The school cafeteria

"Ahhh—!"

A blood-curdling scream echoed through the hallway, lingering in the air long after it was first heard.

Ethan flicked his wrist, and the sharp blade of his knife slid out of Lola's chest, pulling with it a still-beating heart.

Blood dripped from his fingers, staining the floor beneath him.

Bulldozer stood nearby, his eyes locked on the heart, drool dripping uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth.

Lola's body collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide open, frozen in terror.

The fear and despair she felt in her final moments were still etched on her face. Her life was gone, and all the pleading and seduction she had tried earlier now seemed utterly ridiculous.

Ethan glanced at the heart in his hand, his brow furrowing slightly. He clearly had no interest in this "trophy." With a cold tone, he muttered, "Too messy."

Without a second thought, he tossed the heart to Bulldozer.

Bulldozer caught it eagerly, like he'd just been handed the most precious meal. He opened his mouth wide and swallowed the heart in one bite, chewing with satisfaction.

"Ugh... ugh..." The only surviving guy sat slumped on the floor, trembling uncontrollably. Tears and snot covered his face as he stared blankly ahead, completely broken by the carnage he had just witnessed. His mind was on the verge of collapse.

A female zombie standing nearby noticed his sobbing and curled her lips into a twisted smile, letting out a low, eerie chuckle: "Heh heh heh."

She seemed to find the scene amusing, or maybe, in her own warped way, she was trying to "comfort" him, as if to say, "Don't cry, today's a good day."

But her "comfort" was anything but gentle. With a slight movement of her hand, her sharp nails pierced the guy's neck, slicing through his artery with precision.

His sobbing stopped instantly as blood gushed out, splattering the floor. The hallway fell into a deathly silence.

That silence didn't last long, though. Soon, the sound of chewing and gnawing filled the empty corridor as several zombies gathered around, feasting on the fresh kill.

Ethan stood off to the side, watching it all unfold with cold indifference.

The thrill of the kill gave him a brief sense of satisfaction, but it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

Suddenly, he remembered something—the school cafeteria. There might still be supplies there, especially in the freezer, where they stored a lot of fresh meat.

Since he was already here, he figured he might as well raid the place.

He waved his hand, signaling for Bulldozer and the other zombies to follow him. Leading the group, he walked out of the dorm building, across the abandoned schoolyard, and toward the cafeteria.

As they approached, Ethan noticed that the number of zombies around the cafeteria had increased. Several of them were frantically pounding on the glass doors, as if something inside was drawing them in, making them desperate to get through. The glass was smeared with bloody handprints, creating a blurry, crimson mess.

"There might be survivors inside," Ethan thought to himself.

But these zombies weren't exactly the brightest. The glass doors opened outward, but they were all pushing inward, completely clueless about how to get in.

Ethan found them annoying and gave Bulldozer a simple order: "Clear them out."

With a low growl, Bulldozer charged forward like a beast. He grabbed one of the zombies and swung it hard against the wall.

Smack!

The zombie's body hit the wall with a sickening thud, practically turning into a pile of mush as it slid down, leaving a long streak of blood behind.

The other zombies growled in response, but they were clearly afraid of Bulldozer. They backed off, not daring to get any closer.

Bulldozer, despite his brute strength, wasn't much smarter than the average zombie. He also tried pushing the glass door, but he used too much force. With a loud crack, the entire door, frame and all, shattered into pieces.

Ethan stepped into the cafeteria, the air thick with the stench of decay, making it almost unbearable to breathe.

The hall was eerily quiet. A few zombie corpses lay scattered on the floor, their heads blown open. The blood had long since dried, leaving dark, crusty stains.

It was clear that these zombies had been taken out by human survivors.

Since the apocalypse had hit early in the morning, there hadn't been many people in the cafeteria, so it hadn't become a major gathering spot for the undead.

But Ethan knew that if there were any survivors, they were probably hiding in the storage rooms. There was plenty of food in there—enough to keep them alive for a while.

Ethan didn't hesitate. He headed straight for the storage room.

Soon, he found himself in front of a heavy iron door. It was tightly shut. He gave it a push, but it didn't budge—it was locked up tight.

Just then, he caught the faint sound of voices coming from behind the door. The conversation was hushed and frantic, clearly from people inside.

Though the voices were quiet, Ethan's sharp hearing picked up every word.

"Crap, I think there's a zombie outside! What do we do?" A woman's voice, trembling with fear.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," a man whispered, holding her close.

Despite his reassurance, the woman's voice still shook. "Shouldn't we try to run?"

"Hmph! If you want to leave, go ahead. Staying here just wastes food," a middle-aged man in a chef's uniform snapped from across the room, his tone dripping with disdain.

The man who had been comforting the woman frowned, clearly wanting to argue, but when he saw the sharp boning knife in the chef's hand, he thought better of it and stayed silent.

There were five people hiding in the storage room.

Besides the couple and the chef, there were two other young women. Fear was written all over their faces, especially after hearing the noises outside.

One of the girls, strikingly beautiful, had her lips pressed tightly together. She was Nina, the warehouse manager who had worked with Ethan at the supermarket before.

Nina came from a poor family and had been working part-time jobs to support her studies. After Ethan had fired her, she found work at the school cafeteria as a stockroom clerk.

Despite her looks attracting plenty of admirers, Nina had always prided herself on being independent, never relying on anyone.

"The zombies… they can't get in, right?" Nina asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Yeah," the chef nodded, sounding confident. "Those zombies are dumb as rocks. They couldn't even figure out how to open the glass doors outside, let alone this locked iron door."

Hearing this, the others seemed to relax a little, thinking he had a point.

But their brief moment of relief was shattered by a sudden, deafening crash.

A massive dent appeared in the iron door, the outline of five fingers clearly visible, as if some enormous force was trying to tear it open.

It was obviously Bulldozer's handiwork. He swung his huge fist again, slamming it into the door.

BANG!

The door shook violently, dust falling from the ceiling as another deep handprint appeared on the metal.

The five people inside were frozen in shock.

"What… what the hell is that?" someone asked, their voice filled with terror.

"I don't know, maybe a mutated zombie?" another person stammered.

"Ahh! Run! We have to get out of here!" someone screamed.

Realizing the iron door wouldn't hold much longer, the group panicked and bolted toward the back of the storage room, where a narrow hallway led to a small freezer. It might be their last chance to hide.

But they hadn't made it far when Bulldozer's fist slammed into the door again.

This time, with a screech of tearing metal, half the door was ripped apart. Bulldozer's massive frame squeezed through the opening, standing in the doorway like a beast ready to pounce.

"Oh my God!" The group glanced back, and the sight of the hulking zombie sent them into a frenzy of fear.

They had never seen a zombie this powerful, and terror spread through them like wildfire.

The chef, still clutching his boning knife, was the first to make a run for it.

He sprinted toward the freezer door, faster than anyone else.

"Hurry! Get inside! The zombie's coming!" he shouted.

But just then, a chilling laugh echoed down the dim hallway, like something straight out of a nightmare.

The chef squinted and saw a thin figure darting toward them at an alarming speed. It was a female zombie, moving with the agility of a predator.

At the same time, the guy from the couple had also reached the freezer door.

But his girlfriend and Nina were lagging behind.

"Wait for me, babe!" the girl cried out, panic in her voice.

The guy turned to look and saw the terrifying female zombie closing in on his girlfriend.

His face went pale, torn between fear and indecision. But in the end, he made his choice.

"Shut the door!" he yelled, gritting his teeth. As the third girl made it into the freezer, the three of them slammed the door shut with all their strength.