[Lyon's POV]
"What do you guys think that explosion was?" Ren asks no one specifically as we all sat in a square on the mat. There were only three mats for us to use so Alyssa and I had to share our mat, a few minutes had already passed since those explosions occurred and screeches of agitated zombies could be heard from somewhere north of the building we were staying in.
"I don't know, but it's either a distant explosion or a weak one" I lie to them, I knew the real cause and effect of that explosion on the people who were still stuck inside the residential and urban layer like us, but informing them of my "theory" might just cause our morale to go lower than it already is. All four of us had already abandoned the armor we had scavenged from the various club rooms we had gone to, preferring to just don the clothes we had been wearing underneath.
"It sounds like it came from two directions simultaneously, the north and the south." Alyssa states, prompting the others to begin contemplating her words, formulating their theories as to what might be the cause of those explosions. I decided to just let them theorize while I check on my inventory by taking them out of my bag and placing them on the floor in front of me.
'Antibiotics, first aid kits, bandages, antiseptic ointments, EpiPens, and pain killers.' I list it down in my thoughts after individually taking them out. The others noticed what I was doing and began taking out the newly collected medicinal items they had taken with them. I and Alyssa mostly had the same loot while Chisato and Ren took tools like toilet paper, soap, thermometers, cotton pads, and cotton buds
With everything gathered in the center of our mats, counting every new asset we managed to scavenge from the nurse's office was made easier and less time-consuming. We had managed to take six unopened boxes of antibiotics and one box that only had twelve capsules left inside, each box had twenty-one capsules which meant we had about one hundred and thirty-eight capsules.
We took about five first aid kits with us, each one having two large dressings, six medium dressings, two roller bandages, two sterile eye pads, twenty hypoallergenic plasters, three pairs of disposable gloves, six safety pins, two packets of triangular bandages, and the kind of scissors specially designed to cut open the dressings and bandages placed over wounds. We had about three boxes of small bandages, each one having ten strips of them while we had about five unopened and one halfway-filled small bottle of antiseptic ointments.
We had five boxes of EpiPens, each one having two autoinjectors alongside two pill jars that had twenty tablets of painkillers inside each. Ren and Chisato's boon was a bit disappointing considering how they only managed to take three rolls of toilet paper, two boxes of soap, two thermometers, four cotton pads, and two small packets of cotton buds that had 10 each inside.
'Well it isn't medicine but I guess we at least managed to gather quite a fair amount of hygienic items, not that we can take a bath right now even if we wanted to.' I think to myself while organizing my thoughts and contemplating who should carry what. I'm pretty sure none of us had common major alleries but specialized medicine like them could be sold at a high price so we should handle them with care.
"Alyssa, can you handle carrying the EpiPens, the thermometers, and the pill jars? Make sure they're organized in a way that the EpiPens and the thermometers are hidden in a way that they won't break while the pills inside the pill jar don't make noise while we are on the move." I ask Alyssa who nods to my words as she takes out the items I had listed from the pile and into her bag.
"Ren, you will carry the toilet paper, cotton pads, cotton buds, and the boxes of soap. No need to handle them with care, just make sure they're far away from any dirty contaminants so that none of the cotton pads go to waste." I tell Ren who, just like Alyssa, nods to me as well and does the same that she did with her own assigned items.
"Chisato, you'll handle carrying the bandages, the antiseptic ointments, and the antibiotics while I'll carry the rest" I inform Chisato whose eyes remained on me the entire time as she was waiting for her own assigned items. With everything organized, silence returned to our group as all of us were just waiting for someone to strike up a conversation.
The awkward silence stayed with us for a few minutes, one which I just ignored as I stood up from the mat while looking outside through the window. It didn't offer any picturesque view but it at least managed to relieve me from having to stay in that awkward circle... or am I supposed to call it an awkward square instead, considering how the mats were placed...
'Well, I guess we can talk about some random things like our family or something before we can begin discussing the night shift schedule.' I think to myself as I move away from the window and sit back on the mat I was sharing with Alyssa. The three who remained seated on the awkward square all collectively look at me as I sit down on the mat.
"Well, I don't think there is anything for us to talk about considering how everyone already knows the general layout of our plan so how about we talk about our families while we have nothing better to do?" I ask them in an attempt to kick this awkward silence we were currently experiencing out of here, it slightly fails though as everyone else was just waiting on which one of us would tell their story first.
"I guess I'll go first then. My parents aren't anyone special, after all, I come from a family that runs a small farm in Yakagawa City. It's called a city but there's barely anything there to busy yourself with. It's located close to the Iwate-Aomori prefecture border. I have one older brother and a little brother and a sister that are twins, only I and my little siblings are studying though since my older brother opted to just help around the farm so we could study... I just hope they're okay over there." Ren reminisces in front of us with the final portion of his story being accompanied by a worried sigh over the unknown fate of his family.
"I tried contacting them last night while everyone was asleep back at the kendo club room, but no luck. I think it might have something to do with the reception since even messages can't be sent anymore" Ren informs the others before moving his line of sight to Chisato, indicating that she should tell her story next.
"Oh-OH, it's my turn now huh. Well, I live somewhat close to Lyon's house and my family just consists of me, my parents, and my six-year-old brother. My father used to be a part of the national team in kendo which was one of the reasons I started doing kendo in the first place. He runs a dojo here but he's been out of the country for a while now since he was visiting some of our overseas dojos in America but he just got back home last night. I know he can protect the others so I have faith that they'll be fine." Chisato states to us, her tone carrying no trace of doubt as her voice is filled with confidence.
"I guess it's my turn now. I don't have any siblings so my father and mother doted on me quite heavily when I was a child, a bit too much to be honest but oh well. My mother is a chairwoman at Yoime City Medical Center while my father is an inventor or something at some company I never really asked much about. My mother is quite impulsive with how she finds her hobbies while my father just buries his head in work so they make for quite the couple" I jokingly stated to no one in particular as I dwell over my memories.
The others just smile as I tell them a few more stories about how my mother kept teaching me how to properly spend money only for her to suddenly just turn around and buy random recreational items for hobbies or activities she sees online. This goes on for a few minutes the others sometimes pitch in with a few questions here and there before we moved on to the only person who hasn't talked about their parents, Alyssa.
"Just like Lyon, I am also a single child, I was never able to meet my mother though as she had passed away two years after she gave birth to me. My father, Mayeda Kaede, is a part of the JSDF; however, I never really asked him his position since he didn't like talking about work while he was at home. He's strong and I know he'll be fine, I'm sure of it." Alyssa tells us, earning the surprise of our two other companions.
"Oh wow, so your father is a part of the JSDF huh. Holy shit, your gonna need some luck once you meet Alyssa's father dude. I can just imagine the outrage of Alyssa's father once he finds out that someone has been corrupting her pure mind." Ren jokingly says while looking at both me and Alyssa who remained seated on the same mat as she blushes over Ren's joke while I glare at him.
"Fix your wording damn it, and it isn't just me who has to worry about the parents, try not to get a concussion once you meet Chisato's parents ok? I wouldn't want my group's pack mule to suddenly disappear when we need it." I joke back, earning the surprise of Chisato while Ren just touches the top of his head, probably imagining how Chisato's father will strike it with a shinai or something.
A few hours just go by without us even noticing how the sun had already set a few hours ago since we were busy regaling on whatever memories came to mind. It was already 9:26 PM before we began eating dinner which, wouldn't you know it, consisted of bread, more bread, and bread with jam. We began discussing who would be taking the night shift while we were eating, and decided to just split it into four shifts, each person having two hours before they can wake up the other for their shift.
"So it's been decided then, I'll be taking the 10 PM - 12 AM shift, Alyssa will take the 12 AM - 2 AM, Chisato will take the 2 AM - 4 AM shift, and Ren will take the 4 AM - 6 AM shift. He will then wake us up for breakfast before we begin moving toward the southeastern exit" I informed them without missing a beat as I received nods of affirmation from all three of them. They moved the bags to the side and tried to get "comfortable" over the mats.
There were no chairs to sit on so I just sat down on the cold floor on the opposite side of the room with my bag in front of me. I made sure everyone was asleep before I removed the bulletproof vest I was wearing underneath in an attempt to cool down. The area around the shed we were currently staying at had a thin layer of trees that separated the main buildings of the campus from a track and field further south of our position.
There wasn't any need to go south though since the exit I was referring to should be just somewhere east of our position so there was no point going there. I take out one of the two-way radios inside my bag and turn it on, I've been trying to use it to contact my parents but no reply ever came, causing my worries to continue to grow over the various possibilities as to why they wouldn't be able to reply to my attempts at contacting them.
With nothing better to do, I just stare at the wall in front of me as I pull up my knees and use my two arms as a platform to lean my head with. A few hours pass by just like this since I had decided to take Alyssa's shift as well so she could get some more sleep. It isn't like I wouldn't be able to sleep anyways since I didn't plan on covering Chisato's shift as well. I'm already used to sleeping less than a few hours anyway so it'll be fine.
I take out my phone from the bag and check the time, the light from the screen blinds me for a few seconds as I lower the brightness and notice that it was 1:57 AM on the clock. I put on the bulletproof vest I had left to my side earlier and take my bag with me as I moved toward Chisato to wake her up while I pocketed my phone into my left pocket. It took a bit of shaking but she managed to wake up and sit down in the same position I was in earlier.
I lay down on the now-empty mat and leave my bag to the side while I try to get comfortable on the mat which was still warm. I rotate a few times in an attempt to find the perfect sleeping position but just give up over the futility of trying to get a good position on this damn thing. A few minutes after giving up was all it took for sleep to forcefully overtake my need of finding the perfect position for sleeping.
I woke up to the feeling of shaking coming from someone in front of me as I hear gentle whispers of my name coming from a familiar voice. I slightly open my groggy eyes and find Alyssa who was in a tuck sitting position in front of me, the inside of her skirt exposed, causing my eyes to open wide over the sight that had greeted me quite early into the morning.
'Black' I think to myself unconsciously as I push myself away from Alyssa to the point that my back was up close to the walls of the room. I look around the room and find Chisato and Ren standing in front of the room, Chisato looked as clueless as Alyssa was while Ren was grinning like an idiot after watching my reaction.
I look back to Alyssa and find a confused expression plastered over her face while staring back at me as I stand up and run my hands through the fabric of the front and back of my pants for any dust. I glance at the window where the other two were standing in front to see the sun had already risen, I take out the phone from my pockets and turn it on, only to see that it was already 6:17 AM.
"It's already a quarter past six, why didn't you guys wake me up earlier?" I ask them while scratching my dry eyes. My words cause the others to just move their eyes from me to Alyssa instead, I do the same and notice her previously confused expression morph into one of slight annoyance which makes me confused since I don't remember doing anything that could cause her to be annoyed with me.
"You didn't wake me up when it was my shift last night." Alyssa explains to me while her eyes stare directly into mine. Her words bring my thoughts back to how I had chosen to cover for her shift too instead of waking her up.
"Oh... um, I forgot? We should just get breakfast over with so we can start moving towards the exit, we should be able to reach Ren's apartment by lunch as long as there aren't any unexpected occurrences, which I doubt is the case." I try to explain unconvincingly while trying to avert the topic of our conversation to something I'd have more control over.
"Lyon, what are we? We're a group aren't we? A group is supposed to consist of people who should be able to lean on each other. You know you can lean or trust us right? If not everyone then you can lean on my shoulder at least." Alyssa tells me as she moves close to me with her face almost right beside mine while the other two just look at me while waiting for my reply.
"I... I know, I trust everyone here with my life, more so than any of you will ever know. I guess I just wanted you to be able to rest as much as possible while you still can." I state without even looking Alyssa in the eye as I stare down at the floor. I didn't expect to suddenly get my ass grilled right after waking up so I was still slightly out of it.
"I know, and you have my thanks. Come on, let's go have breakfast so we can leave this place already" Alyssa tells me as she kisses my cheeks during the first half of her sentence before she stands up with her hand outstretched to me during the latter half. Her actions cause me to gawk at her surprising openness with her intimate actions but I take her hand nonetheless.
It took less than an hour to finish eating breakfast considering how we've been having the same thing for breakfast since yesterday, worse yet, we've run out of jam. That jam was the only thing giving this bread and our meals some flavor and now it's dead...
"... We should get going, maybe we'll finally get some real food out there. I just hope it's something other than bread at this point." I sigh to myself while the others grumble over the loss of our one true savior, strawberry the jam. We put on our makeshift armor and stand in front of the door, I confirm what time it was before going out and learn that it was 7:03 AM already.
I return the phone to my pockets and open the door to find the surrounding area of the front door empty of any zombies, I look off into the distance at the western exit of the eastern building and find the area flooded with a horde of zombies that was too vast for me to count from here. I look to my left and find that the route we were heading to was at least clear of any zombies so we continue on our way.
The bokken I owned was no longer with me as I had given it to Alyssa since I didn't need it anymore now that I had this machete. I decided to name it Gray since the backside of the blade was gray, and I sucked at naming things so I just kept it simple. We walked along the route behind the southern building, passing by its southern exit and the tall bushes that separated it from the outside area.
There wasn't any trouble considering how most of the zombies were brought elsewhere due to the sounds of the explosion yesterday, though some had begun wandering around the campus already. We reached the exit I had mentioned to them which was, wouldn't you know it, locked with the same padlock I had mentioned too. With all of us standing in front of the rusty metal exit, I gestured for Ren to move close to me and pointed my finger at the padlock that prevented us from leaving.
He puts down his backpack on the ground and leaves his bat on his side while he takes out the lock cutters we had brought with us from the maintenance room in the northern building. He puts his backpack on while I take his bat with me since he had to hold the lock cutters with both hands, he moves to the front of the group and positions the shackle of the lock to be in the middle of the other end of the cutters.
He pushes the two handles of the lock cutters in an attempt to break it but fails, I hand my machete to Alyssa who stood behind me before I moved beside Ren to help him in breaking the lock. With both of us pushing the handle, the shackle of the lock is finally broken as the sound of it falling to the ground and breaking signifies our successful escape from the school.