Your eyes start to blur as you cough violently gripping onto your chest as you remain in a crouched position. Blood leaked out of your head as you lean your back against the tree throwing your head back still coughing but not so bad. You close your eyes and let out a sigh of frustration while tears stopped escaping your eyes just the small wet stains on your cheeks. Your face covered in blood, mud and ash.
You finally got the strength to stand up but when you looked around all you could see was smoke. How the hell are you going to be able to find anyone? You fall back to onto the ground and lean back on the tree resting your head on the tree as you stared up at the covered air. Your eyes slowly fluttering closed as you fell into a state of unconsciousness
~🧟♀️🧟🧟♂️~
Your eyes opened slowly and you stretched your back till you heard a satisfied crack. A groan escaped your lips as you yawned standing up. You started walking more into the forest stunbling on branches as you were too tired to be aware of your surroundings. Ash still in the air but it was a lot more clear
"Y/n?" A familiar voice called as your eyes darted around the forest still a bit sleepy.
"Y/n!!!" A loud voice called making you frown. You're not a morning person.
"Y/n!" A younger female voice cried as your eyes widened. You sprinted to the female voice till you saw a small figure looking at you with tears filling her eyes.
"Sakae!" You shout dropping to your knees and pulling her into a hug.
"We're here too." Mi-jin mumbles as you scowl at her.
"Where's Nam-ra, Su-hyeok and On-jo?" You question standing up and holding Sakae's hand. Sakae had her other hand round your leg hugging you.
"Went looking for you and On-jo wanted to go back to find Cheong-san." Dae-su answers as your heart dropped hearing his name again.
"Have you been crying?" Wu-jin questions seeing your wet stained cheeks. You wipe off your face smudging the ash and blinking a few times
"No." You finally answer as Wu-jin looks at you with concern
"Y/N! WHERE WERE YOU ALL NIGHT!?" A loud familiar voice shouted behind you. You turned to be greeted by a tight embrace by Su-hyeok making you let go of Sakae
"I'm fine. I fell asleep leaning against a tree." You reply hugging him back surprisingly
"Fine!? Your heads bleeding." Su-hyeok urges as you shrug pushing him away
"We need to get moving. If we stay here for too long our lungs will be filled with smoke." You speak up as everyone nods. You grab Sakae hand and start walking the group following. Su-hyeok and Wu-jin helping Dae-su as he got injured during the bombing making him unable to walk very well.
Grunts and complains were made by Dae-su and the others as you all continued walking through the intoxicated forest. Twigs snapping under your feet as you kept a tight grip on Sakae. Nam-ra and On-jo came to your side as you walked down a slope in the forest
"The soldiers saw that we were at the school. They left us there without helping us, and then they bombed it. Maybe they actually want us to die." Nam-ra mumbles as you stick your tongue in your cheek
"I don't believe that." On-jo replies
"I think it's all because of me. Because we were with zombies, they must think we're neither zombie nor human, like me. Maybe thats what they thought." Nam-ra assumes as you glare ahead of you
"Don't talk like that." On-jo orders
"Is it really okay for me to stay with you guys like this?" Nam-ra questions
"You're still our friend" On-jo states
"And our class president. We couldn't of made it this far without you." You add on
"Still..." she trails off
"You haven't turned yet, and you never will." On-jo says looking at Nam-ra
"Mm." You hum in agreement.
"I really wanna do that again in the future. That was my first time sitting around a fire with friends. We'll be able to do that again, right?" Nam-ra admits
"Let's do it again tonight." On-jo happily suggests
"Leaving the Gwi-nam part out." You add on once more making On-jo chuckle and Nam-ra laugh. Everybody comes to a stop
"I think we're lost." Mi-jin states the obvious
"There's no trail?" Hyo-ryung questions
"There hasn't been a trail for a while. I think we've been going in fucking circles." Mi-jin grumbles
"Why did you come this way if there was no trail? If we go down the wrong way, it will be Hyosan. Ha-ri. Y/n. Look." Wu-jin points out a yellow rope tied to a tree
"There's something there." Ha-ri mutters as you were first to move down another little slope with Sakae by your side others following beside you.
"It's a yellow ribbon. Someone must've left it here to remember there way back." You state looking up at the glittery ribbon
"Who did something so nice, huh? A ginseng digger?" Mi-jin jokes as you all turn to her unamused
"Who is that?" Hyo-ryung questions as you and Ha-ri look out into the distance
"There's another one." Ha-ri mumbles as you all start walking again. Sakae kept her head down seeing the golden ribbon. Another ribbon was tied to a tree and you all started following the trail. Everyone stops once more hearing the sounds of On-jo's quiet sobs as she was crouched by a tree holding her assuming fathers torch. Everyone silent as they stare awkwardly at the sobbing girl
~🧟♀️🧟🧟♂️~
You all make it to a small town ash everywhere covering the place making it incredibly difficult to see. Dead pigeons completely torn as they laid lifeless on the pavements.
"Didn't he say go to Yangdong?" Dae-su speaks up as Su-hyeok and Wu-jin help him walk still
"You don't think there are zombies here, too, do you?" Hyo-ryung questions
"No way. Maybe they evacuated, because it's next to Hyosan." Wu-jin grunts out in a raspy deep voice
"Hey, I'm getting a bad feeling about this. Where is everyone?" Mi-jin mumbles. You pull Sakae closer to you as your eyes scan in front of you each step you take
"We're okay here." Ha-ri assures
"Why? How do you know that?" Mi-jin questions sounding a bit desperate for the reassurance
"There are no broken windows, or blood on the streets. It wouldn't be this clean if there had been a zombie rampage." Ha-ri states
"What about the dead animals? I think this place was evacuated but zombies still roam around here from wondering out of Hyosan. And since there isn't any humans here they went for animals. Keep your guard up." You warn. Nam-ra suddenly comes to a stop making you stop and clutch onto Sakae's hand pulling her into you
"What?" On-jo questions
"Hold on." Nam-ra whispers eyeing the place up and down and then looking down remaining quiet
"Nam-ra, what do you hear?" You question. Su-hyeok moves away from Dae-su making the injured man groan in pain. Su-hyeok walks up behind you as he places his hand on your hip out of instinct
"What's up? You hear something?" Su-hyeok repeats your question
"Zombies." She shakily sighs out
"Where, though?" On-jo questions. Your eyes scan the area seeing nothing out of the ordinary...well if you could call any of this ordinary.
"Everywhere." Nam-ra answers
"How many?" You grit out
"One, two, three...four, five, six...seven, eight...nine, ten, eleven..." Nam-ra counts cautiously
"Okay, a lot. Run!" You demand loudly and Su-hyeok grabs your hand as he pulls you to run with him. You lifting up Sakae in one hand and allowing her to wrap her legs around you. Her hands on your shoulders as her head rests on your nape while your unoccupied hand holds one of her legs to keep her steady...I need to get her out of here...NOW!
Word Count: 1416
Be prepared for the next chapter...just a little heads up😙