Apocalypse: Apparently, I Can See Zombies
Chapter 56- Collective Guilt

Ding~

Ding~

Ding~

The bell signaling that lunch had finished suddenly went off, and the students of Class 1A were momentarily frightened by the sudden loud sound. Only when the bell stopped ringing after a few seconds did they calm down.

Among the students seated in the middle of the gymnasium, there were four students, two males and two females.

One of the male students stood out for his natural blonde hair and mixed features. Said blonde hair was cut at the sides and back, but long enough at the top for the boy to tie it into a ponytail while leaving a few strands to dangle at the sides of his face.

This boy was named Liam. He was rather well-known within the school for his looks. Once in middle school, the girls made a list of the most handsome male students, and he had ranked third. However, the common consensus was that his looks were no less inferior than first and second place, Seong and Ye-jun.

It was just that some students were biased for these two because they also ranked first and second in terms of grades in the entire school.

As for his background, it wasn't behind as well since his father owned a rather successful Gaming Company in Finland, while his mother was the heiress to a similarly successful Gaming Empire in South Korea. His parents' marriage had even been a hot topic in South Korea for a while since it involved a sort of merger between two gaming giants.

"Damn it, what if that bell draws the zombies to us?"

Liam overheard a male student say and he looked over to see some of the students were heading towards the windows that let you see the front of the Gymnasium. He soon looked away and picked up the water bottle next to him to empty the last trickling drops of content within it.

Smacking his lips, Liam looked over at the smashed vending machine in a corner of the gymnasium and sighed.

"Guys, I'm heading to the bathroom to get some water."

"Liam, you can drink mine."

One of the girls perked up and offered the remaining water in her bottle. However, Liam shook his head.

"No, it's fine."

After getting up, Liam walked over to the male bathroom. He threw his empty water bottle in the trash can nearby as he walked in.

The second male student who had a buzz cut watched as Liam left while saying softly.

"He's really affected by Yoon-min's death."

The two girls hearing Yoon-min being mentioned lowered their heads. One responded softly.

"Almost everyone feels the same, we just left him and Micah out there."

The youth with the buzz cut had his eyes flashing with anger as he said.

"Everyone initially thought that all of us made it, but when we saw the zombies outside attacking Yoon-min and the others we froze because of fear, and by the time any of us thought to help, Yoon-min had already been bitten and Ye-jun had ordered for the door to be closed."

After sighing, the youth with the buzz cut added.

"Liam was close to Micah and Yoon-min, but he was at the back of the crowd when it all happened. If he knew that Yoon-min and Micah were the ones out there, he definitely would have charged outside. But…"

The youth's words trailed off before sadness descended on the group.

"Maybe Micah survived, if it was one of us out there we might not have survived, but since it's him he has a better chance out of all of us."

One of the girls said trying to lift the atmosphere, but the youth could only force a smile. He really didn't have any hope of this happening.

"Micah! I see Micah outside!!"

A loud shout suddenly echoed out in the gymnasium causing the buzz-cut youth to be momentarily stunned. Then with a bright smile, he jumped up.

At that time Liam was coming out of the bathroom and also heard the shout, which caused him to rush over. He and the buzz-cut youth along with the girls and some other students approached the window.

The shout had come from a youth who was looking through the window. Due to its height, he had to stand on another male student's shoulder to see through it.

"Are you sure it's Micah?"

Liam was the first to ask.

The boy at the window looked out once more to confirm. The window he was at was too far to the left of the gymnasium to see the entrance where a figure was seen standing, but there was no mistaking that tall figure for someone else.

Nodding the boy said excitedly.

"Yeah, it's definitely him!"

Liam suddenly turned about to rush towards the entrance and open the door, however, Ye-jun stopped him.

"Wait, are you sure he hadn't become a zombie?"

Everyone's excitement, including Liam's, disappeared upon hearing this question and they turned to look at the youth at the window.

The youth's excitement had also diminished somewhat as he could only see Micah's back.

"Micah! Micah!"

The boy tried calling out, but Micah remained standing where he was as if he didn't hear him.

"He's… he's not answering me."

Liam's face turned pale when he heard that, and a bit of sadness washed over the gathered crowd. Most of them were feeling guilty because of what happened, so hearing that Micah might have survived filled them with relief. But if he ended up wandering back here as a zombie…

"Wait, maybe he just can't hear me. Let me open the window a bit more."

After saying this, the youth tried to push the window open further from the initial small crack. However, in the process, his hand slipped, and he almost fell sideways.

"Hey, be careful!"

The youth beneath him said worriedly as he did his best to stabilize his posture.

After recovering, the youth managed to open the stiff window further before he called out to Micah. However, he tried to do so a bit softer than usual, enough for Micah to hear him and possibly turn around, but not loud enough to draw attention to himself so high up if it were a zombie.

"Micah!"

As the boy's voice drifted out of the window, Micah suddenly turned around.

Seeing this the boy became excited once more.

"Guys open the door, he isn't turned! He-"

The boy's voice suddenly got stuck in his throat when Micah fully turned around, looked up, and then stared directly at him with his gray and lifeless pupils. His somewhat fluffy, curly hair shifted to the side as he also strangely but deliberately tilted his head slightly.