Do-hwan’s body snapped upright like a broken puppet.
His eyes were glassy white, veins bulging around the edges like roots clawing out from his skin. His mouth hung open, blood bubbling on his tongue. His teeth were already stained red.
And he was fast.
Faster than anyone expected.
Ji-won screamed and leapt back as he lunged, slamming into Tae-joon, the techie from Class 1-3, who hadn’t even seen him coming. They both hit the floor with a thud.
“TAE-JOON!” Ha-eun shrieked.
But by the time Min-jae rushed forward, Do-hwan was already biting down.
Hard.
The crunch of flesh echoed in the small room.
---
“No—NO!” Tae-joon thrashed, but Do-hwan’s hands clawed at him, his mouth gnashing like a starving animal.
Min-jae swung his flashlight like a bat.
CRACK.
Do-hwan collapsed, twitching. But it wasn’t over. He was still twitching. Still moving.
“Off—get him OFF ME!” Tae-joon sobbed, holding his arm. Blood spurted between his fingers. “He bit me—he—he bit me!”
Everyone stood frozen.
Even Woo-sik’s jaw clenched. He didn’t move.
They’d all seen the same thing.
Bite = infection.
---
Seo Mi-ryeong was the first to speak. Cold. Unshaken.
“He’s infected now.”
“Shut up,” Min-jae barked. “We don’t know that—he might—he might be okay!”
“He’s not,” Mi-ryeong said flatly. “You saw what happened in the cafeteria. Ji-sung bit the music teacher. Two minutes later, they were both attacking people.”
Tae-joon cried harder, eyes darting between them. “Please… please don’t leave me…”
Ji-won’s heart cracked. Her knees felt weak.
“We’re not leaving anyone,” she said, voice firm but trembling. “Not yet.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Woo-sik growled. “He turns in five minutes, then what? He bites you? Me? No thanks.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Ha-eun said suddenly.
“No,” Eun-ha stepped forward. “We need to stay together.”
Mi-ryeong crossed her arms. “We either leave him here or kill him now.”
Everyone stared at her.
Ji-won clenched her fists. “You say that like it’s easy.”
“It is,” she said. “When you’ve seen enough of them turn.”
---
Min-jae kicked over a chair. “Screw this. We can’t make calls like this—we’re not soldiers!”
“Then stop acting like this is still high school,” Mi-ryeong snapped.
For a second, the air felt like it might catch fire from the tension.
But then Tae-joon’s voice broke the silence.
“Just… lock me in here,” he whispered. “Please. Just go. I’ll scream if I feel anything.”
No one moved.
Then Woo-sik stepped forward, helped him into the small storage closet connected to the boiler room, and closed the door.
The lock clicked.
And silence fell again.
---
They didn’t speak as they climbed into the tight, dark stairwell behind the boiler. Ji-won held her pole like a lifeline. Min-jae was behind her, flashlight flickering.
One wrong move, one sound, and they could alert the infected above.
Each creak of the stairwell echoed like a gunshot.
As they reached the top landing, Ji-won could hear it:
Growling. Slurping. Whimpers.
Then—
A voice.
“M-Miss Lee? Are you okay?!”
It was a girl. Nearby. Crying.
They turned the corner and found her:
Bae Yu-mi, a sophomore, curled up behind a desk near the nurse’s office, arms around her knees, whispering to herself.
Next to her?
Ms. Lee Min-joo — the discipline teacher.
Covered in blood.
On her knees.
Her body hunched over.
Biting into the nurse.
YOU ARE READING
Z-ERA 🧟
Mystery / Thrillera zombie story based off of the k-drama "all of us are dead" I hope you enjoy, and I have no idea when I'm going to finish it but hopefully not soon because I want it to have like at least 200 chapters
