12.05pm         KBS Broadcasting Station

 

Namjoo couldn’t stop digging her nails into the skin of her palm. She was tense, very tense. The four of them-Yookyung, Bomi, Chorong and herself were about to go and complete a very important part of their mission–to call out for more survivors.

 

They were now crossing the large foyer to get to the stairs, Yookyung leading the way and Bomi covering the back. The rest of the group, about 8 of them stayed behind to fight the rest of the infected.

 

"Isn’t this place kinda quiet?" Namjoo whispered. There wasn’t a single soul to be found, but the air reeked of blood and guts.

 

"Looks like you spoke too soon," Yookyung said, as a stage 1 infected emerged from behind a wall. Silently, Yookyung charged forwards and took it out with a clean slice. Namjoo was amazed at how well she wielded her katana, but she had no time for admiration as more of the infected came out. 

 

Using her electric gun, she aimed at one, stunning it temporarily, and then attacked it with her machete. Slash, slash, slash. Within a minute, the group finished off the group of infected. 

 

"Let’s go quickly, they can heal, right?" Chorong urged. 

 

"Not so fast, but you’re right," Bomi agreed, and they ran to the stairs. "Look, a crowbar." There was a bloody crowbar lying against the stairs.

 

"I could use an extra weapon," Chorong said, and grabbed it. Right now, she had her revolver and a brass knuckle that was useful but didn’t inflict too much damage on the infected. 

 

They went up the stairs quickly, but by the fifth flight of stairs they started panting. "I’m tired," Yookyung said, slumping against the wall. "Can we just rest for a moment, please?" 

 

"Sure," Namjoo replied, and then her eyes widened as she realised that an infected stage 1 was lurking at the top of the stairs. "Look out!"

 

It went straight for Yookyung, who ducked away. Namjoo winced as she shot at it with her gun, causing it to convulse violently. Loud, painful growls came from it but Yookyung silenced it immediately with a swift blow. "God," she muttered as blood spilled out from it.

 

"Yookyung, are we doomed if we don’t take down ELITE in time?" Chorong asked after a few moments. She was sitting down and staring at the ground, her hands propped up by the newly acquired crowbar.

 

"There’s no other way to put it, so, yes. Yuto said that the Cure only works on infected still in the early stages, but I reckon it’s only the first or second stage."

 

"Why didn’t you tell us this at first?" Bomi spoke up, staring intensely at Yookyung. "That means some of them can’t be saved anymore!"

 

"I didn’t want us to lose hope," Yookyung retorted. "And I didn’t say that the whole world could be saved, but we can still save most of them."

 

"The virus reacts in different ways to its host. We have no idea what we’re dealing with. I mean, have you seen those dogs?" Chorong shook her head. "And that, that one infected that shrieked so loudly it made our ears hurt." 

 

Namjoo had to agree with Chorong. On their way here, they encountered an infected that wailed like no tomorrow. It was a horrible thought, but Namjoo was beginning to think that their plan was kind of fruitless. If they could barely survive down here, how were they supposed to fight ELITE at its headquarters?

 

"Listen, Yuto told me that there were three stages, and that those creatures evolve over time, but there is also another factor that affects the rate they evolve."

 

"What is it?" Namjoo asked.

 

"Whether or not they are getting fed."

 

"We’ve seen the first stage, the normies that still look mostly human. Second stage, those chargers that crawl on all fours and look like creatures from some horror film." Bomi listed off. "But what about the last one?"

 

"According to Yuto, they become covered in large lumps, tumor like growths I think, and their tongues become longer too. They are supposed to be the hardest to deal with, and the pus from their growths can cause stinging pain if you ever come into contact with it."

 

"Yuck," Namjoo was repulsed by the mere description of it. She hoped that they would never have to deal with it.

 

"Tongue guy," Bomi mused. "I’m thinking of names for them to make it easier for us."

 

"And I’m thinking of contacting Yuto soon to get more information to help us." Yookyung said, flipping her katana around in her hand.

 

"Well that’s great," Chorong said, and got up. "Now we have a mission to complete."

 

Yookyung nodded at Chorong. "Yep, let’s go.

 

They hurried up the flight of stairs again, until they got to the 14th floor. 

 

"I asked Taejoon and he said turn right," Chorong announced. 

 

"Normies ahead." Bomi said in a sing-song voice, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

 

"On it," Yookyung replied, and plunged her katana into one that lunged towards her. 

 

Namjoo started fighting too, settling into a rhythm of shooting, and then slashing. In a way, it felt like dancing too, what she was doing. But she shook the thought away. If she started thinking about her past, she wouldn’t be able to stop. It was only day 2 since the whole Project Alice thing started but somehow so many things happened. Namjoo had a feeling that she would never be the same again.

 

A high pitched yell came from Chorong as she kicked one of the infected in the stomach and then smashed its head with her crowbar. Blood and brain splattered. It was a gory sight, and Chorong stood there for a moment, blank, blood on her innocent face.

 

"Guys, I think it’s this room," Yookyung called out from the other end of the corridor. Bomi opened the door slowly in case there were any more of the infected inside. Namjoo grabbed Chorong’s hand. "Let’s go,"

 

Finally, Chorong snapped out of it. "Oh," The two ran to the room which was thankfully empty. "Come in, come in," Bomi urged, and then locked the door. "I’ll keep guard."

 

"Okay," Namjoo laid down her weapons and got to starting up the control panel. It was similar to the one in school, except larger and filled with more controls that Namjoo didn’t recognise. Before long, she was connected, and a soft red glow came from the 'on-air' display. "Here," she pulled the mic towards Yookyung, who sat down beside her and cleared promptly. 

 

Yookyung raised her eyebrows at Namjoo, her face uncertain. Namjoo nodded at Yookyung and mouthed "You can do it".

 

The flickering light in the hallway was distracting, but Namjoo could tell that Yookyung was trying her best to ignore it. "Right. So, hello." Yookyung launched into her speech. 

 

"If anyone can hear me right now, please listen carefully for what I have to say. The world doesn’t have much time now. We are facing a crisis and that is a deadly virus called Alice. This virus was launched just a day ago by an organization I refer to as ELITE, and this virus is so powerful that it took control of almost everyone. But what you must know is that there is a Cure. I know it sounds unbelievable but it’s true. 

 

I cannot promise everyone of you, survivors a Cure, but I can promise you that I will give my all to take down ELITE. There is still hope. This is not a hoax, if you want to stop this world from going into shambles, please gather at the entrance of Incheon Airport. It will be our base where we will gather our own army. I’m sure you all have loved ones you want to bring back. So please. We can stop Project Alice together."

 

Yookyung let out a sigh after her announcement. "Do you think people would even want to join us?"

 

"I would if I heard that," Bomi offered with a smile. 

 

"Me too," Namjoo put in. Hearing Yookyung say all that gave her renewed hope. "Guys, I think the most important thing right now is to have faith. Just two days ago I wouldn’t have imagined myself fighting these monsters. But look at us right now. We’re kicking ." 

 

She looked around at all of them, trying to convey her message. "Things might seem kind of bleak right now, but if we believe, we can pull through. I trust us."

 

Chorong smiled in reply. "You’re right, Namjoo. Thanks for that, I really needed the pep talk." 

---

12:34pm            ELITE HEADQUARTERS

 

Yuto returned to the surveillance room after lunch alone because Dawn said she had a meeting to attend. He had just finished hearing Yookyung’s speech which she made in a sort of broadcast station with her friends when Noah came back from his toilet break, ready to take over. Yuto made sure to switch the screen to another country. They couldn’t know that Yookyung was still alive, or else she wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving.

 

"Hey man, what’s up?" Noah asked, sipping his coffee, carefree as always. Yuto despised that. He despised him. How he could still drink his coffee like none of what was happening was his responsibility amazed Yuto. "Nothing much, but there has been an increase in the number of infected." Yuto tried to play it cool, like he was nonchalant about the whole thing.

 

Noah leaned back in his chair and peered around. "Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but I heard that they are still experimenting, and they like discovered this new strain of the virus that makes the Cure useless."

 

"What so like even we can get infected?" 

 

"Exactly! So we gotta be on our best behaviours for now, if you get what I mean." 

 

Yuto let out a scoff. "Of course. Wouldn’t want to become one of those infected." But Yuto thought about all the rules he had broken, and shivered inwardly. The consequences would be dire if he was ever caught.

 

"It’s pretty gruesome," Noah wrinkled his nose in agreement. "Mutations of the virus happen too, so who knows what you could turn into." He turned back to the surveillance screens, scanning them with alert eyes. 

 

"Well, see you," Yuto bid goodbye to Noah and went back to his room. In the privacy of his room, he video-called Yookyung. Dawn had assured him that she made sure any calls he made would be untraceable. 

 

He laid down on his bed, stretching out his long limbs. The moment the call got through, Yuto sat up. He hadn’t talked to Yookyung for so long–or was it only two days? 

 

"Hey," he said, glad to see that she was mostly uninjured, and safe.

 

"Hey," Yookyung replied. "Are you sure that this is safe?" Her face was evidently concerned.

 

"Yeah, Dawn told me my calls are untraceable–"

 

"Wait, Dawn? Like the Dawn we know?"

 

"Uhh...it’s a long story but we have an alliance now. She’s helping me."

 

"Can we really trust her?" Yuto could hear the doubt in Yookyung’s voice. 

 

"For now she’s all we have. Listen, I gathered quite a lot of info. The virus Alice is prone to mutating in different hosts, so you might face some very different creatures out there." Yuto brushed his hair back and went to the door to check  that no one was listening in on him. 

 

"The key to immobilising the infected is to make sure you hit them straight in the skull. If you do that, they can’t regenerate for awhile."

 

"Huh. I guess that makes sense." Yookyung looked away from her phone for a moment, distracted by the flickering light behind her. "Any other advice?"

 

"Well, the airport is crawling with the infected, so be careful. I think it’s safer to go through terminal 3, where there are lesser of them."

 

"Got it. I’ll call you again sometime later. Stay safe." She offered an uncertain smile.

 

"You too," Yuto replied, but before Yookyung ended the call, the screen went dark with a scream and the call ended abruptly.

 

Note:Have you watched FIVE?