[CHAPTER 9]
We all stood around Jae-Heon's grave, and Mr. An placed a paper flower on the top of it. "You died when you should have lived, and I lived when I should have been the one to die.", Mr. An said. After that, we all went our separate ways and returned to what we were doing.
I was walking in silence with Hyun-Su. "Your new haircut suits you." I commented, looking straight ahead. I could see him looking at me through my peripheral vision. "Oh, thanks." he said.
Suddenly, we saw people running, and a armor truck came crashing in. Then, a man approached the soldier and stabbed him multiple times with a knife. Another man held the soldier while the other man cut off the soldier's thumb. They pressed the thumb to a suitcase, but it wasn't the correct one. "Not it." the other man said. "We failed again?" Then, they threw the thumb at us, causing others to scream. The soldier tried to run away, but the man who was chewing gum shot him. He must be their leader.
"Find everyone who's hiding." he ordered his men.
⎯⎯
Mr. An was being dragged by two men, and Su-Yeong asked him where his brother Yeong-Su was. He shushed her. "It's okay. Everything's fine. Everything's fine. Everything's fine." he said quietly.
Then, a man wearing a bucket hat appeared. The man whistled as he drew a red circle around all of us, as if it were some kind of game. "It's a bit bigger than last time." one of the men said. "Should I measure the area every time? This is your jail now." the man with the bucket hat said, laughing.
Suddenly, a gunshot was heard. Everyone looked to see that Ji-eun had been shot, and everyone rushed into the circle. One of the men pushed Du-Sik into the circle and dropped him. Then, one of the men sat in Du-Sik's wheelchair and grabbed Ji-eun's hair. Du-Sik tried to crawl towards her, but we all stopped him. "No, Mr. Han! Stay here. They're going to kill you too!" someone warned him. "What are you doing?" he yelled.
"Come on." the man in the wheelchair laughed and winked. Ji-eun started spitting out blood from her mouth. Hyun-Su tried to help her, but I stopped him because they might kill him too. Ji-eun teared up and closed her eyes. She wasn't moving, and we realized that she was already dead. "How could you kill her? How could you?" Du-Sik asked. "People's lives are useless these days." the man in the wheelchair replied.
"Just squeeze in. That's your home. A tiny home." their leader said, laughing. I looked at him and gave him a death glare.
All of us sat still inside the circle, and their leader approached and stood up. "My name is Shin Jung-Seop." he introduced himself. "Who cares." I mumbled, and he looked at me. "Why don't we all just get along without fighting?" he said. "How can you say that after what you did?" Mr. An spoke up, and the gun was pointed at him. "How can you treat people like this? We're not animals!" he yelled. "I'm sorry. This is all I know." Jung-Seop said, holding up his gun.
"If you all do as I say, I won't kill any of you." he said, chewing his gum. "So... What do you want from us?" Eun-Hyeok asked, looking at him. "We should get to know each other." he said, walking up to us. "I bet you're curious about us too." he continued.
Eun-Hyeok stood up and faced him. "Why don't you tell us?" he asked. Jung-Seop chewed his gum loudly. "Where were you before you came here? What happened out there?" Eun-Hyeok asked. "Dead. All of them." he replied, still chewing his gum. "Did they just die, or did you kill them?" Eun-Hyeok asked. "It was a small church. They had fortified it well, so I got my hopes up. But all of them were already dead. What's interesting is that there were no signs of a monster attack. They had all killed each other. You shouldn't be worrying about monsters. No. Humans are the scariest," he said, smiling while chewing his gum.
Then, a man wearing a red jacket approached. "What?" he asked Jung-Seop. "What?" Jung-Seop asked in return. "Ui-Myeong said you were looking for me." he said, and Jung-Seop looked at the man they called 'Ui-Myeong' and shook his head.
"Hmm? I wasn't." Jung-Seop shrugged and shook his head. "You son of a bitch!" he yelled at Ui-Myeong, and everyone in the room got scared. Jung-Seop chuckled. "Did you find anything?" he asked. The man in the red jacket turned his head to look at him. "It's a girl. She's hurt." he said, making me think it was Ji-su.
"Stop frowning. These people are already scared." Jung-Seop said, and the man in the red jacket turned his head to look at us. Jung-Seop patted his shoulder and put his hand on Ui-Myeong's shoulder, then started walking with him.
The man in the red jacket walked off with another man following him. "You just left her alone? Why? Was she not your type? Can I have her?" the man asked. "I'm saving her for later." the man in the red jacket said and walked off.
Eun-Yu pulled Eun-Hyeok's arm and brought him down. "Are you crazy? Stop standing up to them. Do you want to get yourself killed?" Eun-Yu asked quietly. "I did it because I wanted us to live." Eun-Hyeok replied quietly, looking at Hyun-Su and me. "We have to wait." he said. "Until when?" I asked. "It seems like they killed soldiers and stole their weapons and ammo. They only have a few guns, and there are dozens of monsters out there." he explained to us. "We have to do something." Hyun-Su said. "When the time is right, we'll act." he said before continuing, "You're not the only weapon we have."
⎯⎯
"Huh. You really made an effort. Who's the leader here, huh?" he asked, showing us some papers in his hand. "Who made this?" he then threw the papers at us. Eun-Hyeok stood up. "I did." he said. "I heard someone performed surgery. Who did that?" Jung-Seop asked, looking at Eun-Hyeok. "I did." he responded. "Everyone here is completely useless. There's an old man, a cripple, and even a patient. This place is the worst so far, but there are so many survivors." Jung-Seop said. "You're young but capable, yeah?" he added, looking at Eun-Hyeok with a smile. "I like you. So, what do you say? Will you abandon them or join me? Or will you... just die?" he asked him. Eun-Hyeok looked at us before stepping out of the circle and heading towards where Jung-Seop was.
Jung-Seop laughed. "Good choice. Smart guy." he said. Then, another man approached Jung-Seop, informing him that there was a monster here. Well, yes, there were so many of us.
We sat there, waiting, when suddenly, a gunshot rang out, causing others to gasp in fear. Hyun-Su stood up, and guns were immediately pointed at him, telling him to sit back down. "What just happened? Who..." Seung-Wan asked fearfully. "Did they... Did they kill Eun-Hyeok?" Byeong-Il stuttered. "He's on their side now. They killed Seon-Yeong." Hye-In said, her voice filled with sadness.
Jung-Seop and one of his men finally returned, and we could hear them chatting in the hallway. " "I'll clean things up first, Jung-Seop." He's acting like he's so nice. Why doesn't he just hold a funeral for her?" the man said. "Sir, I'm telling you, Ui-Myeong really doesn't fit in with our group." he added. Then Jung-Seop grabbed him by the collar, and suddenly, a gunshot rang out, making everyone scream.
Yi-kyeong appeared and hit one of the men with a gun. The man in the bucket hat pointed his gun at Yi-kyeong and fired, but she managed to dodge it and ran away. The other men quickly chased after her. "What the fuck was that shit?" Jung-Seop yelled at the man in the bucket hat. Then Eun-Hyeok came from behind and held him up. "Cha Hyun-Su! Now!" he shouted.
Hyun-Su quickly did what he was told and knocked down the man in the bucket hat. Then another man was about to shoot Hyun-Su, but I stopped him by pinning him to the wall with his own gun. He groaned and struggled to set himself free.
The man pulled out a knife and tried to stab me, but I stopped him by grabbing the knife. I didn't feel any pain. Then I punched the man, and just as Jung-Seop fired a gun at me, I saw Hyun-Su protect me and take the shot in his shoulder. "Hyun-Su!" I yelled and rushed to his side. "Everyone, stop!" Jung-Seop yelled, stepping on Eun-Hyeok's chest and pointing the gun at his head. "Let them go, or I'll blow his fucking brains out." Jung-Seop threatened. The others released the other man.
Ms. An walked in, and they tried to shoot her, but it had no effect. Ms. An grabbed one of the men by the throat and squeezed. She threw the man aside and approached Eun-Hyeok. "No, Ms. An..." I heard Hyun-Su say, trying to get up.
I tried to stop him, but he ran in front of Eun-Hyeok and ended up getting stabbed. Hyun-Su then placed his hands on Ms. An's throat and choked her to death. Ms. An fell to the ground. "I'm sorry..." I heard Hyun-Su say before collapsing. Jung-Seop approached Hyun-Su and touched the spot where he had been stabbed. I looked at it, feeling a bit disgusted, and quickly looked away. "You have secrets, huh?" Jung-Seop asked, looking at Hyun-Su. "Sir, he'll recover soon." one of the men said. "We should kill all... monsters." Jung-Seop said. One of his men poured gasoline on Ms. An's body and set her on fire.
After they burned Ms. An's body, they took Hyun-Su to the elevator, heading up to the rooftop. "What are you guys doing? Let go of me!" I shouted, trying to make myself free from their grip and run to the elevator. But Eun-Hyeok and the others held me back tightly, not letting me go, and the elevator started closing. "Give Hyun-Su back!" I shouted before the elevator completely closed.
⎯⎯
A few minutes later, we were still waiting there, staring at Ms. An's burned body. I couldn't help but think about what they were doing to Hyun-Su now. "She's really going to die, isn't she?" Seung-Wan asked. "Shut up, you idiot." one of the men yelled.
Then the man in the red jacket walked in. "Where the hell have you been?" the man who had yelled at Seung-Wan asked. "Shut your trap. Your breath stinks." he replied, standing beside Yu-ri. "What? You son of a bitch..." the man said. The man in the red jacket bent down to Yu-ri and sniffed her. "You smell like disinfectant. You'd better go over there. The patient's in bad condition. I think she might die soon." he whispered to her, pointing to a room.
Yu-ri got up, with the man in the red jacket following behind her. Mr. An tried to stop her. "No. No," he said, but the other men pointed their guns at him, telling him to sit down.
Suddenly, the man in front of us got shot from behind, and when we looked back, we saw Yi-kyeong holding a gun and telling us to hurry. Jin-Ok screamed and backed off, and then we saw a man pointing his gun at us. "I knew this would happen!" he yelled. Yi-kyeong aimed her gun at him. He grabbed Jin-Ok and ordered Yi-kyeong to drop her gun, but she didn't listen, and her gun remained pointed at him. "Want to bet who can kill more?" he said. One of our group tried to run away, and he shot him. "You're gonna lose! Now, drop your fucking phone. Drop it. Drop it, you bitch!" he yelled, and Yi-kyeong did as he said. She dropped the gun, and the man ran up to her and slapped her until she fell to the ground. Then he kicked her in the stomach.
I completely lost control and grabbed his throat tightly, lifting him up against a pillar. My eyes turned black, and my pupils turned red. I didn't realize that everyone saw what I truly am, and they backed off, scared. When I realized that the man was already dead, I looked at them, and my eyes slowly returned to normal. I saw their fearful faces as they looked at me. "W..what? You're a monster too?" Byeong-Il asked. "Yeah, I've been experiencing symptoms before the disease spread. At first, I thought it was just a normal nosebleed. When I looked in the mirror, I saw my reflection with black eyes, and it was telling me weird things, like 'You're different from them.' But until now, I still don't know what it means. All this time, there's been a monster inside this building that you didn't imprison, and that's me." I explained, and they were covered with fear on their faces.
⎯⎯
We waited at the elevator, and then it stopped and opened, revealing the man in the bucket hat. He had his gun pointed at us, and Yi-kyeong pointed her gun back at him. "All alone now, huh?" Eun-Hyeok, beside me, asked. "Where's Hyun-Su?" I asked, and he pointed the gun at me. "Stop. Stop. We don't have time for this!" he said, panicking. "What do you mean?" Byeong-Il asked. "If they come down, we're all dead!" the man said, still in a panic. "What are you talking about?" Yi-kyeong asked.
"What did they do to Hyun-Su?" I asked him again. "Damn it!" he exclaimed and raised his hands. "I'll put it down, okay?" He then placed his gun on the floor. "Look. Look at this." He took out a red paper from his pocket, handing it to me as I opened it. "Special Infectee Report Guide... We guarantee the safety of anyone who reports a special infectee. You will be transferred to a safe camp." Hye-In read aloud for everyone to hear. "What does that mean?" someone asked. "They want us to report them." Hye-In said.
I asked the man once again about what happened to Hyun-Su, and he explained everything that had happened on the rooftop. Now, Hyun-Su was with Ui-Myeong. I knew it. All this time, I had a different feeling about that man, and there was something very wrong with him.
⎯⎯
Minutes passed, and we continued to wait at the elevator. Suddenly, someone was coming down in the elevator, and as the numbers on the display reached one, it must be both of them.
"They're coming. They're coming." Byeong-Il said, and we all got ready. Eun-Hyeok and I kept our eyes fixed on the elevator, waiting for it to open.
END OF CHAPTER 9
VOTE &
COMMENT
THANK YOU FOR READING!♡