Selina’s father was another member of the school board, someone with considerable influence. Moreover, Selina herself was gentle and approachable, unlike Anna who was arrogant and domineering, so everyone respected her.

She glanced at her teammate’s phone and felt uneasy.

Trying to remain calm, she said, “I agree with Michael’s decision. The school is in chaos right now, leaving here is the safest choice.”

Anna, of course, disagreed. She retorted, “Those who want to leave can leave. Those who don’t want to can stay with me.”

The moment those words fell, the atmosphere froze. The group gradually split into two camps.

Some people, for the sake of grades, chose to stand beside Anna. Others, frightened by the chaotic scenes in the videos, hesitated but ultimately decided to side with Selina.

Selina and Michael led their group away from the tennis court. To be safe, each person took a baseball bat from the equipment room.

Someone suggested heading toward the school parking lot, which was on the west side of the stadium, close to the west gate. However, it was still a distance away, requiring them to pass the library and one of the teaching buildings.

Michael frowned. “That boy in the infirmary—we don’t know where he came from. What if it was from the library or the teaching building? If he bit someone else, are those places still safe?”

Selina checked her phone, intending to look at the group chat, but the signal was weak. She opened her backup offline map and found a hidden route.

“From the tennis court to the west gate, there’s a secluded path. It passes by the back door of the cafeteria. Normally, only kitchen waste gets hauled out that way. We can take that path.”

“As for transportation, I just messaged my driver. He’ll wait for me at the west gate. If all goes well, we can leave the school from there.”

A small, thin girl nodded. “Alright, I trust you, Selina.”

The other three voiced no objection. Michael only frowned deeper but said nothing.

Thus, the five of them moved along the greenery by the roadside, heading toward the cafeteria’s back door.

Along the way, they heard almost nothing. The entire campus was eerily quiet.

The group chat had stopped updating five minutes ago—perhaps the school’s signal tower had gone down.

The atmosphere weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts.

Their journey to the cafeteria was smooth—until they passed the back door. Selina spotted the waste collection truck parked by the door. Its door was ajar, and there were signs of chewing and tearing on it.

Her heart instantly pounded faster. She instinctively turned to look at the half-open door to the school kitchen—footsteps emerged from the darkness.

The moment someone stepped out, Selina’s heartbeat spiked. She screamed at the top of her lungs: “Run!”

Right after her shout, three figures walked out: the cafeteria chef, a kitchen hand, and the delivery worker.

Their faces were grotesquely twisted, covered in blood. The delivery man’s face had a massive bite wound, a terrifying hollow in his cheek.

The five on the path reacted instantly. Though they had tried to move quietly before, now they sprinted desperately.

“What’s going on? Are they still human?” someone cried.

Michael, running fastest, glanced back and replied, “Definitely not! You ever seen a chef’s guts spilling out while he still runs a hundred meters?”

Everyone panted heavily, Selina included. But the three zombies behind them showed no signs of fatigue, even threatening to catch up to the girl running last. Nobody dared relax for even a moment.

Luckily, they didn’t encounter more creatures along the way.

Selina, running second, shouted encouragement to the lagging girl, “Just ahead is the small gate to the west gate. If we close the fence behind us, we’ll be safe!”

But just as they were about to pass through the gate, something went wrong.
The last girl stumbled and fell. The boy nearest tried to pull her up, but the zombie closest to the gate had already lunged forward.

“Watch out!”

Unexpectedly, Selina—who had already run ahead—turned back. Gripping her baseball bat tightly, her expression firm as if in training, she swung with all her strength.

With a sickening crack, half of the fat chef’s face caved in. But he felt no pain—only enraged—lunging at her even more viciously.

At that moment, Michael rushed back. Tall and strong, he delivered a flying kick, sending the zombie crashing back through the gate.

“Close it, now!”

Another boy quickly shoved the gate shut, blocking the two remaining zombies outside.

The fallen girl was pulled back up, trembling in shock. Feeling as if she had just escaped death itself, she whispered a grateful, “Thank you.”

The west gate area was remote, rarely visited, but it was under another signal tower’s range. At once, all five of their phones buzzed with alerts.

New messages poured into the group chat. More and more videos were being shared: people being bitten in classrooms and stairwells of teaching buildings, the cafeteria, the science hall, the gym, the student dorms.

By the time they had passed the cafeteria’s back door, nearly every building had already been overrun.

Everyone felt thankful that they hadn’t chosen to go through the library and teaching buildings toward the parking lot. According to the chat, those areas had already fallen.

Eventually, the messages stopped altogether. No more updates came.

Everyone’s hearts sank.

Had the entire school already fallen?

And what about outside… was it the same?

Just then, Selina’s driver called. “Miss, I saw your message. Stay safe—I’ll be there right away.”

Selina finally let out a breath of relief, though it sounded like things weren’t safe on his end either.

But half an hour later, the driver still hadn’t arrived. Selina felt a growing sense of dread.

Outside the west gate was a logistics warehouse district. Normally only large delivery trucks passed through. Maybe they could find a vehicle there.

Michael seemed to have the same thought.

After discussion, they decided that the three boys would go scout for a vehicle while Selina stayed behind to look after the injured girl. Once they found one, they’d return for them.

Just then, a black SUV appeared in the distance.

Michael’s eyes lit up. He and the two boys ran into the road, waving for help. Michael swung his baseball jersey high above his head. “Help us! We need help!”

Inside the SUV, Su You was planning a detour route—intending to swing by a nice restaurant for takeout.

Then Amber suddenly slammed the brakes.

When the car stopped, Su You noticed the boys in baseball uniforms standing in the road—one of them shirtless, waving desperately.

“What’s going on?”

Su You saw the unease on their faces.

Amber frowned. “I don’t know… maybe they’re high on something? Sister You, should we get out and take a look?”