"This plan is simply stupid. You're just putting everyone's lives in danger."
Tristan continued complaining as he followed behind Natalie, Evelyn, and Elizabeth. Despite his repeated attempts to reason with the three girls, none of them bothered to respond.
Everyone had already agreed to Ren's plan, regardless of how dangerous it was, and that really pissed Tristan off.
Ren's plan was to leave the gymnasium through the back door, return to their classroom locker room in the first-year building to retrieve their smartphones, make their way to one of the microbuses left by the senior students on the road near the open field, and then drive out of the Academy.
"We're lucky there are still no undead behind the gymnasium."
Tristan continued his complaints.
"But the first-year building is probably swarming with undead. There's no way we'll make it to the microbuses alive with that horde swarming around—"
RARGHHH!
Ren gripped his wooden sword with both hands and swung it with precision, breaking the neck of the first undead male student their group had encountered since leaving the gymnasium.
"If you have a better plan, then tell us already," Ren said without looking back at Tristan. His attention remained focused on their surroundings, watching for any incoming undead.
Instead, Natalie, Evelyn, Elizabeth, and everyone else behind Tristan silently stared at him, waiting for an answer.
Under the pressure of their gazes, Tristan couldn't say a word. He didn't have a plan of his own to begin with.
His best friend, Marcus, didn't defend him either. He was more focused on looking after Evelyn, his fiancee, which was also why he had decided to join Ren and Natalie in rescuing their younger sisters.
"If you don't have anything to offer, then shut up."
Ren continued leading the group, with Natalie, Evelyn, and Elizabeth behind him; Tristan and Marcus in the middle; and Mike, Karl, Ivan, and Gian covering the rear.
***
"Hurry up, fatso. You're going to get us left behind," Karl muttered, pushing Gian's back to speed him up.
"Wait... Huff... I just need to catch my breath... Huff..."
"I'm carrying all your stuff, and you're still running like a fat snail."
Mike carried six sets of quivers filled with dozens of arrows on his back, while holding a bow in each hand.
Despite Gian's short and fat build, he was the top marksman in their class. That was why Karl, Mike, and Ivan couldn't complain when Ren asked them to support him.
Keep the undead away from Gian while he shot them down.
As if it would be that easy, the three thought as they remembered Ren's instructions.
"Why did you come with us anyway?" Ivan asked, though he already had an idea of Gian's reason.
Gian slowly caught his breath, continuing to run at a steady pace until he had recovered enough to speak—or rather, mumble.
"Ms. Natalie was... stopping Dex's group... from bullying me... So I'm here to help her... her sister..."
So this fatso is after Natalie...
RARGHHH!
"Get down!"
Mike's warning interrupted Karl's thoughts.
Karl pushed Gian to the ground, saving them both from a female undead student who suddenly came running around the corner of the building.
BAM!
Ivan swiftly followed up, repeatedly smashing the undead girl's head with his wooden staff until her skull cracked and her brain was smashed against the ground.
"Undead or not, beating her up still makes me feel awful..."
"It's not like I feel any different," Ren said, drawing his friends' attention—not to himself, but to what lay ahead.
"But that's something we can't worry about right now."
Looking past Ren, Karl finally noticed a dozen undead students blocking their path.
"Shit, we're getting surrounded."
"And they're catching up from behind," Ivan added as he helped Karl and Gian back onto their feet.
Mike quickly handed Gian a bow and a quiver full of arrows.
"Now hurry up and shoot them down."
"I'll take care of this swarm in no time," Gian said with a confident grin before firing an arrow straight into an undead's eye.
***
While Gian, Karl, Mike, and Ivan slowed down the incoming undead from behind, Ren and the others dealt with the dozen blocking their path.
Natalie shot down three approaching undead, accurately hitting each one through the eye, just as Gian was doing.
Elizabeth moved swiftly, striking with precision as she split open the heads of three undead with consecutive swings of her wooden katana.
Marcus pushed back two undead with a combination of kicks, knocking them to the ground. He then crushed one of their heads with his staff while Evelyn finished off the other with her wooden sword.
Tristan rushed ahead, trying to imitate Elizabeth, only to step back when his wooden katana cracked after taking down an undead.
Ren took down the last three undead by breaking their necks with precise strikes from his wooden sword before the weapon finally snapped in half.
"We need to find better weapons soon," Ren said as he pulled one of the three wooden swords strapped to his back.
"What's wrong with this one? Why isn't it going down?"
Natalie's voice made everyone look ahead.
A female undead student was charging toward them despite having both eyes pierced by Natalie's arrows.
"Aren't they supposed to die once their heads or brains are damaged enough?" Evelyn asked, thinking back to all the zombie movies she had watched with Natalie and Elizabeth.
"Maybe this one has a few screws loose."
Tristan stepped forward, hoping to take down the undead and impress Natalie, Evelyn, and Elizabeth. He discarded his half-broken wooden katana and drew the backup weapon strapped to his belt.
But before Tristan could intercept the incoming undead, Ren threw his broken wooden sword, impaling it through the mouth.
Still, the female undead continued charging toward them.
"Don't interfere with me, bastard!" Tristan shouted, glaring back at Ren.
"Then go ahead and die on your own."
At Ren's warning, Tristan turned around in panic, assuming the undead was already within his reach.
Instead, he watched as its body collapsed onto the ground, its head flying through the air. Elizabeth stood behind it, her wooden katana stained with blood.
"I guess cutting its head off cleanly is impossible with a wooden katana."
"Cutting it's head off with a wooden weapon is impossible to begin with."
"But I'm sure you could've done it too, Ren."
"You're giving me too much credit, Liz."
Watching Ren and Liz casually converse while everyone else ignored him—including Natalie and Evelyn—only made Tristan more hostile toward Ren.
***
"Just die already, you fucking undead bitch!"
At the rear of the group, Gian, Karl, Mike, and Ivan were dealing with another unusual undead.
Gian had taken down the entire swarm approaching from behind, nearly going through three sets of quivers and losing dozens of arrows in the process. Meanwhile, Karl, Mike, and Ivan protected him from any undead that managed to get close.
But just as the swarm was gone, a female undead student suddenly appeared and charged aggressively toward them.
Gian riddled its head with arrows, even shooting its legs in an attempt to slow it down.
Still, the undead reached them and began wrestling with Karl and Mike.
"Push it back!" Mike shouted at Karl, who was gripping the undead by its lower body.
"Don't let go of its mouth!" Karl shouted back, reminding Mike to keep his staff jammed against the undead's mouth so they wouldn't get bitten.
The two continued wrestling with the female undead to protect Gian, who had already collapsed onto the ground in fear and panic. Despite their combined efforts, however, the undead slowly forced them backward.
"Hold it steady, both of you!"
"Just kill it already!"
RARGHHH!
BAM!
Just before Karl and Mike were overwhelmed, Ivan stepped in. He pulled Gian out of the way and tossed him aside before repeatedly smashing the undead's head with his staff.
Karl and Mike could only shut their eyes and close their mouth as the undead's blackened blood and brain matter splattered across their faces and heads.
***
"You two look like shit," Ren said as he approached Karl and Mike.
Whether his grin was because he was happy they were safe or simply because he was making fun of them, the two couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"Say that again..."
"And we'll wipe this blood all over you..."
"You two look like shit," Ivan teased, intentionally pissing off Karl and Mike.
"You bastard!"
"This was your fault too!"
"Stop squabbling and get up. We're already near the first-year building."