At the student council office on the fourth floor of Crossroad Academy's main building:
BAMM!
The undead outside the room kept bashing against the double doors. Slamming their bodies headfirst, they never stopped their instinctive attempts to break through and devour everyone inside.
BAMM!!!
EKK!!!
The loud banging frightened most of the female students hiding inside the room.
Their terrified shrieks only attracted the undead even more, making them increasingly aggressive.
"Shut up already, would you!"
The irritated remark came from the student council vice president, a tall, slender fourth-year girl with long black hair named Natsue.
"If you don't, we might as well use you as bait to save ourselves," Natsue added, threatening and scolding the two first-year girls who were the representatives of their year.
"Please stop, Natsue. You're only scaring them further," Mizuru said, stepping in to defend the two girls and stopping Natsue from hitting them with the textbook she had grabbed from the table.
"You're just the secretary, vixen. You have neither the authority nor the status to tell me what to do!"
Natsue continued her aggression, though her target had now shifted to Mizuru.
Mizuru, however, easily caught Natsue's right wrist. With a quick tug, she pulled her closer, then smoothly moved behind her and skillfully restrained her, locking her right arm behind her back.
"How dare you—Argh!"
"Stop acting unreasonable, would you?" Mizuru said, her caring and gentle demeanor replaced by a far more serious and intimidating one.
"P-please release her, Mizuru."
The awkward command—spoken by someone desperately trying to keep his composure from falling apart—came from the student council president sitting at his desk, a tall, good-looking, blond-haired fourth-year named Lloid.
"And calm down, Natsue," Lloid added. His concern, however, clearly favored Mizuru over Natsue, which only irritated the latter even more.
Natsue scowled, glaring daggers at Mizuru as she stepped away after being released and walked toward the student council auditor—her gloomy fourth-year twin brother, Matsue—who was cowardly sitting in the corner of the room.
"What do you suggest we do now in this situation, President?" Mizuru asked, bringing the conversation back to their original concern—one that had now grown far worse.
***
A few moments earlier:
The student council meeting had been called to discuss how to handle the students' classes after reports of possible terrorist attacks occurring throughout the city.
Along with the student council members—Lloid, Natsue, Mizuru, and Matsue—two representative students from each year, from first to fourth, had also been invited to attend the meeting organized by the student council advisor and the academy's vice principal.
The twelve students patiently waited in the student council office for their teachers to arrive.
BAM!
What greeted them instead, the instant the double doors abruptly swung open, was the bloodstained, half-naked figure of their young female advisor.
Her coat and blouse were unbuttoned, exposing her ample breasts, as she dragged the pantless, dying old vice principal by his right leg while he bled from his neck.
"P-please... H-help..."
The muffled, drowning voice of the vice principal sounded like a signal for the beginning of the chaos.
ROAR!
With a loud, ferocious roar—blackened blood dripping from its bloodstained mouth—the undead advisor tossed aside the vice principal and rushed forward, aiming for the pair of boys who were the representatives of the second year.
The two boys couldn't even react.
They couldn't stand, run, or defend themselves.
Their bodies froze in fear, and their minds went blank, unable to process what was happening.
In the blink of an eye, the undead advisor covered half a dozen meters and lunged at one of the second-year boys, biting into his left shoulder and pushing him down to the floor.
"ARGH!"
GYAHHH!!!
Pained and panicked screams echoed throughout the student council office.
The other male students from the third and fourth years frantically tried to pull their advisor away from the second-year boy—only to get bitten on their arms before they could shove her to the floor.
The undead female advisor suddenly rose in a creepy, inhuman way. Her body bent backward unnaturally before snapping forward again as she lunged toward the students—BAM!—only for Mizuru to smash its head with a metal folding chair, knocking it down to the floor.
ROAR—BAM!
Mizuru continued swinging the metal chair, striking their advisor again and again before it could rush at her, until she forced it back past the doorway toward the already dead vice principal, then slammed the doors shut and ordered the other boys to barricade them with filing cabinets.
Everyone thought they were safe now, after being saved by the always reliable secretary.
ROOAAARRRR—!
ARGHHH—!
GYAHHH—!
GAHHH—!
Until they heard the deafening roars—followed by dying and panicked screams.
They were trapped.
That realization slowly sank in as the roars and desperate screams continued to echo outside the room and throughout the entire building.
***
"What do you suggest we do now in this situation, President?"
Lloid remained silent at his desk, unable to give Mizuru an answer because of how terrified he was.
Even though he was supposed to be the smartest student in the academy when it came to academics, no textbook could have taught him how to respond to a possible undead outbreak.
At that moment, he could only regret refusing to read novels or watch movies about it.
"What do you think we should do, Mizuru?" Lloid said with an awkward smile, relying on her as usual.
Mizuru sighed, holding back the urge to complain about how disappointed she was with him before finally responding.
"You all should stay here until the authorities arrive."
"Of course—the police and ambulance. Someone must have called them by now," Lloid added, trying to take some credit for Mizuru's plan.
But Mizuru wasn't finished.
"As for me, I will be leaving this place on my own."
"Wait! Are you saying you're going to abandon us?!" Matsue shouted in panic, jumping up from his seat and slowly approaching Mizuru to beg her to stay—until Natsue pulled her twin back down to his chair.
"Go ahead," Natsue said with a mocking leer. "Leave the room and die out there."
Ignoring Natsue's taunt, which irritated her yet again, Lloid at least tried to stop Mizuru.
"You don't need to go out and call for help. I know you're worried about us, but let's all just stay here and wait—"
"Who said I care about any of you?" Mizuru replied, making no effort to hide how annoyed and irritated she was.
Her usual sweet and gentle smile had vanished, replaced by a cold, blank expression.
"C-can you... t-tell us where you're... going?" Lloid stuttered, shocked by the intimidating demeanor from Mizuru he had never seen before.
"I'm going to find my little sister and make sure she is safe."
"She's probably dea—"
BAM!
EKK!
Before Natsue could finish her taunt, Mizuru threw the metal folding chair, missing her head by a centimeter.
"Say that again, and I will ruin your ugly face with my bare hands."
Natsue froze, completely intimidated by the murderous aura radiating from Mizuru.
Still, her excessive ego refused to let her be mocked or looked down on by the girl she hated so much for stealing the president's affection.
"YOU FUCKIN' WHORE!"
Overcoming her fear with anger, Natsue shouted and rushed toward Mizuru.
But before their argument could erupt into a full brawl—CRASH!
The barricade of filing cabinets collapsed, and the double doors suddenly burst open.
GYAHHH!!!
GAHHH!!!
Everyone scrambled away from the doors before they could even see who had entered—everyone except Mizuru.
"Luel..."
"I'm glad you're safe, Mizuru."