The three sets of footsteps climbed the concrete stairs in the rear service corridor, moving slowly and carefully. Above them, the relentless pounding and savage howls of dozens of zombies slamming into the sports warehouse's main door still echoed faintly through the building's thick walls. The secondary wooden door they'd passed through earlier had proven to be their salvation—giving them a golden opportunity to distance themselves from the mob's trap without having to trigger some ridiculous bloodbath.
Renjiro crept along at the front, both hands gripping the cold steel shafts of his golf clubs. Behind him, Kazuki moved cautiously in the American football uniform wrapped around his shoulders and chest, his left arm strapped to a body-sized Taekwondo kick pad, while a pair of black leather MMA gloves covered his hands. Daiki brought up the rear, his eyes constantly sweeping the area warily beneath his two-toned yellow-and-black hair as he held a hard wooden baseball bat, with a solid ball tucked into his jacket pocket.
"The noise up front is getting louder," Daiki whispered, his voice nearly drowned out by their own ragged breathing. "That warehouse's main door won't hold back dozens of monsters for much longer."
"That's why we have to hurry," Renjiro replied without looking back, his eyes fixed on the corridor turn ahead. "Grab enough food, fill the backpacks, then find a way out of this school."
They descended stair after stair until they reached the ground floor. The service corridor's metal door at the bottom stood slightly ajar, revealing the rear hallway connected directly to the kitchen and main cafeteria of Hanazono High School.
The school cafeteria was a wreck, and the atmosphere was terrifying. Long wooden tables and plastic chairs lay overturned across the tiled floor, stained with spilled sauce, shattered plates, and dried blackened blood. Several aluminum trays were scattered near the food display cases. Morning sunlight filtering through gaps in the torn window curtains illuminated dust motes floating in the stuffy air.
Renjiro gestured for them to stay close to the wall. They slipped silently through the gaps between the display cases toward the food-storage pantry behind the main kitchen.
*SRAK!*
Kazuki accidentally bumped an empty plastic tray near a stainless-steel prep table. The tray slid slowly, making a faint clatter that froze all three of them in place for several seconds.
They held their breaths in unison, sweeping their gazes across the spacious cafeteria hall. Once they confirmed there was no response or suspicious movement from the darkness in the cafeteria's corners, Kazuki let out a relieved breath while clutching his stomach, which had begun cramping again.
"Sorry..." Kazuki rasped from behind the protective helmet he was wearing.
"Hold your breath. Don't make any more noise," Daiki warned softly.
They hurried into the food-storage pantry. In the dusty room, rows of thick metal shelves still held various untouched packaged food supplies: high-calorie wheat biscuits, several cases of bottled water, cans of corned meat and fruit, and rows of protein supplements belonging to the school's sports clubs.
Without wasting time, Kazuki snatched up two packaged energy bars, tore open the wrappers with his teeth, and stuffed them into his mouth. The sweetness and instant calories immediately stoked his starving stomach, restoring the energy and physical awareness he'd nearly exhausted.
"Grab the cloth bags in that corner," Renjiro ordered, pointing to a pile of multipurpose cloth bags near the shelves. "Fill them with bottled water and canned food that doesn't need cooking. Don't make them too heavy. We still need to be able to run and fight if we're attacked out of nowhere."
Daiki and Kazuki moved quickly but silently. They loaded dozens of bottles of water, dozens of high-calorie biscuits, and canned food into the backpacks and cloth bags they carried.
But just as Kazuki tied the drawstring on his cloth bag, the dragging sound of footsteps from the meat cold storage in the corner of the kitchen abruptly shattered their silence.
*SREK... SREK... GROARRR...*
The insulated metal door to the cold-storage room slowly pushed open from within. Three figures dressed as cooks and cafeteria staff crawled out of the darkness.
The bodies of all three figures had transformed completely into hideous monsters. Their muscle mass had swollen abnormally, tearing apart the chef's aprons they wore. Coarse, dark fur two to three centimeters long had sprouted along their arms, thighs, cheeks, and jaws. Thick fluid dripped from the black, ragged bite wounds on their necks and shoulders, soaking the tiled kitchen floor.
The moment they smelled the scent of human life inside the pantry, the three zombie cooks suddenly raised their heads. Their milky-white eyes widened savagely, and a harsh, hissing roar exploded from their jaws!
*GRRRRAAAAARRRRGH!*
The three muscular monsters leaped forward together from the narrow kitchen passage toward them!
"We're cornered! Don't back up!" Renjiro barked.
There was no room to run in the narrow kitchen passage. Close-quarters combat erupted instantly!
Kazuki reacted fastest as their main defensive wall. Wearing his American football uniform and sturdy shoulder pads, Kazuki charged forward to block the first zombie cook's attack. He raised his left arm, strapped to a body-sized square Taekwondo kick pad, and slammed the thick foam shield straight into the charging monster's chest.
*BRAM!*
The muscular monster was stopped dead by Kazuki's shield. Seizing the golden opportunity, Kazuki swung his first punch—his right arm, wrapped in a thick leather MMA glove, slammed hard into the enemy's jaw!
*DUB! DUB!*
Kazuki's rapid, heavy blows knocked down the first zombie, sending it sprawling across the tiled floor. His thick leather MMA gloves ensured none of the enemy's black fluid touched even the smallest scratch on his hands, since the infectious fluid was dangerous only if it seeped into an open wound or bloodstream.
At the same time, the second zombie leaped from atop the stainless-steel prep table, aiming to claw Daiki's face from above.
Daiki didn't panic in the slightest. With his extraordinary eyesight and reflexes, Daiki pulled a solid baseball from his jacket pocket, tossed it quickly into the air, then swung his wooden baseball bat with all his strength like a professional hitter.
*PAK!*
The hard crack of the wooden bat striking the baseball rang out! The solid baseball shot forward like a bullet, hitting the second zombie square in the middle of its forehead as it hung in the air!
The precise impact sent the second zombie reeling and robbed it of its balance in midair before it finally crashed into the ceramic table. Daiki followed up immediately, swinging his wooden baseball bat into the side of the enemy's head until the monster stopped moving.
The third zombie—the biggest cook, with a powerfully built frame—charged straight at Renjiro from beside the shelves, roaring savagely.
Renjiro narrowed his eyes. With his physical agility and razor-sharp combat reflexes, Renjiro sidestepped the enemy's densely furred claws. He swung the steel golf club in his right hand to knock away the monster's arm, then the golf club in his left hand flashed out and struck the opponent's kneecap.
*KTAK!*
The third zombie's knee joint broke. The monster fell to its knees, but still tried to move its bloodied jaw. Without mercy, Renjiro spun around and swung his steel golf club with all his strength into the back of the monster's head.
*BAM!*
The third zombie was sent sprawling facedown across the kitchen floor. Thick black blood slowly spread across the tiles.
Silence settled over the cafeteria kitchen once more. The brief battle, executed with highly precise tactics, had lasted only a matter of seconds and caused no major commotion that might draw the attention of the horde of zombies outside the building.
Kazuki panted behind his protective helmet, regulating his breathing as he wiped the stains from his Taekwondo shield. Daiki quickly picked up his baseball as it bounced across the floor and tucked it back into his jacket.
Renjiro steadied his breathing, shook the remaining fluid from the tip of his steel golf club, then looked at the food-filled backpacks on Daiki and Kazuki's shoulders.
"Our stamina and food supplies are secure," Renjiro whispered as he slung a supply bag over his shoulder. His eyes shifted toward the cafeteria's glass windows, which faced the school's main gate and the highway outside the hill, now burning. "Now... let's figure out the best way to leave Hanazono High School."