Divide & Rule

Everyone was staring at Arthur and Morris.

Arthur snapped, "What?! What are you all looking at? We tried our best to stop them from turning — but in the end, we had no choice. We had to suppress them."

Sophie stepped closer, eyes blazing.

"You killed them, didn't you?" she whispered.

"Try to understand, Sophie…" Morris tried to interject, his voice shaking.

But she cut him off, hissing, "Shut up, you filthy coward."

In a flash, Arthur gripped her by the throat.

"Mind your words, Sophie," he growled. "Morris is the reason any of us are still alive."

"Yes, we killed them. Wanna see their remains? Go open the door. You'll find their bones being chewed by those damn cannibals. I highly recommend you shut your mouth and get ready."

Morris was already tugging at Arthur's hand, begging him to let go. Arthur did — and silence fell.

Finally, they all mounted their cycles.

Just as they were about to leave, Arthur paused to grab something from his bag.

The moment he returned, the group started rolling out.

But the world outside…

It was worse than they imagined.

Burning cars.

Zombies clawing into people.

Corpses lining the cracked pavement.

It was hell.

Arthur raised his arm and pointed toward the distant arch of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"That's our escape route. Go!"

The students pedaled fast — hearts pounding harder than their legs.

At the center of the bridge, Arthur pulled everyone to a stop.

"We're 33 people in total," he announced. "We split into three groups of 11."

"Sorry, brother," Morris interrupted. "My ride's broken — I can only take 4 kids max."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. Something felt off.

Still, he nodded. "Fine. Me and Sophie will take 13 each. Morris — take my number from the class group. Contact me ASAP once you find a safe place."

But instead of picking random students, Nailchar chose the ones who were exhausted, barely able to pedal — the ones with the least stamina.

It raised Arthur's suspicion. But he brushed it off and turned to the rest.

"Sophie's and my house are nearby. I'll drop 19 of you at Sophie's place, then take the remaining 19 to mine."

The split was quick and quiet.

Arthur reached his home.

Empty.

No signs of his parents.

But that meant... they'd likely escaped.

His father was on a three-day trip, after all.

He turned to the group.

"Everyone — gather all the food, tools, batteries, anything we can use. I'm going to call Sophie and Morris."

The students moved fast.

Arthur tried dialing — he got through to Sophie.

But Morris's number…

No response.

The suspicion grew heavier.

And then — a shriek.

The runners were here.

They had slipped in through the open garage gate.

And they were already inside.