Inside Park Manor • SKZ horror au

Chapter 27

The five of them exchanged mixed expressions at the request the girl had just made. Many factors made the request both odd and extremely difficult.

    "You're asking us to kill a child?" Hyunjin asked slowly. He, like the others, would have liked nothing more than to be the one that ended Minseok, but it still felt strange to him.

    "Didn't you pay attention to a word she said?" Minho said irritably. "Minseok is the embodiment of the virus. He's not a real child."

    "Oh and...about the saving your family part..." Chan started, not sure how to break the news to the girl.

    "I know my mother's dead," She said as simply as if she were stating the weather. "My father, sister, and grandmother are still alive. I'd like to think that killing Minseok would set them free in some way."

    Chan gulped, remembering Father's severed head staring up at him with glazed eyes. There was so much blood... How could he possibly still be alive after that?

    The girl turned around and turned off the stove, filling nine syringes with the sickly, yellow liquid that the limbs had become. They didn't question how she had done it. All they knew is that their freedom was just within arms reach.

    "The ninth one is for Minseok. If you can get close enough to inject him with it, it should kill him," The girl said, answering Jeongin and Felix's questioning looks. "Please be careful with Jisung. I think he may have taken after my parents and is able to keep his human form even though the virus took over him. He might not survive."

    "That's a chance I'm willing to take," Chan said more confidently than he felt. He took the syringes from the girl and put four of them inside a bag he found in the trailer closet.

    "I'll be here when you're done rescuing the rest of your friends. They can stay here and recover for the time being," The girl said, climbing on top of the table in the back of the trailer. "Good luck."

    They stepped out of the trailer, Chan ushering them into a line. Chan went through a phase with being fascinated by how vaccines were given and had watched informational shows about it all the time. However, watching it and doing it himself were two completely different things.

    One by one, he injected the serum into his friends, expecting the worst that never came. The moment the syringe was empty, their posture and expressions changed dramatically. The virus had left their bodies and Minseok no longer had the power to control their minds and manipulate them.

    He handed his syringe to Jeongin, trusting him the most out of the others to do it for him. He felt the bite of the needle as it pierced his skin. Almost immediately, his mind felt clear for the first time in days, the whispers of the virus disappearing.

    "Are you guys ready?" Chan asked. "Let's go get our friends back."

    The only downside to being cured of the virus is that they now could die from injuries that would only slow them down before. Chan hoped the others were aware of that without him having to tell them.

    They walked towards a small building out back that looked like it served no other purpose besides housing tools and lawn equipment. Neon purple lighting leaked through the bottom of the rotting door. The girl said that the others would be in there. For some odd reason, he felt like he couldn't bring himself to face them. He felt like he had failed them.

    A crowbar and two baseball bats sat outside the door just like the girl said they would. The bats looked like they would fall apart after one swing, but it was better than nothing. The ones who were unarmed claimed their weapons and stepped inside the building.