They were clearly outsiders. While they hesitated to raise their racket and mop handle, they spotted the entrance. Yeoul turned to look at the broadcasting club member, who looked like he might cry any moment.
“Hey, we need to go to the health room. Let’s split up here.”
“Huh? Oh, yes. I understand.”
“I hope you find your parents.”
Along with telling him to go carefully, Yeoul gave the boy a small chocolate. The broadcasting club member bowed politely, then ran toward the entrance. Taewoong and Yeoul looked at each other as they watched the broadcasting club member’s back disappear into the distance. They then carefully passed by the zombies who were banging furiously against the fire hydrant where the emergency alarm was ringing.
Emergency medicine might not seem like much, but it was as important as water and food. They needed to gather as much as possible.
Though not as good as a hospital, there would be useful medicine. As Yeoul carefully avoided zombies and moved forward, he finally saw the health room sign! Just as he let out a small “wow” of excitement, Taewoong quickly went to the health room and flung open the door.
“KHAAK!!”
“…Gasp!”
As he happily opened the door, a zombie lunged at him fiercely as if greeting them. Taewoong, who hadn’t expected a zombie to be there at all, was pushed to the floor by it.
“S-shit…”
The zombie targeting Taewoong fell on top of him. The zombie, as if smelling blood, opened its mouth wide—a mess of dark red blood and black liquid. With a sound like dry wood splitting, its mouth tore open all the way to its ears, and black fluid dripped onto Taewoong’s mouth.
It clicked its teeth together just above Taewoong’s face, as if about to tear at his exposed face and neck. Taewoong grimaced and turned his head away.
“Tea…cher!”
The kind health teacher who had put a patch on him just days ago was now attacking him viciously as a zombie. With the zombie looking ready to bite him any second, Taewoong desperately called out to the teacher while pushing against the zombie’s cheeks and shoulders.
“KREUREURK!”
As if responding to his call, the health teacher made a sound like a starved dog, scratching at Taewoong’s body with both hands and smacking its lips.
“Ah, please!!”
Because the nails were short, the uniform wasn’t torn, but the scratching feeling was creepy. Disgusted, Taewoong quickly picked up the racket he had dropped. He hit the zombie’s head with the end of the racket, then when the frightening clicking mouth kept coming, he shoved the racket between its jaws. He held the racket with both hands and pushed.
The zombie’s face moved back a little. As he applied more force, Yeoul, who had been frozen in shock, took a step forward in alarm.
“T-Taewoong!”
“KAK, KAAK!”
“Stay back!!”
The zombie let out a terrible scream and fearfully gnawed at the racket frame with its blackened, rotten teeth. Taewoong warned Yeoul, who was trying to approach, while forcing the zombie back with his strength.
“Ugh… shit!”
Everything was terrible—from the smell coming from the strangely torn mouth, to the fluid dripping onto his face from the racket, to the force needed to push the racket. On top of that, he could see zombies in the hallway gradually approaching after hearing the noise.
They couldn’t stay like this. Taewoong shifted his entire body to push back the zombie and, gritting his teeth, pushed the firmly gripped racket.
“This…”
Unable to withstand the zombie’s brute strength, Taewoong’s hands holding the racket trembled. Gradually, the zombie’s head was forced back slightly.
Just a little more, just a bit more! As he struggled to push with arms that felt ready to burst from using too much strength, suddenly something covered the zombie’s face. The zombie’s strength immediately gave out.
“…Huh?”
He didn’t know what happened, but the zombie wasn’t moving! Taewoong quickly pushed the zombie lying on top of him to the side. He jumped up and struck the zombie several times with his racket.
Kwak! Kwaak!
He was clearly hitting the zombie, but it made a sound like thick plastic being crumpled. Grimacing at that sound with an “ughh,” he saw the writhing zombie completely go limp. Looking at the black liquid spreading thickly around the zombie, Taewoong belatedly sighed and let his arms drop.
“…Need to do arm exercises too, AACK!”
“KRAAK!!”
Just as he was saying he should probably do arm exercises, another zombie burst out from the wide-open health room door. Taewoong was startled but instinctively stood in front of Yeoul and punched the zombie’s face with all his might. He kicked the heavily staggering zombie to send it far away, then grabbed Yeoul’s arm.
“Kaack!!”
The zombie that had fallen to the floor rose up strongly and stretched out its hand.
The zombie’s hand touched Yeoul’s arm as Taewoong pulled him. Yeoul looked back in surprise, saying “Huh?” and at the same moment was pulled into the infirmary. Bang! The door closed.
“…Wow. Yeoul, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
If they had been just a little later, it would have become really troublesome. Relieved, Taewoong looked at Yeoul who was sitting on the floor still tightly holding his hand. Yeoul, who had been half dazed, slowly raised his head.
“…Huh? Y-yeah.”
“Really?”
Somehow his answer lacked strength. Taewoong checked by feeling down Yeoul’s shoulders, arms, and legs. Yeoul grabbed Taewoong’s arm, which showed clear signs of panic, and smiled awkwardly.
“I-I’m fine. What about you? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Me? I think I’m fine except my arm is a bit numb?”
“…Thank goodness.”
Yeoul sighed deeply, releasing his tension and dropping his shoulders. Taewoong stared at Yeoul who seemed to be okay and then held out his hand.
“Can you stand up?”
“Y-yeah.”
Strength returned to his legs. Yeoul grabbed Taewoong’s hand and stood up with a groan. Taewoong dusted off Yeoul’s bottom and said, “Wait a moment,” then went into the infirmary.
Wondering if there might be more zombies, Yeoul carefully looked around the infirmary and then stood still, surveying his surroundings. Taewoong came and stood in front of him. With a sigh, he hugged Yeoul tightly.
“Ah… I think I’m finally starting to relax…”
The school nurse they had been so familiar with had become a zombie. They couldn’t properly push her away or hit her. Taewoong thought they might really become zombies, but they survived.
“Really, I thought we were going to become zombies…”
Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Taewoong leaned heavily against Yeoul, who had his eyes wide open in a silent scream. Yeoul froze stiff.
T-T-Taewoong is hugging me! I’m so surprised my heart might jump out of my wide-open mouth! Yeoul couldn’t move, just awkwardly holding his arms up and trembling. Meanwhile, Taewoong slowly straightened his body that had been bent to match Yeoul’s height.
“I thought I was going to die of fear… Anyway, how did you—wait, what? Where did your jacket go?!”
The warm and soft embrace of Yeoul had made him feel at ease. Belatedly trying to ask Yeoul how he had managed earlier, he suddenly realized Yeoul wasn’t wearing his jacket.
What is this on such a cold day! Taewoong exclaimed in alarm, quickly taking off his backpack and removing his jacket. Watching Taewoong bustling about as if being chased by someone, Yeoul glanced at the infirmary door and said, “Um, uh…”
“Well… I was wondering if there was a way to help you, if zombies really couldn’t see, and then I remembered a movie.”
“A movie?”
What could this mean? Taewoong blinked his eyes. Yeoul lowered his gaze slightly from Taewoong’s stare.
“Yeah. So… I remembered zombies stiffening in darkness, and I thought maybe? So I tried blocking their vision.”
One of the zombie movie clichés was about vision. Thinking of the cliché, he took a chance and covered the zombie’s vision with his jacket like in the movies, and the zombie really stopped moving! Yeoul fidgeted with his index finger awkwardly. Watching him, Taewoong opened his mouth slightly.
“…You’re really the best. Wow… How did—no, first put this on.”
They were sweating from constantly walking and running to avoid zombies, but it was still winter. The weather was very cold. Taewoong, who had been looking at Yeoul with surprised eyes, put his school uniform jacket over the lightly dressed Yeoul’s shoulders. This time, Yeoul was surprised.
“Ah, no, it’s okay!”
“No, it’s not okay! It might smell of sweat, but wear it.”
The cold weather was perfect for making weak people catch colds! The jacket might be dirty with zombie blood splatter, but it would be better than not wearing one. Taewoong grabbed Yeoul’s startled arm and forcefully put it through the sleeve of the jacket, then buttoned it up.
“Ah, you still look cold somehow.”
“Huh? No, really, I’m fine!”
Despite Yeoul’s assurance, Taewoong rummaged through the coat that Yeoul had carefully collected.
“This coat has short sleeves… this one is too thin, and why is this padding torn?!”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
