“Mingyu, Wonwoo, and Seungcheol will automatically be in the combat team,” Iljae said and looked at Junghan who was taking it down on a paper. After going back to their room from the rooftop, they immediately decided to assign teams. The boys got a little excited, thinking about the video games that they used to play. “The three are very capable of handling zombies, that’s proven," Iljae continued. "Woozi is the most trusted guy to cook here and he seems knowledgeable enough about chores. I’ll put him in the support team.”

Woozi nodded. “Good. Zombies aren’t what I’d prefer facing.”

“I want to be in the combat, too!” Jun said and raised his hand. “I know Wushu so I think I’m pretty capable.” Iljae nodded and gave Junghan a nod.

“The combat team will have to be the patrol guards,” Iljae explained. The four guys nodded and listened intently. “You will have to monitor the barricades from time to time. If you see a zombie outside, you can observe them. I’m not requiring you to attack them, just do some observation. That would be enough. You, guys, still matter to us.” She smiled at them. “Also, we need you to carry an equipment all the time. We have to be cautious all the time. Don’t let your guard down.”

“What weapon could we have?” Mingyu asked.

“I found some mops and some sticks that can help us there in Class 2-B,” Jun said and smiled. “I think we could go there and get them all.”

Iljae smiled and nodded. “You go get it right now and try practicing them in the other rooms. I think that would be better. We’ll go settle things here.” The four boys nodded and left the room. Iljae turned to the rest of the people in the room.

Hoshi raised his hand. “Vernon and I will be in the scout team. We can be stealthy and we can repel zombies, yeah?” He nudged Vernon and the latter guy nodded, with Iljae not knowing if he was just forced or not.

“Good,” Iljae said and looked at Junghan. He nodded and wrote the two down. “What about you, The8? Want to join the scout team? You seem pretty capable.” The8 nodded. Junghan wrote down his name.

“In the Support team, we have Woozi as the main cook,” Iljae declared and gave Woozi a grin. He nodded and chuckled. “Junghan, do you want to be in the support team?” The quiet guy nodded and wrote himself down. Iljae noticed Jisoo raising a hand and smiling. “Want to join Woozi?” Jisoo nodded and Junghan wrote him down. “So, who else?”

For half an hour, they were discussing about their teams like assigning leaders and possible problems to encounter. Support team was assigned to do the household chores like cooking and cleaning. Woozi became the leader of the support team. The scout team was assigned to be the ones who will gather information outside and to retrieve important things from outside the barricade. Vernon was made the scout team leader. Research team was assigned as the ones who will be conducting researches and analysis that the scout team has gathered and perform experiments that may ease their lives while inside the school building. DK was made the team leader. The overall leader was Iljae due to her critical thinking ability.

Minutes later, the combat team has entered, all drenched in sweat. They dropped on the couch and fanned themselves.

Mingyu panted and smirked. “Damn, I look so hot in this white shirt drenched in sweat, right, Iljae?”

“No, you look disgusting,” she replied and gave him a look. The rest of the combat team laughed and smacked him in the arms.

“Hey, Woozi. Can we have some water?” Jun asked out of the blue. Woozi, who was near the refrigirator, nodded and opened it. “Oh no. We’re running out of supplies,” he said. “I don’t think this’ll last until tomorrow.” He closed the refrigerator and looked at them. “Guys, we need to go to the nearest convenience store.”

“What about the mall?” Iljae asked. “We can also get some clothes there so we can change. These clothes have been worn for like a week already and I swear, I can smell myself already.”

Everyone looked at each other. There was an obvious atmosphere of hesitation.

“That’s too far. I don’t think we’ll make it,” Hoshi said and looked at everyone. “It’s just three blocks away but with zombies everywhere-“

Iljae grinned. “You know what? I noticed something with the zombies these past few days especially that time that we were running to safety,” she said. Everyone looked at her. She walked to the window where she could see the field filled with zombies walking as slow as ever. “They don’t seem to be as fast as how zombies are in movies. And they only seem alerted when they actually hear something moving and if they see something moving.”

“Which means that if we run fast and stay quiet, they won’t notice us,” DK said and smiled.

“And also,” Iljae continued. “They seem to be ‘conscious’ of their surroundings in a way that they tend to ignore cars or vehicles. I’ve seen a few cars run around and zombies tend to follow them at first, but when out of their sight, they turn around and walk somewhere else.”

“Wow, keen observations, Iljae,” Woozi commented. “Lucky for us,” he said and pulled out something in his pocket. In his finger were two keys dangling. “I have a car. I don’t think it will make so much noise so we can arrive there safely one way or another.”

Iljae gave him an okay sign and winked. She turned around to face the guys. “So, are you up for this?” Knowing that they didn’t have any choice, they nodded and stood up. “Get a bag where you can put whatever you get in the mall. Woozi and I will be the other necessities. If you want, you can get them, too.”

“I can help,” Wonwoo said and raised his hand. “I can carry another bag.”

“Good,” Iljae said and grinned. She took her black bag and headed to the door. Suddenly, she halted. “Wait!”

Everyone looked at her. “What’s the problem?”

“How do we get to the car?” she asked. There was a pause.

“Someone create a diversion,” Seungcheol suggested. “Me. I’ll make my way to the car and all of you wait on the gates. Until I arrive, none of you better attract zombies, understood?”

“Yes,” they chorused. With that, they headed downstairs. In every corner that they passed, Mingyu and Jun had to survey the surroundings. Wonwoo and Seungcheol stayed at the back to guard them. Mingyu spotted a zombie from afar. Lucky for him, the zombie was alone. He stealthily ran towards it and easily snapped its neck with his metal stick. He ushered the others to follow him and they did so. They remained quiet until they reached the lockers area. The gate was blocked with a few long planks that managed to block out the zombies outside. The rest stood by the wall, careful to not make a sound. Seungcheol walked outside and looked around.

Zombies were still walking around and they were definitely more than 20, he assumed. He looked at the small parking lot and saw three cars. “Which one is your car?” he asked Woozi.

“The red and black one,” he replied. “I think the other key is the van next to it. It’s my friend’s van. You should just go and reach the van that can fit us all.”

Seungcheol nodded and sprinted outside towards a pillar. None of the zombies noticed him as of the moment. He swallowed a lump on his throat before raising his metal rod.

“I can do this,” he whispered to himself. After a deep breath, he sprinted towards the row of cars. Zombies started to walk towards him. Three zombies blocked his path and tried to advance to him, but he managed to smack the rod in their heads, easily killing them. He looked behind him and saw that there was a multitude of zombies gathered towards him and he quickly ran towards the van. He opened it and locked the doors. Without a moment to lose, he accelerated the car towards the gate, crashing against the zombies in front of the car. He stopped on the gate and yelled for them to come out.

“MAKE IT FAST! THEY’RE BEHIND US!” he yelled. They ran towards the van and flocked inside. Iljae sat in the passenger’s seat while everyone was on the back. Seungcheol immediately drove towards the gate and to the main road.

He looked at the side mirror and the zombies seemed to have ignored them already. “We lost them.”

“Thank goodness,” they all sighed. Mingyu leaned on Wonwoo’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

Iljae’s eyes were rooted on the road. It was gravely deserted and broken cars were everywhere. Buildings around it had shards of glasses around it. There were blood on the road as if multiple deaths have occurred. There were a few smokes rising up in the air, probably the ashes of what’s left in some houses. The road was very quiet and gloomy.

“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of zombies here in the highway. I wonder why,” she said. “Could it be that they are all in someplace else?”

“Oh yeah,” Seungcheol said. “That’s good for us. Easier to go to the mall then.” They sped through the road until they arrived in the parking lot. There were a few cars there but all of it have been wrecked, with windows broken into pieces and blood splattered everywhere. The car seats were all fumbled and scratched with human claws. Dents were obvious in the cars.

Everyone shuddered at the scene. “Let’s just go inside,” Iljae said, despite being shaken herself.

The glass doors were broken as well. The inside was dark and faint sounds were heard. The surroundings of the mall weren’t any better, perhaps even more unpleasant. No one had been taking care of the mall and it had definitely become a run-down place, compared to the times when everything was still normal.

“This entrance is the closest to the food area. We should stick to each other, alright? No one is going alone,” Woozi reminded. “Stick close to each other. We can’t risk anyone’s safety right now.”

Everyone nodded and looked at the dark. It was like looking into the abyss with only the wails of the unfortunate to be heard, echoing in the walls. The only light inside the mall was the light from the windows on the roof. And it wasn’t even that bright outside.

“Mingyu,” Iljae said. “Be the lookout again, please? We’ll follow your lead.”

Mingyu gave her a short nod and went inside. Seungcheol followed and the rest did so. Iljae was the last person to enter before Wonwoo, who insisted that he come behind her.

“We have to run for as fast and as quiet as we can, understand?” Mingyu whispered to them. In his signal, they were all running towards the market. They hid behind the counter so no zombie could see them and follow them. They crouched and looked at Iljae for further directions.

“As of the moment, we have four people in the combat team. We will be dividing ourselves into four so the combat team may be distributed. Also, the scout team will be divided. Mingyu, go with Junghan, Seungkwan, and Hoshi. Seungcheol, go with DK, The8 and Dino. Jun, go with Jisoo and Vernon. You guys will have to gather as much food and supplies as you can, okay? This will be our hiding spot. Wonwoo, Woozi and I will be going to gather food supplies, too. After that, we have to be here, understand? You just have to fill your bags, don’t carry anything with your hands. That’ll only cause trouble. We’ll get clothes as soon as we finish our food bag. The clothes will go in our second bags. Get your personal necessities here, too.”

Everyone nodded. Mingyu looked over the counter and saw that the coast was clear. Everybody ran towards the market and filled their bags with important things. Canned goods were made a priority for Iljae’s team. The rest took whatever they deem important to them. After a few minutes, they went back to the headquarters.

Iljae grabbed a few boxes of glow sticks and Ping-Pong balls, a whistle, a flashlight, and some thick rope. Wonwoo saw her struggling and offered to carry her bag.

“Glow sticks?” he asked.

Iljae grinned. “I’ve seen it in a TV show that when you throw these glow sticks, the zombies will follow them since they are movement based and the light can attract their attention. Amazing, right?” Wonwoo chuckled and ruffled her hair. Everyone was happily admiring whatever they have taken when Wonwoo and Iljae got back. Woozi apparently went with Jun’s team after seeing their bag filled with junk foods, leaving Wonwoo and Iljae together.

“Okay, I hope that you all took the important things, yeah? The next are the clothes. We’ll be giving each group a different bag where you can place all the clothes that you want. Nobody better get lost, understood?” They nodded.

“Iljae, I’m coming with these idiots,” Woozi said and looked at Jun and his team. They smiled at him and Woozi rolled his eyes at them.

“Sure, just make sure that you stick to them, alright?” she said. Woozi nodded. “We’ll only be going to the department store together so no one gets lost or no team gets left behind. Don’t forget your underwear and other things, okay? Mingyu, go.”

And soon, they were running towards the department store. Iljae did an experiment with the glow stick and threw it in the middle of the mall. Much to their amazement, the zombies did follow the glow stick, making their trip easier. They arrived to the department store without too much adversity and went on to do their task.

Wonwoo peaked outside the store as Iljae was picking some blankets and jackets. She was already done with their clothes so she went to get some general needs. Wonwoo squinted his eyes to get a better view from the dark, and his eyes widened.

A bunch of zombies were heading their way!

“Iljae! The zombies are coming!” he alerted the girl. Iljae immediately took what she could without any hesitation and ran towards the others. Luckily, they were all assembled in the cashier area.

Unfortunately, the entrance was near them.

“Guys! Leave! Zombies are coming this way-“

“! The exit to our car is blocked!” Dino said and looked outside. The zomobies were aready blocking their door access. Everyone panicked and backed away.

“Mingyu! Lead them the way out as soon as Wonwoo and I make a diversion. Wonwoo, come with me,” she said. Before the two were about to leave, Vernon stopped them.

“You will come back, right?” he asked. His eyes were wide, shivering in fear.

Iljae softened and smiled. “Yes, but when you are all in the van and you spot a hoard of zombies coming, don’t wait for us, okay? Just leave.”

“But-“

“That’s an order. We’ll manage, Vernon,” Iljae said and smiled. She turned to Wonwoo and pulled out her glow sticks. “Let’s go.”

Wonwoo nodded and the two ran towards a small crack and exited the store. Vernon and the others could only look at them as they disappeared from their sight.