Somehow, Zack had managed to get through that conversation with Aidou without getting his head bitten off, which he considered a victory, albeit a small one. They also all made it back into the institute without any zombies ambushing, which was something he could be grateful for. Heading back to his room, though, Zack found that it was unoccupied and his roommate's bed was empty and neatly made.

"Terra..."

He'd only spoken to the kid once and he hadn't really known what his deal was or why he'd thought that they knew each other, but he'd still believed him. It was a shame that they hadn't gotten to know each other better, and that Zack's pattern of going through roommates like he went through hair gel was continuing.

It made it hard to even put on a happy face for whoever might be coming through the door next, and yet Zack knew that he had to. It wasn't like he could tell his roommate that there was a good chance that he wouldn't be hanging around for long, after all.

Letting out a sigh, Zack went to the metal box near his bed and dug out his batteries, moving them into his desk so that he would have easy access. It occurred to him that the soldiers were probably going to move it back into the box every morning, though, which was mildly annoying.

There wasn't much he could do about that, though, and so Zack sat himself down to eat his gruel, keeping one eye on the door.