What?Hayoung's eyes flew open.She must have fallen asleep when she was keeping guard.Hayoung stretched and yawned loudly,and noticed Yookyung writing on the old whiteboard."You're up,"she said lightly.After they had agreed to help Yookyung,they introduced themselves to her and chatted like a bunch of teenagers for an hour.For awhile,everything felt normal.Hayoung watched Yookyung idly.She should wake up the others-wait! Didn't Yookyung have long hair?

 

"Haha,yeah. We should wake the others up, we have a long day ahead of us." The seven girls gathered in front of the cash counter, where the whiteboard is. Everyone was tired save for Bomi, who was bouncing up and down in anticipation for their mission.

 

"Alright guys. I came up with a strategy. We’re gonna go through the first floor window instead of the front doors, because there are way too many of the infected out there. Let’s hope the other side of the mall doesn’t have any infected. Bomi and I will lead the way, along with Chorong. Naeun will be in the middle with Namjoo. Eunji and Hayoung will take the back."

 

Yookyung flipped the whiteboard to the back. "Next, weapons."

 

"I don't quite trust myself to shoot," Naeun said.Namjoo agreed with her.

 

"Don't worry, there's an option to turn on a laser beam which really makes shooting easy.I'll teach you guys how to use it later."

 

"Well,I'm good with my bat."Bomi said while stretching.

 

"We should all have a melee weapon and a shooting one,"Chorong suggested.

 

"Good idea!"Eunji said."We should distribute everything evenly so that it won’t be too heavy."

 

Yookyung started handing out the weapons. Anyone who wanted it was free to step forward and take it.

 

Hayoung got a machine gun and surprisingly it wasn't that heavy.Yookyung revealed that ELITE's technology was top notch, and that the guns were made to be lightweight. Soon, everyone got their weapons and Yookyung began to prep them on how to use their guns."For the electric guns, which Namjoo and Bomi have, all you have to do is pull the trigger. It's light and super easy to use, but only stuns the target for about a minute or so." Namjoo and Bomi nodded."This little display here shows the battery level.And don't aim it at anyone of us."

 

"Cool,I still have 5 bars.This and my machete should be able to keep me alive." Namjoo commented.

 

Yookyung moved on to the guns."They're practically the same, except that there's a safety button and a switch to turn on the laser guide." She moved around the room correcting each girl's posture and the way they held their gun.

 

"There aren't any bullets in there yet, so go ahead and shoot. Get a feel of what it's like."

 

Eunji was,of course, the first one to try."Woah. The recoil, man." 

 

"I know right. I don't know if I can handle this." Naeun chimed in.

 

Hayoung tried hers as well. It was definitely a new feeling but she felt kinda good, like she was an assassin or something.

 

Yookyung handed out clips of bullets and showed them how to insert them into a magazine, and subsequently into their guns,and how to release them.It was an easy task but the challenge was to do it fast enough.Hayoung tried again and again, and managed to do it under 10 seconds.Naeun however fumbled with the task and even dropped the magazine. "Oh god, I am so clumsy." She was on the verge of tears, and her lips trembled uncontrollably.

 

"Its alright, don't worry."Chorong comforted her in a soothing voice.

 

"Yeah, practice makes perfect." Hayoung added.

 

"We shouldn’t have to shoot unless we really have to anyway,right?" Bomi asked.

 

"That’s right, those things are attracted by sound."Chorong said.

 

"Right, I shouldn’t worry too much." Naeun said.

 

Yookyung put on a strap full of bullets clipped to it and handed two other straps to Eunji and Hayoung each. Each pair excluding Yookyung had a backpack from ELITE packed with water, extra small melee weapons, the Cure,basically the essentials only. Hayoung concentrated on adjusting the straps on her backpack. I can’t believe we are really doing this. Hayoung closed her eyes and exhaled. Her whole life had been studying, extracurriculars like ballet, student union,math honour society, and more studying. Suddenly she was expected to slay zombies? It still amazed her that she wasn’t dreaming.

 

"Remember guys, we have three goals. Get some practical clothes, get to a radio broadcast station to call for survivors, and finally gather all the survivors at the airport.Once we're out there, we move fast and stealthily.Look for any trucks that we can all fit in.And no matter what we see out there, we won’t panic but stick to our goals." Yookyung instructed.Standing there in her white frock and gun, she looked like a female warrior.

 

"And try to stay together."Chorong added.

 

"Should we do a cheer? For morale?" Namjoo asked.

 

"Sure!"

 

"Why not?"Hayoung shrugged.

 

The seven girls put their hands over one another’s.

 

"1..2..3..GO!"

 

 

Jung Eunji stretched her limbs. Finally it was happening. They were going to go out of the mall into the streets, which was probably full of the infected. Her heart was already pounding hard. And even though she told herself it was just adrenaline, a small part was due to nervousness. In school, she was known as the bravest girl, the one that could do things even the boys can’t. Like diving off that cliff into the sea that one summer. Going into the haunted house first. Stuff like that. Eunji had never told anyone, but her reputation as the fearless one put tremendous pressure on her.

 

Her fear was others seeing her weak, even though it may sound stupid.

 

"Let’s go,"Chorong announced.

 

They proceeded in their pairs, and Eunji was at the back with Hayoung. The front and back was the most dangerous, exposed to the infected. Eunji was glad that she was with Hayoung. She seemed responsible and not the type to leave her in the lurch.

 

"I found a window," Yookyung announced.She tried to open it, but it was shut tight from all those years of un-use. Bomi and Chorong joined Yookyung in pushing and finally the large window gave way."Here goes,"Yookyung stepped out, holding her gun in up protectively. One by one, the girls stepped out of the mall. Eunji was last. Before going, she took one last look around the empty mall. And then she did something she usually never did. She prayed that they would be fine. 

 

"Okay, according to my gps, we should go this way." Yookyung whispered.

 

The group began jogging in that direction."Stop!"Bomi cried out. She crouched down and the others followed suit. The street they were supposed to cross had a few infected, but luckily they were Stage 1 infected, the most common and easy to kill, according to Yuto. "Okay, we have about five of 'em.Stage 1."

 

"Let’s run for it."Yookyung decided.Namjoo groaned.Eunji took one look at her wedges and sighed.

 

"Take off your heels first?"Naeun suggested.

 

"No way!I don’t want to step on something sharp!" Namjoo retorted."I’ll make do."

 

"Okay, let’s go!"

 

They started running, led by Yookyung.

 

The infected, mostly on the other side of the street didn’t even notice the pack until Namjoo accidentally lost her balance and let out a yelp. "Shh!!" Hayoung dragged her along. But it was too late as one of the infected looked over and let out a snarl. It slowly approached them and then broke into a run.

 

"Hurry!"Chorong screamed.

 

Now the group was full on sprinting,weaving through back alleys.That GPS better be correct,Eunji thought.

 

"! It’s a dead end!" Bomi exclaimed.I should've known!Eunji groaned inwardly.

 

She turned around to see a pack of infected coming their way. It was straight up a scene from a zombie movie. The leader of the pack was the first one that noticed them, a man that had a twisted neck and a large wound in his abdomen. He was growling and hungry. The imagery was funny, a man with a nice suit looking bloody and aggressive.

 

"Let’s climb the freaking wall!!" Hayoung screamed, and crouched down on one knee to let the others climb up. Eunji immediately assumed the same position. 

 

"Go!I’ll stay here to hold them off!" Yookyung said, taking out her katana in one swift move and approaching the group of infected

 

Eunji watched Yookyung fight while Namjoo climbed the wall using her knee and thigh area to lift herself higher. Along with Naeun and Chorong pushing her, she climbed the wall, which was maybe approximately 2.5m tall. It was true that Yookyung was immune because the zombies did not approach her.It was as if she had an invisible barrier around her, a radius that didn’t allow any of the infected in. The infected seemed to take Bomi as their target and headed straight for her. 

 

The sharp sound of metal ringing sounded through the air.Bomi had hit one of the infected on the head, hard."Ugh!"She kicked another off and swung her bat at another approaching. Yookyung was having no trouble settling the rest of the infected. Each time she attacked, blood spilled out like a mini fountain.Meanwhile, Naeun was done climbing the wall and it was Chorong’s turn. She hesitated a moment, and then climbed.

 

In the meantime,Bomi was backed into a corner by the suited man, or rather, it. "!" She cried out.

 

Eunji and Hayoung was busy hoisting Chorong up on the wall and couldn’t help Bomi. Eunji grunted with the effort of lifting Chorong, her mind frantic. Bomi couldn’t get infected now. Sure, they had the cure, but they shouldn’t waste it. Besides, Yookyung explained that once injected with the cure, the host will be weak and immobile for a period of time. Finally, Chorong reached the top. Eunji immediately grabbed her axe and threw it in the direction of the man’s head, hoping her aim was spot-on.The axe rotated through the air and then made contact with the man's skull, creating a sickening crack.It then fell to the ground.Eunji, relieved, ran to take her axe and make sure Bomi was unharmed.

 

"Oh my god, thank you!"Bomi squealed.

 

"Are you okay?"Eunji asked and leaned in for a bear hug.

 

"I’m fine."

 

"I can't believe you just threw your axe like that,"Hayoung gasped."Your aim is unbelievably good."

 

"Sorry guys, I was a little busy over there." Yookyung ran over to them. The area was a bloody mess with the infected sprawled on the ground.

 

"Right, let’s get over to the other side." Hayoung said. 

 

They were going to scale the wall again when they saw Chorong still at the top of the wall, clutching on to the edges as if her life depended on it,trembling and afraid.

 

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