As I grabbed the handle and opened the door, I saw a perfectly normal school corridor. Students talking to teachers, students to students, and teachers to teachers. It hardly seemed like hell and death were outside. The only thing that could cause concern in this view is that students and teachers are holding WEAPONS. Some hold brushes, broken pieces of chairs, metal parts of benches. When I went out into the corridor, I saw a barricade made of benches and chairs at the entrance from the stairs. The two students seemed to be guarding the stairs all the time as well as waiting for someone. Standing in the corridor like that, I must have looked very confused, which I could tell from Algae's concern. He asked:
-Everything's all right?
-Yes Yes! I just didn't expect such peace. – I replied
- Well, maybe now it's calm because it's been 4 hours and the cleaning team that was supposed to get rid of the dead from the first floor should be back. - Algae explained.
-One sec. Four hours!? I was unconscious for FOUR HOURS!? And what kind of cleaning group is this?
- Well, how to explain it. - thought Algae - It's just that there were so many zombies in the school that we were forced to go up to the second floor and barricade ourselves. Then five students gathered and said they would take on the mission of clearing the building of these monsters - Algae said.
-And how long have they been on the first floor? Shouldn't they be back? Okay, what time did they leave? – Concerned, I asked.
-Calml down. I will answer all these questions. They left about three hours ago. They should be back now. - Algae replied calmly.
Slightly reassured by the boy with seaweed hair, I started walking down the cream-colored corridor. All the doors to the classrooms were open and students were sitting there talking to each other. Of course they had weapons with them. One room caught my attention, the door of which was closed. Room thirty-seven. As I approached the classroom and grabbed the handle to open it, Algae grabbed my hand and said:
-Better not open this door - Algae said in a slightly angry and worried voice.
-Why? What is behind them. – I replied with pretensions.
-Please don't open that door. - He said it this time without aggression and with more sadness in his voice.
Seeing a sad and anxious Algae, I let go of the handle and walked away from the door. At the same time he let go of my hand and smiled. The smile was both warm and masked the boy's sadness. My heart sped up slightly. I stared into his beautiful green eyes. Suddenly someone called:
- THEY'RE BACK!!
Algae didn't move or turn his head, which surprised me. I thought he wanted to see the team, but he didn't.
-Hey lovebirds, come on, - called one of the students walking towards the cleaning crew.
Algae blushed upon hearing the text and looked away. He took my hand and walked towards the team. With nothing to do, I let myself be dragged in that direction.
Once we were with the rest of the people, I could see the students bravely cleaning the school. At the head of the group was a boy with a red sweatshirt and dark hair. Behind him are two boys in also red-colored clothes and two girls with their hair tied up and shirts also stained with blood. Each of them had a different weapon. The boy in the lead had a metal baseball bat wrapped in burnt cloth. The boys were equipped with construction hammers. One smaller, the other larger. The girls, on the other hand, had spears made of throwing javelins. A representative of the group went out to one of the teachers and said something like, "We need help moving those downstairs." It was a strange text for me, but the teacher understood it fully and said:
-The first floor has been recaptured. Now we'll have to move and clean up after Arthur and the others. They will stay on this floor and rest for the great challenge of getting rid of the dead from the ground floor. Thanks to this operation, we will have a zombie-free school.
Having said that, the teacher stood next to the boy whose name was Artur. The one who saved me from death. Suddenly I saw a forest of hands of students and teachers who volunteered to "clean up". I was very curious about what they were going to clean up, but Algae stopped me from raising my hand.
-You're not ready to see what's out there. he said quickly.
Saddened, I gave up on the idea of an expedition to the lower floor. Once the people had gathered to set off for the first floor, the rest dispersed and went about their business. Artur and his group went to one of the rooms and locked themselves in. Not knowing what to do with myself, I walked over to the window at the end of the corridor and sat on the sill. Algae who came a moment later sat down on the other side of the sill and looked at the picture of the world that was outside the window. I also looked after them. It was both amazing and terrible. The kindergarten I saw from the cafeteria in the morning was quiet. No one could be seen outside the building, but bloody toys could be seen. Abandoned bicycles on the road, shop doors locked from the inside, and smoke that could be seen everywhere. Suddenly, a scream was heard from the building opposite the liquor store. A window on the fourth floor of the building opened and a man jumped out onto the sill. He didn't stay on it for long because five seconds later a woman jumped on him and they fell to the ground together. It was a bloodcurdling sight. I looked up to look again at the window from which the man had fallen, I noticed numerous hands that were stretched out as if trying to grab something. After a while, however, they hid and the only thing that could be seen near the window was the darkness that was in the middle of the room. I looked once more into the distance at the scenery of the current world. The setting sun perfectly combined with the image of destruction and desolation.
- Do you know what time it is? I asked Algae, who was sitting across from me.
- It's 5:34 and what are you hungry? - replied the boy.
- Not yet. It's getting late. Is there somewhere to sleep? wash up?
-Unfortunately, not on this floor. On the floor below the ground floor there is a bathroom with showers. But a place to sleep will be appointed in the halls. As far as I know, for now we will be divided into boys and girls to make everyone feel comfortable. In addition, when the first floor is cleaned, we will have more rooms and a teachers' room where meetings will be held on what to do next. -Thank you
- You're welcome.
He smiled and looked away to the corridor where students and teachers were talking to each other. I, on the other hand, started to watch the scenery outside the window again. After a few moments, he heard a loud crack, followed by only listening:
- Excuse me!! I didn't want to scare anyone. I opened the door too much. – The brunette shouted all over the corridor.
It was a boy from Artur's team who was cleaning the floors. After him came out girls who definitely looked better than after returning from the first floor. At the same time, a group came and went to the first floor to finish the job of the cleaning group. Two teams met. Representatives of both groups began to exchange ideas and opinions. Watching this conversation, I could only guess what it might be about. After a few minutes, the groups broke up. Arthur's group went to the first floor past me and Algae. The second said something to the closest students and went to the room where the first team had previously been. I saw Jake walking towards us with a smile on his face. He came to us and said:
-The first floor has been secured. We can go down. There will be two more expeditions, but they will take place in the morning. Come on, we need to book a place to sleep.
- All right, we're getting together. - Algae answered him and looked at me with a smile on his face.
- Sure. - I said and smiled at them.
I climbed down from the windowsill and started following Algae and Jake. They were heading for the stairs. I looked at them with disgust. I saw that the boys were already on the landing, so I started to go down as well. After making my way up the stairs, I approached Algae who was waiting for me in the middle of the corridor. It wasn't as creamy as the one above. There were blood stains on the walls, but nowhere to be seen what or who had left it. Algae grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my thoughts. We went to an open room. It was broken into fragments. Benches separated one segment from another. While I was looking at the room, a girl from Artur's group approached us.
- Choose where you want to sleep if you want to be together as a group, if not there are other rooms where girls and boys will be separately - said the girl
- We are going together in a group of three, so if there is a place that would be great. Algae said
- Okay. Well, in this room, places for groups are made. Choose where you want to be and stay there. The girl smiled and walked towards the stairs. Jake nudged me with his elbow and told me to choose where to sleep.
Looking around the room, a segment by the window caught my eye, so I decided to approach it to see it up close.
- This one would be good, - I told the guys.
-If you like this one then let's stay here - Jake replied.
When I looked at Algae, he nodded. Satisfied with my choice, I walked over to the window and sat on its sill. It was already dark, the street lamps were lit. Everywhere was quiet and there was nothing to hear. I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. I started thinking about what could have caused me to lose my memory and what would happen to me when others discovered the scratch on my leg.
During these thoughts, I felt drowsy and let myself get carried away by it when suddenly a loud howl pulled me out of my trance.