The nearest zombie lunged.
I swung.
The metal pole connected with a sickening crack and sent the corpse crashing into one of the infirmary beds.
Unfortunately, knocking a zombie down and killing a zombie were two very different things.
The thing immediately started moving again.
“…Right.”
I really hated zombies.
Glass covered the floor as the shattered window continued spilling corpses into the nurse’s office.
I counted almost instinctively: one, two…
eight.
Eight zombies, eight extremely bite-happy problems standing between us and getting out of this room alive.
“Goddamn.”
That was more than I remembered.
Not by much, but enough.
Beside me, the student tightened his grip around the improvised metal rod I’d given him earlier.
His entire body was shaking, but at least he was still standing.
The zombies advanced, slow, relentless, hungry.
The nearest corpse stumbled toward me with both arms outstretched, and I stepped forward.
Not backward.
Forward.
One lesson Officer Sakamoto had repeatedly hammered into my skull was simple: never give something dangerous the initiative if you can help it.
The pole crashed into the zombie’s knee.
The joint folded sideways, sending the corpse collapsing instantly.
Before it could rise again, I drove the screwdriver through its eye socket, and the body immediately stopped moving.
One down.
Seven to go.
A panicked yell erupted beside me.
I glanced over to see the student landing a solid hit on a zombie’s shoulder, though the zombie barely reacted.
“Head!
GO FOR THE DAMN HEAD!” I shouted, frustration filling my voice.
“Oh!”
Thankfully, his next swing connected with the side of its skull.
The corpse staggered, not dead, but definitely less enthusiastic.
Good enough.
The remaining zombies continued closing in.
Three immediately converged on me, as if I had suddenly become the most popular person in the room.
“Of course.”
The first one reached me, its jaws snapping shut around my forearm.
For one horrifying second, my heart nearly stopped.
Then I felt…
nothing.
The zombie continued chewing, its teeth grinding uselessly against layers of paper and cardboard.
I stared at it, and the zombie stared back.
“…Best investment I’ve made all day.”
Using my trapped arm as leverage, I drove the screwdriver into its temple.
The corpse collapsed instantly.
Two down.
The other two arrived almost simultaneously: one crashed into my shoulder while the other grabbed my uniform.
I hit the floor hard, the impact knocking the air from my lungs.
For a brief moment, all I could see were rotting teeth, way too many rotting teeth.
A jaw snapped inches from my face, so I shoved my armored forearm into its mouth to let the textbooks take another bite.
Meanwhile, the second zombie tried climbing on top of me.
This was bad, very bad.
Fortunately, I still had one free hand.
The screwdriver plunged upward once, twice, three times until the zombie finally stopped moving.
The other followed shortly afterward.
I rolled away and scrambled back to my feet, blood covering my uniform.
Most of it wasn’t mine, hopefully.
A confused yelp suddenly echoed from the opposite side of the room.
I turned to find that one of the remaining zombies had somehow slipped past us, and unfortunately, it had discovered Marikawa-sensei.
The nurse stood frozen behind the beds while the zombie continued stumbling toward her: slowly, irritatingly slowly, yet somehow still fast enough.
“Sensei!”
She squeaked, which, unsurprisingly, made the zombie even more interested.
Great; apparently, screaming really was an aggro mechanic.
I immediately sprinted forward.
The corpse reached over the bed, its fingers brushing the sleeve of her uniform, before the metal pole slammed into its head.
The zombie crashed sideways, and before it could recover, I stomped on its neck and buried the screwdriver through its skull.
Five down.
A loud crash echoed behind me, followed by a scream, a very human scream.
I immediately turned.
Maybe the student had overcommitted, or maybe it was because I’d abandoned the position I was supposed to be guarding.
Either way, he had been overwhelmed.
His weapon had missed, allowing a zombie to slip inside his reach and sink its teeth into his shoulder.
A scream of agony tore through the room.
“No!”
The student kicked the corpse away, but it was already too late.
The bite mark was there, clear as day.
For a brief moment, everything seemed to slow down.
The student stared at the wound, then at me, then back at the wound.
“…No.”
Nobody said anything, because what was there to say?
The answer was written across his face.
The remaining zombies continued moving; life didn’t care about personal tragedies.
I tightened my grip around the pole and got back to work.
The next minute was messy, brutal, and exhausting: a swing, a stab, a shove, another stab.
One zombie got back up after I thought it was dead; another nearly bit my leg.
The student continued fighting too, probably because accepting reality was harder than swinging a metal rod.
Eventually, the last corpse hit the floor, leaving a heavy, uncomfortable silence in its wake.
The student dropped his weapon, his eyes remaining fixed on the bite mark.
“…It’s over.”
Nobody answered, because nobody needed to. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Then the nurse’s office door burst open.
BANG!
A girl rushed inside: long purple hair, wooden sword, sharp blue eyes.
For a moment, she froze as her gaze swept across the room: the broken window, the blood, the bodies, the dead zombies, and finally me.
Our eyes met briefly before she shifted her attention toward the student, the bite mark, and the screwdriver still stained with blood.
Understanding flashed across her face almost immediately.
Of course it did.
This was Saeko Busujima, one of the few genuinely competent people in this entire apocalypse.
“Marikawa-sensei.”
The nurse immediately perked up.
“Busujima-san!”
Good; at least they knew each other.
One less thing to explain.
Saeko quickly guided the nurse away from the shattered window before turning her attention back to the student.
The guy looked up, his face pale.
“I…” His voice cracked.
“I don’t want to become one of those things.”
Silence.
Then his eyes turned toward me, not Saeko.
Maybe because I’d already shown that I was willing to do what needed to be done, or maybe because he knew everyone else would hesitate.
Probably both.
Either way, the meaning was clear.
I slowly walked over as the screwdriver felt unusually heavy.
Funny; killing zombies was easy, but this wasn’t.
The student laughed weakly, a broken sound.
“Man…” His gaze drifted toward the bite mark.
“What a bad day.”
“…Yeah.” That was about all I could offer.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he gave a small nod, barely noticeble, but enough.
I understood.
“…I’m sorry.”
The student closed his eyes, and the screwdriver came down.
The room fell silent.
When it was over, I slowly stood.
Nobody spoke, not even Saeko.
After a moment, she simply looked toward the door.
“We should go.”
I glanced toward the shattered window, where more zombies were already gathering outside.
“…Yeah.”
Honestly?
That sounded like a pretty good idea.
End of Chapter 12
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