'every challenge, was made to be overcome...'
Day One
Dion looked up and found James looking down at him from the other side of the broken desk. James regarded him with concern but Dion couldn't help but notice the flicker amusement in his eyes.
Dion smiled awkwardly then scratched the back of his head.
"How... how long have you been standing there?" his voice was surprisingly small.
James watched him silently without speaking, then after a few awkward seconds rolled by he turned to the impaled zombie and remarked, his voice impassive.
"Nice stab," he nodded. "I couldn't have done it better".
Dion's cheeks burned with embarrassment.
"So... you saw..."
Once again James didn't answer, instead a small smile bloomed on his face.
"Don't misunderstand," Dion began frantically. "I was just... just... Hey listen! That was just my moment, it allowed me to think clearer..."
" Okay".
" It helped calm me down!"
"Umhm".
" I... I was... I was scared, okay. So at the moment it helped... it really did, it was just - "
" Why are you explaining," James cut in, but the annoying smirk hadn't left his lips yet. " I didn't say anything "
Dion paused this time, silently observing the shit-eating grin slowly blooming on James' face.
After a while he sighed and leaned back against the wall.
"Fuck you".
At that James chuckled.
"You should start fast," James commented, turning around and heading out the door. "I just came to check if you needed assistance, the common room was secure, everyone's safe, and Obinna has confirmed the food items are still in the store. So..."
He walked out of the room but just when Dion thought he had left, he suddenly stuck his head back in from the hallway, a teasing smile brushing the corner of his lips.
"... great job... Ninja," he winked.
'Ugh...' Dion facepalmed.
"Just kill me now".
With a sigh Dion moved about looking for the microphone, he later found it under the desk, it was upturned and looked like it had seen better times but it was still in one piece.
He tiredly settled on the floor and coughed.
"Attention all students...!" his loud voice abruptly paused, something was wrong, he couldn't hear his voice reverberating across the hallway speakers.
He tugged on the microphone phone and it followed his pull without resistance, after another tug he drew up he free end of the microphone cable, it wasn't connected.
Dion, "..."
He had been speaking into an off microphone.
All of a sudden he froze, a deep and uncomfortable feeling welling in his heart. So he slowly raised his head in the direction of the open door, and...
'Damn it!'
In the doorway James was standing there looking at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.
There was a standoff as they both stared at each other in silence, James in puzzlement and Dion in horror.
After a while James raised a hand seemingly intent on speaking, but then he paused and excused himself, immediately retreating down the hallway, but even as he went Dion could hear the subdued snickers, it seemed only the caution of alerting their cannibalistic 'friends' stopped James from tumbling over in laughter.
Dion, "..."
Dion stared at the open doorway helplessly.
"I really didn't...," he sighed.
He stood up with difficulty and managed to connect the loose cable of the microphone, then held it and prepared to speak.
He froze and his hands suddenly started trembling, for a moment there he got confused and didn't know what to say.
Ah... the nerves...
"Been a while since I had that," he chuckled.
Then all of a sudden his grip tightened on the device and a static noise drowned the hallways across the school.
SHHIIING!
He took a deep breath and whatever nervousness he slightly feeling disappeared, as he regained his composure, one he had trained stalwartly over the years.
And soon, a calm and steady familiar voice began pouring out of the megaphones across the hallway, resounding and reaching every corner of this chaos infested school.
...
At a certain place in the school compound, a secluded clearing behind the gym building, there was a small gathering of about six students and an older striking woman who was dressed in a female suit, comprising of a skirt and a blazer, although currently the blazzer was missing and the inner shirt had a lot of tears that did little to protect her busts as her massive forward and behind tested the limits of her already strained fabric, but if she noticed she didn't show any signs and the male students who should've been oogling at her didn't show any reactions too.
Instead there was a deadpan, tired-like atmosphere all about, as most of them stared listlessly at the floor, their clothes and maybe even hair were all soaked in blood still wet, and most of them had eyes that were visibly red.
Excluding the older woman, there were two seniors among the group, a boy and a girl, while the juniors comprised of three girls and a single boy.
Currently the senior boy was leaning against the gym wall to peak into the school compound, there were tense moments where the boy would hurriedly retrieve his head, only to cautiously stick it out again to observe.
After a few more moments of this unbearable silence, the older woman revealed a weak smile.
"Jerry, my boy," she whispered. "How is it?"
Jerry paused, then frowned, obviously dissatisfied with the level of noise he presumed she was making.
"No chance ma," he shook his head. "The compound is still crawling with... with... with them, there is no way we can make it".
" I thought so," she sighed.
A few moments passed in silence before a trembling but still grumpy voice was heard.
"If... if you know there is no point then why do you keep sticking your head out there, what if one of those things spots you?"
Jerry turned to face her with an irritated expression on his face, " At least I'm being helpful, Chinyere. While you are busy balancing yourself here like queen Elizabeth ".