Eli held her breath as she peered outside the closed doors of the school. There seemed to be more of those 'things' gathering inside the school gates. She closed her eyes as she turned back towards the others and took a breath.
"There seems to be even more of them since the last time," Eli said as she opened her eyes. The others looked at each other frowning.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Umi asked beginning to lose hope.
"Haven't you ever seen those movies and shows?" Maki asked as the others looked at her. "You know, like those zombie ones? If we run we should be able to get away from them,"
"But that's scientifically impossible for a zombie apocalypse to happen," Eli said. "Besides we don't know how fast these guys are,"
"Look around you, this is reality now, sure scientifically it's impossible, but it's happened and so we need to face reality if we're going to get anywhere,"
"It's going to be a risky chance, but I'm with Maki on this one," Rin said.
"I am too, Eli may be right about their speed, but we won't get anywhere if we don't try," Umi said agreeing with Rin.
"Alright, but make sure you don't fall behind or get too ahead. I don't want to risk the chance of losing any of you," Eli sighed as she looked at all of them. They nodded their heads in agreement and Maki began to slowly open the door as each of them slowly walked out.
"On the count of three..."
"Three..."
"Two..."
"One...!"
~Inside the classroom~
"Will this work?" Kotori asked as she took out a mop from the cleaning storage in the back of the classroom. She tried swinging it around, before putting it down and tried breaking off the mop to leave just a stick.
"Yeah, that's good...I think..." Nico said as she began looking under the teacher's stand again. She looked back up with a sigh. "There's nothing here we can really use,"
"That's not entirely true..." Honoka said. Nico raised her eyebrow.
"Do you have some sort of plan or something?"
"Kind of..." Honoka said as she began walking over towards one of the desks. She grabbed one of the chairs and lifted it above her head.
"Oi, oi what are you-" Nico began but was interrupted as a loud crash was heard as Honoka smashed the chair to the ground breaking the wood in half as the legs still stuck out. She smashed it again breaking more wood off. She whacked it once more as the last piece of wood fell off the metal rod. Honoka panted a little before holding up the leg of the chair.
"I've always wanted to do that," Honoka said grinning a little.
"You're insane...but that was a really good idea," Nico said looking at Honoka's chair leg.
"Do you think there'd be more things to use in the Woodshop or Science room?" Hanayo asked as the others thought about it.
"There probably is! We should go check!" Kotori beamed.
"Don't forget the whole reason why we're doing this in the first place," Nozomi said looking at the door. The others then became silent. "Besides we promised not to leave this room..."
"Well if they don't know about it..." Honoka began.
"We don't even really know what we're going up against here!" Nico said looking at Honoka.
"Zombies..." Hanayo said quietly, making the others turn to her.
"What?" Nozomi asked.
"Rin-chan once showed me a movie where sick and dying people came back from the dead to infect others by eating them..."
"You don't think..." Kotori began to say.
"It's not possible though! They're only movies!" Nico said scolding Kotori and Hanayo.
"Then what do you think is happening?! It's the only possibility there is!" Hanayo yelled back. Nico bit her tongue as she couldn't argue back.
"Well then what are we supposed to do? If zombies are what we're up against?" Honoka asked. "I've never really watched anything like that before..."
"I know that they walk slow, and sometimes their senses are gone too, but they can still hear," Nico said looking at the ground. "Maki told me about it once, after bragging about how she could probably survive a zombie apocalypse,"
"And when I watched with Rin-chan, you could easily hear them because of the sounds they make. And if you smash their heads they die, but they will still move if you hit them anywhere else," Hanayo said looking at Honoka's metal rod and Kotori's broken mop.
"So as long as we stay quiet and stay out of their sight we'll be okay?" Honoka asked as Hanayo and Nico nodded their heads.
"Basically,"
"Then knowing that we can go, right?" Honoka asked looking at Nozomi. Nozomi opened her mouth as she was about to oblige but closed it again.
"Okay, but don't be afraid to run away if you need to," Nozomi said seriously. The others nodded as Honoka gripped her chair leg tighter. She began heading towards the door as she put her ear to the door and closed her eyes while going in a squat position, listening for something.
Hanayo-chan said that it's easy to hear them so if I could just listen to hear anything... Honoka slowly opened the door when she didn't hear anything as Kotori gripped her mop so tightly that her knuckles turned white, while Nico put her fists up and Hanayo and Nozomi cautiously looked at the door. As Honoka slid the door all the way open they all sighed in relief as they began to relax a little. Honoka then stood up and looked out the door checking both ways like Eli had done and didn't see anything so she motioned the others the clear to go.
~Back outside~
Since when did going from the school to the Archery Club building take so long to get to? Umi thought as she continued to run to the Archery and Kendo Club building. Maki had been right about them being slow as she easily outran them, but there were so many of them wandering around, about 30 or 40. Suddenly one of them went right in front of her as it opened it's mouth while groaning. She began to run around it, but it grabbed her shoulder. Maki then ran into it making it let go of her and fall to the ground, Maki held up her scissors as she was ready to take it out. Her hands were beginning to shake and her breathing became uneven. It started to get up again.
"Come on, it's easier to run away from them!" Umi then said as she grabbed Maki's shoulder.
"Y-yeah, alright," She lowered her scissors and began to run again. They were almost to the building, as they finally reached it, Umi opened the door as everyone else ran inside as soon as they did, Umi closed the door and locked it. She then grabbed her knees and began panting. The others seemed to be doing the same thing. After they finished resting up Umi stood back up as she began walking through the familiar traditional Japanese looking building. There was a section where the two clubs separated. Umi went into left one as the others followed silently. They cautiously slid open the door that led into the room that held the bows and arrows. Umi peeked through the crack in the door and the wall as she saw the targets in their usual place. However it seemed as though they weren't the only ones in the building as a figure suddenly moved past Umi's sight. She backed up slightly and looked at the others.
"Is anything there?" Rin asked. She nodded her head.
"I think so, but there seems to be only one in there,"
"Alright, then let's try to take it out and get the stuff we need," Eli said. They nodded their heads slowly. Umi took a deep breath and held it as she slid open the door, and sure enough there was a zombie walking inside. They were wearing the archery uniform so they were obviously part of the Archery Club. Umi then stopped moving as her mouth dropped open. Her lips started to quiver and she began to feel sick to her stomach.
"Yoruzuku-senpai..." Umi managed to stutter out as her club president turned towards them.
"Guhhhh," it groaned as it began irregularily walked towards them. As it came close enough to reach, Umi grabbed it's shoulders as it started to open its mouth as it tried to grab her and the others.
"Go! Find my bow and some arrows! Honestly of all days I could've left my bow here!" Umi said as she struggled keeping her club president at bay. Maki and Rin began running into the changing room lockers to find Umi's bow, while Eli looked inside a storage unit for arrows.
"Umi! Is this it!?" Maki yelled as she ran out holding a bow. Umi recognized it instantly and began walking the zombie over to the ledge between the wooden floor and the grass where the targets were, she pushed it back as it fell into the grass.
"Throw it!" Umi said holding out her hand as Maki threw it. She caught it and Eli ran and gave her the arrows. Umi grabbed one and pulled her bow back with the butt of her arrow as she pointed it at her president. She began to shake as she tried to aim, she took an uneasy breath as stopped the tension of the bow.
"Umi?" Eli asked worriedly.
"I can't do it," Umi said as her bangs covered her amber eyes. Eli put a hand on her shoulder as Umi began to cry a little.
"It's okay, for now let's just continue to try to avoid them," Umi nodded her head.
"Then...let's go to the Kendo Club next,"
"Alright," Umi then left the room turning her back on her friend without looking back. Maki closed the door behind her slowly as she took one more look at Umi's club president.
"I'm so sorry that this happened to you..." She whispered softly as she closed the door, before following the others.
Honoka closed the door behind her as the others walked into the Woodshop classroom. They began searching the classroom again for anything useful. Nico then found what she was looking for.
"Bingo!" The others turned to Nico as she pulled out a tool box.
"What'd you find Nico-cchi?" Nozomi asked as she walked over to observe Nico. Nico opened up the latch to the box, revealing all the tools, she grabbed a wrench and gave it to Nozomi. She then pulled out a screwdriver and held it in a stabbing postition.
"I found our hope," Nico replied as she began handing out more tools to the others. Honoka held her hammer as she examined it slowly.
"Are we really going to fight with these?" Honoka asked looking up at Nico who was also carefully examining her screwdriver.
"Of course. I mean you don't have to, but if you want to live then you have to fight. If you don't fight then you die, that's just how it works now. So it's your choice. Fight and live or sit and do nothing and die," Nico said. She began standing up and walked over to the door, looking outside of it as she clenched her screwdriver as her hand shaked.
"You don't have to act tough, Nico-cchi, we're all scared here," Nozomi said looking at Nico's hand.
"I know, but if I let my fear consume me..."
"Then we'll use that fear to give us strength not weakness," Nozomi said determinedly. Nico slowly nodded her head.
"You're right... Then let's head back to the classroom, shall we?" Nico then asked in her usual tone of voice. The others nodded their heads determined. They soon made it back to the classroom without very much trouble.
"Okay so what we have from that toolbox is, Honoka-chan's hammer, Hanayo-chan's pliers, Kotori-chan's putty knife, your wrench and my screwdriver," Nico said to Nozomi while looking through the toolbox once more.
"Is there anything else that maybe the others can use in case if the they don't find anything?" Nozomi asked as Nico continued to rummage through the toolbox. She then pulled out four more tools and showed them to Nozomi.
"Will these work?" She held out a utility knife as she retracted the blade out. She then showed her a crowbar and a another screwdriver, and then showed her a power drill. Nozomi took them and examined them in her hands.
"These seem to be good," Nozomi said holding the crowbar, utility knife and the screwdriver. "But...what are we supposed to do with this?" She held out the power drill.
"Ummm... I don't know to be honest... I guess we'll just have to wait and see,"
"Mhm... I hope that time doesn't have to come too soon, I don't think I'm ready to face those 'things' yet and honestly I don't think I ever will be," Nozomi said bringing her arms up as she hugged herself. Nico then reached out her hand to comfort her, when there was a sudden bang on the door. They all looked towards the door. Honoka, Kotori and Hanayo stood up from where they were sitting in the corner of the back of the classroom next to the window. Nozomi and Nico looked at each other while grabbing their 'weapons'. They all tensed up as they began slowly began making their way to the door. The door banged again, but this time it was followed by a familiar voice.
"It's us, we're back. Open the door," Eli said. Nozomi immediately dropped her wrench and unlocked the door before sliding it open, revealing all the others. Maki held up her kendo stick while grinning a little.
"We got them," Maki said as she and the other three made their way inside the classroom.
"We found stuff too," Nico said handing Maki a screwdriver. Maki looked at it.
"Where'd you get this?"
"We found it in a toolbox that Nico found," Hanayo answered. Maki then looked at Eli frowning.
"The toolboxes are in the Woodshop room...you left this room, didn't you?" Eli then said a little angrily.
"Well yes bu-" Honoka began.
"We told you not to leave this room! What if one of 'them' got you!?" Eli then interrupted.
"I'm the one who let them so-" Nozomi began.
"It was your idea!? I trusted you so that you wouldn't let them do something stupid like this!"
"None of us were hurt and look at what we brought back because of it!" Nozomi then shouted at Eli. Eli was about to argue back but Nozomi continued to talk. "We took a chance just like you guys and because of it we brought back useful tools. Now if you want to yell at us at least think about your own carelessness, before you judge ours," Eli then shut her mouth and took a deep breath.
"You're right... I'm sorry I was just worried and it turned into anger..." She then held the side of her head with her hand while closing her eyes as she paced around the room. "What is going on with all of us? We're supposed to be best friends...to be a family, but right now in this world we're fighting...is this really how it ends?"
"No...it doesn't have to end like this...and it won't, like Maki-chan said before, we're going to get through this together," Nozomi said softly as she looked at the others. "And...and if we do end up dying... we're going to die fighting, so no this isn't how it's going to end. We are going to survive through this," she said, as Eli stopped moving she put her hand on her shoulder gently.
"Yeah...yeah you're right," Eli then said looking more confident.
"So the next question is...what do we do now?" Umi then asked.
"First-" Maki began before she was cut off by a loud thundering boom sound as the ground shook a little underneath them.
"W-what was that!?" Honoka asked as she tried maintaining her balance. The others looked outside as their eyes filled with horror.
"No...why..." Rin said as he fell to her knees as tears welled up in her eyes. Honoka ten followed the others gaze and gasped at what she saw. Their city had been destroyed. As the buildings caught on fire.
"Why? Why would they do this!?" Maki then said as she pressed her hand against the window. "Mom...Papa..." Eli then realized something bright in the sky coming down. Her eyes widened as she realized what it was.
"Everyone get down!" Eli said grabbing the back of Maki's collar and pulling her into cover as another explosion went off. However this time it was much stronger making the windows shatter onto the floor as the ground shook more violently than last time. Eli looked over from where her cover was and looked out into the city as she saw a giant cloud of smoke rising up like a mushroom.
"Are they crazy? Setting off a nuke? There could be survivors like us still here," Eli said.
"Maybe that's exactly what they want..." Kotori said putting her face into her hands. "Maybe they're trying to end us all here so they don't have to deal with us later..." Nico then shook her head.
"There's no way that the government would do that to us-" Nico said.
"Think about it! The government is trying to contain this...this thing from getting out! So they're going to have to destroy all of these major cities!" Maki then interrupted Nico.
"Well if that thing really is a nuke then we have to get out of here..." Umi said standing up.
"Umi'-chan's right...there's going to be radiation poisoning in the air so we need to get somewhere where that won't be a problem," Nozomi said also standing up, but something grabbed onto her arm, making her stop midway. She looked down to see Rin curled into a ball holding Nozomi's arm.
"What's the point in going on now? Everyone...everything...it's all gone..." Rin said as the light in her eyes began to fade.
"But we're still here! And we have to keep going! As long as we have each other we'll be fine!" Hanayo then said grabbing Rin's arm and pulling it.
"Kayo-chin..." Rin said slowly. She then shook her head. "You're right! Let's go!" She got up and started heading towards the door with everyone else.
Authors Notes
Well this chapter was a little longer than I had expected, but I hope you still like it. I hope you like this story so far. And I'm just going to tell you now before it's too late, there will be main character death and also child death, just wanting you guys to know ahead oh time in case if you want to stop reading so that you won't have to read that. Also I'd like to give a shoutout to all of those who have supported me and my story so far, including the reviews, I am so grateful to all of you. But anyways I hope you liked this chapter and I will see you in the next chapter update.
