Goku, ever the curious Saiyan, turned towards the doorway. The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps grew louder, and then, two figures he instantly recognized burst into view. Goku's grin widened. "Bukujima Saeko! Miyamoto Rei! Heh! Look who decided to show up! My mental dream team is complete! Time to make like a Super Saiyan and get outta here… But where's that gloomy kid, Komuro Takashi?"
"Saya… Saya!" Rei cried out, her voice thick with emotion as she spotted her friend. She rushed forward and embraced Saya tightly. "Saya… Yong is dead… Xiao is dead… What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?" Rei, who had only just managed to compose herself, broke down in tears again, her eyes reflecting pure pain and helplessness.
"What? Xiao… Xiao is dead…? Dead?! What in the world happened?" Saya stammered, completely blindsided by the news. He was perfectly fine just this morning! How could he be gone?
As it turned out, without Takashi Komuro's warning from the original timeline, the zombie outbreak had thrown the school into utter chaos. Nagase's demise wasn't a gruesome bite; instead, he'd been shoved down a flight of stairs in the panicked stampede (a bit illogical, sure, but roll with it!). And Komuro Takashi himself, in a desperate attempt to protect Rei, had also been pushed down in the chaotic crowd, only to be… well, let's just say the zombies below had made short work of him.
Rei, utterly despondent, had contemplated taking the express route to the afterlife, but Saeko, arriving just in time, had managed to pull her back from the brink. After some much-needed comforting, Rei's emotional state had stabilized somewhat, until she heard Saya's terrified scream and rushed to her aid.
"Well, well, well," Goku mused internally. "Talk about a convenient butterfly effect! I was actually plotting how to get rid of that gloomy kid so I could have Rei all to myself, and BAM! Problem solved! Saves me the trouble!"
Seeing the two girls weeping, Goku clapped them both on the shoulder, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Hey, hey. My condolences. But look, the world's gone kablooey, okay? Death's gonna be knocking on everyone's door. This school? The whole planet's crawling with those brain-munchers! You gotta toughen up, because the people next to you could turn into zombie snacks any second now."
The women in the room stared at him, aghast. "The whole world…? How… how is that even possible…?"
Saeko, ever the composed one, fixed Goku with a steady gaze. "It seems you know more than you're letting on."
"Let's just say I took a bit of a… scenic route to get here. The streets outside? Already a zombie buffet. Waiting for help? About as likely as Vegeta admitting Goku's stronger. The only ones who can save us are… well, us! So, we gotta stick together, you dig? More heads, less dead heads, that's my motto!"
"Has it really gotten that bad?" Saeko's brow furrowed.
"So, here's the dealio. Two options. One: we punch our way out of this joint and find a safe spot to chill. Two: we make sure our families are still breathing, drag 'em along if they are, and then find a safe spot."
After a quick round of introductions, the group huddled and, mirroring the original story, decided to prioritize checking on their families first… and then finding a secure location.
"Alright then, listen up! Saeko and Rei, you two bring up the rear! I'll take point! Let's roll!" Goku declared heroically, striking a pose that would have made Captain Ginyu proud, and charged out of the utility room, the five girls trailing behind him.
"Oh yeah! Uh… where's the key to that bus on the school grounds?" Goku asked, casually decapitating a zombie with his mop stick. "Club room," Saeko replied without missing a beat. "Lead the way, then!"
Arriving at the club room, Saeko grabbed a ring of keys hanging on the wall. "This should be it!"
"You got it! Alright, ladies! Move out! Target: the big yellow thing on the field!" Goku yelled, leading the charge towards the school bus parked on the playground below.
With the inhumanly strong Goku clearing the path, their journey was surprisingly… stress-free.
"Help…! Help us…!" Suddenly, a dozen or so students came sprinting down a distant corridor, a large pack of zombies hot on their heels.
"Hurry! Run! They're catching up!" a male teacher shouted from the back of the panicked group.
"Saeko," Rei muttered, her voice tight with anger as she recognized the teacher. "It's Shido-sensei from Class 3A."
"That scum!" Miyamoto Rei spat, her face contorted with hatred as she glared at the teacher.
"Aaaah!" Suddenly, a young man stumbled and fell to the ground. He looked back at the approaching zombies, his face a mask of pure terror. He reached out his hands towards Shido-sensei. "Teacher… save me…!"
Shido-sensei slowly walked over to the fallen student. Then, as the boy looked up in desperate hope, Shido-sensei planted a brutal kick into his chest. "Wh-why… why, Shido-sensei…?" the boy gasped, clutching his chest in disbelief. "Didn't you say you'd get us out of here safely? Why… why did you…?"
Shido-sensei adjusted his glasses, his face a picture of cold indifference. "Well, I was hoping someone would slow them down… Since you conveniently tripped… looks like you drew the short straw." With that, he kicked the boy a few more times, glanced at the rapidly approaching zombies, and then turned tail and ran. The boy behind him was instantly engulfed by the undead, his heart-wrenching screams echoing through the corridor. But the fleeing students and teacher were only concerned with their own survival, completely oblivious to the horrific scene unfolding behind them… Except for Goku and his group, who stood directly opposite them.
"That monster! That absolute villain! Not only did he not help, he actually made things worse!" The five women were livid. Goku casually swatted another zombie with his mop stick, his eyes fixed on Shido-sensei and the fleeing students, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Man, I hated that guy in the anime! Well, now that we've met… he's about to regret it!"
"Get out of the way! Move it! Don't block the path!" A group of students, led by a cocky-looking yellow-haired boy, were barreling towards Goku and the girls.
The girls frowned but stepped aside. Only Goku remained standing in the middle of the corridor, his gaze unwavering as the students rushed towards him.
The students swerved around him, but the yellow-haired boy, brimming with arrogance, stopped right in front of Goku. "Hey, punk! Didn't you hear me? I told you to move! You got a death wish or something?" He then threw a punch at Goku's face.
Faster than the eye could see, Goku raised his foot and delivered a solid kick to the boy's stomach. The arrogant student flew backwards like a shot, slamming into the wall with a sickening thud before crumpling to the ground.
"Trash," Goku spat disdainfully. The girls, though slightly taken aback by Goku's brutality, remained silent.
Shido-sensei's eyes lit up when he saw Goku's display of power. When he then noticed the five attractive girls behind him, his eyes practically gleamed. "My fellow students! I'm Shido from Class 3-A! I see you all possess remarkable skills! How about you join our group? I, as your teacher, will ensure your safety!"
"Safety my hairy Saiyan butt, you disgusting excuse for a human!" Goku's hand shot out, grabbing Shido-sensei by the neck and hoisting him into the air. "I've seen my fair share of lowlifes, but you, pal, you take the rotten banana cake!" As Shido-sensei flailed in terror, Goku casually tossed him over the railing. "Aaaaaah!" A final, desperate scream echoed through the school before being abruptly cut short by a sickening thwump from the floor below. Third floor to ground floor? Yeah, not a good landing. The remaining students froze, their eyes wide with fear as they stared at Goku, but no one dared to utter a word.
The girls were surprised by Goku's ruthlessness, but none of them condemned him. In fact, a certain blonde with a ponytail looked particularly pleased. "Well done, Goku! That creep deserved what he got!"
Goku chuckled, turning to the remaining students. "Alright! The garbage has been taken out! Anyone else wanna join our little… escape committee?" The students scattered as if they'd just encountered a Super Saiyan sneeze, not wanting to be anywhere near this "demon" who dealt out death so casually.
"Bunch of scaredy-cats!" Goku muttered, glancing at the three women beside him (he'd momentarily forgotten Shizuka and Saya in the excitement). "Alright, let's get outta here!" He then led the women towards another staircase.
On the first floor, the main hall was teeming with shuffling undead. Goku casually slung his "golden staff" (the mop stick) over his shoulder. "Alright, listen up! I'll be the designated zombie magnet! You guys make a run for it while they're all oogling me!"
"That's too risky," Saya said, adjusting her glasses (her contacts were long gone). "From what I've observed, these… 'zombies' seem particularly sensitive to sound. If we move quietly, we might be able to slip past them. However, that's just a theory. Someone would need to test it…"
Saeko's gaze swept across the groaning horde. "I'll do it."
"Why bother with all the sneaking around? These guys are just zombie-flavored trash! No biggie!" Goku declared, puffing out his chest in a blatant attempt to impress the ladies. Ignoring their protests, he confidently strode into the hall.
"That… that idiot! He's so reckless!" Saya's face flushed with a mixture of anger and worry.
"Let's just see what he does. If he's that confident, he must have a plan," Saeko said, having a slightly better grasp of Goku's… unusual capabilities.
But when they saw Goku casually stroll into the hall and start tapping the nearest zombies on the head, instantly attracting the attention of the entire horde, the five women finally felt a genuine spike of fear.
"Is his brain fried?! Why would he do something so stupid?! Even if he wanted to distract them, he should have run far away first!" Gui Meilin exclaimed, her voice a mixture of fury and concern.
"A-ah! Goku's surrounded! We have to save him!" Shizuka cried, her usual airheadedness replaced with genuine panic as she watched Goku disappear under a wave of undead.
Just as Saeko and Rei were about to spring into action, a furious roar ripped through the hall. "YOU THINK I'M SOME KIND OF WEAKLING JUST 'CAUSE I'M HOLDING BACK?!" Goku tossed aside the mop stick and began kicking the surrounding zombies with the force of a Super Saiyan uppercut.
The five women watched in stunned silence as zombies went flying like overinflated balloons. "W-wow… so strong…"
"I knew he was strong," Saeko breathed, a flicker of excitement in her eyes, "but… not this strong…" Seeing that every single zombie in the hall was now fixated on the ridiculously powerful Saiyan, Saeko snapped into action, her voice sharp and commanding. "Quick! Now's our chance! Let's go!" She was the first to move, the other girls, finally jolted from their shock, scrambling to follow.
Author's Note:
Well, things escalated quickly, didn't they? Goku's unique approach to zombie crowd control is certainly… effective! Poor Shido-sensei learned the hard way that being a jerk in the apocalypse has severe consequences. And it looks like our heroes (and Goku) are finally making their escape!
Will Goku manage to keep all the lovely ladies safe? Will his… "attraction" technique actually work? And will they ever find a safe haven in this zombie-infested world? Find out in the next thrilling chapter! 🍜✨