Below the floor where Clayne currently stayed, another classroom remained barely alive beneath the suffocating nightmare surrounding the school building.

The room smelled horrifying.

Rotten blood.

Sweat.

Urine.

Feces.

And something worse.

Something sweet and rotten mixed together that made breathing painful.

The windows were blocked completely using broken chairs, cabinets, and tables stacked together desperately. Blood stains covered almost every part of the classroom floor while several dead bodies remained pushed toward the corners like unwanted garbage.

Some of those corpses...

No longer had heads.

Others were missing limbs.

And several bodies looked strangely hollowed out around the stomach.

Meanwhile, seven individuals remained sitting together weakly near the back of the classroom.

Two girls.

Five boys.

Their appearances already looked terrible.

Sunken eyes.

Dry lips.

Trembling bodies.

And expressions filled with exhaustion and paranoia.

One of the girls suddenly hugged her knees tighter afterward while speaking weakly.

"It’s already been four days..."

Her voice sounded dry and cracking.

"Four whole days..."

Another boy nearby clenched his fists afterward.

"We know!"

His tone immediately became irritated.

"You don’t need to keep repeating it!"

The girl instantly glared at him afterward.

"Then what do you want me to say?!"

"That everything’s fine?!"

"We’re starving!"

"We’re trapped!"

"There are monsters everywhere!"

Another boy suddenly kicked one of the desks angrily afterward.

Bang!

Immediately—

Several zombies outside began growling loudly afterward.

The entire classroom instantly froze.

Everyone stopped breathing momentarily while staring toward the door.

Bang.

Bang.

Scratching sounds slowly echoed outside afterward.

The students immediately became pale.

"Idiot!"

One of the boys whispered furiously afterward.

"Do you want them to hear us?!"

The one who kicked the desk immediately started trembling afterward.

"S sorry..."

Outside—

Several undead slowly continued pushing against the door.

Not violently.

But continuously.

Like insects gathering around dying meat.

The weak scratching sounds alone already made everyone inside feel suffocated mentally.

Then eventually—

One of the boys sitting near the bodies suddenly spoke quietly.

"We don’t have food anymore..."

Silence immediately filled the classroom afterward.

No one answered immediately.

Because honestly...

Everyone already knew that.

The remaining food disappeared yesterday.

The bottled water already ran out earlier.

And currently—

The hunger had already reached the point where their stomachs constantly hurt.

Then slowly—

One skinny boy turned toward the headless corpses nearby.

Immediately— 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Several others noticed his gaze.

And the atmosphere changed instantly afterward.

One of the girls immediately widened her eyes.

"No."

Her voice trembled.

"No..."

The skinny boy slowly swallowed afterward.

"We don’t have a choice anymore..."

Another student instantly became furious afterward.

"You’re insane!"

"We already crossed the line enough!"

The skinny boy suddenly shouted back afterward.

"Then what do you want us to do?!"

"Starve?!"

"We’re dying already!"

Another trembling student nearby suddenly covered his face afterward.

"We already..."

His voice cracked.

"...already ate them..."

Silence filled the room again afterward.

Heavy silence.

Because it was true.

Several of the headless corpses nearby...

Were not killed by zombies.

They were killed by the students themselves.

At first—

They only cut small pieces.

Then eventually—

Hunger destroyed the rest of their hesitation.

One of the girls immediately started crying quietly afterward.

"We’re monsters..."

Another boy immediately snapped afterward.

"Shut up!"

"We only wanted to survive!"

The girl cried harder afterward.

"We ate our classmates!"

Outside—

The zombies continued scratching and pushing slowly.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

The sounds never stopped.

Then eventually—

Another boy suddenly spoke again afterward.

"It doesn’t matter anymore."

Everyone slowly looked toward him afterward.

The boy pointed weakly toward the corpses nearby.

"Even if we continue..."

His face looked pale.

"...the bodies will rot soon."

Another student nodded weakly afterward.

"They already smell worse..."

One of the girls suddenly hugged herself tighter afterward.

"And the zombies outside keep increasing..."

Another boy looked toward the ceiling nervously afterward.

"What if they eventually break through?"

Nobody answered.

Because honestly—

Everyone feared that exact thing already.

Then suddenly—

One of the boys noticed something above.

A crack.

A damaged section in the ceiling above the restroom area nearby.

Immediately afterward—

The boy slowly stood up.

"Wait..."

Everyone looked toward him afterward.

"There’s a crack above us..."

The others immediately followed his gaze afterward.

And sure enough—

A damaged opening could barely be seen above.

Then slowly—

One of the girls widened her eyes afterward.

"That means..."

"There’s another floor above us..."

Another boy immediately became hopeful afterward.

"And maybe someone survived there too!"

Yet immediately afterward—

One of the others shook his head rapidly.

"No way."

"That’s dangerous."

"What if it’s zombies?"

Another student nodded immediately afterward.

"Yeah!"

"What if they hear us climbing up there?"

"What if the thing upstairs kills us instead?"

Then immediately—

Everyone started arguing again afterward.

"We can’t stay here!"

"And go where?!"

"We’ll starve!"

"We’ll die outside!"

"We’re already dying!"

"At least here we still have walls!"

"Walls won’t stop them forever!"

The entire classroom instantly became chaotic afterward.

Some students shouted.

Others cried.

Meanwhile outside—

The increasing noise immediately started attracting more undead.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The door immediately started shaking harder afterward.

Everyone instantly became terrified again.

Then suddenly—

One boy pointed toward the ceiling crack desperately afterward.

"We need to check upstairs!"

Another student immediately shook his head afterward.

"No!"

"What if something’s waiting up there?!"

The others immediately continued arguing endlessly afterward.

Then eventually—

One of the boys spoke coldly.

"Whoever goes up should be someone useless anyway."

Silence instantly appeared afterward.

Then slowly—

Several gazes moved toward the weaker survivors hiding near the back.

The ones not part of the main seven.

Several trembling students instantly became pale afterward.

One boy immediately backed away nervously.

"No..."

"I don’t want to..."

Another immediately started shaking.

"Please..."

One of the seven suddenly pointed toward a thin terrified male student afterward.

"You."

The trembling student instantly froze.

"M me?"

The others nodded afterward.

"You go."

The terrified student immediately started panicking afterward.

"No!"

"What if there are zombies above?!"

Another student immediately shouted back afterward.

"Then die quietly!"

"We’re starving because useless people like you keep eating too!"

The terrified student instantly became pale afterward.

Then suddenly—

Before the argument could continue—

Something slammed violently against the barricade nearby.

BOOM!

Everyone screamed instantly afterward.

Then—

A horrifying flesh colored mass suddenly squeezed through a broken section near the windows.

Wet muscle.

Exposed flesh.

Skinless red tissue writhing endlessly.

Long twitching appendages dragged themselves across the floor like living intestines.

The thing immediately started attacking wildly afterward.

Students screamed.

Several grabbed chairs desperately.

Others backed away crying.

The flesh creature continuously slammed itself against desks and walls while making disgusting wet sounds nonstop.

One student swung a broken chair desperately afterward.

Smack!

The creature immediately wrapped around his arm violently.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The boy screamed afterward while flesh tendrils started tightening around him.

Another student immediately stabbed it using broken metal desperately.

The room instantly became complete chaos afterward.

Then suddenly—

CRAAAASH!!!

Something exploded downward from above violently.

A toilet seat.

The heavy broken toilet seat smashed directly through the damaged ceiling afterward before crashing toward the classroom floor violently.

Everyone instantly froze afterward.

Dust filled the room.

Then slowly—

The students stared upward.

A hole.

A massive hole now connected directly toward the restroom above.

And immediately afterward—

Several students widened their eyes.

"Bathroom..."

"There’s a bathroom upstairs..."

"That means..."

"There’s water..."

The word alone immediately made everyone breathe heavily afterward.

Water.

Actual water.

For four days—

They barely survived using tiny remaining bottles.

And now...

Water might actually exist upstairs.

Then slowly—

All eyes turned toward the trembling thin male student earlier.

The terrified student immediately started shaking harder afterward.

"No..."

"Please..."

One of the boys immediately grabbed him violently afterward.

"You’re going up."

The terrified student instantly started crying afterward.

"Please don’t make me..."

Another student immediately hissed afterward.

"If there’s water above, we survive."

"If not..."

His eyes darkened.

"...then you were useless anyway."

The terrified student’s entire body trembled afterward.

Yet eventually—

He slowly climbed upward through the broken hole.

Everyone below watched silently afterward while barely breathing.

The student slowly pulled himself upward nervously.

One hand.

Then another.

Then finally—

His head emerged into the dark restroom above.

Silence.

Several seconds passed afterward.

Then finally—

The terrified student looked downward tremblingly.

"T there’s..."

His voice shook badly.

"...there’s no-"

But he immediately paused.