"Are you crazy?!" Jade glared at Luna as if she owed him money.
"Y-Yeah, we can't get out of here," a female classmate stammered. This zombie apocalypse scared the hell out of the girls. As for the boys—some were terrified.
But most had that "I've played this game before" expression.
"Listen, if we stay here, our chances of survival will diminish," Laura said.
Everyone stared at her with mixed expressions. Some thought she was insane, while others looked at her with fear in their eyes. Leaving the barrier felt like walking into certain death.
Who in their right mind would step outside?
Just as the class began sinking into despair, Alex stepped forward.
"Can I have everyone's attention? I have a plan that could fix our current predicament," he said, causing the entire class to look at him with a mixture of hope and skepticism.
"What could you possibly think of?" Jade snorted. Of course, some hated him—especially those who resented Alex for stealing their so-called goddess, Shizue.
"Jade, stop messing around!" Luna snapped, startling a few of them. Jade scoffed and looked away while the others turned back to Alex.
"If you all check your system panel, you'll see an inventory option. Press it," Alex instructed.
The class opened their panels—and sure enough, the inventory option was there. They tapped it and saw the following items:
Knife
Pipe
Bat
Gun
Invisibility potion (hides you from all zombies for 2 hours)
"There are weapons here?!"
"If we use the invisibility potion, then w-we might survive!"
The students lit up at the sight of the gear. It was a solid starting loadout.
"Thanks for finding this, Alex," Luna sighed. As the class rep, she felt responsible for guiding them—but even she had no idea what to do. Her only plan was to run and hope for the best. The longer they stayed in the barrier, the more zombies would gather.
Countless people in the city were dying. If they stayed here too long, they'd starve. And the horde outside would only grow larger.
"Don't get too comfortable," Alex said. "There's no guarantee the zombies won't still come after us, even with the invisibility potion."
His words hit hard. They all realized he might be right.
"Actually... can zombies even see? Or do they use other senses?" Alex asked, turning to Peter. Everyone followed his gaze.
*"In some anime I've watched, zombies can't see anymore. Like in Highschool of the Dea—"
"Can you just tell us if they can see or not, you damn weeb?!" Jade snapped. The brute was furious about being overshadowed by both Peter and Alex.
Since arriving, everyone had been focused on Luna, Alex, and now Peter.
"Jade, that's not nice," Shizue sighed, stepping forward. She stood beside Alex and hugged his shoulder, sending a wave of jealousy through the boys.
I hope this bastard becomes a zombie, they all thought.
"All I'm saying is we should observe the zombies first," Peter said, pointing to one nearby. It was chasing a girl who looked no older than 14.
"M-Mommy, please don't do this!" she cried, tripping on a rock and falling.
"Ughghaaaa!!" The zombie pounced, tearing into her with its teeth. She struggled—but quickly stopped moving.
"This is sick!"
"I-I'm not going out there!"
"M-Maybe we should rethink this..."
Panic spread again. Even Alex felt a chill—but when he saw Shizue trembling, he steadied himself. He hugged her tightly and looked at Peter.
"That zombie looked like it could see just fine."
"Yeah. Oh, Jesus..." Peter gagged and vomited. The apocalypse was brutal, and now even he doubted the idea of leaving.
"If we don't leave, we'll die of starvation. Do you want to wait for death, or fight for a chance to survive?!" Luna shouted, trying to shake them out of fear.
"I-I think it's better than being eaten alive!" someone cried. Others nodded. Staying inside the barrier seemed safer—maybe a rescue team would come.
"Did you forget about the invisibility potions? Whatever brought us here used some kind of magic. I'd bet my life that this potion works," Alex said.
"Then prove it! Go outside, you show-off!" Jade sneered. A few students agreed—mostly the guys.
"Yeah, prove it!"
"Exactly! You bet your life, so show us!"
Luna and Shizue frowned. Before they could defend him, Alex summoned the potion.
"W-Wait, you don't have to prove anything to those jerks!" Luna said.
Alex smiled and drank the potion.
"Don't worry. I'm not planning on dying this early in the game." He patted Shizue's head and reassured her. "I won't go far, I promise."
"If you become a zombie... I'll follow you," Shizue whispered, hugging him tightly before letting go.
He walked toward the barrier.
"H-Hey, we were joking! Don't go!"
"Y-Yeah, we're just scared!"
Some students regretted what they'd said—but Alex ignored them.
He crossed the barrier and approached a nearby zombie. Luna and Shizue held their breath.
Why was he going near it?!
"Ughhh..." The zombie growled and turned toward Alex.
Several students got goosebumps. Shizue tried to run after him, but Luna and Peter held her back.
The zombie screamed and charged—right past Alex—and attacked a man crawling out of a broken car.
"AHHH!" the man screamed as the zombie tore open his neck.
BAM!!
The zombie exploded.
Everyone was stunned.
Alex was too. He had been angry—furious, even—watching it eat that man. And somehow, it just... exploded.
"Hm?" He caught his reflection in a shattered car window. His eyes were glowing dark red—lifeless.
He blinked. They turned back to normal.
Frowning, he turned and walked back to the barrier.
"Okay. Let's go."