[X I V]
The Dead WayfarersIn front of a small brown home, Yoo Jung parked her bicycle near the front as she happily made her way toward the front door. She halted in her steps when something felt wrong and slowly she raised her empty palm and placed in on the golden door knob. She opened the door as gently as she could and poked her head inside, no one was in sight.
To her right side a scratching sound was made, it sounded like finger nails scratching across woven cloth made from the husks of ramie. Yoo Jung tip-toed over to the door that led to the room, where the sound was heard. She slide the door opened and then a hand grabbed her by the foot, pulling her to the ground. She saw the dead and dried face of her father, his groggy eyes were as foggy as dew.
Yoo Jung sat upright from her nightmare, hands clutched against her shirt and cold sweat damped across her temple. She was panting when she noticed Hyori by the door.
"About time you're up." Hyori said, arms folded with a slight annoyed expression. Yoo Jung looked up in slow motion and eyed the older woman.
"W-who are you?" She asked her lips and mouth dried; chapped. Hyori walked in and stood beside Yoo Jung.
"A friend." She said in a high pitched and quick tone then she sat on the bed beside Yoo Jung's legs. "But - how are you related to Yoo Seungho?" She questioned earning Yoo Jung's full attention. They exchanged eye-contact for some time before Yoo Jung were the first to break the ice.
Zelo held an arm out in front of Jun Gyu whom had his grips around the two shoulder bags. The man in the center stepped forward and held out both arms, "Greetings fellas." His introduction almost made it sound like he was hosting a grand opening and was ready to give the audience a good speech, but when his audience didn't react, he lowered his arms. "Anti-social huh?" He asked looking directly into Zelo's eyes. "Young, young and anti-social." He repeated after taking a good glance at Zelo.
Then he sighed and dropped his shoulders, "Know a guy by the name of Tuan Mark?" He inquired ot the tall latter; but Zelo stood his ground and knitted his brows.
"Then how about Yoo Seungho?" He questioned this time again and Zelo stopped at his name, Jun Gyu's jaw dropped a centimeter. Seungho? Who are these people? Why were they looking for Seungho? The question ran through Jun Gyu's mind.
The tallest man pulled out a knife from his pocket when Zelo and Jun Gyu chose not to respond to his questions. He stabbed the blade of the knife against the table top and sighed, "See this? If you don't talk I'll slit both your throats. So talk now, grandpa." The man picked on Jun Gyu but kept most of his glare on Zelo. When the long silence annoyed him again he the corner of his mouth and held a palm out, in which this time, the woman placed a handgun on his hand. Allowing him to gripped it tightly around the handle and then smirked as he held it up and directly aiming at Zelo's head. "Since humans like you that has mouths but ain't using it, it wouldn't be any different if you're turned into one of them cold ones anyway."
Then coming from outside the screaming of a man's voice caught their attention, except for Zelo. He found it as the best opportunity to take it as an escape plan, he grabbed a hold of Jun Gyu's wrist and pulled the man after him. The tallest man quickly caught them trying to escape toward the back when he fired a few shots at them, missing them.
He growled and turned to his friends. "Go see what happened! I'll go after them." He demanded and his two mates started toward the front as he rushed toward the back, following Zelo and Jun Gyu.
Zelo and Jun Gyu pushed the back door opened and raced out, in the back alley they spotted four zombies aimlessly wandering around. They noticed their fresh smell as well and begin moving toward the two.
The tall man and girl approached the parked car near the front, they noticed their driver were dead and the door was left opened. Zombies from the side caught the bait and began feeding on the dead man, tearing his flesh through his clothes. At the frightening sight, the woman and man turned to one another, horror written all over their faces.
Then a bat landed on the back of the man knocking him out; he crumbled to the ground hopelessly. The woman turned around and Seungho pinned her against the car, the bat across her chest. She gasped for air as she tried to push him away; one hand pushing the bat and the other on his chest, "L-let me go." She begged breathlessly.
CL rushed over as Seungho has left her behind, she grabbed his arm gently. "Release her, it's alright."
Seungho ignored CL's words and continue crushing the woman against the car door. Until the sight of Zelo and Jun Gyu from around the corner caught his attention. He saw them running down the sidewalk and then a man behind them, chasing them with a gun in his hand. Seungho looked into the dying face of the woman and then quickly pulled away. "Watch her." He said then began chasing after the other party.
CL tighten her grip around her own bat and held it in front of the taller woman, she was catching her breath with her hands gripping her chest. As if she had ran a marathon she was worn out and exhausted.
Zelo grabbed a bag from Jun Gyu when he noticed the packages were slowing down, Jun Gyu was panting when they still had a few blocks to go until they reached their current stay. The man stopped in his steps to fired at Zelo and Jun Gyu but the zombies that were closer to them than he was, was making it difficult for him to focus his aim. But he fired anyways, dropping the zombies one after another.
From behind Seungho kicked him, he rolled down and then rolled further away when Seungho lifted the bat and was ready to attack. The man fired but there were no bullets, Seungho kicked the gun and then threw the bat at the man mercilessly. The man protected his face as the bat slammed against his bones, causing a loud bang. The man grunted and without a spare second, Seungho got on top of him and shocked him in the face a few times, knocking the energy out of him.
Then Seungho stood up and turned toward the street where Zelo and Jun Gyu had traveled down, but they were no where in sight. Seungho sighed, he had lost them again.
Kyungsoo watched as Mark lied on the bed and Yongguk was pacing the floor, biting his finger nail as he was lost in thought. Then at the same time they heard Mark , he tiredly opened his eyes and saw Kyungsoo. A smile flashed across his weak and pale face. "Kyungsoo.... Am I dreaming? Are you really here?" Mark asked breathlessly. Kyungsoo grabbed Mark's hand and nodded with teary eyes.
"I'm here, are you alright? What happened? How did you get here? Did you see Seungho?" Kyungsoo asked questions after questions, Yongguk placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down a bit. Kyungsoo didn't react to the touch on his shoulder but quiet down and waited for Mark to speak.
"T-they're coming.... Coming...coming for Seungho...."
"What?" Kyungsoo asked in a soft voice. "Who? Who's coming for Seungho?"
"T-the enemies.... Sergeant Cha.... He's coming.... I'm sorry Kyungsoo." Mark apologized through choppy words then slowly his breath was cut short. The loss of blood, wound, and hunger killed him.
And he was dead.
"No.... Wait! Mark! No!" Kyungsoo cried louder and louder. Then the banging of zombies against the wall to the room jumped Yongguk and he quickly grabbed onto Kyungsoo's arms.
"Kyungsoo come on, we have to get out of here." Yongguk stated but Kyungsoo had his face hidden in Mark's cold palm and was crying aloud. "Kyung-" Yongguk froze when he noticed shadows moving in the hallway. They were not human's shadows, but the dead. "Bloody hell!" Yongguk ran over and noticed two dead ones approaching him, he quickly shut the door and felt their bodies slamming against it. Yongguk locked the door and headed back toward Kyungsoo, ripping the crying man from his friend.
He retreated into the bathroom with Kyungsoo, dragged in between his legs, then shut the door.
"No! No! NO!" The woman screamed when a herd of zombies surrounded her, tearing her with their strong teeth. Seungho and CL watched from inside the restaurant where Zelo and Jun Gyu were in earlier. CL winched at the sight but Seungho just stared.
The image of the dead tearing a living human was not a new sight. In fact, he was getting used to it. Seungho turned around and handed his bat in hand to CL, CL took it and looked down at it. It was marked with blood and pieces of the dead's raw meat and skin.
Seungho headed toward the back and slammed the door shut, then returned and found CL going through the kitchen's cabinets for some food. She pulled out a can of soda and popped it open, she took a sip then handed it to Seungho. Seungho looked at it for a moment then turned away and took a seat in the nearest chair at the table.
"Let's stay here for tonight." Seungho said and CL's tilted her head upward.
"Here?"
Seungho hummed; CL wasn't against or for the idea thus she continue drinking the soft drink in silence.
"Name." Seungho started and CL peeked through her lashes.
"Huh?"
Seungho turned to her, "Your name."
"Lee Chae Rin, but I prefer CL." She answered bluntly and Seungho let out a soft sigh.
"Is that so?" And with that night fell among Seoul and most parties were quiet. There was nothing to talk about.
Zelo and Jun Gyu pushed slammed the gate shut together then stepped back. A zombie with the appearance of a young man reached an arm through the loop holes and tried to grab them, but his arm couldn't reach them. Zelo and Jun Gyu eyed each other while panting, then after a long stare they laughed and celebrated for their safe return.
Inside the house, they noticed Hyori coming down the stairs as they moved in. "Welcome back." She greeted but the two were exhausted and worn out, so they placed the two bags on the counters and quickly moved over to rest on the couches. Zelo was lying down on one end after throwing his arrow materials on the ground, while Jun Gyu lie on the other end, their stinky shoes near each other's face. Zelo released a relieved sigh meanwhile Jun Gyu shut his eyes and enjoyed the short peace.
Zelo sat up first and turned around when Hyori came down the stairs. "Took you guys the whole day." She continued, Zelo looked around for any signs of Kyungsoo or Yongguk.
"Yongguk and Kyungsoo aren't back yet?" Zelo asked and she shook her head as she stood behind the single couch. Jun Gyu sat up with a worrisome expression.
"The two aren't back yet?" He asked and she shook her head again. This time, Zelo looked into Jun Gyu's eyes.
"What should we do?" Zelo asked Jun Gyu, but the man was lost for words.
"I-I-I-Should we go out and look for them?" Jun Gyu asked softly, but it wasn't soft enough.
"No." The three turned toward a long forgotten voice; Yoo Jung was standing on the staircase. Her face was pale and she was drained of colors from head to toe. "They'll come back. They're good people, they'll come back."
I hope they will.
In the dark, the man pulled his legs on top of the storage boxes as he sat panting and leaning against the wall. His lip was cut and so was his skin just a little above his thick eyebrows. Below him, zombies were trying to get him, and groaning for his flesh behind the casted shadows.
He sighed and shut his eyes.
"You're dead if I see you again. 102294."
End of Chapter 14.
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