The next morning, the sound of hard thumping shocked everyone in the main hall of the terminal awake and they flinched. Who was creating such a ruckus out there? One of the gentlemen who had asked them to call him Uncle Kang rose from his position in the massage chair he had slept in and paced toward a small room off the main hall, with some of the youths following him cautiously.
Uncle Kang entered the security room near the terminal's entrance and sat down, scanning the screens. Baekhyun, who had come with him, pointed at a screen. It was live footage from a camera outside the front of the Bus Terminal. There was man with torn and bloody clothing banging desperately on the outer door of the terminal, which had been covered with paper and then boarded shut by Baekhyun and Byunhyun when they had gotten there. Hoseok, who had also gone to see, balked.
"Th-that's...!"
"What is it?" Baekhyun asked him, concerned at both the sight of the person and Hoseok's behaviour. His own journey to the Terminal with the schoolbus had been relatively uneventful on account of Jin guiding them through the most isolated routes and the fact that they hadn't been able to see the outside world at all due to the paper covering the windows. The thought of outside survivors hadn't even crossed his mind.
"That's the zombie that chased after us yesterday!" Hoseok finally choked, distressed and confused at what he was looking at. This person definitely didn't seem to be displaying the same behaviour as other zombies but he recognized that chewed ear. The image of that face grinning at him with blood dripping down its face and mouth as it chased after them was ingrained in his mind.
Namjoon, who had been deliberating quietly by himself on a chair just outside the security room, finally stood up, drawing everyone's attention from within the room and the main hall.
"We can't let that person in." He decided firmly. Uncle Kang cocked his head to the side, a small frown appearing on his lips.
"But what if he's a survivor?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"And what if he isn't?" Namjoon insisted. Uncle Kang's frown deepened.
"What if he is the exact zombie that chased after us with intent and purpose yesterday?" Namjoon recalled his thoughts the night before. Why weren't the authorities trying to find survivors? Were they possibly already aware of the existence of zombies that could blend in as normal people? If so, then that meant that they would likely be left in this lockdown for a considerable period of time.
They would be fine if they rationed their supplies, but what of the students and teacher at Jin's school? And it would only be so long before the children would be unable to handle staying in such a tense space.
The immanent fear hung heavy on everyone, not just the children, so nobody spoke above a certain decibel - even though they were indoors with the doors and windows shut. Yoongi paced forward and replaced Hoseok's space behind Uncle Kang, gently ushering the heckled young man out of the security room.
"Namjoon's being reasonable. That guy is making all that racket but none of the zombies around are even paying attention to him." He observed as he watched the camera feedback footage from not just the door but along the side of the building too.
"If we had so much as stepped on a fallen leaf, they would have been onto us like bloodhounds." Taehyung, who had heard him from the door, mused without humour. Uncle Kang looked around at these young men who had clearly seen more than himself of the situation yesterday. Surrendering, he nodded.
"Alright, we won't let anyone in if they don't have a vehicle. If they do come in one, please be fair and allow them inside."
"Thank you sir, we'll be sure to do it that way." Namjoon gave him a small bow of thanks. Uncle Kang gave his shoulder a light pat and ambled to the other gentleman, Mr Son. The banging continued for several minutes and everyone froze in place. It was almost like the zombie could sense that they were in there. At this rate it would break down the glass door. Would the reinforcements that they made to the door be enough?
Byunhyun jogged out to the bus and coach park to check on the children and keep them out of the terminal for now, with Hoseok dashing after him while glancing over his shoulder nervously. Seulgi ushered the girls and ladies nearer to a store with its shutters down but door open. Everyone else braced themselves.
There was a slight creaking sound and Namjoon, who was closest to the corridor leading to the main entrance, took an unsure step back. Was this guy trying to break in? Turning to look over his shoulder, he noted that Baekhyun, Jimin and Jungkook were already in stance while Seokmin, Jaehyun, Jin and Taehyung had grabbed some massage sticks from the massage store and were gripping them. Time seemed to grind, tense and stiff for everyone in the hall.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The creaking was sounding a lot more high pitched now and Namjoon swallowed. Anymore and the glass doors would definitely shatter. All the zombies in the area would come running without hesitation. We're fucked. The young man tried to think of an escape plan but his mind was running up empty. A hand planted itself on his shoulder and pulled him backwards. Hoseok was back from checking on the kids, ever so slightly out of breath from running out and sprinting back inside.
"We shouldn't stay here. One of the ahjussis is in the coach with Byunhyun-ssi and the kids in case they break in. We can't make it obvious that people have been around." He whispered. Tugging again, he pulled Namjoon away from the spot he had been stuck to. As they crept away from the front gate, Hoseok gestured to everyone to move, not towards the coach and bus park, but to the doors that led to a staircase.
Moving quickly, first the women headed by Hoseok and Namjoon, then the men tailed by Baekhyun, Taehyung and Jungkook shuffled up the stairs, with Baekhyun silently shutting the door behind him. They didn't climb very high before they burst onto a corridor that had floor to ceiling glass windows viewing a balcony and the area surrounding a portion of the terminal building.
"This is where coach staff and vendors come to rest and sort out administrative affairs." Uncle Kang briefed everyone quietly, looking at the world beyond the glass with trepidation. When the outbreak had happened, they had focused all their efforts on making the ground floor of the terminal as unattractive to the zombies as possible. There were even beds up here. He silently smacked himself for forgetting about the upstairs in all the panic.
Exhaling from the quick ascent, Yoongi stepped closer to the window, trying to get a view of the ground. When he stepped closer to get a better view, he smelled it before he saw or heard it.
Burning.
A massive plume of dark smoke rose from what he believed was the direction that they had travelled from. The area where the outbreak had started. Jungkook's school district. The sound of the explosion almost faded into being, unexpected, just barely cracking the thick glass of the windows as the shockwave slammed into the building.
Some people cried out as they all covered their ears from the immense shock. After what felt like several minutes, the sound faded. Swallowing, Yoongi caught sight of the door leading to the balcony and walked unsteadily to it, ears still ringing. Opening the door, the smell of smoke hit him hard and he choked, coughing to clear his lungs.
Covering his mouth, he lowered his body and scuttled to the edge of the balcony, which he peeked over apprehensively. His eyes stung from the smoke and he fought the urge to rub his eyes. Seeing the number of zombies running away from the bus terminal to the source of the smoke made him recoil. Had they all been in the area? If that zombie had broken down the door, they would have died, no doubt.
The one that they had spotted on the security cameras was also walking away from the bus terminal, but he paused and looked back. Right up at the balcony that Yoongi was on. Fortunately, Yoongi had ducked just in time, so the abnormal zombie turned and continued pacing towards to the smoke pillar. When Yoongi got back into the building, Jin had slid to the floor in disbelief.
"That was the direction of our school district. If we felt the explosion all the way over here, they definitely felt it there." He whispered. Everyone caught his meaning straight away. The survivors with Teacher Joohyun were in that vicinity.
"...C-call them. Call them." Baekhyun finally urged before powering down the stairs, kicked into gear by the scent of ash. His brother and the children had been downstairs in the open. He had to get to them, right now.
Seokmin scrabbled for his phone and speed dialled Eunwoo. No answer. He called again. No answer. Each young man took turns called first Eunwoo, then Yugyeom, and Jin even attempted to contact Joohyun. Still no answer. Jin couldn't calm down as the sense of hoplessness washed over him again in a gigantic wave.
No, no, no!