The air in the underground base was thick enough to choke on. Sae Joon Hyun paced a tight, angry circle, his boots scuffing against the concrete floor. He stopped abruptly in front of Ji-Hoon, who was sitting on an upturned crate, looking exhausted and defensive.

"And you're sitting there telling me that was normal?" Sae Joon Hyun's voice was a low, dangerous growl, his eyes burning with a mixture of fury and disbelief.

Ji-Hoon looked up, his own weariness making him seem more younger, more vulnerable. "Hyeong, try to understand-" he began, his voice strained.

"Hush, hush. Fine." Sae Joon Hyun cut him off, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to leash his temper. "I get it. I'll let this be... for now."

[The Past -
Day Sixteen - The Bus to Gyeryong]

Minsoo's smile was a fixed, terrifying thing. It didn't reach his eyes, which remained wide, unblinking pools of blackness. His limbs gave another one of those jerky, unnatural twitches as he watched the new figure approach. She moved with a confident, almost predatory grace that was at odds with their ragged group.

Minsoo's voice, when it came, was laced with a maniacal, mocking edge that sliced through the tense silence. "What do you mean, I can't come? They even checked me for injuries."

"We all know what I mean," She was looking right at Minsoo, but her words were for the group.

Minsoo's fixed smile faltered, just for a microsecond. A flicker of irritation crossed his face. "You..." he murmured, his head tilting. "You are clearly injured, dude." The girl took another step forward, her right hand gripping the neck of a heavy red fire extinguisher. She stopped a mere foot away from him, her gaze unwavering.

His pulse, though he shouldn't have been able to feel it, seemed to hammer in his ears. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice still holding that unnerving, singsong quality. "You don't seem... normal."

"You," she replied, her eyes narrowing to slits, "are the one who is not normal, mister."

"I am human!" The declaration burst from him, more frantic this time, almost desperate, as he pointed at Ji-hoon. "He said so himself! He checked me!"

The woman didn't even blink. Her expression was hard, unforgiving. "I believe he had his reasons for saying that."

Minsoo's twisted smile returned, and he glanced over at Ji-Hoon, his tone becoming conspiratorial, chillingly casual. "Hey, you. This female is suspicious. Let's kill her." He said it like he was suggesting they get lunch.

The girl didn't flinch. She took one final, decisive step into his space. "You are infected," she stated, her voice flat and absolute. "You are one of them. A zombie."

Minsoo's face spasmed. The smile wavered, threatening to collapse. "I... am human," he insisted, the mantra sounding hollow even to his own ears.

"Jeez, just look at your feet!" she snapped, her clinical tone making the horror worse. She pointed at his mangled, bloody toes. "Does that look normal to you? How are you even standing? How are you not screaming in agony?"

"But... my feet don't hurt..." he mumbled, confusion warring with the desperate need to hold onto his delusion.

"Yeah," she said, her voice cold and final. "That's because you can't feel it. You're not human anymore. Accept it."

Something in Minsoo broke. The carefully constructed reality he'd built for himself shattered. His hands began to tremble violently. "I AM HUMAN!" he screamed, the sound raw and hollow, echoing down the deserted road.

Jay, who had been watching with mounting dread, finally found his voice. "Uh... excuse me. Whoever you are, I really think you should stop now..."

The girl ignored him completely, her focus entirely on the fracturing man before her. "But will you look at this," she murmured, almost to herself, as Minsoo's balance began to fail him, his body starting to sway. "He's struggling to even hold the form."

Minsoo crumpled. He fell into a crouch on the cracked asphalt, clutching at his tattered clothes as if they were the last remnants of his identity. His vision swam, his body shuddering with tremors he could no longer control. He looked up, his eyes clouded and pleading, and saw them-Ji-Hoon, Jay, Charyeong-all taking another step back. Their fear was a physical thing, a wall between them.

And that fear ignited something dark and bitter inside him.

"It's all your fault..." The words were a venomous whisper, his voice trembling with a rage that wasn't entirely his own. He glared at Ji-hoon, the grotesque smile twisting into a snarl. "Why did you have to check? Why couldn't you just let me in? If you had just let me join you quietly... I could have stayed human. I could have lived!"

"Yep," Ji-Hoon muttered under his breath, his fists clenching so tight his nails dug into his palms. "We are so fucked."

The movement was too fast to follow. One second the girl was standing there, the next the fire extinguisher swung through the air with a deadly whoosh.

THWUMP.

The sound was sickening, a wet, crushing impact that made everyone flinch. It connected with the side of Minsoo's head, knocking him sideways. He sprawled on the ground, dazed, one hand feebly grasping for her ankles as dark blood began to pour from the wound, splattering across the road and onto Ji-Hoon's shoes.

Ji-Hoon could only stare, horrified, as the girl raised the extinguisher again.

And again.

And again.

The noise was deafening-a brutal symphony of crushing bone and tearing flesh. Blood misted the air, raining down in thick droplets with every impact. Ji-Hoon, Jay, and Charyeong squeezed their eyes shut, then forced them open, unable to look away from the nightmare. They were just kids. They'd seen death, but nothing this... intimate. Nothing this viciously personal.

Finally, it stopped. The only sound was the heavy, metallic breathing of the girl. Minsoo's body lay twitching on the ground, his face a ruined, unrecognizable mess. His neck was bent at an impossible angle, the skin pulped and torn.

The girl straightened up, wiping a spatter of blood from her chin with the back of her left hand. She surveyed her work with a chilling, detached air.

"Those zombie freaks are a headache to deal with when they're mindless," she said, her voice conversational, as if commenting on the weather. "You have no idea what it's like when one of them has a grudge. It's a whole different kind of nightmare."

"What... what do you mean?" Charyeong asked, her voice a thin, trembling thread.

The girl's eyes flicked to her and then Ji-hoon. "He was seconds from turning. And he had your friend's face in his eyes. Once he turned, his only goal would have been to tear him apart. I just...destroyed the process."

Charyeong nodded slowly, the logic cutting through her horror. This was the same thing Eunhye had briefed them on. Her encounter at the American Airport. She managed a shaky bow. "I-I see... Thank you..." The gratitude felt strange, disgusting even, but it was real. This stranger had saved them from a fate worse than death.

"Oh?" The girl looked at her, a flicker of genuine surprise in her eyes. "You're not afraid of me?"

"No," Charyeong said, her voice finding a sliver of strength. She met the girl's gaze. "But more importantly... who are you?"

A slight, grim smile touched her lips. "Su-Yeong. Nam Su-Yeong."

"I'm Charyeong. This is Jay, and that's... Ji-Hoon." She motioned weakly toward the boys, who were still pale and shell-shocked.

"So what are you all doing out here?" Su-Yeong asked, her sharp eyes taking in their relatively clean, blue clothes, their bus. "You on some kind of field trip?"

"Oh, we came to check on something," Charyeong explained hesitantly. "But we were wrong, so now we're making a detour."

"What weren't you right about?"

"Andong... we thought it might be the next target for the rescue mission-"

"Wait, wait." Su-Yeong held up a hand, her brow furrowing. "A rescue mission?"

"Oh. You didn't see it on television?" Charyeong asked, suddenly remembering how fragmented the world had become.

Su-Yeong let out a short, dry laugh. "That's a privilege I don't have out here."

"Sorry... We're from Seoul. We saw the news before we left..."

Su-Yeong's demeanor shifted, a spark of desperate hope in her eyes. "So... we're going to be saved? They're coming?"

"The operation hadn't started in Andong yet when we left," Charyeong clarified gently. "We're heading to Gyeryong. That's where they said it would begin."

Su-Yeong absorbed this, her hope dimming slightly. "I see. Well, off you go then. If you ever drive back through the road to Andong, let me know what's happening."

Charyeong hesitated, then took a leap of faith. "About that... how would you feel about tagging along with us?"

Su-Yeong stared at her as if she'd just grown a second head. "Excuse me? How do you just trust people so easily? You just watched me do... that."

Charyeong offered a wry, tired smile. "Heh... would a zombie kill its own kind?"

Su-Yeong was silent for a beat, then a real, albeit grim, smirk touched her lips. "You're right. How come the monsters are more unified than the humans? That's the shittiest truth of all this."

"Hah... ironic, isn't it?" Charyeong agreed, the bitterness a familiar taste. "Come on. I have spare clothes. I don't think you want to travel covered in... that."

Jay and Ji-Hoon, who had been listening silently, nodded their agreement. They were too shaken to protest.

Young, who had been watching from the bus door, hit the button to open it. As Su-Yeong stepped onboard, Minji, who had seen everything from the window, looked at her with wide, grateful eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice sincere. "Thank you so much."

The thanks didn't stop. She was fumbling too much to be able to pull the trigger when Su-yeong appeared and smashed Minsoo's form. Or, whatever he was. As they pulled back onto the road, a quiet, stunned gratitude filled the bus.

[The Past -
Meanwhile - The Bus To Boseong]

Sae Joon Hyun's grip on the steering wheel was the only thing keeping him anchored. The resting state of the bus was their chance at vigilance before driving away again. Then, a buzz from the passenger seat broke the silence. He glanced down. His phone screen glowed with a new message.

"Oh," he said, his voice flat. "I just got a message. From Mina."

Next to him, Eunhye groaned, slumping in her seat. "Ugh. Mina. What does she want now?" The name was dripping with disdain.

Sae Joon Hyun chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. "Oh, come on, Eunhye-ssi. She's not all that bad."

"Sure she isn't," Eunhye muttered, rolling her eyes so hard it was a wonder they stayed in her head. "What does the princess of hate have to say for herself?"

Sae Joon Hyun scooped up the phone, squinting at the screen. "'Oppa. There has been some trouble,'" he read aloud. He paused, scrolling. "...and that's it? That's the whole message?"

"What?" Eunhye shot upright, leaning over to peer at the screen herself. "What is that supposed to mean? 'Some trouble'? That's dangerously vague."

Sae Joon Hyun's expression turned grim. His jaw tightened. "I... Let's go back. Back to Seoul." The decision was made in an instant.

"Back to Seoul?" Eunhye's voice shifted from annoyed to concerned in a heartbeat. She twisted in her seat to face the back. "Yon! In-Ha ma'am!" she called out. "Change of plans. We're turning around."

From the back, Yon's confused voice echoed. "Huh? Why? What's up? What's going on?"

Sae Joon Hyun didn't answer. Instead, he checked his mirrors and, without warning, wrenched the steering wheel, pulling a hard, skidding U-turn on the empty highway. The bus tires screeched in protest.

"What the heck!" Yon yelled, grabbing onto his seat as he was thrown sideways. "Do you want to kill us?"

Eunhye turned back to look at In-Ha, who was gripping her armrests, her face pale. "What's happening?" In-Ha asked, her voice small and scared.

Eunhye just shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. She refused to answer, which only made the tension thicker.

In-Ha's breathing started to quicken. "Eunhye? Is... is something wrong in Seoul?" The silence was her answer. "Eunhye!!" she cried out, her voice rising in pitch. "Tell me! Are they okay? Is Kaneisyeon okay?!"

"M-miss In-Ha, please, c-calm down..." Eunhye tried, but it was useless.

"What is going on? Tell me!" In-Ha screamed, her composure shattering.

"We don't know!" Eunhye finally exploded, her own fear making her sharp. "Joon just got a stupid, cryptic message from Mina saying there's trouble! That's all we know!"

"Trouble? Did you try calling them? Anyone?" In-Ha demanded, frantic.

"I did! I called Yuri. I called Jaeyeon. Because I am stupid! I forgot that the martial law is in motion and we can barely handle texting short messages. Calls won't go through, ma'am! Lord knows when our messenger apps stop working as well!"

"Ugh... now what..." In-Ha's voice broke, tears of frustration and fear welling in her eyes. "Are they okay? What's happening?!"

Before Eunhye could form another word, Sae Joon Hyun slammed his foot on the brake pedal.

The bus screeched to a violent, jarring halt. The force threw Yon forward into the back of In-Ha's seat. Eunhye was thrown against her seatbelt, the strap cutting into her collarbone. In-Ha gasped, clinging to her armrests for dear life.

"What the hell, Sae Joon Hyun! Why did you-" Eunhye's furious question died in her throat.

She looked over at him. His head was bowed, his forehead resting against the top of the steering wheel. His eyes were squeezed shut, his body slumped forward as if all the strength had suddenly left him. He looked utterly defeated, barely conscious.

In-Ha, her panic now mixed with fury, turned on him. "Why did you stop? What is wrong with you?!" she yelled.