Four  

            For hours the only sounds that could be heard were our footsteps and the faint sounds of battle coming from the city. We were well out of the city by the time we spotted an old barn where we could take refuge.  I opened the big doors to the barn and inside was a lone cow.  It was dark inside but I could tell she was alive and fresh feed was in front of her so who ever owned this barn was still here.  We entered without a word and we dispersed to different corners of the barn.  I guess everyone wanted time alone.  I sat down next to the cow to feel less lonely.  I looked at the bucket of water in front of the animal.  The bucket was sort of dirty but I had not drunk anything for hours.  I put my hand into the bucket, make a cup shape with it and took a few sips.  It had a weird taste to it but it was good.  My stomach growled, I was starving.  I had not eaten all day, Daehyun had eaten my breakfast and the second granola bar I had is in the backpack they took.  I looked around the old barn.  Sunye was sitting in a corner behind some tool boxes.  I contemplated on going to talk to her and see if she was alright.  I finally got up and walked towards her.  On my way there, I saw that the other members of the group were making beds out of hay and getting ready to sleep for the night.  I looked towards Sunye’s direction, she was sitting with her knees up to her chest and her head was hidden in her arms.  She was shaking like crazy.  I sat next to her and lightly touched her arm to get her attention.  He didn’t look up.

“Are you cold?  You’re shaking.”  She still didn’t look up.  “There’s some water over there if you want some.  It’s a bit dirty but you need to drink water.”  When she didn’t respond to me I got up to bring the bucket to her. 

“Wait.” She held my leg so that I wouldn’t leave.  “Do you think he’s in a better place?  He should not have died.  It’s my fault that he’s dead.”  She was looking at me with teary eyes.  She wanted me to answer her but what could I say.

“I’m sure he is a better place than us.  He’s in peace knowing that you are safe and not with those men.”  I sat down next to her again.

“He was like my father.  He always made sure that I was safe.  What am I going to do now?  I’m alone.” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”  I put my arm around her shoulders.  “Think of me like your brother, I’ll take care of you.” 

“Thank you Himchan.  You are a great person.”  She leaned her head on my shoulder as a few more tears ran down her cheeks. 

“I’m going to go look for some food.  I bet everyone is hungry and I want them to have energy for tomorrow morning.”  I got up and she gave me a small smile. 

I walked towards the cow again.  I took a good look at her and saw that she was freshly milked.  She would not produce enough milk for everyone until tomorrow morning.  I must find something else to feed us.  I walked outside the barn, the moon light was the only thing helping not to bump into things.  I started to walk around the barn and heard a small cry, it was faint but it sounded like a child.  I looked around and saw nothing.  I must have imagined it because there were no other humans around.  I grabbed the gun that was under my belt.  I knew that those monsters were able to imitate human sounds I hoped that the sound I heard was just in my head.  I headed to the back of the barn and found an apple tree.  This was amazing!  There were enough apples here to feed all of us.  I ran back into the barn to find a bag or empty bucket to fill with apples. 

“Did you find something to eat?”  Sunye asked me.

“There’s an apple tree in the back.  Help me find something to fill with apples.”  She quickly got up and started searching. 

“I found an old bag here.”  She showed me a worn out brown dirty leather bag that she had found hanging near the cow.

We ran outside and strait towards the big tree.  She held the bag while I reached up to get the apples.  I picked one and noticed they were big and red.  I put it in the bag and turned to get more. 
“Do you hear that?”  Sunye was looking around trying to find the source of the sound.  “It sounds like a child.”

It was the same sound that I heard earlier.  I told her that it could be one of those things trying to lure us in.  Then we heard some gun shots and some explosions.  The battle was getting closer to us but we were safe away from the city.  I continued to pick more apples until the bag was filled.  She hung it over her shoulder and we started to walk towards the barn.  Next thing we knew we were on the ground.  An explosion had thrown us back.  My eyes were shut, my head hurt, and the rest of my body was in pain.  I was inhaling a lot of smoke and I started to cough.  I opened my eyes and I could not see clear.  There so much smoke and ash around me.  I tried to get up but my leg hurt.  I looked down and saw that I had a burn mark on my right leg.  Where did the fire come from?  What blew up?  I looked up and noticed that it was the barn.  It was burning up and most of it was gone.  I couldn’t see right and I felt my eyes burn from the intense heat.  I turned back and looked for Sunye.  She was on the ground covering her head.  I pulled myself towards her and checked to make sure she was not badly injured.  She looked up at me and asked what had happened.  I didn’t say anything and just pointed towards the barn.

“Oh my god!  They’re gone, they are all gone too!”  I knew what she meant, nobody could survive that.  It was a miracle that we were alive.  I just didn’t know what had caused it. 

“HIMCHAN!  We have to go, now!”  She pointed towards the road and there was a huge military tank coming our way.  Right behind it were soldiers carrying huge guns.  The military tank had blown up the barn but why?  There was no time to ask, we stood up and started to run.  The pain in my leg was so intense but I ignored it.  We both ran around the fire and got to the other side. 

This is where I saw one of those things.  A monster was lying by the fire.  It looked human, the all do, but I knew it was one of them.  They take the form of humans but their height stays the same.  They are always extremely thin, really tall and they have blank expressionless faces.  They try to blend in at times but I have seen too many of them up close.  This one was badly burned but still alive.  It made weird noises and I saw more of them coming to its aid.  This is what the military was here.  They tried to get the attention of the monsters by blowing up the barn and stopping them from moving away.  The military didn’t know that we were here taking refuge in the barn. 

I turned away and kept running behind Sunye.  I could hear the soldiers screaming as they noticed that we were here.  “Keep running” “Get away from here” They kept telling us to get away as they shot the monsters and tried to dodge bullets going towards them.  Up ahead of me Sunye tripped.  I got to her and as I helped her up I hear a child’s cry again.  This time it wasn’t faint.  It was very loud and clear.  I was sure it was a child but I couldn’t see where the cry was coming from.  Then I saw it, a dark bundle up ahead.  The cry was coming from that dark bundle.  I ran towards it and Sunye followed.  The child was there.  A small boy, about five years old was sitting next to two bodies.  The boy cried and shook his mother. 

“Mommy wake up.”  He kept crying shaking his lifeless mother.  “Omma, appa, please wake up.”  I broke my heart seeing this child cry for his parents to save him.  He must be really scared with the explosion, fire, and gun shots. 

I saw the military men come closer and killed a monster behind us.  It had been following us and I didn’t notice.  I picked up the boy and held him in my arms. 

“Get behind those trees!”  I heard a deep voice telling us from far away.  I did as I was told and ran behind some think trees.  It wasn’t much protection but it was better than being out in the open.  I sat down holding the boy in my arms and trying to stop him from crying.  Sunye was just as scared as I was.  The boy buried his head into my chest and I hugged him tighter.

“You guys stay here.”  I looked up and a soldier was standing next to us.  “Are any of you injured?”  The husky deep voice asked us. 

“My leg is just a little burned from the fire.”  I pointed towards my right leg.  Sunye said she just had a few bruises and scratches.

“Whose kid is that?”  The soldier asked me.  I looked down at the scared little boy.

“His parents are dead, I’m his family now.”

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YaY I finally had time to upload this chapter. 

I know I kept you guys waiting, sorry for that.  The life of a 20 yearl old university student who works full time is very busy!

Well any guesses on who the misterious soldeir is?  who the baby is? Where Daehyun is?  What will happen next??

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