CHAPTER 7 – Forming a group.

When Haru and other club members were awakened, the same was happening in Haru's class, room 2-B. Unlike the canon Takashi Komuro was in class, he came just after Haru moved towards the club room. When 1.5mins were over and everyone came out of the daze, only 9 out of 35 students awakened. Kohta, Saya, Takashi, Rei, Hisashi, and 5 (2 girls and 3 boys) other students from the class awakened. They were attacked by the zombies, and they defended themselves using their own abilities. While they were fighting, they noticed one of the boys that had awakened was bitten, and then slowly turned into a zombie. When they saw this, they tried to run away only to fail.

"I can stun them for 1 or 2 seconds, run when I do that!!" Saya shouted and then she used minor telepathy to stun the zombies in the class for just 2 sec. They used the chance to run towards the corridor only to be greeted by more zombies.

"My body hardening can protect me from their bites, I will cover for you all. Make a run for the stairs, as I create a path for all of you." Hisashi said seeing the situation, and everyone nodded their head in response. Then Hisashi used his body hardening while grabbing every zombie on the way and pushing them away. But he seems to have underestimated the bite force of the zombies, as one of them got through his defence and bit his ankle, which no one noticed other than him.

While they were running towards the stairs, they saw Haru running while holding a wooden katana pointed towards the floor in his right hand. Just as some of them were about to say something to him, they saw the wooden katana was being covered with a golden aura which made it look like a real sharp katana. Then he ran past them at a very fast speed, while his katana moved in a fluid motion accurately cutting the neck of every zombie.

They were stunned on the spot till he went into the room and came out with a cool-looking large silver pistol with dragon and tiger engraved with black colour on its barrel and grip respectively. They were awoken from the daze when they heard a shout.

"I-Is that a desert eagle?! Where did you get that from?!?!?!" Kohta exclaimed when he saw the gun. He can identify a gun with ease, he is a gun otaku after all. That was why he was shocked when he saw a gun that could not be sold in Japan, right in front of him.

"Yes, it is, and it was in my bag. I keep it for emergency use." He said with a light smile while looking at Kohta. Then his expression turned serious, which unknowingly caused all of their bodies to become tense. "I think, we have something more important than a gun, at our hand right now." He said while looking at Hisashi, which caused everyone to look at him. Everyone gasped when they saw his black eyes oozing blood along with his pale face and veins apparent on his neck. Rei had tears flowing from her eyes, she kept repeating 'no, no, no…' while moving towards Hisashi, but Haru moved forward and held her shoulder and stopped her from moving. She looked turned towards him in confusion and he just shook his head at her, which caused her tears to continuously flow from her eyes. He then moved towards Hisashi, who was looking at the ground. when he stood right in front of Hisashi he looked up with a determined look in his eyes.

"I underestimated them, and now I am like this." He said while looking into Haru's eyes. "I-I don't want to die, but I don't want to become like them at all, so please kill me before I turn into them." He said while shuttering but maintaining a determined look. Haru nodded his head.

"It will be painless." He said while pointing his gun at Hisashi's head. When Hisashi nodded at him, Haru fired the gun. No, sound other than the growls of zombies from everywhere in the school. He then turned towards Rei, who had clenched the corner of her skirt. She also looked at then hugged him and started sobbing. Haru just let her be and caressed her back.

(Haru POV)

When Rei had calmed down, we moved down the stairs. Even after calming down, she was still sticking close to me. Not that I mind, but Saya has been giving me a stink eye for a while. I was thinking why I didn't save Hisashi. After all, if I wanted to, I could have stolen the berserk mana from him. It would have transformed into purified energy in my body, anyway. I became selfish, as I wanted Rai, and it was the best way for me to get her. It might sound cruel, but he wasn't my friend or someone I cared for, and neither was he very talented he only had Body hardening (C rank) ability and that too was stolen by me when I killed him. I got a convenient ability, some stats and also the girl I wanted. So even if you think of me as someone cruel, I don't regret it. I only care about what the people I love think about me, and I would even destroy a whole country if necessary.

As we moved down the stairs, we met many zombies, and they were killed by me. I have been stealing the strength of every zombie before killing them, as it helps me increase my strength little by little. I also steal the magic crystals in them and directly transfer them to the inventory. I don't have to go around dissecting the head of every zombie, like some MCs of Apocalypse manhwas. The wooden katana I am using is about to be destroyed. Even with masterful control over mana because of my eyes, a wooden sword is not able to bear the sword aura from my new skill.

As we reached the ground floor, I could see at least 20 zombies and among them, there were two zombies with distinct features. One of them had its skin turned red along with elongated teeth and nails, while the other one was 2m large with blue skin and bulging muscles. I used Inspect on them and found that they are both E-rank zombies with E+ rank speed and strength respectively. The group behind me were scared and the girls hurriedly stood behind me, with Saya and Rei almost pressing their bodies on me. I took the desert eagle and shot two shots simultaneously. This whole procedure took no more than 2 seconds, and the E-rank zombies died, even without being able to show their power. The group was stunned again, by the smooth move and to-the-spot accuracy, only Saya was looking around proudly as if showing that 'her bodyguard' did it. She knows of my martial skills and marksman skills, as she has seen me fight when she almost got kidnapped at the age of 14. I also train every member of the right wing on the ground in front of her house.

While everyone was still dazed the remaining zombies noticed us and were moving towards us. I tucked the gun in my pants and covered the wooden sword in sword aura one last time, as it would be destroyed after this. I have already sensed two groups moving towards us with my echolocation, and one of the groups consists of four girls while the other has four guys and 3 girls. The group of four girls would be Saeko's group along with a guest and if my guess is correct then the other must be a group led by Koichi Shido. While thinking about what I should do about him, I moved swiftly and quickly killed the zombies and deactivated my sword aura, which caused it to disintegrate.

Then I turned towards the right corridor and smiled when I saw the four girls coming towards me. Saeko, Shizuka, Kazuki, and Miku were running towards me. I was a little surprised when I saw Miku with Saeko, as canon Miku was seen with the Shido group. But well, it is a happy surprise, so I won't complain. As they were running, I could see Kazuki was completely exhausted while Shizuka and Miku looked fatigued. Even though Saeko looked calm and unaffected I could see fatigue in her eyes, so I took out the gun and emptied the magazine by shooting 7 zombies right in their head. As if in a queue, Saeko shot the remaining 2 zombies. By the time the zombies were killed, they were already standing in front of me.

"Haruuuuuu, I was so scareddddd!!!" before any of them could say anything, Miku jumped on me and hugged me while screaming in an exaggerated voice. I didn't push her away, just patted her back and said "There, there….". Her hugging me caused Saya and Rei who are now standing behind me along with the group, to frown. The same can be said for Shizuka. While Kazuki just kept giggling happily, as I patted her head. I turned towards Saeko with a smile while lip-synching 'I will talk to you later', in response she just nodded with a meaningful smile.

"Alright, that's enough for now, Miku," I said to Miku, and she did what I said, albeit with a pouting face. Then I turned towards Shizuka. "Are you alright?" I said while moving close to her, in response she also hugged me while saying "hm" and rubbing her cheeks on my chest. That caused everyone other than Saeko to look at us weirdly.

"Marikawa-sensei, aren't you a bit too close to a student?" Saya asked with frowned brows and displeasure in her eyes. Shizuka then realized her position and moved away while panicking, on how to explain the situation. Then she felt my hand on her shoulder which calmed her down, then she looked at me with pleading eyes, as if asking me to do something.

"We are neighbours, and we often go out together. So, we are close." I answered her, which caused Saya, Rei, Miku and Kazuki's eyes to turn sharp. The atmosphere turned a little strange after this.

"Where are we going to go, after this?" Takashi, who had been silent from the start asked, breaking the atmosphere. I secretly gave him a thumbs-up, as he saved me from trouble.

"I am thinking of going towards Saya's house, which is in the central area of the city. We can get more vehicles, better weapons, and more people who can help us conduct more extensive and intensive searches. Her house is highly fenced along with concrete boundaries and many strong guards. It will be the best base for any operation. So, whoever wants to come along can give their consent." I explained my plan in a serious voice. My Second quest is to gather more than 2000 people under my banner, then I need a base for myself, and Takagi mansion can be the best base for me. Saeko moved closer to me clearly showing her intent even without speaking. Seeing Saeko's action, Shizuka and Saya also did the same.

"I will follow you," Kazuki said. She lives orphanage and her fees are paid by scholarship. She is not particularly close with anyone from the orphanage, in the past she had said this herself. So, she wants to follow me.

"I will come with you." Miku is an orphan in this world, and she lives on the inheritance left by her parents. She doesn't have anyone she would consider a family left in this world anymore, so she is more than happy to come with me.

"I will also follow you. Mom and Dad are on a trip to Jeju Island." Even though Rei said that she was still worried about them, unlike the Canon, her parents are on Jeju Island.

"My father and mother are out of Japan, so, I will also follow you," Kohta said. His reason is the same as the canon.

"I can't follow you, as I have to help them reach their home, which is quite close to the school, in the Fujimi area. If you could help us reach the school gate, then we would be grateful." Said Toma Ishizu, while pointing at the two girls, Naomi Sakata and Hana Aoki, who had been with us from the start. I guess, they know each other. Toma is a guy with an average build, height of 5'8, blue-black hair and black eyes with above-average looks. Naomi is a girl with braided maroon-coloured hair, red lips, a nice face and an average figure. She always has a strict look on her face, whereas Hana is a shy girl with black hair flowing on her back along with a single bang that she always tucks behind her right ear. She has black eyes, an average face and a nice figure with big breasts and a nice ass.

"Alright, we will drop you at the school gate," I said with a smile and nodded at three of them who bowed their heads and thanked me. Then I turned towards Takashi and asked. "What about you, what are you going to do?"

"I will also follow you," Takashi said after hesitating for a while. Same as the Canon he is worried about his mother, but he believes in her to stay alive. I nodded my head when everyone made their decision. I looked around for a while and found a box filled with metal pipes kept behind the shoe case, and I passed a pipe to everyone other than Saeko as her sword was still alright.

"Alright, me and Saeko while taking the front. Try to keep up while looking out for any kind of danger." I said and then passed the desert eagle to Kohta. "Keep an eye out, just in case," I said to him.

"You can leave it to me." He said confidently with a happy smile on his face while caressing the gun as if it were his girlfriend.

"Let's go," I spoke. But just as we were about to move, I suddenly stopped and turned my gaze at the left corridor, which caused everyone to stop and follow my gaze. "What do you want?" Koichi Shido along with his group, who had been hiding till now came out and walked towards us.

Looking at Koichi, Rei's face was filled with disgust and even Saeko had scowl on her face. He is famous for his villainous deeds in school same as canon. Even though Rei didn't have to be held back a year because of him, he still tried to make things difficult for her, because of her father's job. Though this time I was there and didn't let him do anything, but his image was now shit in Rei's eyes. Shido also doesn't like me, even if he tries to hide it, everyone knows that.

"Nothing, we also wanted to follow you." He said with a close-eyed smile just like a villain would do.

"No." I simply said. "Sorry?" He asked, as his expression was broken and now his eyes were open.

"We will not take you along with us. Many of our group members are not comfortable with you around." This time he had frowned his brows trying to hide his anger and displeasure. He then tried to force a smile while putting his palms together.

"We will, at least need a nurse for our-" Knowing what he was going to say, I directly cut his words coldly. "No". he then asked "What?" this time everyone could see his face contort as if trying hardest not to show any emotion.

*Boom* *crack*

"I said, NO," I said coldly while slamming the metal rod in my hand vertically downward with some force causing the floor to crack a little. Now he was scarred shitless even though I only used E+ to D- strength, so he hurriedly said.

"Then we will excuse ourselves." After saying that he and his goons moved towards the staffroom, the fastest they could. When he was going away, I stole his ability, as it is an A+ Rank ability that can be used for training loyal soldiers. I also stole all of his mana stats.

"Let's go," I said to everyone. They nodded their heads and moved out with me and Saeko at the lead. Then I granted the Koichi's stolen mana to Saeko, and Saeko who suddenly felt her mana pool increase turned towards me with a questioning look as if she could feel that I was the one who was responsible for the sudden increase. So, I nodded to her, as if confirming her thought in response she just smiled and started killing zombies along with me.

There were 53 zombies in between our group and the bus, 30 of them were killed by me including 4 E-ranked zombies and 15 by Saeko, all of them were F Ranked so she didn't have to use her skill. The remaining were killed by Kohta with Desert Eagle. As we reached the bus, I didn't forget to steal the strength, agility, wisdom, stamina and mana from the zombies along with their magic crystal. Now just because they are zombies doesn't mean they don't have wisdom, it's just that they can't access it with all the berserk mana in their body.

Then without anyone saying anything, Shizuka hurriedly went to the driver's seat, as she was still embarrassed about how she hugged me, in front of everyone. I just can't imagine what she would do if everyone came to know about her wild side in bed. Seeing the zombies that came out of the school building, attracted to the sound of fighting, everyone else also moved in the bus.

I moved towards the seat just behind the driving seat which is turned inwards, and sat alone, as I needed to look at everyone's status.