Chapter 2 - Resources

She went back to their classroom to retrieve all her things. She puts on her hoodie that Dev lent her a week ago and cried on the corner. She finally finds solace by herself.

"Why is this happening..? Why does it have to be me who survives?" she sobs, swiftly wiping away her tears when her phone suddenly rang. Frantically, she rummaged through her bag for her phone.

Ophelia answered the call and regained her composure briefly upon discovering that her father was on the other end of the line.

"Thank goodness... We tried reaching out to you several times, I knew you'd be fine," her father said, his voice cracking at the end.

"H-how are you... Papa?" she stutteringly asked.

"We're doing fine. I'm at our residence with your mother and your brother. Thank goodness the broadcasting towers are fine as well—" the other line turned silent, it made Ophelia worry however she calmed down when she heard her father sniffled. "Sorry about that... let me ask your uncle for assistance and rescue you immediately. And during those times please be safe, all right?"

"Yes, papa."

"And for now, just stay where you are and hide; I'll call you later. We love you."

"I love you all. Please stay safe... Wait for me to return home." She said and they ended the call.

She's glad to know that her family is safe. All she has to do is avoid getting involved with anything dangerous and wait for the reinforcement.

Shortly, after a while, there was a student who busted into the classroom and as it looked around, he saw Ophelia, and his eyes glistened.

"There's another survivor here!" He notified them outside and quickly came over to assist her.

"I'm fine, thank you..." She said firmly and pushed his arms away when he was about to grab her arm.

The student was taken aback about her behavior but he shrugged it off, all that matters is that he found another survivor.

"Come with me, there are teachers outside and it looks like they know something." He added and heads out first. She hesitated to get up but she needed some information so Ophelia decided to follow him.

There were lots of students gathered outside and she saw some familiar faces. There's one of her classmates and the other is Lucas.

"It is comforting to see so many survivors amongst us. We're all aware of the terrifying situation we all faced earlier, but i'm relieved that many of you have managed to survive this far, even if it's through the collective mourning for those we have lost along the way..." Ophelia's class advisor exclaimed and then turned to face the English teacher standing nearby.

"With that said, we've come up with a strategy to ensure our survival while we continue to take shelter in this building. The plan is to collect supplies from the canteen outside and eventually attempt to broadcast a distress signal for military assistance once we are well-prepared."

Upon hearing this explanation, the students around us now exude a surge of positive energy and hopefulness, as it seems there is a way to seek safety in this dire situation.

"Now, we require a volunteer to assist us. Who here would be willing to step forward?" Our advisor asked and looked around, seeking a potential candidate willing to aid them in this dangerous mission.

Nobody spoke up initially, choosing to avoid making eye contact with anyone else. That is... until one courageous student raised their hand and spoke up.

"I am willing to do it," Lucas offered, meeting Ophelia's gaze briefly before quickly averting it.

"I will assist as well," another student volunteered, giving the teachers hope. That's the guy that found me, as expected of him.

"You'll only get yourself killed," one student said dismissively.

"At least their doing something to help." defended the other.

"And what do you think that makes you? You did not even volunteer."

"I'm not being a stuck up asshole like you."

"What the fuck did you say!?"

"What? You're butt hurt, i'm telling the truth."

"Guys, guys, tone down. The monsters might hear us." The teachers said trying to cease the tension between the two.

"It's not on me if one of you died because of your heroic act, so stupid." He said heading back to their classroom and leaving them.

I can't agree to disagree, he's right. They're just killing themselves.

"Thank you volunteers for your bravery. Please, join me and the other for further details," the advisor requested.

She quickly entered a room and sat in the far back corner, surrounded by a fort of chairs. She felt much safer that way, she closed her eyes to sleep, but before she could rest. The door opened and footsteps were heard inside.

"Once again, thank you guys for the volunteer. There's only three of us who will loot for the resources which is fine because we wouldn't want to attract unwanted attention from the monsters, and while we're doing that, Miss Lopez will ask some students to help prepare a room that could serve as our shelter."

Ophelia overheard their class adviser discussing the plan, it's not her intention to eavesdrop. They just happened to choose this room to talk to, and she was already there.

"Miss Lopez and I managed to make it here via the canteen route, and I'm fairly certain many of you are already familiar with the shortcut there." He paused for quite awhile and heard the students agree, " "We must prioritize avoiding any contact with the monsters at all costs and only gather the necessary amount of food to make matters less complicated, while also planning to return at a later date to restock on our supplies."

"Uh, sir, shall we also bring some crisps?" Lucas inquired.

"Oh yeah... I hadn't thought of that," he said.

"We should avoid crisps as well, and instead focus on other foods like the one on the waffle stand, cookies, and drinks."

"Noted, sir."

"What about that distress signal you mentioned, Sir?"

"About that... I believe we'll be scouting the area for a few days, and there we'll be able to check some patterns as well; we should be able to see the monsters' limits, but that would also be extremely dangerous."

"OK, sir," Lucas responded, "We'll also try to convince others to join us so we can carry more food the next time."

"Thank you, that's a great help."

"May I suggest something?" the other guy inquired.

"Sure, go ahead."

"I believe that as we explore the area, we should also find a spot where we can easily flee and hide from the monsters, somewhere out of their reach because some monsters are not strong enough to break down walls."

"Alright, we'll do that; get yourselves ready; we'll start looting later," he said.

After they left the room, Ophelia gradually fell asleep.