The lunch lady was dead. By this point, Syd was no longer surprised. "Y'know," she said, swallowing, "I really don't feel like eating anything right now."

Through the corner of her eye, she saw Tom nod. "Me neither."

Just behind them, Didi remained silent, and unresponsive. Syd swallowed, looking at her classmate over her shoulder. It was a little awkward with Tom's arm slung over it, but she managed. "Doin' okay there, Dee?"

Didi looked at her, eyes empty, hollow. "Not really," she said softly. "I don't really feel like having lunch right now... Or ever..."

Tom grunted. "Can't say I blame ya."

Syd let out a slow breath. They would eventually need to eat something. A glance at the clock told her it was already about a quarter after noon. After a minute she asked, "D'you s'pose the kitchen is clean?"

"Of course. All the gory shit's out here, and we've only got one lunch lady. Why wouldn't the kitchen be clean?" His tone wasn't harsh, nor condescending. He was always like this, she'd come to realize. Blunt and straightforward. There was never any doubt what was on his mind when you had a conversation with him. Still, it never failed to throw her off just a little.

She blew out a sharp breath. "Has anyone ever told you that you're too blunt?"

"What?"

She looked over at him, his expression genuinely confused. For some reason, it struck her as the most hilarious thing she'd ever seen. She bit her lip in a futile attempt to keep herself from laughing. Needless to say, she couldn't contain it. It was just too funny!

Her laughter must've been infectious, because in spite of his obvious confusion, Tom's lips twitched into a half-smile. "What? What'd I miss?"

She shook her head, trying to control her giggling fit as tears pricked at her eyes. She failed, doubling over and clutching at her aching stomach, but she couldn't stop. "You're just... just so... haha..."

"Just so what?"

She looked up at him, then her gaze flicked past him to the bloody grinning head on one of the tables. Her stomach twisted in on itself, instantly bringing an end to her helpless giggles.

Tom noticed, and he grimaced. "Tell me later," he said. "Let's just check out the kitchen."

Syd nodded, though her appetite was still on hiatus. Still, it would give them something to do. She grabbed Tom's arm again, slinging it over her shoulders. She knew — even without looking — that he was rolling his eyes and trying to look annoyed. Except he still favored his bruised foot and leaned on her.

She would let him pretend he was only doing it to make her feel better. In a situation like this, she'd let him have his moments of petty manly pride.

Didi followed after them, though that was a loosely applied term. Syd was almost certain that the girl would just stand there, blank as a fresh sheet of paper, if Tom wasn't literally holding her hand.

Just outside the kitchen door, Tom tugged her to a stop. "Hey," he said, his low voice practically a whisper. "Do you hear that?"

Syd frowned, listening. She shook her head. "I don't — wait!" She closed her eyes, focusing entirely on her sense of hearing. She could just make out the faint murmuring coming from the kitchen. She swallowed. "Someone's there."

"No shit."

She flashed him a quick glare before ducking out from under his arm and tiptoeing towards the kitchen doorway. "Wait! What are you doing!? Syd!" He hissed, just above a whisper.

She waved at him to be silent without looking back. She approached the doorway carefully, pulse beating in her throat.

The entrance to the kitchen may have had a door once, Syd could see indents in the threshold where hinges used to be screwed into place, but there wasn't a door there now. She pressed herself flat against the wall right next to it, her heart pounding an erratic rhythm in her ears as she tried to control her breathing.

She squeezed her eyes shut, listening hard.

The murmuring was voices, male if she had to guess. They were familiar... One of them jumped out at her almost immediately, and she relaxed as recognition struck her. I know those voices. Thank God, they're still alive!

She sagged back against the wall, a low sigh escaping her, but she quickly straightened and slowly turned and stepped into the kitchen. "Hey." And she raised her hand in a brief wave.

Both boys jumped out of their skins, and Alan cursed. "Jesus fuck! Syd. You scared the shit out of me!"

Eddie started coughing, and he dropped what looked like a sandwich on the counter by where he'd been sitting. After a second his coughing fit subsided, but his face was still red from it. "Damn, Syd," he croaked. "A little warning next time?"

"Glad to see you guys are alive," Tom interjected from the entryway, Didi staring listlessly over his shoulder.

Eddie's face lit up some. "Same to you. You guys interested in some PB and J? Cuz that's all there is that doesn't require cooking. Oh, and there's milk and parfait's in the fridge. And water in the sink."

Tom gave Eddie a deadpan look. "Water in the sink, huh? How about that. I'm amazed at you Eddie, your observation skills are frightening."

Eddie frowned. "Ouch, man. That hurts. Right here." And he put one hand over his heart, trying to look genuinely wounded and failing. In the end, he didn't fight the grin, and let it take over his features, showcasing that stupid dimple of his. Then he frowned. "Yo, Dee. Why the face?"

Didi's eyes seemed to take ages to focus on Eddie, but they eventually did. "It killed him. Tore him up like old rags. There was so much—"

Tom clamped a hand over her mouth, but she didn't seem to notice. It was too late though, she'd already said too much, and even if she hadn't, they all knew what she was about to say. Blood. Everywhere. Kinda hard to miss it.

Tom watched Didi carefully as he took his hand away from her mouth. Syd was vaguely reminded of a doll, soulless, dead in every sense but the literal. It was disturbing as hell. Tom stepped away from her slowly, limping slightly as he grabbed a sandwich and pushed himself onto the counter opposite Eddie.

Alan just leaned back against the counter beside Eddie, holding his own sandwich and chewing. He was staring intently at the wall, his gaze unfocused. Syd stepped past them and grabbed a sandwich off the counter, then frowned. "There's like twenty of these things," she said.

Eddie looked at her over his shoulder. "Yup. Alan's still got his backpack, so I figured we could stick whatever we don't eat in there, then go find the others. I mean, if they're—" He cut off with a sharp cough, though it sounded fake. After clearing his throat, he set to work emptying Alan's backpack and then refilling it with the PB and J's. As he did, he coaxed Didi onto the counter next to him, handing her one of the sandwiches. She stared blankly at it, but eventually started nibbling on it.

No one finished Eddie's last sentence aloud. If they're still alive, is what he was going to say. Cheery thought.

Syd didn't feel hungry, but she tore open the package and started eating anyway. She let her eyes wander as she chewed and swallowed.

She'd never been in the kitchen before. It was a decent size, she s'posed. Sort of L-shaped, with most of the food storage being around the corner. At least, she assumed so, seein's how she didn't see a fridge or a pantry from where she was. There was a counter along the outer wall that disappeared around the corner with the other stuff. Across from the counter was more counter space, drawers, cupboards, a couple of industrial ovens... Typical kitchen apparel.

She didn't realize how empty her stomach was until she was halfway through her sandwich. After polishing if off, she was still hungry. She turned to Eddie. "You said there were parfait's in the fridge?"

He nodded, his cheeks puffed out as he chewed on a particularly large bite. He'd finished stuffing the other food into the backpack and slung it over one shoulder. Clearly, he was very hungry, because that didn't look like the same sandwich he'd been munching on when Didi, Tom, and her had gotten there.

Only then did she notice that Alan and Tom seemed to be arguing. She'd been so preoccupied with eating that she hadn't noticed. "I'm fine! I don't need your help!"

"Dude, you fucking limped into the room, and your hands are both busted to hell. Plus, you winced when I poked you to get your attention."

"It's just a small bruise, no big deal."

Syd snorted at that. No big deal. Sure, I'll believe that. She knew it was probably from when he'd thrown himself at the front doors. The magically locked front doors... She cleared her throat. "Hey, Alan," she said.

"What?" He snapped, clearly frustrated.

"Why don't you go grab some desert outta the fridge, I'll talk some sense into him."

He grumbled under his breath, but nodded. "Who all wants one of those yogurt and fruit whatchamacallits?"

"Mmph!" Eddie said (sort of), hand shooting into the air like an overeager child.

Syd snorted again, rolling her eyes. Still, she couldn't help but smile. "I'll take one, please."

Tom muttered an addition, though she couldn't quite understand what exactly he said.

Alan nodded. "Cool, cool. Want one, Dee?"

Didi didn't respond. She was still nibbling dully on the sandwich that Eddie had given her.

Alan cleared his throat. "Right. Okay. So one for everyone then. Be back in a sec. Don't die."

Under normal circumstances, that last part would be mildly humorous.

These weren't normal circumstances.

Syd stepped up next to Tom as Alan walked away. "If you were me, what would you say to you right now?"

He frowned. "What?"

"If you saw yourself, what would you tell yourself. Think about it for a second."

His frown deepened. Then he let out a resigned sigh. "I'd tell myself to quit being a fucking idiot and get myself patched up."

She grinned. "Exactly."

A sudden scream tore her attention from Tom's borderline-pouting, and she found herself running towards where Alan had gone before her brain had time to catch up with her feet. She froze as she rounded the corner, terror gripping her by the throat.

Meanwhile, Melody had Alan by his.

He struggled, trying to claw at the unreal arm holding him, his booted feet kicking at everything wildly. Garbled choking noises were the only sounds he could make.

But Syd wasn't looking at Alan, or the blood running down his neck from where blackened fingers broke the skin.

Her focus stuck on the vaguely feminine shadowy figure of smoke holding him in one hand. Melody turned eyes of fire towards them, flames flickered behind her teeth as she smiled.

And for the first time, Syd heard the ghost speak. Or something like that. Aren't you going to run?

Syd didn't need any further incentive, she turned on her heel and ran. Behind her, Melody must've released Alan's throat, because she could hear his terrified screams of agony chasing after her, as well as Melody's gleeful laughter.

Run rabbit, run! The fun has just begun!