CRACK—!
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
CRASH—!
The windows on the upper floors of the first-year building shattered, and undead students poured down like an avalanche, crashing onto the lower-ground floor and splattering blood across the boys' locker room windows.
"Get away from the windows!"
Ren immediately dashed toward the door and opened it, but he didn't leave the boys' locker room just yet. Instead, he rushed back toward Mike and Gian, who had fallen to the floor in shock and fear.
Ren dragged Mike and Gian toward the exit as Tristan and Marcus quickly made their way out of the boys' locker room. Karl and Ivan followed, stumbling in panic.
By the time Ren reached the corridor with Mike and Gian, Natalie, Evelyn, and Elizabeth had also made it out of the girls' locker room.
"What the heck was that...?" Natalie asked, gasping for air as she tried to calm herself.
Beside her, Evelyn was down on all fours, wearing the same terrified expression.
"I thought we were going to get buried alive..."
"We will if we stay here any longer," Evelyn said before locking the girls' locker room door and helping Natalie and Elizabeth back onto their feet.
Ren did the same, locking the boys' locker room door without helping Mike and Gian up.
"We're leaving you behind if you don't get up on your own," he said, snapping Mike and Gian out of their shock.
He then grabbed his wooden sword and smashed one of the corridor windows.
CRASH—!
Elizabeth and Tristan quickly followed Ren's example, smashing the other windows. But another sound immediately came from inside the locker rooms.
BAM!!!
The pounding against the locker room doors confirmed that the undead horde had already gotten inside.
RARGHHH!!!
The snarling undead sent a wave of fear through the entire group.
"Hurry up and get outside," Ren said, letting his friends go first.
"Go ahead, Nat, Eve," Elizabeth said, doing the same so Natalie and Evelyn could get out before her.
Tristan jumped through the broken window, followed by Marcus.
Natalie and Evelyn climbed out next, finding Marcus waiting for Evelyn while Tristan was already fighting a group of undead farther ahead.
Karl, Mike, and Ivan lifted Gian together and tossed him outside before climbing out one after another.
"Ren!"
"Let's go, Liz."
At Elizabeth's signal, she and Ren jumped out through the window together.
Right then, the locker room doors collapsed, flooding the corridor with a swarm of undead.
Ren and the others ran along the front of the first-year building toward Tristan, who was still fighting the undead. However, the swarm pouring through the broken corridor windows—and those still trying to break out—weren't the only problems their group was about to face.
"Run toward the courtyard!" Ren shouted, urging everyone to get away from the first-year building despite the swarm of undead senior students already approaching them.
Natalie, Evelyn, Elizabeth, and Marcus immediately understood the danger Ren was trying to avoid. They followed his instructions and readied their weapons.
Karl, Mike, and Ivan followed without fully understanding the situation, as they were too busy helping Gian run. Karl and Mike supported him from either side while Ivan pushed him from behind.
Meanwhile, Ren continued running along the front of the first-year building toward Tristan. He grabbed Tristan by the jacket and dragged him away from the group of undead he was fighting.
"What are you doing, bastard!?"
Tristan pushed Ren away the moment he realized they were heading toward the courtyard, where even more undead were gathered.
"I'm trying to save your life, dumbass!"
Ren retorted, grabbing Tristan's jacket again and forcing him to look behind them—or rather, toward the entire first-year building.
Just then, the swarm of undead in the ground-floor corridor, which had come from the upper-floor classrooms, broke through the windows and flooded outside. More undead followed from the upper-floor corridors, attracted by the commotion and drawn toward their group.
Soon, their group would be caught between the swarm of undead in the courtyard and the horde pouring out of the first-year building.
"Saving my life? You just got us killed!" Tristan shouted, pushing Ren away again.
"Because of your stupid plan, Natalie, Evelyn, and Elizabeth will die! I will die!"
Tristan swung his wooden katana at Ren, but Ren easily blocked the strike with his wooden sword and pushed him back.
"If you don't want Nat, Eve, and Liz to die, then protect them. If you don't want to die, then fight," Ren said before ignoring Tristan and rushing toward the others, intending to do exactly what he had said.
"Don't you dare walk away from me, you bastard!"
***
"Pair up and look after each other. We'll form a circle and push through the undead."
Following Ren's instructions, Elizabeth paired up with Evelyn, Karl with Ren, and Mike with Ivan, while Natalie stayed at the center of their formation with Gian.
Even Tristan, who had chased after Ren to continue their argument, was forced by the girls to cooperate and pair up with Marcus.
"And watch out for any aggressive or stronger undead," Ren added as their group slowly moved forward, eliminating the undead coming from every direction.
Natalie and Gian shot down the undead with their arrows, while everyone else took them down one by one, bashing, smashing, and breaking their heads with their wooden weapons.
Eventually, before they could make it out of the courtyard, their arrows ran out and their wooden weapons broke, leaving only Elizabeth with her wooden katana and Ren with his last wooden sword.
"Use your bag as a shield to protect yourself," Ren said with a determined look.
Their formation changed, with Ren and Elizabeth taking the front while everyone else stayed behind them and focused on protecting themselves.
"Ren and I will cut a path through this horde," Elizabeth said with a confident grin as she stood beside Ren.
Ren and Elizabeth continued fighting, taking down the undead in front of them while everyone else desperately protected themselves and pushed back the undead coming from behind.
Still, their pace gradually slowed as their strength began to give out and more undead surrounded them.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, Ren, but third-rate was right..." Karl said.
Mike and Ivan finished his thought.
"Your plan was simply stupid!"
"And we're all gonna die!"
"Shush it! Or I'm gonna use you three as bait!" Natalie snapped at them, knowing that Ren and Elizabeth were doing everything they could.
"Hurry up, Ren, Liz!" Evelyn shouted, believing the two would get them out alive.
"Get out of the freaking way!"
Pushing forward with sheer willpower, Ren and Elizabeth finally broke through the undead horde, allowing their group to escape safely.
***
From the courtyard, Ren led the group past the first-year building and toward the road in front of the open field.
But before they could reach the nearest microbus, the undead horde that was supposed to be gathered in front of the gymnasium cut them off from the front, while the horde from the courtyard continued chasing them from behind.
"Any more stupid plans that will surely get us killed, bastard?" Tristan mocked Ren.
"We'll draw the undead's attention as much as we can while everyone else runs for the bus," Ren said, referring to himself and his friends as bait.
"That will definitely get us killed!" his friends retorted.
Ren quickly reasoned with them.
"It'll be just as dangerous for them."
"We will go with Ren if you're too afraid to do it," Natalie said, while Evelyn and Elizabeth nodded in agreement.
"I'm not gonna let this bastard get the three of you killed..."
Before Tristan could start another argument with Ren, or Ren's friends could decide to act as bait with him...
BRRRRRING!!!
The Academy's announcement alarm suddenly echoed throughout the grounds, followed by a message.
[To all surviving students. Stay hidden in your classrooms or other safe places until the authorities arrive. If you can, try to reach the gymnasium through the path behind the Academy grounds. We have other students and supplies with us.]
The announcement drew the undead horde away from Ren's group, pulling them back toward the first-year building and the broadcast tower at the center of the open field, where the sound was coming from.
"It's Lilia-sensei," Natalie said, recognizing the medical officer's voice.
[I repeat. To all surviving students—EKK! Stop it, Natch...]
That pervert, Ren and his friends thought in disbelief.
"And he said not to expect any help..."
"Let's make a run for the bus now..." Evelyn whispered, tugging on Ren's hand as he muttered to himself.
Ren then continued leading the group, moving quietly and quickly until they safely reached the nearest microbus.
He opened the door...
ROARHHH—!
An undead senior student lunged at him from inside, but Ren stabbed it through its open, bloodstained mouth, driving his wooden sword straight through its brain.
"Elizabeth and I will take down the remaining undead inside," Ren said, pointing toward the other five undead snarling at them through the bloodstained windows.
It didn't take long for Ren and Elizabeth to take down the remaining undead senior students—at least not long enough for the horde outside to notice the rest of their group before they could all get inside the microbus.
"I'm driving," Evelyn said as she took the driver's seat.
"Then let's hurry and get out of this place."