Luke surveyed the room with intense focus as time seemed to slow. This was the first interesting thing to happen to him since he had come to this school. Immediately, his mind analyzed the future and what it held.
Alone he could survive, but barely. He needed... No, he wanted a group.
As Luke's eyes scanned his classmates, they landed on Michael. He was the only semi-intelligent one here.
Although the school marketed itself as the most prestigious academy that accepted only the best candidates, which it was and did, it unfortunately put as much emphasis on athletic ability as academic achievements, so there were still jocks and "popular kids".
He grabbed Michael by his collar and yanked him backwards. Eventually it would be good to save as many people as he could, but for survival in the beginning a small group was ideal.
After the rest of the class quickly turned into zombies, Luke reached for his backpack, releasing Michael.
His hand was halfway to the thing he wanted when he heard the first sickening crack. It was like the sound of a chip, damp with goo, being shattered with a hammer. It was distinctly sharp, but there was also a wet squelch mixed in.
As he rummaged in his backpack, the sounds continued. Even if whoever it was failed, which it didn't sound like they were doing, they would distract the monsters enough for Luke to find it.
When he retrieved the object, he drew it out, holding it in his palm, then he straightened and turns to face the room.
Everything was decimated. The only signs of the zombies were the occasional whole body parts, though there weren't many, and the blood.
Of course, the blood was everywhere.
Luke knew who he would find before he even looked up.
Evelyn.
She was standing there with a sledgehammer taller than she was leaning on her shoulder.
Of course, taller than she was didn't mean much. Evelyn was four feet and seven inches of explosive power wrapped in a school uniform. Currently, she also sported a large hammer, and that uniform was fully soaked in blood.
Well no, not fully. There was about a square inch on the top of her right shoulder that was still blue.
"You missed a spot," Luke said. To lose his head now would be death. So he didn't.
Luke remembered Michael, and glanced down to check on him. He did seem to be handling it better than most would. Instead of screaming or shouting, he was just trembling.
Then Luke noticed something else.
He wasn't terrified, he was laughing.
Michael straightened up. Although he was not quite as tall as Luke, his build was more athletic and broader, so most people assumed that he was taller until they saw them together. Michael attended more school functions, so people knew him better, and that suited Luke just fine. He preferred not to be in the spotlight.
This is going to be an interesting circumstance in which to attempt to maintain that ideal, he thought idly.
They had to go somewhere, because if they didn't, they would be caught in the worst location. It was always true that survivors got caught in the zombie nest, hive, or swarm, depending on what terminology you used. That was partially because most versions of zombies were attracted to living humans, so the others dispersed.
The other part was plot. Although Luke was fairly sure that he had lived a life, he couldn't discount the possibility that he was, in fact, either a side character or the main character in some form of media or literature. Due to the fantastical aspect to the appearance of zombies in the real world, that option that he had never considered for any length of time suddenly became very possible.
But now was not the time for such philosophical debates. Now was the time for action.
"Let's get going," Luke said, moving towards the door. Evelyn rushed to his side as Michael fell in, having to hurry to stay more or less even with them.
By the time that they had exited the building, their path was strewn with gore. Luke carefully looked around, and he saw nothing but more average zombies. It was fortunate that there didn't seem to be any sort of evolved or mutated zombies, because though they were often large, they didn't have to abide by the laws of physics, which meant they were incredibly dangerous.
As long as it was just normal zombies, they had a chance to survive for a while, and then they could establish a foothold. And if they established a foothold, then they would be able to live well enough until they died of old age, and maybe reestablish humanity, or even society.
But that all depended on them getting out of this alive.
So Luke's plans were disrupted when he heard a growl from behind them that was a lot lower than the normal zombies'.
Something else was here.