They continued to move, Saeko would push them out of the way using swift movements with her hands or bokken. Easily causing them to stumble to the side out of their way as they traveled.

Seth however smashed any head that got near him with a strong wave of the sword, as long as he didn't exert himself, casual swings like this would be fine.

Saeko at first seemed distracted, able to see his reflection in the windows as they passed, however when she noticed he was keeping pace and it looked like no more than a casual swing was strong enough, she focused on the task at hand.

It was when they began to hear an echoing firing noise, not as loud as a normal firearm, much more suppressed but due to the halls it echoed quite far.

Seth listened as Saeko spoke. ''That came from the faculty hall, what is it?"

"Sounds like a nail gun, a smart choice for a weapon if you can't handle yourself in melee, much quieter than some suppressed firearms, though the halls cause the shots to echo, which isn't good. Let's move, they might need help."

Sure enough, the scream came and they broke into a sprint.

Shortly after arriving they heard the loud noise of a bush trimmer roar out, Seth curse out loud as he extended his stride to overtake Saeko, he came around into the hall.

Needing to shout a bit loud to be heard over the noise. ''Down Range! Stop making noise!"

A bit hypocritical since he was yelling, but at least he had a reason. Shortly after the sound stopped did Seth appear in a flurry of blows and he worked his way through the small horde just as his own group joined him, Saeko finishing the remaining few off as Rei stabbed the remaining one through the head, forcing it down and to the side so it slid off her makeshift spear.

Just as they finished and Seth began to walk over, the pink-haired girl began to speak loudly. ''Who ar-!"

She was shut up as Seth's large hand caught her pretty face. Forcing her mouth closed as he put force into his grip to make sure she paid attention. Hissing out in a lowered voice, only loud enough for the group to hear. ''Quiet, they respond to sounds. I'm going to remove my hand now, can you be quiet?"

Seth's tone left no room for argument as she nodded her head, the brown-haired boy looked ready to use the bat in his hand to hit Seth. Noticing the tension, Saeko was ready to attack, though she wasn't sure why.

Seth released her mouth and she released a deep breath, settling herself before she spoke quieter this time. ''Who are you?"

"A friend to Shizuka, Seth Mason from A-"

"Ace Biology, lead researcher, and the man who developed the muscle stimulant, I've been following yo-''

"That's great, let's get into the faculty room to talk more, the door looks thick so it'll suppress sounds better."

Everyone nodded as they all made their way into the room, closing the door behind them Saeko moved over to the T.V. that was already on along with Rei, the volume was already turned down quite low so it was fine as they all watched it.

"Shizuka, get the bus keys, can you still drive?"

"Yes sir!" She gave a mock salute, helping lighten the gloomy mood around them, since she wasn't the only adult and not even the oldest it was much easier for her to be herself.

Seth turned to the fat boy, giving him a nod. ''Smart move what you did, making a makeshift firearm out of a nailgun and some basic materials, keep a melee weapon on you just in case you need to use it. The nailgun is quiet when compared to a firearm and still puts them down. Try not to use it in the school the best you can, it causes an echo."

The boy's eyes lit up like a flame as he was praised for his skills, thrusting out his hand he spoke up. "Kohta Hirano, you can call me Kohta!"

Seth caught his hand, despite Kohta's chubbier appearance, his hands were calloused and he had muscle in his hand. Kohta wasn't a tall male, he was 158 cm, or 5' 2''. With black eyes and brown eyes. With a firm shake, they released each other's hands.

"Seth Mason, just call me Seth."

Kohta nodded, fire in his eyes, Rei walked over. Rei was another beautiful young lady, standing at 164 cm or 5' 5'' she had long brown hair and deep amber eyes that looked almost red. ''Rei Miyamoto, please just call me Rei."

He shook her hand as well. ''I know your father, good Detective."

Rei smiled at that, glad to hear her dad get the praise he deserved. ''Thank you, I'm proud he's my father." Seth and her smiled at each other before Takashi stepped forward, rubbing at the back of his head.

''Sorry about before... Saya's a childhood friend so when you grabbed her suddenly I got jumpy, I'm Takashi Komuro, please just call me Takashi."

Seth reached forward and shook his hand as well. Takashi was a handsome youth, standing 176 cm or 5' 9'' with black hair and brown eyes. When they shook hands he noted the strength to his grip.

"It's fine, I'm also at fault, we're all a bit jumpy. Good to meet you Takashi, I'm Seth Mason, just Seth please."

Say was the last person to step forward, looking better now that she had gotten herself together, a brave face Seth was sure since her hands were gripping into her upper arms as she crossed her arms beneath her. She was short for a lady her age, standing at 155cm, or 5' 1''. Her crossed arms lifted her sizable bust up even more as she looked at him behind her glasses, with long pink hair and orange eyes.

There was a hint of... admiration in her eyes.

"Saya Takagi, correct?" Seth reached forward, offering his hand.

She raised her brows a bit before nodding, taking his hand. ''As you know, Seth Mason, Lead Researcher at Ace Biology, the person who created the Muscle Stimulant AL004."

"How'd you already know my name?" She asked, a brow raised.

''Your paper on the hormone estrogen and how it affects men, I remember you turning it in at a funding party held by your Father. I may have only noticed you because your Father donated a sizable amount, but your paper made me remember you. Some of my colleagues were impressed as well, including Misla."

Saya stilled at that, a blush working up her cheeks at the praise, her pride bolstering as someone well known in the field of medicine was saying a paper of hers was good enough to make her worth remembering. But she stilled, near short-circuiting when she heard the name Misla.

''Y-y-y-y-you mean Misla... As in Misla Yuriko? The woman who won the Noble Prize of Chemistry last year?"

(This is an OC, based on Ada Yonath, her work is pretty interesting, go check it out. It also helps give a bit of background as to the kind of team Seth was working with to make AL004 possible.)

Seth chuckled, releasing her hand as she struggled to compose herself. ''The very same, I heard she was hoping you'd go into the field of medicine to maybe see if she could put your bright mind to use and pick at it."

Saya was over the moon with that information, for the longest time now she had been claiming herself a genius, which is not exactly wrong. Hadn't been proven correct since she was overshadowed so heavily by her Father and Mother, but now she had proof she was!

Although instead of making her more overbearing, it actually helped settle her, the fear she had gone through becoming easier to cope with now that she had a piece of her fulfilled, to others, it might seem small or stupid but to her. Who had been trying so hard to show her intelligence off any way she could, it was a major victory.

Saeko stepped forward as introductions seemed to have finished. ''Seth, we should go while there's still plenty of light out.. Does anyone have any family close by?"

There were headshakes all around, Takashi speaking. ''Both mine and Rei's parents are across the bridge, but I trust my parents to be safe and Rei's dad's a detective so he'll keep her mother safe."

With that, they began to head to the bus, however, before they headed to the main stairs Seth spoke up. ''Let's head to a different set of stairs, during the commotion a lot of people were seen congregating near the front door, let's take a side window and jump out."

They all easily agreed to his words as they followed Saeko and Takashi, Rei and Seth were taking the back of the group.

Once they found the window, they were significantly closer to the bus but there were still quite a few zombies around.

The windows were large so he was able to grab a chair on his way out. "Shizuka, the moment we're all in, start the bus and plow through them. Make your way to Rika's place, her jeep should fit all of us with a bit of a squeeze, and we can grab her guns and radio."

Shizuka smiled wide at that before nodding, Kohta heard 'Gun' and was ready to face God for them, Rei and Saya were both excited because the radio meant they might be able to contact their parents.

Once they began to travel quietly but quickly, Seth just threw the chair through a glass window, the loud noise attracted the zombies away from the bus.

Once they were in, they were soon off.

Was Seth aware that his taking a different, faster route may have condemned the students in the stairs, and the ones traveling with Shido? Yes.

But in return, he would get a live test subject. Shido wasn't someone he had any qualms with using for his own benefit.