Kael stuck to the wall as he crept downstairs ever so slowly.
He knew this would be the most dangerous part of his journey. After all, from his count during his investigation—by opening small gaps through the window—he and the two sisters had noticed hundreds of undead scattered around the perimeter. A great portion of these monsters were on the sandy field, with a few roaming around the school bus and parked cars not far away from the girls' dorm.
He took a deep breath.
'I have to make use of the shrubbery to stay out of their line of sight. As long as I remain hidden, it shouldn't be too hard to reach the main building.'
With that thought made, Kael was just about to make his move when he saw something that made his eyes widen slightly. An auburn-haired boy suddenly appeared a short distance away before immediately dropping to the ground, prone. The boy remained still for only a moment before crawling slowly in his direction, and it seemed he had yet to catch sight of him.
A strange expression appeared on Kael's face.
'Isn't it that annoying guy? What was his name again? Oh, yes! He is Nathan.'
Seeing the most popular boy in their school, and also his senior, crawl toward him like a snake without a care for his white shirt meeting the blood-stained tiled floor, Kael almost laughed at the absurd situation. But soon, a look of disdain flashed on his face when he saw the bright green text floating above Nathan's head.
'Only Level 1? What a useless moron! It seems I really have a good eye for reading a person's worth—something the public clearly lacks.'
Kael smoothly ignored the fact that he had always found Nathan displeasing due to the latter being far more good-looking. Unwilling to spare the other another glance, Kael focused on his own mission and quietly moved forward while still in a crouched position.
It was then Nathan finally caught sight of him, making his eyes go wide in horror. Just as Kael was about to quickly jump behind the shrubbery, Nathan suddenly sprang to his feet in a crouch before swiftly lunging at him.
Their bodies collided. Caught off guard, Kael couldn't react before Nathan dragged him back to the stairway entrance.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Kael growled lowly as he glowered at Nathan.
However, the latter didn't even look at him, as his face tensed in worry. Only then did Kael notice how unnaturally pale his senior's face was. A frown marred his face, and just as he was about to ask another question in annoyance, an overwhelming feeling of unease suddenly smothered him, making him gasp uncontrollably.
Nathan's face, which was already pale, turned white. He quickly commanded his shadow to act while he ran up the stairs without a care for whether Kael followed. His shadow gave him a middle finger before unwillingly moving in the opposite direction. It rose from the ground and materialized into a dark figure before jumping out into the open.
Kael didn't know what drove him to follow Nathan up the stairs, even as he felt surprise at the latter's strange abilities. It wasn't until he almost rounded the corner that his eyes caught sight of a body crawling along the outer walls of the building. The body swiftly scrambled to the ceiling of the corridor as it chased after the running shadow.
Even without seeing the figure clearly, Kael felt a chill run down his spine when he caught sight of its movement. Luckily, he had already disappeared; a split second later, the undead's neck suddenly twisted a hundred and eighty degrees, its eyes locking onto the spot Kael had just vacated.
Seeing a chance, the running shadow swiftly returned to its normal state before quickly merging with the shadows cast from the shrubbery. While the scene sounded long to describe, everything happened within the span of three breaths—from Nathan suddenly lunging at Kael to the shadow escaping successfully after fulfilling its hateful master's job.
---
Two figures breathed heavily as they hid within a room on the second floor. Their eyes remained trained on the closed door as if expecting something or someone to burst through it. It wasn't until two entire minutes passed that their bodies relaxed slightly, and they released unconscious breaths of relief.
Nathan was finally able to study the figure before him clearly. Due to the heat of the moment, his body had simply moved when he noticed what the latter would have fallen into if he had left him to act freely. A strange light flickered within his emerald eyes when he noticed the boy's state.
Unkempt hair, torn shorts that looked more like rags, a missing arm. His thoughts rested on that last one for a bit longer, his eyes fixed on the bone jutting out from the healed stump. He shivered slightly at the sight but quickly caught himself. He didn't want to put the boy in an uncomfortable situation.
'And lastly, why the hell is he wearing a girl's T-shirt? Does he have a weird fetish or something?'
Feeling that the silence had stretched far too long, Nathan flashed his signature bright smile, one that sent girls blushing before the apocalypse.
"I didn't know the school had a cleaning boy."
Kael stiffened.
"I am Nathan, a junior in high school. What is your name?" He stretched his hand out in greeting, with that pleasing smile still plastered onto his handsome face.
Kael gazed at the stretched hand for several seconds as his thoughts ran wild.
'This bastard called me a cleaning boy?! Me, the great Kael, the best of the best, the object of desire of countless young girls, the future conqueror of—'
Ahem!
Seeing his thoughts had gone off track, Kael quickly reined his thoughts in.
'But still... this guy is annoying. And that smile... I want to wipe it off his face. Keep calm, Kael. No matter what, he just saved your life.'
Flashing what he thought to be his most radiant smile—not knowing the sight had almost sent Nathan recoiling—Kael shook the hand before him before responding.
"Thank you for saving my life."
Nathan's brows creased for a moment. He had introduced himself, but it seemed the latter wasn't willing to do the same. It wasn't that he had never seen Kael before—surely not. After all, they were both in the same school and were both somewhat popular. It was just that Kael's current haggard appearance made him unrecognizable. He looked like he had survived through hell and back.
Retrieving his hand, Nathan watched his shadow slide through the gap below the door. The shadow sent him another finger before silently merging back with his feet. Blushing slightly from his shadow's antics, Nathan quickly tried to shift the focus.
"I saw you coming from upstairs. There was a loud explosion that came from up there this morning. Do you know anything about it?"
"No!" Kael didn't even hesitate before replying. He cast another glance at Nathan's head before sending him a look of disdain.
Kael's action didn't escape Nathan's eyes. He also shifted his sight to Kael's head, and seeing nothing, his mouth opened slightly in surprise.
'How is that possible? I have never seen anyone without text above them. Is his class that high that it is hidden from the public... no.' Before that thought could finish, he gave Kael another once-over and realized that point wasn't even valid, with how miserable the other looked.
'So there are really unawakened people in this world? Isn't that a sentence to death in this apocalypse?'
Nathan suddenly felt the situation of the boy before him was truly pitiable. Not only had he lived a wretched life before the arrival of the system—as a young boy living life as a cleaner while seeing his peers study and advance must have surely been difficult—but even after the apocalypse, he still remained a nobody—an insignificant presence, one that would leave no impact.
'No wonder he looks so haggard. He must have struggled to survive up to this point.'
Hence, a strange scene played out within the silent room, as one boy looked at the other with pity in his eyes, while the other only had unconcealed disdain for him.
*****
AN: Thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote power stones.