Fortify

BANG!

the loud sound that echoed through the whole building woke up Nathan. it has been two days when he passed out from the injury he sustained. he can still feel the sensation of being impaled by something, although he can only vividly remember after he passed out, he still got some clue. lying down for two days can take a toll on one's body. Nathan lifted his sore body and did some stretching. luckily, the wound on his body has healed enough for him to walk without anyone's help.

when Nathan got out of the room he saw the commotion on the hallway. the look on the faces of the students suggested that something really bad has happened. this made Nathan become alerted.

'why is there gunshot?'

Nathan asked inwardly. he saw a couple of students running towards the first floor. he grabbed the arm of one of the students and asked.

"Hey, what's happening?"

the man was startled. he looked at Nathan up and down and answered.

"Uhm, the one that survives... he turned. you're a survivor too, right?"

after the student answered him, the student suddenly changed his expression. it now looked like he just has seen a ghost and was terrified. the man quickly shook off his hand that was grabbing the man's arm. then he ran away without even looking back. the other students around him were the same after they heard their conversation they left the school building. this greatly confused Nathan.

"What!?"

Nathan exclaimed. he felt he needed some clear explanation of what the hell is really happening. although he can walk without someone's help, he still has difficulty walking. he can only support himself by placing his hand on a wall. when he reached the stairs, he saw Annie, nurse Josephine and three other people he doesn't know. all of them made eye contact with each other and an awkward silence followed.

Annie who was just staring at Nathan in a daze was the first one to react.

"Nathan! are you okay now?"

"uhh...yeah? can you tell me what's happening?"

Annie nodded at Nathan. they first got back at the school clinic. while nurse Josephine was removing the gauze Annie told Nathan what has happened during the time he was sleeping. she also introduced the three new people with them. Nathan thanked Caitlin and her friends. he was sincere for what they have done when he was thinking about it, he knew if these three people hadn't come at that time they are all probably dead by now.

Nathan felt a sting when nurse Josephine remove the last gauze that was covering his wound. he saw the anticipation in the eyes of the people around him. especially, Annie, she was gripping his hand tightly and tightly as the nurse lifted the gauze. Nathan knew exactly what they were thinking after Annie explained to him what happened to Joshua. he was also worried that it might also happen to him too.

the long anticipation that seemed to last for eternity was finally over, his wound looked fine. although it isn't fully healed yet at least it doesn't have anything red on it. all of them let out a sigh of relief. Nathan smiled, he was glad that nothing was wrong with him. at this moment, Annie hugged him tightly.

"I'm really glad you're finally awake"

"Yeah, thank you for not leaving me there and for taking care of me. all of you, thank you so much"

"not a problem my guy hahaha just doing what any would do!"

Robin spoke in a happy and cheerful voice as always. he stretched his hand to shake hands with Nathan which Nathan immediately accepted. Robin was smiling so wide that he almost tore his cheeks. Nathan was a little confused about this but he just dismissed it.

'16 casualties huh. man, I'm not really fit to be a leader'

Nathan instantly had a grim expression when he remembered the number of casualties. he felt his heartache, he doesn't know how to say sorry to the people who lost their friends or loved ones. Nathan sighed.

"what do we do now?"

"I want to give a proper apology to the ones who lost someone, if I only hadn't had that great idea, they are still alive and Joshua wouldn't have turned. I fucked up seriously"

Annie knows that too, but she can't blame Nathan. nobody knew that would happen even Robin knew that. even though Annie already said sorry to them it was still not enough for the people to accept.

at this moment, the door burst open then they saw John and Michael running towards Nathan. they seemed really happy that he was awake now. Michael quickly took a glance at Nathan's wound to check if it's okay and no abnormalities can be seen. Michael nodded while holding his chin. he looked so curious, that he looked like a child that just saw something incredible.

"Relax, I'm not a monster"

Nathan flicked his finger on Michael's forehead who still looking at his wound.

"ouch! hahaha, I'm just really glad you're okay man"

Michael hugged Nathan more tightly than Annie. Nathan almost can't breathe. after a small greeting with each other, Nathan stood up and walked outside the clinic.

"hey, Nathan. you're wound's not fully healed yet. your stitches might burst open"

"it's okay miss, I gotta do something. ah! Annie, can you list me the names of their friends or lover? I want to say sorry to them personally. I owe it to them"

Annie quickly nodded at Nathan. she knew that she can't stop him and this is also the least what Nathan can do to atone for his mistakes. after she listed all of the names related to the people who died, Nathan quickly left the room.

every time that Nathan approached someone who was on his list he felt his heartache, even more, when he saw their griefs on their eyes. he can feel their disgust, anger, resentment almost all negative emotions, he felt it. but he didn't give in. he pursues his goal and said sorry to them. even if that person punched him, kicked him, yelled at him, or pushed him, he knew that he deserved all of it. he even begged and kneeled in front of someone just for forgiveness. though a lot of people didn't give them their forgiveness, he still felt a lot better. after a whole day of walking around the campus, he went to his classroom and laid down to a thin sheet of fabric laid out on the floor he was using his bag as a pillow. he remembered all the emotions thrown at him, he embraced it even. he knew that it's the only way he can improve and be more careful in the future. he closed his eyes and he fell asleep.

the next day. Annie was up early in the morning as always. she grouped up with Caitlin and her friends. they drink their coffee, they chitchat about what was happening around the globe or if there is still a civilization out there or if they can still be saved by anyone. this leads them to a grim atmosphere, all of them knew that most of the humans have turned or killed during that day. even more, the animals have also turned and it's getting more and more dangerous out there. just yesterday evening, the scout on the fourth floor saw a couple of giant cats walking around near their campus. although the cats were even smaller than the small dogs they just fought, they can't still rule out the possibility of it being more dangerous than those dogs. luckily the cats didn't see them.

this made them think more about their safety. even though they have high and sturdy walls, it's still not enough to prevent other monsters from entering their campus. this was also proven by Joshua who just casually jumped through their wall like it was nothing.

"We need an escape plan. like, if we are suddenly overwhelmed by monsters. we gotta have an escape vehicle, you know"

"Hmm, yeah. Robin's got a point, we have to be ready. we don't know how long we can last here"

Angelo agreed at the plan. it's just a matter of time before those red monsters caught them. Joshua's story also proved that the monsters were actually intelligent. they didn't know if those monsters are just waiting for them to come out of their base to ambush them or if they will attack them head-on with great number against them.

"well, there's a lot of cars outside and I'm pretty sure they have still gas on them. the only problem is the cars in the middle of the road though. those cars are blocking the way"

the voice came from behind them, it was Nathan. he just woke up they can clearly tell because of his disheveled hair and his still sleepy eyes. Nathan started making his own coffee from the mini-canteen.

"so... what do we do with those?"

"We have construction materials here right? I'm sure we can use those to disassemble those cars"

"what do you mean?"

Caitlin is really curious now.

"we disassemble the cars we don't need, use them to fortify our walls and our building with their chassis to attached it on the wall or we can also use it to make weapons. we can also get the remaining gas from those cars to save as fuels. then we save some of the cars that is enough for everyone to ride onto in case of emergency"

"Hmm, that's a good plan. I know how to weld I and create things I used to work as a welder so I have experience. I can teach some of the students here too"

"wow, I didn't know that Angelo!"

Angelo just shrugged at the surprised Robin

"that's really good. fortunately, we still have some materials left from the hardware store across the street"

"let's get to work then!"