The fear on Gaurav's face twists into something darker—anger.
Not the kind that shouts or cries, but the sharp, burning kind that can make someone do something reckless.
"I'm going," he growls, already pushing himself off the floor. "I'm not leaving my sister in there."
Before he can take a single step, Aditya grabs his collar and shoves him back. "You think you're the only one who cares?" His voice is cold but not emotionless. "We all want to save her. And not just her—the others too."
Gaurav lunges toward him, ready to turn this into a full-on fight. I step in fast, grabbing Aditya's wrist and pulling him back.
"That's enough!" I snap. "We will save them—but not like this. Charging in blind will get them killed. And us too."
Jay steps forward, trying to defuse the tension. "Right now, the safest place for them is exactly where they are. If they've locked themselves inside the classroom—and they probably have—they've bought us time."
"Yeah," Amrit adds. "I'll head to the roof. Check zombie movement. See how much time we actually have."
Without another word, he disappears up the stairs.
Aditya goes to prepare... something. He doesn't say what, but we all trust he knows what he's doing.
That leaves me, Jay, and Gaurav. We sit down on the edge of a bunk bed in the dim hostel hallway. Gaurav is still seething, fists clenched, jaw locked tight. Like a time bomb ticking steadily under pressure.
I know we don't have time to waste. I look at Jay. "Let's just focus on the rescue. What do we have? What can we do?"
I offer the only idea that comes to mind. "We split into two teams. One stays here and protects the students we've already rescued. The other goes after the girls."
It isn't genius. It is survival instinct. But Jay's eyes flicker with something sharper—he has a plan. A real one.
But he seems to be waiting.
I catch on quickly and call for Aditya and Amrit to come back down.
Once everyone is seated around the dim common room table, Jay finally lays it out.
"Gaurav. Aditya. You two stay here," he says, voice clear and calm. "The younger students are panicking. If something goes wrong here, we lose everything. Samarth, Amrit, and I will go get the girls."
Gaurav's expression hardens again, but before he can object, Jay raises a hand.
"Before you argue—this isn't open for debate. Any changes to the plan, any additions or removals from the team, and it won't work. This only succeeds with exactly three of us going."
Then he turns to me.
"But the final call is yours, Samarth."
That confuses me for a second. If there is to be no objection, then what kind of final decision do I even have?
Before I can ask, Jay moves on.
"We'll use the control room. If we can get there, we can play a pre-recorded sound clip on the loudspeakers near the sports field. The moment the speakers turn on, the zombies should get distracted and head that way, leaving the classroom side relatively clear."
"Why only three people?" Aditya asks, finally speaking up.
Jay answers smoothly. "The more people we take, the more human scent we carry. The greater the chance of attracting zombies. A small team makes less noise, moves faster, and has less risk of detection."
It makes sense.
I look toward Aditya again. "What about weapons? If we had guns, this would be a hundred times easier."
"They're in the generator room," he says. "Way too far. We won't make it there and back in time."
He disappears into his room and returns a few minutes later, dragging a bundle of bent metal rods. He drops them on the floor with a clank.
"Broke these off the bedframes. They're light enough to swing, strong enough to break bones."
I pick one up. Not ideal—but it will work.
And when it comes to rescuing them… it has to.