The Endgame Chronicles (by Hugh White) novel Chapter 556

Chapter 556

The moment the student Zombies saw Hayley, they exploded out of their seats.

Chairs screeched across the floor. They swarmed the back door in a frenzy, arms flailing, slamming their bodies against it.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The outward–swinging wooden door shook violently under the impact, Dust that had probably been sitting there for years puffed loose with every hit. The faded yellow paint flaked off in brittle strips, drifting down like dead skin shaken loose after

sudden movement.

Hayley caught that detail.

Something wasn’t right.

That kind of buildup meant the door hadn’t been opened in a long time.

Plus, this door swung outward. You couldn’t lock it from the inside.

She stared at the handle. Under Griffin’s watchful look, she pressed it down slowly.

“Captain Gorgeous, I’ll…”

Click.

She didn’t need him to finish.

The handle moved barely an inch before it hit solid resistance. It was locked.

She was right.

The zombies inside clawed at the door, separated from her by nothing but wood.

Hayley stepped away and moved toward the front door of the same classroom. As she walked, the entire group inside shuffled with her, tracking her position like a single organism.

She pressed that handle, too.

She felt the same resistance. It was locked as well.

Hayley moved down the hallway, testing several more classrooms.

Every single one was packed full of students, and every single door was locked.

After checking the entire fifth floor, she straightened.

“They were locked in from the outside,” she said quietly.

“Why?” Griffin asked.

“Because classroom doors only lock from the outside. Not from inside.”

Some schools might’ve had interior bolts, but most didn’t

If every door was locked, that meant someone had used keys Someone had sealed them in the student zombies had never lett

these rooms.

Griffin frowned. “If someone locked them in, why are there still so many zombie students outside?”

Hayley lifted her eyes to the classroom placards beside the doors. These were all seniors

She tapped one of the signs.

+15 Bonus

“Look at the grade level. They’re all seniors. Seniors start earlier than the other grades. The rest probably hadn’t arrived yet. That’s why only they were locked in.”

Griffin nodded immediately To him, Captain Gorgeous was always sharp, always noticing what others missed.

“So someone locked them up when they saw them turning?” he asked.

Hayley shook her head slowly. “I don’t know.”

There wasn’t enough information yet.

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