Arjun: "You think I didn't think of that? I did. And you know what? This whole area is isolated. That means no transport, no public road, no houses. Even if we run hiding and dodging them, we still need to run 4 km just to reach the main road and find one person."
Ahmad: "But we are runners… we run fast enough."
Arjun: "Yes, you both are runners. You can run fast, but tell me—don't you get exhausted? Don't you need to slow down to breathe? They don't. They're dead. They don't need rest. They just want to eat you. One pause, one trip, one mistake… and it's over. If we try to leave from here, we're 100% dead. Dodging them outside is even harder. If even one sees us, we're done."
(Roommate 2 takes a deep breath. Ahmad, who never doubts Arjun, simply nods and trusts him.)
Roommate 2: "…Can't we wait here for some time?"
Arjun: "Wait how long?"
Roommate 2: "What if… what if someone comes? Maybe a coach called for help. We should wait." (He's scared inside.)
Arjun: "Okay. But if we even WANT to wait—do we have food? Water? Enough space to stretch or rest? No. Right now, we still have energy. We can still run. But if we starve, our potential drops to 20% or even less. We can't wait."
Ahmad – confused, holding the three wooden table legs: "Why are you doubting him? He calculated everything."
Roommate 2 – looking down, voice shaking slightly: "I don't know… I just don't feel right. We don't even know if we're the only ones alive or if there are more people. We're sure about nothing."
Ahmad walked up to him and tapped his shoulder.
Ahmad: "Hey… are you scared of them?" (straight, no filter)
Roommate 2: "No. Never."
Arjun: "Look… I know why you're doubting everything. And honestly? Even I don't know if what we're doing is right or wrong. But I do know it's the only option we have."
Roommate 2: "Sorry. I should've trusted you."
(He looked up sincerely, then crawled under the bed. There was a rusted iron layer with slightly broken edges. He started kicking it until it snapped off. Arjun smiled and joined him, searching for loose bolts. Somehow, they managed to break off three iron rods.)
Arjun: "Layer your clothes. Wear both uniforms and—"
(He walked to his bag and pulled out a roll of tape.)
"—and wrap this around your arms and legs."
Ahmad: "Why do you even carry tape?"
Arjun: "My old dorm window was torn. Since then I carry tape so I can sleep in darkness. I need it to sleep."
(They quickly taped their arms and legs after wearing both uniforms. Slowly, the dorm gate creaked open just enough to peek. Ahmad looked outside with an iron rod in his hand and a wooden one hidden behind his back like a sword. Seeing the corridor clear, he opened the door fully. Roommate 2 walked in the middle with the rope, Arjun followed with the iron rod and the bag. All three moved silently toward the staircase.)
Ahmad: "Come on…" (he whispered, checking the stairs—clear)
They started moving up when a sudden growl echoed.
A zombie—
A big-bodied coach, covered in blood, bite marks on his neck, one shoe missing, uniform torn—
was dragging himself up the stairs.
They looked at each other, terrified.
The zombie reached the fifth floor, stood growling, then looked up toward the rooftop stairs—empty. Slowly, he wandered toward their dorm's open door.
The three boys pressed themselves against the wall near the stair window—hidden in the blind spot—barely breathing. When the zombie disappeared into their room, Roommate 2 tied the rope to the railing and threw the other end down. As predicted, it was short. But now… no choice.
Roommate 2: "I told you it would be short." (whisper)
Arjun: "I know. Who's going first?" (whisper)
Ahmad: "Should I go?" (whisper)
Roommate 2: "Okay, go. I'll come last."
Ahmad gave his iron and wooden rod to him as he climbed the window and began descending. With each floor, the sight inside the building grew worse—more blood, more bodies, more zombies. The first floor had no window. When he reached the end of the rope, the remaining gap was equal to his height. He hung as low as he could, then dropped gently. The grass made a soft crunch, but the zombies inside didn't hear it.
He looked around, then signaled to Arjun:
Ahmad: "Come down. Safe." (whispered with hand signs)
Arjun: "I'm coming."
He whispered to Roommate 2, climbed out, and descended. Ahmad helped him land without noise.
Now it was Roommate 2's turn.
He was terrified of heights. He squeezed his eyes shut, grabbed the rope, about to throw the rods down and was about to climb out when he heard something.
A growl.
He turned around .
The coach-zombie was standing below—staring right at him.