Naeun is shattered. Jinyoung was a brother and a leader, and now he is gone. She wipes her blood-splattered hand on her pants and buries her head in Junghee’s shoulder. The night stars glide over them as they drive.

<:>

As Chunji speeds for the exit with the Exo boys, he slams his brakes. He turns around and asks “Where is Sera and Min? Are they still in the building?”

<:>

Sera and Min are on the 4^th floor, looking around for food. They hear roughhousing and shakes from the bottom floors. “Those kids better settle down, they’re acting like we’re not in a zombie apocalypse,” Sera says. Min smiles. “Let them be kids if they want. Who knows if they’ll get another chance?”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m glad you guys are so positive during all of this. I don’t know if I can be that light-hearted anymore.”

“Why’s that?” Min says, turning around.

“Everything I’ve gone through in the last few years. My terrible job.”

“You don’t like being an idol?” Min asks.

“No, it’s just my company. Nobody treated me like a human being there. My contract was right about to expire when the disease broke out” Sera says gloomily, taking a can of soup from a cabinet.

“I’ve heard about Nine Muse’s management. I heard the CEO hits people” she says sympathetically.

“It went even further than that. I’m actually glad this disease happened. Leaving the company would have been a nightmare for me. I would have been threatened, insulted, blackmailed. I only stayed because I had nowhere to go.”

“Well you’re here with us now, and you’re family,” Min says kindly. “You don’t ever have to deal with your boss again, you hear?” Sera smiled and poured the soup into two bowls. “To family?” Min raises her bowl. “To family,” Sera says.

They go downstairs to see an empty entrance with a gigantic hole pierced in the floor. All the walkers have migrated outside, focusing on the moving cars.

<:>

Chunji sees them walking outside the building. Being chased by a group of walkers, he motions them to come. Luhan swings open the door so they can get in. “What on earth happened?” Min asks.

“They know how to use elevators and tried to attack us.” Luhan says.

“Let’s just go down the highway a little until the zombies stop chasing us.” Kai says. They meet up with Jessica and Krystal by a lake.

“Why did you go back?” Krystal asks angrily. “And so suddenly too. We were so worried!”

“We left them in the building,” said Chunji, pointing to the girls.

“Oh… I’m so sorry, I guess we didn’t notice in all that commotion.” Krystal says.

“It’s fine, no one got hurt. I know you’re waiting for the others to get back.” Min says as she sits down on the grass.

They see a red Jeep coming toward them. Naeun, Hyuna, and Junghee step out, spotted with blood and worn out beyond belief.

“Guys?” Jessica asks. “What- what happened? Where’s Jinyoung?” Junghee washes her arm in the lake, the red dye spreading in the water.

“There was an explosion. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t stop it.” Hyuna’s eyes well with tears. “I could tell he was close to you.” Junghee wraps her arm around Hyuna’s shoulder and takes her to the lake to cleanse.

Kai and Krystal look down in despair and lets Jessica grieve.

They sleep through the night in their cars, hiding low in their seats to avoid being seen by the zombies. Junghee wakes up to see that Hyuna is the first to rise, lying on the grass and staring at the rising sun. She skips rocks on the lake that glide to the horizon.

She sits next to Hyuna and speaks with no emotion. She had cried all her tears yesterday night. “When you were talking to the Cube CEO at that place,” she asks quietly. “You said, ‘you were in this too?’ It made it sound like you knew somebody else who was responsible for this mess.”

“I’m really sorry for your loss.” Hyuna says, dazed.

“I don’t want to think about him from now on. It hurts too much.” Junghee says. Hyuna crosses her arms and looks down at the grass.

A group of three decaying walkers hobble toward them from the distance, but suddenly, all three of them drop at the same time, ceasing to move. They are just a heap of bodies now.

They look back at the lake. “You’re from a military family, aren’t you? I can tell by how you talk and how you handle guns.” Junghee says. Hyuna nods.

“My dad was in the military, until he lost his job and started drinking.” Junghee says.

“I never got to see my dad that much, but when I did, he taught me self defense.” Hyuna says. “I hope your parents are okay.”

“I don’t care about my parents. But I hope yours are okay.” Junghee says, finding a flat rock on the ground and flinging it into the water. It sinks.

“You have to spin it at the same time and hold it parallel.” Hyuna demonstrates with her hands.

“Like this?” Junghee throws another rock, which still sinks immediately. “I’ll get the hang of it soon.”

She looks at Hyuna inquiringly. “I’m just curious, what do you know that I don’t know? About this whole disease outbreak? I can tell that you know something.”

Hyuna picks at the blades of grass. “It was in Los Angeles. I was an ambassador for an American relief program there. A doctor pulled me aside after the meeting so no one else could hear what he said. He spoke in English so I didn’t understand most of it, but he basically told me to get out of South Korea as soon as possible.

“He was an epidemiologist studying diseases, I think. He looked so serious, like he feared for my life. I think he knew that this outbreak would happen. I think people spread the disease on purpose.”

Junghee takes a deep breath. “Your CEO said that it was only supposed to last for a few days, the zombie outbreak. All these powerful people were responsible for this?”

“That’s the only explanation. Maybe everything will go back to normal soon.” Hyuna says.

“The funny thing is, I think the electricity is coming back.” Kyungsoo’s voice suddenly emerges behind them, making them jump.

“What the hell, Kyungsoo?” Junghee slaps the side of his head. “You scared us.”

“Sorry, I was eavesdropping. Remember how the elevator worked? Do you really think everything will go back to normal just like that?” He says. A street light from above flickers on, bathing the dark morning with light. Kyungsoo goes back to the car and turns on the radio to see if any stations are on.

A reporter’s voice comes on. “—and power to most of South Korea is coming back on. Major television signals will resume broadcast in a few days. Most reanimated victims have died permanently. They are no longer a threat.”

“What?” Hyuna says. “All the walkers drop dead at the same time? We just saw a group over there that collapsed.”

<:>

Naeun and Krystal open their eyes from sleep at the same time, not fully awake. Their emotionless faces turn toward one another. With a flat, low voice, they say in unison:

“Stealthily, not to be seen.”

And they collapse into deep slumber again. A muffled crackling noise emanates from the back of their neck. Krystal’s sister is awake during this and notices what the two have in common: they were both bitten by walkers. She keeps quiet but grows increasingly afraid.

<:>

Within a few days, the group drives cautiously to the heart of Seoul. People are walking around like nothing has happened. The stores are restocked, the windows are fixed, the world is back to normal. To everyone, it was strange how quickly society put itself together, how the masses suddenly became completely unafraid of the disease. Strange to say, it has only been two weeks since the outbreak started. Life was only put on hold for a moment, so it resumed easily. The bodies were quickly disposed of and the floors were scrubbed clean of blood. The outbreak ended just like that, all at the same time, erased from the public mind.

Min continued life living with Junghee, who became softer since the disease spread. They had a lavish funeral for Jinyoung and Yoohan.

Jessica and Naeun’s parents were fine, as they hid in their cellar successfully until the disaster blew over.

Sera began going to school again while Chunji resumed life as an idol. Kai, Luhan, and Kyungsoo didn’t immediately start Exo because so many of the members perished.

Something about situation just seemed so artificial. This was not the way disease and famine worked. Could it be too good to be true?

<:>

A few weeks later, Naeun is having lunch with a friend who lives abroad in America, who flew over to visit her in Seoul.

“Wow, I can hardly believe you were in a zombie apocalypse. We heard about everything that was happening over here. You barely missed a beat! Your skin still looks amazing!” she says.

“Yeah, it has been an adventure.” Naeun smiles as she rubs the healing wound on her leg, inflicted by a biter that scratched her when she tried to save Min’s friend.

“It looks like barely anything happened in Korea! Seriously, it’s astounding.” Naeun friend exclaims.

That’s right, Naeun thinks. Barely anything has happened. Only two people that she knew died: Yoohan and Jinyoung. No one was seriously hurt, hungry, or thirsty. But she knows something greater will happen soon. The last disease outbreak is barely the beginning of the unimaginable events that will come, and she can feel it in the back of neck. Step one of the plan has been completed. The final step will come.

<:>

Krystal stares with glazed eyes at the television as she sits on the couch. She turns to Jessica.

“Unnie, do I by any chance sleep talk? I don’t think I do.” She says abruptly.

Jessica looks at her funny. Krystal has had weird moments ever since the day at the lake. “Well… you did one time a few weeks ago, in the car. It was really weird. You and Naeun just suddenly woke up in and chanted something. And then you went right back to sleep. Did you guys plan that out?”

Krystal stares at the wall. She suddenly grabs her stomach and goes to the balcony of their high rise, staring at the dizzying drop. “Ahh… I think I’m going to throw up.” She says. Jessica gets up. “What? You’re gonna throw up on the people down there?”

“Krystal, are you okay?” She pats her back.

Krystal’s eyes relax as she grabs her sister’s legs and throws them over the balcony. Krystal collapses to the floor as Jessica screams.