After Ziyuan snapped back to reality, he thought of the most important person to him in this school—
"Kuiran."
His mind was now filled with the need to protect Kuiran.
As he frantically took off his shoes and socks, he urgently said to his friend, "You take yours off too, so you won't slip when running!"
By now, the classroom had descended into chaos. All the students were focused on escaping, paying no attention to those around them. Even if someone fell, no one stopped to help.
Ziyuan and his friend squeezed through the crowd, desperately running toward the stairs. Along the way, his friend was knocked down, and Ziyuan immediately turned back to pull him up.
Suddenly, his best friend shoved him away just as a zombie pounced on him and began tearing into his flesh. Ziyuan screamed:
"No!"
His best friend lay on the ground in agony, gasping, "You... run. Th...ank you."
With no time to grieve, Ziyuan rushed downstairs. Just as the last wave of people escaped, he saw zombies charging toward him and slammed the door shut.
Just when he thought he was safe, a zombie leaped down from upstairs. It lunged at him, and he sprinted desperately toward Kuiran's classroom.
As the zombie was about to catch him, Sun Kali suddenly stepped in front of Ziyuan. Without hesitation, he picked her up, barged into Kuiran's classroom, and slammed the door shut.
Meanwhile, Ye Hui and his group, who had skipped class, were walking when they noticed someone jumping off a building—only to stand back up and start chasing people.
Ye Hui immediately realized, "Zombies... There really are zombies. Run!"
They dashed into a room full of sports equipment and locked the door.
Back in Kuiran's classroom, Ziyuan sat on the floor, panting heavily.
At that moment, Kali snapped, "Are you insane? Do you have any idea how much that hurt?"
She still hadn't grasped the situation outside.
Ziyuan smiled bitterly. "Yeah, I am insane. I couldn't even save my own friend. What makes you think I could save you?"
With that, he collapsed to the floor and sobbed helplessly.
Nearby, Teacher Hui, hearing his words, stepped forward and asked, "What's happening outside?"
Ziyuan looked at her, steadied himself, and stood up. "Right now, there are zombies out there. I'm not joking."
A few skeptical students opened the window to look, only for a zombie to lunge at them. They immediately slammed the window shut.
Ziyuan stared at them. "Believe me now?"
They nodded.
Ziyuan urged the teacher to call the police, but the call wouldn't go through.
He muttered, "Seems like they've been overrun too..."
At that moment, Fu Ling asked, "So what do we do now? I don't want to die here."
Ziyuan glanced at him, then at Kuiran sitting beside him. His heart eased slightly before he spoke:
"I know staying here isn't a long-term solution." He paused, thinking. "We'll wait for the right moment. Stay quiet until the zombies move away, then we'll leave."
Everyone sat down silently. Ziyuan took the chance to sit next to Kuiran.
Elsewhere, Ping Dan couldn't take it anymore. "No, I'm getting out. I can't stay here."
Ye Hui retorted, "If you go out now, you're just throwing your life away."
Dong Feng picked up a badminton racket nearby. "These could work as makeshift weapons."
Ye Hui nodded. "Fine, let's gear up and go. Staying here means death anyway."
They began selecting weapons. Ping Dan searched for a baseball bat but found none. Frustrated, he complained:
"Is this school so poor they don't even have a single baseball bat? Where did all the money we donated go?"
Ye Hui scoffed, "Probably embezzled by Principal Chen."
Dong Feng added, "Exactly. Everyone knows what kind of man Principal Chen is. Look at his son, Chen Qi—no way he got into the top class without his dad pulling strings."
As they talked, they finished preparing their weapons. Though badminton rackets were flimsy, they were better than charging out unarmed.
Just as they were about to leave, they heard a loud scream outside, drawing all the zombies away.
Seizing the opportunity, they flung the door open. Once outside, Ping Dan suddenly asked, "Where are we going?"
Ye Hui froze. "Right... where are we going?"
Dong Feng pointed. "That way!"
They sprinted toward the back gate. Midway, three people suddenly rushed out, fighting zombies before being overwhelmed.
Seeing the back gate blocked, Ye Hui yelled, "Run! To the front gate!"
But as they ran, they found zombies ahead and behind them. Trapped, they froze—until a nearby door suddenly swung open, and someone yanked them inside.
Six minutes earlier.
Ziyuan sat beside Kuiran, wanting to speak but unsure what to say.
Then Kuiran suddenly said, "Hi."
Ziyuan replied, "Hi."
An awkward silence followed as they both looked away.
Suddenly, a distant scream echoed. Ziyuan stood alert, approaching the window to peek outside. He saw all the zombies drawn toward the noise.
As he was about to close the window, he spotted Jilian and Haoyu—former classmates—along with another person heading for the back gate. Ziyuan whispered:
"Jilian! Haoyu!"
But they didn't hear him, marching straight toward danger. Ziyuan could only pray silently for their safety.
He told everyone to prepare to leave. Just then, three people appeared outside the classroom door. As zombies closed in, Ziyuan didn't hesitate—he yanked them inside. But the zombies began slamming against the door. Just as Ziyuan was about to lose his grip, Kuiran pushed a desk from the podium to help barricade it.
Ziyuan and the three newcomers slumped to the floor, gasping for breath.
Ziyuan said to Kuiran, "Thank you."
Kuiran asked softly, "Are you okay?"
Fu Ling watched silently from a distance.
Before Ziyuan could respond, Ping Dan snapped at his friends, "You idiots! You rushed out without a plan!"
Ye Hui shot back, "Says the idiot who followed us!"
Laughter died instantly as a chill ran down their spines—Teacher Hui loomed behind them, coldly stating, "Daring to swear in front of me? Bold."
Ziyuan interjected, "Teacher, this isn't a normal class. It's an apocalypse. We should focus on escaping, not scolding them for swearing."
Teacher Hui sat down, chastened.
They then discussed their escape plan.
Ziyuan asked Ye Hui, "Where did you come from just now?"
Ye Hui explained, "We were in the sports equipment room. When we got outside, Ping Dan realized we had no plan. We tried the back gate, but it was swarming with zombies. Then we turned toward the front gate, but zombies blocked us both ways. We were trapped outside this classroom when you pulled us in. We owe you one."
Ziyuan shook his head. "Don't thank me yet. Why didn't you just run to the basketball court and climb the wall? It's closer."
Dong Feng slapped his forehead. "Oh, right! Why didn't we think of that?"
From his seat, Fu Ling sneered, "Low-class students have no brains."
Ye Hui and his friends lunged forward, but Ziyuan held them back.
Teacher Hui stood up. "Kui Fu Ling, how could you say that? Apologize now."
Fu Ling muttered reluctantly, "Sorry."
Then, Kuiran tugged Ziyuan's sleeve and pointed to a student in the corner. "Look at him."
Ziyuan turned and froze—the student's head was twitching uncontrollably, as if on the verge of turning into a zombie.
Earlier, when some students had opened the window to check for zombies, one had lunged at them. Though they shut it quickly, a student's hand was slightly grazed by the zombie's teeth. The wound was tiny, delaying the mutation.
Everyone backed away in horror. As panic set in, Ziyuan scanned the room and shouted:
"Find me a weapon!"
Ye Hui handed him a badminton racket. Ziyuan snapped off the head, leaving a sharp end. He aimed for the student's neck but missed, stabbing his shoulder instead.
Realizing the situation was spiraling, Ziyuan yelled, "Go! Run to the basketball court!"