Ignoring the still-sleeping Shizuka, Ryuji surveyed the infirmary and found plenty of medical supplies. He quickly stored them in his personal dimensional space.
He also took the storage room key from Shizuka's white coat pocket and crammed in nearly 10m³ more, leaving only 2m³ of space.
Glancing at the sunlight outside, he saw the sun already sinking in the west. Half an hour at most. He stopped wasting time, picked up the sleeping woman, and headed straight for the Kendō Club.
As he walked, Shizuka remained asleep in his arms. Her ample bosom and round curves swayed, occasionally brushing against him and stirring a restless heat.
Before long, through sheer willpower, Ryuji carried her to the Kendō Club entrance.
By then, the jostling had begun to wake her.
"Hehe… Prince Charming…"
The first thing Shizuka did upon waking wasn't to startle. Instead, seeing his handsome face, she smiled foolishly and reached out to touch it.
Ryuji was speechless. Even for someone so naturally airheaded, being this unguarded had to have limits.
He gently patted her smooth cheek, bringing her fully awake, then set her down.
"Eh?! It's the student from yesterday — he looks exactly like the Prince Charming from my dream…" Fully awake now, Shizuka realized the person beside her was the student she had met yesterday.
Ryuji finally understood why she had been so unguarded while half-asleep — she had been dreaming about him.
"Alright, Marikawa-sensei, save the sleep talk for when you're actually sleeping tonight. Let's go inside now." Taking her small hand, he pushed open the door to the Kendō Club.
When Ryuji led Shizuka inside, he found Saeko had perfectly completed the task he had assigned her.
Inside stood more than a dozen youthful and beautiful young women, including the dean of students Ryuji had been paying special attention to — Kyoko.
When he entered, Rei immediately smiled and waved. Beside her stood Saya, arms crossed over her chest, wearing frameless glasses.
Ryuji smiled at Rei, then ignored Saya. Under her displeased gaze, he scanned the others.
Saeko, Rei, Saya… Toshimi, and one gyaru who looked somewhat impatient — apparently Miku Yuuki. Fourteen people in total. With Shizuka behind him, fifteen.
Kyoko looked at him and asked, "Student, what exactly is this matter that brought all of us here?"
Ryuji looked around. Everyone was watching him with puzzled expressions.
"Do you know what zombies are?"
His words made the group exchange glances, none understanding why he was asking.
Saya was the first to speak, "Zombies? You mean like those in horror films?"
Ryuji nodded.
"You mean the kind of apocalypse from the movies — where the whole world is filled with zombies — is about to happen?"
Ryuji nodded again. Saya furrowed her brow.
Although she had a favorable impression of him, his claim still made her doubtful.
Even Saeko, who had the closest relationship with him, was puzzled. Still, since she prioritized her husband in all things, she chose to follow his arrangements.
The others looked at each other in confusion. Only Shizuka, standing behind Ryuji, tilted her head and watched everyone's reactions.
"To be precise, it's already broken out. It just hasn't spread to us yet."
Ryuji's words caused everyone to become agitated.
"It's so peaceful outside right now — how could such a thing possibly happen? Well, I still need to get materials from Teshima-sensei later." Kyoko looked at the others, "Besides, class is about to start. You should all return to your classrooms to prepare."
Clearly, Ryuji's words had failed to convince them.
Ring Ring Ring Ring!
"Ah… As expected, we still can't leave school early." Ryuji sighed.
When Kyoko heard the class bell, she moved to pass by him with the others. A gleaming baseball bat appeared before her.
Not knowing how Ryuji had produced it, she stumbled back two steps in fright.
"You…"
"Right now, if you stay here, you might still survive. If you return to the classroom, whether you'll live through today is anyone's guess."
Ryuji spoke seriously, snapping Kyoko and the others out of their fear.
"Ryuji, are you certain this has already happened?" Saya, who had remained motionless until now, spoke up.
"That's right. The Metropolitan Police Department's phone lines are jammed. Those of you with cell phones can try calling the emergency number to see if I'm telling the truth."
The girls looked at each other. Students at Fujimi Academy weren't allowed to bring cell phones to school, and most here were well-behaved, so none had phones.
But Kyoko was a teacher. She immediately pulled out her phone and dialed.
Beep! Beep Beep!
[Please try again later. The 110 emergency line is currently busy, and communication lines are overwhelmed…]
"No way… The police lines are actually jammed…" Kyoko covered her mouth in disbelief.
The Metropolitan Police Department had many operators to ensure timely response to crime scenes. For the lines to be jammed was nearly impossible — unless a massive riot had broken out across the entire city.
The other girls heard what Kyoko said and grew nervous and afraid.
"Ryuji-kun, has the apocalypse really broken out?" Rei walked to his side fearfully. Only after hugging his arm did she feel somewhat reassured.
"Yes!" Ryuji nodded solemnly. Having no time to notice the softness against his arm, he turned to Saeko, "Saeko, did you get the school bus keys I mentioned?"
She came to his side and handed them over, "Ryuji-kun, I've already got them."
In front of others, she was still a bit shy and couldn't bring herself to call him "husband".
Ryuji didn't mind.
"Which of you can drive?" He took the keys and looked around.
"I… I can drive…"
"Ryuji-kun, I can drive too…"
The first to speak was Kyoko. Shizuka had learned Ryuji's name from everyone's earlier conversation.
"Good. Marikawa-sensei, you'll drive first, and when you're tired, we'll switch to Hayashi-sensei." After handing the keys to Shizuka, Ryuji addressed everyone, "Next, we'll head to the school bus. Once we're on board, we'll be much safer."
Whether captivated by his words or attracted by his handsome appearance, the girls all nodded.
Just as Ryuji led everyone toward the parking lot, the school-wide broadcast came on. Everyone stopped.
Bzzt! Bzzt Bzzt!
[Announcement to all faculty and students! A violent incident is occurring on campus! Students, please follow your teachers' instructions for evacuation! Repeating once more!…]
The teacher's voice was extremely urgent and tense.
However, just as the teacher was about to repeat the announcement —
Bzzt! Bzzt Bzzt! Woom Woom!
The broadcast seemed to malfunction.
[Ahhh!!! Stop! Help! Save me!! Ahhh!!!]
Instantly, the entire school fell silent.
"Alright, stop standing around. The riot is about to start — we need to get to the parking lot quickly."
Ryuji's words brought everyone back to their senses. They immediately followed him toward the parking lot.
At the same time, he heard the notification from the Reincarnation Space.
〖Ding! The apocalypse has fully erupted. Main Mission timer (7 days) begins now.〗
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
When Ryuji led everyone to the parking lot, the entire school had descended into chaos.
Thunderous footsteps echoed from the school building, accompanied by piercing screams.
On the athletic field, a gruesome scene unfolded. Several students in gym clothes had been tackled to the ground by "them", blood gushing from their necks and staining the field.
More students fled across the field, but "them" moved faster than Ryuji had anticipated. Though they couldn't match the fastest runners, they moved at roughly the pace of an average person jogging.
Not very fast, but they had numbers, "Them" closed in from all directions, and those few fast runners would soon meet the same fate as the others.
Clack!
Seeing the girls staring blankly at the field, Ryuji yanked open the school bus door and shouted, "Stop standing around — get on the bus!"
Everyone boarded, their eyes filled with shock and fear.
Saeko, holding her wooden sword, stayed at the back of the group. After she boarded, Ryuji got on and closed the door.
It should be mentioned that because they'd reached the parking lot early, Shizuka's branded long skirt was spared from being torn apart by Saeko — a cause for celebration indeed.
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Shizuka's surprised voice came from the driver's seat.
"Eh?!! It's different from my car…"
The driver's cabin looked completely different from her own car. Bewildered, she looked toward Kyoko in the passenger seat.
"Hayashi-sensei, can you drive a school bus?"
"Eh!! I… I can't either. I can only drive a small car…" Kyoko's voice trembled.
Everything on the field had shown her Ryuji hadn't been lying. The other girls were similarly filled with fear, two of them embracing each other and trembling.
The apocalypse had truly erupted!
Bzzt Bzzt! Bzzt Bzzt!
"Eh?!! Why won't it start?" Shizuka broke the silence.
"It's… it's out of gas…" Kyoko glanced at the fuel gauge.
She curled up in the passenger seat, hugging her legs.
A car without gas couldn't start, and when "them" surrounded them… The other girls heard the conversation and grew even more afraid.
This was completely different from the original anime — there was no such incident.
"Tch!" Ryuji clicked his tongue.
He had no choice but to get off and find gasoline.
During last night's scavenging, he'd focused only on food, water, and daily necessities, completely forgetting about gasoline.
Ryuji looked at Kyoko, "Hayashi-sensei, do you know where there's gasoline?"
"It's… it's in the school's outdoor storage shed."
"Good." After learning the location, Ryuji instructed Saeko, "Saeko, you guard the school bus. Don't let anyone in!"
He wasn't worried about whether Saeko could hold her ground. Although "them" seemed somewhat enhanced, she was much stronger than yesterday. Against "them" of this strength, as long as she wasn't surrounded by hundreds, she had nothing to fear.
As for Saeko, she wouldn't worry about Ryuji at all.
The others, however, didn't know his capabilities.
"Ryuji-kun…"
"Ryuji…"
❖❖❖❖❖
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)