Darker Twist | All of us are dead

╰┈➤ Chapter 28

"Aren't we going to fix the SOS sign?" Dae-su decided to asks everyone after a couple of minutes of silence after the helicopter disappears behind the clouds.

"There's no point," Nam-ra answered, "They're going to leave us anyway."

"But wasn't it the plan before?" Gyeong-su inquires, brows furrowed in confusion, "I mean, that's why we have to go up to the rooftop. To ask for help?" he continues, remembering the exact words of Nam-ra when she told them about her plan when they were in the music room.

A somber silence envelopes the group as the cold breeze of sunset envelopes them. They were suddenly reminded of the time when they thought that they were going to get rescued to only got shattered when the adults left them to die without explanation, even bombing their location despite of being aware that there are still survivors left in the school.

"Did I said something wrong?" Gyeong-su followed after when he noticed the somber atmosphere from his peers.

"The rescue will not come even if we set up the biggest SOS sign. They will leave us and bomb us," It was Joon-yeong who answered him, "That's why it will going to be a waste of effort to put up and fix a sign. I think it would be better to rest and wait until it rains before we could leave this school."

"But why would we need to go to the rooftop if we could just stay and wait in the music room?" Gyeong-su asks again, finding it hard to comprehend why they need to climb up to the rooftop if they're going to go back down anyway.

This time, it was Nam-ra who answered him, "The process shouldn't be destroyed no matter what happens. We can change minor things but skipping a process will create another branch with undetermined courses of events. It's like following an instructions. If you skip or change a step, it will have three different outcomes: whether the missing or changed step will not affect the project, the outcome of the project will change or you'll be stuck."

However, majority of them blink at her in confusion, forehead creases as they try to process what she had said but found themselves unable to understand it.

Gyeong-su scratches his nape, "I don't get it but it sounds right."

"But I'm sure Hye-wol understood it completely fine," Nam-ra smirked at her, "Do you?"

Hye-wol stare at Nam-ra with unreadable expression but didn't say anything to confirm Nam-ra's sentence. She's just staring.

The smirk on Nam-ra's lips didn't left as she stood up and dusted her skirt, "Anyway, it's getting dark. Let's start a campfire before it gets completely cold and dark here."

After lighting up the campfire, they all sit closely around the fire, the warmth it emits protects them from the gradually cooling breeze as the sun hides away and the moon replaces it.

Silence took over them, the distant snarls of zombies from the ground floor and the occassional buzzing of rotor blades slicing through the thick air as the helicopters hover all over the Hyo-san were the sounds that keeps them awake. The fire crackles in front of them, the warmth that the campfire emits is the only thing that comforts them from the catastrophic event they found themselves entangled into.

It's not comforting but it's better than running all day, fearing that the zombies outside will suddenly burst into the weak wood doors of the rooms inside the building. All thinks the same except Hye-wol and Dae-su. The latter knew that he's walking on an eggshell, that one wrong step will make it crack and he'll fall to his doom. He's plastering a guarded expression despite of having a full blow storm inside of his head, his morality and his instinct to live and survive are fighting on what he will do next.

He pity Hye-wol, that is something he's sure about. Just at looking at her, looking all broken and afraid tug something inside of his heart but at the same time, the fear of ending up like Ji-min and Hyo-ryeong makes him to shut his mouth up and forces him to turn a blind eye on the obvious questionable actions of his friends. So, as a person, his survival is his number one priority. He needs to save his own before he saves others. He did questionable actions before, like running head first to fight the zombies but that's because he knew that they're stupid--- that they don't have the mind to think of alternative actions aside from eating. On the other hand, these people--- these people that he once see as friends can think and has a mind of their own. They are smart and dangerous. Like zombies in steroids.

Hye-wol, on the other hand, is still wrap in her own thoughts. She's covered with a blanket but Joon-yeong's arm is also around her shoulder, his thumb is tracing circles on her clothed arm. She has so many questions on her mind but found her mouth sewn together due to the fear of dying. They wouldn't hurt her if she speaks right? She's their object of obsession and they wanted to save her so if she speaks to confront them, would they hurt her?

Her dream earlier--- she knew it wasn't just a dream. She had read too much fantasy to conclude that the dream might be a clue or something significant. Did she really die--- no, Will she really die and turn to a zombie just like her dream? It's possible yet impossible. But she had woke up in her screenplay, wasn't that impossible too but it still happened?

One thing to confirm her theories, "Since we're going to stay here for a long time and you wanted me so bad, why don't we just be honest here? There's nothing to hide, I already know what it is but I just want all of us to be honest to each other."

Her voice broke the silence surrounding them but there's nothing different from before. They were already looking---- staring at her in the first place so she got used to being uncomfortable under their gaze.

She sighed when no one answered, focusing her attention to Nam-ra, "How did you do that?"

Nam-ra's forehead creases, plastering a faux confusion, "Did what?"

But Hye-wol's not having that, "I know that you're not from this timeline," the faux confusion on Nam-ra's face didn't break so she raises her eyebrow, "You knew what will happen. You're prepared. Gyeong-su managed to dodge his supposed death and you seems to be so confident in every decisions you make like you already know that it will work. The hesitations weren't even there."

Nam-ra suddenly claps, slicing through the thick tension accumulating between them, "You manage to stitch all of this faster than I expected. You already know so much," her eyes shine with pride as she smiles at Hye-wol, not even fazed by the fact that they had been exposed, "I shouldn't even underestimate the brain of an author. Of course, you'll catch up faster because that's how you programmed your mind, didn't you?"

"Stop acting like you're surprised, Nam-ra. Like you said, I'm an author and I know my characters very well." said Hye-wol, "So how did you do it? I know for sure that a time traveling machine wasn't a thing even from here."

"Let's just say that the main ingredient is blood of innocents." The class president responded.

Hye-wol's expression fell as the gears inside of her brain starts churning, soon getting lost on her own train of thoughts as she process the cryptic information.

"Now, Hye-wol. Since we're being honest here, why don't you explain to poor and confused Dae-su about what's happening? Author? Characters? We really didn't get it and I'm sure Dae-su is really confused right now."

***

Fun fact: In this world, the only person that can alter the written destiny is the person involved. That's why Gyeong-su can save himself but Hye-wol can't save I-sak. I just think it wasn't clear in the story so I have to explain it to clear my mind.

I'll be honest, this is actually just a filler because I think I lost my last braincell in school. Nonetheless, I hope you like this chapter.