“Kid, what’s your problem?” the officer asked, putting a weird grin on his face.

It was a look of a man who just can’t deal with the teenagers.

“Roughly half an hour ago, I died,” Mathew repeated his words, looking the man directly in the eyes.

For a moment, the two entered a standoff.

It was a completely random occurrence when their eyes met.

For the next few moments, the two of them simply stared each other down, each more desperate not to blink.

“With all my heart, I hope it was just a bad dream,” Mathew said, plummeting down to the ground and resting his face in his hands. “But if it’s not, I need to do everything in my power to survive what’s about to come,” he added in a silent voice.

“So you just want someone to hold your hand and tell you everything will be okay?” the officer asked, an uneasy expression forming on his lips.

‘Who is this guy?’ Mathew thought, rolling his eyes. ‘I know I asked for a Veteran, but still, how could they send someone so clueless…’ he despaired.

Since when calling someone out like that was a method of dealing with a potential terrorist?

‘Or is it the fact that I let go of my guns that makes him so relaxed?’ Mathew thought before shooing all those useless thoughts aside.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ he thought, moving his eyes on Nadia’s face.

“In twenty-seven minutes from now, I believe something will happen in that infirmary,” Mathew said, finally ready to explain what was going on.

“Did you…” Nadia whispered, her face tense as she thought about something. “See something?” she asked, raising her eyes on Mathew’s face.

“I saw a lot,” Mathew quickly replied. “And the worst of it all is that I can still see something that I shouldn’t see,” he added, glancing over to the clock in the corner of his vision.

It continued to tick the time away. One second at a time. But it never stopped.

Nadia turned silent.

She was likely too confused to say something.

“And no,” Mathew said, turning his head back towards the officer. “If it’s holding hands that I needed, I could just ask my dear friend,” he said, nodding his chin towards the girl. “What I need is someone good enough with the gun to cover my back,” he added in a half-voice, turning his eyes away.

The officer’s face tensed up when he realized the meaning behind those words.

“What’s going to happen in twenty-seven minutes?” he asked coldly.

His hand hovered near his holster, where his personal weapon could be seen just as Mathew requested.

“It has nothing to do with me,” Mathew raised his hands before slowly turning his face towards the infirmary. “Once again. I died half an hour ago,” he put a huge emphasis on those words. “I have no idea how, but I made it back. Back in time?” Mathew suddenly asked, covering his face with his hands.

“So you really need someone to just watch over those doors for a short while?” the officer asked. His voice softened a little. “And then you will be happy, right?” he added.

“I certainly do hope so,” Mathew nodded his head, turning his hand towards the doors. “But before everything starts, remember a few things,” he suddenly announced.

“First, you won’t turn from a single scratch. It takes quite a lot of their body juices to enter your system for you to turn,” Mathew said in a tone of someone schooling a youngster about the basics of a craft. “We have an hour once it starts to…”

Mathew hesitated.

‘Using kill right now… It wouldn’t be the greatest idea,’ he noticed.

“To do what?” the officer asked. Even though he appeared to be relaxed, the look in his eyes proved he didn’t just let Mathew’s words by his ears.

“To clean as many of them,” Mathew finished before turning his eyes back towards the nearby doors. “All we had was just a guess,” he hesitated for a moment before biting his lips down. “But it seems that the progress during the first hour decides who will receive a system,” he then randomly dropped another bomb.

“A system?” the officer repeated the word impassively, clearly confused about the sudden turn of the story.

“Wait, are you telling me…” Nadia suddenly turned energetic.

Her interests aligned her to understand the term in its proper way. But the picture that such term usually invoked…

“Yeah,” Mathew nodded his head. “The last time, I got a miracle system,” he explained without hiding anything. “Basically, I could offer something in order to invoke a miracle,” he said.

“What are you even talking about, guys?” the officer couldn’t hold it for long. He couldn’t understand the topic, which didn’t sit well with his desire to control the situation.

“I’m sorry for the jargon,” Mathew turned his eyes towards the man before casting a quick look at the clock.

‘It will all start in ten minutes,’ he noticed before refocusing his eyes on the man.

“If I’m correct, then in ten minutes, the zombie apocalypse will start,” Mathew explained bluntly. “It’s just a guess, but the more zombies we destroy,” Mat was careful to avoid the wrong word, ‘the better system we will receive,” he explained as simply as he could.

“A system is basically a cheat,” Nadia explained. She was well versed in all sorts of literature. “An overpowered ability that makes one stronger than the others,” she elaborated a little before raising her thumb to her lips.

“No, that’s not it,” she muttered, biting down on her nail. “It’s a way for the character to survive the situation. A power-up in a fantasy world,” she fixed her own mistake.

“Again, what do you want to do with those zombies?” the officer interrupted the deep explanation of the term.

A relaxed smile on his face… felt weird. As if there was a second meaning behind it.

“Shit,” Mathew thought, realizing his mistake.

“Could you perhaps be interested in killing sick citizens and students of this school?” the man asked, openly laying his hand down at the handle of his weapon.

Mathew raised his hands in reply.

“I won’t reach for the weapon unless it is too late,” he promised, a knowing smile blossoming on his lips.

“And what do you mean by too late?” the officer asked, undoing the strap on the holster.

“Let’s see,” Mathew smiled, completely relaxed in the situation. “When this corridor will get overrun with zombies, and you will be desperately screaming for reinforcements. Fair enough?” Mathew asked with a smile of a naive child on his face.

“Fair enough,” the officer sighed.

He seemed to realize what kind of situation they were talking about.

“Just keep those points in mind,” Mathew added, holding back a small giggle. “Also, I hope your radio is working,” he added, turning his eyes towards the doors.

“What do you mean by that?” the man asked, interested by the sudden question.

“It would be for the best if the rest of your people prepared to rush to this place,” Mathew replied, turning his face towards the man. “The sooner you make the decision, the more time they will have to come and help us contain it,” Mathew added before shaking his shoulders.

“And if nothing happens?” the officer asked, unwilling to drop the realistic approach to the topic.

“Then I will surrender, pay back the damage, and openly apologize to every officer that had to stay late in work because of my actions,” Mathew replied with a small smirk. “Just kidding. I will most likely go serve my time. That or a mental hospital,” he added.

“Mat!” Nadia screamed out a little.

The look of worry on her face made Mathew’s heart tremble.

This was the cost of his actions that he didn’t foresee.

If it all turned out to be a mere hallucination, a bad dream, and even worse decisions… He would bring Nadia a lot of grief.

‘Wait, what?’ Mathew suddenly shrugged. ‘What am I even thinking about?’ he asked himself, puzzled by the sudden nostalgia. ‘Between making her sad and having her torn apart by the zombies…’ he thought, his entire body tensing up.

Mat glanced over at the clock.

“Two minutes left,” Mathew muttered, turning his face towards the officer. “It will be a good moment to ask your men to prepare,” he advised.

The officer raised one of his eyebrows.

For a moment, there was only silence.

“Come in,” the man finally raised his voice, his radio by his mouth.

“Yeah?” Mathew heard a silent reply on the other side.

“Guys, the matter is handled. No killed or injured,” he added before taking a long glance at Mat’s determined face.

“Just in case, get ready for a brutal fight in a minute,” he added before lowering the radio back on his chest.

“Thank you,” Mathew replied, refusing to move his eyes away from the infirmary doors.

The clock reached the breaking point. With all the minutes gone, it could only count the last remaining seconds.

“Nadia,” Mathew muttered, turning his head towards the girl.

“Hmm?”

“Whatever happens…” Mat cringed at his own words.

‘What, am I in some drama movie for teens now?’ he asked himself before rolling his eyes.

“I will keep you safe,” he whispered, reaching the peaks of courage he didn’t achieve back in the apocalypse.

The seconds ticked down.

“If we get the chance, we should snatch the medkit from the infirmary,” Mathew said right as the second clock reached its final second.