It has been harder to write than I expected, though partly it could be attributed to the fact that I wrote when the Internet was down, and now I'm busy using it rather than continuing to write. So, no reviews yet? No wonder I have no motivation to continue writing…

Chapter 2

There had been no more screams from outside for some time, though there were still a few zombies loitering around. To my relief, no one had come up to our floor, or at least we did not hear anything. To their credit, none of our classmates made any noise, though some of them continued to try to get through to their family.

I sat at the door, reviewing our options, though they were bleak. Without supplies, we would not be able to go far, though we would be able to retrieve some of the food that were in the cafes down there. It sounded easy, all we needed to do was to go through the zombies, and retrieve the food, while trying not to attract any others to us. After that came the main problem. Where could we go?

If I were alone, going anywhere wouldn't be a problem, heck, I would be away from this place already with food and water in my backpack. But now, since I am with my friends, with their fate resting in my hands, I had to be careful. It reminded me of the saying by Optimus Prime from Transformers: 'Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing.' Damn.

I looked around the room. All the guys seemed resigned to their fate, and the girls were staying together, obviously trying to give each other support. But there was a problem. Soon, nature would start making its calls, and we would have to leave the relative safety of our room, to go to the toilet down the hall. There would be safety in numbers, but we would have to split into two groups, one to protect the room, and the other to escort those who needed to go. I figured the best thing to do would be to have two using the toilet, whilst another three would be on the lookout, and the others remaining in the room.

Just as I completed that thought, JQ came up to me. "Teoh, a few of the girls need to go to the washroom."

"How many?" "4 of them, including me."

"Guys, anyone needs to go to the washroom?"

There was a pause, and then Kevin and Victor put up their hands.

"All right, here's what we do. Since the washrooms are next to each other, and each can accommodate two, the four girls will go first. Izzudin, you and Imran will accompany me to be on the lookout, the rest will stay in the room."

Again, we sneaked out of the room, and towards the toilet. There was no trouble, and soon, I found myself accompanying the other boys in the second group. While waiting, Imran suddenly spoke to me: "I know Michelle and I have had a bit of disagreement with you, but we hope that we can put this aside and become friends again, especially during this crisis."

"To me, everyone is my friends, no matter what happens, and under my care, no one will be left behind or forgotten. Don't worry." I said.

"Glad to hear that man. Good luck with JQ, use this opportunity to get closer with her." Imran said.

"Is it that obvious?" "Yea, everyone knows it already"

"We shall see…"

Just then, the boys were done, and we reentered the classroom.

I sat down at my usual spot, and glanced over at the bottles of water. Only two were used. Supply was still good. Looking around the room, I saw that a few of them were sleeping, or trying to sleep, and some others were chatting.

Good, looks like they are holding on well. But can I really be responsible for all of them? This is going to be tough…

I sighed and looked back to my notes. Before the toilet breaks, I had been making a list of those whom I thought could wield the chairs and legs effectively, and those who may only be able to carry spare weapons and supplies.

Suddenly, I saw someone, or rather three girls; approach me out of the corner of my eye.

Connie and Mindy sat themselves at my sides, and Cheryl sat in front. Cheryl took the paper and looked through it.

"Seems like you have decided that the guys would be the ones protecting the group eh?" she said.

"Would you rather I endanger one of you girls in fighting?" I retorted.

"So, you and her are now working together as leaders of our group? How does it feel?" Connie asked.

"Bet he's feeling very happy right now, as his dreams have come true," Mindy said.

"Be serious guys, it's an apocalypse right now, and all you girls can think off is about me and her? As it is, I'm worried about finding food, and wondering about where we can go after gathering supplies. We may have to leave immediately tomorrow." I said.

"Come on, it's only the afternoon, we still have many hours. Besides, like you said, there's nothing we can do with those monsters out there. Hopefully there are other students surviving as well," Cheryl said.

"That's the problem. Food will be an issue, if groups of students find food and start fighting over it. Do you want to be fighting your fellow school mates as well as zombies?" I asked.

"Are you going to teach us how to use the chairs and legs for self-defense?" Mindy asked.

"Yea, I plan to after the students have had a break. They need the relaxation."

Suddenly, we were disturbed by Michelle's scream, which was quickly silenced by Imran.

We all turned to her, including those who were asleep, and JQ immediately rushed to her, while I rolled up the make-shift curtain to see whether anyone, or anything, were around, before turning back to her.

"Mummy! Daddy!" Michelle cried out. "How are you all!"

After some time, she said, "I'm still in school, in a classroom, with some of my classmates! We are safe, for now! My friends, JQ and Teoh are in charge of us."

After a pause, she asked JQ to take the phone. "Yes aunty, we are fine, we plan to move out tomorrow." She paused a while, and then said, "we do not have food, but we have access to water. There are 26 of us." She paused again, then replied, "no, we do not know where to go, but we will discuss and figure out today."

She returned the phone to Michelle, and sat down, looking sad and worried.

Michelle listened a bit longer, and then passed the phone to me.

"Hello uncle."

"So, you are Teoh? What plans do you have for this group? Do you know where do you want to go? Do you even know what to do when you encounter 'Them'? Can you seriously protect my daughter?" The voice over the phone semi-yelled.

"Hold on, and calm down, uncle. I know what we are up against, and I know what I have to do when faced with one of them. I believe that if we all work together, we can survive this, and perhaps meet up with your family in the future. Regarding where to go, I have no idea yet, but I plan to discuss with the group today. On self-defense, I plan to teach them a few ways of protecting themselves, until we find better weapons."

"I'm sorry. You sound like a smart chap, one that I can trust."

I heard a long sigh on the other end of the phone.

"The truth is, we discovered the problem the hard way. My wife, she has been bitten on her way back, and while trying to remove the assailant, I was bitten as well. This happened some time ago, and we realized what could happen to us, when we watched the news." His voice broke, and I could hear sobbing in the background, presumably from the wife. "We do not have long, and we hope that you will not tell her about it. I… I will be telling her that we will be leaving with some neighbors, and that we will contact her again when we find safety. Can we trust you to keep this secret?"

"Yes uncle. You mean I should not find you all yet? I understand. Let me pass the phone back to her." I said, and handed the phone back to Michelle.

"Yes daddy?" "I understand, I will follow the group and listen to them." "Why? Where are you all going? Stay where you are! I want to meet up with you all!" She started sobbing.

I sighed and went over to JQ. She was still sitting there, staring into the distance. Yvonne, who was next to her, slightly shook her head as I approached, and I stood still.

A few others were busy writing messages on their phones, and I thought that perhaps they would be passing on news to their family members. Michelle had just finished, and she continued to sob into Imran's shoulder.

There was nothing I could do. I did not deserve to lead my classmates. They deserve someone better than me, someone who does not like to do things alone. But when the going gets tough, I get tougher.

I went over to the wooden legs and picked up two, one for each hand. "In order to be effective, and ready for anything, we need to learn to use both hands," I said.

Grasping the bottom half of the makeshift weapons, I did a punch to the front with my right, followed by my left. "Treat them as an extension of your hands, not as foreign objects." Punching out faster and faster, I stopped after 20 punches.

Facing the wall, I placed my right foot touching the wall, and my left foot behind. Taking a step backwards, I thrust forward my hand. Touching the wall, I slowly eased back until the tip of the weapon touched the wall. Around 3 steps back, approximately 1 meter away from the wall. I did the same for the other hand.

"Know the reach of your hand plus weapon, and this knowledge will save you many times, even if you do not think it useful now."

I looked around, and saw everyone focusing their attention on me. "It is time I taught you all some ways of defending against the undead. Who here has learnt some form of martial arts before? Doesn't matter what kind."

The guys all raised their hands, with various levels of practice, in the various forms of martial arts. Most of the girls knew some, with Serene, Anna and Kai Chin the only ones not knowing.

"Good, now I want everyone to pick up weapons, one for each hand. It doesn't matter whether you are a left-hander or a right-hander. Most important thing is for you all to get used to using the weapons, which can save you in an encounter, until we find better ones."

They all did what I told them to do. "Now, like what I did just now, everyone choose a section of the wall, and estimate the reach of your weapon. Don't forget to hold it tightly, or you are very likely to drop it before the zombie reaches you."

I went round the room, and it seemed that everyone understood what I required of them. "Now I want you all to pair up, for a bit of practice."

Everyone paired up, leaving Aaron alone. "Aaron, you're with me. Now, I want half of you to sit down, facing me, near the middle of the room, so that we have enough space to move around. The other half, face me, standing. Now, for those standing, spread out so that you and your weapon will not touch anyone or anything. For easier explanation, pivot in a circle without moving from your spot."

"Alright, now the easiest move is the punch. Holding the bottom half of your weapon, thrust your right hand forward, aiming the tip of the weapon forward. Imagine that there is a person in front of you, and that the weapon should ideally be aimed at the face of the person." I said, demonstrating.

Looking around at them, I could see that they managed to get it. "Now, retract your right hand, and then thrust forward with your left, doing the same thing. Try to aim for the same spot." "Wonderful. Now, add more strength behind the thrust."

I came over to Serene, who seemed to be struggling a little. " Hold your hand up," I said, stepping backwards out of her circle. "Now, pretend I am a zombie. What would you do?"

"Run," she said.

"Smart." I looked at everyone and said, "Run, if there are too many. Run, if you are afraid. But when needed…" I shot my hand forward, to the side. "But if you meet one and kill it, there will be one less zombie in the world. Now, everyone, try the action a few more times, get used to it, and then swap with your partners."

I stepped back to the front and looked at everyone. Looks like with some effective blades, we might just be able to survive a few wandering zombies. However, when faced by a large group, we still have to run.

"Remember, live to fight another day. You are not a coward, if you decide to run when the odds are stacked against you. However, stupid is the person who thinks he can survive when he encounters a large group of zombies. Never become overconfident, for pride always comes before a fall."

They were done after some time. "Give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it. These are just the basics; perhaps later we will try again. Take a break, and have a drink, we still have to discuss where we should go tomorrow, after gathering supplies. However safe you think this room is, without supplies, we will die."

JQ came up to me and said, "Yvonne said you wanted to see me?"

"Yea, we need to come up with a plan for tomorrow, who to send on supply runs, and where do we go after all these. And also… something else… but now is not the time for it." I said.

"What are your plans then? She asked.

"What's your opinion? What do you think we should do?" I asked her back, wanting to know her ideas first, before I told her of mine.

"We split up into several groups to retrieve the food and drinks from the various stalls around, then we get into the cars and then drive off to meet Michelle's parents at their safety area." She said.

"Good idea, so we split everyone into several groups of 3, and send 2 groups each together?"

"Why so many groups?" "One for scavenging, one for protection. About the cars, everyone's car will be in different places, so to bring them together, it involves a lot of danger. Even so on the roads, there will be a lot of stalled cars. Granted, it will be able to take us a long way, but to gather enough cars for everyone, to load them up will take the time we do not have."

"Would you suggest we walk through the city, and find no shelter?" She asked.

"A slow but sure way… Almost everywhere in the city exists a house, and we can stay in there. The more cars we use, the higher the risks of bandits trying to steal from us. We can plan routes in advance, and then plan out our accommodation."

"We need city maps in other words. Then, where do you suggest we head towards first?"

Looking around, I saw that no one was close to us. "JQ, I'm sorry, but we will not be able to meet up with her family." I said softly.

"Why? What did the father tell you and not her?" She asked, noticing my need for a lower tone.

I motioned for her to come closer, and brought my mouth to her ear. For an instant, I was overwhelmed by our proximity, then I gathered my thoughts, for now was not the time.

"I'm afraid they both were attacked, and do not have long to live. Our conversation was a ploy, so that she will not know the real reason behind not being able to meet with them." I whispered in her ear. I sighed, and looked away.

She gasped and asked: "Is there no way to save them?"

"I'm afraid no. The virus, or whatever that turns them is transmitted through bodily fluids and bites, and once you are infected, it's only a matter of time. If any of our classmates are infected as well… for our safety, we have to put them out of their misery. Knowing many of them, they would know about this thing."

Her hands flew to her mouth, and she asked: "When will you tell her?"

"I don't know. Her father told me not to tell her yet, until it's too late."

We were interrupted by Joanne who asked: "What are the plans for tomorrow?"

I stood up and said: "There are 26 of us. We have decided to split everyone into 6 groups of 3, and 2 groups of 4. Each group will have 1 guy, so guys, come out and stand around me. JQ, can you split the girls equally?"

In the end, the groups were: Group 1: Aaron, Nicole and Anna, Group 2: Amirul, Michelle and Joanne, Group 3: Imran, Isabelle and Serene, Group 4: Victor, Cheryl and Yvonne, Group 5: Kevin, Connie and Rhea, Group 6: Izzudin, Mindy and Qer Xin, Group 7: Syazwan, Ruth, JQ and Grace, Group 8: Me, Laura, Crystal and Kai Chin.

"Alright folks," I said. "Since we are all classmates, I guess I do not need to tell you all to get to know each other. However, try to find out each others' abilities, weaknesses and strengths, for these will be the groups we will be sticking to tomorrow."