G-Dragon’s group had followed that bicycle path all the way down, staying close to the marshy stream and off the streets. They had been lucky to find the path. It was a scenic route through the congested city, hidden on both sides by steep hills where the roads on either side ran parallel and at times crisscrossed above them. Occasionally, a zombie would spot them from the road, but in each instance, the zombie would stumble and fall down the hill, ending up on the ground by their feet where it was easily killed by the sticks that Thunder had sharpened and distributed to the group as weapons.

Thunder had been the most productive one in the group. During the few hours they had walked that path, not only had he made those stick weapons, but he had also fashioned together a crude bow and arrow out of a fishing pole that he had found abandoned by the water. The others had joked with him at first when they saw him flexing that pole-turned-bow, but later, when they saw a zombie on their path in front of them and Thunder urged them out of his way as he armed the bow with one of the stick arrows he had made, shooting that arrow straight into the head of that zombie, they were all in awe. Afterward, they began calling him Gold Thunder as a nod toward his recent win in the archery segment of the Idol Athletic Championships back in January.

As they continued walking now, Minzy showed some interest in wanting to learn how to use the bow and arrow, and so Thunder walked with her, giving her some quick archery lessons. Daesung and Lee Joon, meanwhile, tried to make some small talk to keep their minds off their situation. G-Dragon and T.O.P., leading the group, kept their focus on the path ahead, knowing that soon the path would end at the river and they would have to decide what to do then.

They were getting close now. Up ahead, they could see the crisscrossing of highways and bridges above them. The embankment on their right was getting steeper, and the path was slowly veering away as the stream grew wider in its course to the Han River.

G-Dragon suddenly stopped. He looked up at the highways atop the embankments and the bridges directly overhead. Down the way, they could see the Han, that expanse stretching far and wide. “This is it,” he said. “We can’t go any farther.”

“What are you talking about, hyung?” Daesung asked. He pointed ahead to where the path continued. “We can keep going,” he said, confused.

G-Dragon shook his head. “That’s going right. We need to get across the river that way.” He pointed left.

T.O.P. breathed in deeply and rubbed his chin. And then he looked up to the one of the highways crossing above them. “We can take our chances up there,” he said. “We can climb up, maybe just one of us to check out the situation. And if the road’s clear, we can follow the ramp to the bridge.”

G-Dragon ran his hands across his face and through his hair as he tried to think.

“I don’t think the bridge is a good idea,” Lee Joon said. “What if it looks clear but then it turns out not to be while we’re halfway there. What are we going to do then? Jump?”

“Well, is there another way we can cross the river?” Minzy asked.

“We can swim across it,” Daesung said.

“What?” G-Dragon was so shocked by Daesung’s suggestion that he started to laugh. “You can’t even swim, Sunggie!”

“I can ride on one of your backs,” Daesung said, smiling.

The others laughed now, too.

G-Dragon shook his head. “It’s going to be dark soon,” he said. “We’re out of sight right now under these bridges. We should camp here and figure out a plan for the morning.”

A few miles north, CL’s group had just stepped onto the very path that G-Dragon’s group had just reached the end of. Having been faced with the zombies on the road in front of them when they arrived at the end of the stadium property, they opted to stay away from the streets and cut through the brush at their right, which eventually led them to that path.

“You think this stream goes to the river?” Seungri asked.

CL shrugged. “Probably,” she said.

Dara then remembered the letter that Hyun Suk had written. “Ji Yong still has the keys to the boat,” she said. “If… if he’s still alive.”

“You think they would go to the boat, CL-roo?” Bom asked.

“That was the original plan,” CL said. “But we’ve been heading north all this time. If they’ve been heading south, they’re far away by now.”

“Then let’s run,” Dara said. She pointed south down the path. “There are no zombies around. We can just run and try to catch up with them.”

“I hate running,” Bom said.

“I hate running, too, Bommie,” Dara said. “But don’t you want to see Tabi?”

Bom nodded, her eyes now glassy with tears.

CL looked at Seungri. “What do you think?”

Seungri shrugged. “We can run, but then if we actually have to run from, like, zombies or whatever, we might not have the energy then.”

CL looked over Bom’s sad face. “Well, let’s run for just a little while.”

Bom had never before smiled at the thought of running, but she smiled now. As that group began running down the path, Bom had this weird sense of déjà vu, remembering all those days YG made the girls run to stay in shape. For a while, she pretended like they were back in those days, as if it was just a normal run on a normal day.

For the next hour, they ran, then rested, then ran, then rested. But it was getting late and they knew they needed to find a place to sleep for the night. As they all tried to catch their breaths, CL pointed to the marshy ground beside the path. “The grass is high here,” she said. “We can lie down here and probably not be seen.”

Seungri stepped off the path onto the banks of the stream. His foot sank a bit in the mud and he cringed at the thought of sleeping there, but there was no better place in sight.

Armed with the scissors they had taken from the office, Jong Kook, Kwang Soo, and Ji Hyo, with a very hungry and unhappy baby in her arms, crossed over Woldeukeom-ro, which was the major street that Gary’s group had wandered down and found that bus.

But Jong Kook thought that the roads would be too dangerous and so he had everyone cross over to Pyounghwa Park, which was just past the large parking lot on the southern side of Woldeukeom-ro and stretched all the way to the highways lining the Han River. He was relying on the hope that the others had survived and were all heading for the marina. He had seen the map and had a general idea of where the marina was, but he didn’t know who else, if anyone else, had survived. As he walked with Ji Hyo now, with Kwang Soo hobbling behind, he started to strategize, thinking about a backup plan for the backup plan.

“Hyung,” Kwang Soo mumbled. But he had fallen so far behind that Jong Kook couldn’t even hear him. Kwang Soo cleared his throat. “Hyung,” he called out, louder this time.

Jong Kook turned around and saw that poor giraffe ways back, his leg bleeding through the handkerchief he had wrapped around it. Jong Kook felt terrible for neglecting his friend. All this time, he had been avoiding conversation with Kwang Soo because he didn’t know how to handle that situation. What do you say to someone you know will die soon? Or worse, someone you know you will have to kill soon? But seeing Kwang Soo so miserable and in so much pain made Jong Kook realize that he shouldn’t be avoiding him. In fact, he should be doing the exact opposite – he should be cherishing every single last moment he had with that giraffe while he was still alive.

“Hyung, I can’t go on,” Kwang Soo said, collapsing to the ground now.

Jong Kook went over and kneeled beside him. “Yes you can,” he said. “Don’t give up on me, Kwang Soo-yah.” He held his hand to Kwang Soo’s forehead and felt instant fire. That poor Giraffe was burning up. “Let me see this leg,” Jong Kook said. He began peeling away the handkerchief, which by now was soaked completely with blood. The thin handkerchief had fused with some of Kwang Soo’s skin, and Jong Kook could see those layers come off as he finished unwrapping the wound. He tried not to show the queasiness he felt when he saw what was left of Kwang Soo’s leg. It was a horrendous sight, but he tried to stay calm.

Ji Hyo began walking over at that moment, but Jong Kook told her to stay back. He didn’t want her to see the leg. Shreds of meat hung from the knee and ankle, but in between, there was practically nothing – much of the muscle had been eaten away, leaving bits of what looked like bloody ground beef clinging to an exposed splinter of bone.

Jong Kook took off his shirt and tore it into strips that he then used to rewrap Kwang Soo’s leg. “It doesn’t look that bad,” Jong Kook said, hoping that Kwang Soo would believe his lie.

“I can barely feel it anymore,” Kwang Soo said, his eyes closed.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Jong Kook said. “Come on, wake up.”

Kwang Soo opened his eyes and stared at Jong Kook’s bare chest. “Hyung, why’d you take your shirt off?” he asked. His leg had been so numb that he hadn’t even known that Jong Kook had rewrapped it with his shirt. “You trying to look y?”

Jong Kook laughed. “Here, put your arms around my neck,” he said.

“What? Are you hitting on me?” Kwang Soo asked.

Even now, that Kwang Soo was a joker, Jong Kook thought. “I’m going to carry you,” Jong Kook said. “Put your arms around my neck and hold on.”

Kwang Soo did as he was told and Jong Kook then picked him up, bouncing him up slightly in his arms to get a better grip around him.

Rejoining Ji Hyo, they continued following the tree-lined path through the park until they turned a corner and saw a convenience store along the way with a few zombies lingering outside of it.

“We can get food in there for the baby,” Ji Hyo whispered.

Jong Kook nodded and placed Kwang Soo in a seated position at the base of a large tree, his back resting against the trunk. “I think he’s unconscious,” Jong Kook said.

“He’s going to turn soon,” Ji Hyo said.

“You stay here with the baby. I’m going to take care of the store situation first… and then we’ll deal with Kwang Soo.”

Ji Hyo leaned over and kissed him. “Be careful,” she said.

Jong Kook ran toward the zombies outside the store. “Yaaaaaah!” he yelled, going crazy as he stabbed each in the head with the scissors. “Yah! Yah!” He used all his strength to drive that scissor into their skulls, ultimately breaking it off in the last zombie’s head. He gestured for Ji Hyo to come over now. “Hopefully we can find new weapons inside,” he said, holding up the broken, bloody scissor.

Not only did they find new weapons – a few trekking poles meant for hiking, which had sharp metal ends – but they also found both baby formula and some jars of baby food. Dream was six months old, which was the age, Ji Hyo said, that he should be moving from formula to food, if he hadn’t already. “Best to stock up,” she said.

As Ji Hyo sat down to feed the very hungry baby, Jong Kook sorted through a shirt rack, looking for one in his size. After squeezing into the largest-sized shirt he could find, he then began pulling a few extra shirts from the rack and tying them together, trying to fashion them into a pouch for the baby, which Ji Hyo could wear like a sling to keep Dream close and secure to her chest while allowing for her hands to be free.

They left the store in good spirits. Ji Hyo was wearing the sling that Jong Kook had made for her, which held Dream, and was carrying a bag full of food and water. Jong Kook had his new shirt on and was carrying a few more bags full of supplies. By the time they returned to the tree where they had left Kwang Soo, nearly an hour had passed.

Kwang Soo appeared to be asleep, but upon closer inspection, Jong Kook saw that he wasn’t breathing. Ji Hyo began to cry.

Jong Kook told Ji Hyo to walk away. When she was gone, he lifted his trekking pole high in the air with the metal end aimed at Kwang Soo’s forehead, breathed in deeply, and then drove that pole straight through Kwang Soo’s brain.

Jae Suk had the gun that Se7en gave him and felt somewhat secure, but he knew that if he had to fire a shot, it would likely draw more zombies to them. Better use this wisely, Jae Suk thought, as he now pocketed the gun. He had kept the shovel they had found in the storage closet and now moved onward with that weapon high in his hands.

He and his wife and son crept carefully down Woldeukeom-ro, ducking out of view from the occasional passing zombie while searching each car along the way for supplies. They found a bag full of toys in the backseat of one car, which they used now as bribery to keep their son quiet. It seemed to work. Little Ji Ho now walked the streets with them without saying a word, smiling even, in hopes of getting his bag full of toys as a prize once they reached their destination.

But Jae Suk didn’t know what that destination was. He knew that, ultimately, he needed to get his family to the marina where the rest of the Running Man members and YG family were hopefully waiting, but he knew that they wouldn’t get there tonight, not with how late it was already.

“We need to find somewhere to rest,” Jae Suk said, as they passed right by the bus that Gary and his group was in, neither group knowing how close the other was.

“We were all the way on the other side of the city in Hawangsimni-dong,” Suho said. “There’s a child welfare facility there that we go to sometimes to help out.”

“We’ve been doing charity work even before we debuted,” Kai said. “We’ve always liked helping out.”

Suho ate the last bite of the kimchi Gary had found and then placed the empty container beside him on the seat. Now with food and water in their bellies, the two EXO boys were no longer pale and tired. The color had returned to their faces and their energy levels had increased.

Siwon had eaten, too, but he crawled to the back of the bus to rest and had been quiet for some time, long before Suho began telling the story of how EXO-K ended up on that forlorn journey to the stadium.

“We got there early, before the children were awake,” Suho said. “We were planning on helping with the cleaning for a while and then, when the children were awake, we were all going to make breakfast for them.”

“But then we heard the soldiers in the street,” Kai added.

“There were all these evacuation vans slowly coming down the road, blasting this siren and some announcement about how everyone needed to leave the buildings at once and come outside. They didn’t say why.” Suho breathed in deeply, remembering how the children woke up from the sound of the siren. “We tried to calm the kids down. We pretended it was a game…” Suho shook his head.

Kai continued the story. “Anyway, we all boarded the vans, still not knowing what was happening. We were on the road for a while, but as we started to get closer to the middle of the city, the vans just stopped and… and we saw people running past us screaming on the streets…” Kai now stopped, too, unable to continue.

“You don’t have to tell us anymore,” Donghae said. “We know the ending. We don’t need the details between.”

Gary wanted to hear the rest of the story. He wanted to know what happened to the kids. But then he realized that the children must have died, otherwise they would’ve made it to the stadium along with the others. Donghae was right. They didn’t need to hear the details.

It was as dark inside the bus as it was outside, now that it was late evening. The boys were sprawled out on the seats, trying to stay out of view of the windows. They were planning on sleeping on those seats until it was light again, all in agreement that, in the morning, they would continue on their way, hopefully finding the marina that Gary told them all about.

They lay on those seats in silence now, trying to get comfortable, all content with full bellies. Caesar was lying on the floor in the middle of the aisle, but he began growling then, a low growl as if sensing approaching danger. Gary reached over the end of the seat and let his arm dangle near Caesar, trying to reach far enough so that he could pet him. But the dog wouldn’t stop growling.

Donghae peeked his head into the aisle and glanced over at Gary in his seat. “What’s wrong with the dog?” he asked.

Gary held a finger to his lips and slowly sat up, just enough to be eye-level with the window. He took one glance outside and then quickly ducked back down. “A herd of them. Shh. We just need to keep quiet.”

Suho and Kai, both lying on seats opposite Gary and Donghae, crawled down the aisle to the back of the bus where Siwon was resting to look out the back window. “I think they’re coming from the stadium,” Suho whispered.

“Probably done eating,” Kai mumbled.

Because both Suho and Kai’s faces were glued to that back window, watching the herd of zombies roll out of the stadium and into the streets, they didn’t notice Siwon rise from his seat at that moment, now just another walking corpse in this world owned by the living dead. Siwon grabbed both EXO boys from behind, biting into each of their backs. The boys uttered loud cries.

Gary and Donghae, tucked into their seats, hadn’t known what was happening, not until they heard the cries. At first, Gary thought that they were scared of the zombie herd outside and was about to tell them to be quiet when he peeked his head out into the aisle and saw Siwon clutching onto and chewing both boys from behind. Suho and Kai were crying loudly now, their arms flailing all about as they struggled to free themselves from Siwon’s grip.

“Oh my god,” Gary said.

Donghae now looked, too, and then jumped up to peek out the side windows, where he saw the zombies outside all turn at the sound of the cries inside the bus.

And then the bus door began rattling, the zombies prying at it and pounding their cold lifeless fists against the glass.

Gary looked at the horror in the back of the bus, where Siwon was still in the midst of his attack, and then at the horror all around them outside, surrounding the bus. This is the end, he thought. There’s no way out.