Shin jolted up, "Ow, what was that for?!" he nearly screamed. A few ugly heads snapped in their direction, dropping their lifeless meals to the floor. They looked around the alley with their lifeless, sunken eyes, trying to find the source of the noise.Luckily, Shin and Hana were partially hidden behind a dumpster.

    Hana shushed him, "They found us."

Even in his confused, sleepy daze, he knew who "they" were. He immediately ripped off his blankets and stuffed them in his backpack, Hana followed suit, 

 

    Kai was hopelessly slunched over on a sofa, face held in his hands. His loud ragged breaths could have easily been mistaken for sobs. He hadn't said anything to anyone for the past few agonizing hours.

 

     Chanyeol was sitting at a table in the corner, cheek in palm, deep in thought. His eyes stared vacantly at the carpeted gray floor while his fingers played mindlessly with a few knobs on the soundboard.

 

     Chen sat on the sofa opposite Kai, his back against the armrest and his knees to his chest. He had been observing the pitifully dark scene below from the third story SM recording studio window. Slow moving bodies moved on the street, walking drunkenly along without a thought passing through their empty minds. But the boys didn't know the severity of their new reality yet; all they knew was that they were stuck in a dark building, in the wee hours of the morning, while the world outside was apparently going to hell because of a virus.

 

     They didn't know about the zombies.

 

     Sehun finally changed his phrase, but this time it was drastically worse, "We're. Gonna. Die. We're. Gonna. Die! WE'RE GONNA DIE!!"

 

     The others had reached their breaking point.

 

     "Sehun, shut up!" Chanyeol suddenly yelled from across the room. Many fans would go into a frenzy if they saw Chanyeol loose his temper like that. He was the "Happy Virus" after all.

 

     Sehun automatically broke from his trance-like state. His forehead had big, red blotchy spots on it and Chanyeol shook his head in disapproval.

 

     "Yeah, really, you're not helping anything right now," Kai said, glaring through his fingers.

 

     Chen's 

 

      He squinted, and from the looks of the hair, one was a girl and the other was a boy. 

 

       Their movements were much faster than what he was used to seeing all day.

 

      "Maybe we should just take Eunhyuk, Donghae, and Amber up on their offer and leave with them. They've been waiting here with us long enough don't you think? " Sehun suggested, wincing while massaging his sore forehead.

 

      "Yeah, but where would we go?" Kai asked skeptically. 

 

     "I'm really worried about Manager Yongmin and the guys." Chanyeol stated, "He said he would just drive Junmyeon, Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun over to his house then he would come back for us. His place isn't even that far and it's been..." he checked his watch, "ten hours. I just hope they're okay."

     "It wouldn't surprise me if he just left us here to rot. This is just a perfect example of his favoritism for those three." Kai said, shaking his head. He was usually the playful type, one to not take things too seriously. But when he was aggravated, he wasn't scared to show it; much to the displeasure of others. 

 

     "Don't talk about Manager Yongmin when he's not here! I'm sure he just ran into a little trouble and is on his way back for us now." Sehun said. Kai laughed without humor.

 

     "Oh, my naive maknae, he's probably long gone." Kai simply stated, then glared at Sehun, "You just had to suggest that the four of us stay here, didn't you?" he asked, his voice dripping with bitterness. He didn't really hold anything against Sehun, he just wanted something new to pick on.

 

     "What, you're saying this is all my fault?" Sehun's eyes narrowed at his older group member.

 

      "Yes, Sehun! Everything is your fault!" Kai yelled.

 

     Chen still couldn't believe his eyes. He began to wave over the others."Guys!" he said. No one was paying attention to him. "Guys!" he shouted. Three heads snapped in his direction.

 

     "What?!" Sehun and Kai yelled at the same time. 

 

     "There's people on the street." Chen said. 

 

     "Yeah, Jongdae, we know. We've been watching them stumble around the whole day." Chaneyol muttered. Chen sighed.

 

     "No, they're not the same!" Chen said, not finding the right words to describe it. Chanyeol, Kai, and Sehun raced over to the window and placed their faces against it; their breath visible on the cold glass, "Right there," Chen said, pointing to the still running figures.

 

     All four pairs of eyes widened at the odd sight.

 

     "They're moving faster than the others. That must mean that they're not sick! We're saved!" Sehun said.

 

     "Please, they look just as helpless as us." Kai pushed himself off the glass and walked away from the window. Sehun followed with hunched sholders.

 

     "Maybe we should help them..." Chaneyol suggested, looking at the desprate people.

 

      "How? We can't even help ourselves." Kai was already back on the sofa, face in his hands like before.

 

      Chen noticed the two people had stopped about fifty feet from the SM building. They looked like they were either catching their breath or contemplating something. 

 

     "God, Jongin, why do you have to be such a downer?!" Chanyeol exploded, walking away from the window to confront the younger boy.

 

     Kai had an unreadable expression as he uncovered his face from his hands, "What, you expect me to be happy considering our circumstances?!" Kai yelled back. "Well sorry to break it to you, Yeol, but not everyone can be as happy as you!" But Chanyeol was not happy. Far from it, and it was clear from the grimace on his face.

 

     Chanyeol looked at Kai with disgust, "Man, you can be such an sometimes," deciding to not push the pointless debate any further than that, he walked away.

     

 

     Chanyeol's shoulders deflated once he saw no new life. Our last hope, he thought disappointedly. Like Kai, he pushed himself off the window and resumed his spot infront of the soundboard. He didn't understand why he felt so glum though, it's not like he knew the people. 

 

     Chen felt just as confused as Chanyeol, where could they have possibly gone? he wondered. He couldn't help but feel guilty for letting the people go right under his nose. It was as if the figures had been swept up by the wind, disappearing into thin air. 

 

    Chen turned around, sitting forward in his seat, stretching out on the couch to lie down. Folding his arms and looking around the dark room, he noticed that the distressed faces of his friends mirrored his own. 

 

    Nothing's going right for us today. Good luck you two, whoever you are, Chen gave one last look at the dark streets below, then closed his eyes and went to sleep.

______________________

 

     Hana and Shin ran breathlessly until they made it to another set of buildings about a half a mile away. Hana stumbled the rest of the distance and gripped a lightpost for dear-life. When she took hold of it, the pole shook, and the light inside flickered and blew out. 

    It took all of her restraint not to kick the light post in a pointless fit of rage.

    Why does life have to so much? she wondered. 

    Shin had stopped a few feet away from her. His round cheeks were red from the cold and exaustion, "I can't...live...like this...anymore," he said, gasping for air in between his words. "All this running...is too much!"

    "Well if you don't run...you won't be living at all," she said between labored breaths.

    "Well we need to find another alley. Preferably one that's not zombie infested, Hana." Shin said, slight accusation in his voice as he put the crowbar back in his bag. Hana was in charge of choosing where they would sleep that night, and her poor choice could have lead them both to an early grave like the rest.

    She sighed, "Yeah, sorry. That was a bad call on my part. I should have been more careful." Hana looked at their surroundings. It was officially night time, which they both knew was the absolute worst time to be out. "We need to move."

    "Okay, they're lots of dumpsters around here just pick one." He said, adjusting the straps on his backpack, sarcasm in his tone. But to Hana it wasn't funny.

     "No, a building. What we just ran away from is proof that we can't stay out in the open like this anymore. I learned my lesson," she said. She pulled out the notes from the pocket of her dirty jeans, 

     Shin stared at the notes so hard that Hana thought they would simultaneously combust under his glare. Shin finally stopped staring at the notes long enough to look back at Hana with tired eyes. "Well maybe you should have thought about that before we were both almost eaten alive," he stated, unapologetic for his unusual bluntness. "Everyone who followed those same 'notes', guess what they are now?" he asked, but Hana already knew the answer, "They're dead, Hana. And eating anything with a pulse.The citizens, the reporters, the officers, the doctors, all dead." he grumbled.

    "Well these notes are what have been keeping us alive these past few days." she mumbled defensively.

    Shin looked like he was about to go on another tangent, but something changed when he looked over Hana's shoulder. "Not for much longer." he whispered. Confused, she turned around.

    There was one lone zombie crossing the foggy road in what looked like tattered business wear. But Hana and Shin knew if there was one, the others couldn't be  far behind. Not long after, five more appeared from behind a brick wall. The one at the end of the line was more observant than the others, and noticed the two gawking across the street.

    Oh, please don't...

    But their fears was answered when the last zombie released his gutteral war cry. Suddenly, five grotesque heads answered the call, and stumbled in their direction.

    "Just when we thought we were getting a break," Shin grumbled before they were forced to run again. But not being fully rested from the last evasion, neither of them were able to run like they wanted to. At that point, they were literally just dragging ourselves forward. The weight of Hana's backpack suddenly grew and she had to stop again.

    The zombies were lost around a hundred yards back down the dimly lit road, so they felt they were safe for the time being. Shin ran into Hana's back, but she barely noticed since she was so focused on just trying to breathe. Shin flung his backpack off his shoulders as he bent down with his hands on his knees. Hana could hear him gagging as he tried to force the air to his lungs. His skin grew abnormally pale and his usually well kept black hair was a haystack on top of his head. But after the alley attack, Hana sure she couldn't have looked much better than a bloody mess.

    After a minute of rest, Shin ran his hand through his tousled hair and finally said, "Yeah, so um...what were you saying about finding shelter again?"

   Hana turned slowly and gave him a questioning look.

   "Wow, so it took us almost getting eaten alive for you to agree with me?" she asked.

    Shin smiled, "Doesn't it always?" 

    Hana scoffed knowingly, this was just how Shin was. Stubborn in his beliefs until proven otherwise .

    After being on the run for a couple days, the relatives had found themselves in the Apku Jung area; about twenty-five miles away from where they started. They were surrounded by tall, modern buildings and small cafes with newly bloomed flowers in the display window.That would have been a real sight during the day, but the darkness seemed like a tarp over it's beauty. One could say that all of the city's life had been taken away when the epidemic started. 

    Which, would be completely true in many ways.

    But as the winds blew harder and the night grew colder, Hana's guard began to rise. Looking at the once thriving city around them, she got an ominous feeling that caused goosebumps to spread across her bare arms like wildfire.

    Hana picked up her backpack.

    "Why do I have the feeling that we're being watched?" she whispered, looking at Shin. He slowly placed the bag's strap on his shoulder.

    "I was wondering the same thing..." he whispered back, furrowing his eyebrows.

    Something seemed really off. What bothered her most was that she was certain they weren't being watched by zombie eyes.

    "Hey, does that look familiar to you, too?" Shin suddenly asked. 

     "What?" Hana turned to see Shin pointing at the building before them. 

     It didn't take long for Hana to realize that they were standing just feet away from the SM Headquarters. 

     Even though the once flashing lights were now dim, the word SMTOWN was still proudly displayed in the front.

    "It's a K-Pop thing, right?" Shin nodded understandingly, when he saw Hana's amazement. There were countless times where Hana had forced Shin to sit in her room for hours and watch videos of groups of young people sing and dance. Though Shin couldn't stand it, it made him glad to see the Hana he knew break from her stoical front. 

   Suddenly, a devious expression grew on his face, which only happened when he got an equally devious idea, "Well...we better enjoy the little things." he said before stalking off towards the building. 

   "Wait, what are you doing?" Hana asked warily, running to catch up.

   "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm going in." He simply stated. Hana's mind drew a blank. 

    By that time, they were already standing under the building's awning. But when Hana saw Shin cup his eyes as he tried to look through the glass door, that's when it finally registered.

    This is THE SM Entertainment

    "You can't just barge into the SM headquarters!" The interior of the building was dark, so Shin gave up trying to look through the door. Instead, he turned to the electronic lock.

    "And why not?" Shin asked, taking the crowbar out of his backpack.

     "Because, doesn't this just feel...wrong to you?" Hana asked, still not understanding what the crowbar was for.

    "Hana, we are in the middle of a zombie apocolypse. I think the boundary between right and wrong is long gone."

    That's when he began to hack at the lock.

   She stood there, mouth agape, "What are you doing?!"

   "Getting. Us. Inside!" He said as he finally wrenched the face of the lock off, revealing many multicolored wires. Shin stood there, hands on his hips, "And now for the fun part..." he reached for the wires.

   "Wait, be careful, Shin!" Hana said, gripping his shoulder.

   "I'm okay, I've got this!" He said, shaking her hand off.

    Shin was a technology major at their university, but that still didn't explain to Hana how her cousin knew how to break electrical locks like a profesional criminal.

   Pure concentration etched on his face, he took a blue wire and a green wire and put their ends together. Right when the wires touched, there was a sudden buzz and the glass doors soundlessly slid open. 

   Hana wanted to laugh, "Is it seriously that easy?"

   Shin looked down at her with a smug smirk, "You have to admit, I'm good." 

   Hana didn't want to say it then, but despite what her conscience told her, she was actually glad that Shin had opened the door. Hana tried to look on the bright side, they were getting shelter out of it after all...

  "After you." Shin said with a sweep of his arms towards the entrance.

   Hana took a slow step forward, and she could already feel the inviting warm air from inside. The wind had picked up, and a few loose hairs blew around her face as she shivered in her place.

   She tried to take it all in.

Jonghyun went through this door. Changmin went through this door. BOA WENT THROUGH THIS DOOR- her thoughts were interrupted.

   "Oh my God, Hana, it doesn't take that long to walk through a  door, hurry up," Shin said, grabbing his backpack and brushing past his cousin. He soon disappeared into the dark lobby. "You know what? You can come in whenever you want, just don't get eaten out there!" He called back at the blank-faced girl.

   "Wait, what? Park Shin!" she called into the darkness.

  With a sigh, Hana grabbed her things and ran blindly into the seemingly abandoned building.