Something Outside!
The bread had grown a little dry and hard, but as he chewed, it still had the sweetness peculiar to grain.
The milk was still cold. It sent a slight chill down his throat, thoroughly moistening its dryness.
He ate slowly, trying to keep each mouthful in his mouth a little longer so his body could absorb more energy.
When he finished, he stuffed the wrapper and empty carton into a cardboard box and pushed it into a corner. Then he leaned up to the peephole and looked outside.
It had gone quiet outside. There were no lights of any kind. Only moonlight!
Under the moonlight, the classroom was divided into six areas, with each group sitting together in a circle.
One person in each group was awake, keeping an eye on the surroundings.
The others were either reclining or lying down, and some were already snoring softly.
The young man named Shen Cheng was one of those keeping the first watch.
He sat at the edge of his group, his back against an overturned desk, his eyes sweeping over every corner of the classroom.
His posture wasn't tense, but he was alert. Every few seconds, he shifted his gaze, never looking at one spot for too long.
The fat man was awake too.
He sat cross-legged in the middle, a desk leg resting across his knees, the flesh on his face gleaming in the candlelight.
His expression was much more relaxed than it had been during the day, but he never closed his eyes. Every now and then, he rubbed the corners of his eyes before widening them again to watch the surroundings.
He and Shen Cheng had fought together, and the fight had brought them together. The two of them were actually chatting in low voices, occasionally elbowing each other and laughing.
The other four people on watch were stationed in different parts of the classroom, dividing the whole space into several overlapping surveillance zones.
From Lin Yang's perspective, the watch system was logically watertight, at least.
He turned his gaze to the other end of the classroom.
None of the eight people in the muscular man's group were keeping watch. They were huddled in the back right of the classroom, about ten meters from Lin Yang.
The muscular man himself was half-reclining on a desk, his legs propped up. He looked quite comfortable.
He held a delicate-looking woman in his arms. Despite having been here so long, she had barely gotten dirty!
The others in his group were in various positions, some leaning against the wall and others slumped over desks. But no one was keeping watch.
The skinny underling asked, "Brother Hao, say, shouldn't we get some people to keep watch like they are?"
The muscular man snorted.
"What are you afraid of? Their people are keeping watch!"
The muscular man jerked his chin toward the group on watch, a hint of smugness in his voice.
"We're in the back, doing nothing and letting them keep watch for us for free. We get to reap the benefits without lifting a finger. Pretty clever, right?"
The skinny man chuckled in agreement, a dry, brief laugh. Then the eight of them closed their eyes in that self-satisfied sense of security.
Lin Yang looked away.
He hated people like that most of all.
They thought they were clever. Little did they know that in the face of danger, everyone had to work together for even a chance of survival. Those who hid in the back and thought themselves clever usually ended up dead!
He rubbed his eyes.
The moon had risen to the middle of the sky, and cold, white light poured straight down through the high windows, leaving the shadows on the classroom floor very short.
Just as he was about to turn around and go to sleep, the view through the peephole suddenly went black!
Lin Yang's pupils contracted sharply, and his body instinctively recoiled two inches.
The darkness lingered for only an instant before pulling back.
It was an eye!
Its white was a cloudy pale yellow, covered in fine blood vessels!
Its pupil was vertical, like that of some reptile, and a shiny black spot at its very center was aimed straight at the peephole, straight at him!
"Who is it!!"