“Did you guys hear that?” Skittle asked, and there was a faint smile on his face. After facing a life and death situation in a scenario like today’s incidents, it was normal for a person to seek others’ company to rely upon.

At the same time, knowing that they weren’t the only ones going through it and that others were experiencing the same thing brought them comfort. “We should see if they’re okay!”

Skittle’s hand was already reaching out towards the door, ready to pull on it, but it was stopped seconds before, being grabbed by none other than Zain.

“This event has just started, so it might be okay now, but I want to warn you, Skittle,” Zain said. “In the future, there will be those who will attempt to trick you, use you, or even attack you after seeing you for no reason whatsoever. So just because you hear someone else’s voice, don’t rush in to help them.”

If Zain were alone, he wouldn’t have opened the door. If one was to think with their head and try to survive, meeting a person in this situation wasn’t the best, but he knew how the others would think if he told them to walk away, and he knew how his old self would have thought.

Maybe it was because he had changed, but he could think a lot more with just his head and not be driven by certain emotions.

“I’m already injured, so let me go first, in case they have something planned like you two,” Zain said, ready to push the handle._.

‘Yeah, you’re so injured but still able to move as you did before?’ Buke thought.

As for Skittle, he also thought something was strange as he looked at his hand, realising something.

‘Zain’s hands, they were cold… they were literally freezing.’ Skittle thought.

The door was locked, as expected. Zain was ready to use his previous trick but thought it might attract attention if there were more zombies on the lower two floors.

Just as he was about to force it open, he heard a click from the other side, and the door swung open as someone pulled the handle down from the other side.

“There are people.. there are other normal people.” A woman shaking voice entered their ears, and as the door opened, they saw a young woman with tears running down her face.

There were two young women in the room, one brunette with long hair and dark smooth skin, while the other had slightly red-dyed hair tied up in a ponytail.

Skittle and Buke ran into the room to comfort the two, going past Zain while he stood there for a few seconds, holding his weapons in his hands.

“Hey, it’s Jade and Tanisha, right? Are you two okay? Are any of you hurt at all?” Buke asked, mainly focusing on Jade, while Skittle went to see if Tanisha was okay.

The two could talk to these women frankly because the latter were also students at the university and were in the same class as them. In particular, Jade, Zain knew her well.

For a long time, Zain had somewhat of a crush on Jade, but being his antisocial self, it was a bit hard for him to talk to girls, never mind the one he liked. On top of that, he always believed, from the movies he saw and other things he read, that there were certain types of girls that would just cause trouble.

Too often, people have sacrificed their lives for the one they loved or tried to look brave and put themselves in situations they wouldn’t have been in.

However, seeing Jade in this situation, there was no feeling at all for some reason. His stomach didn’t churn, nor did he feel embarrassment just from looking at her.

“So you two have had bad luck as well and were stuck in the room,” Buke said after listening to their story, which was similar to theirs.

“Anyway, we can’t stay here forever. There’s no food in the dorms, we should leave while we have strength, and with more people, it should be safer, right Zain?” Skittle asked.

Both Jade and Tinisha felt comfortable due to the boys’ presence, but one of them was seriously freaking them out, and it was the one standing by the door, not letting go of the weapons in his hands the whole time.

They could see that it seemed like he was somewhat the decision-maker or leader of this small group.

“Being in a group only is safer if we stay put in one place, but as you said, we have to move, so if we move together, I’m going to have to set some rules that we should all follow,” Zain said and then staring at the two girls, he added, “Cover yourself in the dead’s blood and guts, just like these two. We won’t be taking you if you can’t agree to that. Take a weapon, one that won’t make much noise.

“We look after each other’s backs, and we have signals to inform one another without making noise if we see something. Then finally, this is important for you two, don’t stick your neck out for others.

“Don’t ever put yourself in a situation where you would be the one that suffers, even if it’s only a small chance.”

After hearing the rules, everyone was silent for a moment, the two boys had nothing to say, but he knew that they would be compliant, which was why he was looking at the two girls in the group.

“Wait… can’t we stay in here and wait for the army, or the police or anyone to arrive?” Jade said. “I mean, it hasn’t been a day yet. I don’t think we should go out and explore. Why don’t we just wait a day or so? If another Zombie comes, then you guys can help us fight it off, right?”

“She does have a point,” Buke chimed.

“You’re going to trust the ones who hid this situation from us for a while now to solve this? If the military or police could have solved this, they would have done so before it got to this situation. The longer we wait, the weaker and less energy we have and the more mistakes we will likely make.” Zain replied. “So get some blood on you, and let’s get out of here before it gets dark.”

Zain said, already turning around and looking out the window. The sun was still out but at most for another three hours.

“Wait!” Jade almost shouted but quickly put her hands over her mouth, trying to quiet down. “I mean, what he said is true, but you really think that we won’t be saved? Our country’s military is robust enough, and we will all be risking our lives unnecessarily by going outside.

“I understand if you want to go out there, but you shouldn’t be dragging your friends and us with you, no? So if you want to go, then just go on your own, don’t force these two!”

Jade said as she stood closer to Buke, almost hiding behind him.

‘This bi*ch is trouble.’ Zain was irked.

*****

Thank you for reading the story so far, remember to use your stones to vote for WSA 2022