I lay in the uncomfortable bed of my room for the eighth night in a row. Chanyeol sleeps next to me like always, his breaths slow and loud under the air filtration mask. I look at the clock nearby that reads 2:36 am. I let out a frustrated sigh. So much has happened; my thoughts have been keeping me awake lately.

Every day so far has been the same long, boring process of following the schedule and staying safe. Despite all of the efforts to keep radiation levels at bay, none of it seems to be working. It feels like by the day ten more people are being taken away by medics, coughing and puking and covered in those nasty burns. The President says the population lowers by three percent a day. Nothing has been able stop it.

Chanyeol has been working a lot lately. Ever since that man collapsed in the cafeteria, he's been helping out in the medical center as much as he can. The only times I get to see him is in the morning before he heads off and at night when he returns before sleep. Sometimes he'll join me for meals when he manages to get away for a bit, but that's been lessening as the days go by. Whenever I get to see him at the end of the day, he's too exhausted to stay up and talk to me. I really miss him.

There's been a lot of rumors and protests against the government about the war. Some people believe that President Jaeshin and the government is behind all of this and that they got involved in the war to prove that they're powerful enough against enemy countries. They blame him for murdering the earth and their families. Others just think that something could have been done to prevent this and are angry because they think the government didn't try to keep this from happening. The pacifists are angry because they believe the war shouldn't have occurred in the first place. Ironically enough, the pacifists are getting violent over anti-violence. I just do my best to stay out of everything.

During the times when my boyfriend manages to find a way to see me for a bit, he tries to keep me updated as much as he can. He told me that there's a lot going on that the public doesn't know about, in order to keep the chaos down amongst the people. He said that all of those people that got taken away from radiation poisoning never actually ended up surviving. Once they get taken back, they're held there and stabilized until they eventually die painlessly. When that little boy became the first victim, they did all they could to save him, until they realized the radiation was too strong and too reckless to heal. He said that the main goal now is to do the best we can to control the radiation levels in the air while keeping the public as calm as possible. As for the victims, they're kept on the down low as much as we are able. Everything now is about safety, prevention, and peace-keeping.

All of these nights of laying awake in bed have kept my thoughts well and alive. Despite the trust I have in the president, I can't help but feel uneasy. I have this gut feeling that something isn't what it seems; that something could go wrong any second. I've been having nightmares. Nothing ever makes sense yet, just weird voices in my head that get louder and louder until I wake up in a cold sweat. Chanyeol told me once that there's things even he doesn't know, that they won't tell him. They tell him it's because he's not experienced enough in his medical knowledge to understand, and due to the strictness on not letting any information that could cause more chaos leak, it's best that he only knows what he needs to. I understand, and so does he, but it's all these small things that pick at my thoughts in the strangest ways.

I escape from my mind back to reality, turning to face my boyfriend who sleeps deep and sound. I reach for a lock of his hair that covers his eyes and play with it lightly in my fingers. I take a deep breath and push the hair to the side out of his eyes, allowing me to admire the handsome face of my lover that my heart wishes didn't have to spend so much time away from him.

"I love you, my Yeollie." I whisper. A slight sadness suddenly washes over me. I've been so busy with schedules and routines and work that I realize I haven't even had the time to feel anything. "I miss you so ing much. I miss Hyung so much. I know I would never let you hear me admit it, but I'm scared, Yeol." I stare at him for a few minutes before forcing any emotions away. I turn my body to face the other direction and close my eyes, attempting to clear out all the thoughts in my head. It doesn't take long before I finally fall asleep.
 

~~~~

 

I jolt awake at the sound of a loud banging on my door. A loud scream pierces from the other side. Chanyeol and I look at each other in confusion and panic.

"Help! Let me in! He's trying to get me! HELP!" A man screams. Chanyeol quickly runs over to the door and opens it, and the man charges into the room. "Close the door, NOW!" The man screams again, obviously horrified by something out there.

Chanyeol shoves the door shut, but before it can close to a click, something barges in and bites his arm. A loud yelp of pain escapes my boyfriend's mouth. "! Help me!"

My eyes widen in terror as my screaming boyfriend struggles to not be dragged away. I hurry towards the emergency device given to us by Mrs. Choi while the man picks up one of our chairs and begins swinging at the thing attacking my boyfriend.

"Get off of me!"

"Let! Him! Go!" The man swings between each word, and I frantically push the red button on the device as I scream for help. After a few long, agonizing seconds, I hear heavy footsteps and yelling from in the hall.

"Get the tranq!"

"He's got Dr. Minseok's boy!"

"Be very careful!"

"Ready weapons! Aim!"

"FIRE!"

CRACK

Silence.

"Sir, are you okay?" A woman asks. I run out the door, heart pounding and head spinning. Three soldiers stand with guns on their shoulders. One helps Chanyeol, another helps the man, and the other keeps an eye on the attacker.

"I'm fine. He got my arm pretty bad." Chanyeol says, breathing heavily. His hand squeezes his wound and he winces through his clenched teeth. A large open gash is obvious on his lower arm, lots of blood pouring out of it. The sight makes me nauseous.

"Chanyeol... , Yeol." I say in worry. My thoughts scramble in my mind as I try to comprehend what just happened. "H- He tried to kill you!" I exclaim, large gasps of air entering and exiting my lungs in an attempt to catch my breath.

I look at the attacker, and a knot of shock chokes up throat. Its skin is pink and raw with no hair on its body. Blue and green veins visibly stick out grossly from inside its body. Dried blood falls from its ears, eyes, and mouth. It twitches from the stun of the tranquilizer and the hollow bloodshot eyes stare right into mine. My heartbeat pounds in my ears as a shudder ripples down my spine. My senses blur at the gruesome sight. I hold myself back from gagging.

"Oh my God." The man whispers in disbelief. Oh my God! Tha- That's my son!" He runs over to the inhuman body and kneels beside it.

"Stay away from it!" A soldier commands, quickly pulling the man away from the body.

"That's my son! He woke me up because he said he wasn't feeling well. Burns were appearing...he was in pain. The radiation had gotten to him. So I was getting ready to call someone up to help him. I turned around and he came at me and he just... started attacking me out of nowhere. He was- He is this!" He points to the creature. People are starting to exit their rooms to explore this disturbance, and they gasp and gag at the sight. "I yelled for help and I ran. He chased me, just growling and screaming at me." The man sobs. A soldier sees the growing audience and interrupts him from continuing.

"Inform Mr. President and call more medics. They're all coming with me."