first day 1

"Before any of you asks any questions they may have, did you were able to contact your families?" Alex asked in turning to both Rei and Saeko."

"Yes, I was able to talk to dad before the line started to become saturated. I told him about the undead, but I'm not sure he trusts me; I mean, it seems so..."

"Unbelievable, yes, I know. As long as he knows you are safe, that should be enough." Nodded Alex before turning to Saeko.

"My father is out of the country at the moment."

Turning to the other, Alex looked at Khota and Shizuka. "If you have someone to call, do it now before the line turn saturates or worst."

"I don't have a phone on me, Alex-kun~" Cutely whined Shizuka, making Rei looks at him before giving her his cellphone. Khota shook his head negatively.

"Saya, call Yuriko-san; I have some words to tell her."

"Hmm. Moshi Moshi, Mama? It's Saya. Yes, I'm fine; Alex wants to speak to you."

"Alex-kun, are you alright?" Immediately hear him, as he barely put the cellphone to his hear.

"Yes. We are with the school nurse and some other classmates on the fourth floor of the kendo club room. I just brought Saya. I gather that the outbreak had already started?"

"Yes, what happening?" Asked the older woman, clearly aware that Alex knows more about the situation from his words.

"The undead had started to rise. The plague seems to have finished its incubation period and struck."

~~~

"Undead?!" Yuriko un-lady-like squawk attracted the attention of all around her, primarily her husband. Taking hold of herself, she put the phone down for all to hear.

"Yes, undead. I confirmed their state while I was bringing a classmate to the infirmary. The first stage seems to headaches. They build up until inducing a coma-like state, around two hours later. Their eyes submit a rapid degeneracy during the coma-like sleep, the pupil vanishes, and the iris turn a greyish colour of their previous eyes shade. They lost signs of intelligence and sentience.

After the eyes came to the brain, I think, while the heart slows until stopping beating. From there, a brief lap of time before they awoke.

With their cognitive function and brain's death in general, their body limiter came off, allowing them to exercise a strength vastly superior to ours. This didn't seem to become a problem since they have a ridiculous regenerative ability."

Alex first-hand report threw a cold in the room.

"How much?" Whispered Yuriko, still having some difficulty in realising that it was what happening outside.

"Really fast. I snapped one neck and caved its skull only for it to heal in less than three seconds. For all I could tell, a fatal wound wouldn't bother them much more than a few seconds. It still unknown if they can regenerate lost limbs, but they would rapidly close the wound. The only method I found until now was decapitation, or severing the brain stem. But that, not the worst."

"What?!"

"They sensory ability is out of the chart, even restrained. They seem to track heat signatures in a meter range and are still sensitive to sound.

If that wasn't enough, they could infect anyone they bite to the blood. Their blood is also a carrier. I saw a student turn in seven seconds after a bite and twenty after ingesting their blood. I wouldn't recommend letting blood come in contact with skin, just in case, and protect your orifices; it seems to seep inside soft tissues easily.

One good point is that any who saw signs of suffering for injection in the past months is partially immune, like you all. As long as there is no contact, you should be good."

"What are you planning to do?" asked Soichiro while mentally praising the teen for his foresight and information gathering, which would save many of them.

"We will stay in school and made sure all accesses are closed. They should already be close as school started. It would mean that we have a finite number of undead among the walls. With the school kitchen and drinks dispenders' ample supplies, we should survive a few days in the dorms.

During this time I will attempt to clean the school and found survivors. That will only be left to see what to do after that. The most logical would be to return to your estate. I have asked the daughter of Miyamoto-san to contact him and tell him your safe position. With any chance, they will rally your place and give a hand in protecting the estate."

"Very well, we will wait for your arrival, but we may try to exit the estate if too much time pass. We are dependant on the plants and dam around to supply us with water and electricity. If they fail, we will have to relocate."

"I will take it in mind. If you can, leave a message for us to rejoin you, something only Saya would understand would be better, or it may attract unwarranted attention."

"Wise word, we will take care of Saya for us." Curtly said the man before cutting the feed. "You hear the young, Chief Nagoro; those things had stopped to became human the moment they raise from the dead."

"You want me to trust the words of a teenager, who would be then, culprit of murder?! Fat chance!" The second line turns dead, leaving a sour feeling in most of the servants present. At least the estate was safe, thank Alex word, and they were able to fetch their family before the outbreak struck, a thing all were deeply grateful to the young man.

~~~

On their side, the three students unfamiliar with Alex were left speechless at his advice, understanding that he must have faced much more than the messy three that first attacked them for both girls.

"You were aware of the chance the outbreak happens. How?" Asked Saeko curiously, making the other perks.

"Simple, I already knew the origin of the infection that spread worldwide. The problem was that the situation was concording with the pieces of evidence of the time."

"Evidence?" This time, it was Shizuka, still on the phone, who spoke.

"Yes, I have on my possession an ancient tablet dating to the pre-establishment of ancient Egypt as we know it. On this tablet, there is a notion of a plague turning the living into the inhabitant of Seth realm, undead.

The problem was that it only turned into a severe bout of fever, nothing recorded. With the possibility of the thing responsible for the disease mutating in the last 7,000 plus years, this was just too light. Considering a possible incubation period and the ease of travel today, we have a pandemic spreading worldwide. We aren't a insolate case; this may or will happen to the rest of the world too."

Alex words had the effect of a hammer striking them in the chest, cutting their breath.

~~~

-You made the best choice. Better rip the aid band now that giving them false hope.-

'It's didn't means it easier for them.' Responded to Alex while looking at their reaction. Saya was good, knowing that both her parents were out of danger and with Alex. Rei seems torn but generally alright.

-Might be due to the fact she called her parents; at least she did all she could before the calamity truly struck.-

Khota seems downtrodden, a state Alex suspect is due to the unknown situation of his family. Saeko had still a calm expression, seemingly unbothered by the situation in general of her familial one. Shizuka, still on the phone, seems cheerfully speaking to the other side before ending the call.

"Rika say we can use her home and things if we can go there~."

"That remains me, Evans-san; you said that you don't think we will able to rejoin the estate, why easily?" Asked Saekko, remembering the bit of the conversation.

"Simple, what do you think will happen when the panic spreads to the rest of the city?" Shot back Alex, making them all thinks about his words.

"Panic, everyone will try to exit the city, blocking any roads and the bridges." Deduce Saya, earning a head pat from Alex.

"Right in one! With the large influx of circulation, the police won't have any other choice than regulate or bar the passage. This will lead to the population discontentment, which will lead to?"

"Attracting the undead." Gasped Rei, making the other follow at the realisation.

"Yes, those place will turn into a feast for them to spread their numbers; it will stop us not only due to material means but also the army of undead gathering at those spots. As we are still ignorant of their general behaviour, we will not know if they will disperse after infesting everyone or if they will stay."

~~~

Khota broke the silence who fall into the room.

"H-here, Evans-san, I'm not much good with knives." Said him while giving back the blade he was offered before they exit the classroom.

"Is there something you better with?" Alex asked while sheathing the blade back, briefly flashing the twins to the rest of the group.

"Guns, but I don't think..."

"That there will be some here, but then there must be something for you to use. I know that there must be materials and tool usually kept for preparing the festival." Said Alex, making the other male realise that Alex word was accurate.

Turning to the rest, Alex said. "I would like to say that I would go with him looking around the floor. But staying alone in a closed room without a chance to escape is suicidal. Busujima-san, as kendo captain, you're the most knowledgable of this room structure and content. Does it hold anything better than broken?" Asked Alex, knowing that otherwise, the girl would be defenceless.

Saeko thought a moment before nodding. "There is daishō here, but the blades are blunt..." She stops mid-way when she so Alexander took a whetstone from his bag. The whetstone was slightly smaller than usual, much for knives than the longer blade, but it would work all the same.

"Go fetch it; I will sharpen the blades for you."

Saeko eyes glint gleefully before she retook a more calm expression and rapidly exit the room. While she was gone, Alex looked around and caught the sight of training shinai. Taking some, he expertly deconstructed them and started to work on them under the eyes of the three remaining girls and Kohta.

All four looked at him with awe as he crafted four rough masks with the thin plank of bamboo and cut kimono. Saeko had already returned and too assisted at the creation. She kept silent at the school material's destruction, knowing there wasn't a school anymore to complain.

"Alright, it not perfect, but it should protect your mouth and nose from their blood. I can't do things for your eyes, but let's hope it would be sufficient."

After showing them how to adjust them, Shizuka, Kohta, Saeko, and Rei broke into a small group to help the others fix it while Alex worked on the blades.