Min and the group are at the furniture section of the store, sitting on the sofas and patio chairs. It’s currently 2:30 AM, less than a day has passed since Jessica and Naeun left their houses.

“We were down in Yongu when in happened.” Min says. “We were all at a theme park and then they told all of us to get out. Soon we the radio and found out what was going on.”

“Have you seen them? The biters?” Jessica asks.

“The zombies? Oh yeah, we’ve seen a whole lot of those.” Yoohan says. “We ran into the biggest cluster down on freeway 62. They all have this weird tumor sticking out of their body.”

“It’s like a huge belt of zombies running across the middle of South Korea.” Min says. “But it’s been pretty quiet up here. That’s why we decided to stay at this E-mart.”

“How many guns do you have?” Naeun asks in awe, staring at Min’s handgun.

Yoohan shows her the black bag slung on his shoulder. “We have three rifles and four handguns. There’s still a couple hundred rounds left. We found them at an empty ranger’s office. Our dad was a sheriff so I know how to load them up and handle them.”

“A hundred rounds, that should last us for a while. But what are the biters like? Should we start barricading the doors now?” Jessica says worriedly.

“No, don’t barricade the doors. The zombies are smart, Sica. If they see the doors blocked by stuff, they know that people are protecting themselves inside. We noticed that the first houses the biters attacked were the ones that were boarded up.” Min says.

“Can we even call them zombies?” Junghee snaps. “Most of them look alive like us.”

Min pats her on the back. “That’s right. Some of the biters look dead, with rotting skin and eyes. But others look perfectly good. They have rosy cheeks and regular looking eyes-”

“But they’re ing fast” Yoohan interrupts. “They run faster than the others, and they’re hell of a lot more dangerous.”

“Speaking of which,” Jinyoung says. “We need to turn off the lights in this store so it doesn’t attract the biters. Let’s see if we can find the control center.” The group walks down to the first floor, then the basement. Entering a large room with multiple CCTV screens and umpteen control buttons, Jinyoung starts to flip different switches.

“I have no idea what these buttons do.” Jinyoung says playfully. But when he flips a red switch, all the lights in the store shut off, leaving them in pitch darkness.

“Jinyoung, you’re such a moron.” Junghee says sharply.

However, he then presses another button that turns on small fluorescent lights placed sparsely around the store. It’s still dark, but the store’s walking path is visible. “Can’t lower the AC? It’s getting pretty cold.” Sica says.

“Sorry, I don’t see any AC controls.” Jinyoung answers.

As the group leaves the control room and goes upstairs, Naeun sees Kai running down the escalators towards the group. “Naeun? Jessica?” He says, confused by the group of six walking towards him.

“Jongin, it’s us.” Naeun says. Jessica’s anger is returning back to her.

“Gosh, I couldn’t find you guys in the store, and then the lights suddenly turned off. You had me scared. Are these your friends?” Kai says. Jessica remains silent as she shoulders Kai hard and walks off.

Min introduces herself and shakes his hand. “Hi, I’m Lee Min Young.”

Kai squints in the darkness and opens his mouth in surprise. “Min… from miss A?” He says incredulously.

“Yes… Wait Jongin from Exo?” Min replies in the same tone. “Wow, I’m a big fan.”

“I’m a fan of yours too!” Kai says.

Yoohan rolls his eyes, but Junghee’s ears suddenly perk up. She dashes in between Kai and Min and says, “Hi, I’m Choi Junghee.” She twirls her hair. “You might have seen me on the news, they call me South Korea’s angel.” Junghee walks close to Kai and touches him arm. “Wow you’re so muscley. I didn’t think you had time to work out in your busy schedule.”

Naeun laughs at her ridiculousness. But in the back of her mind is a gnawing sensation that she can’t ignore. She shakes it off, and calls to Jessica. “Come over here, Sica. We need to find a place to sit so we can talk!”

The group finds a soft sitting place at the outdoor and recreation section. There is a camping fire display on the floor, which they light on fire. They al sit and lay around the fire on a velvety faux grass surface.

“So where’s your family, Min? Are they okay?” Kai asks.

“My parents and my cousin’s parents live really close to where the government shelter is, so they’ll be fine. How about you parents?”

“They’re near Seoul too, so they’re safe.” Kai says, staring into the fire, then to Min.

Min looks at Naeun. “How about yours?”

“They’re with Sica’s parents in our cellar.” Naeun says.“It’s stocked with food so it can last them a while.”

Jessica is sitting next to Jinyoung, not listening to the conversation. She realizes it is close to 4 in the morning now, and that she had not one minute of sleep since the other day. Her eyes feel heavy and her balance is swaying. Drifting in and out of lucidity, she lists over and her head rests Jinyoung’s shoulder.

“Ah!” She gasps and sits up. “I-I’m sorry Jinyoung, I… haven’t had much sleep.” Jinyoung sees her cheeks heat up and blush.

Jinyoung laughs. “It’s fine, you can put your head on my lap if you’re feeling sleepy, sunbae. Or can I call you noona?”

If Sica wasn’t so tired, she would’ve otherwise said no. But instead, she smiles a little and says, “Call me noona”. She lays down on his warm lap, but she’s shivering from the AC cranked up too high.

Jinyoung would have covered her with a jacket if he had one. “Noona, if you’re cold, there’s beds upstairs with thick covers. I’m feeling sleepy too. You want to go there?”

“Suuure.” Jessica says, half asleep.

Jessica and Jinyoung excuse themselves and walk up the escalator and to the home goods section. Sica trips on something on the ground and catches herself by grabbing Jinyoung’s hand. Embarrassed, she tries to pull away, but Jinyoung grips her hand firmly.

“There’s your bed.” Jinyoung said, looking at a king mattress topped with a heavy down comforter. “I think I’ll take that bed over there.” He points to another bed, far on the other side of the floor, obscured by display shelves and products.

“Thank, Jinyoung.” Jessica says as she gets in the bed. Jinyoung pulls the covers over her.

“See you tomorrow.” As Jinyoung walks away, Jessica realizes how scary the store is. Almost pitch black, eerie and deserted. Sica’s position in the bed feels very vulnerable.

“Wait!” Jessica says. Jinyoung comes back.

“What is it?”

“I-I… don’t feel safe being alone in an empty floor like this.” Sica stutters.

“Would it make you feel safer I slept by your side?”

“Yes please.” Jessica starts to drift off as she feels Jinyoung slide under the warm covers next to her.

The next day, she awakens to find a golden lit store floor, the light cascading through the ceiling windows of the store. Soft rays of sunshine dance on her skin and warm her soul. She turns her head around to see Jinyoung, still fast asleep beside her. He reminds her of a sleeping angel with soft porcelain skin and delicate eyes. She reaches her hand out and traces his cheek with her fingertips.

“Awh, now isn’t that the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?” Sica hears Min behind her.

“Huh what??” Startled, Jessica turns around and sees Min and Naeun standing at the bedside, crossing their arms with a knowing smile on their lips. Sica promptly jumps off the bed in embarrassment. “I’m gonna take a shower”. She mumbles, staring at the ground.

Downstairs, Kai and Yoohan are discussing business. “So where was the last time you filled up your car?” He says. “If a horde of biters come here, we need to escape quickly” Kai says.

“There’s empty cars on the road a few miles from here.” Yoohan says. “We siphoned gas out of one, there should be plenty more.”

“I say we go there now, get some gas and come back before dark.” Kai says.

“I agree.”

Kai and Yoohan calls everyone up to the food court. They wake Jinyoung up from his deep sleep. They need to make breakfast to eat, and Naeun volunteers to cook. “I can cook too” says Kai. The two of them walk into one of the kitchens, and Kai says “What are we making today?”

“I say seaweed soup.” Naeun says.

“And pork cutlet?” Kai adds.
 

“With… the sides of kimchi and radish?”

“Sounds good.”

They start to gather the ingredients and clean the kitchen tools. When Naeun has trouble cutting the vegetables, Kai notices. “See, when you want to mince garlic, you press the tip of the knife.” He comes up behind her and places her hand on the correct place. “And you just lever with the handle back and forth.” He grasps her hand on the handle and rocks it back and forth for her. Naeun suppresses a nervous laugh.

“My grandmother always taught me to dice with one hand.” She says. “But this way is a lot easier.” How can I be falling for someone who murdered my best friend’s sister?! Naeun thinks to herself.

As the two cook on, Junghee stares at Naeun from the back of the kitchen, scowling at their friendship. Her short hair drapes over her pointy nose, and she flicks it out of place.

Soon, wafts of delicious smelling air float into the food court. Kai and Naeun come out with steaming plates of Korean food. “Wow, I wouldn’t have thought you guys cooked so well.” Min says, eating peacefully.

“The soup could’ve been better seasoned” Junghee says grouchily. Sica stares at her, aggravated, but Junghee doesn’t notice.

After the group finishes eating, they gather at one table. “We need to go and get fuel for our car.” Kai says. “Jessica sunbae’s car is running low. Yoohan says there are empty cars a few miles from here. Who wants to come?”

“I will!” says Jessica. She needs some fresh air outside.

“So will I.” says Jinyoung.

“I’ll go since I can handle the guns in case we run into any biters.” Says Junghee.

“I’ll just stay here” Naeun speaks out.

“So will I!” Yoohan says quickly. “I mean, to guard the place in case anything tries coming in.”

“I’ll just stay here, I want to wash up and change clothes.” Min says.

Having decided their plan, Junghee, Kai, Jessica and Jinyoung cautiously go down to the ground floor and open the door. They walk into the parking lot and get into Sica’s car. Pulling out on the empty paved roads, they head down the path for a few minutes until they see the cluster of abandoned cars.

Jessica uses a tube to siphon gas from another car to theirs, and meanwhile, Jinyoung sees a red gas container in the trunk of a car. “We can put extra gas in here!” he says. He puts gas into there also, and stores it back in their car.

Back at E-mart, Naeun is looking at dresses in the women’s apparel section. Min is on the other floor taking a shower. Naeun notices Yoohan staring at her from behind. “Can I help you?” she says apprehensively.

“Just keep standing there. You look good from behind.” Spaghetti boy says, smiling greedily. Naeun is officially creeped out now. She decides to be blunt with him.

“Please, you’re scaring me. Can we just be friends, Yoohan?” Naeun says politely. But he starts walking towards her.

“Just friends?” He says, tilting his head slightly. “I caught you sneaking peeks at me the other day. You like me.”

Naeun is tempted to burst out laughing. But Yoohan is advancing, making her back up to the wall. She gulps and says “No, I was just making sure you weren’t anywhere near me. You’re creepy as hell.”

Yoohan ignores her. “How do you wear them short skirts on stage without boys wanting to touch you there? You know you want it…” He puts his hand on her thigh and starts inching it upwards.

Kai is driving the newly fueled car towards the store. “I found a gas container.” Jinyoung says. “So now we have extra gas in the trunk.”

“That’s great!” Kai says. “I should’ve remembered to bring more gas containers from the store. We could’ve stocked up.”

Sica is staring out the window. She swears she can see a small dot moving in the distant road in front of her. As the car gets closer, she realizes the dot is a person.

“That’s a biter.” Junghee says, noticing a tumor like bump sticking out of her waist. She loads her gun. “If they look alive like that one is, you can shoot them anywhere, and they’ll bleed out and die.”

Sica begins to see more of the moving creature. It’s a girl with long black hair, walking listlessly on the pavement. But as the car gets even closer and passes the biter, she thinks her face looks familiar. Then it hits her.

The biter is Krystal.

She’s sure of it. She knows her own sister’s face too well. “Stop the car Kai!” She says.

“What? This close to the biter? For what?” Kai asks, surprised.

“STOP THE DAMN CAR!” She screams at him, clutching onto her seat. The car screeches to a stop and Sica jumps out of the car.

Sica walks up to the zombie. Kai and Jinyoung rush out of the car. Junghee’s handgun is pointed and ready to shoot.

As she sees the biter in detail, she realizes for sure that it’s Krystal.

“No… my baby…” She whispers to Krystal, even though she knows that she doesn’t understand. The rest of the group is in the back, hearing and witnessing the scene.

She reaches her hands out and grabs her sister’s. They’re still warm and alive. Her eyes are youthful and pure, but they stare emotionlessly at Sica. “I should’ve been there.” She says, struggling to breathe and trying to see through her watery eyes. “I should have gone with you. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry Krystal. It’s my fault, this should have happened to me” Jessica is so traumatized that she doesn’t realize that Krystal is taking a step towards her, hungry to eat flesh. Jessica looks at the wound on her wrist, a bite that has hardened up. Sica’s eyes flood with pain and guilt.

Kai steps in. He lifts Jessica off the ground and tries to carry her back to the car. She kicks and violently thrashes in his arms. “Get off!!” She screams, half sobbing. “GET THE OFF OF ME!” She violently punches Kai’s neck and frees herself. She belts hysterically at the top of her lungs at Kai.

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU LEFT HER! YOU LEFT HER THERE TO DIE!!”

Krystal is starting to sprint towards them. Junghee aims the gun at her.

BOOM.

Krystal’s body hits the heated concrete.

“NO! NO!” Jessica wails as she runs towards her sister.

Instead of hitting her squarely in the head, Junghee missed and shot at the tumor on Krystal’s waist. Jessica notices something crawl out of the tumor. It looks like a small metallic spider with legs like human fingers, but with a round hard shell like a centipede. It stays still for a second but then it scurries off with frightening speed into the grass. Ignoring the bizarreness of everything, Jessica bends down and looks at her sister’s face. Her cheeks are still rosy and warm. She’s still breathing.