I Am the Best of the Best

Gordon and the two boys who followed him to the second floor sat on a random chair and tables for rest. Alice and Beatrice sat on a four-seater table, facing each other. The other student that survived joined in to welcome Alice and the group as they came back. Alice and Beatrice's worries for Crowe increased and gave them bad moods, so they let other students go and get on with their agenda. The space near them was now only occupied with adults and only a few students lounging.

"It was my negligence. I didn't expect that Will's noise would attract the zombies on the first floor." Alice opened up about her guilt.

"Alice, how did you make it back here, I don't see any zombies following you," Wendy asked curiously. Chef Alma and Chris were also confused.

"This was because one of the students saved us." Crowe's figure appeared in Alice's mind as a flashback.

"A student?" Wendy was surprised.

"A single student?" Chris added.

"That's right," Gordon said. "He looks our age too."

"Then, this student, where is he now?" Chris asked. If that was the case, why didn't he see the person Alice and the others mentioned?

"He opened up a passage for us and told us to head back up first, he said he'll be here after he finished dealing with zombies," Alice answered worryingly.

"Dealing with all the zombies? How could he possibly do that? Won't that just be foolish?" Wendy frowned.

"He must've been very powerful because otherwise, he couldn't possibly make it out alive. He doesn't have a way of contacting Chris, if he came up he would be swarmed with zombies and he also wouldn't be able to open the electronic door as well. The zombies would be following him in." Gordon theorized.

"One thing that caught my attention was how he came up from the first floor. According to the scattered distribution of the zombies, there should've been more zombies on the first floor than on the second floor but he arrived unscathed. 

Perhaps he can kill all the zombies on the first floor." Beatrice said. This thought came to her after she returned to the third floor and finally had time to think.

From the observation by the window, there would have been some zombies wandering outside the cafeteria at night. After daybreak, some of them would've run into the forest while the others had entered the cafeteria building to hide under the shade. That was the reason why it would've made sense to assume that the number of zombies on the first floor would far exceed the number on the second floor. From what the others saw, Crowe would be able to make it out with his enormous strength and his ability.

The zombies on the first floor weren't able to hurt Crowe, therefore even if he couldn't kill them all, he would've been able to survive the ordeal and rejoin the group. Beatrice was thinking carefully about her theory and it calmed her down. She didn't know why she was overthinking about another boy student as it never happened to her before.

"The zombies on the first floor might not be as many as you think," Chef Alma said reluctantly after she heard what Beatrice said.

"What do you mean?" Beatrice was puzzled.

"Only a while back, an armored vehicle drove toward the cafeteria, followed by a large number of zombies. They heard the noise the vehicle made, that's why they rushed outside the cafeteria." Chef Alma stated her observation.

"Dozens and hundreds of zombies were running after the armored vehicle but they were all crushed, I think the people who saved Alice and you guys were the people that were in that vehicle." Alma further added.

"In other words, he didn't get rid of all the zombies on the first floor by himself." Beatrice irritatedly muttered to herself. After that, she didn't pay any attention to the conversation that was going on.

Time had passed quietly. About fifteen minutes had passed. Beatrice suddenly stood up. Crowe did not come up for a while now, he might've messed up or got himself into an accident. Although Crowe asked her to come up here and she agreed, the time spent made her change her mind.

"Beatrice..." Someone mumbled. Everyone looked at Beatrice who had suddenly stood up. They didn't know what she was going to do.

"I've had enough rest now, I want to get back out there again," Beatrice said.

"No way, you don't know how dangerous it is down there. You said it yourself there were thirty to forty zombies. If you face them again, who'll guarantee your safety?" Alma strongly disagreed. Wendy and Chris also refused Beatrice's decision. 

Alice, however, was silent. She was conflicted about whether or not she should agree with Beatrice. She didn't want to let Beatrice take any more risks. However, she was also thinking about Crowe's wellbeing as he saved her life and the others as well. Alice also wanted to go down there again.

"I'm only speaking for myself," Beatrice said faintly. "He saved me. I don't want to owe him a favor. Besides, I can deal with one or two zombies alone."

"How about this? I'll go down again. As an adult, I know my limits. Beatrice, wait for my news here." Alice stood up and said to the others.

"No! I want to go down there by myself." Beatrice shook her head stubbornly.

"This is not going to happen, it's too risky, you'll be in great danger!" Alice objected.

"Then just come with me then!" Beatrice started to lose her patience.

"In that case, how about I join you?" Gordon stood up and stretched his tall body.

The other two boys did not join in. Even though they mustered up their courage and fought off a few zombies, the group deemed it was too dangerous. They had just been jumping the line between life and death, they wished not to put the boys through that again. Beatrice glanced at Gordon and silently agreed.

"You guys, are you sure about this?" Wendy, Chris, and Chef Alma were anxious. They didn't expect these students to go down again. Even worse, Alice was agreeing to do the same, it was simply suicidal.

Knock, Knock, Knock!

At this moment, there was a loud knock on the electronic door that Chris was guarding. The people who were still discussing whether they should go down to the second floor looked over.

Through the transparent window of the electronic door, Beatrice saw Crowe standing outside with one hand in his pocket and the other hand still knocking on the door. Crowe waved and greeted them. Beatrice, who was originally standing, quickly ran over. She completely lost her usually calm and uncaring demeanor. Alice's reaction was only slower by half a beat and she also ran to the door. Beatrice pressed the button to open the door and the electronic door slowly opened.

"Yo! You're all so eager to open the door for me. Looks like I'm quite popular." Crowe jokingly messed around as he entered.

Beatrice originally wanted to say something but was interrupted by Gordon, who had rushed over from behind.

"Hahaha, you're fine, of course. I knew I was right." Gordon laughed loudly.

"How could I not be, these zombies are so weak, I cut through them like butter." Crowe dismissively waved his hand.

"You killed those zombies?" Alice responded.

"Of course. If I didn't, how would I be standing here? Those ugly creatures would follow me." Crowe replied.

"How did you do it?" Alice found it to be unbelievable.

Although what Crowe was saying sounded impossible, it was the only explanation of how could he be standing in front of them, alive. 

"Well, of course, it's because I'm very the best of the best..." Crowe said.