[Best – 10:05 a.m.]
The barricade shakes like it's alive. Moans from below. Scratching. Pounding. The door's holding—barely.
Namtan's swinging her whip, eyes wide, fear twisting her face. FahFah's beside her, metal shard in hand, breathing heavy. Jack's at the edge, shouting curses at the horde climbing the walls. Emily's huddled in the corner, hands over her ears. Kao's silent. Axe in grip. Staring at the door like it's nothing.
Win and Palm are gone. Leaped down for food. If they don't make it back, we're done. I'm clutching my bat, sweat stinging my eyes.
"Come on, you bastards,"
I mutter. The wood cracks again.
[10:10 a.m.]
A hand bursts through. Rotting fingers claw air. I swing. Crack its wrist. It pulls back, but another replaces it. Kao steps forward, axe down.
Slice.
Silence from that one. But the moans grow. Louder. Closer. They're everywhere now. Climbing the sides. Scratching up pipes.
[10:15 a.m.]
"They're coming over the edge!" Jack yells.
A Basic hauls itself up, jaw unhinged. Namtan whips it—crack—sends it tumbling back. But two more follow. FahFah stabs one in the neck. I bash the second's head. Blood sprays. Black-red. Emily screams. Kao moves like a shadow. Axe through another. But her face– blank. Too blank.
[10:20 a.m.]
The door buckles. Three Basics push through. Jack swings wild, misses. One grabs him. I charge, bat cracking its arm. It drops him. Kao finishes it. Namtan's whip snaps another's knee. FahFah's shard sinks into one's eye. Emily's frozen. The moans are a wall now. We can't hold.
[10:25 a.m.]
Suddenly, The zombies stop. Mid-lunge. Mid-moan. One drops, limp. Another falls, body thudding. Like puppets cut from strings.
"What the fuck"
FahFah gasps. We look up. Helicopters. Three of them. Black. Armed. Rotors thumping like hearts. One hovers low, lights blinding.
[10:30 a.m.]
The school main gate explodes. Boom. Debris flies. Soldiers pour in armed, armored, moving like machines. Rifles up. Shouting orders. One helicopter lowers a rope ladder to the rooftop. A soldier waves us over.
"Get in! We're evacuating the survivors!"
We freeze. Emily whispers, "Rescue?" But I grabs her arm. "Wait."
[10:35 a.m.]
The soldier shouts down. "The school's compromised! We've got orders to bomb in ten minutes!" Bomb. The word hits like a fist.
"Our friends are out there!" Namtan yells. "Win and Palm, they went for supplies!"
The soldier's voice crackles through a speaker. "Anyone left might be infected. We can't risk it. Get in the helicopter now!"
Infected. My gut twists. Lin's face flashes her smile, her run. Dean's fall. They can't be.
[10:40 a.m.]
We climb the ladder fast. Emily first, then Jack, FahFah, Namtan. I go next, pulling Kao up. She hesitates, eyes distant.
The helicopter lifts. The rooftop shrinks below. Soldiers pull us in, rifles pointed. One grabs my arm. "Sit and Don't move."
Then Namtan lunges. Pushes Kao hard. Kao stumbles, grabs the edge and slips. Falls. Down. Down.
"She's one of them!" Namtan screams. "She's the cause! She's a monster!"
I lunge for the door. Too late. Kao hits the ground. Hard. No movement. Her body twisted in the dirt. Still. Like a broken doll. The helicopter tilts. We rise. Into the sky. Away from her. Away from everything.
The soldier nods at Namtan. "Good call." But I see it in his eyes. They think we're all monsters now.
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