he was grateful for it. Everybody was probably busy trying to beat the line in the cafeteria or just staying in their classroom.
He brought his own lunch so there wouldn't be an issue.
He'd decided on staying during lunch get a head start on his homework since he'd finished his little chores the librarian assigned him already. Not to mention he had a meeting with one of his clubs and those tended to last late into the day.
Dragging his backpack with him, he sat by one of the computer and typed in some information he needed for one of his classes. Getting the name of a book he needed, he stood back up and headed off towards one of the book shelves closer to the windows.
Crouching down he was pleased to find the history book he needed almost immediately. Humming to himself he glanced and the window.
He did a double-take. "What in the…?"
He watched as herds of students all ran from what seemed to be the same place. They all ran with a panicked expression, some of them even appearing to be about to burst into tears. Then as soon as it started, it was over.
He headed towards the entrance of the library, curiosity overwhelming him. As his hand hovered over the handle, it began to jiggle in a desperate attempt to be opened.
He could hear someone on the other side but he couldn't identify them. They were banging on the door as they desperately yelled for him to open up, even calling him out by name. He swallowed harshly as he twisted the handle's lock open.
Immediately the student ran inside and leaned against the door after locking it again.
"Y-Yao!? What are you doi-"
"Lock all the other doors! Hurry!" He fled to one of the other doors closest to him, constantly looking back at the one he entered from as if it would open on it's own.
Arthur did his best to remain calm and collected. He walked behind Yao as he rushed to a door nearby. "All the doors are locked so there's no need to worry, lad." He watched as three more students ran past the windows. "But… what exactly is going on out there?"
They both jumped when they heard a scream and the metal door being pounded on with others demanding to be let inside. When they stopped banging on the door Arthur saw one of the students in his class run past the window before tripping. A second later the window was sprayed with blood. His eyes widened in horror.
Glancing at Yao, Arthur noticed how disoriented he appeared. Even some of his clothing was either ripped or tainted with small red splatters. The phone in his hand was the only thing that appeared to be in a good condition.
"Arthur! Text everyone you can and find out if they're alright. Make sure that you text them."
...
Leading him to the back of the library, they sat underneath the librarian's desk and began to contact their friends.
"A perfect shot."
Kiku lowered his bow. Giving the slightest bow in respect as he turned to Ludwig. "Ah, thank you. I've been practicing much more often now." He smiled as he set down his things.
Walking with him towards one of the benches, he noticed Feliciano busy on his phone.
"Kiku! Are we gonna go get lunch or go straight to the roof?"
"Hmm… Well, Yao had told me that he wanted to join us, along with Mogens to talk about a project."
Ludwig sighed. "You reminded me I also need to meet up with Ivan and Antonio. I'm not sure why we had to mix all five classes for a project done by the entire grade."
Feliciano laughed lightly. "I like it! It's fun!" He began to dig through his backpack as he felt his phone vibrate.
"That's because you have Elizaveta and Roderich. It's always easier with people you've known your whole life." Kiku stated. Of course, it wasn't like he didn't know his teammates either. Honestly, nearly everyone in their year was very close with each other even if they weren't in the same classes.
Ludwig began to help Kiku put away his bow and arrows. "Then again we do do this every year for the school festivals."
"That's true I suppose."
"U-Um, Luddy? Kiku?" They both turned their attention to Feliciano who appeared extremely nervous. "Arthur and Yao are sending me really weird texts." As he turned the screen to show them one of the texts, he received a video from Arthur in the form of a group chat with nearly all of their grade.
The trio watched the video in suspense, worry beginning to overcome them.
The video was shaky and out of focus at times. His breath was heavy as his expression face came into focus. He appeared afraid and so did Yao in the back who seemed to be furiously texting others. The sound of screams were clearly heard in the background and something else disturbingly inhuman. They both seemed to be distraught because they would flinch at any interval of sudden noise.
Arthur spoke in a whisper as he motioned towards his location. "I'm in the library on the fourth floor with Yao. We're under a desk right now and we don't know if it's safe to leave the room. I don't know if anyone we know is fine and neither does Yao but we're trying our best to keep some kind of contact. All we know is they react only to noise so I hope to god you read my warning before playing this video. Please, please, please try to send messages here. I've gotten everyone on my contacts here and Yao is doing the same. Please stay safe. If you're on our floor or nearby knock on the main entrance three times. Please be careful."
As the video played, a new message would pop up every few seconds. Each one of their friends would say if they were okay and would let others know what room and floor they were on.
It seemed important but none of the three of them could figure out was going on inside of the school. They'd spent all of their morning in the archery section as they helped Kiku train for an upcoming competition.
Feliciano stared at the two of them. "What should we do?"
They stared at each other; confused, speechless, and scared.
...
Raivis cowered in a corner as far away from the door as he could possibly manage. He had been practicing with the school's choir group just a few minutes ago. How did it all go downhill so fast?
Roderich did his best to help out the few other students in the music room with him as Elizaveta did her best to keep any danger away while still leaving the potential for survivors to find them. In the meantime, Toris did his best to console Katyusha who was on the brink of tears. Natalia wasn't too far behind as Ivan attempted to do the same. Feliks and Edward were busy trying to keep track of their friends in the school as well as what any form of social media had to say on just about anything about today. Lili did what she could do to cheer up Raivis as Vash search the music room for anything that could defend them.
Feliks spoke up, his face a little worried. "Hey, like, you guys. Antonio, Francis, and Lovino are all on this floor." He read the message a little more. "They're trying to find, like, a safe place or something."
Elizaveta stopped in her tracks, staring at the the semi-completed barricade she already had made. "Well…"
"Don't tell me you are thinking of actually destroying the barricade." Natalia spoke harshly. "Those… those creatures will attack us at a moment's notice. Why should we risk our lives for three others?"
Katyusha scolded her in between her sobs. "Natalia! Do not speak such things!"
Natalia glared at her. "Do not set me up as a villain! I only do not want any others involved in this body count!" She motioned towards everyone. "I do not want any others harmed in this ridiculous situation!"
Ivan nodded his head. "They are our friends!" He glanced at the door then back at his sisters nervously. "We should help them, yes?"
"Well, I already told them where we are so whatever." Feliks interrupted their little spat before it could get out of hand. He flushed as everyone stared at him. "I j-just wanted to help them. They're our friends after all…"
Elizaveta praised him with a kind expression. "You did what you needed to do." She began to remove a few of the music stands that leaned against the door.
Vash walked towards her. "Let me help."
...
"Honestly Lukas, you should know better than to try to run out and get your backpack." Tino scolded him as he cleaned one of the cuts on his knee. "You really scared me!"
Lukas stared down at his backpack next to the nurse's bed he sat on. "My charger was in there…"
Tino sighed and stood up. He hugged him as he did his best to steel his emotions. "I just worried, is all."
Berwald walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Mhmm. Would've missed ya."
Lukas sighed. "And how's Abel? Emil?"
Berwald spoke as Tino packed up the nurse's first aid kit. "Fine. Textin' others 's all." He sat down next to Lukas and leaned himself against a wall by the head of the bed.
The thin curtain behind them opened up in a haste. "We're not on the other side of the school you know! We're right here!" Abel spoke quickly as he fiddled with a charm on his phone.
Emil was sitting next to him. He was snacking on what would've been his lunch, abnormally calm in such a stressful situation. "There's more news in the texts."
Everyone turned their heads to get a view of the pile up of messages.
More messages had popped up since when they watched Arthur's video. After they all texted and said their status and location, they hadn't really been paying attention to everyone else like they probably should've. But then again, the imminent danger just outside the nurse's office was a good priority.
"Everyone's trying to find a place safe enough to meet up. They're trying to come up with a plan to leave before it gets dark outside."
They replied in unison. "And?"
"There's still a couple people M.I.A and we're trying to figure out where they are."
Tino became worried at the thought of any of his friends being in danger. "Like who?"
Emil read off a list of composed of various different texts. "Um… Gilbert… Alfred… his brother Matthew… Mogens and his sister Emma… Leon… and a couple of others people are still trying to find."
"Doesn't Gil have P.E. before lunch? With that Matthew kid? He kept on talking about playing baseball outside." Abel's eyes widened. "Shit."
...
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Gilbert whispered harshly as the door in front of him shook.
Gilbert and Matthew had run out of the outside storage locker only to run inside the gym and rush over to the other storage room he had the keys to. They both stood in the back, both of them terrified of what would happen once the door breaks open.
Matthew remained close to Gilbert who had been able to keep a bat in his hand. The gym's storage only held things such as nets, volleyballs, and mats; nothing that could protect them. He looked around as best he could, his body aching from having tripped and his knees bruised up with skin having broken. He chewed on his lower lip as he grew desperate for any kind of help. Walking a backwards, he hit the back wall and looked up.
Sun seeped through a simple window above him, it's latch loosely locked.
Matthew came up with a plan and all he could do was pray as he hoped it would work. He whispered. "Gil, pile up all the mats!" He pointed up to the window above him when Gilbert looked at him confused.
Nodding, the two began to rush to grab any and all of the gymnastics mats in the storage room.
Getting to the top, Gilbert pulled Matthew up before he began to nudge the lock on the window. Matthew's fingers and hands trembled in fear as the noises grew louder and louder. He could feel the window's rusty lock becoming looser with every nudge and pull, but it wasn't enough! In a last minute attempt, he took off his P.E. jacket, ripped a piece of fabric off, wrapped it around his knuckles, and hoped to God his idea would work.
...
Alfred walked dully through the empty hallway. It was clear of danger; everyone there was dead. He dodged the already rotting flesh of the students in his school, doing his best not to slip on the pools of blood he passed by. His phone was buzzing furiously inside the pocket by his thigh, but he didn't have the energy to pick it up.
He just couldn't believe it.
All he had been doing earlier in the day was goofing off, talking with his friends, and hiding a snack he brought to class. Everything just seemed so… normal an hour ago. He even texted some of his friends plans for after school on the bus ride here. They were supposed to go the mall because Alfred, ironically enough, wanted to get the newest apocalypse shooter game that had been released.
He chuckled quietly to himself, starting to take in little bits and pieces of the situation he was in.
He heard a groan behind him.
Turning around, the distorted face of a student's stared at him head on. It's flesh appeared to have rotted ahead of schedule, blood dripping down it's gaping mouth and a wound on the side of it's neck as well. He stared only a second longer and identified her as one of the girls from his class: quiet, reserved, and not someone who deserved any of this. He felt empathetic before his eyes widened in shock.
He was in danger.
In actual danger.
He could get hurt and so could all of his friends.
The friends he'd been ignoring this entire time.
His phone vibrated in his pocket again as he walked backwards slowly and carefully. He fished it out while doing it best to keep his attention on the student in front of him despite her staying in the same spot. He did his best to unlock it without looking and held his breath as he glanced down and back up in quick succession.
Everyone was asking where he was.
The weight of his situation was starting to hit him all at once and he had absolutely no idea what to do. He backed himself into the lockers, his hands grasping around him to hold onto anything that could help him. She wasn't moving but he felt like he couldn't risk anything. He continued walking along the locker doors until he felt a door handle against his back. He turned his body and did what he could to jiggle it open, maybe someone unlock it by doing so.
Then he heard one of the lockers bang shut.
His heart stopped, but then he realized she went towards the noise, not him.
Then he almost screamed when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he was face to face with Leon who immediately shushed him and grabbed on to his hand before running towards the opposite end of the hallway and towards the stairwell.
...
"Ok, Yao, what exactly do we do?"
"Well, I'm sure that staying on the top floor away from everyone else is not one of your priorities." Yao grabbed a nearby meter stick and pulled out of his pocket a box cutting knife.
Arthur stared at him blankly. "Why do you even have that? It's against our school policy." He began to scour the librarian's desk drawers for anything she may have confiscated that could be useful.
Yao started to sharpen one end of the meterstick, his movements quick and focused. "I don't think we'll be coming back to school anytime soon." He sighed. "But if you must know, I tend to help out here and there with small things teachers need cut, open, and other things."
"Mhmm…" Arthur nodded as if he believed him, but honestly he wasn't in the right place to become suspicious of an old and close friend. He glanced outside the window. "Do you believe that any of them stayed here?" He did his best to ignore the blood dripping off of the walls and lockers.
Yao pulled out his phone and showed him the newest messages. "Leon told everyone they're mostly on the first and second floor near the cafeteria. We should be okay."
Arthur grabbed his phone and looked at the most recent messages. "What is he up to…?" He handed back the phone before grabbing his own ruler and walking towards the library door. He waited for Yao to come back from the window before getting ready, his hands gripping the ruler.
"Nobody is outside."
They nodded and opened the door before they walked out into the halls.
...
Kiku stalked the door of their archery room with a wooden katana in one hand. He was grateful one of it's owners left it in their room on accident, but it didn't help sooth his rapidly beating heart as cold sweat collected under in bangs. Ludwig and Feliciano were nearby, trying their best to come up with a solution as they tried to figure out what was going on by using the large group chat. He could hear their murmurs of worry and it only continued to cloud his thoughts with doubt and fear.
Ludwig caught Kiku's attention and Kiku walked a step or two backwards to let him out his ear against the door. He could tell he was straining to hear anything.
"I've heard nothing so far." He let a run through his gelled locks, moving them out of place. "Do you believe a prank would involve this many people?" His first thought was his older brother, but his pranks were usually harmless kiddie ones, nothing at such a huge scale.
Feliciano chewed at one of his nails nervously as he scrolled through the messages. His hand went to his cross necklace without even realizing it as he noticed some friends were missing. If all of this was fake he would cry from joy instead of fear. "Luddy… um, do you and Kiku know what to do? People say it's dangerous to go outside."
Kiku sighed, knowing anything they did would have heavy negatives. "We must get to the school Feliciano. Otherwise we may not get any help whatsoever." He swallowed harshly. "Even if it is only a prank, we only have one way to find out."
...
After grabbing their backpacks they opened the door and started to run towards the back entrance of their school.
"Just try to hold the door back!" Elizaveta yelled as she began to search for anything that could defend them. "Be careful!"
Ivan and Antonio were barely able to keep the door closed despite to two blood soaked students who were grasping at air to grab them both. Ivan rammed his shoulder near the edge and shut the door on an arm and hand, but hadn't fully closed it yet. Antonio was beginning to grow tired of the struggle, but he did what he could to keep his stamina up.
At first, all seemed to have been fine when Antonio, Francis, and Lovino had found the music room to stay in instead of the school's hallways, but they soon discovered they had been followed. The two students who trailed behind them had grown senile and ravenous as they stumbled their way towards the door before it was closed. Lovino had been the first one to find out because he had almost been pulled backwards into the hallway.
Now he was trying his best to not start crying even though the tears in his eyes were threatening to fall at a moment's notice. He wrung his wrists as he looked around while trying to figure out what any of them could do. He started walking backwards, against the entry door, and found himself entering the storage room full of their classical instruments. He glanced at one the violas left out of their case and grabbed it without even thinking.
He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing but he realized he was running towards the door. He could hear Antonio yelling at him, and in the back he could even hear Elizaveta and Roderich, but he wasn't focused on them. In one swing he hit the arms and hands scratching at the walls behind the door before Ivan and Antonio closed it. Blood sprayed his shirt as a hand was ripped off it's wrist, blood pooling on the floor as it's fingers continued to spasm and move before they stopped completely. He hadn't even realized he was crying until Antonio hugged him and wiped them away.
"Lovi! You scared me so much! I, I just, don't do that again!" Antonio held him close by before letting him go as Lili inspected him for any harm.
She didn't mention he was trembling terribly.
Elizaveta placed a hand gently on his shoulder. She spoke softly while doing her best to sound encouraging. "You did really, really good Lovino." She placed a kiss on his temple. "You really helped us out, you know."
He nodded before falling to his knees, staring at the twitching hand.
Roderich spoke up. "Do you think they're still out there?" He took off his glasses and cleaned off some blood that had reached him. "We all understand that we simply can not stay here forever."
"Where do you suggest we move to? There's others trying to come up with the same idea." Vash retorted. He was willing to move, but not if it meant endangering any of them, especially Lili.
"Well… we could…" Roderich pointed at Feliks. "What has everyone said so far?"
He became flustered as he struggled to pull his phone out of of the pocket of his skirt. "Well, um, like I know that Arthur and Yao said they've started moving because no ones on the fourth floor." He walked towards one of the windows near the choir benches. "And judging from, like, how outside looks really full. There's barely anyone here." He chewed on his lower lip. "Do you think the caf really is a safe bet?"
Toris fiddled with his the buttons of his sleeves. "Well, there's only one way to find out, right?"
"Has anyone else said anything?" Raivis appeared from behind Katyusha, eyes full of fear.
Scrolling through the messages, he sighed. "Not unless you count Leon who said he's moving to the second floor. He says there's barely anyone there."
Elizaveta checked her phone as well. Closing it, she walked into the storage room and walked back out with an instrument case in each hand. "Who's ready to move to the cafeteria?"
...
"Alright so this is going to sting a little bit." Tino spoke to him softly as he opened a bottle of some unidentifiable fluid.
Matthew nodded before putting the sleeve of his jacket between his teeth. "Mhmm."
Pouring the liquid on Matthew's cuts, his other hand dug it's nails into Gilbert's own. They had been lucky enough to pass by the carcasses and students wandering the halls, not to mention finding the nurse's office in time before getting spot by anyone. Having been left without their phones, since they'd left them in their classrooms on the second floor when they'd left to change into their uniforms for P.E., they'd been left in the dark of what exactly had been going on. They missed out on more than they realized.
"Man," Abel spoke in awe, "I still can't believe you smashed through the window with your fist!" He continued to babble on about how if he had to do it, he probably could've too, and how it would've been super badass, at least until Lukas lightly hit him on the back of his head.
Berwald treated the little cuts and scrapes on Gilbert's face and hands while talking. "He's right. How many are 'tside?" He used tweezer to remove a piece of glass from his cheek.
"Like… a fuckton." He winced when one of his cuts were sterilized. "But, Emil, you said everyone's saying there isn't anybody upstairs?" He spun his baseball bat in one hand while the other continued to hold onto Matthew's while he winced at the solution being poured on his ripped knuckles.
Packing his lunch box back into his backpack, Emil spoke absentmindedly. "Not anyone who isn't either escaping or getting eaten alive." Lukas hit the back of his head, too.
Tino scolded him. "Emil!" He sighed as he packed away his equipment. "So far, the only one with a plan is Leon who's telling everyone to go to the cafeteria upstairs since he says no one is inside."
"Doesn't that sound weird? To just have so many floors empty even though this highschool is one of the biggest in the city?" Lukas pondered outloud. "You would expect more chaos or something."
Spitting his ripped sleeve out of his mouth, Matthew examined his newly bandaged hand. "There was plenty of chaos outside." He was ignored until Gilbert brought their attention to him.
"He's right. Maybe they're all just moving outside." He fished his pockets once more, hoping he'd find a phone he knew he didn't have. He only found the ring of keys his coach had let him borrow. "Have they talked about Luddy yet? Feli? Lovi? Kiku?" He was praying his little brother wasn't hurt.
"Leon said a lot of them stayed in the classrooms. More food I guess." Lukas hit the back of Emil's head again. "I mean, if they aren't in the cafeteria then I guess that's better than staying still."
Tino glanced around, then focused on the door of the nurse's office. "Do you guys think we should move? It's been quiet lately and I'm a little nervous."
Lukas sat down, his back resting against a wall as he stared at Tino. "We don't have much of a choice."
Berwald murmured in agreement as he began to pack up various items scattered around the office room. Most the bottles had been glass which meant they lacked more important chemicals but he grabbed whatever was plastic and tucked it into the first aid kit. As he grabbed boxes of bandages and tape, Tino began to help him out as he checked for anything important that could've been missing. Once they grabbed everything needed, each of them looked at each other and nodded in a silent agreement.
Abel slid open the door and checked for danger. Nothing so far. Motioning for everyone to follow, they each left the room in a hurry while Tino and Berwald lagged behind to carry their safety supplies. The all followed Abel in a single file line as he scoped out each corner for any danger, and each time appeared safe as he would motion for them to continue, but after only a minute of safety he stopped walking.
He chewed on his bottom lip as he watched a horde of students gnaw on a body he refused to identify. Turning his head away from the gore, he eyed Lukas backpack. In a hurry he grabbed it, searched for something inside of it, and then chucked the bag so that it would hit one the lockers away from the stairwell. His heart stopped as he watched heard the row of lockers clatter and he could only think in prayers as he watched the students raise their heads and slowly fumble their way towards the source of noise.
Giving them only a second of a distance, he urged for everyone to walk quickly as they walked up the spiraling stairwell. Taking a moment to search his pants pockets, he handed Lukas his phone charger with a smile before the other could mention his loss. Lukas gave him an amused look as a form of thanks before they continued up the stairs.
...
Huffing and puffing, Arthur and Yao had run through the halls and down their first flight of stairs when found themselves on the third floor of the school. So far so good. As they were about to take a sharp turn to continue down to the second floor, Arthur grabbed onto Yao's shoulder and held him back.
"Ai ya, Arthur! What are yo-"
Arthur simply pointed with the sharpened point of his wooden meter stick towards the end of the hallway. "I could have sworn I'd seen some chap over there who seemed a bit panicked turn the corner. Shouldn't we help out?"
"We can't just stop and help everyone out like some kind of heros! We don't even know if th-"
Screams echoed through the hallways and without hesitation Arthur and Yao ran towards the hall he originally pointed towards. As they rushed to find whoever they could, doing their best to ignore the remains of students mingled around blood and an awful stench of flesh, they instead found Antonio and Francis as they were starting to corner themselves as they tried to escape the grasp of a deranged student. Francis was defending himself with a violin and Antonio appeared to be doing the same until Francis moved to far back and tripped on himself. Struggling to get up, the student seemed to be about to take advantage of the momentary weakness.
Gripping tightly onto his meter stick, Arthur acted without thinking and ran up to the student to stab them through their back. As the student spasmed and tried to reach out, Yao helped and grabbed onto the stick to push the student aside. The student fell onto it's back and impaled itself further until it moved to lay on it's side, blackened blood pouring out of their mouth and dripping from their wound.
Moving quickly, Yao grabbed onto Francis and bombarded him with questions.
"Francis! Are you okay!? Antonio, are you!? Have you seen anyone else!? We thought you were both about to die! Why are you using a violin!?"
Arthur sighed, staring at the student as he wondered if it was worth it to try to get back his ruler. "I'm fine. No worries at all." He placed a foot on their back and tried his best to get it out of the body.
"C'mon Arthur. Here, let me." Antonio gently pushed him aside and got the ruler out with ease.
With his arms crossed, Arthur held one out and took back the meter stick with a huff. "I m-mean, I could of done it… but thank you."
Smiling brightly, despite their current situation, he accepted the gratitude happily. "It's fine! Now, how'd you guys find us?" He walked up to Francis who hadn't be able to answer any questions since new ones continued to arise at an alarming speed.
Overhearing him, Yao commented. "We heard a scream."
Francis and Antonio exchanged a look before staring blankly at the two of them. "We didn't scream." They spoke in unison.
Francis gasped in realization "Katyusha!" He quickly grabbed Yao's hand and dragged him to the left wing hallway. "Hurry! I don't know if they're okay!"
In the meantime Antonio lead Arthur down the right hall, exclaiming that while they may be safe, the rest of the choir club may not be. As they ran past rotting corpses and putrid flesh, the sound of crying made them panic as it grew louder and louder. Antonio covered his mouth to suppress a gasp as he watched Natalya and Ivan try to fight off students and even a teacher. They only had instruments with them, and it was easy to tell they were struggling. But before Arthur could act rashly, he pointed out a classroom with a door left ajar right next to them. As Arthur struggled to piece everything together, Antonio was already a step ahead and slid open the door completely as he checked the inside. Moving quickly, he walked inside did the first thing that came to his mind; he scratched his nails against the chalkboard.
As the students and faculty members stumbled towards the board, Antonio walked as slowly as he could manage on the wooden floor, his soft sole school shoes barely creating any creaking noises. With his back hitting the wall, he moved quickly as he shut the door after returning to the hallway. Now that the danger wasn't as imminent, he was able to realize that the trio was rather hurt. They were all splattered with dark blood while Ivan and Natalya's school jackets were in rips, her skirt torn at a side, and even Katyusha had a sleeve ripped off at her elbow. Arthur was already talking to them by the time Antonio caught up to them, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
On the opposite side of the floor Francis and Yao were desperately trying to come up with some idea that could help such a large group of students. Francis had been explaining to Yao that when they had all left the choir club's classroom a student that was presumed dead caught onto Katyusha and began to attack. Everyone scrambled while some stayed behind as more zombies found them when someone yelled. He hadn't known where everyone had gone off because he had been left with Antonio to defend themselves. As he stated his guilt, they both caught over half of their survival group struggling with their defenses.
Elizaveta and Vash were desperately attacking with whatever they could with a student attacking them back. It was apparent they were running out of objects when Yao noticed a sharpened baton sticking out of the guidance counselor's head as the body laid on the floor. Even Roderich, Lili, and Lovino were helping out as they used a smaller bass's bottom stand to shallowly impale a student and push them away. Toris and Eduard busied themselves with an agitated teacher who clawed at them and seemed to be reaching for Raivis and Feliks. Everyone seemed desperate for an escape that they didn't believe would be coming soon. They were making enough noise that it seemed to be drawing in a large group of students locked inside of a classroom in front of them. The doors were banging as they groaned and moaned.
Lili and Roderich were able to move the student away for them to hold back the door from bursting open while Lovino was frozen in place with his cross necklace in hand and prayer out of his mouth, but Vash became distracted at the distress of his sister. The student seemed to feel the vulnerability and the pair began to struggle even more.
Yao held tightly onto the box cutter inside of his pants pocket. Only taking a moment to analyze the situation he pulled out his cutter and lengthened the razor as far as it could go before yelling out to gain one of their attacker's attention. The faculty member was the first to notice him. He ran up to him in a frenzy of adrenaline.
Then his vision turned to the side as he slipped on a pool of congealing blood and saw the feet of the angered teacher move towards him. Sitting up he came face to face with the disfigured form of a too familiar person. Scooting back, he could feel the cold metal of the locker doors behind him as the teacher hobbled closer to him. His friends were only static to his ears as they yelled for his safety, he was too concentrated on the cutter in his palm.
His breathing was too unsteady and his entire body was trembling, but when the teacher opened their mouth wide, he shoved his cutter through their forehead. The teacher landed atop of him, but he shoved them to the side as he got up on his feet in a haste. His white button up was seeping with blood the landed on his chest, but there were bigger problems to worry about right in front of him. Retrieving his tool, Yao found Francis helping the gang out as he pushed the student to a corner of the hall and smash their head with an ajar locker door.
He returned to them out of breath and splattered in flesh.
...
Kiku pushed the various students aside with the wooden sword, moving quickly as he dodged hands and mouths. He did his best to reach their first flight of stairs. They were on the south wing of school which meant their closest stairwell was exactly next to the cafeteria.
He wasn't exactly handing the altered environment so well but he could imagine that neither was anybody else. Glancing behind him he could spot Feliciano cling onto Ludwig who had a strong grip on the archery bow he took from their club room. Feliciano carried one as well, but he wasn't confident in his talents for it. His eyes were welling with tears and Kiku felt empathy towards him, which only made him want to protect his friends even more. He sped up his steps when he reached an empty spot in the hallway, but stopped when he heard a harsh call for help.
Dead in his tracks, his face grew pale and his eyes widened as he turned his head to peek into the school's head office. His eyes followed a trail of blood until it was out of sight and he could hear heavy breaths and another cry for help. Walking into the room with precaution, he could hear Feliciano gasp as they all found Henri with a pair of bloodied scissors in one hand and chunks of flesh ripped off his shoulder and leg. His breathing was shallow and his voice was hoarse from yelling. One eye was covered with his usual bangs, but they seemed to be sticking to his forehead with blood crusting in his roots.
Kiku braced himself as he eyes his surroundings for danger, only finding the twitching body of the vice principal nearby. Feliciano was letting his tears fall freely now as he knew what would become of their friend if they did not act fast. The three of them kneeled down, getting into Henri's field of vision as he eyed them with an unfocused view.
"Please help…" He coughed up blood, staining the cashmere cardigan he loved to brag about and lend to others on cold days. The pale pink of the fabric did nothing to hide his blackening blood.
Swallowing harshly, Kiku stood up and closed his crinkled his eyes closed as he held the wooden sword tightly in his hands.
Preparing himself he breathed in and out once, twice, then he opened his eyes and swung.
...
"Grab the table!" Leon leaned against the doors of the cafeteria kitchen, struggling with so many student workers desperate to leave.
"I could use some help, y'unno!" Alfred moved quickly as he grabbed one of their smaller tables and pushed it towards the kitchen doors. He grunted when he moved to grab another table. "I thought you said this place was empty!"
Leon moved from to door to help out Alfred. "Well I'm sorry I, like, forgot it was lunch time and students were already working! Near death tends to make you forgetful!"
Alfred stayed quiet with a pout on his face as they both pushed another table towards the kitchen's doors. Satisfied with the temporary security, the started to pile of chairs, even grabbing plastic wrap in a desperate attempt to keep everything in place. It didn't really help that there were small windows between the cafeteria and the kitchen, but they were too high for anyone to reach them.
Sitting down on the tiled floor, Alfred sighed and rested his chin in his hand. "Any other's I should know about?"
"Nah, not at all."
The utilities door to their left burst open.
"Yeah. Yeah, a couple."
Alfred didn't have the time to sneer or chastise Leon, so instead he yelled and grabbed one of the kitchen knifes left near the kitchen doors. Blood dripped from the blade onto his hand and he did his best not to feel queazy.
He heard Leon yell at him to move aside and get out of the way. He didn't pay attention to him as he started to run up to the student, and then Arthur and Yao ran up from behind him and stabbed the student with a meter stick.
"A-Arthur!? Yao!?" Alfred turned around and found a good chunk of his friends safe and sound. His eyes teared up in relief as he saw them bloodied and bruised, but still safe overall. When Arthur placed a hand on his shoulder and Yao tried to talk to him, Alfred immediately enveloped them both in a tight hug. They were exhausted, dirty, covered in blood, and reeking of rotting flesh but Alfred didn't care about any of that. They were safe, even if just for the moment, and that was what mattered. He didn't even realize he was crying.
Arthur stiffly pat Alfred's back, unsure of what to do. "Ah, erhm, it's alright lad. We're fine." He returned the hug to his best ability.
"Y-Yeah. It's okay, Alfred." Yao rubbed Alfred's back for a bit before he let go of them. As he was released from the beat hug, he noticed Leon near one of the doors. Running to him and hugging him, Arthur and Alfred started to realize the opportunity they all had to bask in their temporary safety.
Just as tears were beginning to be shed, the cafeteria doors burst open to let Feliciano, Kiku, and Ludwig inside. They appeared more exhausted than any of the others and the bloodied wooden katana helped raise questions, but no one bothered asking questions that could be left for later. Instead, Feliciano ran up to Lovino in a flash and they tumbled into a tight hug. Kiku sat down at one of the lunch tables and stared at his feet while Yao and Leon gently smoothed his hair and rubbed his back. In the meantime Ludwig was hugged by Elizaveta and Lili while Roderich rubbed his bicep in support and Vash simply nodded in acknowledgment. Although, someone seemed to be missing.
The room's doors started to clang together. Setting the others on high alert, each one of them prepared themselves to fight. As Kiku got into a stance with his wooden sword, Feliciano and Ludwig grabbed their bows and arrows, the choir club grabbed whatever was left of their instruments, Arthur grabbed his meter stick, Yao pulled out his box cutter, and Alfred and Leon held onto kitchen knives. They were all ready for whatever was on the other side of the door.
Sweat dripped down their faces, their heartbeats racing as the door remained jammed closed. A few more jiggles and it was unlocked. Everyone fell silent as their heartbeats raced in adrenaline.
Abel entered the cafeteria, stopped short by all the weapons pointed at him. "... Yo."
Gilbert walked up behind him and placed a hand on Abel's shoulder. "Alright, what'd we miss?"
Lukas and Emil followed right behind them, quiet and tired, Next came along Tino and Berwald who busied themselves carrying enough supplies to have needed Matthew's help as well. Although, the first aid kits he was carrying immediately fell to the ground as he ran up to Alfred and jumped him for a hug.
The two were a sobbing mess as they both fell to their knees, similar to how Feliciano and Lovino had been only moments ago. But unlike the pair of twins, Ludwig walked up slowly to Gilbert, as if he would disappear, and chewed on his bottom lip as he struggled to keep his eyes from tearing up. Catching on, Gilbert took the first move and hugged his brother while making sure to sooth him as his breath came out haggard.
Everyone was exhausted and emotional, but they took the moment with bliss as they tried to take a moment without thinking of the problems outside of the cafeteria. Eventually everyone sat down wherever they could, silent and consumed in thought.
Raivis spoke out loud, accidently loud enough for everyone to hear. "What do we do now?"
Everyone looked at each other. No one really thought that far ahead. The students trapped in the kitchen bang against the door and the realization that they need to school comes up.
Leon stood up. "Alright, so who's got an idea?"
Roderich spoke to himself. "Well, obviously we can't stay in this school."
"There's just so many of us. Not to mention none of us even have a car." Emil pointed out.
"Yeah, that's kinda why we all take the buses." Alfred mentioned.
Antonio snapped his fingers. "But don't a couple of us have licenses? I mean, at least some of us can drive."
Lovino retorted, "But how does that help if there's no car to drive?"
Ivan thought aloud. "The buses never leave until the last bell rings."
"I doubt the bus drivers are still there. We'd need them to unlock the bus doors and not to mention start the bus itself." Tino explained.
Everyone seemed to be stuck on how to leave, and despite how calm they spoke, it was easy to sense the atmosphere.
Gilbert laid his head against the wall, doing his best to think of a way to help everyone out. Putting his hands in his pockets, the key ring scratched him. Pulling it out with him, he read each label on the keys.
'Bus #953'
His eyes grew wide. Standing up in a haste, he smiled widely as he jingled the keys around.
Everyone stared at him, each one of them with a look of disbelief.
"I have the keys to the buses."
...
Hey you guys. So, I've created this story as a bit of a side project I can work on if I ever feel too tired to work on anything else. Since this isn't a big priority, I'm not sure how scheduled my updates will be, but as always, I can guarantee this story will eventually be finished. There's a lot of characters I'm working with and even more are planned to be added, so this also means quite a large amount of shipping possibility. While I'm not sure how 'in your face' I'll make it, it is something I've considered. I think I'll be setting up a poll for your opinion on this, and then in a week if a lot of people want ships I'll create a new poll for specifics.
Also! If you guys have any questions or are curious about this world they live in, the most I have planned out is that they're all humans in their Junior (11th) year of school and go to a traditionally Japanese school in a large modern city. You guys can probably tell what I've been watching for me to get inspiration for this. If you've got any other questions, feel free to ask! I'll always be happy to talk about this!
In the meantime, review and give me your opinion! I'd love to hear what you guys think about this story and if you think there's potential!
Until next time!