Alive but Shattered | All of us are dead

: ̗̀➛ Chapter 23

"Yah, Moon Hee-seul, what are you up to now?" Kyung hisses at the girl when he notice the girl peeking out of the small look-out window on the door, the paper that serves as the blinds to prevent the people from both side to look inside/outside.

"Do you think they're all dead?" The girl asks particularly to no one, not even bothering to spare them a glance as she continues looking out.

"They're zombies, of course they would be dead." Min-jun pointed out.

"The zombies in 28 Days later weren't dead, though? They're just infected but still living," said Hee-seul.

"It's different. They're movies, this is reality." Kyung stated, taking the chair that was onced occupied by the lass.

His statement made Hee-seul to finally turn around, her face plasters no emotion but her eyes twinkles in some kind of emotion, "Exactly. So, if they're really dead, they should decompose right?"

"If we're talking scientifically, they should've been in the process of decaying. Within 1-72 hours, there should've been changes on their senses and the organs should stop working." Joon-yeong butted in, adjusting his eyeglasses.

"And in 3 days, their body would've begin to double in size because of the gas expanding in their body." Nam-ra added, recalling what she had read on a biology book.

Hee-seul nodded, walking towards the table to put both of her palm on top of the table to slightly lean her body, "And the muscles as well as the organs should liquify within two weeks of death. Without muscles, no one would able to operate nor move."

All of them-- aside from On-jo who's been staring outside of the window since Su-hyeok came back alone turn to look at the trio, face devoid of any reaction as they process the conversation between the top 3 of their class.

"Guys, I know you're all smart but can you start talking in korean so we can understand?" Dae-su butted in, scratching his head.

"I think what they want to say is, a zombie apocalypse wouldn't last for very long because of the nature." Wu-jin explained nonchalantly, fiddling with the piece of tissue on top of the table.

"Yah," Dae-su turn to his best friend with wide eyes, mouth wide open as he slap his hand to cover her agape mouth.

Wu-jin glares at him, stomping on his foot underneath the table. Dae-su hissed yet the former didn't waver, "Why are you guys surprised that I understood them?"

No one answered but the silence was enough for Wu-jin's ears to burn bright red, coughing awkwardly as he settles on his seat, "You know guys, I might be not that bright but I know a couple of things."

"Sure," Hee-seul nodded at him, a ghost smile making an appearance on her lips which effectively made Wu-jin's ears to become tomato red.

"What does it has to do with---"

However, Ji-min's question weren't heard when On-jo suddenly turn and march towards them, "Joon-yeong ah, didn't you mention that the science club made a drone?"

Confusion was evident on the bespectacled guy's face but it suddenly morph into realization, "Yes, do you want to look for Cheong-san using the drone?"

"Could we?" the girl inquires.

"Well, yeah. But it was in the Science Lab." Joon-yeong answered.

"We can get it." On-jo stated.

Joon-yeong blinked, "How would we get it? It's crawling with zombies out there."

On-jo shifted her weight to one foot to another, slightly turning around to point at the hanging hose they used to climb down yesterday, "There."

"You want me to climb up on that?" Joon-yeong sputtered, not really liking the idea.

"But there are zombies in the science club too." Hyo-ryeong pointed out.

"There weren't in the supply room, right?" On-jo turned to Hee-seul who just blinked at her rather lazily, "Hee-seul closed the door when they got out of the room."

"That's right but..."

but no one would want to risk their life. They weren't brave enough.

"We have to find Cheong-san. There's no one else beside us to start looking and rescue people." On-jo stated when she notices the reluctancy on each one of them.

"Yeah."

What they didn't expect was for Nam-ra to agree and voice out her opinion, "It will be better if we have a drone. We can find Cheong-san and then we can see how things are outside. We might even be able to send an emergency message and ask for help."

"Sure, that would be really good," Hyo-ryeong admitted, "But who's gonna go?"

"I wanna go," On-jo was quick to volunteer without hesitation, "I took a fire rescue class and I've climbed ropes before."

"No, I'll go."

Hee-seul's eyes automatically finds Nam-ra when Su-hyeok suddenly steps in, "No, I'll go."

"You already went out there. You can't keep risking your life everytime." On-jo told the taller guy.

Nam-ra felt the prickly sensation when someone's staring at you so her head automatically turn to meet the person staring at her. Her eyebrow automatically raises at the sight of Hee-seul looking at her with mischief.

"The drone isn't finished yet." Joon-yeong blurted out, "We need to find few more parts to run it. Do you know what to get?"

When no one answers, Joon-yeong sighs, looking down at his lap, "Then I have to go anyway, I guess." he looks up, "I'll go with On-jo."

"No way." all heads snap towards Dae-su when his voice echoes around the room, "I'm actually going this time so stand back."

Wu-jin stares at him in disbelief, "No, you can't," he chuckles before continuing, "He can't. The rope won't hold you."

Dae-su blinked, seemingly realizing his point, "It was fine when I came down. But it'll snap if I climb up, right?"

Wu-jin nodded at his bestfriend, "Yes, that's right."

"Yeah, it'll snap." Dae-su concluded, mirroring his the former's reaction.

"Right. Good boy."

And so it was settled. On-jo and Joon-yeong will climb up the science lab again while the remaining was left in the broadcasting room.

"You know there's no reason for you to supress your feelings?" Hee-seul whispers in such a low voice that only the two of them would be able to hear.

Nam-ra blinked, averting her eyes from the window where On-jo is set to climb up, "I don't like him."

"Yeah, keep telling that to yourself," Hee-seul stated, clinging to Nam-ra's arm again, "You know if you keep thinking something, there's a possibility that you can manipulate even yourself."

"Why do you sound like a professional love guru when you have a problem with your love life too?" Nam-ra voices out, eyes drifting to Wu-jin's back side as the lad converse with his bestfriend.

"I don't even have a love life." Hee-seul snorted.

"You know why we even become friends in the first place?" the class president asks out of nowhere, "Because we are so much alike and we could read each other perfectly. If you can tell that I'm supressing something, I could too."

Hee-seul could only release a deep breath, leaning her head on Nam-ra's shoulder.

"I'm just trying to say that if you want me to step out of my box, you should let go of the string that keeps you tied to the past too. If I deserve to be happy, I know you deserve it more than me," Nam-ra whispers to her bestfriend, "But I don't think now's the right time to even think of love when we're literally on the edge of the cliff."

Hee-seul snuggles closer to Nam-ra, "I think we should start enjoying ourselves while we can."