Seeing that the bus had finally arrived at the base of the school just beneath the rope, Howlite saw the opportunity of escape just a slide down. He watched as the remaining students begin to file one by one down the rope, until only Howlite, Ren, and Sakura were the only ones on the roof.

[b]"Go,"[/b] Howlite spoke up as sounds of undead hands slamming against the door to the roof started, knowing that it wouldn't hold too long.

Ren, hearing and seeing the same, stood up. [b]"You're coming too, right?"[/b]

[b]"Of course I am,"[/b] Howlite replied. [b]"But with that arm of yours, you're going to need some time getting down, so you go first."[/b]

[b]"What about you two?"[/b]

Howlite blinked, tensing himself. [b]"You're going to need some time, so we'll hold them off for a little bit before we get overwhelmed."[/b]

[b]"Are you crazy? With a protr-"[/b]

[b]"Shut up! You could've already been halfway down the rope! Just go!"[/b] Howlite shouted, the hinges of the door beginning to give in from the combined strength of the zombies hitting the door. With his eyes completely fixated on the entrance, he did not turn back as he heard reluctant feet shuffle towards the rope, sighing in relief. When his friend went over the edge, Howlite breathed deeply as the hinges finally broke, and the undead tripped over their own as they flocked straight through.

Howlite nodded towards Sakura and decked the first zombie coming towards him, taking a short hop back before lunging his fist towards another, causing it to fall back and knocking over a number of the zombies in the incoming horde that were on the roof like bowling pins. Though, in mere seconds, the horde only grew more in numbers as the danger of being overwhelmed grew, to the point where they were faced with nearly a dozen walking corpses.

Throwing punch after punch, Howlite was able to land one final haymaker before the protractor shattered and his knuckles bled from the glass. [b]"Damn it!"[/b] he winced, his voice full of fear as the two of them found themselves backing away from the advancing crowd. [b]"Go down the rope! I'll continue fending them off!"[/b]

But the next thing that Howlite saw was haunting. The girl turned to him with a smile on her face, despite the odds, and uttered a goodbye as she plunged herself into the horde. [b]"What-"[/b] he could only extend a hand as the shrieks of the girl filled the air and the zombies, tearing away at their food, feasted on her. [i]She sacrificed herself.[/i] Knowing that standing there in thought for another moment longer would get him killed, he turned and quickly wrapped his sweaty hands along the rope, sliding down as a few of the undead from above threw themselves off of the building and down to the bus.

[b]"Good, he made it,"[/b] Howlite said to himself as he saw Ren glaring upwards from through the hatch, seeing the other boy-- [i]Mat, was it?--[/i] standing atop of the bus alongside Yami. As he slid down, he saw one of the zombies from the roof catch Mat off guard and, landing directly onto him, knocking him off of the bus' roof and into the mass surrounding the bus. He winced at the sight, but at the back of his mind, he thought of only his own safety. Howlite's feet nearly slipped as he landed on the roof of the bus, quickly turning to Yami before heading down. [b]"That's all of us, I'm gonna close the hatch!"[/b]

And with that, Howlite jumped down into the inside, reaching up and pulling down the hatch. He breathed heavily, unsure if his heart was about to rip straight through his chest as he ran up to the driver's seat. [b]"Drive!"[/b]