Sheltered

The oppressive silence that followed Christian Heartfelt's departure lingered in the air, leaving the group standing motionless in the now-empty tunnel. Yuuto's heart was still racing, his mind spinning in disbelief at what had just happened. Christian, his childhood hero, had saved them—only to vanish without a word of reassurance. What should have been a moment of triumph felt hollow.

Kazuki leaned against the wall, catching his breath. "We need to get moving before more of them come," he said, his voice hoarse. "Christian bought us some time, but we can't waste it."

Aya wiped the sweat from her brow, nodding weakly. "Where do we even go? We've been running for hours…"

Yuuto finally snapped out of his daze. "The teachers' lounge," he said, his voice firmer than he felt. "If it's still intact, we might find shelter there."

"The teachers' lounge?" Naoki raised an eyebrow, skepticism evident in his tone. "Why there?"

"It's one of the few rooms with reinforced doors and secure locks," Yuuto explained, recalling his knowledge of the school layout from both memory and the novel. "The horror stories always mentioned that place as one of the safest areas during a crisis. If we're lucky, the system hasn't corrupted it."

"Better than standing here," Akari added, her voice shaky but determined. "Let's move."

The group, with renewed focus, pressed onward through the dark, winding corridors. Every creak of the building and distant moan sent waves of paranoia through them, but the urgency kept them going. Their footsteps echoed louder than they would have liked, but there was no turning back now.

As they climbed the stairs and approached the floor where the teachers' lounge was located, the sounds of distant chaos grew fainter. The hallway was eerily quiet, the fluorescent lights flickering sporadically. The tension in the air thickened.

"There it is," Yuuto whispered, pointing ahead. The heavy, wooden door of the teachers' lounge stood at the end of the hallway, slightly ajar.

"Shouldn't it be locked?" Aya asked, her hand trembling as she gripped her pendant tightly. "That doesn't seem right."

Yuuto's stomach churned with unease. He had read about the lounge being secure, but things had changed drastically from the novel. What if something was waiting for them inside?

Kazuki clenched his fists. "I'll check it out. Stay here."

Before anyone could protest, Kazuki moved forward cautiously, his body tense, every step deliberate. He reached the door and peered inside through the crack.

"It's clear," Kazuki called back softly. "No zombies, no vampires. Looks empty."

The group quickly filed inside, and Yuuto pushed the door shut, locking it securely behind them. The familiar atmosphere of the lounge was a stark contrast to the nightmare outside. Rows of desks and chairs sat untouched, and bookshelves lined the walls. The air was stale but safe.

For a moment, they all stood there, taking in the silence, trying to catch their breath.

"This feels... wrong," Rika said quietly, breaking the stillness. She sat down on a chair, her legs trembling from exhaustion. "How are we supposed to survive this? There's no way."

"Don't say that," Naoki replied sharply. "We've made it this far. Christian helped us—"

"Christian's not coming back," Yuuto interrupted, his voice low but firm. The image of the trench-coated man walking away into the shadows still burned in his mind. "He's not our savior. We're on our own."

The words hung in the air like a cold weight. It was hard to accept, especially for Yuuto, who had spent so long looking up to Christian as the embodiment of strength and hope. But the man they had met was not the hero from the pages of the book. He was a broken prisoner, just like them.

Aya sat down beside Yuuto, her hand resting on his arm. "You brought us here, Yuuto. This was the right choice."

"We'll need to fortify this place," Akari said, standing up with a new sense of determination. "If this is our shelter, we can't let anything in."

Kazuki nodded. "She's right. We should barricade the door, block the windows, and keep watch. We don't know how long we'll be here."

Naoki rummaged through the cabinets, pulling out supplies—snacks, water bottles, even a small first-aid kit. "At least we've got something to keep us going for a little while."

As they worked together, moving furniture to block the entrances and securing the windows, the air in the room lightened, if only slightly. The shared task gave them a brief moment of focus, a break from the constant fear gnawing at their minds.

After an hour of preparation, they finally settled down, sitting in a loose circle around a small table. The flickering light overhead cast long shadows across their faces, and despite the barricades, there was still an underlying sense of unease.

Yuuto sat apart from the others, staring down at his Phantom Edge, the spectral glow of the weapon illuminating his face. The reality of their situation weighed heavily on him. The novel was no longer a distant story—this was their world now. And it was much darker, much crueler than he had ever imagined.

"We need to talk about the system," Akari said, her voice serious. "We don't know much, but it's clear that this world is following some twisted set of rules. There has to be a way to understand it better, to use it to our advantage."

Yuuto looked up, nodding. "It's like a game. There are quests, levels, and monsters. But we don't know the full scope of it yet. If we can figure out how it works, maybe we can find a way out."

"Or at least stay alive longer," Kazuki added grimly.

Aya hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I think... we need to start planning for the worst. We've already lost so many of our classmates. We can't afford to lose anyone else."

The weight of her words fell over the group. They all knew it was true—survival would require more than just running and hiding. It would require difficult decisions, hard sacrifices.

Yuuto clenched his fists. "I won't let anyone else die."

"You can't control everything," Rika said softly, her voice wavering. "None of us can."

"I know," Yuuto whispered. "But that doesn't mean I won't try."

As the night wore on and exhaustion began to take over, the group slowly drifted into a fitful sleep, though Yuuto remained awake, his thoughts racing. Outside, the horrors of the world continued to roam, but for now, in the shelter of the teachers' lounge, they had found a moment of peace.