It was around 2 AM at midnight. Daehyun was at his home work desk completing some of his work. He was struggling to stay awake. To his misfortune, all this was happening on his birthday. Rubbing his eyes, he looked over at the clock to see how late it was. He decided to go get some water. While he went over to the kitchen, he noticed how quite and eerie it was outside. Not that he was suspicious about it. His place was situated in the Gampo province of South Korea. It was a small and calm Township. The town was not one of the far advanced ones in the matter of technology. It was a slow developing region with a few industries and workplaces. Daehyun had to travel to Seoul to get to his office everyday. 

As for his life, it was that of a normal workaholic. He has a girlfriend Maria and the two had moved in together and lived in Gampo. His older brother Yongguk, also lived a few miles away from his house. Maria worked as a medical lab assistant in one of the most well reputed medical centers in Gampo. 

Recently, their medical team had been working on a unique invention: To be able to cure Infections in a human being by serum prepared by them. They had been working on It for about two years. It had been the talk of the town for months. The experiments and tests was going on although it didn't show any result. Maria worked in shifts which is why her timings never matched with her boyfriend's. They still managed to spend whatever time they got together and make the most of it. 

It was technically Daehyun's birthday but it was no different from any other day. Even so, his girl never failed to make him crack a smile through all the stress. 

Just as he was returning to the work desk from the kitchen, his land phone starts ringing and goes straight to voice mail.

" *sigh* Godd Dae, it's your birthday and yet here I am still working my off. I am so sorry I'm not there with you. Im pretty sure by the time I get there your not gonna be home. But it's ok. We'll make it up somehow. Your not gonna be completely disappointed though. Check inside the drawers in our bedroom. It's not much but that's what's best about us right?  We don't need luxury to please each other. Haha, God the excuses I make. But I mean it, I really am sorry I can't be there. But I will be soon. Take it easy ok. Don't overwork yourself. Happy birthday again baby. I love you." 

After hearing the long but warming voice message by Maria, just as expected,  Daehyun doesn't fail to crack a smile. Of course he wasn't upset she wasn't with him. He missed her, sure, but he knew she was having it tougher than he was. 

Getting up satisfied he went over to the bedroom to check what it is she left for him. He opened the drawers and saw a small gift wrapping with a letter on the side. It was a shabby yet loveable wrapping that instantly made him smile again. He opened it and saw a handmade chain that had a locket with his family's photo on one side and an empty frame on the other. He was stunned at her thought of doing this for him. Daehyun's parents were always special to him. They had passed away a few years ago in an accident leaving him and Yongguk orphaned. It was a few months after that he had met Maria who saved him from falling into a dark pit mentally. 

He knew exactly why she had put his parents photo one side of the locket. He had always blamed himself for everything his family had lost. Maria didn't want to him to punish himself anymore. He read the letter she wrote which said exactly this. 

" This may not be the most ideal birthday present Dae but I just wanted to you to have this so you can know that you don't have to blame yourself anymore. It was never your fault and they're still right here with you. I hope you know that your not alone and I'm here as well and I love you more than anything in this world. " Marias letter said. 

" I love you too girl...so much more than you know " Daehyun whispers as he reads the letter with a content look feeling lucky to have such a life partner. 

Just like that another hour had passed by and Daehyun decided that it was best if he slept. He switched off all lights and left the front door unlocked for Maria. It didn't take him long to fall asleep as soon as he hit the bed. 

It was around 3:30 AM now and Daehyun suddenly woke up from his sleep to his phone which was on vibrate, buzzing continously. He noticed they were Yongguk's missed calls. 

"Hyung?  Whats up with all these missed calls?" He asks himself. 

Before he could call his brother back, he suddenly heard screams and stampedes from outside his house. For a calm and quite town it was quite shocking to hear all of the chaos. He looked outside the window and it looked almost as if people were running for their lives or something. There were people running through lanes, some were hurriedly getting in their cars and leaving. There were families with kids fleeing the area. 

"What on earth is happening?"  Daehyun asks himself as he was getting more and more tensed. 

He got downstairs and was about to open the door to see what was happening,  when he heard screams that sounded almost inhuman and gunshots following it. When he saw through the window, it was the police force that looked like they were chasing down people. When Daehyun looked closer, he noticed the people they were shooting at didn't really look like people. They looked deformed and aberrant almost as if they had no control over their bodies. It was gruesome to watch.

"What in the world.....?..." Daehyun didn't know what to make out of this situation. 

Just then he sees Yongguk running and coming Inside the house and locking the doors tight. 

" Dae? Dae, Jesus are you ok? Are you hurt or anything?  Yongguk asks in worry. 

" No no Hyung I'm fine I'm ok but....what the hell is going on? " Daehyun asks both tensed and curious. 

" God that's what I've been trying to call you about. Somethings

gone wrong....something....something ain't right with these people. " Yongguk explains. 

"Something?  OK you have to be more clear than that Hyung. " Daehyun asks in panic.

" I don't exactly know but somthing happened and these people they're like I don't know infected or sick or something. They're turning into some Inhumane creature sort of thing. They're spreading like crazy. I think it's some sort of virus. It's,God! its really messed up Dae. " Yongguk explains more with deep sighs of panic. Yongguk has a pistol in his hand which he reloads to protect them. 

Daehyun turns the T.V on to see more of what exactly is happening because it was already all over the news channel. As soon as he did, the news goes on...

" A recent leak of a certain kind of genetic virus has been spread out in the city causing people to turn into a sort of animalistic infected self. Within just one hour of the virus leak, almost half the town have been infected and victimized to the virus. People are fleeing in hopes to save their lives as they don't know how to shelter themselves from this outbreak. The abnormality has already caused an irreplaceable amount of casualties including deaths, fires, accidents also jamming various streets and lanes of the town. The police have scattered inch by inch in every part of Gampo in hopes to control the chaos. As of the latest update and reports, it seems that the virus has leaked from the Gampo Medical Center during an experiment session the doctors were having in the hospital. It is still unknown if anyone made it out alive from the hospital...." Just as the news telecast was going on,  the electricity lines get electrocuted and cut off. 

"Oh it's just getting worse. We gotta get outta here Dae, we can't stay here anymore it's not safe for long"  Yongguk tells Daehyun as he prepares his pistol.

He notices Daehyun standing numb and shocked and not responding. 

"Dae what the hell?  Come on we gotta move Now!" Yongguk says. 

" Hyung?.... " after a long pause Daehyun continues. 

" That's... That's Marias hospital...." Daehyun responds in shock.

As Yongguk realizes that, he sighs in shock as well.

" Oh my god... Oh my god... ! " Yongguk shows frustration. 

" Hyung we gotta go... We gotta go check the hospital... We gotta get her outta there please... Please let's go"  Daehyun says with ultimate deep breaths and all signs of panic. 

" Yeah ok... Ok let's go.  We'll go through the back door, my cars there. And here, grab this pistol. " Yongguk says handing Daehyun a pistol.

Daehyun and Yongguk head towards their car. Daehyun was sweating and thumping on the inside thinking about Marias situation. He didn't even know If she was safe. They both get in the car and Yongguk drives in the maximum speed as he can. Through the way, there were many people running around in distress and there were many for whom it was already too late. 

" Holy ! " Daehyun exclaimed as he looked outside the window to see a drastic image of a town in distress and flames. 

" Its spreading more faster than lightning. At this rate it's gonna get to other parts of Korea before we even know it " Yongguk states while driving as fast as he can. 

Daehyun kept wondering how in that little break he slept,  everything had just changed. It was unbelievable. On the way there were many people approaching asking help. But they couldn't stop. They couldn't tell if they were a victim to the virus or not. 

They soon reach  the hospital only to find it half in flames. 

" OH MY GOD ! " Daehyun exclaimed. 

" !  They must have burned it down or something thinking it can stop the virus from spreading. " Yongguk says. 

" I don't care im going in there" Daehyun says as he rushes to reach inside the hospital lobby. 

Through the flames he ran over to every floor in hopes of finding Maria. Coughing because of the smoke, all through the way all he found was a bunch of dead corpses probably of the hospital staff and some of them infected really badly. They shot all the sick people they saw as they were coming right their way. 

"MARIA?" Daehyun voiced out to her in hopes of hearing a response. He checked every area and still saw no trace of her. Just then a stunned and still Yongguk grabs Daehyun's attention.

" Uhh.. Dae? " Yongguk calls Daehyun. 

"What Hyung?  What is...." before Daehyun could complete his sentence he was still and shocked too.

They saw a lady figure standing near one of the medical rooms with her back turned around. She looked still but it also looked like she was going through some changes within her. She looked bloody and she was giving out those exact same sounds that the sick people were.They couldn't clearly figure it out. Just then when Daehyun looked closer,  he noticed it indeed was Maria. As he was about to call out to her.... Yongguk goes closer pointing a gun at her. 

" What the hell do you think your doing Hyung?  " A pissed off Daehyun asks his brother in disbelief. 

" Daehyun I'm sorry... But thats not Maria. If we don't kill her now... She just might  kill us " a bewildered Yongguk responds. 

" Put the gun down before I friggin  lose it " Daehyun says being pissed off possible. 

" Can't you see Dae?  She's infected too. It's just....just getting in her. It's only gonna be moments before she goes berserk. I'm making it easy for you not have to see that. I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry this is happening" Yongguk says sounding really pressurized and sorry.

" If you do it,  I'll kill you myself.... I will.... " Daehyun says still not wanting to believe reality. 

Before Yongguk and Daehyun's distressed conversation could continue, Maria who really was infected turned around to spot the two and started running towards them with the same Inhumane look as most of them now. It was not Maria anymore, to her it was not her lover or his brother that she was chasing. Maria was gone and it was a new threat to mankind that was coming at them. 

As she approached,  there was a gunshot. Maria collapsed to floor and became part of the other virus victims that were taken down.

Yongguk looks over at Daehyun in shock. This was because it wasnt him who pulled the trigger.....it was Daehyun. He had shot his girl because his instincts made him do so as she approached to attack. He stared at her corpse as the gun loosened and fell from his hand. 

" Dae?  Hey its OK... It's ok Dae. It's not your fault. Dae look at me " Yongguk keeps approaching to Daehyun in hopes of counseling him.

" I just... I heard her.... I heard her a few hours ago.....we.... Were gonna..  She..... She was gonna come home to me.... Hyung.... She..... I....shot.... I shot.... Her " Daehyun stammers in disbelief with tears filling his eyes and collapses to the floor. 

He screams in pain realizing what just happened. He was inconsolable. Yongguk broke seeing the situation and could do nothing but comfort his little brother. Daehyun was breathless and restless at the outcome of the entire situation. The two sat there collapsed and lost and just numb.

Just like that it was the start of an outbreak, an apocalypse. It was only the start of all the loses and sacrifices the ones surviving had to make. It was only the start of Daehyun's journey - The journey of survival...