𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄; 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝

XI

"Just a little bit more!" Dae-su called as the rest of the survivors pushed until one of the cages hit the wall.

"Untie it! Untie it!" Su-hyeok ordered as he pushed away another zombie with his baseball bat.

Gyeong-su and Joon-yeong immediately ran forward to untie the string.

"It's untied!" Gyeong-su called when the two boys had managed to untie it.

"Push it outward!" Joon-yeong added.

The rest of the group did so, laying out a clear path for which they could all run for the door.

Y/N let go and grabbed the handle, twisting it, pulling it, pushing it, ramming his shoulder into the door as hard as he could, anything.

It was locked.

"Fuck," he cursed, twisting the knob even harder.

"What?" Gyeong-su called from somewhere behind him. "What's wrong?"

"The door won't open!" Y/N called back, reaching up from the doorknob to wipe his sweaty hands on his uniform as On-jo came to help.

"What are you talking about?" Cheong-san yelled.

"I meant the door won't open!" Y/N yelled back louder and he continued to ram his shoulder into the door.

He was trying everything he could. He tried shoving his entire weight against the door. He tried kicking it open. He even borrowed Su-hyeok's bat to try to hit the knobs down. But nothing worked.

"I think it's because the doors are locked from the outside!" Joon-yeong yelled.

'Fuck!'

Y/N backed up and started running for the door, jumping up and trying to kick it down. He was about to go for it again when suddenly the door swung open...

...to reveal Mr. Nam.

"M-Mr. Nam," Y/N said breathlessly. "Y-you're here!"

"Dad..." On-jo whimpered. "You..."

The girl ran into her father's arms, and Y/N called, "Come on guys! Let's go! On-jo's dad's here!"

Immediately, all of the survivors ran out, and Cheong-san slammed the door shut just as the zombies made a run for it.

"Are you okay?" Mr. Nam asked frantically as he examined On-jo. "Are you hurt, On-jo?"

"What took you so long?" On-jo said tearfully. "I kept waiting for you."

Mr. Nam didn't respond and instead looked at the survivors. "And you kids, are you okay?"

All of them nodded, except for Y/N, who was staring at the dirt.

"Y/N?"

He looked up to see Joon-yeong and Gyeong-su crouching next to him. "Y-yeah?"

"You're okay?" Joon-yeong asked. "You didn't get hurt?"

"No. I — I'm okay." Y/N swallowed hard.

"Y/N. Cheong-san."

Y/N looked up and stood up, heading over to stand next to Cheong-san as both boys said, "Mr. Nam."

They walked toward each other, and the three of them immediately embraced, Y/N choking back tears.

'I know I said I'd never trust an adult again, but...I can trust Mr. Nam. Right?'

Mr. Nam patted both of the boys' backs before pulling away and addressing them all. "Okay. Are you all able to run?"

Everyone nodded.