"What the hell..."
A heavy atmosphere enveloped each and every one of them. Dealing with a Level 1 Zombie was hard enough, but faced with a Level 4 Zombie, a dreadful feeling gripped their hearts.
"GROWL!"
While they were stunned in shock and fear, the zombie didn't stop and immediately moved toward Orimura and Aki.
"D-Don't..." Fear was visible on their faces as they slowly backed away from her.
"Growl!" But before the zombie could do anything to them, Yoshida used this opportunity and hit its head with the chair that he was holding.
"Die!!!" Yoshida shouted.
Bang!
But the results were completely different than he expected.
"Growl..." The chair did hit its head, and the impact was also strong. But unlike the other level 1 Zombies, this one was way stronger and sturdier, showing no noticeable impact from the chair.
"Shit!!!"
The Zombie slowly turned its head toward Yoshida and growled, freezing him in place.
"AHH!!!" While the Zombie was distracted, Orimura, fueled by an adrenaline rush, somehow found her strength when their lives were on the line and swung the rod at its head.
"Growll..."
But her efforts and results were barely visible, and instead the rod was deformed from the impact.
"N-No way..."
"GROWL!!!!!" The Zombie, a Mutant kind, reflexively grasped the rod that Orimura was holding and jerked it, along with Orimura, toward Yoshida, sending them tumbling to the ground.
"Growl..." Then it focused its gaze on Aki, as if it seemed interested only in devouring her.
"!!" Panic, fear and urgency filled her eyes as she saw the Zombie slowly move toward her.
"Maemura..." She was truly scared and also inwardly felt sorry for her friend, but she did not plan to give up and die easily.
As her eyes fell on the chemical reagent bottles on the side tables, she knew what she had to do.
Grasping the bottles containing various chemicals, she quickly threw them at the advancing zombie.
Crash!
"Growl!!" Smoke emitted from its body as it came in contact with the chemicals, causing some part of it body to melt.
However, that didn't stop its advance. In fact, with its appearance it looked more terrifying than ever.
"!!!" Aki did everything she could. However, soon she ran out of chemicals, and her back hit the wall with no means of escape.
'I--' Fear rang in her eyes as she stared at the death approaching her.
"Growl!!!"
'Haru... I am sorry.' Seeing it open its mouth to bite her, she felt scared and a last thought came over her mind as she regretted many things.
"Fujiwara-san!!!!!" From the back, Orimura and Yoshida shouted as they got up and ran to help her, but they seemed to be too late.
Crash!
But it was then a sound came, indicating that something behind them had broken.
'Did they breach in!?' Orimura's heart beat quickened as her mind was filled with terror at the thought that the Zombies had breached the lab.
However, before she could process the situation or attempt to save Aki, a whistling or humming sound approached them from afar.
"Wha--?!" Then, under their stunned gazes, a sword whizzed past them, flying straight towards its intended target at a rapid pace.
"Growl..."
Thug!
Before the Zombie could bite Aki, its fate was sealed by the sword that penetrated its head, causing it to fall to the ground lifeless.
"Eh?" Perplexed, Aki with her heart beating loudly, struggled to process the sudden turn of events.
One moment, she was about to be devoured alive, and the next, the Zombie lay dead with a sword embedded in its head.
Unable to comprehend how and from where the sword had come to kill the Zombie, Aki lifted her head and gazed towards the windows, where she heard a familiar, warm, yet fatigued voice call out to her.
"Aki..."
Under her disbelieving yet confused eyes, Haru stood there by the window with a cloth tied around his stomach, clearly indicating how he reached inside the lab through a window.
Breathing heavily, he looked at Aki with warmth in his tired yet seemingly a bit hollow eyes and asked again, "Are you okay?"
"Who-!?" The others were shocked by the sudden appearance of someone who had broken into the lab through a window.
But their shock soon turned into wariness and fear. Not because Haru appeared to be injured with bites or scratches, but because of his appearance.
His face, hands and school uniform were all drenched in what seemed to be the Zombie's black blood, leaving no place untouched, indicating the fierce battles he fought against the Zombies just to get to the lab.
His appearance was so frightening that for a moment, some mistook him for a monster until his normal brown eyes gave away his identity as a human. But even as they recognized him as a human, a chill still ran down their spines, though not everyone felt the same way.
"H-Haru..." Tears filled Aki's golden eyes as she called out to him and ran straight toward him.
Haru's exhausted face lit up with a relieved smile as he saw her in good condition, unharmed.
'I wasn't late... thank goodness... she's fine,' he thought to himself.
But his smile quickly turned into surprise as he felt her arms wrap around his neck, abruptly pulling him into an embrace.
"Sniff!! Haru! Thank goodness you're safe!! I really thought I would never get to see you again!! I-I was really scared!!" Her words trembled as she spoke, tears streaming down her face.
Black blood stained her uniform where she hugged him, but she didn't care at all, holding him tightly and refusing to let go.
Having narrowly escaped a gruesome death herself and then finding Haru alive, her emotions overwhelmed her, leaving her unable to control her tears and emotions.
Haru was taken aback by her sudden hug, not expecting it at all. But as he felt her body tremble, he couldn't help but embrace her back, seeking to comfort her in any way he could.
"Aki... I'm truly sorry for everything..." Haru whispered quietly, his voice barely audible.