first day 2
As the group exited the room, they rapidly formed two triangular formations. The first had Alex at the head, Saeko at the back right and Rei at the back left. Both females were the only with sharpened weapons and a sufficient amount of experience through their arts to defend themselves and the three inside the formation.
"Ano, sempai..." The silence was broken by Kohta shy, whispering voice.
"Call me Alex, Hirano-kun; I'm not much a fan of the Japanese naming sense, and seeing the situation, couldn't care less for a little familiarity between us."
"Hmm, alright, Alex-san, what are we looking for?"
Turning his head, Alex raised a brow at the boy, looking at him inquisitively.
"We're looking for something suitable for you to turn into a weapon, you tell me."
Hearing the slightly amused tone of his interlocutor, Kohta looked at him for a second before sheepishly laughing while scratching the back of his head.
"Right, my bad."
"No harm was done, but tell me, what do you felt better with."
"Well..." While Alex didn't show outward reaction until then, the young boy was still hesitant t speak of his passion, more so in front of so many peoples.
"Yes?"
"I don't know, but I somehow good with guns?"
"I see; the problem is there won't be much to be used as such around here." Thoughts Alex, part acting, part thinking were something like Kohta used could be. Seeing the despondent look of the young, Alex nodded to himself before saying. "We will need to go down. I saw a classroom was at work and thought I saw a nailer there. Do you think it would work?"
Hearing the word of Alex, kohta eyes sparkle. "Perfect." Grinned him before returning a little more serious when he so the red hair took out his two knives. The group had arrived at a staircase and could feel the oppressive silence weighing on the inferior level.
~~~
"Let's go." Said Alex to them, knowing there was no need to lower his voice as they would be able to catch him whisper if sufficiently near. "Let's try to communicate with sign alone for now. Until extreme case, not a word."
Seeing them nods and tighten their grip on their weapons, Alex goes down first, exploring before allowing them to follow. As he thought, the undeads were still present in the corridors and class, seeming less active than in the loud pandemonium that eerily stopped rapidly. Passing some classes, Alex threw them the same combo, along a silencing spell while closing the doors, trapping as much as possible of them inside.
Once he was back, all looked worriedly with wide eyes at the mass of undead trapped in the room, having only now the time to see them clearly. They easily understood what Alex had done, knowing that most students had fled and thus opened the doors of their classroom in doing so.
While it was still frightening to see those undeads, who appears to be no different from humans, they were grateful for Alex forethought and daring. Without his split decision, they could have found themselves facing dozens of undead in no time.
Following his example, they passed one at a time, keeping to the other side of the corridor and making as little sound possible.
Alex turned to the rest of the group and points at a class and raising three fingers. They understood his message and continue.
Looking at the second class after he signs, Alex saw that all his past classmates and teacher were gone, turned in undead with no drop of blood in the classroom.
-That was close; they must have turned not long ago, and nearly all at the same time.-
'They also seem to have attempted to exit the room; the glasses of the doors are slightly cracked, and the door slightly caved-in. Where it not for the spells, I don't think they would have held.'
Passing the class, they finally arrive, but Alex needed to stop Kohta, about to enter. Barely a second later, an undead exit. Before any could gasp and the undead could turn its head to Kohta, Alex's hand swiped, turning in a blur in the eyes of Kohta and Rei. Saeko had some difficulty following the move; Shizuka and Saya could only follow his hand thank to the enhancement.
The blade sinks soundlessly in the fleshes, thanks to the spell put on them, cutting through the stem at the brain's base. A rapid confondus allowed Alex to send vivid memory to the back of three humans' minds while he stored the corpse.
Letting off the boy, they enter the class, assisting to the remaining of a massacre that took place shortly as the blood hadn't time to dry yet.
The chubby boy looked uneasily at the scene before seeing the hand passing in front of his eyes. Turning his attention to the other boy present, Kohta eyes gleamed at the offered nail gun before looking lost when it was snatched two seconds later.
He looked sullenly at Alex before understanding the action when a makeshift cross was added. It was made for simple wood plank, but the carved and glued part would help stabilise the weapon' aim. Kohta turned ecstatic when he was gifted another gas bottle and three extra charges of nails.
~~~
After giving the ameliorate nail gun and ammo, Alex mimicked food before pointing it down. Again, the group nod; his leading skills were flawless, and he avoided several pitfalls that would have been fatal.
Moving out of the class in work, Alex could see that Kohta self estimate had drastically risen after being armed. Tapping on the boy's shoulder, he signed to the head and nape before pointing at the weapon's muzzle and then showing his blade, transmitting to Kohta to aim for them while he finishes them.
The group knows that the second floor would be much more dangerous than the third one, and the ground level is even worse.
They had barely approached that the stench of blood invaded the three mates noses, telling them that the scene was much more bloody than above. As they walked directly to the ground level, Alex could not see if the charms he applies were still holding but was unwilling to risk his life and kohta one for it.
Crossing the corridor was an eerie and disturbing experience for them; not matters the amount of blood they came across, not a single corpse was visible. While Alex was fine, he could see that some would surely have prefered to see corpses, telling that there was a least less undead that way.
Passing classrooms, they saw the first barricade raised by the group to protect themselves but burst, unable to stop the undead.
"Are we the only survivors?" Whispered Rei, after making sure they were truly alone in a wide range.
"I don't know, but we shouldn't; some must have hidden. There should be some professors still alive; if they had a brain cell, they would have put the students to safety."
"How much you think had turned?" Asked Saeko, looking intently at the trace of slaughter all around.
"It's difficult to know. While a thousandth of the population was suffering from its after-effect, it has been found that young were more prone to fall sick. For us, that would mean that the students should have more chance to stay alive, but it would need only a fews among their classmates to be turned. For all we know, we might be alone and face the rest of the school population."
Kohta softly whimpers at the numbers. Founding one-self going against 15,000 plus undead wasn't how he expected to pass his first month of school. Arriving at the cafeteria's doors, all saw the faint outline of a bar locking the door from the other side.
Perking, Alex heard some muffled voice in the back, behind the doors.
"Someone inside." Alex words weren't much surprising as it would need someone alive to lock it that way. What surprised them was that some seem to have successfully avoided the attention of the undead. Alex looks around to see if he could pass the doors while leaving the barricade. Spotting the glasses panel at the top of the wall, Alex nimbly scaled the small shelves. He took out the thick tape from his bag, collected it in the class, and rapidly cover the panel before inserting the tip of a knife between the rail and the glass.
The struck knife's side's vibration rapidly travels through the metal before invading the crack in the chipped glass.
The group looked disbelievingly at Alex resourcefulness, who carefully removed the shattered window, holding on to the tap. Sliding through the glassless window, Alex carefully pulled the chair, locking the doors, allowing the group entry, before putting it back.
~~~
Seeing the expansive cafeteria room empty, it left only the kitchen for any surviving group. The group relaxed a little, knowing that they wouldn't be heard with the vast space if standing in the middle and making little noise.
"Alright, now that we are here, we will need to take packed food in priority cardboard boxes. They are habitually packed to fill most of the place and would make little noise. For now, we are six, but only three of us could take food while the other defends them, and Shizuka is already holding our medical supplies, making only two, Hirano-kun and Saya-chan. Busujima-san, Miyamoto-san, I want you two to look around and see if there is still some leftover sandwiches from the lunch, Use your pack and fill them as possible while we will look in reserve." Said Alex while turning at the two females. Even if they are defending, the food wouldn't weigh munch and allow them some food.
"Alright, Alex-san!" Nodded Rei and Saeko, even if they are on guard duty, they know that they wouldn't amount of much compared to Alexander. The second tasks they were given would still allow them to contribute to the group while not impeding on the first.
"As for us, I will take care of the water problem; there should be cardboard boxes stored here to fill the dispensers around the school. Try to prioritise packed food that needs little preparation; we have nothing to cook food for now, so rice and the like is not only useless for us but inconvenient."
Alex words made them realise that he was right, their minds weren't still acclimated with their new reality, and they would not have thought of this issue if it weren't for Alex to raise it.
"Alright, let go." Seeing that all understood their tasks, they started to move. Rather than aim for the kitchen themselves, Alex aimed for the local on the other side, where the students would buy the packed meals. In doing so, he hoped to avoid encountering the group hidden there and prevent any meaningless clash. He wasn't worried about not finding food there, as he clearly remembers seeing the boxes behind the female who sold him the sandwiches.
Since this type of food wasn't processed here, the school receive an ample supply every three days from a small truck. As Fujimi was a boarding school, they have to carter for three meals per day, offering pre-made sandwichs and the other some packed pastries.
It wasn't the best kind of food, but still decent, and more importantly, already prepared and ready to eat, saving them a lot of time, efforts and cautions. Alex rapidly picked the lock with a quick spell and opened the door to let them enter.
As expected, the opposite room wall was lined with cardboards. Reading through the tags on the boxes, Alex smiled, knowing his hunch had been correct.
"Alright, take few things rapidly before moving out."