The East Exit stood before them—steel-reinforced, scorched from the lab fires. The smell of melted plastic and charred flesh filled the air.
"We made it," Kanami whispered.
But something was wrong.
Kanata reached for the door—
Click.
A red light blinked.
"Wait—DON'T TOUCH IT!" Kanami shouted, diving forward.
Kanata froze.
Wires. Pressure sensors. Trip lines.
It wasn't just locked.
It was rigged to blow.
"Someone set a trap," she muttered, already pulling out her tools.
"Why? To keep something in… or out?" Serizawa asked grimly.
Kanami didn't answer. Her fingers moved fast, tracing the circuits.
"Military-grade," she whispered. "Crude, but effective. I can bypass it—if I don't mess up."
Takiya stood guard beside her, eyes locked on the far hallway. Flames flickered in the distance, creeping forward.
They had no time.
"Kanata, help me," Kanami said.
He knelt beside her, steadying the panel as she spliced the last wire.
Tick.
She exhaled.
The red light turned green.
The door unlocked.
Behind them, the alarms let out a final death rattle—then silence broke.
And from that silence—
came the fire.
---
The hallway lit up like hell's throat.
Flames danced across the lockers, consuming everything in a roaring blaze. From within the inferno, shadows moved—zombies, faces twisted in eternal agony, flesh peeling, eyes wild.
Yet they walked.
They walked through the fire.
"They're still coming!" Serizawa shouted, raising her bat.
Takiya stepped forward, shotgun raised. "We clear a path. Now."
Kanata nodded, gritting his teeth. The heat was unbearable, smoke choking his lungs.
But there was no other way.
Takiya led the charge, blasting the first creature's head off with practiced ease. Kanata swung his bat with ferocity, bones crunching beneath his strikes.
Serizawa flanked them, clearing side angles.
Kanami dragged Godou-sensei behind cover—but the older woman stopped.
She stood on shaky legs, reaching into a fallen zombie's shirt pocket.
"What are you—?" Kanami started.
Godou pulled out a key, smeared with blood.
On the chain: "Bus C-5: Emergency Response."
Her eyes met Kanami's. "The bus. In the lot. You'll need it."
She swayed—then stumbled toward the gate controls.
"I'll buy you time," she rasped.
Kanata turned. "No! You'll die—"
"Already dying," Godou whispered.
Her hand slammed the override.
With a heavy groan, the East Exit door opened.
"GO!" she screamed.
Then the flames surged, swallowing her silhouette whole.
---
Outside was no better.
The once-pristine school grounds were ruined. Craters tore up the asphalt. Blood and broken glass marked the battlefield.
Beyond the fences, the city loomed—Tokyo in ruin. Skyscrapers burned. Sirens wailed in the distance. The air smelled of ash and rot.
A Black Ops helicopter hovered overhead.
For a moment, they thought it might land.
Instead, it turned.
And vanished.
"They're not coming," Serizawa said, voice hollow.
Kanata didn't reply.
Instead, he pointed. "There."
The bus.
Its windows were cracked, tires caked in blood—but it was upright.
Serizawa rushed ahead—but a zombie burst from the bushes.
It lunged—straight at Takiya.
"Look out!" Kanami screamed.
Takiya spun—too slow.
The creature tackled her, teeth inches from her throat.
And then—
Kanata was there.
He grabbed the zombie by the collar, yanked it back, and slammed it onto the pavement. Again. And again.
Blood sprayed. Bones shattered.
When it stopped moving, Kanata knelt beside Takiya, panting.
"Are you hurt?"
She looked up, wide-eyed.
"I... no."
He offered his hand.
She took it, face flushed, heart racing.
Behind them, Serizawa watched—eyes unreadable.
---
They piled into the bus, slamming the door shut.
Kanami jumped into the front, sliding the bloodstained key into the ignition.
It roared to life.
They peeled out of the parking lot as the school behind them collapsed in flame and smoke.
Kanata sat in the back, body covered in cuts and ash, watching Kichijo Academy disappear in the rear window.
He felt... nothing.
No relief. No joy.
Only the weight of what they'd lost.
Of who they'd become.
---
Serizawa sat beside him.
She didn't speak at first. Then, after a long silence, she reached into her bag and pulled something out.
A wooden bat—splintered but whole.
"Takeshi's," she said. "You dropped it after the courtyard."
He blinked, surprised.
"I was going to burn it," she added. "But... I couldn't."
She placed it in his lap.
"Kanata... when you fought back then, when you saved Takiya just now... I realized something."
He looked at her.
Her cheeks were pink. Her voice shook.
"You've changed. But not into a monster. Into someone... stronger than all of us."
He lowered his gaze.
"I'm not strong."
She touched his hand.
"You were always stronger than me."
He looked at her—really looked.
For a moment, the flames outside didn't matter. The city's ruin didn't matter.
Only the quiet between them.
---
They drove in silence.
Kanami kept her eyes forward. Takiya leaned back, exhausted.
The bus moved through empty streets, past burned-out cars, broken power lines, and swarms of crows feasting on corpses.
The old world was dead.
Gone.
Kanata rested his head against the glass.
His fingers clenched around the bat.
Yuka.
He would find her.
But he couldn't go back.
There was no going back.
Only forward.
Into the unknown.
---
The city horizon came into view—Shinjuku, swallowed in smoke.
Their next destination.
Their only hope.
Kanata closed his eyes.
"This is the new world," he whispered.
"And I'm not ready to die in it."
---
To be continued…