"Hey, hey, hey! What's the commotion all about!?"
Isobel then reacted as she went beside Sheloah, assessing the situation. She was busy fixing the first-aid kits before the situation distracted her.
"They're bullying her," Tyler answered and some of their classmates reacted quickly upon hearing the feedback.
"Bullying? Who's bullying who!?" Isobel looked coldly at them.
"Why did you slap her?" She approached the person who had slapped Sheloah and the person suddenly avoided her gaze and stepped back the moment she was in front in her.
Isobel was a very protective best friend towards Sheloah. She knew that her best friend was not the aggressive type so mostly, she would get riled up when she knew someone was bullying Sheloah.
"It's because she's shameless and sensitive! She deserved it." The person still dared to answer Isobel without meeting her deathly gaze.
Sheloah was fighting back her tears upon hearing the insults thrown at her. She balled her hands into fists and closed her eyes. She really didn't mean to be insensitive. She was just concerned about them. Even if she were to say sorry to everyone, she knew they won't forgive her.
"Ha!" Isobel rolled her eyes at the person who slapped Sheloah. "Then why are you guys still alive if it weren't for Sheloah's quick thinking?" The question was not only directed to the person, but to everyone who was against Sheloah as well.
They could not answer.
Veon looked at Sheloah with concern in his eyes.
"Are you okay?"
Sheloah swallowed and noticed her throat was painful from forcing herself not to cry. She forced a smile on her face as she answered Veon.
"I'm okay."
He frowned, he knew Sheloah was lying.
She knew that even though she said she was okay for a thousandth time, people who really knew her would know she's lying.
Isobel suddenly spoke loudly, enough for everyone to hear. "If it weren't for Sheloah, you would have been part of the undead army!" Everyone looked at the fierce teenager. "If it weren't for her plans, who knew what would happen to us," she added as she shrugged, disappointed at their classmates.
Isobel took a deep breath and exhaled before she spoke again. "You ungrateful, blinded, lot! Are you guys the only one who doesn't have their family here? Look at me! Am I making that much of a fuss knowing that my mother and my brother aren't here?"
"It's difficult to accept but this is life! It already happened! If you are still ungrateful of living… fine!" She pointed at the door of the rooftop and continued speaking, louder than she was a while ago. "Go die! The door is there and the zombies are willing to bite the life out of you so you could join them."
Sheloah then approached Isobel to stop her. "Babes, enough…"
Her voice sounded soft and it had calmed Isobel down. Isobel sighed. She even dared to use the nickname they had for each other.
She faced Sheloah. "You! I don't understand why your patience Is longer than the Great Wall of China!" Sheloah giggled a little as she hugged her best friend.
"Thank you for protecting me… but please, calm down," she said and Isobel sighed as she stopped scolding their ungrateful classmates.
Sheloah was happy to know that in this situation, she knew who her real friends are. She was lucky to have Veon, Isobel, Tyler, and Josh with her.
She had other girl friends before but she was always shunned by them when they noticed that most boys get close with her for being a gamer and for watching animes. They even made bitchy rumors about her, too. Which was why Sheloah preferred to be alone rather than initiating making friends.
Her isolated personality, however, somewhat changed when she met Tyler, Josh, Veon, and Isobel. She was really happy to have met them and became good friends with them.
Veon sighed as he looked at their classmates. It was now his turn talking.
"Didn't you guys realize? If Sheloah did not act quickly, we would've been part of the undead," he said and their classmates could not speak.
"What Isobel said was true. Life turned out to be cruel like now. The only thing we have to do is to move forward. It's difficult to accept that our families are gone. I know what you all feel," he said and their classmates looked at him as they listened.
"We regret at the end. We haven't even thanked them properly. It hurts, right? But this situation unexpectedly happened, yet we have no choice. What could we do? It's okay to be angry but we don't have to lash it all on one person who's only worried about our entire welfare," Veon added and one classmate of theirs couldn't stand it and he approached Veon.
"I thought you understood us," he said coldly, disappointed in Veon when he protected Sheloah.
"Yes, I understand."
"You claim you do but—" He was interrupted by Veon.
"My parents disappeared right in front of me."
Everyone was surprised and they went quiet when they heard this. Veon's hands were balled into fists as he remembered his parents' death. His heart ached and his eyes started to tear up but he still told his story bravely to everyone.
"I was the one who killed them."
The room was now full of surprise as people gasped at his last statement.
"Shit…"
Isobel reacted the moment she heard this sad news. She didn't expect this. Who would have the courage to do that? To kill his or her own parents?
After a while, the place went silent again as Veon continued telling his story.
Sheloah didn't expect Veon to share his experience openly to the people with them. It was her first time seeing him comfortably open up a recent sensitive scar of his life. Maybe he did this to inspire their classmates.
Sheloah approached Veon as she held his back, comforting him. She knew it hurt him to share this recent event yet he did it for her.
To protect her.
"Deciding to kill my parents was difficult. Heck, who in the right mind would? I haven't even talked to them before their sanity was stolen by the zombies."
With this statement, people knew that his parents had turned into zombies and that Veon was pushed to the point of killing his parents, leaving him with no choice.
"Hey, that's enough," Sheloah whispered to Veon. She did not want him to feel sad again, in front of a lot of people. Veon just smiled at her and he continued speaking.
"Please, I ask of you… we only have each other. Let us not fight," he said and their classmates looked at both Veon and Sheloah seriously.
"All of us have been going through painful times such as now. We need to overcome this with each other's support. You know our families wanted our survival the most right now even though they aren't here. They loved us from the start and they wanted us to grow from then on, right?"
Their classmates then softened their fierce faces as Veon's words got through them.
He was right.
"Don't blame it all on Sheloah. If only you guys know that every now and then, she thinks of plans just to protect us," Veon added and now the people who had despised Sheloah earlier looked at her with apologetic eyes.
"Sorry, Sheloah," they said and Sheloah was slightly taken aback.
Veon's words went through them! They sounded sincere!
"I-it's okay…" She was a little awkward and a little embarrassed but she still spoke. "I'm sorry for being sensitive, too," she added and one by one, they had said sorry personally to Sheloah.