Seungho looked into Yoo Jung's worried eyes, he handed her a sharpen log and she took it slowly. "When you go out there by yourself, watch yourself. Do not leave your back open. Keep an open eye and clear mind, their weakness is their brains and make sure you don't attack just anything or anyone. The others are out there." Seungho said, she nodded and made a thin line with her lips. 

Zelo was standing on the top of the wall with his arrows and bow ready. Yongguk and CL were behind the walls, killing the dead wayfarers in sight. Kyungsoo was standing outside the wall waiting for Yoo Jung as well, with his gun in his pocket and log in both hands. 

"You and Kyungsoo chose one another as partners, look after each other." Seungho said once more, then he turned around and nodded. Jun Gyu who was at the gate pulled it open and Yoo Jung ran out. Kyungsoo reached an arm out for her and she took it, then together they ran to the right side. Yongguk and CL was clearing the middle street. 

Jenissi stepped up to Seungho and wore a careless smile. "I'm guessing my partner is you then?" 

Seungho picked up two logs from the stack and handed one to him, then he spun around and gave one to Jun Gyu. "Good luck." He said, Jenissi laughed a little then wrapped an arm around Jun Gyu. 

"Alright then, let's go partner." Jenissi said with a bright voice. 

"W-wait? I'm doing this to-too?" Jun Gyu asked surprised, Jenissi opened the gate for them and pulled the older man along. 

Zelo laughed a little and looked down at Seungho who kept his serious poker face. Zelo let out a sigh as he took a last glance of everyone, "Hey Seungho, since I won't be able to shoot far with arrows anyway, can I join Jun Gyu and Jenissi?" 

Seungho nodded and Zelo leaped off the wall and ran to join the others. Once Zelo was gone Seungho was about to take another step when he suddenly felt like someone tugging at his heart. Seungho fell to one knee and tried to control his breathing. 

After a few seconds his breathing became normal and the pain faded, he stood up slowly and turned around. A dead wayfarer was at the gate. Seungho's heart sunk, all the streets were already covered, how did a zombie get to the gate? 

Seungho stabbed it in the head and pushed the gate open, he looked around and saw that Yoo Jung and Kyungsoo was gone from their street. They went past the line he had drawn for them, they weren't supposed to be out of sight from the building. 

Seungho shut the gate and quickly headed toward their path. Seungho turned the corner and saw Yoo Jung and Kyungsoo standing on top of a truck, stabbing the heads of the zombies back to back. A large herd hurdled around them, yet none seemed to notice Seungho. 

They were doing fine with killing, making perfect aims, and willing to stab each hard enough to kill it. But they crossed the line. 

Seungho took out his gun and begin firing at each zombie, surprising Kyungsoo and Yoo Jung. 

Seungho pulled the gate shut after pushing Kyungsoo inside the fence, Yoo Jung got in before the two of them and was around facing them, she caught Kyungsoo with open arms as he almost crashed into her. He turned around to eye his younger brother, Seungho's eyes were shaken with anger. 

"Yoo Kyungsoo, are you stupid? Why did you two cross the line?! I told you not to go any farther than the intersection of that road!" Seungho exploded in front of them. 

"Seungho I-" 

"Why can't you follow one simple task I ask of you?!" 

Behind them, the others were coming back after hearing the gun fires. They flooded in from behind the gate and Yongguk was the last to shut it before coming closer to them. 

"Hey, Seungho did something happen? I thought you said we shouldn't practice with guns-" Yongguk started but Seungho cut him off, keeping his gaze only on Kyungsoo. 

"Let's not do that again." Seungho said in a softer voice, Kyungsoo nodded a little as Yoo Jung's held his arms, embracing him halfway. Seungho turned around to see the exhaustion written in each and every one of him companions. "We'll go out again tonight, get some rest." Seungho said then headed toward the house first. 

"Seungho? Hey, Seungho?" Yongguk called as he followed Seungho. The rest checked up on Kyungsoo and Yoo Jung, hovering around them. 

"Kyungsoo, are you alright?" Jun Gyu asked as he gently rest his hand on Kyungsoo's shoulders. 

"Yes...." Kyungsoo answered weakly, Jun Gyu nodded and looked over to Yoo Jung. 

"Are you alright as well?" 

Yoo Jung smashed her lips into a thin line and humed in response, then she looked up into Kyungsoo's pale face. 

Jenissi released a heavy sigh as he stepped closer to them, "Hey, is something wrong with Seungho? He was alright earlier, what made him snap all of a sudden?" 

Zelo watched in silence, wondering what exactly happened. 

Yongguk took a long stride and called Seungho's name one last time, the man turned around calmly. "Is something wrong? You don't seem well." In Yongguk's hand were a bloody log, even the tip of his fingers were stained with the dead's blood. 

"The others." Seungho started and Yongguk waited for him to finish, "Rest up. I'm going out to extend the lines." Seungho walked pass Yongguk and headed out again. Yongguk heaved an uneasy sigh. 

"Why is he always working everyone?" Yongguk whispered to himself. On the porch they moved aside as Seungho passed them, as he headed for the gate alone while Kyungsoo caught Yongguk's eyes. 

"W-where is he going?"

Yongguk sighed before giving him an answer, "Extending the lines he said. Come, let's rest for a while before he comes back." 

Kyungsoo was slightly taken aback when Yongguk sounded as if he it made no difference whether Seungho was out there alone or not. The Yongguk he knew would have stopped Seungho in a heartbeat, he would have held him back or go with him. 

That was the kind of man Bang Yongguk is. 

"I'll go help Seungho." Kyungsoo left without waiting for anyone's agreement or approval. He didn't need any. 

Kyungsoo quickly open and shut the gate as he scanned the three roads, checking to see which one Seungho had taken. He saw Seungho walked down the one he had assigned to Kyungsoo and Yoo Jung earlier. Kyungsoo hurried toward Seungho, taking short jogs in the process to reach him. Around the corner, he saw Seungho dropping the logs that were used to mark lines, a few feet further from the corner. 

"Seungho!" Kyungsoo called, catching his attention as the latter turned around. Kyungsoo smiled as Seungho looked directly into his eyes from afar. As the moment seemed to has freeze, they didn't notice the zombie climbing out from a dead car from the side with the door opened. 

The zombie made its way toward Seungho, coming from behind another car Kyungsoo caught the zombie moving about from the corner of his eyes. Then he looked over to the dead man moving toward Seungho. His eyes wavered and he tried to open his mouth to call out but he couldn't utter a sound until it was too late. 

"Seungho look out!" 

The zombie grabbed onto Seungho's right arm and bend over for the bite. 

"NO!" Kyungsoo ran toward Seungho with quick steps. 

Seungho pulled the trigger through its head and yanked his arm away from the falling zombie. Just in time Kyungsoo came to a quick stop and grabbed Seungho's arm. "H-he bit you! No, no. Seungho, you got bit!" Kyungsoo screamed looking at the teeth mark scratched on Seungho's arm as he had yanked his arm away from its mouth before. 

"No, no, no, this isn't supposed to happen." Kyungsoo looked into Seungho's calm eyes. "Seungho-you can't.... You can't leave me like this." Kyungsoo said now with tears looking down at the bite marks again. Seungho could hear him mumbling to himself. Kyungsoo begin to pull onto Seungho's arm, "You can't Seungho. You can't go this way. It's my fault for not-" 

Seungho placed the gun into its case.

Kyungsoo froze when Seungho gently pulled his arm away from Kyungsoo and cupped his crying face. Seungho's face was blurry when tears had began filling Kyungsoo's round eyes. "It's alright, Kyungsoo." Seungho started. Kyungsoo could hear the shakiness in Seungho's tone but he couldn't see whether Seungho is crying too. 

Kyungsoo grabbed onto Seungho's bitten arm and began sobbing aloud, "Seungho don't die! I'm begging you don't-!" 

Seungho pulled his arm from Kyungsoo's pulling again, keeping his left hand on Kyungsoo's cheek. "Kyungsoo, listen to me!" Seungho raised his voice, he could feel Kyungsoo's hand on his arm again but this time he wasn't pulling to see the bites. "I'll be alright, just listen to me-"

"It's my fault! I deserve to die!" Kyungsoo cut him off, Seungho became irritated and pulled Kyungsoo in for a hug. He wrapped his left arm around Kyungsoo's shoulder, blocking his nape from behind. He felt the crawing of Kyungsoo's grab against his clothes. 

"Listen carefully Kyungsoo." Seungho said once Kyungsoo had stopped screaming at the top of his lungs. Seungho bit his lips as he tried not to cry before telling Kyungsoo what he wanted to tell him. But the thoughts of leaving Kyungsoo behind betrayed him, his eyes began to water as well. "Kyungsoo. I'm.... Sorry. I really wanted to stay alive, to see my nieces and nephews. To be with you," Seungho's arm began to itch, "I know it didn't look like it.... But I really wanted to live for and with you my big brother," then his whole right arm became paralyzed. "it hurts. It's really painful to leave you behind." Seungho said softly, so soft he could barely hear himself say it. 

"Seungho, no." Kyungsoo cried exaggerating the sounds. 

"S-stay with the others." It was getting hard to breath as his lungs tighten, "D-don't be careless. Don't trust strangers.... I can't breathe Kyungsoo." 

"Seungho, what am I going to do?" Kyungsoo cried louder, then he broke the hug first. "Seungho let's go back, let's go back and see if Jenissi can do something about it!" Kyungsoo said with his hands on Seungho's waist, as he tried to pull Seungho along, the man stood his ground. 

"It's too late K-Kyungsoo.... My body is...reacting to the bite.... You'll have to go back without me."

"No! We're going back together Seungho, hurry I'll support you." Kyungsoo shouted through tears, he moved his hands to grabbed around Seungho's left arm instead and begin pulling. "Seungho! Come with me please!" 

Kyungsoo could see Seungho growing sleepy, his eyes were a lot smaller and it was difficult for him to keep his eyes open. "Seungho!" Kyungsoo called and tugged at his sleeve again. 

"Yoo Seungho!" Yongguk called from across the road. Kyungsoo spun around quickly. He saw the look on Yongguk's face as it became soured, realizing the situation. Yongguk sprinted over as quickly as he could. Seungho blanked out for a moment, and the next thing he noticed Yongguk was already holding onto his bitten arm. 

"What happened? Seungho, were you bit?!" Yongguk asked in a loud voice. Seungho couldn't focus, his vision were just flashes of black and white. He heard Yongguk and Kyungsoo's voice, but they weren't clear. Until they were already near the gate, where Seungho was slightly pushed in but he slammed his shoulder against the bricked wall. 

"Seungho let's go in." Yongguk said from behind, Seungho could see glimpses of Kyungsoo in front of him. 

"Don't-there's a room over there. I-I'll stay in there." Seungho said weakly. 

"No! I won't let you go anywhere-" Kyungsoo started but Seungho cut him off. 

"Put me in there. If I turn-if I turn it'll be hard."

"Seungho, we'll be alright go in." Yongguk insisted. Then Seungho spun around and pushed Yongguk to the side. "A-Seungho!" Yongguk called, Seungho took a few steps before he fell over. Yongguk and Kyungsoo hurried to his side, pulling him up. 

"Don't push yourself.... I'll take you there." Yongguk said in a defeated tone. He eyed Kyungsoo, he could see the objection in Kyungsoo's eyes. 

Everyone was standing in front of the green door to the room where Seungho had kept himself in. Kyungsoo was sitting on the ground, leaning his head against the door. CL and Yoo Jung were crying quietly, CL was crying while being held by Yongguk. Yoo Jung kept her eyes on Kyungsoo, he had no expression, no movements. 

Zelo mutted his lips into a thin line with Jun Gyu next to him. "Is there...really nothing we can do?" Jun Gyu asked quietly. Yongguk shook his head. 

"Maybe if we have found him earlier....we could have save him.... But we would have had to cut his arm off...." Yongguk explained slowly. Yoo Jung sighed at that as tears ran down her face. Then she moved forward and got onto her knees, wrapping her arms around Kyungsoo. 

Kyungsoo could hear Seungho's painful and low grunts and groans from behind the door. But there was nothing he could do. His only blood family was dying, and he felt useless. 

Five years ago.

Sixteen year old Seungho was in the kitchen with his mom, fixing himself a sandwich. His mother was on the phone with his father, he knew because of her tone. "What? Kyungsoo got hurt again? You're going to pick him up? Alright, drive safely since it's pouring outside. Hm, love you too." She hung up some time later and sighed as she walked into the kitchen. 

Seungho placed the second bread over his lettuces, tomatoes, ham, and cut up squash. "Seungho, is that all you're going to eat?" 

Seungho humed in response. 

"Well, I'm going to cook chicken so when your brothers and dad come home we can eat, just eat that one sandwich and eat dinner with us after too got it?"

Seungho smiled a little, "Mom, I have a group meeting today for our project remember? I won't be home until late."

"Yeh!? At this time and in this weather?!" His mother gasped and Seungho chuckled a little. 

"Hm. It's an important project for this semester's grade." 

"But when are you leaving?" 

"In five minutes." 

"B-but, there's no car to take you. Your brothers and father took all three cars and they won't be back anytime soon." She said as she moved closer to Seungho, who was now putting the items away. 

"It's alright, I'll put on my raincoat and take the bike." Seungho said as he tied the top to the bag of bread. 

"I forgot.... You're my strongest son." She smiled at him, "That's why, although you're the youngest. Mom, trust that you would also protect your brothers when they need you." 

Seungho smiled it off and turned to face his mother, "Mom, I'll protect everyone when I'm needed. But I doubt it'll be any time soon." 

His mother smiled and brushed his hair with her bare hand, "You never know. Maybe one day we'll all rely on you. If that happen, you won't be annoyed will you?" 

Seungho sighed and moved away from her touch, "If you're afraid I'll be annoyed then don't put yourself in an situation where I'll have to protect you. Because mom, you're the strongest in the family." 

With that they exchanged a short smile before Seungho place the sandwich on the counter. "Just looking at you, Mom, I'm already full. Kyungsoo likes this, give it to him when he's home. I'll be going now." Seungho said and his mother nodded with her gentle and proud smile still stamped onto her lips. 

Seungho pulled up his sleeve and looked at the bites. A sudden cool breeze washed over him and he shivered in the process. Then he dropped his head down and slowly lost concious. 

End of Chapter 29.