Outside

"Sa-akura!.."

A voice that sounded painfully familiar, coming through the thickness of the water. It sounded muffled, as if the screamer had just had his mouth shut, but it was no less fierce and calling. As if it was meant for Sakura alone, for her alone, when only a short time ago such a thing had happened... Sakura cries out sharply, feeling her heart pounding furiously in her chest. Almost painfully pounding, responding to the crushing sensation. But worse than that is another thing: the smell of rotting meat hits her nose sharply. It seems to be coming from the corpses.

Sakura's throat constricts with realization, and an involuntary shiver runs down her back, shaking her entire body. What on earth had happened? An hour ago, she was still running through the corridors of the school with the others, looking for salvation in every office. After all, they had agreed to stick together.

      The light from the sun floods the entire classroom, warming the boys in a deceptively reliable warmth. It seems that soon they will be warmed in these rays and outside the school. After all, they are bound to be rescued, and everything will fall into place. At least, entertaining hopes was the only thing that could keep them going. And Sakura, too, was cozying up to those thoughts, shutting herself off from the harsh reality with mere fantasies.

"You", — Sasuke's voice was steely, making the girl twitch slightly. He himself glances around at his classmates, involuntarily burning and not realizing how much trouble he's causing others. — "Do you realize that we could be abandoned here?"

"What are you talking about, Sasuke-kun?" - Sakura pulls a smile on her face, diligently grasping at her own lifeline in her head. But something bad and oppressive flares up inside, spreading fears for her parents, for herself. - "We're going to get out of here for sure, and my parents are going to tear them all up for us."

"Yeah, my father would tear my head off for me," — Shikamaru said, inhaling noisily and glancing at the Uchiha.

"Mine too," - Ino smiled encouragingly, her eyes growing warm. And in reality, any parent would try to bond with their child, wouldn't let a single hair fall from their head. Hope flickers in the office, budding anew just before Sasuke presses it in, pushing it away. It was like waving away a pesky fly.

"If you want to die," — Sasuke pushes the hurtful words out, and each sound makes me want to close my eyes as if it were a slap in the face. They tear him out of his cozy delusions, hurting him deeply. Sakura certainly does: she shrinks under the Uchiha's gaze, her head dropping to the ground. — "You guys go ahead, I'll pass. The ones we need to save are our family members. The virus, one hundred percent, has made it out of the gate."

Sakura wants to calm down and say that everything will be all right. But Sasuke's right. If there are mutilated corpses roaming the corridors, emitting a hoarse bloody growl at, then these things are probably in other places, corralling people fleeing their fate. While they try to protect some, they forget about others. Like here at their school, when the police have been called many times and help has been waiting for hours. Sakura bites her lip and drops a quiet, inaudible word:

"What are we supposed to do then?"

Sasuke directs his darkened, barely tinted coolness at her. Not to say it looks intimidating, but it's definitely intimidating. What's more, Sakura had gotten used to the fact that Sasuke was cold to girls who had crushes on him. He especially disliked those who trampled themselves into the dirt and cried a lot. Most likely, in his eyes, Sakura looks exactly like that, which only pressed the girl's self-esteem to the ground.

"Hold on to the school gates together, you whiners," — Sasuke interrupted her thoughts and grinned, ignoring the obvious general displeasure with him.

"Who's to say," — Naruto, who'd been holding back all this time, spoke up and then lingered with his eyes on Sakura. So puppyishly devoted that he imprints himself into her back. It gives Sakura an unpleasant shiver. The girl twitches her shoulders squeamishly, as if someone had just gotten her dirty.

As they closed in on the labor room, the atmosphere heated up inside. Sakura remembers it well, and also that being together was difficult. Any attempt at conversation led to an argument or misunderstanding. The more the tension grew, the more fear and distrust of each other grew. The fight between Naruto and Sasuke, even if it happened after that conversation, was worth it. But the guys stayed close: loud and bickering with each other, but unharmed. Even the perpetually annoying Sakura, but unharmed Karin could have been comparable to a breath of fresh air. Perhaps she would have brought relief.

But there was no hint of her presence, only the stinking odor of death. It permeated the entire office, drowning in decaying rot and chairs scattered everywhere. The shabby walls are speckled with dried splatters of someone's blood, as if to suggest that they might have made their way here. The realization brings tears to her eyes, and something painfully oppressive and burning inside Sakura. It cuts hard and strong. It feels like it's going to tear from the inside out, like a knife ripping open and letting her insides fall out.

Sakura sobs pitifully. What should she do?

The dried bloodstains on the wall screamed to Sakura that something really bad had happened here. It was clearly waiting for its time to break into the damn office and force the others to leave the place. Forcing the guys to leave, or maybe even go to feed on the infected, dooming Sakura to be alone. The last assumption only stiffens her more, instilling fear. Sakura realizes that she wasn't friends with many people, and it's unlikely that her classmates enjoyed her company either, except Naruto, because that simpleton had always loved her. It was annoying, and it still caused a storm of resentment. But Sakura didn't wish that fate for him or any of them, just like she didn't wish it for everyone else in the school.