With his arms across the shoulders of Ethan and the sapphire eyed girl, Arthur was supported to walk.
Hurriedly they approched the hall, time was ticking out for them as they struggled with injuries and fatigue. " What's your name." Arthur asked the sapphire eyed girl.
"Now isn't the time to introduce ourselves but if you must know, I am Caelith…, Caelith Dorn." She replied in a subtle tone. "You're quite strong Cael." Arthur remarked causing her to hide a blush.
After a breakup in his senior year two, Arthur had gotten the chance to go close to females. So being helped by one, a beautiful one at that made him feel weird.
She helped him and was helping him, this already killed any dark intensions he might have had towards her. He was even shocked to how she decided to help Ethan carry him.
'She's after something, nothing is free.' After some time the hall was in their line of sight. "Is that what did this to you!" Ethan exclaimed looking at the corpse of the Thermogat.
" Yeah, I battled it in an endurance contest and I found out that monstrosities also use mana. If it were in a physical contest, a level five monster is no joke." He grimaced.
Ethan looked at the healers behind them and motioned them to move faster. "We would have to figure out the rankings of monsters, zombies and even humans." He said.
Looking away form them, Caelith added. "We also have to study time, the current geography, politics, communication etc." Arthur looked up, "You both should hold your horses, we need to survive, that's first and foremost."
Clicking his tongue in pain, he added."You're all teenage survivors, I don't know what you need studying for." Ethan sighed, "Always a deceptive brat, I remember when you lead us into not studying for an exam with you studied for."
"Fools always gets fooled, I was pranking you guys and you all fell for it except from Julian." After a few moments of silence, Arthur groaned." Aren't those people outside."
"They are all outside." Ethan said leaving Arthur and rushing forward. Although Ethan was gone they still moved at the same speed. The healers walked past them and ran towards the crowd of waiting students.
Letting Caelith go, Arthur limped forward barely matching her speed. " I would repay you for your act of kindness." Arthur promised. " I will ask for a favour when I need one." She said as they went into the crowd.
Finding his way to the front of the hall, he saw Peter, Silas and Ethan beating the door and speaking with the people beyond it. "What's the problem." he asked.
" They are refusing to open the door, telling us to return to wherever we came from." Peter answered without looking at him. " That's not possible." Ethan screamed in frustration kicking against the door.
" Open this fuckin piece of metal before I rip it of with my bare hands." He continued, Arthur limped up the stairs. "Principal Lovett please instruct for this door to be opened, we have been through a lot and would like to rest." Arthur said.
It took a moment before they heard, " We are enough in here, you all should find a better place to stay. This hall can contain no more people." The male vice principal informed.
" Sir Benson, do you really expect us all to stand outside here and die. Do you know what it took us all to get here, do you know the dangers behind us. Please open the door." Peter begged.
Feeling his anger rise, Arthur walked down the stairs and to the end of the crowd. He looked at the area they came from, the great valley. ' Returning isn't an option.'
He turned and looked at the opposite direction which lead to a dark forest. Although it was day, Arthur knew the forest was a miniature hell.
A dark shadow was literally moving in it's outskirts, watching and observing them. It noticed Arthur's gaze which was miles away and stared directly at him, causing a shiver to run down his spine.
He broke eye contact immediately and focused on how he would get into to hall. Hours passed as up to five hundred plus survivor students stood waiting and negotiating.
Arthur stood till he couldn't, frustrated he limped towards the great valley and stopped on the grassy plain he fought the Thermogat. ' I haven't checked my rewards for that battle.'
Sitting on the soft grass he reminisced back a few hours or days ago when this plain was a hard sandy ground which was so hard it couldn't be broken by shovels.
While he thought, a distant thud was heard followed by a benign shockwave. ' My barrier is fully down, any moment from now we would all be dead.'
Rising Arthur limped back to the crowd and walked through it hurriedly. He made it to the front and said to Ethan. "My barrier is down, moments from now zombies and monstrosities are going to be flooding this area."
" It seems we would have to break down the door." Peter suggested, "Then what is the need of staying in the hall if it's thick doors are gone." Silas said dismissing the idea instantly.
"Then what is the way forward." Ethan said thinking deeply of what to do. " Let's head to the backyard and maybe follow one of the windows and get into the middle school section."
"That's more dangerous, we don't know what we would meet in the backyard." Arthur dismissed, "We have to find another way in." Minutes of debating the best course of action, the first zombie emerged.
With this chaos erupted, the survivors ran into the locked door with urgency, slamming their bodies into it. Arthur stepped out of the way letting the survivors have their way, it was all futility in the end.
Some survivors climbed onto the windows of the hall. He walked away from the chaos hoping he could get something and he eventually did. 'Why did I think of this earlier.'
Limping forward, Arthur had finally prepared a redemption plan.