Swish!
Utaha opened the classroom door very carefully, just a few centimeters, then tilted her head and allowed her eyes to move slowly along the corridor.
She expected to see one or two zombies wandering aimlessly…
But what she saw was much worse.
At the end of the corridor, not far away, were several zombie corpses brutally torn apart—
Severed limbs, exposed bones, and internal organs scattered on the floor as if a giant meat grinder had passed through here.
Utaha froze in place.
Her already pale face turned an even whiter shade, as if the blood had left her body in a single moment.
If she had eaten anything today, she would have been bent over vomiting on the floor right now.
But her empty stomach saved her from that embarrassing scene.
"…What is this…"
She whispered in a trembling voice, while dozens of terrifying possibilities raced through her mind:
Was this the work of a monster?
An evolved zombie?
Or perhaps… humans with supernatural abilities?
She had no answer.
Only fear pressed on her chest.
Yet, amidst all this horror…
She felt a small part of relief:
At least there was no army of freaks waiting behind the door.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, then emerged from the classroom with small, calculated steps.
She moved quickly but made an effort not to make a sound—like a frightened cat fleeing from its own shadow.
And despite her fear, there was one fact pushing her forward:
There were humans in the staff room.
This was her last hope for survival in this hell.
With this thought, Utaha headed towards the staff room, each step carrying with it a mixture of hope… anxiety… and suppressed terror.
The staff room wasn't far from her classroom; the distance between her and the door was only about fifty meters.
When Utaha got close to the entrance, she didn't knock immediately, but stopped for a moment, trying to listen to the sounds coming from inside. There were low whispers, overlapping voices of conversation that clearly belonged to more than one person.
And to her surprise… the number inside the room was larger than she initially expected, and one of those voices was very familiar.
'That… is Marikawa-sensei's voice…' Utaha thought with some relief, as if a tension that had been storming within her had slightly eased. Clearly, the group included several girls, even an adult woman like the school nurse, Marikawa Shizuka. She couldn't deny the feeling of reassurance that washed over her upon realizing this. The only thought that had terrified her the whole way was the possibility of encountering some scoundrels who might take advantage of the collapse of order and law to do as they pleased.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart and nervous excitement, then finally reached out… and knocked lightly on the door with a low, cautious sound.
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
Upon hearing the knocking, the sounds and movement inside the room suddenly stopped. They hadn't expected anyone alive outside the door.
"Excuse me… Can you open the door?"
Utaha said in a relatively calm voice, trying to soothe those inside the room, or at least alleviate her own tension.
"I'm… Kasumigaoka Utaha, a third-year student."
"Were you bitten or injured by the zombies?"
A female voice rang out from inside the room, filled with anxiety and caution, as if the speaker was trying to ensure that anyone entering wouldn't pose an additional danger to those present.
"No… I didn't even get close to them."
Utaha answered without hesitation, shaking her head frantically, trying to banish the disturbing images from her mind.
She clearly remembered how some of her classmates turned into zombies, how they started attacking each other and devouring those who fell, and how the chaos spread mercilessly.
She didn't want those scenes to repeat before her eyes, so she focused all her attention on maintaining her calm and convincing those inside that she wasn't injured.
"She seems okay…"
Utaha heard the female voice again, this time closer, and it was clear the speaker was staring at her from behind the door's glass panel.
Then another voice came, this time male, a bit farther away:
"Then, open the door and let her in."
Utaha's heart trembled slightly, but she soon felt a strange relief.
She recognized the owner of the voice immediately. It was Haru… her kohai (junior) in the same school and in the same field of work.
Just like her, he was a novelist and enjoyed some popularity within his literary circle—not a lot, but enough to garner respect from his peers.
As for how they knew each other?
It was related to the same editor; both worked under the supervision of the same editor, and Haru and Utaha had met several times to discuss their works with him, although that editor was quite lazy and often left them to argue about the minor details themselves.
This prior acquaintance made Utaha feel more at ease. She wasn't blindly entering the room into an unknown world, but into a place where she knew someone she could rely on, at least to some extent.
As Utaha was momentarily lost in her thoughts, the sound of heavy objects scraping brought her back to reality.
It was clear those inside had placed a lot of furniture in front of the door to protect themselves, which gave her a simultaneous feeling of safety and seriousness.
Soon, the people inside the room moved, the furniture was quickly moved aside, and the brown-haired girl—who seemed around the same age as Utaha—slid the door open.
"Hurry, come in!"
The girl said, making way for the stunned Utaha, even reaching out a hand to pull her inside.
"Ah~"
A faint sound escaped Utaha's lips due to the sudden pull, but she quickly suppressed it and allowed Rei to gently pull her into the room.
Once inside, Rei quickly closed the door, and everyone returned to placing the furniture back in front of it, completing the fortification in an organized and effective manner.
...
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