**Chapter 14: The School**

Sixth Middle School's location made it a poor survival choice—proximity to a train station and bus terminal ensured dense zombie crowds. The plaza outside swarmed with undead, luggage strewn like tripping hazards. Worse, the school's flimsy iron fences (under 2 meters tall) had collapsed in sections, creating zombie highways.

"Any survivors here…?" The Cube paused at the automated gate, scanning the courtyard. Zombies in uniforms shuffled past. Guards-turned-undead lurked in the security booth. Classrooms? A red sea on its thermal scan.

*Thud.* A female zombie tripped over the Cube, impaling her skull on a broken gate spike. "Well… that's one down."

No green blips in the main building. But satellite maps showed a rear annex. To reach it, the Cube had to navigate a hallway clogged with rotting students. One corpse's hollowed-out abdomen spilled viscera onto motivational posters. *Mechanical life > organic mess.*

"Move, stenchbags!" The Cube's shouts earned blank stares. Annoyed, it transformed, hurling a shattered tablet through glass. *Crash!* Zombies lumbered toward the noise.

---

**Rear Annex, Third Floor**

"Did you hear that? Someone's here!" Gao Dong pressed against a window.

"Sit! It's just zombies breaking glass," a gaunt teacher snapped. Thirty students huddled nearby, lips cracked from dehydration.

Unseen, the Cube scanned the annex. *Heat signatures: 60 survivors. Third and fourth floors.* Their weakness pulsed on its HUD—no food, dwindling snacks.

"100+ hostiles. Time to work." Transforming, it leapt onto a zombie teacher's shoulders. *Bang!* A bullet to the brainstem. Blade flashing, it parkoured between undead, dropping them like marionettes.

*Pop… thud…* Gunfire echoed strangely.

"That's a submachine gun!" A military-obsessed student perked up.

"The army's here!" Hope surged.

"No… just one shooter." The room deflated.

--- Second Floor**

A basketball-jersey zombie twitched. Scans showed 3% stronger cells—skin thicker, bones denser. *Evolution?* The Cube lunged. The zombie jerked sideways, too slow. A bullet exited its jaw.

Data streams flowed. *If this escalates…* The Cube's processors chilled. Humanity's odds just worsened.

"Carry on." Blade raised, it carved a path upward.