The cafeteria 1

Yuto then looked at Aoi one last time. She nodded at him, her eyes were still filled with worry. But he kept looking until Mrs. Rin shut the classroom door behind them.

The hallway felt slightly dark, so spotting things wasn't really easy. Lightning only came from the bright moon and the shaking bulbs, yet the stench of decaying bodies was very thick in the atmosphere.

Yuto, and then Minato, followed by Kaito - each stepped forward slowly... Each of their footsteps was deliberate. Their shoes made weird squeaky noises against the wet floor, but thanks to the rainfall, every sound was a little muffled.

From outside the hallway, the roars of zombies echoed all around...low, guttural, and constant. The noise crawled down the walls, surrounding them. 

Kaito fumbled with his glasses, his voice was low in the moment... “Yuto, they’re close… way too close.”

“I know,” Yuto muttered, his grip tightening on the metal chair leg... His eyes scanned every corner for anything that moved, even shadows.

Minato clicked his tongue, trying to hide how scared he felt inside. “Let’s move before those things figure out where we are.”

After that, the trio moved ahead, their nerves were on edge with every step they took.

After a while of walking, the three of them reached the university’s main staircase. The place was silent except for the little dripping of rainwater leaking from somewhere above.

Yuto leaned closer to Kaito, keeping his voice down. “Psst. Kaito, which stairs lead to the cafeteria?”

Before Kaito could answer, Minato cut in with an annoyed tone. “Seriously? How do you not know where the cafeteria is?” 

He let out a sigh, shaking his head. “I still don’t know how you pulled it off.”

Yuto frowned, his eyes scanning the stairs around them. “First of all, I usually eat during my part-time jobs, so I barely ever go there. Second, what the hell are you even talking about? Pull what off?”

Minato stood up, speaking a lot louder even though he could’ve been devoured any second. “Don’t act stupid, you know what I’m talking about.”

Yuto quickly shot back, his tone a bit rough but at the same time low, trying to shut Minato down before he drew attention, which was not needed. “No, I don’t. And this isn’t the time.”

Kaito raised his hands nervously, whispering, “Guys, please stop… you’ll bring them here.”

Minato snapped his head his way, his eyes full of annoyance. "Quit yapping, you brainy loser."

Kaito's stiffened fingers were shaking while he brought his hands down.

Yuto shoved himself in between them, glaring hard at Minato. His voice cracked out, louder than he meant. “Jesus Christ, Minato... shut the hell up! If it weren’t for the rain covering our noise, we’d already be dead! We don’t have time for your bullshit. You want to argue? Fine... do it when we’re not surrounded by zombies!”

Minato annoyingly clenched his jaw, yet halted mid-protest. "Fine!"

Yuto blinked, caught off guard by the sudden agreement, which was strange, but at least Minato had shut up.
Kaito lifted his shaky fingers and pointed toward the staircase leading downwards. “There. If we follow those stairs, we’ll reach the cafeteria.”

Yuto glanced at the bloody staircase, then back at Kaito. He gave a short nod and swallowed his saliva hard.

Then the three of them moved down the staircase carefully... When they reached the hallway below, they froze.

Their eyes widened in horror...

The floors were covered with dead students’ bodies, piled on top of each other... Some had their stomachs torn open, intestines ripped out completely. Others had their eyes gouged out, while a few were missing their heads.

The smell hit hard. Kaito bent forward, covering his mouth and almost throwing up. Minato froze, his fingers curling into his Palm, forming a fist.

Yuto’s chest tightened, but he forced himself to keep his eyes forward. He stepped up first, forcing himself to move. His shoes pressed against the dead students’ limbs. With each step, he heard a crunch, their bones breaking.

He swallowed as he made his way through the hallway.

“Kaito, don’t look down,” he muttered, using one hand to cover his nose.

Minato followed, briefly grimacing, his jaw tightened... Kaito’s legs kept shaking, but he pushed himself to move, stepping over the bodies one at a time.

The sound of their footsteps, pressing against flesh and bone, was suppressed thanks to the rain, but it was enough for them to hear.

Then they kept moving, step after step, forcing themselves to cross the hallway full of students’ corpses. Some faces were familiar, a lot, while others were unknown, but they were once alive, capable of loving, caring, and feeling.

The smell was overwhelming, but none of them dared to make a sound.

Yuto pushed ahead, looking around each of the corners, making sure nothing was moving.
Minato stayed right behind him. Kaito lagged a little bit, but he still stayed close enough not to get left behind. After what felt like forever, they finally saw it… the wide gray double doors of the cafeteria at the end of the hall.

Kaito paused, giving Yuto's shoulder a light tap. "There," he said quietly.

Minato gave a very quick nod. While Yuto hesitated, he took a shaky breath.

The three of them slowly approached the cafeteria doors.

Yuto pushed the door open just enough to peek inside. His eyes narrowed immediately.
The cafeteria was full of zombies... dozens of them moving slowly, crawling over tables, stepping on body parts that were spread everywhere, arms and feet mixed in with the trash and old food.

Some of them were still hunched over a few dead chefs’ bodies, tearing into their flesh, chewing, and growling... Blood covered the walls and the floor.

Yuto shut the door quickly before they were noticed. He leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily.

“Shit…” Minato muttered, clenching his fists. “There’s no way we’re getting food in there.”

Kaito’s hands were shaking. “W-What do we do now?” Yuto stayed quiet for a moment, his mind racing.

Then he slowly pushed the door open again, just enough to get a clearer look. His eyes moved around the cafeteria. That’s when he noticed it… up on the wall, the TV screen was still on, flashing static and little news footage, but one thing stood out. It had sounds.

He swallowed hard, thinking fast. Then his eyes caught something on the floor… a broken plate, lying only a few feet from his hand. Quietly, he crouched and picked it up.
“Yuto… what are you doing?” Kaito whispered nervously.

Yuto didn’t answer. He gripped the broken plate and aimed it, and then with a quick flick of his wrist, he threw it across the cafeteria floor...