Third Rule: Group over Alone

"Everyone seems to be okay. We should rest for now."

I glanced at my temporary companions and all seems to be exhausted except for me and Saeko. Well, that's to be expected, they aren't some trained folks.

"This is the key to the minibus, right?" I asked Marikawa-sensei who was sitting beside me. She rested her head on the table in front of her, fully tired of all those running.

"Yes~"

I nodded at her and turned to Saeko, "Do you have any plans?"

"...I think staying as a group is the safest way," She replied. And I agreed, a group has a higher chance of surviving. Even if you are physically strong, you are still a human so fighting for long will render you tired.

That has fatal implications if you are alone outside in a zombie-infested area. So yeah, being in a group is better for survival. However, these guys still need to find their families.

"Komuro, Hirano, Takagi, and Miyamoto, what are your plans after escaping the campus?" I asked. Those who were called out turned toward me.

"Well go to everyone's place and if they need help, we'll do what we can. After that, we should find a safe place." Komuro was the first one who answered my question.

"There should already be a place like that. The police and self-defense forces were mobilized so they'll probably take everyone to a shelter." Takagi said. So she isn't all talk about being a genius, still, to be able to calmly analyze such things after her earlier outburst due to stress, is remarkable.

"That's correct, and I think the temporary shelter should be in Shintoko Third Elementary School," I said.

"How can you be sure?" Takagi seems to not be convinced.

I smiled at her before replying, "There are many factors why I came to such a conclusion, primarily, one – the direction where the helicopters were flying to – and two – Shintoko Third Elementary School is located near the outskirts of the city, not only that, it is also the only place in that area with enough space to house the SDF's vehicles and people."

"...I see, that makes sense." Takahi nodded.

As for how I am so sure they made a shelter there? Well, it's simple really, it works on the logic that the government still thinks this is just a pandemic of some kind. Or just like when a disaster struck, they will order the evacuation of citizens because in their minds, after this "disaster" is done, they will go back to their lives before.

And Japan being this type of country, politicians need the people's support to stay in power. At least that's how I'd like to imagine it but well it could be simpler than that.

Back on the topic of shelter, as great as it sounds, I wouldn't even go there. Just thinking about all the mess that would happen, political bullshit, shortage of food, oppression, status divisions, etc.

There are many problems, especially in the early stages of the apocalypse when people still don't know much about the zombies, and the majority probably still clinging to a meager hope that it is just a disease and not the dead coming back to life to wreak havoc.

"Just a word of advice, don't even think of going there to stay," I said, and they turned toward me. Before some can even refute it, I shrugged. "It's just me, if you want to go, you're free to go."

Well, I may be wrong in my thinking that it wouldn't be safe there since the ideas I thought of during the years will have the chance of not applying to our reality. However, I still stand by it since I'm confident in surviving out in the wild.

We stayed in the faculty for some time, just enough for them to rest. We then left the place and headed straight down to the first floor. I will not go into detail much but, after some killing and mishaps, we rode a minibus along with another teacher and some students before leaving the campus.

The new teacher, Shido, started preaching about the need for a leader, and when he proclaimed himself as such, Miyamoto jumped out of the bus following her was Komuro.

A few other things happened and Takagi discussed them with the others before deciding to leave as well. This brings us here now...

"Hmm, I see you've already decided so PLEASE be my guest and do as you please, Takagi-san," Shido said. "–Japan is a free country after all. However, we cannot afford to lose our nurse–"

*Pak!*

"Ah—!"

"Hi-hirano-kun?" Shido held his cheeks that were grazed by the nail fired by Hirano's nail gun.

"I didn't intend to miss, you just got lucky." Hirano glared at Shido. "How many people do you think bullied me at school?! Most of them are here and don't even tell me I deserve it! I've restrained myself, I've always held it in! I wanted a normal life so I held it in! But normality doesn't exist anymore! Normality is now a dead concept!"

"I'll kill you, you better believe it!" Hirano's eyes were that of a beast. He is serious about killing Shido. This put a smile on my face, another confirmed survivor with the right mentality.

"Hi-hirano-kun? Th-that's going a bit far..."

Wow, he wanted to be a leader with this cowardness? I chuckled at thinking about that scenario. A cockroach hiding behind others.

"Busujima-senpai, take the lead and get out of the bus! I'll guard the rear!" Hirano shouted.

"You're a real man, Hirano-kun." Saeko smiled and escorted Takagi and Marikawa-sensei. I stayed behind Hirano while watching the ordeal happened.

"So, are you going to kill him?" I said, startling Hirano.

"Te-tenjou-senpai? You still haven't gone out?"

"So? Are you killing him?" I repeated my question which made Shido look at me.

"Te-tenjou-kun, why don't you persuade Hirano-kun to put that thing away?"

"Hmm?" I glanced at Shido, he's the type of human that is like a parasite, no, a cockroach, it is persistent and hard to kill. In a way, he is similar to me yet different as well. He doesn't like to put in effort for his survival while I rely on my ability.

"Why should I—?" I tilted my head in confusion at his persuasion. I then glanced at Hirano, "You go out or you can stay, but just be ready."

"Ah? Y-yes!" Hirano stepped aside and went behind me. I stared at the man, a teacher at our school, on the floor feeling frightened. He looks pitiful and hideous.

I reached out under my blazer and pulled out a Glock 19, it's easier to conceal. I didn't bring it out earlier since I would only use guns on humans, preferably.

"Th-that's a Glock 19!" Hirano exclaimed, his eyes seems to brighten.

"Wh-why do you have a gun?" Shido asked with a horrified face mixed with undisguised greed.

"Oh, this?" I pointed it at him, aiming for the head. "It's just a matter of money, really. Any last words?"

As they say, money makes the world go round. All I did was use the company's connections and assets to safely smuggle firearms. Oh, I didn't mention it did I? My father owns a large conglomerate, one of the top 5 in Japan so we had connections up there (government officials).

"Wa-wait–! D-do you hate me or something?"

"Hm? Hate is a strong word. And my answer would be no, I don't hate you. Because hating you would imply, I cared." I smiled at him, "Now bye~"

"Wa–!"

*Bang—!*

"Well, that's done. Hirano, come on let's go," I glanced at the bullet hole in Shido's head before I started walking away.

"Ah? Y-yes, senpai!"

"Aaahhhhh—!"

"Yo-you killed Shido-sensei—!"

"Mu-murderer—!"

"Murderer huh," I stopped and glanced back at them with a smile. "–Idiots, morality, and law are not applicable anymore. It's survival of the fittest now."

I then continued walking and when we finally got off the bus. Takagi and Marikawa-sensei stared at my hand, holding a gun.

"Y-you killed him?" Takagi stutteringly asked.

"Yes, didn't you hear what I said from inside? Morality and Laws aren't applicable anymore. Also just like what Hirano said, normality is dead." I reminded them. This is the reality now, they must accept it. It's kind of forceful to do so but I don't care about their opinions either way.

"But—"

I interrupted Takagi, "With your intellect, you should have realized by now that it'll be the 'norm' by now or rather in the coming days. Killing and stealing would become normal. Actions we deemed as crimes will be rampant as well. And as for why I killed him, he's a dangerous man. A religious cult of fanatics in these times is one of the worst to have."

"Hajime, we don't have time," Saeko said, bringing my attention back. Right, that bus is unusable now since we can't drive it with all the traffic.

"Let's try finding a smaller vehicle," I should be able to get that with the help of my trusty Glock. We can ask "nicely" or a shot will also do the job.

So we started walking away from the bus. But before I forgot, I looked back at the bus and shot one of the front wheels. Even if the traffic eased now, they wouldn't go anywhere.

As for the worry of them continuing the cult? There's a low chance, those guys are just your average bullies at school. The best they can do even if they survived probably becomes part of an existing group. More importantly, I just killed off their cult leader, cutting off the root cause.

Hmm, did I just do the world some charity work?