“There are too many of them, what should we do?”

We hid behind a brick planter, observing the zombies. Through the gaps between the leaves, amidst the white curtain of rain, black shadows filled the school yard.

The distance from the back door of the cafeteria to the underground parking lot was not too far, only about 500 meters, but to get there we had to cross the empty yard next to the school's sports building. And the entrance to the underground parking lot was behind the sports building, so after traveling all the way we had only passed the above-ground bicycle parking lot, and had to go through another bend before we could see our destination.

And with limited visibility in the rain, the dense mass of living things ahead discouraged us from just getting outside.

I could feel Yamato shivering behind me.

“Or…or let's go back to the cafeteria…”

“Shut up! Yamato.” – Akira put his index finger in front of his mouth to signal silence – “You’ll make them hear us.”

It was already quite cold in late autumn, and with a fierce storm like this, the six of us had just stepped outside and were drenched in the rain. The cold rain soaked through our clothes, making the situation unbearable.

I also shrank back, speaking with my mouth still breathing warm air into the rain.

“Katashi, I think we can go inside the sport hall, follow the bleachers, which are covered… enter one door, exit the other, closer to the underground parking lot.”

“Not good.” - Katashi shook his head – “From here we can’t see clearly how many zombies are over there, the aisles in the stands are narrow, if we are surrounded from all sides it would be like putting ourselves in a dead end.”

“Besides, going into the football field means putting yourself in another box. I don't like to get into another box.”

Rin hid next to me, waving her hand in displeasure.

“You say the car is also a box, so don't you want to get in the car?”

“But that box can move.”

“…”

I couldn't say anything back to her.

“Whatever… hurry up… think of a way, just don't make me run…”

Yamato was in a panic. He must have been anxious because he was afraid of being left behind, you know, because of his wounded legs. Although I'm not a very patient person myself, this guy really didn't know what waiting was. It was his fault that we were moving slower, I was afraid that he would throw another one of us to the zombies and escape. But leaving him behind now was unworthy of human dignity. If I were the one to make the decision, I would have abandoned him the moment he was crushed by the ceiling, but in this situation, I suddenly wanted to respect Akira's decision, I couldn't take human life lightly.

Katashi frowned, only attentively observing the entrance to the stadium stands. Could it be that he was at his wits' end and had to follow my plan?

Even Rin couldn’t think of a plan, and the road ahead was too objectly empty it vunerable, and going through the stadium was even more dangerous. Everyone stayed silent, waiting for someone to speak up. Knowing this, we had discussed it more carefully in the cafeteria. It was cold, scary, and wet outside. We were sure that if we made it into the car, the air conditioning would make us all catch a cold.

Katashi broke the silence. He stood up straight. His face was stern under the rain, his wet black hair and deep eyes exuded a masculine beauty, not physically strong but with the appearance of a leader.

Thanks to you, we were able to get here. You saved me time and time again. Katashi usually looked like a small, dark guy who liked to hide in the back of the class and no one paid attention to him, but now he stood in front of me, so huge, his shoulder, as if it could shield all of us. Katashi right now, was like the big brother of the group.

But the way he spoke and the way he spoke sounded so helpless, made me so disappointed.

Katashi pointed to the door to the stadium stands.

“I will act as bait… then you guys run as fast as you can to the parking lot…”

“No!” – I jumped up from behind and hugged him tightly around the waist.

“I won't let you go, even if I have to die I won't let Katashi die.”

I let you go once today. I know how scary that feeling is. I was afraid that I couldn't be at peace without you, and I was afraid that I would lose you again.

You and I just made up today, I haven't even had a chance to show you my game progress. And now you’re planning to die alone out there... Katashi, Hana will never let you be alone again.

I closed my eyes tightly and pressed my head against Katashi's back. I held him tight so he wouldn't move.

“No matter what you say, I won't let go!”

“Hana, what nonsense are you talking about?”

“Huh?” – I opened my eyes to see everyone's strange looks. Katashi was still standing tall in the rain.

I looked up in confusion. Katashi's arm, still pointing through the rain, was pointing towards the entrance of the stadium's stands.

“Who said I was going to die?”

It was then that I clearly noticed that what he was pointing at was not the entrance to the sports field, but a dumpster nearby.

“Remember to stop by and pick me up, I'll be waiting.”

“Huh…?”

I was startled and immediately let go of Kakashi and fell backwards. My face turned grilled hot.

It turns out he planned to act as bait, herd all the zombies towards the soccer field, then hide in that trash can and wait.

“What a country bumpkin…” – Rin said sarcastically, causing the whole group to giggle. Only Rin kept that serious expression after teasing me. Damn it, how much further is she planning to humiliate me?

Akira, why are you treating me like this too? Don't you remember what I did to you yesterday?

Miyu too, why are you laughing after crying just now?

“Don’t…” – I quickly covered my red face with both hands. At a dangerous moment like this, doing something so embarrassing that there’s no place to hide, stop it, I hate all of you.

But because of that, I feel like we are more of a team.

“You're leading the group and you're planning to leave the group and run alone like that?”

Rin still had her arms crossed, her purple eyes looking at Katashi. Her demeanor was serious as if she was saying goodbye to Katashi, but her words were full of sarcasm, as if she had just made fun of me.

“It was your plan from the start. Since when did you start putting responsibility on me?”

Rin smiled slightly. It seemed that Katashi had given her a no-nonsense answer that left her speechless. Good job Katashi, don't let her continue to ridicule us while still looking serious.

“You don’t admit it… so you’re trying to put all the responsibilities on me? What a man.”

Katashi was silent, it seemed like Rin was the one who made him speechless. It seemed that none of us had a chance to answer her. Rin's words were like a predator forcing its prey into a trap. Although I still couldn't like her, I had to admit that she was much better than me.

“Akira, I leave Hana to you.”

“Leave it to me.” – Akira resolutely placed his hand on his chest, then turned to look at me, his eyes were ready, just waiting for me to confirm. You two made me feel so awkward, I didn’t know what to do, I just nodded slightly to Akira.

“And you, Natsuki…”

Katashi turned to look at me.

“Don't get bitten!”

“Natsuki?”

Everyone in the group turned their eyes to me, making my face turn hot AGAIN.

“Stop it!” – I covered my face with both hands. Damn Katashi, what’s the point of saying that name now, trying to make me a laughing stock again.

Katashi then drew his sword and rushed out from his cover. His blade flashed in the rain. As he rushed out, he shouted, attracting the surrounding zombies.

“Hey you bastards! I'm here! Come get me!”

“I envy you.” – I turned around. Miyu was gently tilting her head and speaking to me. In the middle of the rain, I felt like I had more than I deserved.

Waiting for Katashi to run a bit further, the zombies gathered around, he was no longer visible, only a swarm of dark shadows remained, Rin waved her hand, signaling us to go.

I immediately grabbed Rin's sleeve and followed her closely, followed by Miyu, and then Akira and Yamato at the end of the line.

I looked back at Katashi, in the thick curtain of rain, behind that sea of zombies, I didn't know how he was doing. I just prayed that when I came back, I would see his face again.

Despite our best efforts, even Yamato was trying to crawl as fast as he could. We were halfway there when things started to get worse, the few people at the bike parking lot noticed us and gradually gathered around, the zombies started to pay attention to us again.

“Here! Here! I'm here!”

I heard Katashi's voice echoing somewhere in the rain. It seemed like he hadn't gone into the trash yet. Noticing the change in the zombies' direction of movement, he tried to draw them away from us.

But it was too late, five people were still a more attractive meal. The whole flock rushed towards us again.

“Hurry up…” – Rin went ahead and killed a few lone zombies. While Katashi’s sword was sharp enough to cut off the zombie’s body instantly, Rin’s knife could only be stuck in the head, then it would take time to pull it out before it could be used again, so killing one zombie took nearly ten seconds. Without Katashi and his Katana, things would be difficult.

Once again, a zombie almost grabbed Yamato from behind, causing him to make a scene, attracting more zombies. Akira hurriedly kicked the zombie away.

Rin pulled something out from her pocket and gave it to me, it was another kitchen knife, a smaller one.

“I took an extra one from the kitchen as a spare, give it to Akira!”

I took the knife from Rin's hand and ran to give it to Akira. Yamato's face turned pale, afraid that Akira would leave him behind. He was already in tears and snot.

“Don't Akira! Don't!”

Yamato struggled, Akira took the trouble to calm him down, took the knife, then transferred Yamato's hand on his shoulder to me.

“You take care of Yamato.”

I didn't want Akira to worry, so I just said "Uhm" and took Yamato.

“Thank you Hana… Thank you Hana… I will never forget this favor in my life…”

Yamato thanked me profusely. Honestly, if it weren't for Akira, I would have thrown him away right away. There was no reason for me to drag this scoundrel along. He might just throw me to the undead like he did to Airi.

“Yamato… Why are you so heavy?”

Yamato looks skinny, but he works out to get these big biceps, and it doesn't help, I wonder what the point of guys going to the gym these days.

Akira bravely retreated, killing the zombies behind the defense. Although he was not as skilled as Rin, I was somewhat reassured at the back.

I estimated that we had moved about two-thirds of the way, and since we were surrounded, our progress had slowed down noticeably. Perhaps it was also due to the psychological pressure. If it were the old me, I would have made a big fuss, but I told myself to stay calm, because if I made a big fuss for Yamato, it would ruin everything and we would all be ruined.

“Hana…”

Miyu's voice made me turn around. Miyu had been walking in the middle of the line with me since the beginning. Suddenly she called out, scaring me to death. And she even dragged out my name. Miyu, what are you trying to scare me with?

“Miyu… you scared me!”

But, beside me, Miyu stood there, frozen. Like a motionless doll in the rain.

“Miyu… what are you waiting for? Let's go!”

I moved forward gradually, but Miyu still stopped, so I had to carried Yamato with me back down to Miyu's position.

From the end of our line, Akira's voice echoed up. He still had to kill the zombies behind him, so it would take him a long time to catch up.

“What are you guys doing? Hurry up!”

Rin in front was also busy with the zombies and didn't have time to turn back to look at us.

“Hana… leave her alone, it's probably nothing… let's go!”

Yamato urged me to continue, but something was really off about Miyu.

“I'm also worried, can you be a little less troublesome?”

With one arm already around Yamato's shoulder, I waved my other hand in front of Miyu's face.

“Hey, Miyu, what's wrong? Did you drop something?”

At this moment, Miyu looked at me tearfully, rolling up her sleeves.

I saw blood flowing from Miyu's wrist, the sudden sight that hit my eyes made me not know how to react.

“Hana… I…”

Two lines of tears flowed from Miyu's eyes again. Underneath her sleeve, there was a bite mark shaped like human teeth.

“I don't want to die yet… Hana…”

Oh God… Why now. Why Miyu? Why?

“Please… Yuuki…”

“No… Miyu!” – I gathered all my courage to reassure her. I put my hand on Miyu’s shoulder. Looked straight into her eyes.

“Calm down Miyu… We'll figure out how to deal with the bite later, okay? The priority right now is to get to the car…”

“No Hana… no way…” – Miyu shook her head frantically. She pushed my hand off her shoulder. – “I…”

Suddenly, a zombie appeared from behind and bit Miyu's neck. Tearing a chunk of flesh off her neck. Miyu's hand that was reaching out towards me stopped and jerked.

“Hana…”

Miyu collapsed backwards. Blood kept pouring out from her neck.

Once again, it happened so fast, so suddenly, that I couldn't do anything.

"No no no!"

Beside me, Yamato could no longer keep his composure. He shouted frantically. Using all his strength, he pulled me forward.

“She's dead! She's dead! Let's go!”

But I didn't move. My feet felt like they were glued to the ground. I froze.

“If you want to die, die alone! Let me go! Let me go!”

My best friend just died in front of me… She was a sweet, kind, and a bit weak-willed older sister who protected her younger brother. It was true that no one was safe right now, but she was the kindest person among us. If there was only one person among us who deserved to live, it would be Miyu. And yet…

From behind Miyu, another wave of zombies rushed in, surrounding the group from the flank.

I don't understand. Why, out of all the people, is it Miyu who has to die?

Is this the harsh nature of life or is it a joke from God?

“You’re crazy Hana! We’re next!” – Yamato struggled to get out of my arms. He jerked his hand away from my shoulder, then immediately struggled to crawl away.

I watched in silence as the zombies swarmed Miyu, eating her, just like what they did to Airi.

We stood still too long, allowing the undead to catch up.

If Miyu hadn't been bitten, she wouldn't have stopped.

If only I had noticed the zombie behind her, I might have saved Miyu.

No… Thinking about those things is no longer worth it, Miyu is no longer here.

"It's over…"

I said to myself.

"Over…"

The scenery spun before me like a mirage. I turned my head, only to see zombies all around.

The booming sounds rang in my ears again.

I saw Rin and Akira helplessly fighting the endless zombie horde while Yamato was hopelessly crawling towards the bicycle parking lot in the distance…

What for? A little more time to live?

Escaping death three times in a row made me overconfident about myself. Believing that I could escape. Forgetting that I was facing death.

And even if we escape this school, waiting outside that school gate, is only death.

The images of my parents and Toru in their zombie form flashed before my eyes. I had believed that they were still alive somewhere in this town. But was that really the case? Or was I just fooling myself to reassure myself?

I also deceived Miyu, giving her false hope about Yuuki, to force her to move forward. Miyu got lost, also because she dragged me to meet Principal Sai. The one who pulled Miyu out into this rain, was also me.

So isn't it me who indirectly killed Miyu?

The small hope of escape ahead, was just a lie I told myself. There was nothing waiting for me in life ahead. All that was left was death. I crossed the line between life and death again and again, only to find death before me once again.

Not only Miyu, I also lied to myself, to kill myself.

And then it was my turn, sinewy arms reached out, ready to grab me. Hands stained with Miyu's blood, and stained with the blood of people I used to know.

I don't care anymore...

I let my arms hang down and looked up at the rain.

I'm scared.

“Will death come quickly?” I asked myself. “And then there will be no more pain?”

But that's why I gave up.

I am ready.

“I'm sorry… Katashi… I let you down.”

And then, for a split second, I saw Akira turn to charge towards me.

“Hana! Watch out!”

A hand shot out from the left, knocking me aside, knocking me face down into the rain, so that when I looked up, the first image that caught my eye was Akira's hand reaching out towards me.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled slightly.

“Thank goodness! I made it in time!”

Akira's face was the same as always, because Akira never changed. He looked childish on the outside, but at heart, he was a hero.

Akira did not hesitate to bring Yamato along, to keep our group together in the worst of situations. And now, he sacrificed himself to save me. I don't know if it was because of his personal feelings for me, but I know, even if it wasn't me. At that time, whether it was Yamato or Rin, he would have jumped in to take their place.

But it was too late. The hands that should have grabbed me, grabbed Akira instead. The last image I had of him was the zombies dragging him back. His lower half was burried by the bloody hands. And then, Akira too disappeared into this rain.

“No… don’t…” – I cried out as I watched the zombies swarming around to tear Akira apart. I reached out to grab Akira, intending to pull him away, but his hand was no longer there.

Why Akira… I haven't even told you that I like you too…

If I hadn't stopped, Akira wouldn't have…

Once again, because of my stupidity, another friend died.

“Akira, kept his promise to Katashi. He protected you!”

From behind, another arm reached out and grabbed my upper arm, pulling me up. But that hand didn't scare me, because it still had the warmth of a human hand.

“Are you going to kill me too? Let's go!”

It's Rin. She came back to save me too.

I was helpless, torn. Even now that Rin had saved me, I didn't know what to do. How far would we go?

“Hana! Do you want to waste Akira's death!”

“Hana!”

I looked up at Rin, sobbing.

“Why? How can you keep that cool and calm look at a time like this?”

“What a bother! That's why I don't want friends. Now let's go, I don't want to go see Katashi alone.”

I was helpless as Rin grabbed my wrist and pulled me away. Yamato had already run off in another direction, disappearing into the rain. Katashi was still out there, not knowing if he had managed to get into the dumspter yet. After only a few short moments. The group now had only me and Rin left.

Since I no longer had to drag Yamato along, Rin pulled me along and ran at full speed. Across the sea of zombies. Even Rin realized that she couldn't just slowly move and defend herself anymore, she had to take the risk and run at full speed.

I just saw a series of zombies rushing towards me, passing before my eyes.

The zombies gradually thinned out in front of me, then opened up before my eyes, the entrance to the underground parking garage looming in the rain.

"Arrived!"

Rin continued to pull me, running straight into the tunnel, down the ramp for cars.

Stepping over the threshold of the tunnel was like stepping into another world. The torrential rain was no longer pouring down on us. It was darker ahead, but the visibility was definitely better than in the rain.

I turned my head back, to see behind me only a white curtain of rain.

We pressed ourselves against a wall, waiting anxiously for the zombies outside to pass before continuing down.

At the break in the middle of the slope, Rin stopped, leaning against a wall, breathing heavily. It seemed that killing zombies and running so fast had exhausted her.

I quickly knelt down on one knee, opened my backpack and gave Rin a bottle of water.

She frowned at me with suspicion. The purple of her eyes was deep and crystal clear in the darkness.

“Don't worry, I don't consider you a friend either. I just wanted to thank you for saving me just now.”

Rin reached out to take the bottle of water from me.

"Thank."

We were both soaked to the skin, and Rin's face was covered in zombie blood. We looked so miserable that no one would recognize us as the two most beautiful girls in school.

Rin pressed her back against the wall, then slid down the wall and sat down.

I let Rin rest for a while, then asked her.

“What to do, Akira has the keys. Even if we get to the car now, there's nothing we can do.”

Rin turned her head to look down the slope. Stretching down was a deep black.

In the darkness, there were still a few shadows moving around. And I could hear the wheezing groans from the undead.

So even though it's not as crowded as outside, there are still zombies in here. We still have to be careful.

“Since I’ve come all the way here, I might as well take the opportunity to look for some more weapons for self-defense…” – Rin stood up and held out her hand to me.

“We can't keep that stupid Samurai waiting in the trash container forever, can we?”

I reached out and grabbed her hand to pull me up.

“He must smell bad right now, huh?”

I tried to add a joke, to lighten the mood.

Even though the smell of blood was all around, I was getting used to it. It's just that Katashi hid in the trash, I wonder how he'll smell when we meet again.

“Hopefully it will stink so much that even the undead will leave…”

She was talking about Katashi with her usual serious look on her face, but I felt relieved that Rin was here.

I'm glad she liked my joke.

Katashi has a bad habit of being a bit hot-tempered, but with Rin's jokes alone, he can't do anything about her.

Before putting my backpack back on my shoulder, I took out my phone and pointed the flashlight forward, down the slope where the zombies were waiting.

There weren't too many of them, but right now, only Rin was left among us with the ability to fight.

“Can you handle it?”

"Yes…"

Rin held the kitchen knife in her hand.

“Then let's go.”

We both rushed down the slope. I used the light to guide Rin, while she killed the zombies in front to protect me behind.

At this moment, I reminded myself not to hesitate anymore but to believe in the hope ahead. Because now I have to live Akira's part.

Down in the parking floor, the number of zombies was increasing. I turned on the light to see the parking lot. Rows of cars stretched out in front of me. The garage looked like a maze.

Rin pointed to the pillars marking the parking area and said to me.

“Find the fireboxes, there will be axes there!”

Saying that, Rin stabbed the knife into the head of a zombie that was rushing forward. When she pulled it out, the handle slipped and the blade got stuck in the zombie's skull.

Rin stepped back in shock, tension evident on her face. Rin no longer had a weapon in her hand. Although she remained calm, Rin had never been pushed into such a passive position before.

“Oh no, we have to run!”

Rin gave me a look, threw the knife handle aside, and only waited for me to nod. She immediately ran towards the pillars to find a replacement weapon. I ran close behind to light the way for Rin.

The lone zombies slowly gathered into a pack, sluggishly following us.

We passed a long line of cars, but found nothing. I was shining my flashlight as I ran, so the light was not fixed in one place.

“There it is!” Rin’s eyes lit up. She quickly ran to a pillar, kicked the emergency glass box attached to it, and quickly took out her axe.

I ran after Rin to the pillar, a zombie chasing me closely.

He reached out and almost grabbed me, that is until…

“Hana! Get out of the way!”

I saw Rin raising the axe high in front of me so I quickly threw myself to the side. Letting Rin swing down and split open the head of the zombie that was charging behind me.

I fell flat on the ground, dropping the phone in my hand.

Rin stepped on the zombie and pulled out the axe, pushing it back. As soon as the zombie was pushed away, the others in the pack stepped forward, stepping over the zombie whose head had just been split open on the ground.

Not giving me time to fix my makeup or stand up, Rin hurriedly pulled me back. Before she could drag me away, I managed to pick up my phone and continued looking forward.

We slowly retreated step by step. Rin held the axe in her hand, while I calmly shined the light towards them, clearly seeing the faces of each one at the front of the line, my hands shaking. We faced the zombies, slowly retreating back. Just hoping that none of them would jump out from behind us.

And then both Rin and I stopped, because there was an obstacle behind us. I felt my back hit a cold, high surface, causing me to turn around.

I shined my light up, and saw behind us, a towering concrete wall.

Oh no, we've reached the end of the parking garage, there's no way out.

From between the gaps between the cars, individual zombies began to move forward to join the large mass of zombies, cornering us.

The pack of zombies chasing us grew larger and larger, individual ones coalescing into a larger, denser mass. I shined my light but could not see the end of the pack. Ahead of us, swarms of zombies were closing in.

The hands reaching forward to grab us. The eyes rolling back and forth and the moans. It was something that still made me feel uncomfortable to this day.

Once again we were in this situation, but we both remained calm. The zombies surrounded us in a small radius, shrinking the area around us, forcing us back against the wall. Rin clenched her axe tightly in her hand, staring at the swarm of zombies approaching.

“Light for me!”

I held the phone tightly in my hand, trying to put on the most determined expression, and nodded. At this moment, I promised myself to stay calm, no matter what happened, I couldn't panic. Because our only way out was to stay calm, and trust each other.

“Very good, hold on to the light, my life is in your hands.”

Rin stepped forward forcefully, past me. She charged at the zombies, swinging her axe high. Just as Rin was about to bring the axe down on the first zombie, a loud noise came from the other end of the garage.

I opened my eyes wide to see where the sound came from, but a sudden flash of light from behind the zombies caused both Rin and I to reflexively close our eyes. The entire atmosphere was enveloped by that blinding light.

I heard the roar of an engine from behind the zombies. It grew louder as it got closer to us. The sound of bones breaking followed the direction of the engine.

What is going on?

I opened my eyes wide to see what was happening, in front of us, the headlights of a car were coming, fiercely charging like a wild beast, crushing the zombies on the way. Rin lowered her axe, covered her eyes and backed away towards me.

In a flash, the car broke through the zombie herd, drifted at a corner, and stopped in front of us.

Under the wheels, there were pieces of flesh from the zombies it had run over on the way.

The car's headlights illuminated a corner of the garage. I squinted to take a look. This wasn't Hibiki Sensei's jeep, but an off-road vehicle.

Although we crushed many zombies that opened the way for us, the sound of the car attracted more zombies from above to the garage below. All continued to head towards the car.

I heard more zombie groans, and sensed another large pack preparing to move towards us.

Immediately, the car door opened, revealing to me the person inside.

Once again, it wasn't hard for me to recognize who was inside. A bowlcut Korean male with an earring, a black shirt, and the school's crimson male uniform jacket.

Hari held the door with one hand and reached out to me with the other.

“Hurry up you two! Get in the car!”

I turned to Rin, we looked at each other, nodded. I didn't know what was going on here, but the car miraculously came and saved us from danger by a hair's breadth.

I took Hari's hand and let him pull me into the car.

-FLOWER OF THE DEAD- EPISODE 2-END