Changmin had been following the tire tracks for a whole day. He hoped they would end soon so that he could save the kid he was looking for. After all, Changmin had promised to find Younghoon’s parents. It was a good thing that Changmin had been a journalist before because he had gone through some similar scenarios to get a story.

Wincing at the untreated zombie bite on his shoulder, Changmin took off his backpack to get some medical supplies out. He was at the edge of a forest which would make it easy to notice any incoming attacks.

Carefully, he medicated and bandaged his inconvenient injury. Then, he quickly ate some snacks, slugged his pack on again, and continued out of the forest. Time was of the essence.

Feeling lucky that he had brought along a flashlight from one of his previous scavenges, Changmin was able to still see the tracks after sundown. He pushed himself for many more hours despite the pain and was relieved to find the Humvee parked in front of an adequate, concrete structure. Barbed wire lined the top of the building as well as around a fence which kept intruders from easily reaching the front door.

Contemplating how he should approach breaking into such a place, Changmin was surprised to find it made simple for him when Sangyeon exited the gate. He had carelessly left the door unlocked as well, and he approached the Humvee with a large gas can.

Taking his chance to move, Changmin slipped past Sangyeon who had his back turned as he filled up the vehicle. Holding his breath, the journalist took great precaution when pulling on the rectangular handle of the front door. To his extreme relief, the door opened without a sound or any blaring alarms being triggered.

The interior of the lab was almost to Changmin’s expectations save for a lack of robots and crazy, experimental animals. It was dead silent. Off to the side of the large space was a heavy white door which contained a window. When Changmin looked in, he discovered Younghoon curled up in the corner of a small, evenly-lit room.

Examining the lock, he found there to be nothing more than a bolt and it only locked the door from the outside. Without any effort, Changmin opened the door and motioned for Younghoon to be quiet when he noticed Changmin standing there. Creeping out together, the duo escaped outside where Sangyeon was still working on the Humvee.

Still in amazement at the lack of security, Changmin took Younghoon’s hand as they ventured toward another forest. Little did they know that they were headed in the direction of the waterfall.

…ooooo…

“So, did they hurt you?” Changmin finally had the courage to ask, after a long while of walking. Younghoon shook his head, “I don’t think so. I fell asleep a lot though.” The strange answer didn’t help Changmin’s inquisitive mind. He tried something else, “Do you remember hearing anything about you being immune to zombies?” Although it wasn’t apparent in the darkness, Younghoon’s eyes lit up, “Ah! The doctor named Jacob said that he thinks when I touch someone that person becomes immune to the zombies too for a small amount of time. He wasn’t sure how long it lasted.”

Changmin wanted to laugh, “I could have told you that. I know how fast it takes for a person to become a zombie, and I should have been affected when those guys took you.” He could feel the child starting to drag behind, so they stopped. “Are you tired?” Changmin checked. “A little bit,” Younghoon admitted. “Okay, we’ll take a rest and keep going in an hour,” Changmin patted the ground after sitting down. Younghoon sat next to him and hugged his knees. Noticing that the child was cold, Changmin retrieved a blanket from his backpack and put it around Younghoon’s shoulders. He smiled at the considerate journalist and leaned his head on his shoulder to sleep.

…ooooo…

Eric had clearly underestimated his condition as he had caught a cold from being in the frigid water for too long. As soon as he and Haknyeon had set off to find Sunwoo, they had to stop and go back to the cave because Eric couldn’t stop coughing. Haknyeon was worried about his health, so he had gone out to find medicinal herbs.

Now feeling much better after a couple days, the two had started their trek again. This time, they came upon Changmin and Younghoon in the forest.

Immediately putting up his guard, Eric hid behind Haknyeon. “Who are you?” Haknyeon questioned to help Eric calm down. Also being suspicious, the journalist raised an eyebrow, “I’m Changmin. Who are you?” “I’m Haknyeon and this is Eric,” Haknyeon introduced. Younghoon was uneasy, but he wanted to be polite, “I’m Younghoon.”

“Where are you all headed?” Haknyeon probed. Eric stared at the kid by Changmin. “We’re actually trying to find the kid’s parents, but I just got him away from some crazy guy named Jacob,” Changmin elaborated on the situation. Eric’s head snapped up, “What?! He’s coming this way?” “Oh? You know him?” Changmin was even more suspicious now, but Eric quickly told him everything that had happened and that they were looking for Sunwoo.

“We need to go northeast. If you want to come along, I don’t mind,” Eric offered. “Yeah, we might be able to find some more people to help us,” Changmin agreed. He then turned to Younghoon, “I promise I’ll do my best to help you find your parents. They might even be where Haknyeon’s friend is.” Younghoon accepted what Changmin said, and the four of them took off.

…ooooo…

Not long after daybreak, Jacob had discovered that Younghoon was gone. Being very upset, he yelled at Sangyeon, “Where’s that kid?!” “I- I don’t know. I didn’t open the door. Are you sure he’s not in there?” Sangyeon asked in confusion as he also checked the small room through the window.

“Tell me WHAT you were doing last night,” Jacob commanded. Sangyeon explained how he had been outside to take care of Jacob’s beloved Pear.

Without another excuse from Sangyeon, Jacob charged over to his computers and swiped up a small machine from his desk. Holding it up, he showed Sangyeon that Younghoon was in the forest via a blinking dot on a map. “LOOK. You obviously left the door open or something. We’re going right now to get the kid,” his blood was boiling, “This is the SECOND kid you’ve lost.” Sangyeon felt ashamed but followed behind Jacob outside regardless.

“How were you able to track him?” Sangyeon was dumbfounded. Jacob turned to face him with his lips pursed, “I put a tracking stamp on him. Remember? Yesterday?” Sangyeon scratched his head, “Sorry. I forgot.”

Jacob didn’t want to hear another word as he smashed his foot on the petal and drove toward the forest with a cloud of dirt behind them. The future of humanity depended on him alone.

…ooooo…

It wasn’t long before the group of four heard the sound of an engine in the distance. Eric’s eyes went wide, “We’re going to get caught!” Younghoon became scared and held tighter onto Changmin’s hand. The two adults who were present turned in defensive stances to face the noise. Eric raised his fists.

Bright headlights soon blinded them all as Jacob abruptly parked and swung out of his vehicle. When he spotted Eric, Jacob grinned triumphantly, “I come all the way here to look for one runaway and find another. Two birds with one stone.” “We’re not going anywhere with YOU!” Eric snapped back.

“You sound so certain,” Jacob mused before motioning for Sangyeon to help attack. However, Sangyeon actually had a fear of Eric beating him up as he had done many times before. So, Sangyeon stayed put as he only hung onto the open Humvee door.

“Sangyeon! Useless,” Jacob stormed off to retrieve his test subjects. “I’m warning you. Stay back!” Changmin stated. Jacob was stronger in physique, but he was no match against three people. Just as he reached the group, they began punching and kicking all while trying to keep Younghoon safe behind them.

As Jacob landed a blow to Changmin, he spun to block a fist from Haknyeon. Stunned, Jacob hesitated to fight back, “Haknyeon?” “Jacob? YOU’RE the crazy guy, Jacob?!” Haknyeon was just as shocked. “Wha- What’s going on here?” Eric looked between the two worriedly.

“He’s my twin brother,” Haknyeon explained. “WHAT?!” the other three in the group exclaimed. “Yeah, I didn’t know what happened to him when he suddenly disappeared five years ago. I looked everywhere for him…” Haknyeon scowled at Jacob. The latter just looked annoyed, but no one could do anything as a group of zombies began charging into the woods. They were obviously roused from Jacob’s noisy driving.

Taking his chance to not become a zombie, Jacob regretfully ran back to his dear vehicle and retreated. A couple of the zombies tried to jump onto the Humvee from behind, but it got away unscathed.

The group of four were already running. They followed Eric who kept looking up at the stars for direction. Where he learned such a thing no one knew. He seemed to know what he was doing though, so he wasn’t questioned for accuracy.

…ooooo…

Nearly time for the sun to set, Eric layed eyes on a cabin nearby- the same cabin, in fact, which Sunwoo had stayed in previously. Deciding on a quick rest, the four piled into the small building and sprawled out on the ground. Running for one’s life really drained a lot of energy out of them.

“Why is this week so crazy?” Haknyeon wheezed between breaths. Changmin couldn’t help but agree, “I know, right?” “Well, I saw a bunker in the distance when we found this place. We might be able to make it there by nightfall and be safe for a while,” Eric revealed to them.

“I don’t want to go anywhere else for at least a few days if we can stay there,” Changmin said as he rummaged through his pack and threw everyone a snack bar. “Me too. We’ll need a lot of stamina to look for my parents,” Younghoon said before devouring the food. Everyone else laughed but realized they were also hungry.

About twenty minutes had passed before they left the cabin. The small river was simple to cross although Changmin had to put Younghoon on his shoulders to keep him from getting swept away with the current.

Inching ever closer to the bunker entrance, they were unceremoniously greeted with the gut-wrenching sound of the Humvee accelerating behind them just a few miles away. At the same time, Kevin had gone outside to check on their gate. He noticed the four now screaming while racing toward him.

“Help! Please, let us in!” Eric screamed while almost losing his voice. Kevin held up one gun and let the other one hang on his shoulder as he signalled for them to keep moving. Feeling happiness at Kevin waving them in, they kept running all the way until they were secure behind the bunker walls.

“No! We can’t get in there with the weapons we brought!” Jacob was upset again. Nothing was going as planned for him today. “We’re coming back!” he yelled loud enough for Kevin to hear. To that, Kevin shot in the air once as a warning for the intruders to leave. Once he saw them fall back, Kevin went back inside to see what was going on with their new guests.

MAP