"The sun is going down," I said, looking at the long shadows stretching across the hallway. "In every horror movie and psychological study on fear, everything gets worse in the dark. We need to stop."
Grayson pointed his flashlight toward a heavy door with reinforced glass. "The Chemistry Lab. It's got double-locked doors, emergency shutters, and its own ventilation. It's the most secure room in this wing."
We moved quickly. Grayson used his engineering tools to bypass the electronic lock, and we slipped inside. The room smelled like ozone and cold tile. Nicholas and Grayson immediately pushed two heavy lab benches against the door, while I pulled the metal shutters down over the windows.
The click of the shutters felt like a victory. For the first time since the portal opened, the screaming from outside was muffled.
[AREA SECURED: TEMPORARY SAFE ZONE]
[REST BONUS ACTIVATED: +10% STAMINA RECOVERY]
Neveah sat on a lab stool, dumping the medical supplies onto a clean counter. "We have enough gauze for weeks, and these antibiotics are gold. Good call on the negotiation, Viv."
I leaned against a chalkboard covered in half-finished equations. My body felt like lead. I opened my bag and pulled out one of the granola bars, breaking it in half to share with the group.
"We need a watch rotation," I said, my voice tired. "Two hours on, four hours off. Nicholas, you're the strongest, so you take the first shift with Grayson. Neveah and I will take the second."
As the guys moved to the door to keep watch, I sat on the floor and opened my system menu. The golden rank list was still glowing in the dark room.
[THE ALUMNI: RANK #40]
We were moving up, even while sitting still. I looked at my reinforced thesis book resting in my lap. The serrated metal edges caught the faint light of the emergency exit sign.
"Viv?" Neveah asked softly from across the room. "Do you think the graduation ceremony is still happening? Or is everyone... gone?"
I looked at the "System" notifications flickering in my eyes. "I think the ceremony changed, Nev. This is the commencement now. We're just trying to make it to the after-party."
I closed my eyes, but my brain was already mapping out the Science Building. Somewhere in this dark school, there was a reason the sky broke. And as a Psychology major, I knew one thing for sure: every system has a core. We just had to find it.
The heavy metal shutters kept the moonlight out, leaving the lab in a soft, orange glow from a single emergency lantern. The four of us sat in a circle on the floor, the cold tile chilled by the night air. We ate our granola bars in silence for a while, the only sound being the distant, muffled moans from the quad.
"I didn't think I'd be spending my graduation night on a linoleum floor," Nicholas said, picking at the tape on his bat. He looked at Grayson. "Hey, man. How did you even get that buffer to work without a cord?"
Grayson leaned back against a lab cabinet. "The System. When I leveled up, I got a passive skill called [Internal Battery]. I can touch a machine and 'feed' it a bit of my own stamina. It's why I'm so hungry right now." He took a huge bite of his bar. "What about you, Viv? You're the one with the high 'Intellect' stat. What do you see that we don't?"
I looked at my reinforced book. "I see patterns," I said softly. "The monsters don't just wander. They follow sound and heat, but they also seem to avoid the Science Building's basement. Like they're scared of something down there. Or something is keeping them out."
Neveah hugged her knees to her chest. "I'm scared of the 'Healer' tag," she admitted. her voice was a tiny whisper. "The System says if I fail to save someone, I lose experience points. It makes every scratch feel like a test I'm going to fail."
"You won't fail," Grayson said, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "We have the best stats on campus. Look at the rankings."
I pulled up the screen so we could all see it.
[RANK #40: THE ALUMNI]
[SQUAD GOAL: REACH LEVEL 5 (ALL MEMBERS)]
[REWARD: CLASS EVOLUTION UNLOCK]
"Class Evolution," I mused. "The System wants us to grow. It's like a twisted RPG. But the part that worries me isn't the monsters."
"Then what?" Nicholas asked.
"The other groups," I said. "The 'Iron Junkyard' guys weren't just fighting for meds. They were enjoying the power. In psychology, there's a thing called the *Lucifer Effect*. When you take away the rules, good people do terrible things because they feel like they have permission. The System is giving everyone permission."
The room went quiet. We all realized that the zombies were just the first obstacle. The real challenge would be staying "human" while the System tried to turn us into "Players."
"We stay together," Nicholas said firmly, standing up to start his watch. "We're The Alumni. We finish the course together."
I nodded, feeling a bit more at ease. "Get some sleep, Neveah. I'll watch the monitors for a bit."