Chanyeol trudged his way up the seemingly never ending staircase, and down the dark, empty hallways. It was fairly early in the morning, and the pink sky could be seen through the huge windows of the mansion. He hadn't gotten a single minute of sleep the night prior, and the soft carpet felt nice under his bare feet. He put his fatigued thoughts aside as he knocked on every bedroom door on the second floor.

                He warned his roommates that the other tall, dark haired rapper would be there any minute, and that they should get ready. There were many sleepy protests, but eventually the house began to come to life.

                  When he arrived at the room at the end of the hall, he saw that the door was cracked and that the lights were already on.

                He peaked his head inside, "Hey," he said, "Seunghyun will be here any second, so we should be getting ready to go, " Amber was already sitting up in her bed, looking more awake than he expected. She stared at the wall, seeming to be entranced by her thoughts, but came back to reality upon hearing Chanyeol's voice.

                "What? Oh, okay."

                Chanyeol stepped inside, cracking the door behind him "How long have you been awake?"

                "A few hours. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep," she explained, "Have you seen my roommate?"

                "I found both of ours in the movie room sleeping on the floor. They're getting ready now," Chanyeol said, noticing her faraway look, "You okay? You never look this down."

                "Yeah! I just get a weird feeling whenever I think about what we're about to do."

                Chanyeol walked from the doorway and took a seat on the bed at the opposite end of the room, "To be honest I didn't sleep either, my brain is fried" he chuckled, "I'm a bit freaked out too, actually."

                "Dude...we could die today," Amber said in a near whisper.

                "By getting eaten by zombies," Chanyeol said matter of factly.

                Amber rubbed her face, "Yeah, I forgot about that little detail. Why didn't you get any sleep?"

                "Me and the boys talked about what we should do about Junmyun, Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo," Chanyeol sighed and looked at his lap, "We changed our minds, Amber. We don't think we should look for them anymore."

                "Really?" she asked, shocked

                "Yeah, we talked about what Seunghyun said last night and its just too risky. What if they're...not okay? Then what would we do? It just seems more practical than running around the city without a clue of what we could find."

                Amber nodded, "I understand."

                "Does that make us terrible people?"

                "What?"

                "Does that make us terrible people? By not risking our lives for our best friends, just chalking them off and hoping for the best...does that make us terrible?"

                Amber saw the conflict in Chanyeol's red, sleep deprived eyes, and her heart hurt for him, "Not at all, Yeol. Just the fact that you waited for an entire day for them to return to the SM building says a lot. And on top of that, we all went to the apartment to check for ourselves. We've done all that we could already, don't be hard on yourself, man."

                Chanyeol smiled at the girl on the other bed. He didn't see how anyone could ever dislike someone with so much sincerity and charm, "Thanks," he said. He got up and walked over to her, ruffling her hair before walking towards the door.

                "Hey, be happy, Happy Virus. Smile or something." she said, jokingly.

                Chanyeol grinned to himself before rolling his eyes and walking out of the room.

___________________________

                The sound of the doorbell resonated around the house

.               Hana exited the bathroom, and walked down the stairs just in time to see Henry answer the massive front door.

                TOP, dressed in black from head to toe, walked inside and dropped two large duffle bags at his feet, "Good morning," he said. He received grunts in return as the rest continued to wipe the sleep from their eyes. TOP saw Kai standing to the side, wearing a look of disbelief, "You're awake."

                "Seunghyun?"

                "The one and only."

                "Woah, they weren't lying when they said you were here."

                "When did you wake up?"

                "About an hour ago. My head still hurts a lot," Kai squinted, "I heard you did that too."

                TOP cleared his throat and avoided the accusation, "I think it would be best if you stayed here. You shouldn't exert yourself too much."

                Sehun and Chen volunteered to stay behind and keep their band member company.

                Donghae looked between his younger label mates and all he saw was a giant red flag. With those three alone in that house, his mind filled with what kind of havoc they could wreak within the first ten minutes.

                "I'll stay too." he blurted, "I think I need to keep an eye on things here."

                 Eunhyuk looked at Donghae questioningly. He truly didn’t know how to feel about going without his best friend.

                I guess I'll just have to take one for the team this time, he thought.

                Everyone got into the van and TOP pushed his duffle bags to the very back. He told everyone not to touch them, and remained silent when he was asked what was inside.

                TOP strode over to the driver's side, only to be met with Eunhyuk's hand reaching for the door handle at the same time.

                TOP sighed, "I'm so much better at being a loner." he muttered.

                "What are you talking about?"

                "I don't want to step on anyone's toes today. I thought about it last night, and this is your group, your house, and I'm new. I hate being in charge...too many people depending on me, you know? So with that being said, I'll let you lead this trip how you want."

                Eunhyuk didn't quite know how to respond, "Okay. Thanks?"

                "You drive," TOP insisted, hands in the air as if in surrender, "I wouldn't feel right driving an SM van anyways." he smirked as he walked over to the passenger’s side.

                Eunhyuk looked after him, and rolled his eyes as he opened the door. Before he sat down, Donghae put a hand firmly on his shoulder, warning in his eyes, "Don't forget what we talked about," he said in a low voice.

                "What? For me to stop being an ?"

                Donghae sighed and loosened his grip, "Just be careful alright? Don't do anything stupid."

                "Stop worrying, man. Seunghyun said this trip won't take longer than two days. If it does, then you can start to worry."

                Donghae pulled Eunhyuk in for a quick hug before he sat down behind the wheel and closed the door. Kai, Sehun, Chen, and Donghae waved the group goodbye as they backed out of the driveway and out of their gate.

                The van wound its way through the lush, green hills that they had passed just twenty-four hours ago when they entered the neighborhood.

                Shin and Hana were talking about the beautiful landscape when Eunhyuk interrupted their conversation.

                 "You guys know the drill," he said, looking at the cousins through his rearview mirror. He pulled up to the tall brick wall and the sturdy iron gate at the exit. The gates soundlessly opened as the van approached.

                Shin's face scrunched up in confusion, "What do you mean?"

                "The bandanas," Eunhyuk said. He saw Hana roll her eyes and Shin mutter something under his breath, "Hey, this is the protocol. We're about to go back on the road, and this is what you need to do"

                "I don't get it," TOP said, "Why do they need bandanas?"

                "Eunhyuk doesn't want them to see the way to and from the Hallyu Village, so they have to cover their eyes with bandanas every time we leave. It's supposed to be some kind of precautionary measure or whatever," Chanyeol said.

                TOP turned to Eunhyuk, "Is that really necessary?"

                "Yeah, totally."

                "Don't you trust them?"

                Eunhyuk paused, "Yeah."

                "Then why do this?"

                Eunhyuk looked over at TOP. He took in his broad shoulders, calloused hands, and intimidatingly dark eyes. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation. The dancer laughed, "You know what? Forget it, you guys. That was a little ridiculous of me."

                "Gee, ya think?" said Shin.

                 Eunhyuk forced another laugh, "Just sit back and relax you guys, it's gonna’ be a long ride." 

                The group drove out of the exclusive neighborhood, and onto the winding roads of the dense forest; Eunhyuk's grip on the wheel was tighter than ever.

                It was around 10 am when they approached the nearest city. The buildings came into view over the horizon and the greenery disappeared. There were many parked cars in the middle of the highway, many of them blocking the path. When Eunhyuk drove onto the grassy median to get past the other vehicles, a strong stench reached their nostrils.

                "Ew, what's that?" Henry asked as he held his nose.

                "Donghae and I smelled it too when we passed this area last night. We couldn't find where it was coming from 'cause it was too dark."

                The side of the roads were brown, covered with thick, indistinguishable chunks. They saw a clearing on the road, so they squeezed between the cars and back onto the asphalt. As they passed, their nose continued to burn at the smell.

                "Can we wind the window up or something...?" Amber began to ask. In the middle of her sentence, she noticed the bodies in the cars they passed. They all lied limp in their seats, and the group could see their discolored patches of skin and the swarm of flies that wandered around them.

                "Oh my God," Chanyeol muttered to himself as he took in the nightmarish sight. The car crept along, taking in the horrific images and scent as they passed.

                Shin and Hana had seen some pretty gruesome things when they were on their own, but they had never passed a graveyard like this. One of the SUVs had a child's car seat in the back. The leather was covered with blood, but there was no baby in sight.

                TOP shook his head and looked away, "This must be the traffic jam that happened when they started coming into the cities."

                Eunhyuk kept his eyes on the road the entire time, fidgeting in his seat and swallowing back the vomit that had formed in the back of his throat.

                After what was the most excruciatingly slow five minutes of their lives, the group got off the highway and onto the city's streets. 

"Is anyone hungry?" Eunhyuk asked.

                "Is that a trick question?" replied Amber. She didn't know if she could ever eat again after what she had just witnessed.

                Despite their churning stomachs, they searched the area until they rolled up to a small grocery store in the heart of the city. They carefully stepped out of the car as they appraised the building. The store looked pitch black on the inside, and there were shopping carts strewn across the entire lot.

                TOP got the duffle bags from the back of the van and placed them on the ground.

                "Are you gonna’ tell us what's in there now?" Amber asked.

                "See for yourself," said TOP as he ped the bags and took a step back.

                Once Henry peaked inside, he raised his eyebrows and his mouth fell open.

                "What? You couldn't expect me not to bring reinforcement."

                "Oh, yeah," Amber said as she carefully picked up a Glock G17 from the bag. She held it far away from her body, "This should do the job."

                "Guns?!" Eunhyuk asked, his voice echoing around the empty city block.

                TOP shot him a warning glare, "What else would we defend ourselves with? It might not look bad out here now, but once the sun goes down it’s a different story," he took the gun from Amber's hands, "Has anyone here ever shot a gun before?" he asked the silent group, "Held one at least?" he was returned with more blank looks. He sighed, "Didn't think so."

                "Hana has," Shin said. Hana was surprised that he even remembered. She had told him about her experience with weapons in passing a few months ago, and thought that he had completely forgotten.

                "Really?" TOP asked as he observed the girl whose face was nearly covered by a sheet of thick, black hair.

                She nodded, "My dad liked to hunt. We've been to the shooting range a few times."

                TOP approached the girl, looking her up and down, assessing everything about her. Hana grew antsy under his gaze, "How good of a shot are you?"

                Hana shrugged, "I haven't gone shooting in a while, but I'm not bad."

                TOP pursed his lips and held out the handgun, "Good enough."

                Hana's eyes widened as she looked at the gun. TOP nodded in assurance and she took it in her hands, inspecting it under the sunlight.

                This was the very weapon she had used at the range, and it felt very familiar as she held it. Because she had not been around a gun in a while, it was a little intimidating. From the looks of everyone else, they felt the same way.

                TOP had not always been a gun expert. He had acted in quite a few shows that required some training, but he never thought that it would become useful once the cameras stopped rolling.                         

                He pulled his favorite machine gun from the bag and put the rest in the van.

                "Hey, we don't get guns?" asked Shin.

                TOP scoffed, "Maybe after some training, but I can't have you popping off rounds every time the wind blows."

                He looked at Eunhyuk expectantly, waiting for him to give instructions.

                The dancer cleared his throat, "Okay, grab some shopping carts and let's get going."

                They rolled the carts through the lot and through the automatic doors of the store.

                "Get the essentials," Eunhyuk directed to the group.

                "Anything that won't spoil within the next few days, too," TOP added.

                All of the carts scattered in different directions around the store. The shelves had many gaping holes, as a lot of the items had already been taken; but they couldn't be picky. They pushed all that they could fit into the carts, getting a little carried away.               

                Eunhyuk rolled his cart down the snack aisle. He couldn't help but be a bit bitter that Donghae was still at their plush mansion while he scavenged for leftovers in an abandoned grocery store.

                He better come on the next trip, there's no way I'm doing this again by myself, he thought.

                He saw TOP walk past, carrying two gallons of water to his cart. He lowered the heavy load down and rolled up his sleeves, showing toned biceps.

                Does he live in the gym? 

                TOP felt the stares, and locked eyes with the man with the blue hair.  He smiled at Eunhyuk, then rolled his cart down another aisle.

                Eunhyuk opened up a bag of chips and dumped all of its contents into his mouth.

                Punk

                Henry and Chanyeol wandered to the back of the store, far away from the rest of the group. They filled their carts with junk food along the way, and as they walked past all of the shelves, their tennis shoes squeaked loudly against the floor.

                "Don't you think we should get healthier stuff?" Chanyeol asked.

                "Nah, I saw Seunghyun's cart earlier and he's got that covered already. Everyone is going to be glad we got all of this when they get tired of salad every day."

                "Are you sure?"

                Henry sighed, "Stay here, I'll go and see what I can find with some actual nutritional value," he walked away and disappeared around the corner.

                Chanyeol chuckled at Henry's antics. He had some reservations about raiding a grocery store, but it wasn't as bad as he imagined it would be.

                 Chanyeol leaned against the shelves to balance himself as he bent down to tie his shoelaces. As he stood back up, he was suddenly pulled backwards and his head slammed against the shelf. A pair of bloody hands grabbed his neck through the rack, causing the rapper to wail around as strangled gurgles left his blocked airways. The grip was firm and his neck was covered in the slime on his attacker's fingers. He could feel breath on the back of his neck as a head tried to fit its way through the shelf to reach him. His eyes darted around for any sign of help, but the aisle was empty.

                "Hey, Yeol, I found some eggs, but they might be rot-?" Henry rounded the corner and saw his label mate’s red face and flailing limbs as he tried to escape his snarling killer, "CHANYEOL!" he screamed. He stood frozen in his spot, shaking.

                Henry was shoved aside as the group ran in to see the problem. They heard Henry's scream from the other side of the store, and now wore looks of horror upon seeing what was happening.

                TOP stretched out his arm and immediately pulled the trigger of his machine gun. The sound was deafening, and the shells scattered around his feet as they bounced from the floor. Chanyeol's attacker fell lifeless on the other side of the shelf, its body snapping back when it was hit with the flying bullets. Chanyeol stopped convulsing and sprawled across the floor as he tried to regain his breath. He lay feeble, grabbing his aching throat.

                TOP ran over to Chanyeol's side, "Are you okay?"

                "Y-yeah I'm fine," he said between sporadic coughs.

                Eunhyuk slowly walked over to the next aisle. He couldn't believe what had just happened in front of his own eyes: TOP gunning down a sick man so easily.

                Eunhyuk's heart nearly skipped a beat when he looked at the floor.

                Chanyeol's attacker lay in the aisle, snarling as it tried to get back to its feet. Its teeth snapped angrily when it saw Eunhyuk standing just a few paces away. It rose up and began to limp in Eunhyuk's direction.

                TOP saw Eunhyuk staring at something in the next aisle, and went over to see for himself. When he got there, the lifeless killer was closing in the distance between it and the dancer.

                Without a thought, TOP aimed his weapon and fired, nailing the monster in the middle of the forehead. Eunhyuk gasped, staring at the body by his feet.

                "I guess I missed its head the first time," TOP muttered to himself, "Tell someone when you're about to be killed next time, okay?" he said before walking away.

                Eunhyuk continued to stare at the body, but his focus was suddenly changed as the sound of more bullets echoed around the store.

                "Everyone get out!" TOP yelled,

                The group looked over and saw more corpses walking down the aisle towards them. Just when they thought they had stopped coming, more would appear from around the corner. TOP picked them off one by one, and they fell to the ground in a heap. He ran backwards as he continued to shoot, and pushed one of the carts in the way to block the oncoming herd.

                The group ran through the aisles, back towards the exit.

                "Hana! Come here!" he screamed over the gunshots.

                Hana stopped in her tracks beside Shin, wondering if they had heard right. She shrugged in confusion and ran from her cousin in the direction of the rapper who had called her.

                "You're a good shot, right? Prove it!" he said, shooting down a few more.

                 Hana's muscles tightened and her heartbeat accelerated. She had been pretty good at one point, but now? With the added pressure? She had no idea.

                 "I need help!"

                Hana raised her arm and fired, the recoil making her shoulder feel like it had been removed from its socket. Her first bullet hit the oncoming dead the middle of the chest, and they continued to walk. Arms, legs, stomach, she hit it all but they kept on coming. She looked over at TOP desperately, who was successfully making them fall; and that's when she noticed it- the head shot. Hana aimed higher, and they plummeted onto the floor upon being nailed in the head.

                TOP and Hana backed up more, "Where are they coming from?" she yelled over the gunfire.

                "I think they were here all along! We're just now seeing them."

                While Hana continued to shoot, she noticed movement behind them. A corpse was dragging itself along, eyes set on TOP. She immediately turned and fired, causing the man to turn around. He noticed the body on the floor behind him, and he gaped at the nine-teen year old that saved his life.

                They backed up all the way until they were outside of the store with the rest of the group.

                "Get to the car!" Amber yelled.

                The seven young adults sprinted through the parking lot, TOP continuing to blast a few more zombies as he ran.

                "Who has the key?!" Shin yelled urgently as the group stood outside the van. The sound of the gun resonated around the entire street. More of the dead began to crowd around upon hearing the noise.

                Eunhyuk dug in his pockets, pulled out the key, and tossed it to Shin. It slipped through his fingers and bounced under the car. The zombies were closing in, and TOP and Hana were running out of rounds.

                "Forget the car, let's just go!" said Chanyeol.

                They left the van behind and ran through several alley ways. They found a small boutique on the corner and went in through its open back door.

                "Why the hell did you drop the key?" Eunhyuk exploded at Shin.

                "Why the hell did you throw it at me? I'm sorry, but you could have said 'heads up or something!" he replied.

                Shin was the most uncoordinated person Hana knew. He was the last person you wanted to execute any kind of athletic task for you, especially without warning.

                "Forget about it, we're safe in here for now," said TOP. He sat down on the floor and the rest of the group followed suit, catching their breath, "Thanks for saving me back there, by the way," he said to Hana.

                She smiled to herself and moved the hair from her face, "No problem."

                Shin shook her by her shoulders, "Look at my little cousin, a zombie slayer." she shrugged him off and elbowed him in the ribs.

                TOP watched the pair and smiled. He wasn't sure how they were related, though he could tell that they were obviously close. He assumed that they weren't siblings, because they didn't resemble each other at all besides their tall height (and definitely not their personality), "We need to go back to the car as soon as possible. The rest of the guns are in there, including the ammo, and I'm almost out. Also, we need to go back to the grocery store and get the food that we lost or else this trip would have been for nothing."

                "Speaking of, we should look for our friends while we're at it," said Henry.

                Amber and Chanyeol exchanged a glance, his filled with guilt.

                "Actually, Henry, me and the rest of the boys talked it over last night," he said, avoiding eye contact, "We changed our minds, we don't think we should look for them anymore."

                "What?" Henry sputtered, "Chanyeol, those are our friends. How could you just give up on them like that, you've barely started looking!"

                "It wouldn't be hard to find them, just check the places they go often," Eunhyuk said.

                TOP shook his head, "It wouldn't be that easy. Seoul is a big city. If they're out there, they could literally be anywhere."

                "Exactly. I care for them too, they're my best friends, but it's just too risky. We just can't chance it."

                "What if you were them, Chanyeol? Wouldn't you be hoping that someone was still out there looking for you?"

                Chanyeol's eyes brimmed with tears, and he held his red face, "They're not hoping, Henry. They're not out there. They're dead."

                Henry was appalled that such words would even come from the boy, "What are you even saying right now?"

                "You didn't see the apartment! You didn't see the blood on our manager's hands! Whose blood was that, Henry? Who's blood?!"

                Henry shook his head furiously. He pushed himself up from the floor and walked away from the group.

                The idols laid silent across a pile of clothes they grabbed from the racks as a makeshift cot. Henry sat at the opposite end of the boutique, picking at the seams of his shirt as he thought.

                By this time it was already evening, and shadows of the city began to stretch across the store.

                "This looks like something my mom would like," Shin mused as he admired one of the dresses he sat on, "I wonder how many paychecks she would have to give up for something like this," he ran his hand over the silky sleeves.

                "It is pretty," Hana said. She saw his far away stare, and awkwardly patted his back, "She's fine. She's probably out there worrying about you just as much as you are about her right now." she assured.

                TOP, who sat a few feet away, heard they cousins' conversation. He wasn't going to say anything until he saw that Hana was consoling her cousin.

                "May I ask who's missing?"

                "My mom," Shin replied, "I haven't seen her since she went to work the morning everything happened. I have no clue where she could be."

                TOP nodded in understanding, "Where does she work?"

                "At a flower shop about twenty miles from our house. About two hours from Seoul by car."

                TOP didn't know what to tell the guy who was basically a stranger to him. He didn't want to say that his mom would be okay but go right back to saying that the missing EXO boys were a lost cause.

                Eunhyuk was jittery, his leg bouncing as he listened to the conversation. He suddenly got up and walked towards the back of the store.

                "Where are you going?" Henry questioned, looking at him curiously.

"Can't I piss without getting interrogated? Jesus..." he said. He walked around the corner and out of sight, disappearing into one of the back rooms.

                A few minutes later, Amber got up too, heading in the direction she saw Eunhyuk go. She immediately came back to the group, "Hey, where did Eunhyuk say he went, again?"

                "The bathroom," Henry said, "Why, what's up?"

                "I just checked, there is no bathroom."

                Everyone froze at the realization.

                TOP slammed his fist on the ground, "Damn it." 

                The chilly air hit the group's face as soon as they left the building. They put their backs against the brick wall of the store, adrenaline coursing through their veins.

                "How dumb is he?" TOP muttered. When they checked the back room that Eunhyuk went into, all they found was an open window.

                The sun was going down, and they could hear the sound of moans and breaking glass as the city came to life. They walked quickly through the alleys as they searched every corner for the blue haired dancer. As they rounded the corner to the main road, they saw the SM van in the grocery store parking lot right where they left it. There was movement underneath the vehicle as pair of legs squirmed under it.

                "There he is!" said Shin as he pointed to the celebrity under the car.

                "What is he doing?"

                "I think he's trying to get the key..."

                The group rushed towards him as he climbed from under the van.

                TOP pushed him against the door, "Do you have a death wish? It's almost nighttime!"

                Eunhyuk was taken aback by the sudden confrontation, "I was just trying to get the key...I was going to come right back for you guys, what's the big deal?"

                The rapper couldn't believe what he was hearing. All that he knew was that they were in the middle of the city, and it was dark. They all crouched behind the van.

                "We need to get back, now!" TOP said, grabbing Eunhyuk's arm in anger as he brought him to the direction of the boutique.

                 Shin put out his hand, pointing ahead at the zombies who walked drunkenly in that very direction, "Hold on!"

                "Guys!" Amber said in panic.

                Several more emerged from another dark alley on the other side of the van.

                Seunghyun snatched the key from Eunhyuk's hand and unlocked the van's sliding door, "Get in!" he urged as he rushed them inside. He closed the door behind him once everyone was in and climbed to the front seat, "Shh! Everyone get down!"

                Though the windows were tinted, the group crouched down in their seats as far as they could.

                "Drive! Let's go!" Henry urged.

                TOP put the key in the ignition, but stopped when the car began to rock. One by one, swaying figures passed the car, occasionally bumping against it and staining the sides and glass even further.

               Hana peaked through the windshield and saw an approaching herd that appeared to be in the hundreds. She curled up as tight as she could in the back of the van, holding her gun to her chest. Shin was across from her, folded in on himself. He seemed to be muttering assurance that only he could hear.

                Packed like sardines in the middle of the grocery store’s parking lot, they tried to mask their heavy breathing.

                The van continued to shake, and snarls could be heard from the outside.

                TOP sunk into his seat, glaring at the group that passed his window, "It's going to be a long night,” he whispered.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Comment and Upvote!*

Thanks for the support!!!