FIVE.

—

All Jin Joo wanted was to die without regret.

To her dismay, Won Woo and Seung Kwan were not on the same page.

—

Fresh crimson beads dripped eerily all the way to the floor.

Jin Joo was bitten.

Won Woo and Seung Kwan stared at the bloodiest mess in front of them, their mind going completely blank with all the shock and disbelief. So the cruel reality had hit them hard in the face. And they weren’t ready.

A long silence made the unknown room feel like a small cramped space. Nobody remembered how to move. Nobody dared make a sound. Just heavy, fearful breathing. The rhythmic ticking of someone’s wristwatch. And a few restrained, almost-throaty moans of indescribable pain from the worn-out fighter who was trying to stand up on her wobbly aching legs.

Jin Joo killed the deadly monster and thus saved the two young men again, but at a horrifying cost. Now she was looking down at her trembling hand. There were big teeth marks embedded in her flesh, so deep they almost penetrated her palm. And blood kept gushing out of the gruesome wound after the tough, grueling fight.

“Daejang…”

Her eyes widened with surprise at the sad voice and slow footsteps that came in her direction. She had been standing very still, very silent, with dreadful ruminations filling her head like water through a broken dam. She looked like she would scream any time, but somehow couldn’t. Until the familiar male voice coming from outside her head woke her up from the hellish visions only she could see.

“D-Daejang...” Seung Kwan called her in a shaky voice, and then stopped all of a sudden. Tears stung his eyes and it pained him just to try to smile at her. But instead of a comforting smile, a dry sob escaped him. Again he opened his mouth to say something to her, but unfortunately, the right words just wouldn’t come.

Seung Kwan wanted to hold her, only to end up feeling sickened at himself. He realized he wasn’t as fearless and strong as her. Anger pounded against his temples as he could only continue to look at her, feeling so helpless.

Won Woo might seem calm and unfazed, but his heart was filled with turmoil. This crazy turn of events had revealed the shocking truth. Even he couldn’t believe it. That he was cluelessly hiding inside the unknown room together with an infected victim. And that neither did he see the signs nor feel any suspicion. But it still didn’t make any sense to him. So far as he remembered, anyone bitten or killed by a zombie would become one just in a span of seconds. But how long had he stayed inside the room since the very first moment he noticed that there was another presence beside him? Fifteen minutes? Twenty minutes? Half an hour?

And that girl might have been bitten long before that. Then why did the transformation happen just recently? Could it be that… it would take quite a while for some of the infected ones to show symptoms and turn into zombies?

“Please.”

A sorrowful plea.

“Kill me,” she said, unhesitatingly.

She was right. And that was the only solution.

But both Seung Kwan and Won Woo couldn’t bring themselves to do as she truly wished. They glanced at each other with bewildered and pained expressions on their faces, paralyzed by the immediate realization that, in fact, none of them was brave enough to take her life.

Surely they knew the dire consequence of their sentimental reluctance, but in the end, the undeniable truth screamed harder inside their heads. They were all doomed to die anyway. And they should have died before. And even though they survived so far, the life they had was actually borrowed from her unwavering courage and kindness. So if she died, how could they live on?

“Kill me,” she repeated, her voice strained and hoarse as the words pushed out. Still, they did nothing. “PLEASE!”

Jin Joo screamed out of frustration and fear of the unpredictable future. But none of them did anything, scaring her. The hopelessness in their eyes, the despair on their faces—they all scared her. So she had no choice.

She looked around and scurried here and there in panicky dashes, ignoring the two young men who were surprised by her action. Racing against time, she wildly rummaged through all drawers, cabinets, and shelves she could see in the room, trying to find anything she could use to end herself.

And as if blessed by random luck, she let out a relieved sigh and smiled as she found a slightly rusty pair of sewing scissors.

A stab through the wall of her chest now would solve their dilemma.

Once and for all.

“Daejang!” Seung Kwan shrieked in horror at her, so heedless of attracting unwanted attention. The fact that they were far from safe seemed to be forgotten. And he unconsciously leaped forward to catch her, asking a question whose answer he already knew, “What are you trying to do!?”

“Jin Joo!” Won Woo also moved toward her by pure reflex, but to his surprise, the girl wasn’t less agile although badly hurt and in pain.

She watchfully stepped away from him the moment he reached his hand out to her, keeping the sharp end of the scissors close and pointed into her neck. “Stay away,” she said through a clenched jaw, furious and confused by the absurdity of their thoughtless reactions. “Get back to your senses! You guys must in’ leave me now! I cannot… I must not live anymore!”

And she did mean it. When the end of the scissors scratched her neck and made it bleed, she didn’t even wince.

This girl was afraid.

But absolutely not afraid of dying. They witnessed it with their very own eyes.

“Let me die as a human,” she told them with unregretful eyes.

But Seung Kwan suddenly advanced toward her again, begging, “Daejang, please… please don’t do this!” He knew he was being irrational, but he couldn’t help it. The feelings trapped in his chest were stronger than the intellect in his head. After all these years and all things that kept them apart, all he wished was to connect with her again. Not to see her kill herself right in front of his eyes.

Jin Joo couldn’t stand the drama anymore. All her patience broke down. And her temper flared.

“DAMN IT! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!” she yelled back at him, her words fierce and unfiltered. “JUST IN’ LEAVE! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT I’VE BEEN BITTEN!?”

“If I leave... “ Seung Kwan didn’t budge. Not even an inch. “If I leave this place, probably I won’t survive long.” He then smiled a playful smile. But the way it looked more like a sign of someone who was too weary to live suddenly terrified her. “So tell me what’s the point of running away now?” he asked with bloodshot eyes and a tear-streaked face. Whatever kind of fear he felt a moment ago, it no longer existed. “I won’t leave you. Not again, Daejang.”

“Boo Seung Kwan, you stupid motherer.” Jin Joo lost all kind and gentle words she knew as soon as she heard his firm resolve. She was maddened, confused; but more than that, she couldn’t find any significant reason for Seung Kwan to utter such unfunny nonsense. So she shifted her gaze to Won Woo, desperately hoping that the older guy was much more logic-based. “Won Woo sunbae, you—”

“You are not transforming,” Won Woo suddenly cut her off, sending a shiver that lifted the hair on her nape.

“I don’t ing get it!” Jin Joo groaned inwardly, unable to believe that she still had to negotiate what was undoubtedly the one and only solution: her death. No, they weren’t stupid. So what the heck were they waiting for? Why were they being suicidal by refusing to kill her and even trying to stop her?

“You’re not transforming,” Woo Woo repeated, and it sounded like he said it to himself as if trying to confirm something very important that bugged his mind. “Not yet. Not immediately,” he continued in a serious voice. And the way he intensely, unblinkingly, gazed at her made her realize that they weren’t on the same page about her death being the only thing that could save their lives.

“I was waiting for you here. But this person,” Won Woo said grimly, looking down at the corpse, “she’s already been here before me. I don’t know for how long, but it took me a while to notice her presence. And I’m sure she was completely human for around twenty or thirty minutes until the transformation finally began.”

“Sunbae, what are you actually trying to say?” Jin Joo asked with a perplexed frown.

“What I’m trying to say is,” Won Woo looked back at her, “I think some people just don’t turn into zombies soon after they’re infected. Like her. Like you now.”

Jin Joo went speechless. She wasn’t following his logic. And she wasn’t sure how she should feel about what he said. But absolutely, happiness wasn’t it. She had been bitten. That was the fact. Sooner or later, she would turn into a monster anyway. His words were merely an assumption and that wouldn’t make any difference, would it?

What happened to her was a checkmate.

Irreversible.

“D-Daejang, there’s still time, I think?” Seung Kwan stuttered, but he looked adamant about not wanting to see her try to kill herself. “Perhaps we can figure out something!”

“Figure out what?” She retorted silently. “What kind of hope one could still have after they were bitten by a zombie?”

At this point, Jin Joo was puzzled as well as terrified to see how blindly stupid these two people were. But she couldn’t bring herself to start a fiery argument with them either. And what Won Woo had said wasn’t entirely wrong. She realized it. If he said the truth, then Shin Na Yeon would be the very first human she knew who didn’t quickly transform into a hideous undead corpse after being bitten.

But then again, was that good news? Jin Joo disagreed. A miracle? Bull. She chose not to fool herself. If Shin Na Yeon experienced a slow transformation after the infection, and then what? In the end, she died a very horrible death and became a monster, didn’t she?

After all, it was only a matter of time.

Jin Joo looked at them and felt the need to knock some sense into their heads. That their trying to buy time was for ing nothing. That miracles didn’t exist. But for some reason, she still couldn’t say anything. And without her realizing it, her train of thoughts began to change its course. Seung Kwan’s words reverberated in her head so loudly she froze for a moment.

“... figure out... something,” she murmured.

Seung Kwan nodded expectantly, but his heart remained very worried.

Then much to their shock, Jin Joo raised the scissors again and pressed the dangerous item against . “One. Two. Three…” She began counting.

Both Seung Kwan and Won Woo stood rigid looking at her, helpless and apprehensive at her unpredictable action. But none of them attempted to seize the scissors away from her this time.

“... Four. Five. Six. Seven…”

They suddenly had a feeling they couldn’t understand. A feeling that she was carefully calculating and making a plan in her head.

“Eight. Nine. Ten!” Jin Joo finished counting. Nothing changed. A loud thud was suddenly heard as she slammed the scissors down to a nearby desk, surprising the two young men. “I hope you’re right,” she said firmly, redirecting her gaze back to Seung Kwan. “I hope we’ve still got enough time.”

She secretly crossed her fingers. It was time to gamble on uncertain outcomes.

“There’s still one more chance,” she said in a serious tone, looking into their eyes to once again make sure they were ready to play their part in this sudden plan. “Do you think you can do it with me?”

“I do!” Seung Kwan replied quickly although it was obvious that he was still shaking in fear. Not to mention, completely clueless about her plan.

Won Woo said nothing and wasn’t as openly thrilled as the younger guy, but he kept his full attention on Jin Joo.

All of a sudden, without warning, she said, “Won Woo sunbae, sorry. Please give me your back! And take off your blazer!”

Rather than a polite request, it sounded much more like a command that rang in Won Woo’s head. And that wasn’t the first time he felt overtaken by some kind of inescapable influence she asserted through every aspect of her being. When their eyes were locked, there was something indescribable in her light brown ones, almost like a mind-controlling spell, that again made him obey her words without question.

Won Woo turned around quickly and stripped off his blazer, helped by Seung Kwan. Then he had his back toward her, and both young men were curiously waiting for what she was going to do next.

Outside there, situations only worsened for those who were still fighting for their lives. Jin Joo, Won Woo and Seung Kwan were aware of the world they were living in collapsing. Endless shrieks of unimaginable fear and agony startled and terrified them every now and then, but they were left with no option.

They had to go forth.

It was either give up or die trying.

Jin Joo, without a second thought, then landed some strong on the back of Won Woo’s white shirt, using her own blood to draw a map on him. Lines resembled directions and routes. Squares were for parts of the building. Seung Kwan was the only one who could see her hand move with a restless urgency, and she was explaining all the details to him while continuing to visualize where her thoughts were heading to.

Seung Kwan remained silent with a confused look on his face. It was difficult for him to quickly understand what was happening before his eyes, but he listened to her throughout the entire process. On top of the lines and squares, she finally drew a circle and that seemed to be the last one as she wrote “C4” inside it.

“Section C4,” she said, casting an intense look at Seung Kwan. “You two must reach Section C4. Boo Seung Kwan, memorizing things is your best skill, isn’t it? You remember all the things I’ve said before, right?”

“I… I remember,” replied the brown-haired guy nervously.

“Good.” She patted his shoulder and rose to her feet. “I’ll be the bait to lure the zombies away from you and Won Woo sunbae, so please help him run with you. Once you pass the second stairway on the east side of the old auditorium, there’s a long corridor that will eventually lead you to the rooftop of Section C4. It’s usually quiet, really quiet because the entire building of Section C4 is no longer used. So watch your steps, keep your calm, and just follow every turn.”

Jin Joo turned around to take the scissors again, but then Seung Kwan’s pained voice made her freeze mid-step.

“And you… you what?” Seung Kwan asked with a horrified smile on his face. “You’re going with us to Section C4, right?”

Jin Joo turned to him and answered, “No, you fool.”

That was incontestable.

No fear. No shadow of a doubt.

And she playfully flicked his forehead with her middle finger.

“Doesn’t this bitten wound scare the hell out of you?!” A frown of bewilderment came over her face. “That kind of ery was exactly why you became my target back then.”

Jin Joo took the scissors and then handed them over to Seung Kwan who was breaking into silent tears again.

“Boo Seung Kwan. What a crybaby.” She shook her head and sighed before punching him lightly on the chest, an unburdened smile lighting her face. “I can’t believe that this side of you never changes.” For a moment she laughed lowly to herself. Then, after a long nostalgic sigh, she said, “I did many terrible things to you in the past. For that, I won’t ask you to forgive me because a total scumbag like me will never deserve it. But I hope you, Won Woo sunbae, and the others survive this . Until rescue comes.”

Seung Kwan stepped forward and was about to say something to her, but suddenly, there were loud sounds of gunshots from somewhere very close.

The three of them were immediately paralyzed with shock and stood stiff.

When the echoes of the gunshots stopped, Jin Joo looked beyond the shadows of the two young men standing before her through the large plate-glass window, and suddenly, her expression changed from an unflinching determination to one of horror. She was eerily motionless as if turned to stone, and that’s the harrowing moment when Won Woo and Seung Kwan quickly realized that another unexpected turn of events had happened.

They turned back to see a man dressed in a police uniform running for dear life in the direction of the window they had heedlessly left open. He was running to escape from a herd of zombies that were chasing after him.

The policeman noticed their presence inside the room and screamed the desperate scream to let him in. But he looked far from alright, his ivory white uniform covered in dirt and blood, and Seung Kwan’s first instinct was to close and lock the window.

“No! Wait!” Jin Joo suddenly shouted at the brown-haired guy, stopping him immediately. It wasn’t like she didn’t know about the grave consequences of her decision, but she couldn’t turn a blind eye. “Take him in! He’s being chased by those creatures because he’s still alive! He hasn’t been bitten!”

Seung Kwan still didn’t feel sure about it, but he chose to believe in her words. Just a few milliseconds after the policeman hopped into the room through the open gap, Seung Kwan leaped as fast as he could toward the window and slid it shut. But again, fortune seemed to have left their side.

Another police officer, a female, who had been turned into a ferocious zombie, managed to force its way through the window that hadn’t been completely closed, causing Seung Kwan to slip and fall from the shocking impact he wasn’t prepared for. Almost instantly, the dead officer pounced on the back of its living partner like a hungry beast that caught its prey, trying to bite him.

It was a grave situation and there was no safer choice.

Without hesitation, Jin Joo once again involved herself in the fight against the raging zombie, equipped only with her bare hands. What she did was the extreme point of insanity, beyond comprehension, but that daredevil nature of hers could be the key to save more lives. She locked her arm around the zombie’s neck, summoning all the willpower and strength within her to pull it away from the policeman.

Meanwhile, Won Woo suddenly noticed the gun that had slipped out of the policeman’s grasp, and for a split second, he stopped breathing. In the next blink of an eye, he picked up the gun and aimed it at the zombie.

“Shoot!” She shouted. “Shoot it in the head!”

Won Woo had wrapped his finger around the trigger, but then he hesitated. His nearsightedness and anxiety suddenly overtook him. One miscalculation could make him accidentally kill Jin Joo or the policeman, not the zombie.

When Jin Joo saw his hand tremors and the scared look on his face, she remembered that he wore glasses on a regular basis. And she immediately knew why he couldn’t pull the trigger. “Won Woo sunbae!” She loudly called him with a fearful urgency in her voice. Both she and the policeman wouldn’t be able to hold the zombie back any longer. It was too strong, barely stoppable. “It’s okay! Come closer and shoot! Closer! Now!”

Won Woo gasped. As if a bucket of ice-cold water was splashed on his head. Making him wide awake, alert again. Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grasp on the trigger of the gun. He took measured steps forward and aimed the gun down at the zombie’s head. He had never held a gun let alone fired one before, but he had to do this. At least he wouldn’t miss it.

Won Woo then pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into the zombie’s skull and making it burst into mush in an instant. Filthy rotten blood, skull fragments, and countless bits of destroyed brain splattered all over them, across the floor and walls around them. The policewoman was now literally a corpse, collapsing unmoving on top of the policeman’s back.

The teamwork wasn’t a vain effort, but when Seung Kwan suddenly cried at the top of his lungs, they knew it was much too early to feel relieved.

In fact, there was no relief.

“Daejang!”

Seung Kwan was alone to guard the opening. With all his might, he pushed the window sideward, but there were furious zombies squeezed between the window and its frame so he couldn’t completely slide it close no matter how much he tried. His breathing was heavy and rasping as he was on the verge of giving in. His face reddened with exhaustion and frustration.

“Help me!” His voice cracked terribly. And by the second, the gap was getting wider as the zombies kept pushing through. “I… I can’t—!”

Just a few seconds before Seung Kwan’s hands finally gave out, the policeman quickly rose to his feet and grabbed the gun from Won Woo. He advanced carefully toward the window and fired bullets through the zombies’ heads with savage precision. The inescapable impact of the shots immediately sent the creatures flying backward and killed them on the spot.

With that perfect timing, Seung Kwan finally managed to slide the window shut and locked it. He then stepped back, horrified, his heart pounding erratically in his ribcage.

Attracted by the loud gunshots before, more hordes of crazy zombies appeared and advanced toward them. Their hiding place was now besieged by those man-eating creatures.

The four of them stood wordlessly with the painful realization that they were trapped, looking at the monsters that were aggressively hurling themselves at the windows. Having nothing left but souls in their bodies that were petrified at the sickening, cracking sound of the window glass.

Behind them, there was a sudden thump on the unlocked door. It then rattled loudly and alarmingly in its frame. Zombies obviously couldn’t open doors and windows, but they surely could force their way through them in just a matter of seconds.

Seung Kwan sobbed silently, at a loss of what to do, his body turning limp. “Are we all gonna die here?”

Jin Joo sighed, suppressing a silent panic. “I guess so,” she replied matter-of-factly, then turned her face to look at the young policeman standing next to her. “Gyeongchal-nim, how many bullets are left in your gun?”

After checking it, the young policeman—whose name tag contained the name Choi Seung Cheol—answered with a grim face, “Four.”

Jin Joo smiled lifelessly. “Perfect.”