Chapter Text
He had never been one to rely on things like his gut or intuition. Yet, as he looks out his room window at the chaos, he can’t help but be glad he had listened to it.
Whatever it was that morning, that feeling of wrongness and unease. It had saved him. Well, maybe saying he was saved was a bit of an overstatement.
People down on the ground are running and screaming while blood covered and mangled creatures chase them.
Even with his extremely limited knowledge in fictional topics and anime, Kiyotaka knows this is straight out of a zombie apocalypse story.
Unlike the popular American shows about zombies, these ones can’t possibly be called Walkers. Sure, they do walk and aren’t constantly running. But they are by no means slow.
Kiyotaka has been observing this situation below for only a few minutes now. It was only half an hour ago when he got out of the shower and started making some tea to hopefully calm his headache.
The screaming started less than 10 minutes ago. His internal clock subconsciously told him that he had been watching for 5 minutes and 14 seconds now. In just that short amount of time, the fields and paths below have turned into ground zero.
It can be compared to a deadly game of tag. Except there are no boundaries and the people trying to get you out number you more and more as the time continues.
When he woke up this morning this is not at all what he had been expecting. Despite being so well prepared and always thinking multiple steps ahead, nobody prepares for this.
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Actually, Kiyotaka was somewhat prepared for this. Not the zombies, but having to quickly and quietly sneak around and away.
It had always been in the back of his mind that his father might send people to come kidnap him and forcefully bring him back. That’s why, he has a bag packed with useful items that he kept under his bed and out of the way.
It was one of the first things he had situated when he got here. It wasn’t too hard to put together with the 100,000 points that were given to them in the first month. However, there were some things that he would have liked to have had that were not possible to get within the confines of the school grounds.
Now, looking at the zombies, the bow that he had managed to acquire and keep in his emergency bag may as well be futile. It was already not that useful. As a weapon, the bow and arrow isn’t actually that practical for combat, compared to other modern weapons.
The hoard of people on the ground, probably in the building too by now, would barely be phased by the couple dozens of arrows that he has.
‘Perhaps I should have asked the chairman for a rifle or shotgun. It’s unlikely he would allow me to have one in my dorm, let alone on the school premise. Although, it may have been possible when compared to the threat that the whiteroom poses if they were to have tried to abduct me…’ Kiyotaka thought to himself as he sorted through his things.
He counts the weapons and items that are in his bag and has already put on the cargo pants that he had also bought with the intention of using them to flee.
His phone is face up beside him and messages fly across the screen. It has been acting very slow due to all the notifications. The class group chat is in shambles as well as the school sending out countless messages.
They all say roughly the same thing. They need to hide and fortify themselves until further notice. Lucky for them, and all of Japan, this epidemic happened on what is practically an island. Therefore, as long as nothing can get through the gate and into Tokyo, it can be contained.
Hiding out in his dorm doesn’t sound like that bad of an idea. He could probably get out and fortify his entire floor and the elevator so that he has more space that is safe.
He could play it safe and ration the food of his own room and his neighbours’ and wait until higher authorities like the military come and deal with this.
Unfortunately, Kiyotaka isn’t a wishful thinker or one to rely on others.
There are enough zombies that he can see out his window to be a huge threat but not enough for him to assume that the entire population on this island has been infected.
With his keen eyesight, he hasn’t seen too many people he knows. He has the faces of all the students, teachers and the employees that he sees often memorized. So naturally, when he looks out he can name most of the zombies roaming around.
Regardless, few are people he is actually associated with and he has yet to see one of his classmates. It's possible that the class as a whole is hiding together and none of them have been hurt or infected.
But again, Kiyotaka isn’t a wishful thinker. It is also very possible that they have all been killed or infected and he simply hasn’t seen one yet.
Suddenly, his phone rings a familiar tone and a picture pops up on the screen. Until now, he hasn’t gotten a direct message or call from anyone. There is definitely too much of a panic for them to be worried about him and call to check in.
He puts down the first aid kit that he was inspecting and swipes across the screen to answer Kei, his girlfriend’s, call.
As soon as it goes through he can hear her rough breathing.
“Hello? Kiyotaka, are you there; are you okay? Hello?”
“Kei, I'm fine. What’s going on?” He speaks into the phone quickly. Her breathing is loud and fast and somehow sounds teary. She could be extremely injured on the other side of the line and in extreme pain. Or perhaps she’s just scared and not hurt, hopefully.
“I-I’m okay. We’re okay.” She almost whispers out. Now that he focuses hard, he can hear other sounds in the background. There are other voices and people breathing loud.
“Are you hurt?”
“N-no I just-,” she takes a couple deep breaths to calm herself and when she speaks again her voice is slightly less shaky. “I’m not hurt.” She manages to get out.
“That’s good; keep breathing okay? Take some deep breaths. Come on with me, in,” He leads her through a couple more rounds of deep breaths. Unlike himself, Kei is very shaken up about this and has every right to be scared out of her mind. As he breathes with her, he listens to the other voices in the room. He can’t really tell what anyone else is saying but there seem to be a few people with her, all also in states of panic. “Where are you?” He finally asks.
She takes another breath before she responds, “We’re in our homeroom classroom?”
“Okay. Who are you with?” It would be good if the whole class was there but that might not be the case.
“I-It’s just- we, we just… I,” Her voice starts to shake more, not a good sign.
“Hey, take it easy. Keep breathing. You’re okay.” He tries to speak gently into the phone to calm her down but despite her deep breaths that he can hear through the phone, the only noises that get out are sobs and not answers.
Then, a familiar voice gets closer and louder.
It’s Horikita and she’s saying comforting words to Kei, similar to how Kiyotaka was. There are sniffles and less sobbing as time goes on until finally Kei isn’t sobbing as loud anymore.
“Ayanokoji?” Horikita’s voice comes through the phone.
“Horikita. Is she alright?”
“She’ll be fine. We’re all a bit shaken up right now. Are you okay?”
“Yes I’m completely fine but I can see what’s going on from my window.” Horikita, as usual, seems to be quite calm considering the situation but even her voice trembles. “Is the whole class there?”
“...No. A few of them left to get somewhere safer regardless of my warnings and what the school said.”
“How many of you are there?”
“It's me, Sensei, Karuizawa, Hirata, Koenji, Kushida, Sudo, Sotomura, Onodera, Ike and Mei-chan left here.”
He thought that over. It seems that far more than just a few of them had left, for whatever reason. And it was many of the key players who stayed behind in the classroom. “That means most of the class left…” He let his voice trail off.
“Yes…” Her voice shook. “Yukimura-kun and Miyake convinced everyone to try and get to the athletics building before it’s too late.”
“The athletics building huh?” That’s not a bad place to hide out. The sports teams keep snacks and energy drinks stocked up there. And considering how Miyake was apparently someone adamant about getting there, they probably had plans to get their hands on some weapons such as the bow and arrow. “Are you all alright there?”
“Yes I told you, nobody is hurt.” She is starting to sound more like her regular self.
“Is it safe enough there?” He brought his voice down lower.
She was silent for a few beats before explaining, “We barricaded the door as well as we can from here. These… things don’t seem intelligent enough to be able to get past it. If we stay quiet and don’t let them see us through the window in the hallway, they don’t make an effort to attack.”
“I see. What-” Just as he was about to ask another question he heard light bickering and muffled noises through his phone.
“Kiyotaka?”
“Kei, you’re back.”
“I’m sorry… I’m just scared. I-I don’t know what to do. Are you…” She hesitated. “What are you going to do?”
“Are you all planning on staying in that room as long as possible?”
“As long as possible? The school is telling us to stay put until the military comes. They’ll be here soon, right?! That's what they’re saying so-”. She continues rambling into the phone.
His original plan was to get to the highest floor and wait it out. Either the military would come and succeed, he would die before then… or his father would come to collect him.
Considering this dire situation that couldn’t have possibly been caused by his father (right?), it would be wise to go back now. Although, he did learn a lot here and what he has gained is far more valuable than anything that could be taught in the White Room.
Clearly, the worst case scenario at the moment is his death and/or turning into a zombie. However, a close second to that would be going back to the White Room for whatever torture and punishment that they have for him since he disobeyed his father.
“Kei.” He said firmly. He paused, unsure for once if he was really going to go through with this. “Stay there. I’ll come get you.”
Her breath hitched. “You-”
“I’m getting ready to leave now. I’ll come get you and we will all head to the rooftop together.” He quickly instructed her.
“The rooftop? I don’t- You can’t! They’re all over the place! You can’t possibly-!”
“I’m coming. I’ll keep you updated on when-”
“No! No, no! We’ll meet you there! Yes! That's a better idea surely, right?!”
She was yelling at this point and in the background Kiyotaka could hear the frantic voices of everyone else as well as the faint sound of scratching.
“Kei.” His tone left no room for argument. “Tell everyone else to get ready to leave as soon as I get there. Find things that can be used as weapons for when we make our way up.”
“Wait, wait, wait-!”
“Do you understand?”
“I- you don’t have to! Please! I can’t lose you so just stay there and we’ll, we’ll stay here. Okay?” She sniffled and her voice was weak as she desperately tried to convince him to stay in the safety of his dorm.
A year ago, he wouldn’t hesitate to think only of himself and his own survival. However, life is so much more interesting with people by your side.
Now, dare he say, he has something to actually live for. His life is more than just trying to win at everything and eventually prove his father wrong if someone were to best him.
Now, he has friends who are loyal to him despite having seen some of his questionable nature. He has a girlfriend who stayed with him even after he showed his true colours. This is the closest he has ever been to freedom.
Right now, with the screaming down below and the knowledge that there are his classmates inside a zombie infested school, he has a choice.
He could save himself, and have a high success rate. Or, he could go help the others who are trapped in their classroom. One could argue that they would be a burden to him and only slow him down.
Besides, he was already planning on escaping with whatever his father would send to retrieve him with, probably a helicopter. How would he be able to save them all with that?
“I promise. I promise I’ll get to you all. We’ll go to the roof top where it is safer and go from there. Together.”
“...”
“Okay?”
“Okay. Please just, just don’t push yourself. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” The line went silent for a moment. “Can you stay on the phone?”
“Sure, I’ll keep it on for as long as I can.”
“Okay.”
It went silent again with only the sound from Kiyotaka’s speaker as he prepared his bag and everything he would be taking with him.
“I’m leaving now, I don’t know how long it will take me to get there.”
“Promise me you’ll be safe.” She didn’t leave room for argument either.
“Kei…” In this situation, how could he possibly promise that?
“Promise me! Promise that if you get into a dangerous situation on your way here you’ll put yourself first.”
“...I promise.”
“...Okay.” She heard the lock click on his door. “Please hurry.” She wept again softly, unsure of what emotions she should be feeling right now.