The zombie grabbed Yeoul’s uniform vest and pulled it while growling. The vest stretched as it was pulled. At Yeoul’s startled voice, Taewoong snapped back to reality. He grabbed the zombie’s head pulling on Yeoul, irritably tore it away, and punched it.
“Damn it, everyone wake up!”
They were once people, but now they were zombies and couldn’t be saved. Though they knew they had no choice to survive, the momentary hesitation was because it felt like crossing a line they had been trying to protect. Taewoong shouted loudly, then hit the zombie’s elbow to detach it and kicked it away.
At Taewoong’s shout, everyone came to their senses. They raised their hands that had been limply hanging and struck down zombies one by one.
“Shit… too, many!”
Even though they were clearly hitting and pushing away zombies, the numbers wouldn’t decrease at all. At Jaeseong’s cry, Yeoul, who was protecting their luggage while pushing away zombies, scanned the surroundings.
It seemed like they would be trapped in the cafeteria from exhaustion. They really needed to either kill the zombies one by one or push them outside.
“…Wait, push them out?”
As he continued his thoughts, one method came to mind.
“Um, can one strong person help!”
“Kim Yechan!!”
At Yeoul’s shout, Taewoong called for Yechan. Yechan froze with his baseball bat, saying “Huh?” and then followed Yeoul. Yeoul hurriedly and quietly moved away from the zombies and ran to the indoor fire hydrant on the cafeteria wall.
“Hold this, be careful, it’s heavy,”
“Whoa, why is this so heavy?”
“Go toward the zombies.”
He opened the heavy nozzle and handed it to Yechan who had followed him. Then, adding to be careful, he busily unfolded the neatly arranged fire hose and laid it on the floor.
“Everyone, come inside!”
Before opening the valve, he shouted, and everyone who had been fighting zombies at the back door hurriedly came inside. After confirming everyone was in, he struggled to turn the valve to the left. With a gurgling sound, the fire hose gradually bulged. After a while, water shot out forcefully from the nozzle. Yechan’s eyes widened in surprise.
“What, hey! This, hey! One person, whoa!”
The water pressure was too strong. Struggling against the powerful stream, Yechan stumbled and shouted urgently for help. Taewoong, who had been fighting off zombies, went to Yechan and grabbed his shoulder to support him with his strength.
“Krkack!!”
“Ka, kack!!”
“Kagrg, grurk!”
“Hey, Kim Yechan. Push the zombies forward!”
The zombies screamed and were pushed back or fell down from the strong water spray. Through the water droplets splashing everywhere, Taewoong saw zombies that didn’t know what to do and gently pushed Yechan forward to advance.
While everyone focused on the zombies, the valve was fully opened. Yeoul picked up the cleaning stick that Taewoong had half-thrown away. He pushed a zombie that was away from the water spray toward the water.
“Krrr, kackack!!”
“Over here!”
Zombies that had been ignored because they were far away heard the water sound, rushed over, and targeted Yechan and Taewoong who were holding the nozzle. Seongyong and Jaeseong protected Taewoong and Yechan while pushing zombies toward the water. Jian briefly froze before joining Yeoul to fight off zombies.
“Grab the bags!”
Their belongings that had been placed on the floor were swept away along with zombies being pushed out the back door by the water. At Taewoong’s shout, Minchan and Yubin fumbled to grab the boxes and tarpaulin bags.
“Kim Yechan, slowly!”
After carefully moving forward, they almost reached the back door. Taewoong, thinking Hyunwoo would come soon, kept the door open and continued pushing zombies while looking around for Hyunwoo.
“Can you see Hyunwoo?!”
At Taewoong’s shout, Yeoul went to the back door. He stuck his head out to stare intensely beyond the door, then raised his voice with an “Oh!”
“There, there!”
Toward the field, a group appeared and disappeared repeatedly, just like they were playing tag.
Brightening up, Taewoong urgently called for Jaeseong. Jaeseong took Yechan from Taewoong but stumbled and called for Seongyong. After confirming they were holding steady, Taewoong went to Yeoul.
“Where?”
“Over there!”
Yeoul stretched out his hand pointing ahead. Taewoong stared quietly, then seeing the group, said “okay” and ran forward.
He quickly descended the low hill leading to the field. Catching his breath silently, he spotted Hyunwoo beyond the wandering zombies, muttering something and moving in a large circle. Without delay, Taewoong took out a whistle from his pocket and blew it loudly.
The whistle sound echoed across the field as loudly as an emergency bell. The zombies turned their heads sharply toward the sound. Taewoong continued blowing the whistle as he ran toward Hyunwoo.
“Jeong Hyunwoo! Come this way!”
“……Nam Taewoong?!”
Hyunwoo, who had been running in front of the zombies, spotted Taewoong approaching. After being startled, he immediately ran to Taewoong.
“What are you doing?!”
“Just run for now!”
Taewoong led the way while blowing the whistle. Hyunwoo, not understanding what was happening, followed anyway. The zombies limped after them in a group.
“He’s, he’s coming!”
Taewoong who had left was now returning. Yeoul, who had been watching anxiously, shouted loudly. Yechan moved one step to the side to make room for them to enter.
“Move aside! Move aside!”
Taewoong waved his hands urgently. As soon as Jian moved aside, Taewoong came through the back door. Right after him, Hyunwoo slid in, and Yechan sprayed water at the faces of the zombies that were following in a line.
“One, two!”
Taewoong immediately grabbed the back door without resting. After giving the signal, he pushed the door closed with force. At the same time, Yeoul firmly turned the nozzle Yechan was holding to the right to lock it. The strong water stream stopped, and it suddenly became quiet.
“Is it… over?”
Still holding the door, Taewoong turned his head to look at Yeoul. Yeoul was startled but then fumbled to lock all the back door locks.
“…Yeah.”
With that weak answer, Yeoul slumped down while still touching the last lock. Taewoong, a beat late, put his arm around Yeoul’s shoulders and pulled him close.
“…Choi Yeoul, you’re really the best.”
With a whisper so faint it could barely be heard, he rested his forehead on Yeoul’s narrow shoulders. Yeoul was visibly surprised but then slowly nodded.
“We… did it.”
“We survived……”
Everyone, who had been frozen in place, started groaning or sighing and one by one sat down heavily.
In the hard-won relief, they were half-dazed. As they sat blankly, suddenly Yechan began sobbing.
“Uhnng, mom……”
At the word “mom” from Yechan’s mouth, Minchan and Yubin, who had been dazed after crying, started crying again. Jaeseong also cried loudly for his mom. The crying continued.
Uwaaang. Mommy. Lying flat on the floor, Jian quietly listened to the crying sounds filling the cafeteria, then sat up with an “aish” sound.
“Did someone die? You’re all crying so damn much. Tone it down.”
Jian, unable to stand it anymore, smacked the back of Yechan’s head in irritation. Yechan stumbled heavily, then loudly sniffled.
“Damn… This morning my mom said she couldn’t come to the graduation ceremony because of work. She apologized and grilled beef for me… The beef was delicious… But I just felt disappointed and acted like a jerk to my mom, asking why she wasn’t coming to my graduation when she went to my brother’s… Now I can’t reach her……”
At Yechan’s sobbing, everyone stayed silent, probably thinking about their own mothers.
“…My mom said she was coming to school… but after texting me asking where I was, she hasn’t said anything.”
“Damn… my battery’s dead so I don’t even know if she’s contacted me or not.”
“I’m so worried about our dog at home… He had leg surgery recently so he can’t run well……”
After no one spoke for a while, starting with Seongyong, each person revealed what they had been hiding in their hearts. Among them, Yeoul, who had been silent, carefully took out his phone. He looked at the quiet phone.
He knew his parents turned off their phones when working, not wanting to be disturbed, saying it was distracting. That’s why he thought there had been no contact until now.
After some hesitation, he sent a message to the family chat room: [Dad, Mom, are you alive?] with a curious emoji.
No matter how long he waited, the number 2 didn’t decrease.
They must be late checking their phones. They’re probably filming at a closed set where outsiders aren’t allowed, so they must be fine. As he tried to think positively, a soft “Yeoul” was called.
When he turned his head, Taewoong, who had been leaning on his shoulder, straightened up and sat facing him.
“What’s wrong, can’t reach your parents?”
Taewoong’s face, hunched over as he made eye contact, was full of concern. Yeoul looked back at Taewoong, then smiled weakly.
“We don’t communicate well usually… They’ll be fine.”
“You don’t communicate well?… Can I ask what they do?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
