CHAPTER 22: CHAPTER 22: SCREW YOU AUTHOR

Leaning against the classroom door, Betty took deep, shaky breaths. The room was dim, lit only by the faint gray light seeping in through the tall windows.

The eerie sensation that had wrapped around her spine slowly faded, replaced by a cold stillness.

She stepped forward carefully, her boots crunching over scattered books and backpacks—the remnants of students who had fled in panic or gone to the survival Camp.

With an exhausted sigh, she lowered herself onto a student bench near the window. Betty stared outside. Sweat clung to her skin, her short hair plastered to her forehead, and her sharp blue eyes locked on the moving shadows beyond the glass—zombies, eating the last bit of dead zombie flesh.

Some were walking faster compared to before, their dragging bodies.

Her breath hitched when the window began to cloud with mist. A soft sheen of condensation spread over the glass, blurring the monsters outside into blurry shapes.

Raindrops start dripping from the sky at a rapid speed.

Betty frowned, her pulse quickening, thoughts stuck on the unknown cause of fear.

"Sigh... What was that feeling?" she muttered, brushing her damp hair back.

Lowering her head onto the desk, she exhaled a deep, frustrated breath.

’There was nothing about ghosts in the novel. I have read the whole damn tragedy...’

"Calista, do you know anything about it?"

Betty tilted her head lazily, eyes drifting toward the phoenix mark on her arm, her thumb brushing around the phoenix head.

"I don’t know," came Calista’s soft, childlike voice from within. "The Ancient Phoenix only gave me one instruction—to provide you space. I know nothing else about the outside world."

Betty’s eyes narrowed as she sat up straighter, her thin lips tightening.

"What do you mean by that...?"

She trailed off, her deeper voice caught mid-sentence.

Calista’s voice chimed again, confused and concerned."Why did you stop talking suddenly? Did I say something wrong?"

Betty slowly shook her head, one hand supporting her chin as she fell deep into thought.

"...No. You didn’t."

Her thoughts drifted to the strange image she had seen in the space house.

’Was that the Ancient Phoenix?’If Calista didn’t know anything, then maybe that woman in the picture did... ’But how would I ever find out?’

She sighed quietly. ’There’s no point overthinking. I can’t do anything about it right now anyway.’

Rising from the bench, she cast one last glance out the window at the mist-covered world beyond.

Then, without hesitation, she unzipped her jacket and loosened her shirt.

Her black shirt falling on the bench, from her jacket, she pulled out a roll of bandage and began wrapping it tightly around her chest.

As the last strip of bandage was secured, Betty slipped her clothes back on and glanced at the door leading to the hall. She hesitated for a moment, her hand hovering over the metal handle.

’Please, God, don’t let that creepy feeling crawl up my spine again. And if, by some chance, some sadistic author is pulling the strings like in those fanfictions... then screw you.’

With a muttered curse, or rather fooling around to keep herself sane, she pushed the door open and stepped outside. Her shoulders slowly eased when nothing abnormal happened.

Betty’s POV:

Walking out of the classroom, I moved through the dark, silent hallway, the cold air biting at my skin and making me rub my hands together for warmth.

’I need to get out of this school, find some safe spot... but where the hell should I even go? The stolen truck is parked kilometers away without any gas?’

My steps echoed faintly on the wooden floor as I neared the exit. Something shiny on the floor caught my eye—a broken piece of a mirror lying near my feet. Tilting my head, I crouched down and picked it up.

Raising it to my face, I arched my brows and narrowed my eyes, making different expressions like an idiot. But the more I stared, the tighter my throat felt.

’What... happened to my eyes?’

The reflection stared back at me, no longer purely blue. Now, streaks of crimson swirled through the irises, the red mixing with the blue in an almost hypnotic pattern. Unlike the faint tint I had before, this was strikingly visible.

’Wow... great. I’m turning into some chameleon now.’

With a sigh, I set the broken mirror back where I found it and headed toward the school’s main gate. My steps slowed as the chill in the air deepened.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two gunshots shattered the silence, making me flinch.

’What the—? That scared the hell out of me. Ha... don’t tell me Ethan’s out there looking for me with his usual idiocy.’

Cautiously, I crept forward, boots sinking slightly into the damp dirt as I stepped outside. The ground was damp with rain.

Then I froze.

A lone figure stood under the gray sky, clad in a long black trench coat. His arm was extended, a pistol smoking faintly in his grip. On the ground before him lay the twitching corpse of a grade two zombie, a fresh bullet wound drilled into its skull.

"...David," I called out warily, my voice low, almost testing the air.

The man turned slowly. His dark eyes locked on me with the same cold, unreadable stare as always.

A bandage wrapped his head, his calloused lips opened.

"What are you doing here?"

"Ah"

I don’t know how to respond to this. I can’t tell him I’m running away because I see my stepfamily.

My hand instinctively wraps behind my neck.

"I I was trying to become familiar with the school, you know it’s gonna be our key to surviving for some time."

David’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he dint push anymore and nodded.

"But what are you doing here? Didn’t you get injured?"

David’s eyes shot open, hearing me as he looked at me carefully.

Feeling his piercing gaze, I instinctively cross my arms covering my chest.

He made a face like he was feeling disgust, turning around, he simply said.

"I don’t swing that way, Bennett. I was just checking where your worst injuries go."

My fist clenches tightly, barely holding back to hit his face.