“Dara, wake up,” Minzy whispered gently. “The guys said we have to move.”

Looking a bit daze, Dara checked her surroundings. She had no idea how long she slept but from the looks of it, everyone was not in that room with her. She put her hand beside her and noticed Daehan missing. She panicked.

“Where’s Daehan?” Dara asked in urgent, now wide awake.

“Relax. He’s with Hyori. Haru is also with them. They’re in the other room with the rest of us,” Minzy told her as she puts her hand on her shoulder.

Dara breathed out a relief. She looked at Minzy.

“How’s Hyori? Is she okay now?”

Minzy started folding the blankets and putting it in her backpack.

“Well, she’s moving and doing things so I guess that’s better than crying all the time,” Minzy said as she looked back towards the door. “I don’t know what she’s feeling but I know what I would feel if Min died out there. So I think its better that she’s trying…”

Dara nodded. She understood perfectly. Hyori loved Se7en and losing him while having unsolved relationship issues made things worse for her.

“Um, so what’s the plan?” Dara asked as she helped Minzy packed their things.

“Chun said we need to move. This place isn’t safe at all. He said during his watch last night, he noticed zombies lurking outside. It made him feel unsafe. Min agreed that maybe we should find a much safer place where we can all stay for a long while. It’s not safe to move around all the time.”

Dara agreed. Though she didn’t see it last night, she heard the eerie noise zombies made outside. Daehan was scared. Haru, too. She didn’t like it either. But she wasn’t looking forward of their day. Walking outside was dangerous. She didn’t want a repeat of what happened to Se7en to any of the people in this place.

After some time, the group decided to walk and find a better spot to stay. As usual, Chun and Min were just up ahead. They were making sure of the safety of the group. Hyori and the kids were in the middle of the pack. While Chae, Minzy and Dara watched the back for any lurkers or followers.

When Min noticed that there were hordes of zombies not far from where they were standing, he signaled the people at the back to go low while Chun pried open some of the doors of the establishments in that street. He tried to open it without making any noise. He got lucky with one door. The building was 3 floors high. The ground floor was a laundromat service. The door had a padlock but it wasn’t locked all the way through. The owner probably was in a rush to leave. When Chun and Min went inside to check, the women and kids waited outside for a full 3 minutes. Min signaled for them to come inside and then he locked it. The laundromat was cleaned. No signs of chaos. Chae looked around as she approached Chun.

“Chun, this place isn’t much better than the one we previously stayed,” Chaerin said.

“I know but we need to hide. There were zombies not far from us. I don’t think we should risk facing them for now,” Chun explained as he put his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Yeah, and don’t worry we still have food, we can still stay here for a while,” Min added as he took the backpack that Minzy was carrying and checked their supplies.

“But we can’t stay down here,” Minzy said as she looked around.

“No, we can’t. I noticed this building has 2 more floors but no other entry outside so I figured the stairs must be here and I’m right,” Chun said as he pointed his steel bat towards the back of the room. “Min and I realized that this laundromat is also some sort of room for rent kind of business. We opened the doors upstairs, it has a decent kitchen, bathroom and a small living room then the 3rd floor are 2 rooms with 2 double beds and the other room has bunk beds good for 4. There are some stuff left behind there but we didn’t check it.”

“So this place is good if it has all that,” Minzy said as she walked towards the sink near the washer to see if it was working. She opened it and water flowed. “This is good.”

“Well, I guess me, Hyori and the kids will take the room with bunk beds. You guys take the other room with double beds. We better go upstairs and look for something we could use,” Dara said as she looked at herself. Her clothes were dirty and had a bit of blood stained that she didn’t know how she got.

The girls looked at their clothes as well.

“Yeah, I know it’s a bit shallow to say this now but I think I need to shower,” Chaerin said.

The women walked upstairs with the kids as the 2 guys stayed in the first floor. Chun checked all the doors to make sure it was locked. Min looked for pressed and dried clothes in the hanger section of the laundromat.

“You know, I’m a bit worried,” Chun said out of nowhere.

“Yeah? Why?” Min asked as he rummaged some clothes for him and Minzy.

“This place may be safe but we’re still in the street with hordes of zombies walking and making eerie noise at night. I was kind of hoping we would find a car or walk farther away from here.”

“Bro, we can’t be choosy for now. This will do. We just have to make sure that the lights are off down here and the doors locked. The 2nd and 3rd floors are ours. We have a working kitchen, a bathroom with water and beds. We still have some foods in our bags. If we run out of stocks, we go out. I think this is the best option for now,” Min said as he tried a shirt.

“Yeah…yeah, I guess you’re right. I just can’t shake that weird feeling that we should move on and not stay here,” Chun said but he dismissed the thought and started looking for clothes as well.

“Just think, tonight, we can eat, we can shower then we can sleep in beds. Let’s just appreciate the simple things first,” Min said as he smiled at his new friend.

Back upstairs, Dara checked to see the rooms in the 3rd floor along with Hyori and the kids. Minzy and Chae checked the 2nd floor. As Dara entered the room with bunk beds, she took Daehan and put him on top.

“You and Haru will be on top of us. Hyori and I will be staying down here,” Dara said to his son who smiled at her.

She helped Haru in her top bunk bed. Then she gently took Hyori’s hand and guided her below Haru’s bed.

“Hyori, you can rest if you like. Do you want to shower? I can look for some clothes here or in the other room. Maybe the laundromat has some dried clothes too,” Dara said to a quiet but sad woman. Hyori didn’t say anything but she nodded her head slowly.

Dara smiled at her and told them that she will find fresh blankets as well. She instructed the kids to stay in their bunk beds until she returned with clothes. When Dara went down to the 2nd floor, she saw Minzy putting out all the foods they kept in their backpacks.

“What are you doing?” Dara asked to a busy Minzy.

“Ah well, since this is the first night that we can actually eat something on a plate or even cook something, I’m looking through our supplies. We have the utensils. I have some ramen here. I also saw powdered juice in a jar so maybe I can make us a pitcher. We need to replenish,” Minzy said in a cheerful voice. “I need to eat more. I feel like I’m starving for days. There’s kimchi too in the fridge.”

Dara laughed softly at Minzy’s words. It was truly a good break for them. They all needed this.

“Where’s Chae?”

“She’s already in the bathroom. She said she needed the shower so badly,” Minzy said to her. “Do you want the kids to go next? I’m supposed to go next but since I’ve decided to cook ramen, you should go or the kids first.”

“Okay. Maybe Hyori after the kids then me,” Dara said.

Just then the guys entered the room carrying a bunch of clothes. They dumped it on the table.

“These are all I could find down there,” Min said as he pointed at the clothes. “There are kids’ clothes there, Dara. A lot of women’s clothes, too. I already picked mine and Minzy. You should get what you need now.”

“Thank you, Min.”

Dara delved into the piles of clothing until she found shirts and shorts for the kids. She also found jammies for her and Hyori. She decided to wash their jeans an hang it dry so they could use it again tomorrow.

After some time, all of them were freshly showered and in their new borrowed clothes. The pot of ramen noodles was on the table and was able to make a pitcher of orange juice. They all started eating in the dining room. Chun and Min covered the windows with thick comforters to stay hidden from anything outside. The door on the 2nd floor was blocked by a wooden desk for extra safety. The group was eating and relaxing. It was the first time that they actually felt a bit safer since it all started.

But what they didn’t know, and what Chun felt since they entered the place, was right all along. The danger wasn’t outside anymore. It was already lurking inside the establishment with them.

And when everybody decided to finally rest in their respective rooms, right on cue, a deteriorating hand slowly appeared from an open window of the 2nd floor…

++

Jun drove for hours after they left the Park’s residence. All of them were silent and alert. He kept glancing at his rearview mirror to check if there were zombies around. Junsu and Bom were silent but he was sure he heard a restrained cry from Bom. Minguk held the puppy tightly and he hugged Jae as he asked him to look for his mom.

They were in deep .

He was driving without a clue as to where they would go. He was worried that they might run out of gas anytime soon. But at least, no zombies were around them as they cruised the highway, avoiding some stranded cars along the way.

He didn’t want to bother Jae about where they should go next since he knew that his friend had a lot of things to worry about. Jae was surely worried about his wife and kids. He would too if he had one. As he drove in the middle of nowhere, he had an idea where they could spend the night. He looked around and noticed that he wasn’t far from that place. He pushed the gas pedal harder and shifted the gear. He drove towards their destination. He didn’t know if it was the best plan but they sure needed a break from all the running and killing.

After a good 30 minute drive, Jun stopped his car to a deserted city street, in front of a new but unfinished 2-storey building. He woke up Junsu and Bom as Jae and Minguk went out of the car cautiously. He turned off the engine and joined them outside.

“Where are we and what is this place?” Junsu asked as he checked the surroundings.

“This is supposed to be an office for our travel agency,” Jun explained to his friends. “Your dad wanted to build a travel agency in the city center so people can access the hotels and its amenities without traveling all the way there. This was supposed to offer other promos for our hotels all around the country. We haven’t figured out the basics but that was the plan before all this started happening.”

“And you brought us here,” Jae asked as he held Minguk’s hand.

“Yeah. Since we don’t know we’re to go, this is the only place I could think of and the closest one at that.”

“Is it safe?” Bom asked.

“I hope so. I have the keys. No one should be here,” Jun said as he fished out the keys and unlocked the front door.

They all entered and locked it from the inside. Jun a small dim light that was installed for temporarily since there were no light fixtures yet.

“Sorry about the lights. We had this 3 watts LED light installed for now because we have no chosen light fixtures yet for the place,” Jun said as he pointed at the lone bulb.

“Are you sure this place is safe?” Jae asked.

“I think so. No one should be here now. Construction happens in daytime. But during the apocalypse, this was locked because the contractor and his men needed to meet up with your dad to discuss other things. I came by here before I met you at the hotel that day. I locked the place myself that’s why the keys are still with me,” Jun explained.

“Good,” Junsu said as he looked around. This building is just 2 floors but it’s quite spacious.”

“Yeah, this is the reception area, mostly for customers. The rooms on the far back are for break rooms for the stuff, a bathroom, stock room and locker rooms. The 2nd floor are for the agents, manager, a vip room for clients and a meeting room as requested by your dad, you know, just in case, he needed to drop by,” Jun said as he rolled his eyes. “To be honest, I’m not sure why we needed so much space because this is just a travel agency office. But well, your dad’s the boss.”

“Was the boss,” Jae said as he walked at the back part of the 1st floor. “What’s in the other side of this building?”

“A small parking space for our vans and cars then an alleyway of the other buildings near the area.”

“The back’s locked, right?” Jae asked.

“Yeah.”

“Minguk, come here,” Jae called his son who was still holding the puppy. “Sit here. Don’t wander around without me knowing.”

Minguk nodded as he patted the puppy.

“Do we have food?” Bom asked.

“Well, not really. The break room is complete with a small fridge and a working sink. No stove. Just microwave. We need to find something to eat if we don’t want to starve all night,” Jun said.

“Yeah well, I didn’t see any store near this place so that’s going to be impossible unless we would risk our lives and go search for food,” Junsu said as he breathed hard. “What the was that smell?”

“Probably you,” Jae said as he laughed. “We can just rest for now.” Jae opened the cabinets in the still door-less break room. “There’s a huge unopened plastic bottle of mineral water in here. We can drink that for tonight. I also saw a half-full loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter in the fridge. For now, this will do. We’ll think of something tomorrow.”

They all nodded in unison and decided to finally settle. Bom sat on one of the revolving chairs near Minguk. Jae and Jun covered the windows with tarpaulins and old paint canvas while Junsu bolted the door in front and at the back.

“By the way, the bathroom here doesn’t work,” Jun said to the group. “There’s another bathroom in the 2nd floor. That one works just fine.”

Everyone nodded. Minguk stood and walked towards Bom.

“Aunt Bom, I need to go pee-pee,” Minguk said as he crossed his tiny legs.

Bom smiled and took Minguk’s hand as they went upstairs. But Minguk pulled Bom’s hand and reached for the puppy in the sofa.

“Wait, Aunt Bom, I want the puppy to come too. He might want to go pee-pee too,” Minguk said as he carried the puppy and held Bom’s hand at the same time.

In the 2nd floor, Minguk finished using the bathroom and Bom asked him to wait outside the door with the puppy. As the little boy waited for Bom to finish, he noticed the reflection of fires in the window near him. He took a peak and saw the chaos outside. He didn’t see much though, just fires from different buildings. Minguk held the puppy close to him. He was scared.

When Bom went out of the bathroom, he saw Minguk hugging the puppy as he looked at the outside from the window near him. He walked towards him and put her hand on the top of his head.

“Don’t be afr