Red.

Some of the kids started to go to the door, the screaming stopped. One of them quickly looks outside and then immediately leaves, running while loudly exclaiming that someone was hurt.

As more of them started to go out in order to take a look, I hesitated for a moment before starting to go outside as well. The notification about me being in danger of dying is still on my mind, but if I don't know what is happening, I also won't be able to prepare for whatever is going on.

As I made my way to the door, the sight of some kids still sleeping made me question how they were able to do so with all of this noise, but I ignored this and reached the exit. Finally, after a lot of pushing since the door was quite crowded, I managed to see what all the fuss was about. And it wasn't a pretty thing to see.

Red, red, and more red. When I heard that someone was hurt, it didn't come to mind how bad they were. Their neck was missing a chunk of flesh; it was so bad that the red of blood looked somewhat black. One of the girls was holding the neck, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was clear as day that they didn't have any idea what to really do.

Crying, screaming, and even some trying to hold back vomiting, with quite a few failing to do so. It was a mess; it wasn't only people from my class; there were a lot from others as well, but weirdly, there was no teacher around. In fact, considering the loud noises everyone is making, there are too few people here.

A rising feeling goes up my throat. Holding it back, I try to keep calm. I ask the system questions, what happened, how to help, what should I do. But while it did answer me, it wasn't what I wanted. All of them can be boiled down to one sentence.

[Experience as much as you can.]

I understand now, this system, while it will explain things to me, it won't do much more than that. It won't care if I make a bad decision, even if my life ends as a result, it will only be another experience.

A set of rather conflicting feelings arises. On one side, I am alone in this world, and the system, which is the only thing that could help me, can't. But in the other, I am the one who has the choice, and the fact that this system is not controlling my fate eases my mind.

"KYAAAA!!!" A loud scream comes from the end of the corridor, and another commotion starts. Someone was attacked by another student, and a lot of people started to try and stop them, until someone called out a teacher who was making their way over. The situation seemingly calms down. "They will know what to do." "We can finally get this over with." This was what everyone was feeling at that moment, except for me.

"Watch out!!!" I screamed; a bad feeling that came from my heart told me that person was not thinking right. The kid in front of the teacher hears me and seems to notice something wrong, but probably because of their trust in their teacher, he goes closer to ask what was wrong. And in a quick movement, the relieved atmosphere that was in the corridor was gone.

Red.

Students try to save him, but more screams resound from another area. One of the kids who wasn't feeling well because of the sight of blood suddenly starts to attack someone else, and this scene repeats itself time and time again. All around me, this bloody scene continues.

"In the classroo-!" Someone was trying to get people back inside until they too got tackled into the ground from behind. The guys who did it were the ones sleeping at that time. Blood hits my face. The first girl that was helping is looking at me, lifeless, the nearly dead person she was treating... Eating her. I step back, fear grips my mind. I try to run by turning around, but right in front of me another one of those... things appears; they lunge faster than I can think. 'I'm going to die..!'

But instead of me being too slow, I managed to stop them in their tracks with one of my feet against their chest. The move was fast, and it even surprised me. I didn't know if it was luck or something else, but there's no time to wonder about this. Quickly putting strength into my leg, I push the monster aside before running. It was for just a moment, but the way was clear, the zombie I kicked was definitely still alive. I clench my teeth and call for the people behind me.

"This way!" I don't look back. I run until I reach the cafeteria. The door to the schoolyard is open, and wanting to leave, I go for it. But that place was already full of those things, and before they noticed, I quickly closed the door. Running sounds come from behind me, but luckily they are from survivors, probably the ones who followed me at that time. One of them, a girl with glasses who looked familiar, comes up to me and asks, "What should we do?". Looking closer, she was the girl from my class who answered a question from the teacher.

"...Find an empty room where we can stay for a while... or something like that." I was not ready to be put in the spotlight; don't look at me like that. There are at least 10 students here, some really young; there are no teachers or someone who could take charge in this situation, so they probably defaulted to the *This way* guy. They all look worried, but having a plan is better than having none.

I look around and find something useful. Opening the cleaning locker that was at the side, I reach out and distribute some things they can use to protect themselves. Brooms, a mop, and probably because it was close to the yard, there were even some gardening tools. It wasn't enough for everyone to get one, but it was lucky to have even this.

What I decided to keep to myself was a shovel. It was just half the size of a normal broom, but it was quite heavy on the metal part at the end. After everything is ready, we go looking for a place to a base for ourselves.

While there were a lot of them around, most were... Busy. This allowed us to be mostly unimpeded, as long as we were careful not to alert them. That's until we reach a point where the only way through is by passing one familiar-looking zombie.

"Sensei..." A somewhat complicated feeling rises in my heart. I was not calm. Since I still didn't feel a sense of belonging, everything felt like a weird nightmare. But, even if it wasn't much, she had embarrassed me after I slept in the class, and when she called me to the board, I managed to turn the tables on her. It felt... Human. Maybe because I knew this was just from a story, I was not feeling a sense of loss over this situation before this, but...

She is dead.

The sudden shock made me realize that all of these zombies were not just side characters in a story; they were alive. Everyone behind me is alive. My grip on the shovel strengthens, and it looks at me before starting to move in my direction. The weight of everyone's lives feels extremely heavy. I am ready.

It lunges at me, just like what happened before, it feels like my body can move better, but this time I have more control. My eyes aim at their neck, and I swing the shovel like an axe with all my might. Impact: the lunge is stopped suddenly, and she flies to the side. A good part of their neck was sliced, but that was not enough; they are still moving. However, I know how to truly end it. Putting my feet over her in order to keep it from moving, I prepare myself.

"Thank you..." If I didn't have those interactions with you when I woke up in this world, even if I didn't become a zombie, I don't know if I would stay *human*. Their arms tried to reach for me; a small part of me hoped for something miraculous to happen, but...

"...and goodbye" Eyes glazed over, full of hunger. There is no hope for her. My arms raised my weapon, and with all my strength, aiming at her head... I brought it down. The familiar face is gone; all that was left in its place is...

Red.