Chapter 64
"The Signal of Hope"
It was 5:00 a.m.
The darkness of the night had finally begun to fade.
Across the horizon, the first faint rays of sunlight were appearing, slowly pushing their way through the darkness. The sky was still pale and quiet, but after everything they had endured throughout the night, even that small amount of light felt like a sign that they had survived another night.
On the rooftop, everyone was scattered across different corners.
They were exhausted.
Completely exhausted.
Miss Selena sat between Lena and Mary, with all three of them leaning their heads against one another. Their eyes were closed, but none of them was truly sleeping. Their bodies were simply too tired to remain upright without support.
In another corner sat Yarm, Mr. Simit, Jackson, John,William, Jack, Michael, and Jason were sitting with them.
In another corner, Sana and Afra sat quietly beside one another.
And in yet another corner sat Hasnain and his friends.
No one had the energy to speak.
No one wanted to.
They had spent the entire night fighting to survive against the zombies.
They had watched people they knew become infected.
They had lost people who mattered to them.
They had experienced fear, exhaustion, grief, and helplessness—all within a single night.
It had been too much.
Their bodies were exhausted from the constant struggle, while their hearts were weighed down by losses they were still unable to accept.
In the very center of the rooftop was the enormous SOS sign they had created during the night.
It was their message to the outside world.
We are still here.
We are still alive.
But beyond the rooftop, there was no peace.
From every floor of the school came the terrifying growls of zombies.
The entire building was now crawling with infected creatures.
The halls.
The classrooms.
The staircases.
Everywhere was filled with zombies.
And among the entire school building, only the people on the rooftop had managed to remain unaffected by the Z Virus.
But even here, their lives were still in constant danger.
One mistake could bring the zombies back to them.
One loud sound could reveal their location.
So they waited.
And waited.
Hoping that someone outside would find them.
---
8:00 a.m.
Three hours had passed.
Yet everyone was still sitting around the enormous SOS sign in different corners of the rooftop.
The sky had changed.
Thick white clouds had spread across it, covering much of the morning sunlight.
A cold breeze began sweeping across the rooftop.
The survivors remained quiet.
Then suddenly—
Miss Selena's eyes caught sight of something in the distance.
She immediately straightened.
Her tired eyes widened.
Something was approaching through the cloudy sky.
A helicopter.
Her heart suddenly filled with hope.
She quickly stood up.
"Everyone! Look up! That helicopter is coming straight toward us!"
Her voice immediately caught everyone's attention.
One by one, they looked toward the sky.
And there it was.
A helicopter.
It was getting closer.
For the first time in hours, hope appeared on everyone's faces.
Everyone stood up.
Some stepped toward the edge of the rooftop.
Others raised their hands.
They watched the helicopter anxiously as it moved toward them.
As it came closer, Afra suddenly raised both hands high into the air.
She began waving them from side to side.
Her excitement completely overwhelmed her fear.
"We're here! We're all alive!"
Her voice echoed across the rooftop.
Jason immediately turned toward her.
His expression changed.
"Stop shouting!"
Afra looked at him in confusion.
Jason continued urgently:
"Zombies are attracted to sound!"
Afra's expression immediately turned annoyed.
She placed her hands on her hips.
"Oh, really? And how exactly do you know that? You were all on the rooftop!"
Jason froze.
Her words brought back a memory.
A memory from two days earlier.
---
{Two Days Earlier}
Jason, William, and Jack had forcibly brought Sana onto the rooftop.
They had wanted to punish her because she had called the police and gotten all of them arrested.
Sana had been standing there when Hasnain suddenly appeared and rescued her.
Afterward, everyone had started returning to their respective classrooms.
As Jason was about to go downstairs, Jack suddenly shouted:
"Hey! What is that?"
Jason immediately turned around.
Jack was standing near the wall, looking down.
Jason walked toward him.
William followed.
The three boys leaned over the wall and looked toward the school grounds below.
What they saw made them freeze.
Students and teachers were attacking one another like wild, bloodthirsty animals.
At first, Jason laughed.
He thought it was some kind of joke.
But after watching for several more seconds, his expression slowly changed.
This wasn't a joke.
Something was terribly wrong.
Jason immediately rushed to the rooftop door.
He locked it.
Then the three of them hurriedly pushed whatever objects they could find against it—ropes, equipment, and other heavy objects—to prevent anyone from entering.
They had no idea what was happening.
They only knew they needed to stay away from whatever was happening downstairs.
Later, when Miss Selena's voice suddenly came through the loudspeakers, Jason was still standing on the rooftop, looking down at the school grounds.
The entire area below was filled with zombies.
Then something strange happened.
The moment Miss Selena's voice echoed through the school's loudspeakers, every zombie suddenly turned toward the sound.
And then—
They all began running toward the loudspeakers.
The speakers were located extremely close to the rooftop.
Jason watched in disbelief.
His eyes widened.
That was when he finally understood.
They were attracted to sound.
---
Present
The memory suddenly returned to Jason.
He blinked and came back to reality.
Afra was still standing in front of him.
She crossed her arms and said:
"If we don't make any noise, then how will the helicopter know we're here?"
Jason immediately stepped forward.
"Hey stupid? Your voice isn't going to reach the helicopter!"
He pointed toward the huge SOS sign in the center of the rooftop.
"We already made an SOS sign. They'll see it and rescue us."
Then he glanced toward the school below.
His expression became serious.
"But if you keep shouting like this, the zombies might come back."
Afra's face immediately tightened with annoyance.
She glared at him.
"You're the stupid one, not me!"
Without waiting for his response, she turned around and walked toward Sana.
She stopped beside her.
Jason watched her go.
A small smile appeared on his face.
He remained standing where he was, looking toward the helicopter approaching through the cloudy sky.
It was getting closer.
Closer to them.
Closer to the survivors.
Closer to the possibility of rescue.
But while everyone else watched the helicopter with hope in their eyes, Ghani was staring angrily at Jason.
His gaze remained fixed on him.
His expression was tense.
Something about seeing Jason and Afra arguing—and the way they seemed to understand one another—clearly irritated him.
He continued glaring at Jason from across the rooftop.
Meanwhile, above them, the helicopter continued moving steadily toward the survivors.
And for the first time since the nightmare had begun...
help seemed to be within reach.