The barrier of Black Swan Resort had been breached by the infected, which were currently chasing people further into the area. Drivers who were still inside their vehicles at the border noticed the disastrous occurrence in time and promptly turned around before speeding away. Unfortunately, the clear majority of the resort’s residents were virtually trapped with little opportunity to safely leave the place. The furthest they could run was to the beach on the other side of the area, where the sea would prevent them from going any further.

Hoseok snapped out of his state of shock and turned to dash away from the border, only to be swept in that direction anyway by the approaching crowd. He worked to keep his balance amidst the pushing and shoving, annoyed by the consideration that if the infected did not kill him, there was still a chance of him getting trampled to death. Military personnel rushed about, attempting to get groups of survivors under control while keeping the invading creatures at bay. Several soldiers surrounded the group he had been caught in and ushered them towards the entrance of a tower they assumed to be safe.

They only realized that they were horribly wrong when several individuals darted out through the entrance followed by a horde of infected from inside the building. The soldiers opened fire on the swarm as the crowd scattered in different directions. Many of the fleeing civilians were attacked by the savage creatures out in the open, and Hoseok’s gaze fell on a crying toddler on the ground a short distance away who was about to join them.

Without thinking further, he snatched up a toppled queue barrier post on the floor right by him and charged at the infected individual that was about to pounce onto the child. He swung the edge of the post’s circular base right into the face of the toddler’s attacker, causing it to stumbled back and fall, before proceeding to pound it into the ground. A woman then approached and picked the child up, offering him a quick word of thanks before taking off.

Hoseok hoped that the mother and child would get to safety, eyeing them for a short moment before he glanced around and realized that he was currently the target of a couple of infected some distance away, and they were making a beeline for him. He chucked the bloodied post at them in an attempt to slow them down before darting towards a dense growth of tall plants, intending to lose them in the thick vegetation.

The edge of the decorative greenery turned out to be at the top of a slope, and he found himself stumbling downhill as he clawed his way through branches and leaves. He turned around occasionally to keep track of his pursuers, unfortunately realizing that the thick growth did not slow them down any more than it did him, and that it probably had not been the best idea to run into where he could not clearly see what was in front of him. This sentiment was backed up when the solid ground suddenly ended, his next step sending him plummeting into a body of water.

The edge of the growth at the bottom of the slope lined one side of a small swimming pool. Hoseok frantically rubbed water from his eyes before glancing around to see that the two infected had just burst through the front row of plants. He immediately pushed away from the wall of the pool with both legs and started splashing his way to the other side. The creatures leapt at him from the edge into the pool, closing the distance between them.

That was not good, but he hoped that he was nearing the other side of the pool. He flinched when he felt something grab his ankle and begin to pull him under, figuring that one of the infected must have caught him. However, he did not have the time to recover from that shock, for something else suddenly took hold of his arm and yanked him out of the water and the infected’s grip. His first instinct was to try scrambling away in case whatever had gotten him out of the pool was also dangerous, but the hold around his arm was quickly released, and he looked up just in time to see an individual in a military uniform put a bullet into each of the vicious creatures attempting to clamber their way out of the water.

Hoseok stared for a moment at the surface of the pool as it was slowly engulfed in red, and then glanced up at whoever had just rescued him from his predicament.

The young soldier pulled Hoseok to his feet. “Are you alright?”

Still in a slight daze, he only nodded.

At that, the other spoke again. “We should get to some temporary cover. Stay close!”

The two were currently still out in the open, and were starting to catch the attention of a several wandering infected in the area. Hoseok did not need any instruction to stick to the one with the firearm in such a situation. They dashed across the open space towards a large hut, and any of the savage creatures who got too close to them as they made their way over there were promptly shot. The hut turned out to be a public shower facility, and the two ran through the main entrance before slamming the door shut. Hoseok grabbed a mop in the corner and slid it through the handle of the door to secure it, while the other took out a lone infected that happened to be inside with them.

They paused to take a breather, and then Hoseok turned to his new companion. “Uh… thanks for getting me out of there.”

The latter only grunted in reply before pulling his two-way radio out and pressing down on a button. “Unit 57, this is Recruit Min Yoongi, does anyone read me? Over.”

“Oh, so that’s your name,” Hoseok commented. “Can I call you Yoongi?”

Yoongi grunted a second time in response, and continued attempting to contact his peers. Hoseok watched awkwardly for some time as he did so, before speaking up again.

“I’m Hoseok, by the way.”

A third grunt came from Yoongi, and he tried to reach anyone from his unit a few more times before giving up. “I guess everyone else is either dead or has managed to get out of this place.”

He could only hope that the second was the majority, but with the chaos that had taken place earlier, it was unlikely. No one expected that the safe zone would be breached, but the possibility had always been there. They were clearly not prepared for this. No one would have been prepared for the outbreak of a virus that would turn the city’s residents against their own. A small part of Yoongi was still trying to process that it was all real.

He climbed on top of a bench against the wall and peered out a horizontal gap letting the moonlight in before motioning for Hoseok to join him.

“See that over there?” Yoongi asked, pointing to a large structure in the distance. “That has an opening to a sheltered way leading up to where the vehicles are parked. We get up there, we can grab one and get out of here.”

Hoseok only shrugged. “Let’s do it, I guess.”

The two readied themselves to go back out, and then removing the mop from the door handle, Yoongi kicked the door open and fired at anything right outside before heading straight for their planned destination with Hoseok right behind him. They eventually had a swarm chasing after them when they got to the bottom of the ramp, and as they charged up the slope, Yoongi noticed the erratically-moving glowing patterns on the floor. He looked up to confirm his assumption, and sure enough, they were right under a glass-bottom section of a swimming pool.

An idea hit Yoongi, and as they neared the top of the slope, he slowed down and signaled to Hoseok to go ahead of him. He then turned and aimed his rifle upwards, sending a volley of ammunition through the glass above. Water burst through the opening in the glass and gushed down the ramp, sweeping the horde of infected pursuing them back down to the bottom of the slope.

“Yoongi? A little help?!” Hoseok called out from some distance ahead.

Yoongi sprinted over to the other, who was trying to fend off a new swarm with a riot shield he had just picked up, and shot the ones that were nearby before heading towards a military jeep. “This way!”

The two climbed in and Yoongi started the vehicle. However, they began to attract a large horde on their way out, and as they left the area through the broken section of the barrier, several latched onto the back bumper of the vehicle. The jeep started to slow down as more of them piled on, and they were not getting away until they did something about it.

Yoongi cursed out loud and turned to his companion. “Hoseok?”

“Yeah?” He replied.

“Can you take the wheel?”

Hoseok shook his head, thinking he had heard wrongly. “What?”

“As in, drive!” Yoongi snapped, flipping out of his seat over to the back of the jeep.

Hoseok let out a yelp and scrambled to catch the steering wheel, shifting to the driver’s seat. Yoongi opened fire on the front row of infected clinging on to the vehicle, taking them out and releasing it. The jerk from the sudden acceleration nearly lauched him off the back. Fortunately, he managed to steady himself and stay on as the jeep sped away from the resort.