KRISTINA NAOMI YAGAMI
After Liza's announcement through the intercom, Carlo emerges from the hall with Jee Ho.
"Ojie!" I gasp with delight and hug the Korean. He grimaces and pushes me off, but I wrap my arms around him tighter. "Stop it, bitch! Your boobs are touching me!" he complains.
I slap him.
"Bloody fuck, woman?!" he yells. I slap him again.
"Okay, that's enough. The bloody hell is wrong, Medusa?!" Carlo intercepts by taking Jee Ho away from me. My hair resembles noodles, but because that's racist to call an Asian noodle, they've been calling me Medusa since elementary. Oddly enough, it doesn't bother me.
Okay, maybe a little. I wanted Merida.
I shrug, "I don't know. His cheeks are just so soft," I pinch his cheek. Jee Ho yelps in pain. I can see the crescent marks from my nails on his smooth flesh. Ugh, his cheeks are so cute.
"Where did you find him, Carlo?" I ask.
"He was sleeping on top of the lockers when I was looking for him," he answers.
I grin grotesquely at Jee Ho and he does the same. Ah, we just love our blob faces. "That's what I'm talking about!" I remark. We high–five.
"Let's go get Liza from the radio room," Nicolette pipes in the mini-reunion. She hooks arms with me and all of us quickly trod down the stairs. Jee Ho and Carlo are practically pushing each other to their deaths as we prepare.
Kids.
The moans grow louder as we descend.
I fish out the 9mm handgun from my pocket. Carlo cracks his neck and practices punching with the brass knuckle while the Korean twins, Jee Ho and Yeong Hwan, tighten their holds on their beloved kitchen knives. To entail more, they put black paint like whiskers on their faces.
The other students follow closely behind, each holding a plausible weapon, including Nicolette's infamous boning knife. I'm sure it can stab an undead, right?
How Nicolette has these weapons on campus is the mother of mystery. Even if I press her, she won���t say a thing. A magician does not share his secret. The petty bitch doesn't want me to steal her idea. Good for her.
Jee Ho walks ahead, gaining the leader role. The loud noises become notoriously irritating to my ears.
We reach the second floor in no time. From the banister, I can already see hands and body parts peeking from the stair's creek. The gray cafeteria tables block the entrance of the stairs–I can only think of Liza being responsible for it. I can already taste fear from the tip of my tongue.
But hey, don't ya think we'll be the best candidates to act the live-action for the High School of the Dead?
It will look bomb as fuck.
"There are more of them than those we encountered earlier. We got to move quietly." Jee Ho whispers to the rest. Yeong Hwan unites with his brother with another 9mm handgun from Nicolette's bag.
The second-floor hall is quiet as we walk through it. The silence is deafening. Strange noises resound from the radio room. The door is almost invisible–the same color as the opaque walls and between the end of the hall and the corner to the faculty room.
A stranger might not even see it the first time.
"Liza?" I call out with the handgun at the door. I marvel at how badass I am. It's only a few minutes to 11:00 but we already live through this ideal better than the Walking Dead's first episode.
The door creaks open.
Liza emerges with a bloody crowbar and a cowering Phineas Carter. When he sees my gun, he shrieks and crouches behind her. She pushes him to the floor. She jabs a finger at the gun, "How did you get that evil boy without this little ass bitching?"
Nicolette winks. Liza grimaces at her, "You disgusting bitch."
"Who can stop me from doing what I want?" Nicolette rhetorically asks. "And get expelled perhaps?" Liza suggests. She walks over to her and pats her back, "Atta girl, you learned the tricks from the master," they laugh.
I tilt my head. What's going on?
"No time for chit-chat, girls. We need to get help." Edmer suddenly speaks up, ruining the reunion. They glare at him, and he shrinks back. "Interrupt the girl talk and your balls will explode," Nicolette warns. "How do you think we'll get help from a hill far from the city? Thank your princess principal for his shit then!" Liza hisses.
"Stop calling me that!" The bald man demands.
"Don't act like you're gay now. There's no time to convert back!" Liza retorts. "Homosexuality is no phase, girl! What is with your ridiculous logic? You make me look like a pedophile!" he replies.
"Because you are!" she insists.
"Okay, that's enough!" I interject before the argument heats. They stare at me with wide eyes–when I'm confident they're all ears, I remove the gun from Carter's temple. "I don't want to kill you, Carter, but you're not exactly giving me a choice," I start. He's too perplexed to say anything back.
"With the situation, none of us are experienced to handle this. So as an adult, act as you should. That's the least you can do right now." I advise. Phineas visibly softens.
Best statement ever. I should write that down before I forget.
"You're right –"
"Does anyone have a pen and paper?!" I ask. One student raises her hand. "I do!" she squeals and scuffles to me with the pen and scratch paper. I quickly write what I just said. Phineas peeks over my shoulder, "What are you doing?" he asks.
Duh, isn't it obvious?
I pocket the paper before I clap in delight. Confusion washes over the students watching me whilst my friends are chill about it. With an optimistic outlook for the future, I shout at the top of my lungs, "So! What's next in line for us, bitches?"
ELIZABETH MAY SAUVETERRE
First things first.
Thank you, China, so much for the abacus. Truly, I thank you for this contribution. I might just be nice to Carlo now.
Now, let's say that again.
My mental speech is a preparation if I visit their country. However, it does not apply to Carlo, who's white instead of Asian at this point. Whitewashed motherfucker.
"How do you rewind this thing?" I ask while studying the black buttons on the black box. This is the first time I get to explore the radio room, but now that I'm here, I can honestly say I don't know shit about these blinking buttons that remind me of annoying Christmas lights. Does that even make sense?
Phineas sighs before standing behind me. His chest presses on my back and I shiver.
"You press this to rewind." He presses a blinking red button and the CCTV film rewinds. "Stop there," I tell him.
The timestamp stops at 9:30 a.m. of the recording. Nine of the CCTV cameras are still working so far, which is a relief. My mind wanders to the wet walker earlier. Alas, the CCTV camera by the pool area is unavailable so we won't be able to find out more. Nicolette appears beside me to look.
Phineas enlarges the footage by the gate.
The usual security guards are talking casually from their post by the gate.
Everything looks normal.
"Look," Vincent points at a figure coming out of the pool entrance. I recognize it to be the bloated walker earlier. "It's the thing you beheaded!" Carter exclaims. We watch as it staggers towards the guards, who are both oblivious with their backs turned. My heart speeds up at this point. No students aren't around after break time.
It doesn't feel right. I feel like something's missing. I want to find out how this all started from the very beginning. It sneaks behind them and rips an enormous chunk of flesh from the nearest security guard. The other one hits it with a baton, but it only feeds more.
"Ew," Nicolette remarks. "I have to say it!" Carlo exclaims. "This is better than the Walking Dead."
"What season are they already in? Any more than that they'll beat Ang Probinsyano," Yeong Hwan remarks.
Wow, I chuckle. We'll be weird adults. The flow of their conversation is strangely intriguing. This is probably why we don't have many friends. Or maybe we're weirder than we're aware of.
The bit guard chokes on his blood, and the other stops hitting it. His panic and anxiety are visible in the recording. The second guard dashes to their post and pulls out carton boxes to block the walker's attack. He then covers the walker with the carton and wraps him around with packaging tape.
I smirk. Excellent move. He earns a pat on the back for that brainy choice.
It isn't much, but it distracts the walker enough for the guard to drag his fallen comrade away. The bit guard dies from the injury, but the second isn't aware because of the shock.
Only a handful of staff works in the kitchen, so there isn't anyone around. I count the interval it takes for everything to go down. 20 minutes. It's been twenty minutes since the walker appears. When they reach the divider that hides the clinic, the first guard stirs.
I bite my nails. "No, don't, you dumbhead!" Nicolette expresses my thoughts.
The second guard checks his pulse. "Oh dude, you just ensured your death sentence!" Carlo laughs from the back. When the second guard helps the other up, Carlo hides behind Jee Ho. "Bro, you're acting gay." Yeong Hwan snorts. Nicolette perks up at the mention of gay, but Carlo beats her to it.
"Don't even think about saying it, bitch," he warns. Some laugh at this.
In a swoop, the walker bites the guard.
His mouth forms a silent scream. I can almost hear the scream that goosebumps rise. Blood splatters all over the clinic doors. They fall on the floor at the same time the kitchen staff and Jerel emerge from their place.
I look away from the screen. I can't watch it anymore.
Without another word, I leave the radio room.
I peek through the balcony from the faculty hall to find walkers all over the quadrangle. A headcount of fifty is visible, but I'm not sure how many they are. Familiar faces of faculty, staff, and the guards… I can see them all. I���m not even sure if we're entirely safe on this floor with other walkers from other floors.
It'll be a struggle to make ends meet at this point. But with friends and students, I'm sure we'll get rid of them the easy way, right? They're already dead.
The sheer realization of death reeks of danger and fear. The thought of losing my life as prey settles uneasily to me.
"Hey," a voice calls.
I find Nicolette walk over with a weak smile. Laughter erupts from the radio room, which I can only match to Carlo's. That asshole is sick in the head, I tell ya.
"What's wrong?" she asks with worry. I shake my head. The cool wind brushes past us, "I just wanted a quick break. All this is too much to digest at once." I chuckle. She joins me. "This is where our curriculum fails. Academics cannot adhere to real-life problems, no matter how small or big."
I take a shaky breath. She rubs my back, which helps me breathe.
"Atta girl, we'll survive. Every problem has a solution," she says. Her assurance doesn't comfort me. I shoot her an indifferent look. "But there is no escape from death when he chooses you. There's not much of a difference with death and survival." I grimly reply. She seems amused at my reply, but before she can say anything, Phineas emerges from the radio room.
"Did you get a better look?" I ask Phineas. He nods. "Though I'm not sure how that walker got inside injuring no one prior." he sighs. I stare at my palms blankly. A thought hits me.
"Then how come that walker got up?" I ask him again.
"The elevator,"
"What?" My heart beats painfully against my rib cage.
"The emergency elevator by the pool area. That's got to be it," he explains.
"Well shit. Is it still operating?"
"I can shut it off," he suggests.
"Then why didn't you suggest that earlier?!" I shout. How is he stupid?