CRAVED II

It took one whole day for the surviving group to travel to Jeju Island. It took a lot longer than usual because they made a pitstop to Mokpo for a few hours when they needed gas. They were lucky enough to not encounter the undead as they filled out the yacht and an additional barrel. After a few hours, they continued sailing towards Jeju Island. Unfortunately, the group caught another problem – an engine trouble - when they reached Haenam. It took several hours for the men to figure out how to solve the problem. Good thing Jae and Jun were capable of fixing the engine. It took them one whole day but to the rest of them, it felt like it was a lot longer than that. The food they brought were almost out as well as the clean drinking water. All of them were anxious to reach their destination – a safe haven – or so they thought.

“Are we there yet, daddy?” Minguk asked his dad as he carried his puppy he now named as T-Rex.

Jae looked at his son and smiled.

“We’re almost there, Minguk. Are you hungry again?”

“Hmm…no, I just want us to be on land so T-Rex can play,” Minguk replied.

“Minguk, promise me you’re not going to let T-Rex run off, okay? It’s not safe yet.”

“But daddy, Uncle Junsu said it’s safe in Jeju. There are no zombies there. We can play there.”

“We don’t know that yet. So, you and your brothers better behave. Stick with Haru and your mom. Can you do that for me?” Jae asked his son.

Minguk nodded as Jae kissed his forehead.

“Now go and play with them. Be careful when you go down.”

Minguk left the helm area and went down to the others. Jae looked at the horizon. It was almost the exact time they left Seoul. It took them one whole day due to unforeseen issues but he was glad that they were already close. His only worry now was the fact that in a matter of few hours the sun will set once again. He didn’t like the idea of being out in the open without an assurance of a safe place to dock.

Jun climbed up and sat next to him. He sighed.

“Did you get any radio signal or something?”

Jae shook his head.

“Damn! This is getting worrisome. By now, I would, at least, expect to hear a radio signal coming from the island. Or even a boat patrol considering that we’re entering the area.”

“Maybe they didn’t do patrols. Maybe they like to stick and guard the beach area,” Jae said, trying to sound optimistic but he was worried as well.

“I hope so, dude. The last time we heard from them was back in Seoul. I was expecting to hear a lot from them now that we’re so close. Maybe I’m just being paranoid but with what we experienced back there…I’m cautious to what we’re going to face here. It’s like a whole new battlefield, if you ask me.”

“Yeah. But let’s not worry the women. We’ll dock a few meters away from the shoreline, anyway. We’ll just use the inflatable boats and paddle our way to the shore.”

A few minutes after that, Jae and Jun saw the shoreline and a docked yacht, a little smaller than theirs. The shore was empty but the higher ground was surrounded with barbed wires. They didn’t see anyone but the place looked guarded.

“Here we go…” Jun said as he tapped Jae’s shoulder signaling him to drop the anchor so they can paddle down the shore.

The rest of the group got ready as the men took out the 2 inflatable boats down the water and helped the others go down the Jacob’s ladder.

“It looks like someone else beat us here,” Mino said as he pointed at the other yacht docked closer to the shoreline. “That yacht is not going anywhere for sure.”

“Did they get into an accident?” Thunder asked as he looked at the other yacht. It was almost on the shore near a huge rock.

“Why did they dock it so close to the shore?” Dara asked as she helped the kids go down the ladder.

“They’re probably excited to reach safety,” Bom interjected.

“Or maybe they didn’t have inflatable boats,” Junsu suggested.

The 2 inflatable boats paddled their way to the shore. Jae suggested that the whole group should remain quiet to avoid drawing unwanted attention. When they reached the shore, everyone seemed nervous.

“I was kind of expecting the army or a group of armed men and women to approach us here,” Rose quietly said as she looked at the empty beach.

“Yes, me too,” Hyori said as she held Haru’s hand and looked at the area.

“Aren’t they suppose to guard the beach area for survivors?” Hayi asked no one.

“I don’t like this,” Yunho said to the group. “It’s too quiet. I can’t hear a thing.”

“Let’s stay positive, guys. Maybe the base is a little bit far from here. We just have to go up there and see if there are guards roaming around,” Dara said optimistically.

“Yeah. Jun, Yunho, Thunder and I will check first. Junsu and Mino stay with them and guard the inflatables,” Jae said to the 2 men. “Better yet, Mino let Dara, Minzy, Hayi and the kids ride with you on the inflatables. Paddle back near the yacht. If anything happens, at least, you’re much closer. Junsu use the other one for Bom, Rose and Hyori.”

“Sure thing,” Junsu said as he guided the women back to the inflatables.

“Jae, be careful,” Dara said as she held his hand. Jae smiled and kissed his wife.

“I will. We’ll be back as soon as we check it out. Take care of our babies.”

Dara nodded and Jae, Jun, Thunder and Yunho walked towards the barbed gate.

“Guys, if we see anything weird, let’s leave,” Yunho told them as they walked.

“I agree,” Jun answered.

“Yeah but let’s hope it’s good news. I don’t think we’ll last long in the yacht. We have no food and water,” Jae reminded them.

“And it’s also not safe to be there anymore. It’s too open for us,” Thunder interjected.

“If we can find something there then let’s get it and stay in the yacht for another day. We can plan our next move after that,” Yunho suggested.

The 4 walked up towards the gate. Along the way, Jae saw a red stained sand near the rocky stairs. This prompted for the 4 men to stopped walking.

“That’s not ing good,” Jun said.

“Not a good sign,” Jae added. “We need weapons. Search for something.”

“!” Yunho cursed. He saw a rusty thin round steel on the sand. He picked it up.

Jun was carrying the crowbar from the yacht. Thunder carried a baseball bat he found back in Seoul while Jae looked around for something to use but found nothing. When they reached the top of the gate, they noticed that it wasn’t locked. They looked at each other and thought of the same thing.

They were ed.

Again.

Yunho opened the barbed gate slowly. The place was obviously an army base but so far there was no one guarding it. They noticed the broken glass doors from one of the guard houses. A few blood spatters on the ground and on the walls. Jae saw an ax lying on the ground. He picked it up and used it as a weapon. They walked slowly and quietly towards the center. Each one looking at a different direction. They heard a low noise. They searched for the sound. It was located in one of the makeshift shelters. The men tightened their hold to their weapons. They were ready for it.

“If zombies start coming after us, Thunder, run back to the beach and warn the others to get back to the yacht. The rest of us will fight and then run back down, swim as fast as we could,” Jae told them as they readied themselves.

Thunder nodded. They were ready to fight for their lives.

Back in the shore, Mino paddled the boat towards the yacht as they waited for Jae, Jun and Yunho to come back. Junsu was helping Bom and Rose to the inflatable when he noticed Hyori walking towards the yacht stuck in the edge of the shoreline.

“Hyori, where are you going?” Junsu called out.

Hyori didn’t answer but just kept going towards the other yacht.

“She didn’t hear you, Junsu,” Bom said worriedly.

“!” Junsu cursed. “Stay here. Wait for me. I’ll go get her.”

He ran towards Hyori as she stepped up the rock to reach the bow of the boat.

“Hyori, what the are you doing?!” Junsu called out as he ran up to her.

“Shh! I heard something in there,” Hyori said.

“You shouldn’t go there if you heard something. Isn’t that zombie survival 101?” Junsu reminded her in annoyance.

“I don’t think it’s a zombie, Junsu. I heard a voice. But it was faint. I’m not sure but I want to make sure,” Hyori explained.

“Oh !” Junsu cursed again. “Wait! Let me go first. Let’s find something to protect ourselves first.”

Junsu looked around and found a used frying pan. He took it. Hyori rolled her eyes.

“Really? That’s our weapon for zombie destruction?”

Junsu sighed.

“Do you see anything else we can use? This is better than nothing at all. And this is your idea. You’re going to put us at risk for this,” Junsu said as he walked towards the bow.

“I told you I heard something. I just want to check.”

“What exactly did you hear?” Junsu asked as they checked both sides of the yacht.

“A faint voice. A woman, for sure.”

“A female zombie?” Junsu asked.

“I wouldn’t check if it sounded like a zombie, Junsu. I’m sure it was a woman’s voice talking faintly,” Hyori said as she walked towards the other side.

When they reached the back part of the yacht, Junsu put down the frying pan and sighed.

“There’s no one here. They’re probably up there at the base. Let’s go down and wait for the guys,” Junsu said.

Hyori looked around but saw nothing. She sighed.

“It was probably nothing,” Hyori said as she looked at Junsu. “Sorry for the trouble.”

“No problem. But next time don’t just go off by yourself. We have to watch each other. We lost a lot already back in Seoul. I don’t think the others will like it if anything happens to you.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Hyori said as she smiled softly.

They were about to leave when they heard a commotion from below the deck of the yacht. Junsu and Hyori stopped walking and looked at each other. Hyori mouthed ‘I told you’ and then pointed at the floor. Junsu stepped slowly and held his frying pan. He located the floor panel. He instructed Hyori to lift the panel as he readied his frying pan. When Hyori lift the floor panel, Junsu was about to attack but stopped midway when 4 pairs of eyes looked at him scarily.

“Pp-please don’t hurt us,” a man said nervously. “We’re not zombies. We’re not bad people. We’re one of the survivors who went in.”

“Survivors?” Hyori asked.

“Yes…” a woman answered softly.

“Why the hell didn’t you come out a while ago? I’m sure you can hear us arrived,” Junsu asked as he put down the frying pan.

“No. We didn’t hear anything. Well, not clearly. We only heard grumbled voices and we got scared thinking of zombies,” the man said as Junsu helped him up to the main deck. “Thanks. We’ve been there since last night. I can hardly feel my feet.”

“Last night? You mean you arrived at this place last night?” Hyori asked.

“We arrived before dusk but we hid here by nightfall,” the man answered and he offered his hand. “I’m Kang Daesung, by the way. Thank you for helping us. This is my girlfriend, Yoo In-na. And the 2 boys we met in Busan, Bang Yedam and Choi Hyunsuk.”

When the 4 new survivors were on the main deck, they bowed to Junsu and Hyori. They stretched their legs and arms.

“I never thought we’ll get out of there if you didn’t come up here,” a boy named Yedam said.

“How did you all end up down at the storage deck?” Junsu asked curiously.

“Well, when everyone started panicking, we kind of ran back up here and then looked for somewhere to hide. Hyunsuk found the panel so went in but once we locked ourselves down there, we realized we couldn’t get out unless someone open it up here,” Daesung explained.

“So, the voice I heard was from you?” Hyori asked In-na and she nodded.

“I was arguing with Daesung because I heard people talking but we weren’t sure since it was a bit grumbled. I wanted to get out, you see. It was getting too claustrophobic for me down there. But they shushed me because we weren’t sure if you’re real people,” In-na explained.

The 4 walked towards the end of the bow. Junsu looked at the boats and saw Mino and the rest waiting for the men. Bom was walking towards them as Rose watched the inflatable boat.

“What’s going on? Who are they?” Bom asked as she looked at the newcomers.

“This is Daesung, In-na, Yedam and Hyunsuk. They’re survivors who arrived before us,” Hyori said to Bom then he looked at the 4. “But wait, what happened to you 4 and where are the rest of your group?”

Daesung sighed.

“Well that’s the thing. When we arrived here yesterday, some of us were excited to see the army. When we reached the shore, one of us started biting the others and then attacking the army. We panicked so we ran back inside and hide,” Daesung explained.

“How did that happen? You were together for hours in one boat and then suddenly one of you started attacking everyone when you reach the shore? That’s kind of weird. When you get bitten, you turn fast,” Junsu said.

“No, that’s not what hap