Huff! Huff! Huff!
Two 18-year-old boys were running at their top speed through the college's long corridors. The one running in front was around 1.7 meters tall, had a lean body and short brown hair. Overall, he wasn't too bad looking.
Running 50 meters behind him was a chubby, golden-haired youth. As he ran, all the fat on his body was rippling and he was panting and sweating crazily.
From his physical fitness, one wouldn't expect him to run too fast, but surprisingly, his speed was quite fast and the distance between him and the guy in front wasn't widening.
These two were Luke and Ben.
"Huff… Luke… we are already out of the classroom. Can we slow down now? I can't run anymore." Ben shouted from behind.
Hearing him, Luke slowed down to let him catch up.
"Thanks man. I couldn't have run that fast any—" Ben thanked him after catching up to him. However, before he could finish his words, Luke grabbed his hand and increased his pace once again.
Luke wanted to leave the college as soon as possible for two reasons.
First, he urgently wanted to contact his younger brother and his father because after the apocalypse descended, all the network connectivity would be gone so, he had to warn them before it happened.
However, he couldn't do that before leaving the college grounds because there were many network jammers installed all over.
The jammers were there to prevent students from any distraction while studying.
Hence, to contact them, Luke could either leave the college or go to the teachers' office, where the internet worked fine. But from the building he was in, college's exit was nearer. So, leaving the college would save him a lot of time.
Second reason why he had to leave the college: In the college, there were at least tens of thousands of students, if not more and he knew, when the apocalypse descended, it will bring a special energy called mana to the planet earth.
After this mana started integrating with human beings, more than half would not be able to take it and they would turn into mindless zombies that only knew to kill and eat.
Therefore, the minority that didn't turn into zombies would become immediate targets of zombies and unfortunately, the majority of them would become zombie food.
So, to avoid the fate of being killed and eaten or being isolated in a classroom with no water or food and hoping for rescue, he needed to go out of the college and find a safe place before he could start working to change his and his loved ones' eventual fate.
Remembering what he had to go through in his last life, Luke's eyes turned red. 'No! I'll change everything, no matter what it takes.' He shouted inwardly. Clenching his teeth, he started running with all his might.
"Huh, what? Wait…" Ben was speechless. But noticing that Luke was also sweating and huffing just like him but still insisted on running as if his life depended on it, he knew something was up. Therefore, he gritted his teeth and used every ounce of energy he could muster to keep up with him.
Tatatatata…
Both of them streaked through the corridor.
Whoosh!
Just as they turned into a corner, Luke noticed a woman walking in their direction. She was amazingly beautiful and wore a tight black knee-length skirt, white shirt, and a black jacket. In her hands, she was holding a few books.
Seeing her, Luke's speed gradually decreased and by the time they came face to face, he had stopped
Phew!
Seeing her, Ben thanked his lucky stars, 'Thank god! We ran into the professor. Now she would definitely drag him back to the classroom and I won't have to keep running.'
After catching his breath, he nervously greeted her, "H-Hello professor."
She nodded at Ben before turning her gaze to Luke.
Seeing him, she revealed a gentle smile before chiding him softly, "Why are you running around? Don't you know it's time for my class. Now, Let's go back to the class. Exams are around the corner, and I still have a lot to teach you guys."
Saying this, she grabbed his hand and started dragging him toward the classroom.
She was professor Nina. The only person in the college, apart from Ben, who was close to him. Although they were teacher and student, she treated him like her younger brother.
In class, she would focus on him more than others and many times when he didn't have money for lunch, she would help him and sometimes even offer to eat together. This special treatment made many male students and professors hate him and they would make things difficult for him whenever opportunity arose. However, Luke didn't care as he liked to be with this angelic professor.
Why would she be kind to some ordinary student? Because one day outside the college, she had sprained her foot, and seeing that it was his professor, Luke had helped her reach her living quarters. That minor act had won him her favour.
Remembering all this, he sighed and stopped her, "I can't go."
"Huh?" Professor Nina exclaimed in surprise. She hadn't expected him not to obey her. This was new for her.
However when she looked into his eyes, she immediately knew something was off.
She became anxious and asked in concern, "What happened Luke? Is everything alright?"
Luke took a deep breath, looked deep into her eyes and solemnly said, "Professor, you know I never joke aro... cough! I never lie to you, right?"
"Yes. I know." Professor Nina nodded. Ben also stepped closer to them, seeing that Luke was going to tell why he was acting so strangely today.
Luke didn't mind him. After looking around, he said in a low voice, "Everything's going to change and all of our lives in the danger. If you trust me, please come with me. We need to leave the college instantly."
Professor Nina's and Ben's expression changed when they heard it and as he expected, they find it unbelievable.
However, seeing how serious Luke was acting, they couldn't just treat it as a joke. What if it was true, and they didn't believe him, wouldn't they die with regret then?
Thinking this, Ben decisively said, "Let's go, then."
"Wait!" However, Professor Nina stopped them. She then asked, "How are you so sure? You know the 'rulers' would warn us if something like this was to happen, right?"
"Rulers? Ha!" Luke scoffed mockingly and his eyes flashed with ruthlessness when he heard the term 'Rulers'.
Seeing Luke wasn't willing to explain, Ben hurriedly said, "Professor. Just believe him and let's go. If it turns out to be a false alarm in the end, we would only miss one college day and it isn't going to hurt us. But if we don't follow him…" He didn't speak further.