The highway that lines the Han River connects with other major routes that encircle the Hapjeong area where the YG Entertainment building is located. The ramp for that highway is only a block or so from the building and, on a normal day, that route would have been the fastest to the stadium, taking only a matter of minutes to reach that destination.

But when Hyun Suk, Jae Suk, and Jong Kook had sat down with the plans the day before, they figured that those highways would be clogged considering the panic that must have ensued since the outbreak. Plus, if they had trouble on the highway, there was no off ramp for miles and they would be stuck. Local roads were better, they decided. While there might be more zombies, there would also more options for escape – more side roads, more alternatives.

The plan, then, was to follow Huiujeong-ro west until they saw a safe crossroad that connects to Woldeukeom-ro, which they would then take directly to the stadium.

When Hyun Suk confirmed to Jong Kook through radio communication that everyone in his van was okay, Jong Kook said to lead the way, and Hyun Suk then plowed through the zombies that blocked the parking lot, turning on the wiper blades afterward to clear the blood that had splattered from running them all over. With the RM van following closely behind, the YG van turned right out of the parking lot and then made a quick left to head down Huiujeong-ro, which was a narrow street bordered by red brick buildings. Cars were parked haphazardly and zombies walked aimlessly on the street, and so Hyun Suk drove slowly around those obstacles and told G-Dragon, who was sitting in the passenger seat, to help keep a look out for any possible danger.

Daesung, Minzy, Seungri, and CL, all sitting in the back row, and T.O.P., Bom, and Dara, sitting in the middle row, did not talk at all. A few occasionally turned back to see if the RM van was still following, but they mostly stared out the side windows, watching the scenery pass.

The buildings in this part of Seoul were low-rise structures, all ranging from four to maybe six stories high, which gave the area a neighborly feel. But there was an unsettling quiet about it all now. No cars passed. No horns blared. No happy citizens strolled in and out of storefronts. The buildings on either side of them were empty shells, devoid of life in a city that now seemed filled only with the dead.

They made it past another block, and then another.

Hyun Suk radioed Jong Kook. “YG to RM,” he said.

“Come in, YG,” Jong Kook said.

“Let’s try Dongyo-ro,” he said. “Should be coming up soon.”

“Copy that,” Jong Kook said.

Hyun Suk continued driving, the silence in that van nearly unbearable for all. But no one had anything to say. Most were still in shock from everything that had happened during their escape from their building, especially CL, who’d had the closest encounter with death.

CL had always seen herself as a strong woman, as a leader, but that was in a normal world. She remembered when, a few years back in Japan, Dara was stuck in a building during an earthquake. Dara had been so scared. The walls were cracking, the windows were shaking. She had called CL in a panic. But CL had kept calm and she eventually found Dara and brought her to safety. When she was interviewed later about it, CL said that she had felt that even if they were going to die, it would be better to die together. As she thought about this now, realizing how brave she had been back then in the face of danger, she knew that she could be that brave again. While the world had since changed, she hadn’t. The strength was still there inside her. She just needed to let go of the fear.

She looked over at Seungri sitting beside her and saw him now in a different light. He had been so brave, trying to protect her. She didn’t know he could be like that. She reached for his hand now and squeezed it gently. He looked down at their clasped hands and then up at her with his puppy dog eyes. She smiled and he then smiled, too.

When they were just a block or two away from the Dongyo-ro intersection, Hyun Suk noticed a large number of zombies just ahead in front of the Family Mart on the corner. He couldn’t really see from that far back, but it looked like the zombies were piled high on top of themselves. It was only when the van got a little closer that he realized they were not piled on top of themselves, but on top of a tank.

“Aigoo,” Bom said, pointing to the tank that had crashed into the Family Mart, the zombies crawling all over it like ants. “They got Leeteuk-ssi,” she said.

Everyone in that van turned to stare out the side window as they passed by, seeing parts of soldiers being devoured by the horde. Bom quickly turned away and hid her face against T.O.P.’s chest.

“It’s okay,” he said. “They were out in the open, but we’re not. We’re safe inside this van.”

They continued on, driving slowly down the street, and eventually, they made it to the broad intersection where Huiujeong-ro met Dongyo-ro. As Hyun Suk turned right on Dongyo-ro, everyone let out a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat safer on this wider road, which had space for two lanes on either side like a boulevard.

“Should be easier getting around obstacles now,” Hyun Suk said. 

In the RM van, Jong Kook’s group felt the same relief now that they were on that wider road, particularly after seeing what had happened to the tank.

“Poor Leeteuk,” Ji Hyo said.

“Maybe that wasn’t their tank,” Gary said. “Maybe it was another one.”

“Either way,” Jong Kook said, “those soldiers are dead.”

Ji Hyo reached for Jong Kook over the console, squeezing his thigh as she continued looking out her side window, seeing corpses in the parked cars and bodies on the sidewalks, with hungry zombies moving slowly throughout.

And then all of them noticed smoke up ahead, the black fumes billowing out from the next block. The YG van slowed down in front of them and Jong Kook then eased his foot off the gas pedal. As they continued down the street, more slowly than before, they saw that a red storefront on the corner of Poeun-ro was up in flames. The fire was quickly spreading to nearby buildings and as they tried to pass, the windows suddenly blew out, the glass shattering all over the street.

Both vans now increased their speed, with Jong Kook trying to follow the YG van as closely as possible as they raced past the burning buildings toward Woldeukeom-ro, which they needed to take to reach the stadium. That was the one flaw in their plan. They were depending on Woldeukeom-ro. It was the closest street that crossed the highways to the stadium. If it was inaccessible, for whatever reason, they would need to head another ten blocks north to find the next major street.

The windows that had exploded from the burning building had startled everyone in the YG van, but when they had gotten past it, everyone calmed back down again.

Minzy, who couldn’t take the silence anymore, asked Hyun Suk if he could try the radio. She didn’t think that any radio stations would still be on air, but she thought it was worth a try. Anything, even static, was better than silence.

Hyun Suk was surprised that he hadn’t thought of that first. Maybe there was an emergency broadcast. With everything that they had seen on the road, it was important to know whether the rescue center was still standing. And if it wasn’t, surely there would be an alert on the radio letting them know where else they could find safety. But as he tried the radio now, there seemed to be nothing but static on every station.

Minzy changed her mind. Static was not better than silence. In fact, it was a whole lot worse. It just seemed to be a reminder of how empty and lifeless this new world was, and how lost they were in it. 

Both vans now approached Woldeukeom-ro. They could see the green street sign at that major intersection, denoting which way led where. And on that sign, there was a small white arrow pointing left with the words World Cup Stadium printed just above.

“We’re there!” Kwang Soo said.

“Not yet,” Jae Suk said. “But almost.”

Jong Kook turned left on Woldeukeom-ro, still following Hyun Suk’s lead as the two vans swerved around the cars and bodies in the street. The street was similar to Dongyo-ro in that it was lined with tall buildings and first-floor storefronts, unlike the neighborhood street they had originally taken. But most importantly, it was a wide boulevard with even more lanes than Dongyo-ro, allowing them to easily maneuver around the zombies and abandoned cars. Jong Kook was relieved to see this, knowing now that if they just continued on this street, it would lead right to the stadium and they would be okay.

As they continued on their way, more and more cars blocked the street, making it increasingly difficult to get around them. Jong Kook peered inside the abandoned cars, seeing some filled with corpses but most of them empty, their doors still open as if the people inside had all fled in a hurry. Had they encountered a zombie horde? There was no way of knowing.

The farther they went on Woldeukeom-ro, the slower the vans progressed. Jong Kook could see that Hyun Suk had resorted to pushing his way through the cars, using the front of the van to ram them out of the way, making a clear path for the RM van to follow.

The radio in the console now hissed. “YG to RM,” Hyun Suk said, his voice muffled through the speaker.

Jong Kook gestured for Ji Hyo to answer. “RM here,” she said. “Thanks for clearing the way!”

“You see that up there?” Hyun Suk asked.

“See what?” Ji Hyo asked.

“The overpass,” Hyun Suk said. “Look ahead. That overpass is the highway. Once we pass under that, we should be okay.”

“Copy,” Ji Hyo said, smiling. “Over and out,” she added, returning the radio to the console now. She looked over at Jong Kook, who was smiling now, too, and then back at Jae Suk, Gary, and Kwang Soo. “We’re going to be okay,” she said.

When Hyun Suk drove under the overpass, everyone in his van cheered. Dara knew that she must be imagining it, but it actually looked sunnier on the other side of the highway, as if they had crossed over into a new world, a better world. Of course, she knew it was all in her head, a trick of her perception, but still, she was enjoying the moment, as was everyone else.

Tall white buildings now lined the road, and just beyond that, straight ahead, they could see the arched open roof of the stadium.

They were still driving slow, trying to get around the many cars and bodies blocking the road. With each move forward, the stadium came more into view, the possibility of rescue seemingly at arm’s length, but at the same time, there seemed to be less and less space on the road. And ultimately, just as they were nearly at the stadium, they reached a complete blockage. Before, Hyun Suk had managed to push cars out of their way, but now there was nowhere to push them to. Every inch of that road was crammed with cars. But they were so close…

“Try the sidewalk,” G-Dragon said.

“What?”

“The sidewalk,” he said again, pointing. “Look, it’s much wider than before.” The sidewalk had been narrow and cluttered, but now that they had moved just beyond the congested part of Seoul, the sidewalk had widened into a two-lane walking and bicycling path.

“Might be able to do that…” Hyun Suk said, as he steered the van off to the side and jumped the curb.

The sidewalk was completely free for as far as they could see, and as they now they zoomed past all of the craziness on the street, everyone inside the van cheered, the two-way radio with the excited voices of those in the RM van now coming through, too, as they all saw the stadium just up ahead and realized just how close to rescue they were.