Chapter 4: Outbreak

Near the school's back gate, cars came and went, tires screeching lightly as they stopped. From the rooftop, every sound of rubber against pavement could be heard clearly. A dozen men in black suits, all wearing sleek sunglasses that glinted in the sunlight, surrounded six or seven students, escorting them in formation toward the gate. With their crisp black suits and flawless posture, all they needed was dramatic background music and a camera crew to look like a professional promo team. Special forces, live and on call. It was the lunch break, so naturally, the commotion drew attention. Students crowded around the windows, pointing, whispering, and calling out to friends. Before long, every window was packed. "I know that guy," said Kasumigaoka Utaha, pointing at a tall student among the group. "He's the youngest son of some big corporate president." "Didn't take you for someone who kept up with this kind of gossip," Sosuke replied, feigning a casual tone, though his eyes had gone sharp. Those men in black definitely bodyguards. This unusual activity sent a wave of unease through him. "What do you take me for? I don't go around digging up people's family trees," Utaha said, arms crossed under her chest, which only made her already impressive figure even more prominent. "He told me himself when he confessed. Sounded so proud about it. But compared to you, he's nothing. Can you believe he didn't even have the guts to confess face-to-face? It's the 21st century, for crying out loud." "Alright, alright, don't drag me into this." Still, if one of them was a president's son, then the rest probably weren't from ordinary families either. Sosuke couldn't help but wonder again his father, a senior researcher for the Future Initiative, had suddenly gone off the grid after going on a business trip. Could this have something to do with the zombie virus? In any disaster, the average person was always the last to know. By the time the public started reacting, the upper class had already made their moves. If a corporate family was taking preemptive action, that meant something big was coming to Tokyo. Sosuke pulled out his phone and opened a forum called Doomsday Theories. The place was filled with survivalists, conspiracy theorists, and fans of apocalyptic fiction. One thread, highlighted in red with over a thousand replies, immediately caught his eye. [Something huge just happened! Click fast! Tokyo TV stopped airing anime!] Classic clickbait title and yet the claim was unsettling. Sosuke, like many others, clicked in without hesitation. "False alarm. The thread's just bait. One time a missile flew right over Tokyo and Tokyo TV didn't even pause programming. What could possibly be worse than that?" "Didn't expect the OP to be this prophetic. Turns out I'm from a long line of Onmyoji. Let me do a quick reading I bet you're lying in bed right now, looking at your phone, flat on your back, maybe even charging it." "Respect. OP's clearly a master. Wanna come to my place and exorcise my neighbors? They've been arguing nonstop, then randomly start shrieking like banshees. Feels like an earthquake every night. I can't sleep." "Cut the spam or the OP's gonna disappear." Sosuke scrolled through pages of memes and banter before finally spotting the original poster's serious reply. "I'm an unemployed service worker, and something terrifying just happened in my building. Our entire apartment has been locked down. I'm stuck in my rental unit can't leave." "Damn. You should go apply to an electronics factory instead." "I can already see where this is going. If this isn't a light novel setup, I'll eat three pounds of fertilizer." "He's back! The scam-story master returns!" "Post fast. As long as you don't ghost us, I'll read to the end." Sosuke ignored the nonsense and clicked "View Only OP." The thread instantly cleaned up, leaving only the original poster's messages. "Two days ago, I lost my job. And my girlfriend dumped me on the same day. I felt completely worthless. I lay in bed for a full day before deciding to go out for some air. As I stepped into the hallway, I heard my neighbors shouting. Curious, I peeked through the cracked door. What I saw nearly gave me a heart attack. That woman... she lunged at the man's throat like an animal. At first I thought they were just horny. But then blood gushed from his neck, and he screamed in agony. She bit through his neck. I was terrified, but I still tried to help. That's when she bit me on the arm. Luckily, the police arrived soon after. There was also this cute nurse in a white coat. She patched me up and gave me a rabies shot. The police told me to stay inside and not go anywhere." The next post was sent thirty minutes later. Its content made Sosuke's brow furrow deeply. "I feel awful. I can't breathe. My head is burning. The wound on my arm still won't stop bleeding. I think... I've been infected. I tried calling emergency services, but all lines were busy. I opened my window for air, and saw police putting up a perimeter around my building. To everyone on Doomsday Theories if you've read this far, the smart ones among you should already know what's happening. I'll post a photo of my bite wound next." The replies came flooding in. "Man, I guess I'm not one of the 'smart ones' because I have no clue what's going on." "This setup's actually pretty cool. Totally feels like the calm before the storm. Hang in there, OP. If you're really sick, get help. Just... don't stop posting!" "Holy crap. That photo is disturbing. If it's fake, it's convincing. If it's real... god help us." Sosuke quickly scrolled down and saw the image. His face went pale. A chill exploded from the base of his spine and shot up through his back. It had begun. A wave of familiar dread surged in his chest. The bloody curtain of the apocalypse had finally been drawn. "AAAAHHHHHH!!" A piercing scream echoed through the campus, cutting through the usual midday noise. The chaos stopped in an instant. "The front gate!" Sosuke sprinted to the other side of the rooftop. From there, he had a perfect view of both the front and back entrances. That vantage point was one reason he loved coming up here. At the front gate, two figures were sprawled on the ground. One clutched his neck in agony it was the school security guard. The other gripped his arm and desperately crawled backward in fear. Students and teachers had already surrounded the scene in a semicircle, hesitating to approach. Standing at the center was a man drenched in blood. He staggered forward, his eyes clouded and dead. His face, painted with gore, twisted into a grotesque snarl. "The apocalypse has begun..." Sosuke whispered. Though it had come a few days later than in his last life, there was no doubt anymore. It was here. The security guard had likely been the first bitten. A gym teacher, rushing to help, had his arm torn open. The pain sent him crashing to the ground. The witnesses, stunned and terrified, froze on the spot. "I can't stay here. We need to leave now." Sosuke turned to Kasumigaoka Utaha. She was covering her mouth in shock. His voice, more serious than ever before, cut through the tension.