The third day of the apocalypse had finally dawned.
The sun ascended above the clouds with deceptive normalcy, casting its golden rays as if the world remained untouched.
The wind stirred with familiar ease, whispering through the trees as though nothing had changed.
Yet, beneath this illusion of calm, an unsettling stillness hung over the campus, a heavy, almost unnatural silence that hinted at the horrors lurking just beyond perception.
The survivors within the auditorium stirred from their uneasy slumber.
Groggy eyes snapped open with an unnatural alertness, a sharpness absent in the waking moments of ordinary life.
Their minds, unwilling to grant them peace, quickly recalled the grim reality of the apocalypse.
One by one, they rose from the cold, unforgiving floor where they had spent the night, their movements slow, haunted, and heavy with dread.
Everyone moved at once, instantly beginning preparations for departure.
Isaac rallied a group of male students, and together they began evenly distributing the gathered supplies into the buses Ethan had secured the day before.
A quiet urgency filled the air, no words were wasted, only focused actions driven by the need to move, to escape, to see the world beyond these walls.
Some clung to fragile hope, their minds wandering into denial.
Perhaps, they hoped, this devastation was confined to the campus alone.
Maybe, just maybe, the world outside still remained untouched.
After another round of quick washes and final preparations, both people and provisions were ready. Departure loomed.
Ethan, Logan, Isaac, Ella, Jennifer, and Elijah gathered for what would be their final meeting, a moment of calm before scattering into the unknown.
"I'll be heading north, my siblings are there. I have to make sure they're alive... and help them gather points"
Isaac began, his voice steady but filled with urgency.
"I'll head north as well, my parents are there. I need to find them... for the same reasons"
Ella added, her eyes briefly meeting Isaac's
"I'm headed south"
Elijah said simply, offering no explanation.
Whether it was to find family, seek refuge, or chase something else entirely, no one asked, and truthfully, none of them cared enough to.
In this new world, survival was personal.
"I suppose this is where our paths part, I'm going east... to look for my parents"
Jennifer added, a faint, wistful smile on her lips.
All eyes then turned to the two remaining figures, Ethan and Logan, the only ones yet to speak, their silence heavier than any words.
Logan and Ethan exchanged a brief glance from the corners of their eyes.
A faint twitch played at the corners of their lips, a shared understanding wrapped in quiet resignation.
They were both orphans.
Ethan had never known his parents, raised in the cold corridors of an orphanage.
Logan's story was different, yet no less tragic, his parents had been taken from him in a freak accident, claimed by what he bitterly referred to as "Truck-kun"
In simple terms, they had no one waiting for them.
No home to return to.
While the others were driven by the desperate hope of reuniting with loved ones, Ethan and Logan were left with the silence of absence, no family to search for, no bonds to reclaim.
Just each other... and the road ahead.
"Logan and I will be heading east"
Ethan said without hesitation.
He had made the decision on a whim, or perhaps not entirely.
After all, waking up every morning to a powerful beauty on your team wasn't a bad idea right?
Logan, clearly on the same wavelength, flashed Ethan a discreet thumbs-up, his expression unreadable save for the faintest glint of mischief in his eyes.
And just like that, the buses were divided.
Isaac and Ella would share one, their paths aligned as they journeyed north.
Elijah, the lone traveler heading south, would make his way alone, no battle companon.
Ethan, Logan, and Jennifer would occupy the last, bound for the east with uncertain purpose but mutual understanding.
"Don't die"
Isaac said, his tone half-joking but laced with quiet gravity, like an old man offering parting wisdom to the next generation.
With a final smile, he turned away and made his way toward the gathering of student and lecturer survivors.
The remaining survivors were informed of the directions each leader would be taking and were given the freedom to choose whom to follow.
It was only logical, someone with family in the east couldn't very well follow Isaac to the north.
But not all paths were covered.
A hush fell over the group as some realized no one was headed west.
Despair crept into their expressions, quiet at first… then louder.
How could they leave their families behind?
One voice finally rose in protest, trembling with desperation and frustration.
But before the complaint could grow into chaos, Isaac silenced it with brutal decisiveness.
A heavy slap cracked through the air, sending the speaker sprawling sideways.
The crowd fell silent.
"If you want to save your family, then do it yourself, the same way I'm going to save my siblings right now"
Isaac said coldly, standing over the fallen protester,
There was no room for argument.
Only action.
With that, the survivors divided themselves into three groups and climbed aboard the buses.
A low rumble filled the air as the engines roared to life, the vehicles beginning their slow crawl toward the gate.
Ethan and Logan settled into the very last seats at the back, shadows blending into the corners.
Jennifer took her place near the front, her spear resting casually on her lap, close to the driver, a seasoned lecturer in his forties, eyes sharp and steady.
Their bus was the last in the convoy, trailing behind the others like a silent guardian.
When they reached the gate which was locked Isaac stepped down without hesitation.
With a swift, decisive slash of his cutlass, the chains gave way.
One by one, the buses rolled forward, each steering toward their separate destinies, vanishing into the sprawling horizon.
The atmosphere inside the bus was suffocatingly silent.
No one spoke.
No one breathed audibly.
No one dared to break the fragile stillness.
The harsh truth confronted them relentlessly.
Beyond the campus walls, the world was no sanctuary.
If anything, it was worse.
Plumes of smoke curled skyward from distant buildings, as if recent explosions had scarred the landscape.
The grim reality fed their eyes, a bleak testament to the devastation that awaited.
For some, the weight was too much to bear.
Tears spilled silently, tracing paths down ashen faces.
Their hope, fragile and fleeting, shattered beneath the merciless fist of reality.
Ethan and Logan watched in silence, words failing them.
What could they possibly say?
That everything was going to be alright?
No, the only way forward was clear: pick up a weapon, fight, and farm points.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
'Is this the literal meaning of the saying; your destiny is truly in your own hands?'
Ethan's thoughts echoed quietly.
He couldn't make sense of it.
A death countdown loomed over their heads, ticking relentlessly, yet none among them seemed to summon the courage to fight.
A system panel hovered before them, an undeniable reminder of their reality, but their delusions held stronger than any truth.
Lost in his thoughts, Ethan barely registered the sudden, brutal impact.
The bus jolted violently, slammed from the side with terrifying force.
With a deafening boom, the tires screeched as the vehicle careened wildly, skidding across the asphalt in a heart-stopping sideways slide.
Screams erupted in a chaotic chorus, ripping through the silence.
Bodies slammed into seats, heads crashing against metal and glass. Some struck windows with heavy thuds, while others tumbled to the floor in helpless disarray.
But Ethan, Logan, and Jennifer remained steady, each instinctively gripping something the moment they felt the impact, anchoring themselves against the chaos.
The bus screeched to an abrupt halt, finally coming to rest.
Without hesitation, the three sprang from their seats and hurried toward the door, urgency sharp in their movements.
It had been less than five minutes since leaving the campus, they were already under attack.