As Flora Bloom ran, she really wanted to smack herself on the head.
She had noticed earlier how eerily quiet the school was, with not a person or a zombie in sight. She should have realized it then. The giant mantis and the golden cicada were creatures that had evolved due to the virus, giving them a natural advantage in the new hierarchy. In a one-on-one fight, an evolved creature could easily kill a mutated zombie or a zombie animal.
With two behemoths like the giant mantis and the giant golden cicada on campus, the zombies naturally wouldn't dare to show themselves. After all, evolved creatures could also use the Crystal Cores in zombies' brains to level up and evolve further.
The pile of corpses by the fountain had already proven this point.
She'd been so happy about recruiting two new heavy hitters that she'd completely forgotten about this detail. And now, without the giant mantis and golden cicada to keep them in check, the zombies were becoming active again.
And there they were. Not far behind them, a black tide of zombies blotted out the ground, with no end in sight. If they were caught, there wouldn't even be a fight. No matter how powerful Flora Bloom was, being surrounded would be a death sentence.
Flora Bloom and Neal Wallace were holding up okay. The awakening of their superpowers had also improved their physical constitution, so even during this desperate sprint, they both had plenty of stamina left. Making it to the school gate would be no problem.
But Ethan Monroe wasn't so lucky. He was already overweight, and even with his tall frame and long legs, he was still an ordinary person who hadn't awakened a superpower. After just a minute of running, he was already gasping for breath.
While running, Flora Bloom pulled out a bottle of space water and tossed it to him.
Ethan Monroe twisted off the cap and, without a second thought, chugged the entire bottle.
After finishing the water, Ethan Monroe suddenly felt his fatigue vanish completely. He felt as energized as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep, and he gradually caught up to the other two.
But less than three minutes later, Ethan Monroe started falling behind again as exhaustion washed over him once more.
Flora Bloom handed him another bottle of space water.
After drinking the water, Ethan Monroe was again full of energy and felt no fatigue. He ran alongside Flora Bloom and Neal Wallace all the way to the school gate.
But the scene before them made Flora Bloom's brow furrow deeply.
The door of her SUV was open. The glass of the rear left door, which was ajar, was shattered. It was a good thing she hadn't had time to install the car alarm; if the glass breaking had set it off, this area would have been swarming with zombies by now.
And standing in front of her car was a group of people. She recognized one of the men; he was the athletics representative of their class, tall and muscular.
Seeing him princess-carrying a sobbing Belle Bloom, Flora Bloom had a thought: 'What a simpleton.'
The leader of this group was, surprisingly, their homeroom teacher. Most of the survivors in the group were from their class.
When the group saw Flora Bloom's trio appear, they all glared viciously. Belle Bloom, in particular, started crying even harder when she saw them arrive.
It seemed that before they got back, Belle Bloom had already exposed the "vicious true colors" of the three of them.
"Flora Bloom, are you even human? Don't think you're so great just because Young Master Underwood has your back!"
The speaker was a girl who often made snide remarks to provoke her in class. In the past, her words would often make Flora Bloom blush with anger.
"Flora Bloom, you're so heartless you even tried to kill your own sister! You're not human!"
"Flora Bloom, if you know what's good for you, get over here and apologize to Belle! Otherwise, we won't let you off!"
"That's right, we can't let her get away with this!"
"Class president, let's drag her over here to apologize to Belle!"
"We can't let someone like her bully others!"
"Right, apologize!"
"Apologize!"
If this were her past life, facing these accusations, Flora Bloom would have either cried or felt wronged.
But now, reborn, she had long shed her former weakness and naivety. Amidst the chorus of condemnation, she suddenly flashed a brilliant smile.
She had always been bewitchingly beautiful, and after bonding with the space and awakening her superpower, her looks had only improved. That single smile instantly caused the voices of the boys present to trail off.
She walked toward the group, moving especially close to the athletics rep who was holding Belle Bloom.
"Looks like a lot of people from our class survived."
Then Flora Bloom looked up into the athletics rep's eyes, her own filled with scorn. 'Playing the victim and shifting the blame? Anyone can do that.'
"Do you have any idea why I locked her in the car?"
The athletics rep suddenly found it hard to breathe under her otherworldly, bewitching gaze. But looking at the wronged, crying Belle Bloom in his arms, he straightened his posture and said sternly, "Hmph, you two are half-sisters. You're jealous that your father likes her more, so you want to kill her!"
Hearing this answer, Flora Bloom suddenly started to laugh.
'Living a second life, I can only say my past self was a fool.' How could she have only seen Belle Bloom's true colors now?
"What are you laughing at? Even though it's the end of the world, the army will come to rescue us soon. If you kill someone, you'll have to pay the price."
A girl's voice spoke with self-righteousness. When she saw Flora Bloom looking at her, she glared back. This girl was the class's discipline monitor and was highly trusted by the homeroom teacher. She had never been one to mock Flora Bloom over anything, so Flora Bloom's impression of her had been pretty good.
Hearing her words, Flora Bloom's smile grew even wider.
"Naive."
"When I, Flora Bloom, want to kill someone, no one can stop me. It's useless for anyone to try."
As she spoke, the corner of her lips curled up as she pointed at Belle Bloom.
"Do you know why I locked her in the car instead of killing her?"
Flora Bloom suddenly strode forward and pulled back the sleeve of Belle's jacket, revealing a deep gash beneath.
"I'm sure everyone has seen the zombies in the school. You've probably also seen with your own eyes what happens after being scratched or bitten by one. Belle Bloom, that wound on your arm—don't tell me you were bitten by a dog?"
At these words, the athletics rep who had been holding Belle Bloom began to turn pale.
Their group had gone through inhuman torment on the day the apocalypse broke out. They had watched their own classmates and teachers turn into zombies and then tear into other students and teachers.
And those who were bitten or scratched would soon turn into zombies themselves, pouncing on the people around them. They had barely managed to escape from the cafeteria and classrooms, hiding in the swimming pool, which was closest to the school's back gate. They only escaped the school because there were no zombies at the back gate.
His arms holding Belle Bloom gradually went slack. Belle, losing her support, nearly fell to the ground.
And the classmates who had been surrounding her, speaking up for her, now all took several steps back, distancing themselves from her.
Flora Bloom smiled. 'See? This is human nature.'
When faced with a situation that surpasses their bottom line, humans will automatically do what is most beneficial to themselves.
This was one of those moments.
Having witnessed the horrific scenes of what happens after a zombie scratch, the group began to inch closer to Flora Bloom.
Isolated by the crowd thanks to a few words from Flora Bloom, Belle Bloom started crying again.
"Sis, why are you doing this to me? I was so happy to run into you while escaping, because you're my sister, and I thought you would protect me!"
"But, you shouldn't have hurt me with a weapon just because this fat guy wanted to have his way with me!"
As Belle Bloom spoke, she pointed a finger at Ethan Monroe.
At this, Ethan Monroe was stunned.
'Son of a bitch! Me, want to have my way with you? Get real! This little bitch is really something else. One act after another, weaving a web of lies that just spill right out of her mouth.'
The three of them knew it was a lie, but the others present didn't.
Flora Bloom wasn't in the mood to explain anything. She just chuckled, brandished the axe in her hand, and said coldly, "Why didn't I just kill you with one swing, you little bitch?"
Threatened like this, Belle Bloom cried so hard she could barely breathe. And the people who had started to move toward Flora Bloom now began to show sympathy for Belle again.
Flora Bloom had already noticed the zombie horde in the distance. But this group was still dilly-dallying here. So she pushed aside the few people blocking her car and said, "Move. If you want to die, stay here."
Then she motioned for Neal Wallace and Ethan Monroe to get in the car.
But the group, with the exception of the homeroom teacher who had been silent from the start, blocked her path.
"What, trying to run now that your little scheme has been exposed?"
"Exactly! You think you're justified in trying to kill someone?"
"And this fat guy, don't think you can do whatever you want just because it's the apocalypse."
"That's right! There are more of us! Like hell we're afraid of you!"
Just then, the homeroom teacher suddenly walked over and patted Flora Bloom on the shoulder, speaking in a grave and meaningful tone. "Flora Bloom, Teacher believes you're a good kid. Did..." She suddenly glanced at Ethan Monroe and Neal Wallace, then said with profound meaning, "Did they threaten you?"
Hearing this, Flora Bloom didn't know whether to laugh or die laughing. She slapped her hand away and said, "Teacher, I respect your willingness to risk your life for these idiots who can't tell right from wrong. But I have to remind you of something. This is the apocalypse. Human nature isn't as simple as you think."