Sheloah was looking around until she saw her family. She walked towards them and gave each one a hug, her eyes tearing up. She was relieved to have seen them safe and sound.
"I'm glad you guys are here," she said and they smiled at her.
Sheloah frowned when she remembered her aunt, her grandmother, and her three younger cousins that didn't make it.
It broke her heart.
Sheloah tried to shake it off as she looked at her mother's injured arm. "Does it hurt," she asked and her mother shook her head.
"No. Isobel treated it for me," she answered and her daughter smiled at her.
She looked around and saw Isobel. She smiled when she remembered that she was with the class all along. She felt bad that she only got to see her now and that she only had the chance to talk to her now.
She suddenly stood up after kissing her mom on the cheek. Sheloah ran to where Isobel was and hugged her, surprising her friend. Both of them stumbled to the ground.
"Aray[1]!" Isobel hit Sheloah's shoulder and she just laughed at her. "You've returned," she added as Sheloah hugged her again.
"I just noticed you now, Isobel," she said and they broke the embrace.
Isobel is Sheloah's only female best friend. They called her balyena[2] because she drank more than 1.5 liters of water a day! She is a very smart person but is somewhat lazy. When it comes to humor, people would laugh more at her laugh than her own jokes.
She was Sheloah's truest friend other than Veon, Josh, and Tyler.
Isobel rolled her eyes at Sheloah. "Are you crazy? We've been together when we escaped and you only noticed now?" Sheloah laughed at her complaint.
"Thank you… for taking care of my mother's injury." Sheloah thanked her and Isobel smiled.
"Of course! Now I can call myself a self-proclaimed mini doctor. I will use the knowledge claim that I had from reading medical books," she said and Sheloah smiled at her motivation. Sheloah knew that being a doctor was Isobel's dream since she was young.
Isobel tapped her best friend's shoulder. "I'll check on tita[3]." She excused herself as she went to where Sheloah's mom was.
Sheloah stood up and she saw Tyler and Josh standing on the corner of the rooftop. She started walking and noticed that they were also depressed. They are one of Sheloah's closest friends so naturally, her heart ached for them as well. She wanted to comfort them.
She was about to approach Josh when she was taken aback by what she had heard. "You're lucky, Sheloah… your family's here," he said and Sheloah's heart sank.
Sheloah thought that she should be sensitive enough with her words and actions so as not to offend and hurt them in this situation.
She tapped Josh's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss…" He just gave her a faint smile.
Tyler went to the rooftop's railings as he looked at the stars on the sky. "I promised myself not to cry… but I just can't."
Sheloah frowned. She knew that Tyler now had full of regrets. He was not always expressive around his family and now, he did not even have the opportunity to thank them before this situation happened.
Seeing them like this hurt Sheloah.
She was lucky indeed to have her family here but deep down she hoped for their family's safety.
She knew that she couldn't also blame others for being angry at her because she has her family. She can't blame their sadness and jealousy if ever they felt it.
She sighed and went beside Veon, giving space for the two boys. She sat beside him. He saw her and he spoke.
"What's the next plan?" Sheloah looked at him. "It would be better if we leave here earlier," he added as Sheloah hugged both of her knees.
"I don't know. Maybe we should teach our classmates how to fight," she said and Veon nodded slowly.
"We need to divide the class. Like, into three groups, having a specific class. Attackers, support, and healers," he said and Sheloah looked at him as he spoke.
"We need a bigger vehicle so we can leave here with everyone. A vehicle like a bus." Sheloah suddenly interrupted to suggest.
"We need two buses. One for the parents and one for the students. Kenneth can also drive so he will be the driver. Dean has potential so he will fight with us. Let's give him a gun," he said as Sheloah listened. "On the other bus, Edward will drive. Ace will guard since he also has potential so we will also give him a gun," he added and Sheloah nodded at him.
"How about us," she asked and Veon looked at him.
"The car your uncle brought, Sir Jim and Sir Erick will be there with your uncle. I will get the pick up car from our house," Veon said and Sheloah now spoke.
"We will get the buses tomorrow night. In the morning, we teach our classmates to fight once we make the teams," she added as both of them made the plans.
"We will go back to our house tomorrow evening. We will be with your uncle, Kenneth, and Edward. We bring Tyler and Josh with us for back up, too," Veon added and Sheloah nodded at him.
"Once we arrive in Victory Liner[4], Kenneth and Edward will drive their respective buses going back to school. On the third day in the afternoon, we will leave. I don't know where we'll go, but we will leave. In the morning of the third day, we train our classmates one more time by bringing in zombies and letting them try to kill them," Veon said and Sheloah's eyes grew wider as he listened to the plan.
"You really thought of this well," she commented and Veon smiled at her.
"Our utmost priority is our survival," he said and Sheloah looked at the sky.
"We just need to do the things that are needed to do for now," she said and Veon nodded as he also looked at the starry sky.
Tomorrow, they will already start with the plan. They need to make drastic measures just for them to survive.
'We will all get through this.'