5,000SP, that's 15,000SP if he were to get the three of them in a safe location. Having that amount in this earlier part of the apocalypse makes it a tempting offer from the system. After all, with that amount, he could purchase a much more effective gun.
However, taking the three of them had some risk. Not to mention one of them has a broken ankle. This might be the first biggest decision in his life here in this apocalypse.
"I'm planning on getting out so perhaps you can join me to leave this place," Riku finally said.
"You want us to go out there with those monsters?" Miko was the first to react.
"Have you seen what they did to our classmates? They ate them and they turn…" Ichika added with a fearful tone.
Just the mention of getting out of this place terrified them. Of course, it's understandable to feel that way. They could be traumatized from the gruesome scene they witnessed while they escaped.
"Suzune said we can just wait for the military to arrive. The government surely isn't going to abandon their people," Miko said and added. "And it's been like four or five hours. We can wait, we have food in the pantry, enough to last us for days."
"You have food here?" Riku asked and before he could get an answer from one of them, he went inside the room and Miko was right. There was food like bottled waters, biscuits, and breads. And there's a lot of them.
"You do have supplies here," Riku hummed. "You guys are lucky. Okay, it seems like none of you are enthusiastic about going out and leaving this place. With the food here, you have a choice of waiting it out. But you have to consider the worst case scenario. What if the government didn't arrive?"
"That's impossible!" Miko blurted out and immediately covered her mouth with her hands as she realized she might have spoken too loud.
Fortunately, no one heard it.
"Hayashi-san, please don't say things like that," Suzune interjected.
Riku turned toward her, caught off guard by the sharpness in her tone.
"You're right to prepare for contingencies," she continued, brushing a strand of silver hair behind her ear. "But we're already in a fragile mental state. They've seen friends die. Some were… eaten. So throwing worst-case scenarios at us—no matter how valid—isn't going to help."
Riku blinked. "I… I was just trying to make sure you're thinking ahead."
"And I appreciate that," Suzune replied coolly. "But there's a difference between preparing and overwhelming. You don't drop a survival plan like that without gauging the morale of the group. It's irresponsible."
He didn't respond immediately. She was right—and he knew it. The way Ichika clutched her arms around her knees, the way Miko fidgeted with her blazer sleeves—they weren't ready. Not emotionally.
"Ichika barely held it together when we hid in this room," Suzune added. "Miko had to drag her in. And me? I can't even walk. So before you start pitching an escape, maybe first ask if we're even capable of moving."
That was the terrifying part about her—how composed she was even now. She was clearly someone used to stress, someone who thought before she acted. Riku wondered just how much she'd read or studied to be this calculated.
He lowered his eyes and gave a small nod. "Sorry. I didn't mean to stress you guys out."
A brief silence followed, broken only by the faint creak of the building settling and the distant moan of infected somewhere in the halls. Miko shifted closer to Ichika and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Ichika, still pale, nodded faintly in return.
Then Suzune spoke again, this time in a softer tone.
"I'm not saying we shouldn't consider evacuation. But it's too early to consider knowing that it's been four and half hours since this chaos started. I'm sure the military and the law enforcement have responded to this outbreak and are containing it as we speak."
"So how long do you plan on staying in this place?" Riku asked.
"Hopefully, never. We hope we get rescued by the military or the police," Suzune answered and then looked at her right ankle. "As you can see, I can't possibly run from them. If you still want to leave this place then be that as it may. Remember you said that you are going to knock on our door when you are going to leave."
"There's no way I can leave you guys here," Riku said. "Now after seeing you."
"We are just going to drag you down, and possibly get you killed," Suzune replied with a steady voice but with a trace of guilt behind it. "You have a weapon, and you're still in one piece. You're more valuable out there than getting stuck with three half-broken girls."
Riku clenched his fists slightly. Her words stung, not because she was wrong—but because she underestimated him, and more importantly, underestimated what was coming.
"That's not how I see it," Riku muttered, his tone suddenly more serious.
"You think you're safer here? Because you have food and four walls?"
Suzune looked up, saying nothing.
Riku took a breath, steadying himself. "I've fought them. I've seen how strong they are. These aren't just sick people. They're monsters. And worse—some of them are different."
That got their attention.
Ichika's eyes widened. "D-Different?"
"You heard that screech earlier, right?" Riku asked, looking around the room. "It wasn't just some random infected. That thing isn't normal."
Miko and Ichika exchanged glances. Miko nodded slowly. "We heard it… It sounded like something being tortured."
"Yeah," Ichika added, hugging her knees tighter. "It echoed all the way to the third floor…"
"I call it the Screamer," Riku said grimly. "Because that's what it does. It screams like hell and it's fast—faster than anything I've seen. It doesn't just chase you. It hunts. And I was the one being hunted."
Silence fell over the room like a heavy blanket.
Suzune's brows furrowed. "You're saying it's a variant…? A mutated form of the infected?"
"I don't know what caused it," Riku admitted. "But I do know that it's stronger, faster, and way more dangerous than the others. And if one of those things is lurking around this school—or worse, something stronger—then staying here, boxed in a corner like this, is suicide."
Ichika whimpered quietly. Even Miko was visibly shaken now, her composure starting to crack.
Riku softened his tone, looking directly at Suzune. "You said we should think tactically. So think tactically—what happens when they find this room? When they break through that door? This place isn't a fortress. It's a pantry."
He turned his gaze to the door. "No matter how much food or water you have, if they get in here, none of it will matter. All it takes is one Screamer—or something worse—to smell you."
Suzune closed her eyes briefly, calculating. The logical side of her fought with the human side—the fear, the fatigue, the pain in her ankle. But the facts were undeniable.
"You said you fought them," she said after a pause. "And survived. You're certain?"
Riku nodded. "I've killed a lot of them and managed to kill a Screamer too. Barely. But if another one comes…"
Suzune inhaled slowly. Her hand drifted toward her bandaged ankle.
"You can't fight it alone while dragging me," she muttered. "That's just a fact."
"I'm not leaving you behind," Riku said, his tone final. "We'll find a way. I'll make a stretcher if I have to, or you can ride my back. I don't care how we do it."
"I can't let you take that risk blindly," Suzune said. "And why are you so fixated on helping us?"
"Because," Riku could have answered them that rescuing them has rewards but that's not only the motivation why he wanted to save them. It's also the human side of him, there is a reason why he was granted the system, and that was to eradicate the zombies before it eradicates humanity. He has the tool to help people, and it must be the reason why the system exists.
"Because I can't just abandon you," Riku answered.
Suzune sighed, moved by his words. "You really are a persistent guy."
Riku smiled.