Back to class

"Whoever built this thing, must have been really going for a king of the hill feel..." I stared at the elementary school that was on the opposite side of the street as i spoke. The building itself surrounded by a tall green metal fence. Guess it is, or more correctly, was there in order to keep the kids from running outside.

That though, was obviously not the reason i just mentioned it as the king of the hill. The reason for that was the school's position, as the road we just used to come here and the road to my left were both downhill roads, with the only 'straight' road being the one to my right. So in the end, the school ended up being positioned at the corner of a hill, towering over the rest of the buildings. Also, another thing i wanted to note is...

"So, many of them..." Saya keeps staring at the downhill road to our left as she speaks.

And 'many'...might be an understatement. To put it in perspective, right now to my left i could see two seas, one being the blue one in the distance...and one being a murky mix of gray, red and beige that had flooded the streets to my left for as far as the eye could see...

"At least they seem to be quite further down, even if we started shouting, i don't think they would notice us" Saeko folds her arms as she also keeps looking to our left.

"Uhh. At least there aren't any signs of battle around this street, it's actually pretty clean all considering, and the school looks fine past the fence too. If 'that' passed through here, then the school was probably already empty, meaning that they might have been following the helicopters" Saya takes a few steps forward and looks around the road as she speaks.

"Hmm...Alright, Come on, waiting here ain't going to change anything " I say as i walk up to the front door of the school's metal fence...

Once in front of it, i give it a push.

(Locked, i shouldn't be surprised though, should i?...Hmm, the bars don't have any arrowheads on the top.)

"We can probably climb the fence, it doesn't have arrowheads on the top of it so it should..." I turn towards the girls as i speak...only to see Saya staring at me with a shit-eating grin from the other side of the fence...the school's car gate slightly open.

"Or, you can come through here" She says with the grin still on her face.

"Uhh...they left the gate open?" I ask as i walk up to it.

"The gate opens by sliding it to the left, pushing it won't open it, and corpses seem to only push whatever they walk up against. It was just tied up with a metal chain." Saeko responds as she shows me the chain in her hand.

"...I'm not going to go on about how stupid it is to leave your front door unlocked, as it benefits us right now...but trust me, it's very stupid" I glance behind me as i speak and walk into the school's field.

After Saeko got in we closed the gate and 'locked' it again.

"Well...now what?" Saya asks as she looks around.

"This place looks abandoned" Saeko adds up as she looks at the small tents that littered the field in front of the main building, the whole scene looked a lot like the front of the police station, just a bit more organized...

"Before we go inside, let's check the outside first, i saw an open field through the fence to our left" I point towards my left as i speak.

"Ok, let's go" Saya nods and turns to walk to her left. The rest, aka me and Saeko, following behind her...

"Do you think the rest made it here safely?" Saeko asks as we keep walking.

"Can't really tell, we didn't find any signs that prove that they failed to do so on our way here, didn't find anything that proves that they did either" I respond as i look back towards the main building.

"I'm sure they're alright, it's not like they turned 'completely' useless after we got cut off. Plus, i need to kick Takashi in the face for what he said " Saya narrows her eyes slightly as she speaks...

"Actually, speaking about it, i hope i'm not prying but i need to ask. Naier, why are you not mad?" Saeko asks right after.

"You mean about Takashi's order?" I ask back.

"Of course she means about Takashi order you idiot, what else could it be?" Saya then turns to me with a frown.

"Uhh...as i did mention, i sort of understand where he..."

"Ughh, don't give me that crap, you were willing to shoot a kid in the face because in your eyes, he endangered the group, and now you mean to tell me that you're fine with 'this'?" Saya cuts me off as she folds her arms...

I let out a sigh and stay quiet for a few seconds as we walk in to the open field.

"So you want me to kill your childhood friend?..." I ask with a serious tone as i turn to her. Saya just...stares at me...

"I...didn't say that, don't go from one side of the scale to the other...and how did you know he was my childhood friend, i never told you" Saya narrows her eyes even more as she keeps looking at me.

(Oh crap, she didn't? I can't remember...)

"...Your mother mentioned it" I respond with a deadpan voice.

"Uhh, Of course she would go and do something like that..." Saya grumbles as she closes her eyes and shakes her head slightly.

"The point is, he was willing to listen to the reasons for my actions at the mall and we managed to work together so far. I should at least be willing to do the same and listen to his reasons. The world as is right now is going to have a lot more..." I stop and glance at Saeko who was a few steps next to me.

(I want to say psychopaths but...i don't know if Saeko will take it the wrong way...)

"More hostile individuals. As they are more likely to survive the initial chaos...so if somebody is willing to work with us. We should try to keep that bridge 'unburned' for as long as possible. Nobody can survive alone for too long, no matter how much of a badass they might be." As add up after a few seconds.

"...I really don't understand you some times...on one side you are willing to pull the trigger the moment you decide that somebody is a threat. On the other, you are willing to sit a listen to somebody who clearly knew that his actions would kill you..." Saya responds.

"Yes, but don't mistake 'listen' with 'trust', i'm not going to go after Takashi if we meet up again because doing so would end up badly for all of us, but that doesn't mean i will trust his actions" I answer.

"And what's the point on being in a group you don't trust?" Saya asks right after.

"Ehh, well Takashi excluded, i do trust the rest, but you make a good point. Maybe i should just lock my self in a mansion near a cliff...or a Yacht..." I say with a slight chuckle as i look around the field.

(Hmm, other than a couple of D.I.Y scaffoldings made of desks next to the metal fence, the place is clear...and absolutely emty.)

"Ughh, no Yachts, i hate them" Saya groans as she also starts looking around.

"You've been in one?" I ask as i lift an eyebrow.

"More than once. Some stuck up fatso that my father collaborated with had one. I was dragged there a couple of times on 'Parties' he arranged. Being stuck there for hours without end while having nothing to do...yea, i don't like Yachts." Saya folds her arms as she turns to me.

"Fine, you can stay in the mansion, but i'm still going on a boat trip" I respond.

"Hmm, a trip on a boat away from all of this does sound nice, got space for one more? If Saya wants to stay back, she can. I don't mind being just the two of us" Saeko 'asks' as she looks around, before turning to glance at me with a slight smile.

"O...oook can we stop talking about flying ships like a bunch of idiots now? We still need to search this place, and this place has nothing, so let's go back and check the entrance again" Saya butts in before I could answer. She then pretty much dragged me behind her after grabbing me by my sleeve.

Saeko just chuckled as she followed behind.

"What are you so embarrassed about?" I ask as i look at the pink-haired girl.

"I'm not embarrassed!" She shouts as she glances at me...her face obviously red.

And with Saya dragging me behind her while 'not' being embarrassed, we reached the front of the school once more.

"Ok, and what should we look for in here?" Saeko asks as she casually walks past us after me and Saya stopped walking, or more like Saya stopped dragging me behind her.

"Hmm...check the tents for anything that might have been left behind, water, rations, bullets...anything. Though i doubt they would accidentally 'drop' any stuff like that." Saya lets go of my arm as i speak.

"Should we split up?" Saeko asks again as she turns to me.

"Yea, but stay within sight. Search only the surrounding area on the front part of the building" I walk past the girls as i point at the nearby tents, and like that, we spread out and start searching...

The first place i headed to was a table under a tent that the girls were not looking at...

(Hmm...other than ripped plastic bags, cigarette butts, and two mugs...i can't see anything else.)

I take a step back and then look under the table.

(Uhhh, there's a gum stuck here...wonder if it has been there since before the outbreak...)

I shake my head and move towards another table, this one closer to the front door of the main building.

(...Humm there's a blue box next to it, looks like an ice cooler)

I kneel down next to the table and open the said blue box.

(Aaand, Nothing. If there was anything in here, it's not anymore)

I get up and look around once more.

(This place is really empty...at least on the outside)

I start to slowly walk towards the main door as i look around...until my eyes stopped on a bulletin board that was erected a few meters away from the front entrance of the main building.

(Huh, this thing is full of post-it notes)

I tilt my head slightly as i walk up to the board, then grab a random note.

(Kamille, it's Shin.

If you manage to read this, me and the rest made it to the extraction safely.

We will be sent to an aircraft carrier out in the open sea via helicopter. After that, they said we'll go to locations that have been secured from whatever this is.

I hope you are ok. Stay safe.)

I let go of the note and take another one...

(Hmm...same deal)

Then check another one.

(Again, more of the same. Everything here is talking about helicopters, aircraft carriers and 'secure locations'...wonder what these are, military encampments or something?...Uhh, personally, i don't know how to feel about having armed personnel that i don't know 'watch' over me from a close distance, probably because of all the movies i have seen where it goes horribly wrong...but still, none of these have any information on what to do if you get here late. They feel more like farewell cards if anything else...)

I let go of the note i was holding and turn to the board once again...

(Maybe 'our' group left something?...hmm)

"Hey you two! If you found nothing, then come over here for a sec!" I turn to glance behind me before turning to look back at the board.

"Ughh, You don't have to shout you know" Saya groans as she walks up to me.

"Found something?" Saeko asks the moment she got near.

"Might have...this board seems to have notes that were written by the people here, maybe our group left some information we could use" I say as i fold my arms and scan the notes on the board. The girls nod and then also turn towards the board.

In order to avoid looking at the same note over and over again, each time i looked at one, i took it off the board...

"Are you sure you should do that Naier? I know we can't be all good, but other people might be depending on these notes" Saya glances at me as she stops moving her finger over the notes.

"I think we should be worrying about our problems first" Saeko glances at Saya before looking back at the board.

"No, Saya's right. No need to make everybody's life harder if we can avoid it, and avoiding it here is as simple as putting the notes back on after we're done. So i see no problem with it as long as it does not end up to our detriment" I say as i keep looking at the board. Saeko, didn't respond...

(...Did me not agreeing with her nudge her off?)

Turning to her i find her staring intensely at the board...

"I found something" She says shortly after. Then takes a post-it note and hands it to me. I glance at the note that looked like a wall of text, and then start reading it out loud.

"To Saeko, Saya and Naier.

We hope you're all alright. We managed to make it here in time thanks to you, but sadly, we could not get people to send a rescue team, as they were all preparing for the evacuation. Also, we found Rei's father and Takashi's mom here, they are all safe.

Now, Rei's dad mentioned that when the Police force from his station got dispatched, half of the people from there got sent here, the other half got sent to a mansion in the central landmass, last they heard from that place, it was used as a refuge camp, the address you should look for is Senta 2–51–20. Apparently, based on Rei's dad, the evacuation there is to happen five days after this one." The note ended there.

"Hmm...Senta 2–51–20? Where in the crap is that?" I ask as i tilt my head.

"We no longer have a map, i have no idea" Saya folds her arms as she keeps looking at the note.

"Well, this is better than nothing, let's put the other notes ba...uhh...wait, there's more" I casually flip over the note addressed to us as i speak, only to see that there was more written on the back side.

"...Rei's father also said that the army will be taking our stuff, especially the shotguns, as they are more efficient for guarding locations compared to rifles, mostly urban ones. Because close quarters fights are more common there.

We did manage to leave a couple of stuff behind to help you out though. After all, there's no way that you three would just die like that. So, on the second floor in the principal's office, there's a safe, a hip hight mini vault type one. Takashi's mom said that it was owned by the principal as it was here even before the outbreak. Thankfully the password was inside the principal's textbook notes so we were able to open it and change the password, so we left some stuff inside it. The new password is Takashi's birthday" And the note ended there for real this time.

"...Takashi's birthday?..." I turn to look at Saya...

"...W...what? Why are you looking at me?" Saya's face turns into a frown as she folds her arms.

"Uhh...i didn't know Takashi before the outbreak..." I respond...

"Neither did i." Saeko adds up...

"Uhh...f..fine...i know when his birthday is at, it's on 7th of December..." She grumbles.

"The only reason i do know it is because he was always acting like a crybaby when i didn't get him a present..." She pouts slightly as she looks away.

(And totally not because you had/have a crush on him...)

"Still, This works perfectly for us. Shall we go to the second floor?" Saeko speaks up next.

"Yea let's go, after we put the notes back on the board" I nod, then lift the notes i was holding. Saya also nods and starts sticking the notes she had back on the board.

"Alright, can i have some? I didn't take off the ones that i checked" Saeko turns to me and extends her arm. I take half of the ones i was holding and hand them to her, then start sticking the remaining ones i had on the board, With Saeko following suit.

"Should we search the rest of the school too?" Saya asks as she keeps sticking the notes on the board.

"Yea, after we check the principal's office we will search the second and then first floor." I respond, Saya just nods without answering back.

We then continued in silence...

(The building inside should also be clear of corpses, seeing as the whole place seems to be clear of them. So we should be able to go straight to the second floor without too much of a fuss. I wonder what they left behind. Hmm, Takashi probably still has feelings for Saeko...maybe that's why he ordered that i be left behind in the first place. I just hope that means that he also considered leaving something behind to help with her, aka our survival.)

"Aaand i'm done" Saya takes a step back as she wipes her hands.

"I'm almost done too" Saeko adds up as she nods.

"Same" I say right after.

"So, we are going in the building next?" Saya asks as she walks towards the double glass door that was a few meters away to our right.

"Yea. I don't expect corpses to be in there, but don't head off by your self" I respond as i turn to glance at Saya.

"Of course i'm not going to head off by my self, i'm not you you idiot" Saya turns to me with a slight grin.

"Still...who was the retard who thought that putting a giant double glass door in an elementary school was a good idea? It's like an incident waiting to happen with all the kids running around" She then turns to look back at the door.

"Maybe it's reinforced and or tempered glass." I say as i stick the last note i was holding on the board.

"Not that it really matters now, does it?" Saeko, who also just finished, turns to me as she asks.

"Yea, true that. So, come on, we're done here so let's go check the second floor" I respond as i motion towards the door that Saya was next to with my head.

The moment all three of us were by the entrance, i pushed the door, which opened effortlessly.

(At least this one is unlocked...)

As for our destination, it was actually made clear before we even stepped inside. As we could see a set of stairs that led to the second floor through the glass door, the reason being, it was a straight line from here.

"Looks safe, i can't see any signs of struggle or intrusion" Saeko looks from left to right as she speaks...

Other than the hallway with the stairs that was behind the shoe locker ahead of us, there were also two wider hallways to our left and right. Both consisted of windowed walls on the side that looked towards the field, the other side had concrete walls with wooden sliding doors every so often. Classrooms if i had to take a guess.

Now the hallway ahead of us also had two doors in the wall to it's left, these were closer to each other. In other words, too small to be classrooms. Storages i suppose? To the right wall of the same hallway were another set of wooden sliding doors that led to even more classrooms, and lastly, the staircase that we were aiming for, deeper in that hallway.

"Well, let's keep our eyes open and head to the second floor" I start walking towards the stairs as i speak. The girls nod and follow behind me.

Also on a side note, after we walked passed the two doors to the left, the ones that i think are storage rooms. There was also one more door after that seemed to lead into a classroom, the reason i could not see it before was because the 'storage rooms' are actually protruding from the wall, or more correctly, it was that the wall after these doors was recessed.

And with that, we went up the stairs and up to the second floor.

"Hmm...which way now?" Saya asks as she turns to me. I glance at her before looking around me.

The upper floor was actually just a long hallway. windowed walls to the right, cement walls to the left, again, with wooden sliding doors. Other than that, it had nothing else...well, there were a couple of notice boards with kid drawings on them but that's about it.

"We need to find the principal's room" Saeko speaks up after a short silence.

"Hmm, let's look around, this hallway seems to consist only of classrooms." I nod, turn around and start walking down the hallway, the girls turning to follow me shortly after.

"I know it's probably because of my memory of our school...but i just can't shake the feeling that something will jump out from a door any second now..." Saya glances around as she keeps walking next to me.

"Yea...the fact that it's so damn quiet doesn't help either, but hey, at least it ain't a hospital. Clean white hallways splattered with blood and guts mixed with the smell of disinfectants, add the lack of electricity that would also make some of the rooms in there be pitch bl..."

"W...will you shut up already" Saya cuts me off as we reach the end of the hallway.

"Uhh. Right, sorry. Didn't realize it scared you " I respond as i turn to her with a slight grin.

"What?...I...i never said it was scary. You were just being stupid..." Saya narrows her eyes before darting her head away...

(Yes, yes, of course)

"...Naier, i think we found our target" Saeko then lifts her hand and points at a door straight ahead of us, at the end of the hallway we just turned to. On the door a metal sign with a slight golden shin, the letters 'PRINCIPAL' engraved on it.

"The principal's room, nice" I nod as i focus my sight on the distant door.

"Great, out of the three people here, two have perfect eyesight..." Saya whines as she pushes her glasses with her middle finger.

"There, there" I respond as i pat her head. She instantly jumps in place before taking a hop back, putting both her hands on her head as she looks at me with a pout.

"Quit being an idiot" She responds with her face slightly red...

(Jeez, it's not like my hands are radioactive or something)

I shake my head slightly and turn around. We then walked to the end of the hallway, towards the principal's door. Once there i try to open it.

"Unlocked. Well, they're supposed to have stuff for us in here and didn't mention anything about locking this door" I say as i open it, walk inside and...

"Uhh...What...the...fuck?" Was all i could say as i looked around at the room...

"Ughh...i really hope i don't have to meet this 'principal'..." Saya groans as she looks around the room. That was, in one word. Extravagant...

The vinyl style floor that consisted so far got replaced by wooden, dark crimson/brown boards. On the left wall, a short wooden cupboard with a couple of model airplanes on it. Next to it, an antique wooden double glass door cabinet with several trophies and awards on display, and after that a small brown...fridge?

To the right, a bookcase extended from one side of the wall to the other, all filled with books that were neatly organized, and finally, next to that bookcase was the safe we were looking for. The wall ahead of us was made of large windows, having a clear view of the downhill road we used to come here. There was also a giant ass desk with an even bigger ass chair in the middle of the room. The desk, other than a pencil case, a couple of notebooks and a laptop, was empty. Also, one more thing to add. The room smelled different compared to the rest of the school...

"Apparently somebody liked showing off" Saeko speaks up as she walks into the room.

"Well, his bloated ego got him the safe, and that's something that benefited us in the end" I respond as i walk up to the safe.

"True. You said the password is Komuro's birthday right?" Saeko asks as she stops next to me and leans towards the safe.

"Yea...let me open it..." Saya responds as she also comes next to the safe, then kneels down and puts her hand on the wheel combination lock.

"You must really care about him if you still remember his birthday" Saeko glances at Saya before speaking up, causing the pink-haired girl to over flip the lock.

"I...I don't care about him!" She darts her head to Saeko...

"...All he did was ignore me, why would i care about him..." She says right after in a lower tone as she turns to look back at the lock.

(Well, you were kind of unbearable before the outbreak. I mean, in the anime you show up to a depressed Takashi, and out of all the things you could do to get closer to him what did you do?...Pester him...)

After that Saeko stayed quiet as Saya continued to fiddle with the lock combination...until...A metallic 'clank' and the thick safe door opened wide.

"Got it." Saya leans her head forward as she peers inside the now open safe.

Needless to say, both me and Saeko followed suit.

"Well, this is nice" Saya keeps looking inside the safe as she speaks...

The first thing i saw, being it was the biggest item in there...was the Mp5...under it, the vest that Kohta wore along with three slings, next to the vest was a folded map that had two flashlights, two walkie talkies and a textbook on top of it...and lastly...

"Huh, what is this?" Saya picks up a folded paper along with a key from inside the safe. She then unfolds the paper and tilts her head slightly.

"Samurais under the cabinet...uhh...what?" Saya tilts her head even more...

Not a second later, i heard shuffling behind me and to my left. Turning around i see Saeko flat on the ground with her left arm under the cabinet...And after a few seconds, she pulls her arm back out. Except this time, she also had her katana in her hand. She then gets up and dusts her self off...

"This, is definitely good" I say as i stare at Saeko.

She then walks up to me and hands me the bokken she was holding with the other hand, then bows slightly.

"Thank you for letting me borrow it" She says as she looks at me. I just responded with a slight nod.

"Ekhem!...So, other than this key, we know what everything else is for..." Saya makes an obviously fake throat-clearing sound, lifts her hand slightly and turns to look at the key in her hand...

"Actually, i know what this key is for." I say as i turn around to the small vault, kneel down and take the Mp5 and vest.

"It's the humvee's" I add up as i leave the Mp5 on the safe and then wear the vest.

"Huh, well this just increased our odds of survival a thousandfold, the Humvee is full of ammo and food" Saya ends up grinning slightly as she speaks.

"And the Scar-H." I add up as i grab the three slings, then put one on the Mp5 and 'wear' the second and third one.

"So, should we still look around the building?" Saeko asks as she draws the blade slightly as she looks at it.

"Yea, one thing does not cancel out the other, especially since this place is probably corpse free" I get up and turn to Saya as i speak.

"I will take the Scar-H after we reach the car, for now, i will use the bokken" I say as i hand her the sub-machinegun.

"So i'm the only one that will be doing nothing..." Saya takes the gun as she looks at me with one eyebrow raised.

"I can give you the bokken if you want" I respond as i fold my arms. Saya, just blinks a couple of times.

"J...jeez, I was just kidding." She then hugs the gun and pouts slightly as she looks at me.

"...Also, that textbook in there. It's the one you wrote, let's put it in the bag along with the map, flashlights and one radio, me or Saeko will hold on to the other one" I point at the safe as i speak.

Saya nods and kneels down, then takes off the bag, opens it and starts stuffing it with the stuff left inside the safe...

"...We wrote..." She whispers in a low tone as she glances at the notebook.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing...are we done here?" She shakes her head and gets up. After wearing the sling with the Mp5, she passes the bag on one shoulder.

"Yea, don't see else anything worthy of note, let's check the other rooms" I nod as i take the second walk talky and pocket the car key. Before exiting the room, i also pass the bokken on my back between the vest and the jacket.

(We left some bags in the car, i will put it there once we get them, because this, is uncomfortable as fuck)

With that, we exit the room and head to the right, in the room a few meters away. The label 'Staff' on the door.

"Ok, let's start from here" I say glance at the girls, they both nod. I then turn to the door and slide it to the left...

The room was pretty much empty, the desks positioned in the corners as in to increase the space, to the right was a long counter that run from wall to wall with cupboards over it and under it. A sole red coffee maker was sitting on that counter, it's bowl was missing and it looked a bit...battered, and seeing how there were red paint 'scratches' on the floor a few meters away...yea somebody went Hulk on the poor thing...probably when the emp fell and it stopped working?

"What are you staring at that thing for" Saya asks as she brings her face closer to mine before looking a the coffee maker.

"Nothing, my eyes just stopped on it as it seems to be the only thing they left behind in here" I say as i turn my head to her.

"Anyway, let's check around" I add up as i walk inside the room...

The cupboards that were over the counter, the ones that were under the counter, the tables...nothing, everything was empty...

So, we exited this room and went to the right, towards the next door. The next room was a classroom, yet all the desks were gone, and once again, absolutely nothing in it.

After exiting that room we continued to the right until we found another door to our left, right before the end of the hallway we were on. It ended up being another classroom, in the exact state as the last one, completely empty...

Instead of exiting from the same door we entered, we then went straight ahead into the classroom and exited from the opposite direction, ending up on the hallway with the stairs...

We checked another couple of classrooms as we headed towards the stairs...all with the same outcome. Desks all gone and the rooms completely empty...

"Ughh...feels like the place has been picked clean..." Saya groans as we finally reached the stairs.

"We already got way more than we could hope for, i would not really mind if we found nothing" Saeko turns to look at the hallway behind us as she speaks.

"Yea, let's do a quick check on the floor below and after that, we will head to the car." I start walking down the stairs as i glance at the girls.

"How about taking a break here first? We have been walking non stop..." Saya folds her arms as she tilts her head slightly.

"A short one. Right now it must be around what? One? Two PM? We have to find a place to hide the car before sundown. I don't want to risk driving in the middle of the night." I stop on the stairs and turn around.

"...Uhh...right, and the only safe spot we know is the h...wait...drive?" Saya blinks at me a couple of times.

"...Uhh...yea, drive" I respond.

"Ohhhh, no. You, are not driving." Saya narrows her eyes and frowns as she looks at me.

"Saeko, can you drive?" I ask as i turn to her...she shakes her head.

"Can you?" I then turn to Saya...she just glances around with her arms still folded.

"And as my good ol mechanic J. Jones ain't answering his god damn phone again, that leaves me as the only person here that knows how to drive." I say as i lift both arms with a slight shrug.

"Who is not doing what now? Why are you talking stupid?" Saya narrows her eyes even more as her frown deepens. Saeko just tilted her head questionably without speaking.

(Of course they would not know about Gta...I mean ,does it even actually exist here?...)

"Uhh...nothing, personal joke to my self...let's go" I respond as i turn around a start walking down the stairs.

"By the way, now that we have the map. When we take that break we should check it to see where that mansion is located at." I add up.

"On it" Saya responds as she starts walking down the stairs, followed by Saeko.

After reaching the first floor we then checked the first door to our left. It ended up being another classroom, this one had desks and chairs though. More importantly though, this room was full of plastic plates. Both on the desks and on the floor.

"They didn't clean up after themselves huh?" I say in a half-joking manner as i casually headed to the nearest table and checked the plates on it.

"Feels like there was a party in here" Saeko responds as she walks up next to me.

"Possible. Remember the people here got extracted, maybe they decided to let loose on rationing after they got confirmation that they will be getting out today" Saya adds up as she walks past us.

"They might have left something behind, let's check around" She says right after.

(Highly doubt they left anything behind, but it won't hurt to check)

With that, we spread out and start looking around the room...

And a couple of minutes later...

"I don't see any cooking utensils around here, how did they cook?" Saeko speaks up.

"Maybe they stoked up on edible things that didn't need to get cooked, like canned food" Saya replies as she nudges a plate off the table with her finger.

"Well there's nothing left here. Let's check the last few rooms on the first floor, after that we'll take a short break and check the map, then we'll head towards the car" I glance behind me as i speak, at the door that led to the hallway.

And few minutes later, we were out of the room. We then checked the two storage rooms next to us to our left.

Other than mops, buckets and empty bottles...the rooms were empty. After that, we checked the next door ahead of us and to our left, that one looked the same as the 'cafeteria', minus the plates. Lastly, we checked two of the rooms to our right, both classrooms, both empty.

"Uhh...i see no point searching any further, the place is obviously empty..."Saya groans as she folds her arms and turns to me.

"Yea, let's go to a room that has some desks and chairs, we will check the map there" I nod and turn around, then head towards the door that led to the hallway, the girls following behind me.

After exiting the room we were in, we went straight ahead and into the room ahead of us, the 'cafeteria' look alike room. We then sat around a desk and took the map out the bag and opened it...and instantly noticed a medium red circle in the middle of the central landmass...

"Huh...is that?"

"Senta 2–51–20" Saya cuts me off as she puts her finger on the circle, the address she just mentioned written on it.

"It's pretty far..." Saeko tilts her head slightly as she keeps looking at the map.

"At least we have five days until the extraction happens there, right? I say as i turn to Saeko.

"With the car, it's more than possible. It might be far, but we crossed more distance in less time the last couple of days" Saya responds.

"In other words, we need to make sure we get to the car." I add up.

"It was still on the other side of the bridge last time we passed" Saeko turns to me as she speaks.

"Uhh, how are we going to pass it? The rope snapped..." Saya puts her elbows on the desk and places her cheeks against her hands.

"I jumped to the other side of the bridge once, i can do it again. Saeko, you think you can manage that as well?" I respond as i turn to Saeko, she nods after thinking for a bit.

"Yea, but i can't. If you didn't realize it yet" Saya frowns slightly as she speaks.

"That's why you'll go swimming" I respond. Saya just...blinks at me.

"I will take your bag and guns so you don't have to wor..."

"Hold on a second!" Saya cuts me off as she raises her voice.

"You expect me to just dive into the river from the damn street?!" She adds up.

"There should be a ladder around there somewhere, you can use it to go down, then drift to the ladder on the other side of the bridge, i did see one while we were going down with the car. Jumping over the bridge, unless you are a hundred and ten present sure that you will succeed, it's a no go. Falling from that height could be fatal" I respond.

"This is stupid..." She groans as she folds her arms and looks away...

"You want me to come with you?" I respond. Saya darts her head to me and frowns.

"I don't mind going to the river with you if you want that, Saeko can take the bags" I add up as glance at Saeko before looking back at Saya.

"...Idiot, i just don't want to get wet again. I can handle it just fine" She responds with a slight pout...

(Jeez)

"So...that's the plan then, me and Saeko jump over the bridge, Saya goes swimming. After that, we get in the car and then see where we go from there" Both Saeko and Saya nod...the latter with a slight pout still on her face...

"This is going to be the third time today that I'm going to get wet because of you..." Saya groans as she folds her arms...

"You're going to get what because of who now?" I respond as i tilt my head slightly.

"What, are you deaf now as well? I said I'm going to get we..." Saya then stops in the middle of her sentence...blinks a couple of times...and then her face goes a deep red. She then glances at Saeko, who was hunching slightly forward. Her head lowered with her hand over her mouth as she kept staring at the floor to her right, i think her cheeks were also slightly flushed...

"W...what are you making me say you pervert!" Saya shouts as she grabs the bag next to her, hugs it, and leans forward on her seat as she glares at me.

"I didn't 'make' you say anything. That was all you" I respond with a slight grin.

Saya darts her head away and starts mumbling while still hugging the bag...and then, silence...

"Uhh...ok so, before things get even more awkward. Let's prepare to head towards the car." I slowly get up from my chair as i speak.

(Funny stuff aside, we have five days to reach that mansion. It might seem much, but i'd rather not risk losing the car)