Day 2.
The sun rose up the next morning only to unravel the horror of last night's outbreak. The school was quiet, so was the entire city; mayhaps the whole nation. Crashed cars, leaked pipes, litters of trash, torn human parts, smoke, and fire. The aftermath was devastating. Well, at least not for Y/N's colleagues.
They were all huddled to the floor, curled into fetus-like poses as they slept. Except for Taehyun and some other four. He hasn't slept all night. He was sitting on a chair, feet on top of a table as he stared into space, pondering about something. He looked agitated; one could tell from the way he pushes his dishevelled hair back and how harsh he pulls on his necktie from time to time. It seemed to them that they were used to the situation even though terror had just begun.
CRASH!
Everyone but Yeonjun jolted awake as metal grills seems to fall down from the ceiling followed by soft thuds and then a loud, dolphin-like shriek. Hyunjin, Y/N, Beomgyu, and Kai just came crashing down from the open vent over them. Their uniforms were stuffed with what seemed food and canned drinks.
"Help me up!" Kai whined, fallen helpless to a pile of chairs.
Hyunjin lent a hand while the other two proceeded to distribute what they've gathered. There was a smile of relief on each other's faces for they haven't eaten anything but snack bars for the past 12 hours or more.
"Where did you even get this?" Irene asked, unwrapping a sandwich.
"Oh, you know. Taehyun told us to follow our intuitions to the cafeteria. Worked smoothly." Beomgyu replied, handing Y/N a piece of bread.
"I hoarded my own." Y/N insisted.
"I thought you'd like it though." The guy frowned.
"Taehyun, come get yourself a sandwich." Seulgi called out to her brother.
Kai volunteered to waddle over and had his friend a piece. Taehyun silently took it, smiling stiffly. Felix and Hyunjin were already seated by the chalkboard, feasting on chips and cans of energy drinks. Soobin was munching on his cheese roll, eyelids half close due to sleepiness. Irene and Seulgi enjoyed their own sandwiches while opening the windows. Y/N was trying to dodge Beomgyu's attempts of feeding her his own share of breakfast. With all these, Yeonjun snorted and finally woke up.
"Good morning, little shit." Irene tossed him a snack.
It hit a sleepy Yeonjun on the head. He sat up, rubbing his one eye as he looked at everyone who stared back at him. His lips turned to a frown.
"What's good in the morning?"
"Everything," Y/N replied. "Until you woke up. Now eat your share otherwise you'll starve."
Yeonjun smirked, opening a crumply bag of buns. "So you care for me, huh?"
"No," she nonchalantly said. "I'm just trying to see how long you can last."
"Where did all of this come from anyway?"
"God knocked on the window at 4 AM to send them. So bless your food as you shall receive, goddamn it." Hyunjin rolled his eyes.
"Hell, you should've woke me up!" Felix chuckled. "I've always dreamed of stealing straight for cafeterias, mate. So unfair."
"Maybe we can go back for lunch," Kai suggested. "We still haven't gotten to the pantry either. I'm sure there's a lot for us to get by."
"While we're at it," Soobin got up. "I need to take a shower."
"We're in the middle of an apocalypse, you dramatic piece of shit." Yeonjun munched on his snack.
"Would you take a look at your greasy, cotton candy hair?" Soobin grimaced. "You practically look homeless. I'd rather die clean."
"Showering makes sense." Beomgyu chimed in. "My skin feels sticky."
"Surely there's spare clothes we can steal on shower room lockers, right?" Seulgi asked.
"I think so." Soobin pouted. "Men's on the left wing and women's on the right, correct?"
"Okay, so we shower and some of us should get back to this room to clean the mess. A few can hoard back the canteen and pantry for lunch, is that good?" Irene suggested.
"I'm in. I'll head straight to the pantry." Y/N raised her hand.
"Me too." Beomgyu said.
"Hyunjin, Soobin, off to the cafeteria we go, aye?" Felix invited.
"I'll be here after the shower room." Taehyun finally spoke.
"So should we." Seulgi gestured to the rest.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Showering didn't take them that long. Considering that there's only 7 boys and 3 girls, each of them had their own cubicles to use. Of course, their rooms were obviously separated by genders. The boys were quick to finish, so did the girls. After stealing extra clothes from other students' lockers, they climbed up the vents to locate their next destinations. All but Yeonjun.
He was still in the shower, enjoying the lukewarm water hitting his skin. His hair was limp and dripping as he looked down on the floor. Steam rising up as he scrubbed his toned body. His small tattoo of a girl's name was visible on his right bicep. Who it was, he never wanted to show.
"Ah, fuck." He groaned, turning the shower off. "That felt good."
He was just peacefully drying himself, putting on a stolen PE uniform afterwards when he noticed something sticky dripping from the ceiling as he put on his pants. Brows furrowed, he looked up only to see a zombie staring down at him from the cubicle boundary, twitching.
"How the fuck did you- GAH!" He yelped as it fell to his cubicle floor.
It writhed before snapping its head towards him. Yeonjun stood on top of a pail and grabbed a nearby dipper to whack it on the face. The zombie stumbled back. Yeonjun smirked.
"Yeah? You want a taste of me? Huh?" He whacked it across the head again. "Get some!"
"BLEURGHEAH!"
"I know I'm tasty but chill," Yeonjun hurriedly grabbed his shirt and climbed up the vent. Looking down at the baffled zombie, he winked. "I'm reserved for a lady. Catch you later, motherfucker."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Beomgyu and Y/N finally met at the pantry afterwards. Beomgyu was the one to arrive first before he heard Y/N crashing down on the pile of boxes. At the moment, they were hoarding stocks of biscuits, fruits, boxes of milk and more bread.
"Maybe we can cook those meat we found in the freezer while they're still there." Y/N suggested, putting goods in a paper bag. "Electricity is still running though. They'll come to waste once the power shuts down."
Just like magic, the lights went out. Nearby generator noises silenced as the last bit of power died out. Beomgyu scoffed in disbelief.
"You jinxed it." He chuckled. "Those meat can only stand a few more days."
"I'll cook it."
"Right now?"
Y/N tied her hair in a ponytail as she walked past a staring Beomgyu. She grabbed a couple of meat, taking a kitchen knife and began slicing them into smaller pieces. Her friend stood beside her.
"Don't just stand there," she sneered. "Do something."
"I don't even know what you're cooking. How are we supposed to get a hot pot to the next room, huh?"
"There's this thing called sliding the pot along the vents and carefully handing it to them with all the pot holders we can use. Jesus, Beomgyu. Pass me the onions."
Beomgyu hopelessly submitted to every order Y/N gave. Not only hasn't he got any idea of what she was trying to make, he also did not know how to cook. He leaned over a counter, watching Y/N put everything in a pot. She looked restless but serious. He found it attractive; how she perfectly resembles a professional chef. He decided to come over to take a look, bringing his face close to her right cheek.
"Stew?" He gently asked, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm hungry, Y/N! That smells so good!"
"Let go of me you fool." She laughed. "I can't move around with you clinging like a monkey."
"But I'm tired!" He protested. "And I'm bored."
"Well, you can go back to the room and help them clean."
"Leaving you alone? No, thank you."
"Seriously," Y/N put the laddle down and faced him. "Let go, Gyu."
Beomgyu stared down at her eyes for a couple seconds. Y/N's expression was unreadable though he could see her cheeks flushing red. He tucked some stray strands of her hair behind her ears and smiled. All of a sudden, they heard someone crashing down from behind.
"Hyung!"
Yeonjun winced as he got up, dusting himself before slipping on a banana peel. He fell to the floor once more with a thud, earning a crisp cuss from the lad. Beomgyu let go of the girl to help his friend up. Y/N went back to business.
"Where the fuck am I?" The elder questioned, looking around. "What is she doing?"
"Pantry. Y/N's cooking lunch, hyung. What are you doing here?"
"A zombie drooled on me at the shower." Yeonjun hissed, approaching Y/N. "I had to whack its head off and God knows how the fuck I got here when I wanted to go back to the room."
"Sucks to be you then." Y/N commented.
"That stew better be good." Yeonjun scoffed.
"Who says you're eating?" She backfired. "You and your lazy ass."
"Fine. I'll make something for myself."
"Oh, please. Just help with the bowls or whatever. That I could consider you useful."
Y/N took the pot and gave it to Beomgyu who was already up in the vent. She grabbed all the pot holders and the rest of the goods as well. Yeonjun followed shortly with the utensils.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The main room was already clean and spacious. Chairs were neatly stacked in a corner, desks were put together to serve as beds at the far back. The window was opened for ventilation as well. Seulgi and Irene were dusting off rags while Kai and Taehyun polished the floor. All that as the least they could do to make their place feel comfortable. The vent grills flew open, letting Hyunjin, Felix, and Soobin pass through with shirts bulging with food and drinks. Shortly after, Beomgyu shouted from the vent.
"Take these pot holders, quick!"
A couple cushions rained down on them afterwards. Kai and Soobin being the tallest, wore them and carefully took the hot pot to a nearby desk before Beomgyu and his colleagues jumped down.
"Bloody hell," Felix' eyes glittered. "You bought actual food!"
"Y/N cooked." Beomgyu boasted. "There's still a lot of meat in the pantry. Dinner's going to be delicious."
"Help yourselves." Y/N sighed before plopping to the corner.
KLANG!
They gasped as Yeonjun accidentally dropped a bowl, breaking it to pieces. Everyone had their own already. It wouldn't have been such a big deal if it weren't for the fact that it was Y/N's bowl that broke.
"Oops." Yeonjun teased.
Y/N stood. "Be right back. I need a knife."
"Hey, hey!" Beomgyu blocked her way. "It's okay. We can share a bowl. Here, take your chopsticks."
"Can you not flirt in front of my stew?" Yeonjun asked.
"Can you choke on a radish?" Beomgyu said. "I'm just trying to help."
"Yeah, don't be such an asshole!" Seulgi laughed from behind.
Yeonjun turned to her. "If only you weren't Taehyun's sibling I would've challenged you to a fight. I don't give a damn if you're older."
"Oh, yeah?" Seulgi placed her food down. "Say what?"
"This stew is so good!" Kai nervously laughed, trying to ease the tension. "Right?"
Yeonjun pointed a chopstick at him. "Shut your mouth."
"I bet you didn't help making this, did you?" Taehyun butted in.
"He didn't." Y/N confirmed.
"Very useful of you, Yeonjun." Soobin rolled his eyes.
"Keep talking and you might find me useful tonight."
Hyunjin choked because of this. Felix cackled as he handed him some drink. Yeonjun and Soobin bursted into an argument while the rest ignored to enjoy their meal. Suddenly..
CRASH!