CHAPTER 59: THE DAY MERCY DIED
Elena was the first to feel the change.
'No!'
She hurriedly turned back, but it was already too late. Between the escalating battle outside and the erratic beating of several hearts around her, she had picked out the sound a little too late.
With the sound of crushing walls, several zombies suddenly pulled themselves across the concrete railings, their hulking silhouettes blotting out the pale moonlight as they descended on the group from behind.
The shadows cast by their massive frames swallowed the entire group.
"Huh? Why is it suddenly darker?" a voice asked out, but before anyone could reply, the person was crushed into meat paste beneath the massive weight of an undead.
"AAAAAH!"
"THERE ARE ZOMBIES HERE!"
"HOW DID THEY GET HERE?!"
"RUN!"
The scene descended into utter and total chaos.
As more undead climbed from outside onto the second floor, more approached from the now unguarded staircase. They barreled through the formed barricade, sending splintered wood flying through the air and cutting through flesh.
All the zombies needed was just one cut.
Not everyone could be like Kael, whose class granted him immunity against any form of mind corruption. A single injury was enough to spell death.
Black claws split bodies into several pieces, jagged teeth tore into flesh with squelching wet sounds, intestines stretched across the ground like grotesque ropes, and massive pools of crimson gathered beneath the dying.
"Run!" Principal Martin shouted as he gripped the rugged middle schooler and wove through the battlefield, trying to help anyone he could.
He could have teleported away safely with his ability, but the thought of abandoning his students never once crossed his mind.
With every opportunity he had, he smashed through the heads of several students showing signs of corruption with a weapon he had picked up, tears filling his eyes. The last thing they needed was more of these creatures to handle.
"I am sorry..."
Hearing the sickening squelch of skulls crushing beneath each strike, as the blood of his students---children he had always considered his own---splattered across his hands, the old man's eyes turned bloodshot, his heart gripped with unimaginable grief. Every strike felt like he was carving pieces out of his own soul.
He was watching his dream, the life he had spent decades building, crumble before him.
While many died, a few tried to raise resistance. Having crossed the level ten milestone, those with higher-ranked classes now had the opportunity to shine and display the disparity between class ranks.
Two gigantic bloody hands appeared behind Daniel, while six long crimson spears revolved around him. With a tug of his intentions, the two massive hands grabbed two spears from the floating weapons.
His eyes shone with a crimson glow, a passive skill of his class increasing his blood flow and reaction speed. Like a blood-soaked phantom, Daniel tore through the battlefield, while his brother Ben and Logan provided support from the side.
.....
- COUGH!
- COUGH!
A ringing sound filled Elena's senses as she coughed through the dust.
"HUACK!"
With a burst of strength, she shoved the rubble on top of her away. She had been distracted while trying to alert the group about the monsters approaching from behind, so she couldn't react in time when more undead barreled through the barricade and sent her flying into the walls, smashing through them and into an adjacent classroom.
"AAAAH!"
"Help me!"
Only then did the sounds rush in.
The sounds of pleas.
The sounds of tears.
The sounds of ripping flesh.
The sounds of dying breaths.
The gradually slowing beats of hearts.
They all flooded her hearing at once, almost overwhelming her for a second. But with a shake of her head, she endured it, her blurred vision catching sight of her surroundings.
She saw Daniel and the small group consisting of those who could truly fight trying to rush away from the battle, ignoring the cries and pleas around them.
She saw the principal trying to help as many students as he could. He raised those who stumbled to the ground in fear. He shoved those he could save away from danger.
She watched as the winds generated from the battle carried away the old man's tears, the droplets drifting across the battlefield like silent spectators.
"HUACK!"
She coughed out blood and dropped to one knee while supporting herself with one hand.
Pressing her other hand against her chest, she realized she must have broken a few ribs.
The pain almost made her collapse, and for a fleeting moment, the thought of surrendering, of simply letting go, filled her mind.
- COUGH!
She wheezed once more, this time coughing out another mouthful of blood.
With a trembling body, Elena forced her head upward, her blurry eyes barely catching sight of...
'Rachel?'
She saw one of the few elite students among their group, one who had remained behind to fight and create a chance for the others to escape.
The young boy was smashed into the ground by an undead, the monster raising its head and parting its disgusting lips to reveal rows of jagged teeth dripping with black saliva. Its rancid breath rolled over him like the stench of rotting corpses.
Just when the zombie was about to bite off his head, the boy's eyes suddenly released a deep red glow.
Two concentrated beams of fire burst from his pupils, searing through the creature's flesh and blasting out from the other side of its skull.
The hulking undead grew limp as the boy shoved it aside.
He took deep breaths and was just about to rise again when a shadow fell over him.
The boy instantly became alert, only to realize it was merely a fellow student.
Rachel stretched out her hand to help him to his feet.
The boy accepted the support and was just about to stand when an iron bar cut through the air from an angle he couldn't see before tearing into his eye and turning his brain to mush.
"Why?"
The silent question was reflected in the boy's shocked expression as he looked at her, the glow in his eyes slowly fading away.
But he would never receive an answer.
Was it a mistake to help the others?
If he had fought only for himself, would he have escaped?
With those final thoughts, the boy died.
*****
AN: Show me some love, guysðŸ˜.