Takashi Komuro leaned against the railing of the school roof, trying to clear his mind from the recent confrontation with his former childhood friend. The bright midday sun was glaring down, but the ambient sounds of the academy below provided a comforting backdrop to his contemplation.
Beside him, Toshiro Sutāku was engrossed in his own world. His iconic AR glasses projected minuscule holographic data streams, seemingly floating in the air. The gadgetry was a common sight, ever since the heir to Sutāku Industries transferred to Fujimi Academy. He had the uncanny ability to always be working on something that seemed far too advanced for their time.Takashi cast a sidelong glance at Toshiro. "You know, staring at those things won't fix heartbreaks, Sutāku."
Toshiro lifted an eyebrow, not looking up from his AR projection. "Who says I'm trying to? But if I were, I'd probably have a better shot than most." Their banter was interrupted by a sudden, clanging noise. Both boys instinctively turned their attention towards the sound, eyes narrowing on the school's entrance gates. A disheveled man, with torn clothing and a wild, erratic gait, was trying to force his way in.
Three teachers hurriedly approached the intruder, their faces a mix of confusion and alarm. "Sir!" one of them called out, trying to maintain a calm tone. "This is a restricted area. Please, step back!" The man only responded with a guttural growl, his eyes vacant and glazed, causing an icy shiver to run down Takashi's spine.
one of the male teachers reaches through the school gate, grabs the man's suit and pulls him into the gate causing the man to spit out fingers. The female teacher looks down, notices them and becomes hysterical. As that happens the disheveled man pulls the male teacher's hand off him and bites into his arm.
The events unfurled in a nightmarish slow motion from Takashi and Toshiro's vantage point. The chilling crunch of teeth meeting flesh echoed to their ears. The male teacher screamed in agony, flailing and trying to dislodge the intruder's vice-like grip. The female teacher, still in shock from the gruesome sight of the fingers, shrieked in terror at the new horror before her.Above,
Toshiro's AR glasses flickered, instinctively capturing the incident. "What the hell...?" he muttered, his usually cool demeanor shaken. The technological prodigy had seen a lot in his days, but this was far beyond his realm of understanding.
When the teacher that was bit suddenly ceases all movement the third teacher moves to check his pulse "h-he's dead!" he shouts. "What?! How he was just bit! I don't understand!" The female teacher exclaims, then the infected teacher starts to twitch, then he opens his eyes, they are gray and foggy as blood splatters his face.
Takashi gripped the railing tightly, his knuckles white, trying to make sense of the rapidly evolving situation. The once mundane schoolyard was now a scene straight out of a horror movie. Their horror compounded as the once-felled teacher began to stir, a chilling crimson splatter contrasting starkly against his pallor and foggy, lifeless eyes.
The infected teacher reaches up and grabs the female teacher by the collar of her blouse and bites into her neck. The third teacher stumbles back and slips on the spilled blood as the infected male teacher stalks towards him with the female joining him after she rises from the dead.
As the teachers attack each other Takashi sprints off with Toshiro behind hacking into the school's cameras to keep an eye on the situation. Once they reach class 2-B Takashi slams open the door and storms in, "Komuro! Sutāku! It's not enough that you both skip my class, but then you interrupt my lesson-" the teacher starts but Takashi ignores him and walks up to Rei's desk "Come with us. We're getting out of here." He says.
Rei looks at him shocked and confused, "Uh…" is all she can get out before he snatches her arm and pulls her up out of her seat. "What on earth?! I'm in the middle of class-" "it doesn't matter. Come on!" Saya Takagi stands from her desk -along with Hisashi- and slams her hands on her desk.
"What're you doing, Komuro!?" She exclaims, while the rest of the class laugh and gossip among themselves as Toshiro stands by the door scanning the class he spots Hirano looking back at him for a moment before Hisashi draws his attention back to Takashi
"Takashi!" He shouts as he grabs his arm, "What're you doing to Rei!!" Takashi leans in and whispers, "There's been a murder at the front gate." Hisashi flinches shocked Takashi continues "it's real bad." "...for real" Takashi looks at Toshiro and motions him over.
Toshiro swiftly moved over to the trio, Toshiro swiftly pulled out a sleek, cutting-edge smartphone, its design unique and unlike anything available in the market. This was no ordinary device; it was a prototype from Sutāku Industries, brimming with advanced features and technologies.
Without uttering a word, he played back the captured footage of the horror that unfolded at the entrance gates. The screen, though compact, displayed images in astonishing clarity, making the chilling scenes seem all too real. Though there was no sound the clarity was enough to make Hisashi release his hold on Takashi. In the background Saya shouts "Hey! Listen to me Komuro!"
Then Rei draws everyone's attention "Just wait!" She exclaims pulling her arm free "until you give me a good reason.. I'm-" she was cut off by a slap from Takashi, his face that of determination the class fell silent as everyone looked at Takashi in shock. "Just… listen to me!" Hisashi nods and grabs Rei as the four of them leave the classroom Hisashi makes up an excuse to the teacher.
As they are running through the halls Toshiro shows Rei the video he showed Hisashi, Rei's eyes widened in horror as she watched the horrific events unfold on the screen. "That's... impossible," she muttered, her voice quivering.
"We don't have time to dwell on it," Takashi said tersely, grabbing Rei's arm again and pulling her along. "We need to gather our friends, anyone we can trust, and get out of this school before it's too late." As the group makes their way through the halls, Hisashi stops at one of the supply lockers and pulls out a mop.
After he snaps the head off he hands it to Rei then he pulls out a baseball bat and hands it to Takashi. "But what about you two?" Takashi asks referring to Hisashi and Toshiro, "I've got a black belt in karate it'll do." Hisashi says while Toshiro holds up his sleek silver suitcase with a smirk and says "I can be pretty resourceful."
Then the conversation moves on to getting out of the school and checking on their families when they say they should call the police. She mentions that her dad is a detective. Takashi hands her his phone saying "give him a call" once the call goes through Rei's eyes widen as he face goes pale "no way.." She mutters, Hisashi looks at her with a worried frown etched on his face "what is it?" He asks.
Over the phone we hear what Rei does "... I repeat. This is a recording. We're experiencing an unusually high volume of 9-1-1 calls…and all operators are currently busy. Please wait on the line or try again later." "It said they're getting too many 9-1-1 calls… that's…" "i repeat this is a recording…" Rei hangs up and hands the phone back to Takashi. Then an announcement came through the speakers.
"Attention all students and staff! Attention all students and staff! A violent outbreak has taken place on school grounds! All students are instructed to follow staff to safety at once!!" Students can be heard questioning the announcement. "Took them long enough" Takashi says as the announcement continues, "I repeat. A violent outbreak has taken place on-" the person giving the announcement is interrupted by a glitch, "Don't tell me.." Toshiro says checking the school systems with his smartphone.
"GYAAAAAAAAH!" "AH!" "SAVE ME! STOP IT! PLEASE!" As the announcement continues we see the reaction of students and teachers alike "SAVE ME!" "EE!" "OWOWOWOWOW!!" "SAVE ME! IM GONNA DIE!" "GWAAAAAH!!" There is dead silence for a moment after the announcement cuts out. Back In the classroom Hirano attempts to sneak away but is followed by Saya "Hirano." She says as she crouches next to him. He looks back nervously "Ta…Ta…Takagi-san" Saya puts a finger to her lips "Sh! We are out of here."
As they start to make their way through the school other students start shouting and rushing to be the first out of the classrooms and out of the school going as far as to trample those unlucky enough to fall. Back with Toshiro and the others Takashi shares a nod with the two other males and all three take off towards the offices. "Huh!? Aren't we going outside!?" Rei questions and Toshiro looks back at her, "the classroom wing's overrun with people!! We'll escape through the offices!!"
As they approach an intersection the group slides to a halt as a figure comes stumbling from around the corner, "is that the grammar teacher Wakisaka?" Rei asks, Takashi and Toshiro notice the blood running down the teacher's leg. "Keep away from him!!" They yell in unison as the infected lurches forward reaching for Rei, Takashi runs up and starts swinging his bat and yelling "Hey! Wakisaka!! I'm here! Over here!!" Rei swings the makeshift-spear around holding the point at the infected.
"Don't come near me!!" As the infected got closer Rei prepared to thrust the makeshift spear into the teacher, "don't mess…" she launches forward spear piercing into the teacher's heart "...with the spear club!!" She screams The infected Wakisaka stumbled forward, unaffected by the mop shaft that Rei had thrust into his heart. His eyes, glazed and devoid of humanity, locked onto the group, his intentions malevolent. He swung his body since Rei hasn't let go of the makeshift spear she is thrown into the wall and crumbles to the floor spear still in hand as she holds him back "I…I stabbed him right in the heart. H-how can he move!?"
Hisashi runs up behind the infected teacher and puts him in a headlock. "Rei! Now's your chance to pull it out!" He shouts as he locks in the headlock, "Hisashi!" Rei shouts as she pulls the mop handle out of the infected chest, Toshiro notices how little blood came out of the teacher's wound he yells "Hisashi get away, fast!! Wakisaka…isn't normal!!" Hisashi smirks at him "Don't worry. I can…flip this guy easy…" as he's talking the teacher's head starts twisting unnaturally back towards Hisashi
"wha…!?" Hisashi exclaims as he tries to push his head back as the infected opens his mouth unnaturally wide. "How is he…so powerful!?" Before anyone could help Hisashi the teacher bites into Hisashi's bicep, Hisashi's scream of pain echoed through the corridors. Rei, Takashi, and Toshiro sprint to aid Hisashi with Takashi shouting "You bastard!" Takashi reaches Hisashi first and swings his bat down onto the infected teacher's shoulder but the infected didn't lift his maw from his bicep.
"Get away from Hisashi!" He continued Rei arrives next delivering another spear thrust into the man's side and still the zombie didn't release his hold.
As Hisashi continues to struggle, Rei shakes her head in disbelief, "Why…? He… why won't he let go!?" She questions, "I knew it…!" Toshiro starts, Rei looks back at him, "what are you saying…!?" Toshiro locks eyes with her "He's dead…!" Rei and Takashi's eyes widen as they look back at the teacher. "He's dead but still moving!! There's no way he could move after getting stabbed in the heart…! And there should be blood everywhere. But…" He continues, Hisashi lets out another pained shout. Rei looks back at him and shouts "Okay, then what are we supposed to do!!?"
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an advanced looking taser. "Aim for the head!" Toshiro shouted, tossing the taser to Rei.She caught it deftly, hesitating for only a moment, taking aim at the undead teacher's temple. With a swift motion, she activated the taser, sending a jolt of high voltage directly into the teacher's brain. The effect was immediate; the teacher's jaws slackened and his grip on Hisashi loosened as he collapsed to the ground, lifeless once more.
Takashi and Rei drop to Hisashi's side, "Hisashi are you okay!?" Rei asks as she rips a piece of her skirt to wrap his arm. examining the bite mark on his friend's arm, Blood oozed from the wound, and Hisashi's face contorted in pain. "Hisashi, hang in there!" Takashi urged. "He just tore the skin a little. It's no big deal. More urgently…" he looks back the way they came, the others follow his line-of-site to see a hoard of the zombified classmates and teachers, "...with these things hanging around we have to hurry up and get out of here."
"This way! We can get down to the first floor this way!!" as the hoard gets closer Rei points down a set of stairs leading to the first floor, "See? Down the stairs…" she is interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream coming from down the stairs "EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!" "STOP! OWWW! DON'T BITE ME…! DON'T EAT ME! AH!!" The screams and cries are replaced by the wet ripping and tearing of flesh as Takashi looks on horrified " Nobody can stop all." he mutters.
Hisashi looks at the set of stairs leading up, "...Let's go out to the roof." he says as he starts heading up the stairs "We'll hole up there until help comes." The group doesn't have much time to deliberate. Toshiro, still shaken from the encounter, nods in agreement. "It's better than getting surrounded down here," he comments as he follows Hisashi up the stairs.
They ascend two flights of stairs, hearing the eerie moans of the undead rising behind them. They reach the rooftop door, and Hisashi swiftly kicks it open. The cold wind greets them, providing a brief relief from the horrors within the school. The roof provides a panoramic view of the chaos unfolding.
"What the hell is going on…?" Takashi asks as they look out at the chaos, Toshiro scans the horizon with his AR glasses zooming in and out and recording everything for later research, "...there's no way the police will answer a call." Hisashi says as he looks out over the city, Rei looks over at the three males,
"What is this? What on earth is happening!?" with tears welling up in her eyes. "Come on Hisashi. Takashi? Toshiro! Tell me! Just this morning…" The distant thrum of helicopters could be heard if one listened close enough Rei continues "No, not even! Minutes ago, everything was normal-" the thrumming grows louder as several helicopters approach.
Rei looks up confused and shocked "..a copter? She asks looking up as four helicopters fly over all them camo with the Sutāku Industries logo on the side one passes low enough causing Rei to take cover with a squeal as takashi reaches for her Hisashi couches down next to her to comfort her,
Toshiro sutāku notices the flash of jealousy that passes over Takashi's face as he watches Hisashi hold on to Rei and puts a hand on his shoulder. As Rei recovers she looks back at the helicopters that just flew overhead heading for the city, "Black Hawks? She questions "Sutāku Industries... Why are they here?" Toshiro mutters to himself, quickly adjusting his AR glasses to gather more data. He rapidly taps on his glasses, zooming into the logo on the choppers and quickly retrieving all available information about their movements.
"Looks like they're responding faster than the military," Hisashi comments, eyes squinted as he observes the helicopters disappear into the distance. "Sutāku Industries might be one of the few organizations with the resources and readiness for a situation like this." Rei stands and starts trying to lag them down, "Save us!!" she shouts Takashi, seeing Rei's desperation, quickly moves towards her, "Rei, shouting isn't going to help us right now!" He tries to pull her back to the safety of the group.
"It's no use" Hisashi says looking over the railing face pale and eyes wide, "why not!" Rei asks as she looks back at him. Hisahi just points down through the bars of the railing, "Look." he says as the others make thor way to the side of the roof to look at the school ground below, and what they saw was pure carnage the student who were unlucky enough to have gym were now eating each other, "They see that but they ignore it." the view pans around the sports field as we see the extent of the carnage "even outside, where you can run away is a blood bath. Right now the school building is…"
The view goes back inside the building and we see a group of infected ripping into one boy while others approach a girl with long purple hair and a bokken in hand. "It's like 'they' have some kind of illness." Toshiro says as the view cuts back to the roof, "'They'…?" Takashi asks as they all turn towards Toshiro as he explains. "This isn't some movie or game. I can't bring myself to call them zombies. So I'm calling them 'they.'...'They' eat people' and then those who are eaten come alive again as 'them.' I don't know why, but… there's no way to defeat them besides damaging their brains…"
Toshiro finishes, never taking his eyes off the scene playing out below them, a scream rips through the air startling Rei so bad that she falls to her knees and covers her ears, Takashi tries to lock the door to the roof when finds it wont lock, panic setting in as he realizes their temporary haven might not be as safe as they'd hoped. "Shit, it's broken…they'll get in like this!" Takashi shouts, "Toshiro!! What do we do!!?" Takashi asks frantically
Toshiro spends a few seconds scanning the roof with his AR glasses feeding him statistics and calculation. Then he points to the stairs leading up to the school's observatory "we get to the top of the observatory… and block the staircase." Rei, having calmed down a bit, nods, "Sounds like a plan."
The four of them sprint towards the observatory, hearing the door to the rooftop burst open behind them. The groans and shuffling of the infected fill the air. As they reach the base of the observatory, once they reach the top they barricade the top of the stairs with old tables and chairs. Just as they secure the final piece, the sound of the infected draws closer. They could hear the unmistakable sounds of their former friends and classmates below, a cacophony of despair that chilled the soul.
Toshiro quickly begins setting up some sort of communication equipment he'd been carrying in his silver briefcase. "We should be able to communicate with the outside world from here," he explains. As he continues to set up Hisashi starts to cough blood, Rei sprints to kneel by his side " Hisashi!! What is it!?" she looks back at the other two, "Takashi! Toshiro! It's Hisashi!!" Takashi runs over to them while Toshiro stops what he is doing and joins him.
As Toshiro he starts scanning Hisashi While Takashi shouts," Why!? You just got a little bite! Why are you falling apart…?" Toshiro makes eye contact with Hisashi "...It's just like in the movies. One little bite and you're done for." Rei's eyes widen as she looks between Hisashi and Toshiro " that's a lie!" she exclaims, shaking her head desperately "this can't be like the movies!"
Hisashi looks at her and between coughs says "Everything else is like the movies. Takashi, Toshiro give me a hand." Takashi solemnly responds "...what can we do?" Hisashi points to the edge of the roof, "From over there, it's a straight shot to the ground… the impact from the fall should bust my head." Rei interrupts tears running down her face "WHAT'ER YOU SAYING…?" "I don't want to become one of them!" Hisashi shouts back then he looks back at Takashi "come on Takashi. I'm begging you, I want to be me up till the very end…UGEH!" he suddenly coughs up a large amount of blood causing Toshiro to stumble back as he keels over. Rei tries to support Hisashi as he continues to cough, "Hisashi!! Hisashi!! NOOOO! YOU CAN'T DIE!! Hisashi throws his head back as he spews on final fountain before falling on his back unmoving. "NOOOO!!" Rei's wails reverberated on the rooftop, a haunting contrast to the echoing groans of the undead below. The wind blew cold, seeming to carry her despair along with it.
Toshiro, taking off his AR glasses, moved away, giving Rei some space to mourn. Takashi, on the other hand, stayed close, unsure of what to say or do. Hisashi's final moments had played out too quickly, the tragic reality setting in all too fast.
The observatory's silence was broken as Toshiro's communication equipment chirped to life. A crackled voice came through, "Hello? Is anyone there? This is a military frequency, identify yourself."
Toshiro quickly replied, "This is Toshiro Sutāku. We are survivors on the rooftop of the high school. Can you help us?"
There was a brief pause. "Sutāku, as in Sutāku Industries? We're receiving multiple distress calls. Hold your position; we're working to contain the situation."
Takashi looked at Rei, her sorrow evident as she cradled Hisashi. "We can't stay here," he whispered to Toshiro, "Hisashi wanted to be him till the end, but what if he turns now? We can't risk it."
Toshiro nodded, "You're right. We should... we should find a way to make sure he doesn't become one of 'them'. For his sake."
Rei, having overheard, turned towards them with tear-streaked eyes. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!" she shouts as she clutches onto Takashi's shirt "HE WON'T CHANGE! HISASHI'S NOT GOING TO BECOME ONE OF THEM!!" she screams desperately.
Takashi looks down at her "...Let me go." Then Hisashi starts to shift, Rei, desperate to believe, looks on as Hisashi slowly " See! Takashi!" She says eyes full of hope as Toshiro Leaves his communicator and stands behind Takashi observing the situation. As Hisashi looms over Rei tripping blood on her legs and skirt she looks up at him confused "Hisashi?" she asks quietly, "it can't…" she starts when takashi pulls her behind him to Toshiro, Hisashi's eyes, once full of life and determination, now stared blankly, a milky haze covering them.
The humanity that Rei hoped to see was no longer there. His once strong and reassuring voice was replaced with a guttural groan, hunger evident in his posture. Rei turns to Toshiro for comfort, "it's a lie. A lie" she whispers as she cries Takashi Stares at his Friend with despair and desperation in his eyes, "trust me. It's ludicrous…but…" he brings his bat over his head "...it's theTruth!!" he shouts as he brings the bat down on Hisashi's skull. "NOOOOOOOOO!!" Rei screams hysterically as she whirls on Takashi. anger and accusation in her eyes "WHY!? WHY!?" she cried.
Takashi meets her eye unflinchingly, "if i hadn't done it..you'd have been eaten." Rei balls her fists *I…I didn't want to be saved!! I didn't want to see Hisashi like this!! If I have to survive like this, I wish Hisashi had bitten me so I could be one of them too!!" Takashi clinches his hand into a fist, "...I don't think he'd be happy with that." he says looking at the floor, "What do you know, Takashi?" Rei asks with contempt.
The anger in her eyes begins to burn brighter, "THAT'S RIGHT! I GET IT NOW!" Takashi's eyes widened at the venom in her voice, "TAKASHI, YOU…ACTUALLY HATED HISASHI!! BECAUSE HE WAS GOING OUT WITH ME!!" as she continues to scream and accuse him. Takashi turns around and begins walking away to the shock of both Rei and Toshiro, "Wait! Rei shouts, taking a step forward "where are you going?" Toshiro asks, also stepping forward.
Takashi looks back at Rei "I'm just in your way, remember?" he says calmly, then looks at Toshiro "I'm going down there to give them a beating. Keep her safe for me.'' He turns back around and starts to climb over their barricade. Toshiro grips Takashi's shoulder, "Wait. You can't just go down there alone. It's suicide." Rei runs up to them, her anger replaced by fear, "STOP!! NO! DON'T! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!!" She screams new tears running down her face, Takashis looks back at her as she continues, "I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I DIDN'T MEAN WHAT I SAID!! PLEASE! PLEASE! STAY WITH ME!" She screams desperately
Takashi pauses for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. The groans of the infected seemed to merge with Rei's desperate cries, creating a haunting soundscape of the new reality they were all thrust into. Then he hops off the barricade and hugs Rei, his eyes watery, Takashi looks to the sky, one thought in his mind "what on earth are we supposed to do now…?" The trio sat in silence for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. After what felt like hours, Toshiro's communication equipment crackled to life. "Attention, attention! This is Captain Yuki Nakamura of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. We have received your distress signal. All survivors are to respond immediately. We have established a secure evacuation zone near the Tokyo Bay Area. The outbreak has been contained in multiple regions, but there are still large numbers of infected. We urge all survivors to make their way towards the evacuation zone. We will be conducting aerial surveys and drops to assist survivors. Protect yourselves, trust no one exhibiting symptoms, and move towards safety. I repeat, this is Captain Yuki Nakamura of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Stay safe, stay vigilant. We will survive this."
The message ended with the hum of static, punctuating the weight of the announcement. The reality of the situation became even more tangible. They were not alone; there was still hope.
Toshiro, his face pale, turned to the others. "We have to move. If the military has established an evacuation zone, it means they have resources, defenses... maybe even a cure."
Takashi, releasing Rei, nodded. "But it won't be easy getting there. We need a plan, weapons, and supplies."
Rei wiped away her tears and nodded in agreement. "If we're going to survive this, we need to stick together."
Determination filled their eyes as the trio began to plot their next move. The journey would be perilous, but with hope on the horizon, they were ready to face any challenge that came their way.
