Kenji pushes Rey out of the way and takes the bite with his hand. He screams out of agony, bones cracking; the sound of flesh being ripped apart. Rey's triumphant face quickly disappears, now mortified. He shoves the zombie to the ground, forcing it away from Kenji. However, the zombie's teeth clamp down and Kenji pulls back his hand, a quarter of his palm ripping apart to get himself free. Rey smashes the zombie's face before dragging it outside and slamming the door shut. Kenji kneels down, his hand shaking, and the bite exposing flesh that stung in the cool air.

  "Kenji!" Rey shouts, sprinting so he could tend to his lover. "You're bitten! No, no, no! What the hell do we do?! You can't...you can't be bit! What are we going to do now?!"

  "...I don't think there's anything we can do," Kenji looks up at Rey's face, starting to tear up. Rey gently touches the infected hand, starting to swell from how torn up it was. Kenji winces in pain. "This is bad...I think I might have to-"

  He snaps back to reality, finally noticing his significant other shedding tears like a waterfall.

  "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry Kenji..." Rey cries. Kenji's eyes soften in pity.

  "Don't be. This was never your fault." He reassures serenely.

  Kenji stands up and reluctantly pulls his hand away, approaching the door leading to the hall, filled with zombies. Rey stumbles and follows quickly, grabbing Kenji's uninjured hand.

  "Let me go with you, please," Rey looks at Kenji with a fearful, yet determined face. Shocked, Kenji turns around.

  "What...? No, no, you can't. I'm not letting you go out there, especially when I'm about to turn like those monsters too," Kenji places his hand on Rey's cheek. "Just...just live for me, okay?"

  Kenji tries to pull back, but Rey grips his hand tighter. No one in the group came close to his monstrous strength.

  "A life without you is no life at all! Please, I don't want to keep going if it means that I have to let you go!" Rey wails even louder. Kenji just watches remorsefully and lets out a sigh. He leans in and presses his lips against Rey's, muffling the loud sobs into quiet sniffling.

  "I love you. And I'm sorry," Kenji's vision starts to turn red and so do his eyes. With Rey caught off guard, he hastily leaves, eventually succumbing to the inevitable fate of a zombie as well.

  Unable to hold it in, Rey falls to his knees and bawls, crying uncontrollably. The twin forces of despair and agony hit him all at once, knowing that'd be the last interaction he would ever have with his lover. He lets all his tears, all his screams, all his emotions out in the decrepit, empty classroom. Kenji was gone. And nothing can bring him back.

  Trying to sort out his thoughts flooded with emotions, it dawns on him on who started this. Shinta stares at the forever unrequited love story, with nothing more than a blank stare of boredom. Rey stomps steadily toward him and slams his fist on the unbothered face in a fit of rage.

  "Why didn't you move out of the way?! Because of you, Kenji is..." Rey holds back his tears and grips Shinta's shirt. He raises his fist to pummel him again. "Kenji's gone because of you, dammit!"

  Karna grabs his bloodied fist and pulls Rey back before it gets worse. Shinta interjects after getting a moment to breathe.

  "Don't blame this on me! He was going to get bit regardless-"

  "He wouldn't if your fat ass wasn't blocking the fucking door dammit!" Rey screams, his voice hoarse and cracking. "He would've lived! He would still be with us, had it not been for you!"

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  He turns to everyone else, "And why didn't any of you guys help me and Kenji?! We were barely able to fend them off ourselves! You all stood there like fucking cowards! You guys didn't even try to make an attempt to help!"

  Karna speaks up, "Well, some of us don't run into death like you do, Rey! You're clearly in a bad state of mind and-"

  "Why do you think I'm in a bad state of mind?! My boyfriend just died and you all act like nothing major just happened! And you have the audacity to say it's my fault for acting like this?!" Rey's vexed fury makes everyone go quiet. Despite his angered state, he finally noticed something was wrong with Lydia. "Lydia? Why aren't you saying anything?"

  Rey walks up to her, still no response. All she does is quickly turn away, avoiding all eye contact. Shinta hides a cunning smirk.

  "Why are you looking away? You only do that when-"

  He comes to a realization and grips her by the shirt.

  "You. You were the one that opened the door weren't you? That's how they got in right?!" Rey's raging voice echoes, ringing throughout the classroom. No response. He grits his teeth and slaps her in the face. The last piece of conscience defending her was now gone. "You're the reason why Kenji's dead!"

  Tears pool around his eyes, his thoughts clouded by growing fury. Lydia still remains quiet, not even fighting back. It was like she lost all will to fight, or even speak back. She quickly glances at Shinta, but looks away after he glares at her.

  "I'm gonna go take a leak," Shinta breaks the tension. "All of Rey's incessant crying has my bladder acting up."

  Rey shoots an infernal look that could burn a hole through Shinta's head. He scowls bitterly, "Excuse me?"

  "What the fuck are you even talking about?" Karna asks, confused and repulsed. Nothing could describe how bizarre Shinta's statement was. "What...huh? Why? At this time?"

  "You heard me," Shinta smirks.

  "Where...?" Karna stutters, confused. "What?"

  "Out the window? Why, you wanna see, dipshit?" he jokes, patting his crotch. Karna and everyone else just stares at him silently for a couple seconds.

  "Really? Now? Can't you hold it?" Karna pinches his forehead in absolute frustration. The thought made him nauseous. "How are you even smiling after what just happened?"

  Shinta ignores the last question.

  "Or I can do it in here-"

  "No. Just go. Fucking hell, you're nastier than I thought."

  Shinta lets out a disturbing chuckle and leaves to the connecting classroom. He closes the door, leaving a small gap open unseen. A creak is heard, indicating a window opening. Lydia sinks to the ground, gasping uncontrollably for breath, her face ghostly pale.

  "You good, Lydia?" Karna asks, kneeling down to look at her face. He'd never seen her so horrified, like she'd just seen a ghost. No, something much worse. Rey scoffs at her. She pulls him closely and puts a trembling finger over his mouth.

  "Quiet, please!" her shaky voice whispers desperately. "Please...I-I'm scared. Last night, he threatened, and forced...and made me act....like this-"

  "Slow down, Lydia. Deep breaths," Karna whispers, trying to make her calm down. But it was no use.

  "Shinta's the killer, guys, he really is! You have to believe me!" Lydia exclaims quietly.

  "You're still hung up on that?" Rey folds his arms with a sour expression on his face. It was clear emotions got the better of his rationality. But this was more serious than basic morals. "Explain."

  "Last night, he really killed Elios! That's why he's gone! I saw his body when I woke up!" the flooding memories making Lydia gag and vomit beside the two before continuing. They both flinch in shock but don't say anything. She wipes her mouth. "H-he...he made me look at his corpse...! If...If I spoke out like I did with Rika..." she shudders. "I'd...be killed too...! He opened the door last night! He made me take the blame for it so he can feign innocence...! I had to look guilty so he didn't get outed! I didn't do anything...I was forced into this! I swear!"

  She quivers in fear, biting her nails in distress. The two share a look briefly before deciding there was no reason for Lydia to lie anymore. Given her state, she probably wouldn't even be sane enough to think properly.

  "...Is that why you were acting so shifty earlier?" Karna asks, finally starting to open his eyes to reality. Rey exhales a deep sigh after Lydia confirms his suspicions.

  "...Sorry about that earlier," he apologizes, starting to feel guilty after jumping to conclusions so hastily. For once, Lydia didn't seem to care about an apology.

  "Yes! I was forced to! I-" Lydia freezes and the room goes quiet. She looks at the connecting door and so do the other two. Shinta's footsteps start to sound nearer as he walks back to the classroom. She pulls Karna up. "Get up! Pretend like nothing happened, please!"