The cafeteria 2

The broken plate shattered into multiple pieces against the cafeteria floor... Yuto became extremely tense, ready to run at any given moment, but to his surprise, the zombies didn’t move. 

They didn’t even flinch. At All. They just kept tearing into the corpse of the dead chef, growling and chewing like nothing had happened.

Yuto let out a quiet and brief breath of relief. His theory was right... the rain that was hammering on the broken windows, plus the constant sound of the TV, canceled out smaller noises. Unless they got too close, the zombies around couldn’t hear them.

He glanced back at Minato and Kaito. “It’s safe,” he explained, smiling awkwardly and scratching his head. “As long as we keep quiet and don’t get too close, we can move.”

Both of them stared at him, nodding silently.

After that, the three of them got down on their hands and knees and started crawling, keeping their movements steady and controlled. With every step they took, Yuto’s eyes scanned the floor. For shards of broken glass or plates, scattered cafeteria trays, and even cooking utensils lay across the tiles... any of them could alert the dozens of zombies around.

Minato moved ahead of the others with his teeth biting his lips, nervously making sure his shoes didn’t drag on the tiles.

Kaito followed very close behind, his glasses repeatedly sliding down his nose, as his sweat dripped down, forcing him to momentarily not breathe too loudly.

Yuto stayed at the back, making sure they didn’t kick anything by accident.
Step by step, crawl by crawl, they all pushed deeper into the cafeteria until they finally reached the storage unit door... Yuto pressed his back against the wall, scanning the storage room.
To his relief, the storage unit was the only part of the cafeteria not overrun with zombies, and the inside was well-lit and quiet.

He looked at Minato and then Kaito, before nodding really fast, and pushed the storage unit door open a bit so they could squeeze through... One by one, they all went inside, making sure to close it slowly afterwards.

Yuto let out a breath of relief... he felt better. Right in front of them were some massive fridges, making low noises showing that they were still on, and the food inside was still frozen. Without wasting time, he and Kaito hurried over while Minato stayed by the door, keeping watch.

Yuto pulled one of the fridges open, a wave of cold air brushing his face. He actually smiled, remembering how normal things were yesterday.

He then reached inside and grabbed a plastic bag from the shelf, and began packing whatever supplies he could find... bottled drinks and water, sealed bread, anything that would last.

Kaito quickly followed his lead, stuffing different usable items into another bag, his glasses slipping down his nose as he worked, but he barely noticed, too focused on grabbing what they needed.

Meanwhile, Minato glanced back at them twice before finally speaking up. “Will you guys be quick?” he muttered, his hand gripping the broken metal chair leg tightly. “We don’t have all day.”

Yuto rolled his eyes. "FUCKER." After a few minutes, he and Kaito were done. They both ran towards Minato at the door.

Yuto leaned forward, carefully opening it just enough to peek through.

The cafeteria looked the same as when they entered... the zombies still hunched over the chefs’ corpses, tearing them apart piece by piece. Nothing had really changed. Or so he thought.

The three of them crawled back out into the main cafeteria, keeping a low profile. That’s when Yuto froze.

The sound of rain was gone.

The constant rain noise that had masked their movements earlier had stopped..The cafeteria's silence pressed down on them, broken only by the violent chewing of the zombies around. Yuto’s throat went dry.

He turned to the others, whispering in a very low tone, “Oh God… the rain has stopped.”

Both Minato and Kaito looked uneasy, their eyes moved from one zombie to another, restless, unsure what came next.

Then, out of nowhere, the TV volume spiked up. The screen glitched twice, and a news broadcast started playing in the background.

Yuto's eyes went wide open. Right away, he dropped down on both elbows, behind a counter, pulling Kaito along... Minato instinctively copied him, squatting close to the floor, avoiding the light of the TV as it lit the cafeteria.

A calm, but shaky, woman's voice came through the TV speakers...

(Breaking news.)

"Good day, everyone… I don't have much time, but for anyone watching, for anyone still alive. First of all, we’d like to mourn your losses. The zombie outbreak was an unexpected event that overtook the whole world by storm. But don’t lose hope. The government of Japan has set up a military base in Central Tokyo-City. So we urge all survivors to head there… as soon as possible.”

The words had barely left the female newscaster’s mouth when a deep roar shook the whole cafeteria. Then another one...

“(End.)” The TV was cut to static.

The zombies turned their heads toward the sound of the TV.

“Shit,” Yuto whispered in between his breaths, pressing himself tighter against the cafeteria counter.

Then suddenly, Minato’s eyes widened unnaturally. It was like he saw something terrifying.

He quietly told Yuto to take a look.

Dozens of zombies in the cafeteria turned from the dead chef's bodies and staggered toward the glitching and static TV screen. Their hands clawed at the screen, their teeth snapping at the noises. The pack of zombies was now distracted.

Yuto clenched his jaw in fear. “Now. Move.”

The three of them crawled out from behind the counter, crouching very low, and hurried toward the cafeteria's double gray doors. Their steps were very careful and also fast.

Kaito nearly tripped over a chair, but Yuto grabbed his arm before he could fall and dragged him along. 

Minato pushed open one of the double gray doors, just enough for him to slip through.

Then everything went completely blank for Yuto. His vision instantly became blurry, his knees gave out, and he almost dropped to the floor. But he steadied himself quickly, holding his head tight... Then it started. It was very warm, and then something flowed down his face... something dark red.

It was blood...

Then his eyes became clear again... He saw Minato standing in front of the cafeteria’s double gray doors, holding the broken metal chair leg like a baseball bat.

“You… son of a bi…” Yuto couldn’t finish his sentence. Blood was pouring quickly from the cut on his forehead.
 Kaito instantly shouted, his teeth was pressing down hard on his lip. “Why… why are you doing this to us, Minato?”

Minato smirked, tilting his head like it was nothing. “Us?” He gave a short laugh. “Don’t kid yourself. This isn’t about you, Kaito. It’s him I want dead. You’re just extra baggage.”

Kaito's hands trembled like a little child, and tears started running down his cheeks. “You’re evil… Minato.”