Everyone stood outside the warehouse, glancing between the bloody warning written on the door in front of them and the toxic zombies coming at them from their right. It seemed that heading left into the darkness was their only option, but without the keys to any of the trucks, they knew they wouldn’t get very far.

G-Dragon rubbed his eyes and then balled his hands into fists, trying to stay calm. “Well, does anyone know how to hotwire a truck so we can just get the hell out of here and not have to open a door with the words Do Not Enter written in freaking blood on it?”

“Let’s just shoot them!” Dara yelled, pointing to the zombies headed their way. “We’ll just shoot them all and then figure out what to do about the keys later!”

The ahjummas took charge then, stepping forward from the group with their machine guns aimed at the oncoming horde. The others, meanwhile, covered their ears in anticipation of the noise.

No matter how many times Daesung had heard machine gun fire, he could never get used to it. He pressed his hands tightly against his ears to try to block it out, but the explosions of bullets raining down on the zombies was so loud that he then cowered and tucked himself against Minzy’s side.

Minzy didn’t even notice Daesung next to her. She was in shock as she watched the gooey zombies being ripped apart by the machine gun fire and exploding into fleshy bits before them. She had never seen bodies just burst like that.

When the ahjummas finally stopped firing, everyone else stepped forward and looked over the chunks of torn flesh and pools of clumpy blood covering the pavement.

“It must be because of that stuff on them,” Bom whispered. “That toxic waste stuff.”

Just then, they were all startled by the sound of guttural groans coming from inside the warehouse. When they turned to look, they saw a bloody hand slam against one of the opaque windows from inside. And then another hand, and then another. Soon, all the windows of the warehouse were covered in bloody handprints.

“It’s filled with zombies,” Ji Hyo whispered.

“That explains the message on the door,” Jong Kook said.

“Is that door locked?” CL asked, worried that the zombies inside might figure out how to open it.

“I’m assuming so,” Gary said. “But I definitely don’t want to try to open it to find out.”

“Let’s just get out of here,” T.O.P. said. “I’m sure every zombie in the area heard that gunfire and is heading here right now. We just need to find a truck fast and just go.”

“But what about the keys?” Krystal asked. She turned to one of the ahjummas then and pointed to the warehouse door. “You said the keys are in there?”

The ahjumma nodded. “We saw all the keys hanging on a rack inside when we were here last month. But whether they’re still there now, I can’t say.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Thunder said. “There’s no way we’re getting in there, not if we want to get out alive anyway.”

“What if we just open the door and shoot them as they come out?” Jessica asked.

Everyone stopped for a moment to consider her idea, trying to ignore the groans of the zombies and the slapping of their hands upon the windows from inside that warehouse.

And then, from somewhere else in that industrial area, they began to hear the grunts of other zombies seemingly headed their way.

“I knew it,” T.O.P. said. “They heard the gunfire.”

Daesung grabbed Minzy’s hand and flashed everyone an almost desperate look. “We need to go right now,” he said. “Please.”

“Okay, let’s head toward the trucks,” Taeyeon said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find one with keys already in it.”

Everyone nodded and ran together toward the darkness down the way, leaving that marked door and the possibility of finding keys inside behind them.

The length of the warehouse seemed to be infinite. They ran north alongside it, welcoming the dim and shaky light from each lamppost they passed, but the more they ran without seeing an end to the warehouse, the more they felt as if they were just running in one spot.

Bom stopped, out of breath. “Wait,” she said, coughing.

T.O.P. stopped and called for the others to stop, too. “You okay?” he asked.

“The smoke is too much,” she said. “I feel like I can’t breathe.”

They had all begun smelling the smoke and knew that they were getting close to the city streets, but they couldn’t yet see those streets or any fires. The smoke, however, was heavy in the air, and all around them were particles of ash daintily falling like snowflakes.

Ji Hyo ran a finger down the black soot that covered the warehouse siding, exposing the color beneath, and then looked all around her at the ash falling down, thinking that, despite everything, it looked kind of beautiful.

One of the ahjummas walked over to Bom at that moment and took her surgical mask off. “Here,” she said, handing it to Bom. “Go on, it’s okay.”

Bom thanked her and put on the mask. Her heart was still racing from the run, but the mask at least made it easier for her to breathe.

“Where’d you see the trucks exactly?” T.O.P. asked the ahjumma.

“Around the corner,” she said. “Just up ahead.”

They continued running then, finally reaching the end of the warehouse and circling around the side. There was a row of eighteen-wheelers parked out back, blocked off by a chain-link fence, but beyond that, the rest of the industrial area appeared like a wasteland with collapsed structures and small fires everywhere. The ash no longer fell daintily around them but instead came down heavily through the air, covering them in that residue.

The 2ne1 girls led the way, pushing open the chain-link fence and guiding everyone inside.

T.O.P. walked past a shopping cart lying on its side near some garbage that was on fire and used his hand as a visor to block the falling ash from his face as he looked at all the trucks lined up, each of which was covered in a mixture of soot and ash. “We should split up,” he said, turning to the rest of the group. “Just pick a truck and hope we find one with keys.”

Jong Kook looked around, not seeing any zombies – not seeing anything, in fact, other than the decay of industrialization. “Okay,” he said. “But be careful.”

Everyone ran down the row then, each claiming a truck and climbing inside to see if the keys were in the ignition.

“Be sure to check the visors!” CL yelled, as she opened the driver’s side door to the truck she was about to search.

Those already down at the far end of the row – Taeyeon and one of the ahjummas – couldn’t hear her, but they had already planned to check the entire interior.

As Taeyeon stepped up to open the driver’s side door of her truck, the ahjumma called out to her. “Be careful, Taengoo,” she said, before continuing on to the last truck.

“Of course,” Taeyeon said. Even though Taeyeon had initially taken a protective role over the ahjummas, that all changed when Tiffany died. Since then, the ahjummas had been protecting her instead, like a clan of mothers looking after their only daughter. As Taeyeon stepped inside the truck now and sat in the driver’s seat, she smiled, feeling like, for the first time, things might turn out okay.

She saw that the keys were not in the ignition and was just reaching down to search the console when she suddenly heard that same ahjumma screaming. She froze for a moment, her eyes wide as she listened to that blood-curdling yell, and then she immediately jumped down from the driver’s seat and ran around the side of the last truck in the row, seeing a zombie atop the ahjumma on the ground, tearing at her flesh.

The zombie had been inside the truck, probably locked in there for weeks, and had leapt out once the ahjumma had opened the door. It had already been gnawing at the ahjumma’s face when Taeyeon appeared, and when Taeyeon saw this, she lost control. Everything that had been building up inside of her since Tiffany’s death came rushing out at that moment. She could’ve just shot the zombie and been done with it, but instead, she jumped atop it, punching it endlessly in the back and then stabbing it in the head with her wrist and elbow knives, screaming the whole time.

By the time the others ran to her side, the zombie was long dead, but Taeyeon was still mercilessly stabbing it.

Jessica slowly walked over and gently placed her hand on Taeyeon’s shoulder. “It’s dead,” she said. “It’s dead.”

Taeyeon looked at Jessica and then down at the zombie. She then pushed the corpse aside and stared at the ahjumma beneath, whose face was bitten and bloodied beyond recognition. She was clearly dead. “No…” Taeyeon cried. She stood up then, standing over her fallen ahjumma. “I’m sorry, omma,” she said, as she aimed her gun at the ahjumma’s head, lightly pulling the trigger then and sending out a brief sequence of bullets. “I’m so sorry.”

Jessica reached around Taeyeon and held her. “It’s not your fault,” Jessica whispered, as she squeezed her eyes closed.

The other ahjummas began to gather around her, too, all embracing her while holding back their tears. They repeated Jessica’s words, hoping to dispel any guilt Taeyeon might feel over the death. “It’s not your fault,” they said. “Nothing could’ve been done.”

Taeyeon sniffled and looked around at all of them. “I know,” she said. “Don’t worry, I’m okay.”

“Come on,” Jessica said, trying to lead her away from the scene.

Taeyeon nodded and was about to walk over to rejoin the group, but then she suddenly stopped. “Wait,” she said. She turned around and ran up to the driver’s side door, hoping to find the keys inside the ignition considering that the driver had been in that truck when he turned. When she didn’t see them there, still unwilling to give up, she stepped down and rolled the zombie corpse onto its back, searching its pockets. She felt the keys, quickly pulled them out, and then held them up for the group to see.

Everyone stared with wide eyes at the keys dangling from Taeyeon’s hands.

Jong Kook used the keys to unlock the back door of the truck. Upon opening it, he was relieved to see that the entirety of the cargo area was empty, as they wouldn’t have to waste any time unloading anything.

“I hate that there’s no windows,” Bom said, pouting as she climbed inside. “It’s going to be scary not being able to see anything.”

T.O.P. climbed inside next. “Maybe it’s better that way,” he said, as he brushed her hair aside and kissed her cheek. He knew the city was ravaged by fires and zombies and had no desire to see it from the vantage point of the streets. “We can just sit back here and not have to see what’s out there,” he whispered.

The others followed them inside, all but G-Dragon and Jong Kook, both of whom had been designated by the group as the driver and navigator, respectively.

G-Dragon looked around at everyone crammed inside the back of the truck, stopping for a moment when he met eyes with Dara. “It’s going to be okay,” he said.

“I know,” Dara said.

G-Dragon then turned to Jong Kook. “Looks like it’s me and you again,” he said.

Jong Kook laughed. “Just don’t start any of that pirate stuff,” he said.

“Whoever heard of a pirate driving a truck?” G-Dragon said. “Pirates stick to boats, hyung.”

“Good, so no Captain Kwon Leader?”

“Don’t be messing around while you’re driving, hyung!” Daesung called out from inside the truck. “Seriously, hyung, this is no time for playing around.”

“Don’t worry,” G-Dragon said.

Jong Kook looked over at Ji Hyo, who was sitting between a couple of the ahjummas. “You okay?”

Ji Hyo nodded.

“Once I close this door, it’s going to be dark,” Jong Kook said, now looking around at everyone. “If any of you have flashlights in your bag, you might want to use them.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Gary said, as he squeezed Jessica’s hand. “We’ll be okay.”

Jong Kook nodded, breathed in deeply, and then pulled the rear door of that truck closed, sealing everyone inside.