The sun slowly rose from the horizon, casting long, bright rays across the college grounds, illuminating every surface and corner.
Inside a small, cramped building, two girls lay sprawled across the floor : Seraphine and Rina. Their bodies rose and fell with heavy breaths.
The light eventually reached them, piercing through the ventilation gaps and falling across their faces. Seraphine's eyebrows twitched before she slowly forced her eyes open. Dark circles lined her eyelids, clear signs of sleeplessness and strain. She pushed herself upright, sitting weakly on the floor.
"Ahh, my shoulder..." she groaned, sitting up and wincing as she bit her lip.
There were two reasons for it: the wound on her left shoulder, and the endless hours she had spent bracing the cupboard against the door through the night.
The memory of those sounds, the pounding, the shaking flashed in her mind, and she shivered.
She didn't even want to think about the previous night; the memory felt like a trauma.
"Was I in a horror movie or something?" she muttered bitterly.
Her gaze shifted toward Rina, still asleep beside her. Despite her own pain, Seraphine's worry was heavier for her friend. She was worried about how much more Rina's mind could take.
Seraphine slowly stretched her hand toward Rina's shoulder, giving her a gentle shake. "Rin… Rina, wake up. We need to go outside."
"Mm~" Rina just groaned, drifting back into sleep, oblivious.
"Rina, get up! We need to go outside!" This time Seraphine raised her voice.
"Huh? What?" Rina snapped her eyes open and sat up slowly. She looked around the dim room, her expression dazed and innocent. "Whe..where's Arya? I saw her last night... she came and asked us to open the door, and I didn't do it."
Seraphine sighed. 'She's not okay at all', she thought.
She couldn't blame her; anyone else would have gone insane by now.
She looked at Rina in the eye, her voice was firm as she said. "Rina... that wasn't Arya. Don't be delusional. Now get up."
Rina pouted, her voice trembling with hurt. "You could at least pretend to care about me a little right?"
"You're way too cold-hearted, Sera..."
But then she smiled in her usual cheerful way, trying to mask her pain.
"Cold-hearted, huh?" Seraphine raised an eyebrow and let out a tired breath.
"I'm saying it for your own good. Now get up fast. We need to find the real Arya and Sylvia, right?"
"Ahh, right." Rina nodded, trying to find her motivation.
As she stood, a sharp pain and deep soreness flared through her body. She winced, enduring the ache as she finally found her feet.
Seraphine stood up as well, but her calm eyes caught the lingering nervousness in Rina's gaze. She knew exactly what was haunting her.
"Anyway, Rina... don't worry too much about what happened last night," Seraphine added.
"Mm," Rina hummed softly, keeping her mouth shut.
Seraphine couldn't help but sigh at the response. She wasn't in a position to truly comfort her anyway, her own mind was a chaotic mess of questions she couldn't answer.
"We need to prepare before we head out," Seraphine said, deliberately shifting the conversation away.
"Prepare what?" Rina asked, looking confused.
"Just wait a second, let me check." Seraphine moved toward the storage area where various pieces of equipment were piled up.
She began digging through the gear, her eyes scanning for anything useful. Without looking back, she called out, "Rina, is there any equipment you're actually good at using?"
"Hmm... I'm good at archery, I guess," Rina replied.
"Mm..." Seraphine mumbled, tossing aside a deflated ball. "There doesn't seem to be anything like that here."
She eventually pulled out two heavy metal baseball bats. "How about this for now?" she asked, turning back.
"I'm okay with anything," Rina said, reaching out to take one with a single hand.
But the moment she gripped the bat, it slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor, shattering a few tiles beneath it.
"Oof... th-this is so heavy!" Rina complained, straining to lift it.
"Of course it's heavy." Seraphine smirked, effortlessly holding her own bat in one hand as though it weighed nothing.
（⊙ｏ⊙）
Rina's eyes widened. "H-how are you holding it like that with one hand?"
"Because I'm strong," Seraphine said boldly, her tone carried a teasing edge.
Rina gave her a flat, deadpan look before sighing and gripping the bat with both hands to keep it steady.
"Let's go outside, shall we?" Seraphine asked, her expression turning serious as she looked toward the door.
"Yep, let's go," Rina nodded, her knuckles turning white as she tightened her grip.
Both girls gripped the edge of the cupboard, slowly shoving it aside. The door behind it groaned, looking as though it might shatter with a single touch.
Before reaching for the handle, Seraphine leaned in, peering cautiously through the small ventilation gap.
"See anything, Sera?" Rina whispered from behind her.
"Nothing so far. I don't see that zombie from the other day either," Seraphine noted. "It seems clear. Let's move."
She pulled the door open slowly.
The moment it creaked wide, sunlight poured in, blinding them for a few seconds. They squinted, shielding their eyes, before stepping outside together.
"Why is it so calm and silent here?" Seraphine muttered, scanning the area.
"I… I don't know. But since this is the back of the main building, not many students come here often," Rina explained softly.
"Ohh…" Seraphine nodded.
Rina looked up at the sky for a moment. "Ha... why is it so hot today?" she started to say, but the sentence died in her throat. She noticed a massive shadow stretching over both of them.
Seraphine didn't notice. It was easy to assume it was just the shadow of the rooftop they had been hiding under.
But Rina, feeling a sudden chill, gulped and slowly turned her head upward toward the edge of the roof.
The sight drained the blood from her face, leaving her deathly pale.
A zombie was crouched atop the roof like a starving dog, its hollow eyes fixed on them - specifically on Seraphine.
It looked like a gargoyle waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
"S...Se...Sera..." Rina managed to wheeze.
"What is it?" Seraphine asked, oblivious to the predator perched above.
The creature didn't wait, with a guttural snarl, it pounced straight toward Seraphine.
"MOVE, SERA!" Rina screamed. Shoving her with all her strength.
She lunged to push Seraphine out of the way, but in her panic, she forgot one crucial detail: she was still white-knuckling the heavy metal baseball bat.
Instead of a soft shove with her hand, she slammed the bat into her with full force.
The metal slammed into Seraphine's side. Seraphine didn't even have time to gasp before she was sent flying back into the room like a rag doll, crashing onto the floor.
(°ロ°)
Rina froze, horrified at what she had done. She had only meant to push her friend away, but in her panic, she had forgotten the weapon in her hand.
"U…yu... you… what are you doing…" Seraphine groaned, her body aching as she tried to rise.
"I… I didn't mean it… I'm sorry… I saw… the… com—" Rina stammered, turning toward her. Tears springing to her eyes.
"RINA! BEHIND YOU!" Seraphine screamed with all her strength, her voice cracking with terror.
Through the doorway, she saw it...
The figure had landed silently right behind Rina, its jaw unhinged and drool dripping onto the back of Rina's neck.
Seraphine tried to lung forward, but trapped on the floor and winded from the blow, she knew she was too late.