September 26, 2018
 

Jisoo’s POV

                “Attention! All Seoul citizens must evacuate by midnight. All subway stations will close at 12:00 AM. Attention! All Seoul citizens must evacuate by midnight. All subways stations will close at 12:00 AM,” the emergency sirens repeatedly blared, startling me into a jump as my half-formed thoughts came to an abrupt stop. My phone read the dreaded time of 7:13 PM and I was still without a solution to get my family out of this ghost town. For someone who stormed out so fearlessly, my confidence was shrinking along with my energy. Truthfully, all I wanted was to be under the covers, sleeping until everything resumed to normalcy.

                Seoul was now deserted, a sight I never thought I would get to see for as long as I lived–there was not a single soul left, not even in the narrow streets where dozens of stores would usually reel in the most dedicated and loyal customers. The winds were beginning to pick up and most of the street lights were either completely out or flickering as they held onto dear life. Within the last few hours, I had stopped by several neighbors’ houses, the gaming cafe, Mrs. Kim’s bakery, and even Jennie’s house, knocking on doors in hopes to find someone but to no avail. Taxi cabs were illegally parked in the middle of the road every few blocks and some residential cars were broken into, presumably to finds goods that were left behind in a hurry. There was no light to be seen through the windows of restaurants, grocery markets, or houses. Everyone was truly gone.

                The gravel crunched beneath my feet, the only sound saving me from falling into insanity of being in such desolation. Shoving my hands into my pocket, I pivoted around and started for home, scrapping the idea of searching for alternatives. Maybe my mom really did know best. As I revisited the route I walked down earlier, I took a glance into each car I passed by although I was almost certain I wouldn’t be able to find anything I needed there. Just as I was about to give up, a sharp glisten from inside a cab caught my attention. Pressing up against the window for a better look, the object presented as a set keys on a small pocket clip–none of which were distinguishable in use except for the one in a black plastic shell etched with a Hyundai logo. The same image was reflected on the car’s steering wheel. Heart beating in high gear, hope began to cultivate again. I hurriedly looked for something to destroy the window with, clumsily stubbing my toe on something hard near the front tire. Cursing under my breath, I peered down to find a rock as the culprit–its ample size reminding me of my unfinished task. Picking it up with both hands, I hurled the weight towards the window, sending a deafening shatter echoing into the grim streets. Shutting my eyes for a few seconds, I waited to be reprimanded for my delinquency but was only greeted with more silence.

                Jisoo you idiot… You’re the only one here…

                Removing the glass shards off my seat, I grabbed the key inserted it into the ignition, turning once to activate then again to start. The engine roared alive, sending my heart galloping at a hundred miles per second. Then, it finally hit me that I didn’t know how to drive. Gulping, it finally hit me that I didn’t know how to drive. Automobiles were never a necessity as public transit and walking were more than enough to sustain a convenient life in Seoul–but that clearly wasn’t the situation now.

                “H-How does this go again…?” I muttered under my breath, hands hovering over the countless buttons contraptions in the car without a clue of where to start. “I got it started, okay, cool. Uh, and then… You have to make it go… How do you do that?” Recalling the thousands of times I played Forza Horizon, the image of a gear shift finally popped into mind. “OH RIGHT! That’s how.”

                With my foot on the brake, I pulled the gear stick down to drive and watched as the car began inching forward on its own–grinning from ear to ear at my little victory. After a few minutes of finding my bearings, driving soon became a natural phenomenon to me and I easily navigated my way back towards home.

                Only a few blocks away from my neighborhood, the car suddenly came into an head-on collision with something that felt of a formidable size. Immediately pushing on the brake, the vehicle jolted forward to a stop, catapulting me forward into a painful whiplash. Hands gripped tightly on the wheel to regain balance, my body broke out in a cold sweat upon realization that I may have just taken someone’s life. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying that this perpetual nightmare would come to an end then scolded myself for such childish wishful thinking. Although fear ridden, I refused to be unprincipled.

                I took a deep breath before peeking up at the crime scene. The headlights’ shine glared brightly, casting millions of tiny light particles floating above the dark cement. Yards ahead were buildings and cars that were now visible under such brightness. All was silent except for the consistent humming of the engine–the object of impact nowhere to be seen.

                Maybe it was just a really big rock…

                Even if it was, I had to check to set my doubts to peace. With extra caution, I opened the door and exited the car. “H-Hello?” I called out into the darkness, aware of the shaky voice that was of my own. “Are you okay…?” Taking a few steps forward, trails of blood came into view–possibly leading to what I didn’t want to believe to be a body.

                … I really did hit someone…

                My body stiffened in terror as a heavy wheeze sounded from the front of the car–that could only mean the victim was still breathing. Before any further decision could be made, a human-like figure unfolded into standing position where the body would have been.

                “Wow, holy crap,” I whispered in disbelief as the person stabilized himself, almost unfazed from the impact. Meanwhile, I thanked God for saving me from committing a felony. “Sir! Are you alright? I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you–it was just really dark and I guess I didn’t see….”

                My sentence trailed off into silence as the man slowly turned to face me, presenting a mutilated face that could not have been possibly human even before the crash. With white for eyes, he rasped at me with hostility, exposing his filthy gums and rotting teeth. Blood was dripping from his quivering lips although that seemed to be just the way he liked it as he cleaned it up with his half-bitten tongue. He looked at me with desire like I was the first meal he had seen after a long time of suffering and starvation.

                I didn’t know who or what he was but a tiny voice at the back of my head urged me to leave now, so I did. Running straight back into the car, I shut and locked the door as fast as I could. Just as I was about to drive, the creature flung itself onto the hood and scrambled its way up to the windshield, repeatedly slamming its head on the glass as it began to salivate uncontrollably.

                “Holy s-,” I muttered under my breath as I scrambled for a way to get it off. Pressing on random buttons summoned nothing but the eerily static radio and air conditioning. In the process of finding another solution, my arm accidentally flicked against a lever on the wheel, commencing the windshield wipers that effectively distracted the thing until I put the car back in drive and gassed it. The car immediately jerked forward and shot down the street like a missile. Within seconds, the flailing creature was thrown off and ricocheted off a stone wall where its severed remains laid scattered on the floor. A crisp shudder ran down my spine as my breathing began to stabilize, my mind still trying to make out what just happened.

                There’s no way that could have been a… No, that’s impossible.

                I continued driving at high speed until my house came into view. The lights were still on and I could see two familiar silhouettes perched on the living room couch. With the car crookedly parked on the driveway, I barged in through the front door, heavily panting, “I found a car. We gotta go. Now.” My mother shot Helen a perplexed look then frowned at me like I was crazy, “Jesus Christ Jisoo, where did you go? We were worried about you. Helen, can you please make her some tea?”

                “Mom, there’s no time. We need to leave NOW,” I snapped louder than I had intended. Helen, who was just a few steps from kitchen, halted and stared back at me in surprise. Sensing their confusion, I took a deep breath and recollected myself, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice but this is a lot more serious than I thought… On the way home I saw someone–or well, I don’t even know if it was a person…” I retrospected more so to myself than to them, my voice trailing off into a mere whisper as I tried to remember what happened just minutes ago. “I’ll explain more on the way to the subway station but we need to leave.”

                Without even looking, I could hear the apprehension in my mother’s voice, “We… We can give it a try but if we don’t figure anything out promise me we’ll come back and wait until tomorrow morning.”

                “I promise.”

                As the wheels passed over the uneven grounds, our bodies rose then fell along with its every groove. Along with humming engine, Helen’s soft rhythmic sniffle almost made me feel at peace. I was amazed at how something as simple as a sound could ease my worries, even if temporary.

                “I didn’t know you could drive,” my mother broke the silence with a statement no louder than a whisper.

                “Neither did I,” a chuckle nearly slipped from my lips as I answered. Instead, my grip on the steering wheel tightened as reality reminded me that nothing about our situation was worthy of joking about.

                And that was the extent of our conversation for the remainder of the drive to Yongsan station. I slowed the vehicle as we approached the vicinity, cautiously checking our surroundings for anything that may be out of the ordinary. As expected, people were swarming the gates that led to the underground subway, although there didn’t seem to be much movement past that point. Everyone was confined into the parameters of the staircase, almost as if unwilling to move. Strangely, most of the street lights were off, making it difficult to see any further in such darkness.

                “That’s quite a lot of people,” Helen mumbled to herself as she pressed up against the glass window for a better look but to no avail. She leaned back in her seat and waited patiently for a call to action.

                “Shouldn’t take too long. They said they would be open until midnight. We have a good few hours before then,” I reassured although truly unsure of how things were going to unfold. Wary, I stopped the car just beside the sidewalk instead of parking it in its designated lot. “Stay here,” I instructed. “I’m going to check and see if there’s a wheelchair entrance before I you two out. I’ll buy the tickets for us too.”

                My mother nodded nervously, “Okay. Hurry back.”

                Opening the trunk, I shouldered my bag with my katana attached and slipped my wallet out of the water bottle compartment with one hand as I walked towards the the service booth. Although well-lit, there was no one to be seen–the door was wide open like the worker had left in a hurry.

                “Jisoo! Is everything okay?” Helen hollered from the car. “Do you need any help?”

                “I’m fine!” I shouted before glancing over at the entrance flooded with people, checking to see if there was any other way down to the subway. It was then that I noticed that all eyes were on me. They must have been startled by my conversation with Helen. I made a mental note to keep my voice down.

                Standing several yards away was an elderly man who suddenly turned to face me–his hungry eyes a cloudy white that sent chills down my spine. Before I could utter a word, a bloodcurdling roar escaped from his throat before he raced towards my direction. Like soldiers in war, the rest of the crowd ravenously followed suit, spilling from the staircase on to even ground–all headed straight for me.

                This wasn’t it, it just wasn’t possible. What I saw while driving was insane, so this could only be a nightmare. It had to be. But it wasn’t. As the stampede of mangled bodies came into clear view, I could hear my pulse ringing louder and louder for every second I lost standing there in paralysis.

                Jisoo, get yourself together…

                With such a subpar life, I was surprised at how desperately I wanted to survive at that moment–not for myself, not for my future, but for my family. Now that my nightmares were actualized, I couldn’t run away. I had to face it. Adrenaline rushing through my veins, I quickly drew my sword and tightened my grip on its handle. Surrounding me were hundreds of growling cold bodies, all of them fighting each other to see who would get the first taste of my flesh.

                “Jisoo! NO!” my mother helplessly wailed from behind me, loudly beating on the car window.

                With a quick flick of my wrist, I cut through four bodies and watched as their severed heads lifelessly dropped cold onto the ground. Still, I was outnumbered and some of them were now started for the car–just like the movies, noise easily captured their attention. I watched as my mother and Helen cowered in fear, pressing further and further back against the windows as the bodies drew closer to them.

                “HEY! YOU S COME BACK HERE. HEY OVER HERE!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs in attempts to lure them back towards me, hand still cutting through the endless bodies. “MOM! HELEN! DON’T MAKE A SOUND–THEY ARE ATTRACTED TO LOUD NOISES. YOU GUYS NEED TO LEAVE. HELEN GET IN THE FRONT SEAT AND DRIVE EAST NOW.”

                My mother palmed and sobbed even harder, crumpling into Helen’s arms as they both looked at me with an unbearable pain in their eyes. I smiled weakly and continued to bellow, fighting the trembling of my shoulders as the bodies began to flock back towards me, “I’LL BE FINE, I PROMISE. I’VE BEEN PRACTICING SWORD ART FOR SO LONG. I’M S-STRONGER THAN YOU THINK...” My sentence trailed off into silence as hot tears spilled down my cheeks when I realized how afraid I was.

                Comprehending the dire situation, Helen quickly shifted into the front seat and clumsily navigated the car into drive; it was clear she didn’t have experience in a vehicle either but at this point asking for a licensed driver would be too greedy–all she needed to do was to them out of here and I would be at peace. The sudden start of the engine startled my mother into a gasp as she realized that we were going to separate. Frantically flailing her arms towards the steering wheel that was too far out of reach, she shrieked, “Helen what are you doing?! We’re not leaving without her. Turn the car off, TURN IT OFF NOW!” Through the window, Helen looked at me with despairing eyes and quivering lips of which I returned with an affirmative nod, giving her the go. Hand hovering over the gear shift, she pressed down on the brake and pulled down into drive with way more force than needed. The car began to roll forward while she fastened her shaky hands onto the steering wheel in attempts to regain control over the vehicle.

                In the backseat, my mother was banging on the window in desperation. Her incoherent cries were stifled by the thick glass but I could still hear and feel the pain in her voice. I took one last glance at her and smiled reassuringly, hoping that she could read my mind and understand all the things I wanted to tell her in that moment. I wanted to promise her that we would reunite again soon and that I would in one piece when that day came but I hated making promises if I had the slightest hunch I wouldn’t be able to deliver. I sliced through a few more bodies before running in the opposite the direction of the vehicle, letting the remaining hundreds trail behind me so that my family would be safe. Just seconds later, the car was no longer in sight.