CHAPTER 1
The morning felt like any other. The sky was clear, the air warm, and the streets were filled with students in uniforms heading to school.
Dery walked with his backpack over one shoulder. His black hair was slightly long in the front. Brown eyes.
Calm, but always observant. Just an ordinary student on an ordinary day.
The school bell rang. Class began. The teacher was explaining the lesson when suddenly—
BZZZT.
One student's phone vibrated. Then two. Then ten.
Everyone looked down at the emergency notification on their screens. The teacher checked his phone, and his face instantly turned pale.
"Is this… a national alert?" he muttered.
Some students laughed.
"It's probably fake."
"Just an error or something."
Then the notification began playing automatically.
"To all citizens of Indonesia… please seek shelter immediately in your homes or in a secure location with food supplies. An outbreak has occurred… the dead are returning to life… zombies… please take refuge in a sa—"
The transmission cut off.
A loud crash echoed from outside. Then another. The connection died completely.
The classroom fell silent. A few students still laughed nervously.
Suddenly, a student ran past the hallway, face pale, breathing heavily.
"THERE ARE PSYCHOS! They're eating people in the streets!"
Several students rushed to the window. Dery stood up and looked down.
The streets were in chaos. People were running. Some fell. In the middle of the road, someone was biting another person.
The one who was bitten suddenly stood back up.
Slowly.
With empty eyes.
A student behind him screamed.
"ZOMBIEEEE!!"
Panic exploded instantly. School staff rushed to close the gates. Cars were pushed forward to block the entrance. Students ran back into their classrooms.
Dery was on the second floor, in the corner of the classroom. The stairs were blocked with desks and chairs.
For now… they were safe.
But then came the sounds from downstairs.
BAM. BAM. BAM.
Screams. Crying.
And slowly… silence.
Some students vomited. Some cried hysterically. Others just sat hugging their knees, staring blankly at nothing.
Dery curled up in the corner. His hands were trembling.
He was afraid.
But one thought kept echoing in his mind:
We don't have food.
Minutes passed. Hours passed.
No help came. No military sirens. No further announcements.
Only the dragging sound of footsteps from below.
Finally, Dery stood up and forced himself to approach the one student who had tried to calm everyone earlier — the class leader, Tio.
"We can't stay like this," Dery said quietly.
Tio looked at him. His eyes were red. "Then what do we do?"
"We need food."
Several students turned toward them, panic rising again.
"The cafeteria…"
The room went silent.
"That's suicide," someone whispered.
Dery shook his head. "We can go down through the back window. Drop to the classroom below. From there, we move to the cafeteria. Quick. Quiet."
Silence.
"Who's going down?" someone asked.
Dery didn't hesitate.
"I will."
All eyes turned to him.
"We need one more person. Small. Agile. Mentally stable."
After a few seconds, one student slowly raised his hand.
Dery opened the window. Cold air rushed in, biting against his skin.
He stepped onto the ledge and looked back. There was no applause. No encouragement. Only doubt and fear.
He looked down.
High. Too high to feel comfortable.
But not high enough to give up.
He swallowed hard and began climbing down, gripping the edge of the wall tightly, searching for footing. His friend followed, almost slipping — Dery quickly grabbed his arm.
Near the wall, several zombies wandered slowly.
Dery reacted fast. He pulled out his phone, set an alarm, and threw it as far as he could.
The alarm rang loudly.
The zombies turned toward the sound.
Opportunity.
They ran.
Inside the cafeteria, Dery grabbed plastic bags. The crinkling noise echoed too loudly. Some zombies began turning their heads.
"Quick!" his friend whispered.
They stuffed bread, bottled water — anything they could carry.
Then Dery froze.
In the corner of the cafeteria lay the lunch lady. Motionless.
Dead.
Dery fought the urge to vomit. His hands trembled. Beside her body was a kitchen knife stained with blood.
He stared at it for a few seconds.
Then picked it up.
He wiped it on his uniform.
They moved to the next cafeteria section, grabbing more food and extra knives. The plastic noise had already drawn zombies near the stairs.
When they tried to head back, several zombies were approaching from different directions.
Dery looked at the cafeteria wall.
"Up," he whispered.
He climbed first. His friend followed. They jumped onto the cafeteria roof, moved toward the classroom window above, hanging desperately.
Finally, students inside noticed and pulled them in.
They made it back.
Breathing heavily.
Food in their hands.
Some students immediately tried to eat.
"Wait!" Dery said firmly.
Everyone stopped.
"We divide it equally."
He handed the distribution to Tio. Half a bread for two people. One bottle of water for four.
No one argued.
Dery then looked at the knives.
"What are we going to do with those?" someone asked.
He noticed scout sticks in the corner of the room. He grabbed one and tied a knife to the end using torn curtain fabric.
A simple spear.
"We'll use these. Who else has a stick?"
Three spears were made.
There were 26 of them in total.
night
That night, they took turns keeping watch.
Dery sat near the window beside the door, staring outside. Tio approached him quietly.
"Surviving is harder than I thought," Tio whispered.
Dery nodded. "We have to stay alert. They can come anytime."
The classroom was silent. Cold. No fire. No blankets. No comfortable beds.
They shivered in the darkness.
Still, Dery remained awake, spear beside him, eyes constantly scanning every shadow outside.
The wind blew through the cracked window, carrying dust and the faint smell of smoke from the streets. From downstairs, the slow dragging footsteps could still be heard.
Every second felt heavy.
Dery swallowed.
He was scared.
But he knew one thing.
If he didn't move first, no one would.
And that night, the classroom that had once been filled with screams and panic became silent.
Only Dery.
The leader.
And the invisible tension hanging thick in the air.