Chapter 4: Plan of Action 

About ten minutes passed.

No more figures appeared. No more sounds from the hallway. 

Finally, the officer emerged from the right-side office, his cadets close behind. At the same time, Richson motioned for his group to follow, and they quietly stepped out of the left office.

"We saw it," Richson said. "It walked past the windows. Same one?"

The officer nodded. "Yeah. It didn't look in. Just kept moving."

John added, "It looked... aimless. Like it wasn't searching for anything. Just wandering."

"Still didn't look right," one of the cadets said. "Like the body was there, but the mind wasn't."

"I don't even think it knew we were watching," Myreign said quietly.

There was a pause. Everyone seemed to absorb that at the same time.

"Alright," the officer said, taking a step back. "We need to keep our eyes out. We don't know how many more are out there or if that was just one of many."

There was a pause. Everyone seemed to absorb that at the same time.

"Alright," the officer said, taking a step back. "We need to keep our eyes out. We don't know how many more are out there or if that was just one of many."

John looked between the two groups, Richson and his friends on one side, and the ROTC cadets on the other. Everyone looked tense.

"Okay," he said, breaking the silence. "So… what's the plan?"

The officer exchanged a glance with Richson, then stepped forward, voice steady.

"We hold this floor for now," he said. "We know it's secure. We haven't seen anything inside the building yet. We have visibility of the hallway, and we're still in a position to move if we need to."

Richson crossed his arms, nodding slowly. "If more of them show up, we'll have to decide fast up or out."

Before anyone could respond, a voice spoke up from behind him.

"Okay, but... how long are we planning to stay here?"

It was a girl in a hoodie, wearing rose gold colored glasses stepping forward hesitantly. 

"If we can't leave, and the school stays cut off with no signal, no updates then we need to talk about resources. Food. Water. Important tools like chargers, batteries and flashlights. How long can we actually hold out here?"

She glanced around the group. "There's a lot of us. Which means even if a few of us brought snacks or bottled water, it's not going to last. If we share, we run out faster. If we don't... we're just delaying a worse problem."

John noticed how several people instinctively looked down at their bags, suddenly aware of how little they might actually have on them. A granola bar. Maybe a bottle of iced tea. Nothing more.

"She's right," Myreign said, folding her arms. "We can't just assume this ends in a few hours. If we're stuck overnight, or longer… we need to plan like we're already on our own."

There was a short silence, then a guy from Richson's group wearing a JPIA shirt turned to one of the girls in the group and said "Jianna, can you check how much we've got with us?"

She nodded and one by one, the others followed suit, quietly digging through their bags. A soft rustle of plastic wrappers and crumpling paper filled the room as everyone began laying their items on one the desks. 

John did the same and introduced himself while passing his valuables over to Jianna. "Hey I'm John by the way" addressing the group. "I want to help. I'm not just here to hide, I can hold my own. I've been watching, thinking things through. I won't slow anyone down." 

Richson looked him over, eyes narrowing slightly—not with suspicion, but assessment. After a beat, he gave a short nod.

"Alright," he said, offering a faint but approving grin. "You can join the group. You seem smart enough to handle yourself."

Chips. Candy. Uneaten lunches stored in tupperware. Someone placed down a bottle of iced tea, half full. A few had bought mineral water bottles, most of them unopened and the others placing their water jugs. Some opened their laptop mouse for the battery and brought out phone chargers as well as an extension socket. 

Jianna frowned and looked toward the girl in the hoodie with rose gold glasses.

"Katherine," she said quietly, "we don't really have much. Barely enough for the rest of the day and it's already past lunch."

Katherine looked down at the modest pile on the desk, her expression tightening. "Yeah… I was afraid of that."

She turned toward the ROTC group, who were gathered quietly near the other end of the study hall.

"What about you guys?" she asked. "How many of you are there, and what do you have?"

The officer stepped forward, exchanging a quick look with his cadets before answering.

"Seven of us," he said. "We did the same. Checked our bags. Got maybe four bottled waters, a few snack bars, and someone brought a rice meal they didn't finish earlier."

Richson frowned, hearing all this, and then turned to the guy in the JPIA shirt.

"Migs, I think we need to find a place to gather more supplies," Richson said, his voice steady but laced with urgency. "We can't wait around hoping it'll get better."

Migs nodded, his eyes scanning the group before he spoke.

"Right. But we need a plan. It's not safe out there. We don't even know if the halls are clear."

"I agree," Jianna said, her tone serious. "We'll need to move quickly. And if we go out, we need to make sure we're not just wandering blindly. If those things are still out there, we can't afford to be reckless."