The afternoon was dark, the village filled with nothing but silence. Leaves russled lifeless as they were blown by the cold, icy wind. A town, once full of life was now deserted, the smell of death thick in the air. 

The town was quiet, too quiet, not even the sounds of the infected could heard. Most people would feel relieved, Changkyun was not most people, relaxing even for a second could lead to disaster, or more accurately the death of himself or someone he cared about. 

Every step taken was done quietly, walking carelessly would make more noise than necessary, and making any sort of 'loud' noise was a luxury that they couldn't afford.

The group was small, just three boys not yet out of their teens, sticking together in a desperate attempt of survival. They had no special talents that helped them survive, they were alive because of luck, although if you asked any of them they would likely tell you that there was no luck in the world they lived in.

They were just three boys who had been marked by death, running on time borrowed from those who had died in order to protect them, or possibly from those who they had killed in order to protect themselves. This time does not last forever, the sand in the hour glass was pouring and soon the last grain would fall. 

 -:-:-:-

It had been ten minutes since the boys had reached the desolate town, checking their immediate surroundings for signs or life, the likelihood of actually finding someone was close to zero but they were mostly checking the area for any infected which may have been lurking around in the shadows. After they found none the group headed into the first house looking for supplies, unfortunately the truth was not what they found, the dark secrets hidden behind closed doors were revealed as they stepped into the house.

From the outside the house looked clean, untouched by a world which was now plagued by death and the betrayal of human kind. The inside was a different story, The pungent smell of decaying flesh was overwhelming, so much so that from the corner of his eye Changkyun saw Seokwon, the youngest male travelling with him, cover his nose in an attempt block out the smell, It didn't help much as the smell was so overwhelming that it was making his eyes water. Changkyun's own eyes were beginning to fill with unshed tears, but he blinked them back in favour of finding the cause of the smell.

Weapon held up, ready for use if an infected was the source of the odour, Changkyun walked slowly into what looked to be the living area. The room was neat, but it was far from being clean. Laying lifeless on the wooded flooring were three bodies, each with a bullet wound to the head, the surrounding floor space and walls were covered in the rusted brown colour of dried blood. The family had obviously taken their own lives a long time ago, if he had to guess, not long after hell arrived on earth. 

Briefly, Changkyun closed his eyes to escape the tragic sight, praying for the souls that had lost their life. A few steps behind him, Yoonho and Seokwon were doing the same before opening their eyes. 

Walking towards the body of an elder man who Changkyun assumed was the father and husband if the two deceased females respectively. Standing directly to the mans left, Changkyun gave a slight bow, a look of unease on his face as he best down and picked up the gun which lay beside the man. 

Checking the barrel of the gun, he saw only three bullets remained. 'It matches up nicely, three bullets,  three if us.' Changkyun thought, his lips turned downwards in a deep frown which almost seemed permanent on his face. He knew the danger of using a gun, they would only use it if it was truly necessary, and he prayed that time wouldn't come as that would mean one of them would be infected. 

The boys moved between houses, searching for supplies and only taking what they desperately needed. By the fifth house the boys had noticed an appalling trend, four out of the five houses were the final resting places of the families which had once lived their.

The town being so empty, void of even the infected finally made sense. Inside the houses lay the answers to the hidden secrets of the town, a mass suicide which spread across the who village, a promise which had literally claimed the lives of hundreds of people. 

"I don't even feel human anymore" Changkyun spoke quietly, the younger two clearly heard him as they both frowned while looking at the back of the eldest boy. "Living like this, surviving with selfish thoughts...makes me feel like a monster". Yoonho walked towards the distressed boy, then punched his shoulder. "You're stupid" Yoonho spoke, voice deadly serious. Behind him, Seokwon had a look of surprise on his face, clearly shocked Yoonho's behaviour, Changkyun reacted in a similar way, not quite understanding what the slightly younger boy was talking about.

Yoonho huffed indignantly, he just couldn't understand why the older boy thought so lowly of himself. "How are you selfish? A monster? What are you talking about?" Yoonho ranted, Changkyun tried to speak, to answer the younger boy but the words weren't given the chance to leave his mouth before he was silenced by a glare. 

"You constantly look out for Seokwon and I, you think more about us more than you think about yourself most of the time. Any selfish person in this apocalypse would fend for themselves, choosing to kill another just to get what they need, we've witnessed that first hand. So how are you selfish?" Yoonho spoke softly, not wanting to risk drawing unwanted attention, but his tone was firm.

Changkyun face showed nothing but frustration, how could Yoonho be so naive? He wasn't a good person, they had killed before, they were just like the men who he spoke of. He was interrupted once again before he could answer, Seokwon speaking up this time before the elder got the chance to speak. 

"Not human? A monster?" Seokwon chuckled sarcastically before his face become deadly serious, the playful expression gone in seconds. So a boy who pays respect to those who have died, tries to save anyone he can, risks his life for the sake of his group, and cries when he thinks no one can hear him... Is a monster? That's strange because I could have sworn that a monster would be heartless, emotionless even l." This time Changkyun didn't even try to resp