The building they’d been staying in was a rusty apartment three stories tall. The wallpaper was white and had a pure and cozy feel to it; however, on the outside it was a whole other story. Red bricks were falling and unevenly lined against the walls.

The original owners of the building seemed to have run their own business back then as well since the first floor appeared to be a tiny restaurant with a kitchen, while the second floor held furniture for a lounging center. Lastly, the third was a master room blocking in three single beds. To the side there was a cot, a cot occupied by Seungho.

Seungho stood up from the cot, and Kyungsoo followed him. If Kyungsoo took another step to the side they would be standing In parallels. He remained in his steps, waiting for the older to move aside, but what was to come disappointed him.

Kyungsoo couldn't let Seungho get away this time without an explanation. If the laws of the humans still applied to their lives, he was sure his younger brother would be guilty of murder. Kyungsoo poked the younger man for any reactions or expressions. He showed none. "Seungho, you usually have a reason for your actions, but last night, the look in your eyes… It wasn't like you."

Seungho could sense that his changing personality was making Kyungsoo uncomfortable and scared, but what would you expect from someone living in a world that was crawling with zombies? They were bound to change in order to survive, right? However, Kyungsoo hadn't changed.

"Kyungsoo, don’t ask me about the decisions I make from now on." He looked into Kyungsoo's dark pupils. "I beg of you." With that he slipped past Kyungsoo and out of the tiny but spacey room. A deep pain rose in his eyes, and he couldn't bring himself to stop or counter Seungho's statement.

Downstairs Yongguk and Zelo cracked jokes and laughed, an opened glass of beer in each hand. Zelo sat on the high chair with a boring brown cushion near the unsanitized counter while his older friend sat on the low couch with his legs spread apart as he he leaned far back. The furniture near that appeared tiny compared to his larger body. Seungho thought they had gone out to look for food, which Kyungsoo had told him, but the men were not out.

Seungho entered the room, and they were left with fading smiles on their faces. "Oh, you're up?" Yongguk asked, but Seungho chose not to answer him just because they were laughing.

The poker-faced man hated the sound of laughter. Laughter was only for happy, good. There was nothing to laugh about; now there were zombies moving about, desperate for human flesh even when they could go on for years without eating.

"Who's keeping watch?" Seungho asked.

"Jun Gyu." Yongguk answered coolly.

"From where?" Seungho asked again, and this time Yongguk wasn't sure whether the man was looking for a specific answer or was just trying to .

"Er, first floor?" He said with a questioning tone, and Seungho decided to check himself.

On the first floor Jun Gyu's mouth was sealed as he locked his lips together to gain strength. Countless zombies pushing against the two glass doors, the old man drenched in his own sweat, he was left alone to fend for himself. He supported the lock in its place in case the banging loosened and budged it to unlock. In his mind he was cursing the others, but at the same time he was traumatized by the eerie sight of the zombies and his drained strength.

The lock, the tables, and the chairs were the only objects stopping the dead from making their way in.

Seungho was halfway down the stairs between the first and second floor when he heard the cries. Without another thought he hurried down and entered the kitchen-like room. "Jun Gyu!" He sprinted over and slams his back against the door to balance the door in between them and the zombies just in case the zombies overpowered their side and forced the doors open.

"Guys, get down here!" Seungho tried yelling to the other three in the building.

"S-Seungho, I can't! I can't hold on anymore!" Jun Gyu yelled as he tried to breathe for air. Yongguk was the first to appear after hearing Seungho's call, and Zelo was right on his tail. They quickly held the doors with their backs, feeling the pounding of the zombies from behind the glass. They grunted and groaned in unison with the zombies’ lifeless moans.

Kyungsoo was the last to join them, but he wasn't alone. Somehow a man held Kyungsoo as a hostage, a knife to his neck, as they came down the stairs. Their positions left Kyungsoo's side with puzzled expressions. Seungho was especially surprised.

The man had a black cloth tied over his forehead and a hairy face. He hadn't shaved in a while. It wasn’t that he cared; it gave him the appearance of a madman after all. He was physically bigger than Kyungsoo. His built would place him in the heavyweight class, and he was taller, too.

"Get away from the door, or I will kill him!" He demanded, his voice strong and raspy. Seungho wasn't about to let the man harm his older brother, and he insisted upon pulling out his gun, but it wasn't on him. He cursed himself for not having it when time called for it. "I said get away from it!" The man yelled again, except this time it was loud enough to break one's eardrums.

Seungho had no choice but to call them off. Before he could, Yongguk snuck a box cutter into Seungho's bare palm. Seungho felt its coolness and grabbed it with a strong grip. He had never thrown a knife or any sharp objects before, but if he wanted to save Kyungsoo now, he had to give it a shot.

Yongguk waited for Seungho to attack, to kill the stranger with one stab to the head, but he was stalling.

When the man was convinced they weren't going to listen, he placed the blade of the knife against Kyungsoo's bare upper arm and made a clean cut. Kyungsoo let out a cry and then bit the pain down. He didn't want Seungho to do anything crazy, and he definitely didn't want the others to worry.

Seungho looked into Kyungsoo’s teary eyes, which were filled with fear and pain.

Jun Gyu had his hands on the lock, but he couldn't stand to lose Kyungsoo, especially when it was all thanks to the young man that he was able to stay with them. "Can't we talk this out? Please don't hurt him." Jun Gyu begged the man, sounding a little harsh due to his exhaustion; however, the man seemed ready to slaughter Kyungsoo on the spot anytime.

"I said move away from the--!"

Zelo jumped in when he, too, was just as exhausted and pissed, "Why do you want us to move, mister? Can't you see all these zombies behind us? What if they get in?! We'll all die!"

"Shut your mouth--!" The man shouted, but another unfamiliar person's voice stopped him. Everyone's attention was now on a young woman with long, wavy, black hair; her pale skin was marked with dirt and sad colors.

"Father, that's enough. Let the man go to his people! Please!" She begged, and slowly the man lowered his knife, releasing his arm from around Kyungsoo's neck. Although the heated situation seemed to be fading, Seungho found it to be the perfect chance to attack. He flipped the box cutter open and charged toward the three near the kitchen. "No!" The girl screamed.

Seungho stabbed the blade into the man's shoulder, and blood dripped down his arm. The bright red color outshone the color of the man's dark skin and clothes. The girl moved to support her tumbling father while Seungho moved Kyungsoo away from the strangers. He seated Kyungsoo on the tiled floor and against the wall. Seungho squatted down beside him.

"They're moving in, !" Yongguk shouted when he felt the unwanted bodies slowly making their ways in. He pushed harder against the door using his back as Zelo turned from his back to facing the doors. He pushed both palms against the smeared glass.

Seungho tore the bottom piece of his long shirt and wrapped it around Kyungsoo's arm as tight as he possibly could to stop the bleeding.

On the side the girl called for her unconcious dad; he was knocked out due to the lack of sleep and loss of blood. "Help me! Someone save my father please!" She cried. Kyungsoo watched them from the side, and when Seungho was finished tying, Kyungsoo grabbed Seungho's arm.

"Help her," he whispered with all his strength. Seungho slapped away his brother's hand.

"Worry about yourself. I'll end them quickly." Seungho said, but Kyungsoo shakes his head in disapproval and gripped Seungho's arm this time.

"Spare them. Help her. Save her father."

Seungho was getting angry. His older brother always wanted to save everyone, but he wanted him to understand that they didn't need numbers to survive or live on. Seungho only needed Kyungsoo; he was all that mattered.

"Seungho, save her father." He said once more, and this time Seungho stood up upright and sighed.

"I can't. He almost killed you!"

"But he didn't kill me! I'm still alive! So save him, Yoo Seungho!" Kyungsoo raised his voice and used his brother's full name. Seungho was aware that when his family used his whole name, it meant he better obey, or they would do whatever they could to make him regret it. That was the only reason why he hated being the youngest child of the family. "Please, Seungho...." In the end Kyungsoo asked him under a whisper.

Seungho blocked everything out for a moment: the grunts and groans of his struggling group members, the crying of the unknown girl calling her father's name desperately, and the unclear moans of the dead. All the three sounds mixed together and dropped into his hearing like a bomb. He saw Kyungsoo's large, rounded eyes searching for his smaller ones.

"Fine."

End of Chapter 3