In Emily's classroom.
"Everyone, please stand up!"
Two soldiers burst energetically into the classroom.
Although they didn't point their weapons directly at us, the way they held them revealed their constant state of alert.
"We need you to identify yourselves."
One by one, we began to utter our names in low voices, a slight tremor in our tones betraying our collective nervousness.
When it was Tim's and Rony's dad's turn, they introduced themselves as collaborators for the anniversary celebration. This was a plan we had previously agreed upon, in case the military forces stopped us upon leaving high school.
Both soldiers initially showed reservations, but as soon as Amy, Yuki, and George stepped forward to corroborate their story, their doubts dissipated.
Once we had identified ourselves, they proceeded to interrogate us and meticulously inspect us for any signs of injuries.
They paid particular attention to Violet's leg and Marlon's hand.
It seemed they were looking for very specific lessons.
We, on the other hand, already instinctively knew exactly what they were searching for.
"It seems all our suspicions are proving true," I murmured, casting a quick glance at Tim, who seemed to share my conclusion.
"All clear in this classroom, let's move on to the next."
"Alright, let's proceed."
"Remember to remain inside the classroom until you are given the signal to leave."
Barely a couple of minutes elapsed from their entry to their departure.
Personally, I didn't feel anxious about their presence, though it would be dishonest to say I wasn't in a state of considerable tension.
Unlike me, my classmates appeared noticeably disturbed.
Some visibly tensed up, and one of our classmates even raised her arms in a gesture of panic when the soldiers appeared.
Such was the fear that gripped them, that the moment the soldiers withdrew, a collective sigh of relief echoed throughout the room.
"Phew!" everyone exhaled at once.
"I haven't felt this nervous since I had to take that annual math exam last year," commented Amy, collapsing exaggeratedly into her seat.
"I thought they were going to shoot us," a classmate articulated, her voice barely audible.
"Don't be so dramatic, Brody; I don't think they would have gone that far, would they?" Minnie inquired, with a clear note of uncertainty.
"It seemed like they were looking for injured people, rather than intruders," observed Sophie, Minnie's twin sister.
"I noticed it too," added Louis, with an enigmatic tone.
"You don't actually believe what Emily is saying, do you?" Violet asked, with an accent of incredulity. "It's insane," she added, clutching her head forcefully.
"Well, it's not about believing it or not, but you saw how they examined your leg looking for other lesions. If you had had any wound resembling a bite, they might have taken you with them," Minnie retorted with an air of fatalism.
"I don't believe that's real!" Brody exclaimed, vehemently denying it.
I had known Brody before.
She tended to be quite apprehensive, and while she was prone to paranoia, the fear and tension of that moment compelled her to deny anything that seemed implausible to her.
"I have something to show you," George suddenly interjected.
George connected his phone to the classroom projector and began playing the video of the streamer we had seen earlier.
He selected the most revealing segments of the video and presented them to everyone.
After a few minutes of viewing the material, the atmosphere in the classroom became chilling.
The air felt so thick that breathing became an arduous task for everyone.
"It seems there are no doubts left," George affirmed seriously.
"But if this is true, does it mean that the people attacked at the celebration are infected and could transform at any moment?" Marlon asked, grasping the chilling magnitude of the situation.
"What do you mean, young man?" Tim interrogated him, with an anxious expression.
"Well... when they gave the previous announcement, a group of classmates, who seemed affected by the chaos, started attacking and biting people around them... Louis and I helped those we could, but there were quite a few in that condition," he replied, his tone now more frightened.
"We have to help others," Amy said immediately.
"We must alert them and the military about what's happening," she added, looking at me pleadingly.
"And what happens if they lock us up to know these things?" Brody asked cynically, revealing her most paranoid side at that moment.
"They wouldn't," Tim firmly denied.
"At most, they would keep a close eye on us and interrogate us," he added.
We all remained motionless, paralyzed by indecision.
No one seemed to know what to do.
The most terrible part of it all was that, just a few hours earlier, we were celebrating the high school anniversary, and now we found ourselves debating and evaluating the dangers we would face if the situation was as Tim described it.
The silence lingered, dense and suffocating. Every second felt like an eternity, a lapse of time in which each of us grappled with disbelief, fear, and the urgent need to act.
The artificial light hummed with a monotony that now seemed almost ironic, contrasting with the chaotic muteness that enveloped us.
From outside, another warm light broke the tension of the moment.
It was already getting dark, and with the arrival of night, the dangers would intensify.
My breathing felt shallow, barely managing to fill my lungs.
I looked around, observing each face, each expression of astonishment and disbelief. It was as if a movie had paused, and we were the characters trapped in a single frame of horror.
I could perceive in their gazes the same silent question I had asked myself before: "Is this real? Is it truly happening?"
My hands began to dampen with sweat.
Suddenly, I remembered the promise I had made to my mother.
Although fear enveloped me, something inside me began to ignite.
I felt an urgent need to act, to do something, anything that would break this paralysis.
We couldn't just stay there, waiting for someone else to take the remains.
The idea hit me with chilling clarity: "There was no one else."
Not at that precise moment.
We had to get out of there, we had to think, we had to... do something.
Inaction was an imminent sentence.
I rose from my seat, the scrape of the chair legs against the floor echoing in silence like an unexpected bang.
Everyone looked up at me, with a mixture of surprises and a faint, almost imperceptible, spark of hope.
My throat went dry, but I forced myself to speak.
"George and Marlon, I need you to notify the military, who are surely still inspecting the adjacent classrooms," I requested both with a tone that combined courtesy and authority.
"Alright."
"Girls, I need you to help inform our classmates and teachers to exercise extreme caution with infected individuals," I asked as George and Marlon cautiously left the room.
"We will."
"We should try to issue a warning over the loudspeakers," Louis suggested.
"I don't think we can," Violet retorted. "The military or the police must have the place completely secured," she argued, while her fingers moved nimbly across her phone screen, sending warning messages.
"You're right," Minnie nodded.
"Although the police are no longer at the high school," Louis commented with an air of nonchalance.
"What do you mean by that?" Brody inquired, with a hint of suspicion in her voice.
"Well... earlier, Marlon and I went to buy something at the casino, and we witnessed two officers dragging Billy away. He seemed to be arguing with them as they left the premises," Louis recounted, resting a hand on his chin with a thoughtful expression.
"If we add the officer to the infirmary, then there will be three. Does anyone know if there were more officers?" Violet asked with a curious tone.
"Only three entered... we saw them with George earlier," Yuki said, looking at the floor, timidly moving her thumbs.
"Only military personnel remain at the high school... it's much more complicated to deal with them," Tim commented, his voice tinged with reflection.
"I believe we must take the risk and issue a school-wide warning, but first, we'll wait a few minutes to see if George and Marlon managed to convince the soldiers," I stated with a serious tone.
Five minutes passed until George and Marlon returned to the classroom.
Both looked notably agitated and concerned.
"What happened?" I asked them.
"We informed the soldiers, and they forced us to return to our classroom."
"What did they tell you about the attacks on the stage?"
"They just said they would thoroughly examine areas with higher concentrations of people such as the library, the casino, and the gym, but they didn't seem to alert anyone."
"They're only going to do that?! Don't they care that all of this is getting out of control?" Minnie asked, indignant.
"Well, they're just following orders," Brody interjected. "What more can we ask of them?" she added, her tone imbued with pessimism.
"Something else happened," Marlon said, hesitantly.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You see... I wanted to observe if they would take any action or just stand idly by, but the problem is we heard them talking on the radio, reporting our discovery, and..."
"And what else?"
"They're planning to shut down the school... they only want to secure the entrances to prevent the 'biological hazards' from escaping the premises," George replied, his voice sounding resigned, though despair could also be discerned on his face.
"What?!" everyone exclaimed, terrified.
"Yes... Plus, they said they wouldn't be able to control the situation with the spread in a place with so many exposed people, and they ordered them to wait for reinforcements tomorrow morning."
"I don't think they'd abandon us, would they?" Sophie, Minnie's twin sister, sought confirmation.
"I think they already have," Brody said with a tone of desperation.
She looked out the window, pointing to the high school entrance.
We all approached to look and were shocked by what we saw.
There were the soldiers who, a short while ago, had inspected our classroom.
They were setting up barricades with nearby elements and some materials they brought from their vehicles on adjacent streets.
They checked their weapons, carefully observing the interior of the high school.
They were preparing to neutralize these 'biological hazards.'
But deep down, I knew that if any of us dared to approach an injury, it was highly probable they would arrest us immediately, or in the worst-case scenario, shoot us.
My vision began to become erratic; I felt my sight dimming and intensifying intermittently.
My hands began to sweat.
Chills ran down my body as if on a racetrack.
My breathing was rapid, not to suffer a respiratory attack, but enough to be visually noticeable.
Silence, once again, reigned in the room.
Everyone looked worried.
Some clutched their heads in desperation, while others embraced the nearest people seeking comfort.
I slowly controlled my breathing.
My vision returned to normal, but the chills did not disappear.
I wiped my sweaty hands on my clothes.
I looked at Tim and Rony's dad.
Both were staring at me intently.
Their expressions showed deep concern.
"We can get through this," I said, my voice was not loud enough due to the fear that still hadn't left me.
"We can get through this!" I exclaimed in a louder tone; this time, my voice reflected confidence and an unconscious desire not to give up.
"Yes, we can," some murmurs were heard.
"We can get through this!" I shouted.
"Yes, we can!" everyone shouted, even Tim and Rony's dad.
"First, we need to prepare... Tim, I need you and Rony's dad to instruct us on how to prevent and combat these zombies," I said with emotion; I wanted to capitalize on that sense of hope I had managed to instill in my classmates.
"Understood," both replied.
"Then, Tim, Marlon, and I will go to the communications office to inform everyone over the loudspeakers about what's happening... Hopefully, we can warn most people to stay away from infected individuals or how to protect themselves," I communicated with a firm tone.
"I know how the communications system works... I could go with you," Sophie offered.
At first, she seemed to hesitate whether to join us, but then she gathered courage and decided to come along.
"Thank you very much for your help," I told her sincerely.
"You're welcome," she said shyly.
"After issuing the warning, we will try to secure, section by section, all the buildings. We will place barricades at their entrances to prevent zombies from entering and thus create safe zones... After that, we'll see what we need to do," I announced.
"Tim, let's begin."
15 minutes later.
At the entrance of the classroom, stood Tim, Marlon, Sophie, and I.
We all looked in both directions.
The hallway, now illuminated by the warm light of dusk and the light lights, appeared extremely desolate.
Conversations could be heard in some nearby classrooms.
Erratic footsteps were also heard nearby and some distant shouts.
But by the reaction of the others with me, I assumed it was just my imagination.
We all hesitated to take the first step.
"It's time," I thought.
I took the first step out of the classroom decisively.
"Surviving is in our hands."
.
----
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Hello everyone.
I hope you enjoyed it.
Emily now knows there's no turning back. She undergoes a somewhat abrupt personality change, but from the first chapter (including her journal entries) I've made it clear that, while she's a bit spoiled, intelligence and determination are qualities present within her. It's just that now she must use both qualities to survive.
In the next chapter, there will be direct confrontations with zombies. Little by little, we'll see human nature reveal its darker colors, as well as the flashes present in those who aren't corrupted by despair.
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Read my other novels
#The Walking Dead: Vision of the Future.
#Vinland Kingdom: Race Against Time.
You can find them on my profile.]