Grunt

Unpleasant noises could be heard from the other side of the door of my currently closed office, with my desk blocking it. It was heavy, so it was hard to think that something would pass through it.

I was currently drinking a can of orange juice, with a sour expression on my face; I hated oranges. Meanwhile, I watched the news reports on my TV. Many would say it was a terrible investment of student funds considering it was off most of the time, but I would laugh in the face of anyone who said that now.

Ah, we are at a school at this point, Fujimi Academy. It's located on a large campus with several buildings in an enclosed area. The main building where I am and at least two other buildings have four floors and are connected by walkways on the 2nd and 4th floors.

Why is it important that we're at a school? Well, I'm the current Director of this God-forsaken Academy.

This was the first year of my Reign of Terror… I mean, of my great administration of the educational system… Well, personally, I didn't care much. In fact, this job was more of a way to…

"And with that, a state of emergency is declared throughout Japan, security authorities recommend citizens to stay at home and seal all exits." I heard the news report on TV.

"The United States, England, China… Japan. It seems someone decided to play God." I got up from my chair and went to the window where I could have a beautiful view of it.

My beautiful students walking through our lovely campus in an orderly fashion, one behind the other, walking into the school, it was a wonderful sight to see our future doctors, lawyers, and engineers so focused on learning… Well, it would be better if they were alive.

We were in the middle of a crisis; apparently, the dead had decided it was better to rise from the ground and have a snack, the main problem with this? Well, apparently when you were snacked on, the ecstasy was so great that you became a connoisseur of the gourmet cuisine called humanity.

In simple terms, it was a shitty low-budget Zombie Apocalypse. I saw a catastrophe when I asked some teachers to solve the problem that a man was causing at the school gates; I watched the outbreak start from a distance.

It spread like rice thrown to pigeons; my students were dying and coming back, along with some who fought against them… What was I doing about it… well… I'm not proud of this as a man to talk about.

But it was good news from my financial point of view, for example, how could this be good news? Well, I owed money… like a lot, a lot of money to the Yakuza in this city.

I needed to do a bit more than some loans to… take care of my daughter, she was sick, and the treatments were expensive, especially the surgeries. What would a desperate father do for his daughter?

I took as much as the bank could provide to an educator like me, but it wasn't even half of what I needed, which made me panic a little and go to these lengths, which would probably get me a visit from the sharks since I've been owing the Yakuza for 6 months now.

I couldn't say in any way that I was considered a good-natured guy, especially after not doing anything about my students, but that was in the past, today was a new life, a life without debts because society was in collapse now, I doubt those guys would come after me now.

What made me set my goals was wanting to get out of this place and go after my daughter; she wasn't in this city, thank God, but on a military base with my ex-wife… Honestly, I don't know if I should thank her for that, but all the treatment she received was from private government agencies that could provide extra security; well, your ex-wife was tough, I preferred to believe she kept our daughter safe.

But at this point, I only had myself to worry about.

GROWL

The zombies behind the door seemed to get more agitated and move away; this was shit, which made me, as a clear nostalgist, go to my personal food locker and grab a sealed box with a special key that only I carried.

So, I opened the box where my wedding present was stored, this being a Glock 19 along with a magazine. The gun stored 15 bullets with the magazine totaling 30 bullets.

I thought it was a dumb gift at first; I didn't even have a license, but that didn't stop my ex-wife from teaching me the basics of shooting. I even had a medium to good aim. Who would've thought that skill would be useful to me someday, one of the few strong points of your marriage at this moment.

Sigh

I was shaking a bit; was I really going to pull the trigger against these poor kids… Damn, I was fulfilling the dream of most high school teachers at this moment.

Cocking the gun, I prepared myself; I was only with the keys to my car, this gun, and my clothes, it was all or nothing.

In fact, I don't think I've been properly introduced; my name is Azazel, a tasteless name, I know.

I'm a tall man who looks like he's in his twenties, with an average build, black hair, golden bangs, and a black goatee. I wore a dark blue knee-length blazer with a lighter blue shirt, a black coat, and a red tie. In addition to wearing faded purple pants and black dress shoes. My height is a glorious 188 cm (6 feet 2 inches), and my body weight is [82 kg].

Honestly, I was confident that my build would help me in this crisis; my mission now was… to get to my car and get the hell out of here!

So, I pushed the desk and slowly opened the door; it was now or never.

( Hallway: Third Floor)

As I opened the office door, I was greeted by the acrid smell of decay and the groans of zombies echoing down the hallway. It was as if hell itself had manifested in the halls of Fujimi Academy. Taking a deep breath to control my anxiety, I took the first step into the unknown.

Cautiously surveying the hallway, I noticed that most of the zombies were concentrated further ahead, near the stairs leading to the second floor. It was my chance to cross the hallway without drawing too much attention. I remembered a zombie movie I watched, where the characters used bait to distract the undead.

So, I decided to improvise something similar. I looked around the office for something I could use as bait. I found a box of old papers and some pens scattered on the desk. I gathered everything and tied them with a rubber band, forming a makeshift ball.

With the makeshift ball in hand, I took another deep breath and, in one swift motion, threw it with force towards the opposite side of the hallway. The zombies, as expected, turned towards the noise, diverting their attention away from me.

Taking advantage of the distraction of the undead, I silently moved through the hallway, keeping as close to the walls as possible to avoid being detected. I advanced with quick but cautious steps, every muscle tense and ready to react to the slightest sign of danger.

When I got close to the stairs, I slowed

down and began to climb the steps carefully, keeping an eye out for any movement around me. Upon reaching the second floor, I breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was relatively free of zombies.

Continuing my journey, I advanced through the second floor, staying alert as I searched for access to the walkways that led to the ground floor where I could exit and head straight to the parking lot. I knew that every second counted, so I couldn't afford to let my guard down.

Finally, I spotted the door that led to the walkways. It was only a few meters away, but something made me stop suddenly. A guttural sound echoed down the hallway, indicating that the zombies were closing in. My heart began to beat faster as I tried to think of a way to deal with the situation.

That's when I spotted a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall nearby. An idea began to form in my mind. With quick movements, I grabbed the extinguisher and held it firmly in my hands, promptly preparing myself to act.

"This might work!" The grunts of the zombies grew louder and closer. I knew I could no longer delay. With one last determined look, I opened the door and stepped out onto the walkways.

I was immediately greeted by a horrifying sight. A horde of zombies was quickly approaching from all directions, blocking my path to the parking lot building. There was no way to go around them; I would have to face them.

Taking a deep breath, I raised the extinguisher and pressed the trigger, releasing a cloud of white foam in the direction of the nearest zombies. They were momentarily taken aback, but soon continued advancing towards me, driven by their insatiable desire for human flesh.

"Terrible idea! A stupid idea!" I thought, feeling like a complete idiot at this moment.

Without hesitation, I began to retreat, keeping the extinguisher between me and the zombies as I backed towards the hallway door. However, my movements were abruptly interrupted when my foot caught on a protrusion in the floor, causing me to stumble and fall awkwardly.

In a moment of pure desperation, I found myself surrounded by bloodthirsty undead. With no other option, I raised the Glock 19 and began to fire, my hands shaking with nervousness as I aimed at the nearest zombies' heads.

The shots echoed through the empty hallways, blending with the zombies' grunts and the sound of my own curses. I was completely surrounded, but I refused to give up.

With each shot I fired, the tension in my body only increased. Each bullet that left the gun represented a last gasp of hope for me. I couldn't fail now, not after everything I had faced.

The zombies fell one by one, their lifeless bodies piling up around me. But no matter how much I fought, it seemed like more kept emerging from all sides, as if they were endless. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it wanted to escape from my chest.

I reloaded the gun as quickly as I could, feeling the pressure of the zombies closing in more and more. I needed to find a way out of this situation, no matter what it took.

That's when I spotted a side door nearby. It was a risky bet, but I didn't have many options. With a swift movement, I fired one last time to push back the nearest zombies and ran towards the door.

With a desperate push, I managed to open it and threw myself inside, feeling a momentary relief as I saw that I was in an empty hallway. But the feeling of safety didn't last long, as I soon heard heavy footsteps approaching quickly.

Without hesitation, I continued running down the hallway, desperately searching for an escape route. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, trying to find a solution to the desperate situation I found myself in.

That's when I spotted a window at the end of the hallway. It was my chance to escape. Without wasting any time, I ran towards it and forced it open with all my strength; it didn't open, so I shot it, the window shattered into shards, opening a way to the outside… But it was the second floor.

I looked to one side of the hallway; the zombies seemed to be gathering again.

"Damn it!" I cursed, then closed my eyes and jumped through the window.

My body fell freely, the wind whistling in my ears as I plummeted towards the ground. The asphalt was approaching rapidly, and I knew there was no time to prepare for the impact.

The impact of the fall was… smoother than I thought; I fell on top of a body…

"Shit, Takayama!" I was miraculously on top of the dead body of the Physical Education teacher.

I was injured; I hit my head, but apparently didn't break anything. He didn't even seem to have turned into a zombie… He seems to have jumped too, but wasn't as lucky.

I sighed as I got up and saw his dead body.

"Takayama-sensei, I almost regret wanting to fire you for having sex with that student." I commented to the wind to the now-questionable character.

I was still a bit dizzy from the fall, but around me were full of them on campus.

"RUN!" I heard a shout from the entrance of the building; it was a student with a baseball bat, it seemed to attract the zombies to him and his group.

The zombies were heading towards them for my luck or bad luck since they seemed to be heading to the parking lot.

I looked around, quickly assessing my options. The voice of the student shouting echoed in my ears, reminding me of the urgency of the situation.

I decided to follow the group being chased by the zombies towards the parking lot even though it was on the opposite side of them. There was no time to overthink, and I knew my best chance of survival was to stick close to other human beings, even if it meant risking getting caught by the undead.

Holding the Glock 19 firmly in my hands, I began to run towards the group, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my head. The zombies were closing in quickly, but the student with the baseball bat along with the girl with the wooden sword and the chubby boy with a… Gun? were managing to keep them busy enough to give us a small advantage.

It was impossible for me to reach my car, and I was close to the minibus that seemed to be their destination.

I entered through the back door without difficulty. I could see through the windows in time to see them enter one by one…

My head then started buzzing… Shit! My vision was getting blurry, and my body started to weaken.

My last sight was apparently an internal fight and… Was that Shido with a group of students?

I don't think they noticed me here, dangerous because if I were a zombie, I would catch them from behind…

Anyway, this was a new epilogue in a new phase of my life, although I would love some painkillers.

Then I passed out.

( To be continued…)