In a downtown alley, 8 people were scrambling to get inside a backdoor of an establishment. The males have steels and heavy wood slabs for protection from zombies. Mino tried to open one of the steel doors from the back alley. It didn’t budge. He tried again but he still failed. He kicked the door hard out of frustration.

“This is bull! We’re still out here. We need to find a place to hide,” Mino snapped.

The females with them were holding each other, afraid of the chaos and danger that lurked around them.

“No signal!” Hoon said as he tried to use his phone.

They all looked back from the alleyway when they heard loud screaming and snarling.

“Guys, we really have to hurry,” Jennie said. Her voice was filled with fears.

Ksy started kicking doors as well as Mino. Hoon was watching the other side of the alley while Jin was protecting the other side. The women were hogged in the middle. Jin saw a small door near him so he tried to open it and was shocked to see that the door was unlocked.

“Uh guys,” said Rose as she saw Jin opening the door near him.

All of them looked at the dark room from the inside.

“Is it safe?” Jisoo asked.

“Stay here, Mino and Hoon. Jin and I will check it first,” Ksy said as he and Jin entered the dark room.

But just as the 2 entered the room, a batch of zombies was entering the same alleyway they were standing. Mino saw it instantly and he pushed his friend and the women inside the dark room and they bumped to the 2 guys inside.

It was dark.

“What the hell?!” Jin asked.

“Zombies. There are zombies in the alley,” Mino explained.

“Lock the door, Hoon,” Ksy said. Hoon immediately locked it but he couldn’t see the locks clearly so he used his body as an extra blockage to the door.

“I can’t see the locks. Don’t you have a lighter or something,” Hoon said.

Suddenly lights were lit from the cellphones of the girls. It was enough to see the room. They noticed the boxes. It was obviously a storage room. Ksy looked around and saw a door on the other side.

“This door probably leads to whatever establishment we’re in,” Ksy said.

“Is it safe?” Lisa asked.

“I hope so,” Ksy said. “Everybody okay?”

7 heads nodded towards him. They were relieved of the fact that they weren’t outside anymore. Just as the 8 of them started walking towards the door, they heard a screech – a door creaking open. They looked at the source and it was the door on the other side. It slowly opened as a creaking sound of the door echoed inside the small storage room. All of them held their breaths and the guys tightened their grip on their weapons as they waited for the inevitable.

++

Back in the Park’s residence, Minguk was sleeping beside Bom while the men were busy securing the house. Jae kept on calling Dara’s phone. He was afraid that something bad happened to her and to his son. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that they were both in trouble. He knew deep down that his wife and son were still alive. He felt it. But he wasn’t sure how much ‘alive’ they were. He silently prayed for their safety.

As he boarded the windows in the living room, Junsu brought in some plywood Jinyoung happened to have in his basement. Junsu looked at his brother. He could tell he was worried.

“They’re okay, Jae. Don’t worry. Dara won’t let anything happen to Dae. She’s smart,” Junsu tried to comfort his older brother.

“I know, Su,” Jae replied. “But I’m afraid for them. I’m here safe in this house with Minguk while my wife and sons are still nowhere to be found. They should have been here hours ago. This is our meeting place. I’m just scared that they might be trapped somewhere or injured that’s why they couldn’t come here.”

Junsu put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“It will be okay. Don’t lose hope. We’ll hear from them soon,” Junsu said.

“What if we don’t?” asked Jae in a worried voice. “What if there’s no call from her or Thunder? They can’t survive days outside fighting those flesh eating monsters.”

“They will be here,” Junsu stated in a firm but hopeful voice.

Jae looked at his brother. He wanted to believe him. He wanted to stay positive, but at this dire time, it was hard to be hopeful.

“Give it a day or 2, man,” Jun said as he walked in the living room. “We have to give them some time. Maybe…maybe they’re just waiting for an opportunity to escape and run away.”

Junsu nodded. Jae sighed.

“Yeah…but come tomorrow, if she’s still not here…I’m going out to look for them,” Jae said in a firm voice.

“But Jae…that’s risky. And Minguk. He’ll definitely ask for you,” Junsu said in disbelief. Though he loved his nephews and sister-in-law, he was also worried for his brother.

“Watch him for me, Su,” told Jae and then he looked at Jun. “Watch them for me, Jun.”

Jun shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. What if you leave and then she comes here? She’ll be worried for you, too. She might end up looking for you as well. We all know Dara. She can be protective of you and the kids,” Junsu said.

“Then don’t let her. I’ll come back no matter what. I just want to make sure that my wife and kids are safe. I want to make sure they’re okay,” Jae said.

Suddenly they heard a sob and they all turned. They saw Minguk and Bom standing at the living room entrance. Minguk heard everything.

“Daddy, are you leaving me?” Minguk asked as he sobbed.

Jae approached his son and kissed his forehead.

“Not for long, Minguk. I’m just going to bring Mommy, Daehan and Manse home. I want you to stay here with Uncle Junsu, Aunt Bom and Uncle Jun,” Jae told his son.

Minguk’s eyes were filled with tears. He hugged his father.

“Don’t leave me please.”

“I will not leave you. I’ll be back here,” Jae soothed.

“Nooo. Don’t leave me here. I will go with you,” Minguk cried out. “Please, daddy. I want to see mommy, Daehan and Manse, too. Please don’t leave me here. I’ll be a good boy. I promise. Don’t leave me.”

Jae hugged his son and looked at Bom, Junsu and Jun. He knew deep down that he needed to find his family. But he also knew that it would be difficult to do that when he needed to protect Minguk as well. He didn’t want to leave his son but he trusted Junsu to keep Minguk safe. It was his only way. Because at that moment, his hands were tied between keeping his son alive here at Park’s residence and facing the horde of zombies outside just to find Dara and his other kids.

But plans were always bound to change at any given time.

At past midnight, Jae woke up with a realization that Minguk wasn’t on the bed with him. He stood up immediately and searched for him. He went to Bom and Junsu’s room to check his son.

“Junsu, Bom!”

The couple was alert the minute they heard their names.

“What?” Junsu asked.

“Have you seen Minguk?” Jae asked in frustration.

“Minguk’s gone?!" Bom asked in disbelief.

“I was telling him a story and then we fell asleep. I don’t know somewhere between dinosaurs and my worries, I probably fell asleep first. I woke up he wasn’t with me,” Jae said in a hurried voice.

“Did you check the other rooms?” Junsu asked as he stood up and took his fire iron – his weapon of choice. “How about Jun?”

“I came here first,” Jae replied.

The 3 walked downstairs and searched for Jun who wasn’t in the living room sofa. Junsu looked around and noticed the back garden door was opened. He checked and saw Jun sleeping in a hammock. The 3 ran outside and checked him.

“Jun!”

“Jun!”

Jun opened his eyes, half-awake, half-asleep. He saw the Jae, Bom and Junsu walking towards him in the quiet starry night. He sat down from the hammock.

“What is it?”

“Is Minguk with you? Have you seen him?” Jae asked in a frustrated voice.

“What?! No! He wasn’t here. I decided to sleep here because I couldn’t breathe inside. I needed air. I was here since all of you went upstairs,” Jun explained.

“Then where is he?!” Jae hissed in not so loud voice.

Four worried face suddenly went still when they heard Minguk’s voice not far from where they were standing. They looked around the garden. Bom walked toward the end of the fence of the Park’s. Her eyes went big when she heard Minguk’s voice clearer. She then bowed her head and looked near the vine covered fence of the Park’s.

“Minguk?! Is that you? Minguk!” Bom muttered in panic.

The men heard Bom and they approached her squatting down on the fence. They heard Minguk’s voice again from the other side of the fence.

“What the is he doing there?” Jun asked.

“Where did he get in?” Junsu added.

Jae looked around. The next door neighbor was very close to Dara’s parents. In fact, his kids used to play at their garden, too. Jae, suddenly worried for the safety of his son, grabbed the vine from the fence and hoisted himself up so he could see Minguk on the other side.

“Puppy! Puppy!”

They heard Minguk calling out from the darkness of the garden on the other side.

“Hoist me up!” Jae told them.

Jun and Junsu helped push Jae on the other side of the fence. Jun followed as Junsu helped him. Bom suddenly ran toward Junsu. She went inside the house the moment Jae decided to look beyond the fence.

“Su, I think I know where Minguk went out. He went out the front door. He opened the damn door and probably went to the other house,” Bom said.

“! I should have bolted the door,” Junsu said.

“Why didn’t you?” asked Bom.

“I locked it but I didn’t realize Minguk knows how to open that damn door,” Junsu said. He then looked at the fence. “Jae, Jun, we’ll walk out the front door. I think that’s where Minguk went out. We’ll wait there.”

Just then Jae and Jun walked slowly towards the garden. Jae immediately heard Minguk’s voice on the shed so he ran towards it. He was holding Jinyoung’s gun that he found in the master’s bedroom while Jun was holding Jinyoung’s golf club. When Jae opened the door shed, he saw Minguk the puppy inside. He was also carrying a piece of bread.

“Minguk! What are you doing here?” Jae asked his son in a hard voice.

Minguk was shocked to see his father and it was also the first time he heard him speak in an angry tone. He got afraid as tears blinded his eyes.

“Daddy, I…s-saw the puppy from the window. He was hungry. I brought him bread,” Minguk said in a low voice, avoiding the stern look of his father.

“It’s not safe! You should wake me up! You don’t go out alone!” Jae hissed in a controlled voice.

Minguk sobbed.

“I’m sorry…but the p-puppy…”

“I don’t care about the puppy! I care about you!” Jae said in a hardened voice.

Minguk started crying and Jun interfered.

“Jae, he’s a kid. He doesn’t realize the imminent danger we’re in. He only saw this puppy and he knows it so he’ll try to get it,” Jun said as he looked at the crying boy.

Jae sighed and closed his eyes. After a minute, he then squatted and opened his arms to his son. Minguk hugged him immedi