“You bastards, don’t you know the word quiet in the bathroom. It’s really damn noisy.”
Yechan, the well-built buzz-cut who just came out of the bathroom, expressed his annoyance to the two people standing in confrontation at the bathroom entrance.
“So, why did Nam Taewoong and Choi Yeoul come here?”
Yechan washed his hands hard at the sink and looked at Taewoong and Yeoul with curious eyes. Unlike Jian, Yeoul’s face brightened slightly at Yechan’s gentle face.
“To, to wash hands.”
Somehow it seems like he’ll listen and we can get out of here! Yeoul spoke in a trembling voice and tightly grabbed Taewoong’s arm as if clinging to him. Yechan said “Ah,” and nodded, then made a startled face.
“Hey, but how did you guys get here? Did everyone turn into humans?!”
“What… We walked. Anyway, we’re leaving. Poop well.”
It seemed wrong to bring toilet paper after all. As soon as Taewoong turned his body, leaving the baseball team members blocking the way into the bathroom, Yechan called out “Hey!”
“You walked? How?”
“Well with two legs.”
“Ah shi-, Nam Taewoong.”
He’s so curious even though he was just pooping in the bathroom. Taewoong showed his displeasure and grumbled, then pointed his chin at Jian.
“Apologize. Then I’ll tell you how we came.”
He can let the idiot remark slide because he’s an idiot, but he can’t let slide calling Yeoul a nerd!
Studying well isn’t a sin. When he told him to apologize as if he had an inferiority complex about not studying well, Jian scrunched up his face as much as possible. Yechan silently poked Jian’s side with his elbow.
“Yeah, you went too far. Apologize.”
He keeps poking his side as if telling him to do it quickly and get it over with. Jian turned his head.
“…… Sorry.”
“What? I can’t hear you?”
Jian said something but he can’t hear it well. Taewoong exaggeratedly pretended not to hear and brought his ear closer. Jian gritted his teeth.
“…….”
“Yeah, okay. Yeoul-ah, let’s go.”
It doesn’t look like he has any intention of apologizing at all. Taewoong held Yeoul’s hand and grabbed the bathroom doorknob. At the sight of Taewoong and Yeoul looking like they would really leave, Jian cursed loudly enough for everyone to hear “Ah shi-“.
“Ah… Sorry! Happy now?!”
At the rather desperate apology, Taewoong turned his body as if asking when he tried to leave, grinning.
“Yeah. Let’s all use good and kind words from now on.”
“…… This crazy bastard.”
He was treated like a crazy person, but he got an apology anyway. Taewoong tapped Jian’s shoulder and nodded with a smile. And Yeoul shared with Jian and Yechan what they had learned so far on Taewoong’s behalf.
“…… So you’re saying we just need to be careful of smell and sound. Damn it, we ran to the bathroom without knowing that and being scared.”
After hearing Yeoul’s words, Jian made an absurd face and washed his face, and Yechan let out a big hollow laugh. Taewoong, who was watching, called the two in turn.
“If you heard everything, you should say thank you now, right?”
“…… Why has this guy been acting like an old man since earlier?”
Taewoong and Jian’s gazes clashed again. In the touch-and-go situation, Yeoul was about to stop them because it really seemed like they would fight, but Yechan pushed Taewoong and Jian first to make some distance.
“These guys always fought during sports day, aren’t you sick of it. Aren’t you anxious to death that you might not be able to go to the university you got into with difficulty?”
At the word ‘university’ that came out of Yechan’s mouth, Taewoong and Jian’s fierce momentum was cut down at once. Later, everyone’s shoulders drooped weakly.
The sense of reality that had been forgotten for a moment raised its head again.
The ruined graduation ceremony, the zombies threatening their lives up close, the uncertain college admission and pro team joining, the distant rescue. No one could bring up the invisible future.
Like that, while everyone was standing blankly with their mouths shut, suddenly the bell rang.
“…… Bell.”
The loud ringing of the bell woke them up. Taewoong and Yeoul raised their heads at once. They immediately met each other’s eyes and quickly grabbed the mop handle and bat they had put down for a moment.
They had stayed too long in the bathroom they had just stopped by. Taewoong raised one hand.
“We’re going. Survive well on your own.”
Jian and Yechan, as starting members of the baseball team, seemed like they would be a big help in surviving, but their personalities didn’t match. Thinking it would be a hassle, he turned his body without any lingering attachment and quietly went out the bathroom door.
Yeoul, who came out following Taewoong, saw the elevator for the disabled and elderly right next to the bathroom.
If they took the elevator, they could go straight to the 1st floor. But there was that much risk. He could do it alone, but he couldn’t put Taewoong in danger. Recalling the safety training he had heard before, he let go of his lingering attachment and checked the hallway.
The zombies’ locations had changed with the bell sound. He sighed silently, and Taewoong, who had been walking slowly step by step, stopped and looked back. Yeoul also stopped and looked at him with an “Eh?”. Then Taewoong lowered his body towards Yeoul and brought his lips close to his ear.
“I’ll check the fire hydrant for a bit.”
Why, in movies or comics, don’t they take out fire axes from fire hydrants! When he spoke just in case, Yeoul admired him with a “Wow,” and nodded his head.
Taewoong approached the fire hydrant praying please, please silently and firmly pressed the lock button with his hand. With a very small noise, the lock was released. He carefully opened the fire hydrant.
Snap!
“…… Heup!”
“…… Heu!”
The moment the fire hydrant opened, something gray popped out. Taewoong and Yeoul were startled. They reflexively tried to scream but quickly bit their lips tightly to swallow the sound at the zombies in sight. A gray rat quickly moved away between the two frozen people. Yeoul, who had been trembling all over his body, couldn’t hold it anymore and plopped down.
The rat that quickly moved away passed the zombies as if it was nothing and sniffed around. Taewoong, who was looking at that, let out the breath he was holding and turned his gaze to look at the fire hydrant.
“…… Damn.”
The fire axe he was hoping for wasn’t there. Movies were just movies after all!
Taewoong quietly cursed at the fire hose packed tightly instead of an axe, then closed the fire hydrant. He held out his hand to Yeoul, who was half out of it. Yeoul blinked his round eyes and grabbed Taewoong’s hand with both hands to get up. Taewoong dusted off Yeoul’s butt and started moving his feet that had stopped for a moment.
“…… Huh?”
Taewoong, who was passing the water purifier and heading to the stairs to the 4th floor, suddenly stopped. Yeoul, who was following behind, almost bumped into him. Wondering what was going on, he checked the front and also froze.
“Ah…….”
The stairs midway were full of zombies.
Usually there was little traffic on the stairs. So he thought he could easily pass by, but zombies. His mind and body froze at the unexpected situation.
What should we do? As Yeoul was wracking his brain, Taewoong didn’t move at all for some reason. He tapped Taewoong’s shoulder lightly, wondering why, and only then did Taewoong flinch and meet his gaze.
“…… They’re kids from our class.”
“…… Huh? Ah.”
Surprised by Taewoong’s words, he held his breath and carefully grabbed his arm.
“Are… are you okay?”
When he checked on the shocked and frozen Taewoong, Taewoong weakly nodded his head, saying “Ye, yeah”.
Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a big problem. While relieved, he suddenly realized the reason for the strangeness he had felt before.
Come to think of it, it was strange that there were fewer zombies in Class 9, but they were all here. Yeoul lamented and made an “Hmm?” sound, narrowing his eyebrows.
Class 9 survivors not seen on the 5th floor. Class 9 zombies on the middle of the stairs leading to the 4th floor. The middle…
“Zombies can’t climb stairs.”
So the Class 9 survivors ran away from the zombies to the 4th floor, and the zombies who tried to eat them followed to the stairs, but with their blurry vision and simple brains, they didn’t know how to climb the stairs and fell over in a group. It seems like they gathered in the middle of the stairs like that!
Following the smell, they learned another new fact. Yeoul checked the evacuation chute installed on the stairwell wall, the zombies wandering below it, and the stair railing.Â
“Hey, Taewoong. I think we need to either stick completely to the railing or move up.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
