Chapter 5 - The Watchman of the Small Library

“…This is troubling.”

Miu Shimizu of Class 2-5, a girl with long straight black hair, rested her cheek on her hand.

This was the high school library.

No, rather than “library,” it was more accurate to call it a full-fledged library.

In the vast room, there were about 20,000 books, including those stored in the warehouse.

And managing that many books was difficult for the faculty alone.

Therefore, one student from each class was recruited to form the Library Committee.

The library was open in the morning, at noon, and after school. Since it was Miu’s day on morning library duty, she was managing the collection here.

Up to that point, it had been an ordinary day like any other, but suddenly a scream echoed throughout the school, shattering that daily routine.

A few minutes later, a suspicious person apparently entered the library, so she hurriedly locked herself inside the storage room, and was able to avoid trouble.

However, of course, there was no drinking water or food inside here.

“What should I do…?”

It seemed the suspicious person knew where she was, as she could hear scratching sounds on the door.

(Still, this is strange… It sounds less like knocking and more like scratching. No, if it was truly a suspicious person, wouldn’t they give up? Staying in a place like this any longer and the teachers would surely catch them. Besides, why haven’t the teachers come? Only screams keep ringing out. Is this a situation beyond even the teachers’ power to handle?)

She pondered deeply.

(If they're a normal human being, they would have left by now. Even if they're mentally unstable, this is too abnormal. Could it be... something inhuman? Something fundamentally different? …No, that’s impossible. But I don’t feel like opening the door to check. It's frustrating because the frosted glass makes it hard to see through.)

A dark, shadowy figure was faintly visible through the frosted glass.

(In any case, I suppose waiting for rescue is the best course of action... But things are getting noisier outside, and still no sign of the teachers or the police. That might mean things are worse than I thought. They could break the glass and force their way in at any moment. …Wait, why haven’t they broken the gla—)

Just then, the glass shattered, and a hand reached through.

The hand was slick with blood.

(It’s a hand, but completely soaked in blood... There’s no way they bled that much just from breaking the glass. They must have already harmed several people... …No, this isn't the time to be thinking like this. I need to find a weapon. Anything.)

She glanced around in slight panic.

(A broom... no good. A dictionary won’t reach far enough either. I’ll have to move a desk and make a barricade.)

She pushed a desk and dragged it over to the door.

(Now if I just pile more things here, it should keep them from moving it. But...)

Her thoughts were cut off.

“—! Ghhk!”

A hand gripped her throat.

It was the same hand that shattered the glass earlier.

(How...? It reached all the way here? That’s... not a human arm. Not unless their joints are dislocated or something... I—I can’t... breathe—)

Her vision started to blur, as though fog were clouding her eyes.

But then, a shout rang out.

“SLAAAAAM DUNK!!”

(What... was that?)

With a thunk, the grip on her neck loosened.

““Khah! Koff koff!”

She coughed violently.

Then—knock, knock—came a knock on the door.

“Uh… you alright in there, bro?”

“Cough… I’m managing… thanks…”

She staggered to her feet.

She unlocked the door, which swung open fast, and in stepped a sturdy-looking boy, about 6’3” or so.

“You got any injuries, bro?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you so much.”

She bowed deeply.

The boy scratched his head sheepishly.

“Nah, nah, no need to thank me, bro.”

Miu stepped out of the storage room and examined the intruder who had been strangling her just moments ago.

His head was caved in.

Most likely, the boy had slammed him with the hole punch he was holding.

“He's dead.”

“Ah, that’s probably ‘cause he’s not human, bro.”

“Not human? What do you mean?”

“Right now, the whole school’s full of those suspicious guys… other students call them zombies, bro… Anyway, if you get bitten or scratched by one of those guys, you end up acting like them, too, bro.”

“Wow… they really are zombies.”

She looked at the fallen person’s hands.

They were incredibly long.

They were probably grabbed and dragged forcibly while trying to escape.

The arms were fully stretched out.

“Their eyes are white.”

“Yeah, probably can’t see, bro. I think they sense by smell or sound, bro.”

“I see. Then let’s completely seal off the library. Could you help move those desks over there?”

“Ah, no problem, bro. Don’t let the looks fool you—I’m pretty strong, bro.”

He easily lifted a desk.

His strength matched his appearance, but she didn’t comment on that.

“Thanks... I’m Miu Shimizu, Class 2-5. And you?”

“Ah, I’m Daiki Oota, Class 1-4, bro.”

“Uh… could you maybe work on the way you say ‘bro’ all the time?”

“Haha. I’ll try, bro.”

Miu shook her head, sighed, then told Daiki,

“Let’s do this, okay?”

“Got it, senpai!”

The library was now sealed off.