In a high school hallway.
Our footsteps echoed along the corridor.
We advanced quickly towards the most central area of the entire high school. There, adjacent to the teachers' office, was the communications office.
Our purpose was to alert everyone via loudspeakers about the imminent dangers lurking in high school.
Before leaving the classroom, we prepared ourselves to follow Tim's instructions to prevent accidental bites.
We placed textbooks or notebooks as protectors on our arms and legs.
Sophie and I carried mops as weapons. However, their usefulness was limited to keeping these creatures at bay, as their resistance was not enough for stabbing or blunt force.
Moreover, Tim warned that it was risky to use them that way, because if they got stuck in the creatures' bodies, we would expose ourselves to additional dangers trying to dislodge them.
We both positioned ourselves in the center of the group, with Sophie indicating the direction to Tim, who led the advance.
Marlon, in charge of the rear, carried a metallic emergency axe he had found in one of the hallways.
We all advanced with a mixture of confidence, but at the same time, we doubted our ability to face one of those things.
Tim, for his part, constantly scanned in all directions for dangers. From time to time, he also watched me to make sure I was safe.
After 10 minutes of ascents, descents, and long corridors, we reached the teachers' office.
"Should we talk to them first?" I inquired in front of the office door.
"They could help us," Sophie affirmed with conviction.
"Or maybe they'll act as they always do, and believe that only they possess the truth," Marlon commented indifferently.
"Mmmm... Let's talk to them. If they help us, that would be ideal, but if not..." I said after a brief moment of reflection.
"I will take care of your safety, miss," Tim declared gravely.
I knocked on the door with enough force to alert everyone inside.
After the knock, footsteps were heard from inside the office.
"What are you doing outside of your classrooms?" a teacher asked, realizing we were just students.
"Teacher, we are in serious trouble. We found a dead police officer in the infirmary. The guys faced infected people who attacked other students. They heard that the military would abandon us to our fate with the zombies in high school, that's why they are no longer here. We must warn everyone to take extreme precautions with bitten people," Sophie replied in an alarmed tone.
"What are you talking about? Zombies? Trapped? Bitten?" the teacher inquired with annoyance. "Stop raving and go back to your classrooms or stay here obeying the military's orders. It's for our safety."
"What we're telling you is the truth!" Sophie retorted, irritated by the teacher's disbelief.
"Sophie, it's better if we withdraw and continue with our original mission," I said, patting her back to calm her.
"Are you coming back? Hurry up, and by the way, who is that man?" the teacher asked, looking at Tim, who was watching the surroundings.
"He's just an assistant for the anniversary event. We'll leave immediately, teacher," I replied in a firm tone, while Sophie beside me looked at the teacher with anger. "By the way, teacher, remember to hit them in the head when you're in trouble, and if there's someone acting strangely, you'd better run," I warned her.
After the teacher closed the door and ranted a bit about our supposed madness, we advanced towards the school's communications office, maintaining the same formation as before.
Every step I took seemed incredibly heavy.
I felt my breathing stop at times and had to breathe consciously.
In the nearby hallways, noise could be heard coming from the classrooms, but even that noise seemed to fade before the sense of crisis that enveloped us.
"Here it is," Sophie said, opening one of the nearby doors.
"Fuuu... We finally made it," Marlon exclaimed, letting out a dramatic sigh. "I thought I'd die of fright."
"Let's go in quickly and inform everyone," I said with a resolute tone.
Sophie entered and began operating a sound mixing board and some other equipment inside the office.
"It's ready," she said, sitting in front of the board, and handed me the microphone with an expectant look.
I took a deep breath, calmed my heart rate. I reflected for a moment on what I should say and mentally drafted the announcement. After reviewing it in my mind, I looked at Sophie for instructions and she pointed at a button at the base of the microphone.
"Attention, all students! This is Emily from senior year, and I want to inform you that we have found the body of a dead police officer in the infirmary. We believe it's due to a zombie bite... Yes, you heard me right, a zombie. Those videos that have been circulated in recent days are real, and now they are among us. I repeat; they are among us. You must protect yourselves and be very careful with infected people. Also, they..."
"Stop right now!" the previous teacher burst in with other teachers into the communications office; all of them looked very angry.
"Teacher, we must inform everyone, or many lives will be lost," I told her in a pleading tone.
"You are delusional. The military is protecting us from outside danger. All those criminals who are invading the streets. That's why they came to our respected high school. They are protecting us from them," she commented vehemently and with a hint of panic.
Her reaction irritated me a bit.
However, I remembered how I acted at the possibility of these things existing and understood her reaction.
It's difficult to conceive that beings like zombies could roam among us.
"I'm sorry, Teacher. We'll return to our classroom immediately," I apologized so as not to waste any more time.
"Good thing you understand... The military will soon be able to clear the surrounding streets, and you can safely return home," she said, a little calmer.
"Just remember what I warned you about," I said, turning around and taking everyone else with me.
We distanced ourselves a bit from the communications room, and Sophie stopped me. Her face showed confusion and annoyance.
"What's wrong, Sophie?" I asked her calmly.
"Why didn't you try to keep broadcasting?" she asked, visibly perplexed. "We could have closed the door and warned everyone," she added in a harsh tone.
"I understand your anger, but it's extremely difficult to convince people of situations like this," I replied, looking directly into her eyes, my face impassive. "Remember how you reacted when others tried to explain it to you. You thought it was a joke, and only when we witnessed the officer's body and heard the military talk about it, did everyone realize it was real," I explained as we continued walking and the rest followed us.
"But..."
"There's nothing else we can do... Besides, did you notice the history teacher?" I asked, and everyone looked at me confused, except Tim.
"What happened to the teacher?" Marlon asked.
"He was acting strangely... When I mentioned the bites, he pulled down his shirt sleeve trying to hide something. Also, he was sweating excessively for someone in an air-conditioned office," I explained seriously.
"Do you think he was bitten?" Sophie asked, panicked.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell them then?"
"Because they wouldn't have believed me, even if I showed them the bite. They would think it's a simple bite and nothing would happen to him," I explained with a tone of resignation.
As we advanced down the second-floor hallway, Tim, who was leading our group, stopped abruptly upon reaching an intersection with another hallway.
"Shhh."
From the hallway connecting to our classroom, hurried footsteps were heard.
Tim pointed to the stairs, and we all quickly ran to hide.
We all stayed in the middle section of the stairs in absolute silence.
The silence was such that we could hear the approaching people.
"Damn kids, how did they find out about the infected?"
"It could be from internet videos or that scientist's radio broadcasts."
"I think it must have been those police officers who came in earlier."
"Why do you think it was them?"
"Didn't you notice that only two of the three who entered came out?"
"I saw three people leaving."
"One of them was a student. I heard them mention the police captain earlier. It's possibly his son or some relative of his."
"What happened to the other police officer then?"
"He must have gotten infected, and the other police officers killed him. However, I'm sure he must have infected a couple of people, and that's why they ordered us to close the high school and..."
The conversation between those two soldiers left me stunned.
I looked at the others, hoping to find calm faces that would show me it had just been my imagination, but everyone was in a similar state to mine.
Sophie looked at me with a face invaded by panic. She had one of her hands covering her mouth, trying to suppress a scream. Her breathing was erratic, and she seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack.
Marlon, for his part, just looked scared. He was leaning against the stairwell wall, gripping the handrail very tightly.
Tim, for his part, seemed to be calculating a quick retreat route. He looked a little worried but always tried to appear confident in front of me.
"We must return to the classroom soon... I think we must escape high school even if we have to face the protesters," I said as I climbed the stairs again to head towards the classroom.
No one said anything, but everyone followed me.
Tim went ahead and took his position as the head of our group.
While we advanced, Sophie and I heard a frightened murmur coming from one of the nearby classrooms.
"Did you hear that?" I asked Sophie, she just nodded, scared.
"Tim, I think someone is in trouble in a nearby classroom. We must go help," I told him in a pleading tone.
"Mmmm... All right, but don't do anything that puts you in danger," he said after thinking for a moment.
We all advanced towards the source of the sound.
We tried to make our steps as silent as possible.
"It's the art room," Sophie said, pointing towards a room with an open door.
"Let's go."
"Miss, stay close to me."
"Understood... Guys, remember to place a protected part of your body if a zombie attacks you."
"Understood," Marlon and Sophie chorused.
Tim slowly opened the door. He took out a flashlight and a large knife and illuminated all corners.
The rest followed Tim and observed the surroundings very carefully.
"There!" Sophie shrieked, scared, pointing towards a corner of the room.
Marlon, Sophie, and I immediately took a step back out of fear.
Tim pointed to the place Sophie indicated, and it was just a bust used as a painting model.
"Uff," we sighed, relieved, but again we became alert.
Tim continued to scour the art room.
Marlon, who was behind, pointed his phone's flashlight at the path we had taken, preparing for any stealth attack from the zombies.
Suddenly, we all heard tearing and splashing sounds.
Also, a faint growl was perceived from time to time.
At the same time, a very familiar stench reached us, or at least Tim, Marlon, and me.
"What's that smell?" Sophie asked, scared.
"Shhh."
The smell was very impactful for me, and it's very possible I'll never forget it.
We all advanced in search of the source of that noise.
Upon reaching a sculpture section, we found a student on top of what was once one of the high school art teachers.
He was greedily chewing on her internal organs.
Even if that being couldn't show expressions, I could feel that he was enjoying his meal.
"What the fu...!" Sophie shouted, but I quickly covered her mouth.
Tim became alert, thinking the zombie had heard Sophie's scream, but to everyone's relief, this zombie continued to devour the teacher.
Tim became alert, thinking the zombie had heard Sophie's scream, but to everyone's relief, this zombie continued to devour the teacher.
We continued to approach a little closer until Tim signaled to stop.
He approached the zombie's back, avoiding making noise.
He aimed his knife at the zombie's nape, and without much hesitation, he stabbed it with all his might.
The zombie stopped all movement instantly and collapsed onto the body that was previously its food.
Sophie moved away from us a bit and began to vomit, a product of that repulsive scene.
Marlon and I also seemed quite affected, but we suppressed the urge to vomit and just took deep breaths, trying to calm ourselves.
I was about to approach Tim, who had already stabbed the teacher's head, when I observed a classmate sobbing under the teacher's desk.
"Help... me," she said, her voice very low, almost murmuring.
"Tim, there's a classmate under that desk," I said, pointing to the desk, but my tone sounded a little worried.
"Let's hope she wasn't bitten," he said as he pulled the knife from the head and wiped it on his pants.
"Hey... Everything's okay," I told my classmate in a soft tone. "Did that guy attack you anywhere?" I asked, kneeling beside her.
"I... Yes," she replied after hesitating for a moment whether to tell the truth or not.
She lifted the sleeve of her sweatshirt and a T-shirt, and there, on her thin arm, some tooth marks appeared.
"Will she turn?" I asked myself, alarmed.
.
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Hello everyone.
Emily is starting to show a tenacity she didn't have before. The situation at the high school is starting to get worse, and the problem is that they're surrounded. They know the problems around them, but they don't know what awaits them outside.
By the way, the connection between the two novels is getting closer. We'll soon see how Emily escapes from high school from two perspectives.
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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.]