It didn’t take long to finish dinner, mainly because no one was even slightly excited to talk. When the entire group of 100 students and teachers gather, it turned into a gloomy atmosphere for everyone. Even my group of Sasha, Leo and my new delinquent friend Tyler, weren’t able to talk because of how depressing it was.

Unable to talk it was only a matter of course that everyone ate fast. Without anything else to preoccupy their thoughts they wolfed down the food at an amazing pace. However the food limit was not infinite and the amount of food each person got was minimal. Naturally the bigger people didn’t get a portion it was decided unanimously that everyone regardless would get the same amount. This left for arguments however once Leo who was one of the largest people here spoke up, naturally the rest of the bigger students who were mainly jocks of some sport shut their mouths.

I gathered all of the disposable waste and threw it into one of the garbage bins. Quickly after I gathered back with my friends as we walked to a separate room. We didn’t chat on the way to get even a bit closer to our destination. After arriving in a small room that contained a bunch of equipment for sports we closed the door behind us. I made eye contact with everyone and then decided to finally talk.

“Alright. I guess I’ll be blunt, what are everyone’s thoughts on staying with the group?”

As I spoke, I brought up the main topic immediately. After all to survive we had to look after ourselves first, and others after. I would die for my friends, but there is absolutely no way I would die for a person that I didn’t even know their name. Or that I didn’t even care to know their name. It might seem selfish, but since when was being selfish ever a problem when it came to living? If I lived I was the one who gets to enjoy it, dying doesn’t seem all too fun. However I wasn’t the only person here and I couldn’t just decide for everyone, as such Leo was the first to respond.

“I vote for staying. Ryker, they are our peers. I can’t leave them.”

It wasn’t like I needed to hear what he said to know what he wanted to do. He was the kindest person I knew and sometimes I wondered how someone as antisocial as I could befriend the guy to begin with, however it might be just because of that point that I’m able to get along with him so well. I don’t have to worry about him talking behind my back because honestly he’s not intelligent enough to keep secrets and also he wasn’t that sort of person to begin with. Of course I Say bad things about him because it’s a certain duty as a best friend, an obligation of sorts.

Anyways Sasha didn’t even bat an eye to Leo’s answer and only quietly thought to herself. I didn’t expect her to answer next after all she was the person who thought secretly to herself even more than I did. Sasha was popular and overall a nice person, however to her enemies she made sure they died in a fiery pit of hell, while she would laugh at them from afar. That’s exaggerated and I almost feel bad for thinking like that, but seriously she’s not one to be messed with.

Sasha takes revenge quite seriously as she’s the most competitive person I have met. Truthfully she’s the reason I stopped trying in school because when I beat her she’d go full study mode and start studying for weeks without being seen only to lose again. I felt bad, and sort of stopped trying and because I wasn’t bothered by the rest of the students for being that smart anymore it was nicer. I soon realized it became a habit not to try anymore, thus she didn’t need to disappear although deep down she wanted to face off again, and again until she truly won.

Anyways instead of Sasha answering, Tyler spoke up.

“Truthfully I want to stay as well, but I care more about my friend who is also stuck here, so as long as I can bring her with me I’ll stay neutral and follow whatever decision you guys make.”

“Who is your friend Tyler?”

Sasha asked with a teasing look, at which Tyler turned bright red. Of course Sasha didn’t let that go and started to tease him even more. While Leo and I just giggled, it wasn’t the first time seeing Sasha go all out on teasing. When Leo had his first crush on Sasha’ older sister, she was non stop pretending to break the news to her sister about it, where Leo would flip and body slam into Sasha to prevent the end of his world. Naturally as the spectator I got all the laughs of both sides.

That was until they finally found something was strange that I didn’t have a crush. I could only think ‘Why can’t we tease Sasha about her crush?’. Thus when I told them I didn’t have a special someone Sasha unhappily rebuked me and ended up hassling me telling me I was wasting my youth. What is she an old woman? Obviously if I said that she would kill me so I chose to keep it in my head. Tyler finally gave in and spoke up.

“Her name is Rebeca. She’s the girl with the black twin braided hair and glasses, she has some freckles around her face and dark blue eyes.”

“Oh for you to notice such important details you must really like her huh?”

Sasha once again teased Tyler, he didn’t give the details about her skin or height or shoe size thankfully, but it was enough for me to picture someone in my head. All students had to wear a uniform so it wasn’t as if our clothing was different. Thus to point out these finer details was somewhat important on finding a person. Although had Tyler just pointed out about twin braids that was enough to know who it was, at least to Sasha.

Don’t ask me why, for some reason Sasha made it her job to find out every girl’s name and memorize them. She told me many times before it was for investigating, for what? I don’t even want to know.

“Well it’s fine regardless, it’s not as if even having a few more people would hinder us. As long as we trust them that’s the important issue here.”

“She gets scared easily, but she cares deeply for her friends.”

“That’s all that I need to hear then!”

It was an easy decision. I wasn’t a hard person to convince but whether or not someone was trustworthy was the number one important thing for me. If I felt the person would stab me in the back later, fat chance that I would even try and recruit or help them.

“Well Sasha, I think we all know what my opinion is, so let’s hear yours.”

Sasha brought her finger to her mouth in a cute manner, and pretended to ponder for a moment. I knew she had already thought of her answer just didn’t want to rush her actions. Always the careful and secretive type she was. She finally answered after going ‘home’ for a solid minute.

“I think it’s best to stay grouped for the time being. At the very least until we understand the situation a bit more. If something major happens it would be better to have more people.”

For a meat shield is what she wanted to say but Sasha hid it well and only ended her sentence there. She wasn’t evil, and nor was I, but we were both realistic people and able to grasp a situation clearly. The advantages and disadvantages are important to look at from an objective point of view. Of course I was also neutral in this situation. Whether we stayed grouped for now it would have the positive of having multiple people to fend off monsters. While being in a small group made it easier to venture and easier to ration food. However the disadvantages were also clear, it was slower in large groups and becoming a target was easier. However being in a small group was faster, however if caught in a fight against a large number of enemies, death was the only answer.

“Well let’s stay for now and see how the situation unfolds, however I need to stress this, our lives are important and it takes priority over everyone else. Now the five us including Tyler’s girlfriend will join and fight to survive together. Leo that means no sacrificing yourself for others unless we all agree. Tyler, the decisions of the group are made by all of us if you have opinion you need to share it, it may save our lives. Sasha, you just be you…..”

I gave small advice to everyone. It was simple but clear and decisive but little did I know at the time that just by using the small idea it would save our lives as the longest night of my life was about to begin!