Another shriek came. Then, another. They seeped from within the walls themselves, and I couldn't pinpoint where they originated. Those unearthly howls and cries belonged to the voices of kids. Some were deeper than the orchestral horror reverberating across the hall, which meant there might be older ones, too.

"Could be two. Maybe more," Miguel whispered.

"Let's not stand around here to find out, shall we?" Bobby hissed from the back.

We headed over to the northern wing. Fortunately, the growls of the vectors slowly dissipated the farther we went from the main foyer, and I breathed a sigh of relief when silence once again returned. Miguel found a map hanging by the wall. He flipped the frame over and pulled the map out.

"Cafeteria's this way," said Miguel, pointing at a set of two double doors standing side by side. Each of the double doors was padlocked. "And the nurse's office is only two corridors down."

Margot said something to Felipe, and he translated, "Good, she said. She'll look for med supplies aside from the medicine."

"That means we have to split up?" Jonas asked. He gulped down the thought, and his face paled.

I turned to Miguel, asked, "How far is it, really?"

"Just two corridors down. Take a left and another left. There should be a big sign saying so."

"I'm going with her," said Felipe.

"Okay. Take another person with you. Any volunteers?" I looked around, but no one raised their hands.

I heard Miguel sighed beside me. "Well, I guess I'll go. Plus, I have a gun anyway." He raised his rifle.

"Well, we can't be left behind unprotected! We have limited guns," said Bobby.

"I can't leave them defenseless either," I said. I pointed at Margot and Felipe's weapons, two long golden candle stands they got from the altar. It was certainly a good weapon to bash some skulls with, but not at long range.

I also looked at the weapons the others carried. A fire extinguisher, an emergency fire ax, pots and pans, and some butter and steak knife they got from the small kitchen...it wasn't much to look at when stopping two dozen of them, but I didn't want to say that out loud.

"Miguel is going with them. We'll meet outside these doors in fifteen minutes," I said, pointing at the cafeteria doors.

"That's enough time. Here. Take this." Miguel handed me one of the keys on the chain he got earlier. The label CAFETERIA plastered on its head. He took the rest with him.

I watched as Miguel, Felipe, and Margot walked straight ahead and turned left. I walked toward the cafeteria doors, slipping the key on my hand into the lock. When everyone heard the locks clicked, a breath of relief echoed across the hall. I only pushed the door slightly open and saw darkness waiting beyond.

I said, "We don't know what's behind these doors, so be quiet and don't rush."

It was a wide hallway leading toward the main hall, and from there, I saw the light. It was coming from the street lights, streaming an orange glow through the windows. I looked to my left and right. The hallway looked empty—school posters about sports events and plays plastered on its surface.

"Clear," I whispered, and the others began to stream in the hall. "Close the door," I said, and Luke cautiously closed it.

The cafeteria was two stories high, leading to a huge open foyer facing what looked like the school courtyard right outside the giant windows that reached from floor to ceiling. The second floor, which we were on, had a few dozen or so bench tables scattered around and much smaller than the main dining hall below. Two stairs led down from our left and right, converging in the middle to make a giant staircase leading down to the main cafeteria, where twice as many bench tables sat. To our left, against the wall, was a wheelchair ramp that led to the same main cafeteria floor. Opposite of the staircase were the serving stations with plastered labels over their booths like pizza, pasta, salads, snacks, etc.

There were no vectors.

We head down the stairs and through the maze of tables toward the door with me leading the way. I reached the door that said KITCHEN. It was one of those swing doors, and I had to push it open carefully.

I saw only darkness inside. The door creaked, and I waited for the eventual shrieks of the vectors, but nothing came. Putting that as a good sign, I pushed further, ignoring the loud shrieks of the door's hinges, until it was wide open. Logan held the door open behind me as I walked in. Again, no vectors jumped out of the shadows. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"They might still be hiding," said Logan.

"Right. Don't let all your guard down. Let's get everything we need."

There were four carts stationed to the side next to the big freezers, and we all paired up to grab each one. Logan and Nat grabbed theirs, as well as Luke and Yousef. Bobby and Jonas got the other. However, with seven of us, I grabbed the last one by myself. The electricity was still on, which meant the freezer was still working, but I made sure to point out to the rest to prioritize the non-perishables. Beyond the kitchen, the panty at least had five shelves filled with food. I hauled as many canned goods as I could put into the cart.

I looked at the shelf. There were tomato soup cans, vegetable soup, some pasta in a can, beans, corn, and many more. If there weren't a canned food drive in the school, we wouldn't have found this much loot.

"Alright. We're done. We'll be by the door," Bobby said, running out of the door with his cart with Jonas following behind.

"Us too," Yousef said. "Need help?" He asked me.

"No, I'll be fine, but I'm almost done here. I'll see you out there," I said.

With a curt nod, Yousef returned to his cart and pushed it out of the door. Luke glanced back at me, frowned, and followed after Yousef.

"Oh my god, Logan! I don't want that!" Nat yelped.

"Quit cherry-picking and just grab anything."

"How do we even know if it's good?"

"Doesn't really matter now. Just grab it."

I filled the last space of my cart and pushed it over toward Logan and Natalie's side.

"You guys almost done?" I asked. Though I looked down on their haul, and their cart wasn't even half-full yet.

"No," Logan grumbled.

"Want help?" I asked.

"Please," said Nat.

I nodded and grabbed a cheddar cheese soup can closest to me.

"Let me take a look at that," Natalie said, grabbing the can off of my hands. She shook her head. "Let's not take this."

"Why the hell not?" I asked.

"Aside from being gross, it's not that healthy."

"It's food."

She rolled her eyes as if I said something dumber. "Not all food is good for you. If you expect us to hole up in this place, we could at least focus on the food that would give us some nutrition. It's Food 101. My mom's a dietician, so I know all this stuff."

I was taken aback for a second. I didn't expect this from Nat. For the first time since this thing started, she actually made sense.

"Why does it matter? We're gonna get rescued eventually," Logan said.

Natalie huffed. "You believe that. But Bren..." she trailed, eyeing me. "You don't, do you? After all, why this crusade for food and staying behind these walls instead of making a run out of the city?"

Logan studied me, and I couldn't help but shift on my spot, walked over toward one of the shelves, and picked out a few cans, reading off their nutritional labels. "What should we focus on?" I asked.

Natalie smirked. "High Protein. High Carb. Anything nutritionally dense."

I started browsing through the aisle, focusing on anything that had meats on them and beans. I saw a couple of bags of rice. We filled up the cart quickly when we knew what to look for, and we rushed out of the kitchen to the main cafeteria to join the others.

The cafeteria was empty. The carts were left abandoned at the foot of the wheelchair ramp. And there were no signs of Luke, Yousef, and the others.

"What the fuck? Where'd they go?" Natalie wondered.

Why would they leave the cart? I looked around, searching for them. The cafeteria was dark with a few corners blanketed in pitch darkness, and I didn't know where they could have gone. They could be waiting for us upstairs, but why would they leave the cart behind? Unless...

Something clicked in my mind. There was only one reason why Luke and the others would leave the carts if they saw something. I grabbed Logan and Natalie's shoulders and pushed them down to a crouch against the wall. I held up my finger to shush both of them, quickly turning off the flashlight attached to the shotgun, and the cafeteria was left illuminated only by the street lights from the school courtyard.

Then, I saw them.

Luke and Yousef huddled beneath one of the bench tables, staring at Logan, Natalie, and I. Just two tables down, Jonas and Bobby hid under the table, their hands clasped against their mouth. Luke slowly pointed his finger upward.

I looked up.

There, at the balcony, was a vector. Its back turned toward us, sniffing the air. The vector twitched, and I grabbed both of Logan's and Natalie's arms and pulled them toward the closest bench table to our right. I quickly crawled underneath. Logan and Natalie followed.

"What are we going to do?" Natalie whispered.

"That's our only exit," Logan pointed out. "And we don't know how many of them are up there."

"How did it get in here? We made sure to close the door," Natalie hissed.

I shook my head. "Could be the side doors. We didn't check those. We need to take it out."

"You got any plan?" Logan asked.

"No...Maybe."

I paused, thinking. I stared at the flashlight attached to my shotgun. I smiled. I unstrapped it from the barrel and threw it farther to the side. The flashlight clattered against the bare floor, skidding toward the window in sharp, grating hits that reverberated across the cafeteria walls. Due to the larger size of the hall, the noise was ten times louder as the room acted as an echo chamber. Luke and Yousef glared at me with wide eyes while Bobby mouthed curses directed at me.

The vector screeched, attracted by the noise.

It ran down the wheelchair ramp. Its footsteps getting louder and louder as it drew to a close. Suddenly, its feet appeared right in front of our table, and fortunately, it zoomed past us to where the flashlight was.

It stopped, sniffed the air, looking for the source of the sound.

I turned to Logan and held up one finger.

I then held up seven.

I mouthed to Logan and Natalie, "Seven against one."

Natalie's eyes bulged, and she vehemently shook her head. She turned to Logan, trying to convince him with her eyes that it was a bad idea, but Logan brushed her hands off.

I then turned to the others across the room, holding the same fingers. Seven. Then, one, and mouthing the same thing. I pointed at the vector standing several feet away from us and then held my finger against my neck and mimed slitting my throat.

Bobby held up his middle finger. Jonas said nothing but nodded hesitantly. Luke and Yousef readied their weapons. A fire extinguisher and a fire ax.

"I'm going to step out. We need to do this quietly," I whispered to Logan and Nat.

"Use your gun," Natalie said.

"And draw more out?"

She went quiet.

I crawled out from underneath the table, holding the butt of my shotgun pointed out first. I thought of bashing the vector's head with it, but that meant I needed to get close.

Real close.