All eyes were glued to the scarred stranger, his unsettling presence sucking the air from the space. Mina, her lip still stinging, was the first to crack under the pressure. She spun towards Yuri, her eyes wide not with concern, but with a frantic, accusing need to understand the incomprehensible.

"Wha—" her voice came out as a croak. She swallowed, trying again. "What happened to him?" The question was aimed at Yuri, a hissed whisper that carried in the dead air.

Yuri blinked, pulled from her own terrified stupor. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. What could she possibly say? Why was Mina asking her this anyway?

The delay was all Mina needed. Her momentary vulnerability vanished, burned away by a flash of pure, unadulterated rage. "I asked what is wrong with him, you stupid old hag!" she shrieked, the words slicing through the tension like a knife.

Yuri flinched back as if struck, her mouth still agape in shock.

That was enough for Jaeyeon. He moved instantly, stepping between Mina and Yuri, his own temper igniting. "HEY!" he roared, his voice vibrating with a fury that made the jeep's windows rattle. "WHY DO YOU KEEP PICKING ON EVERYONE? ARE YOU INSANE?"

Mina whirled on him, a cornered animal. "What on earth? Stop yelling at me!" she shot back, but her voice lacked its usual cutting power; it was shrill, desperate.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN STOP YELLING AT YOU?" Jaeyeon took a step forward, his fists clenched at his sides. "If you could be less of a bitch I would not even as much as raise my voice at you, you know. But you had to go and act that way—"

"Shut up!" she screamed, cutting him off. The fear was there now, plain in her eyes, masquerading as anger. "You are all the ones who keep picking on me! All of you!"

Jaeyeon let out a harsh, disgusted laugh. "Stop being so delusional. No one wants to kill you here. You are so fucking annoying." He shook his head, the fight suddenly draining out of him, replaced by a profound weariness. "Just forget it. Talking to you makes me feel nauseous."

He turned his back on her, a final, dismissive gesture. He reached for Yuri's hand, his touch gentle compared to the venom of moments before. "Come on," he muttered, not looking back. Together, they pushed the jeep door open and stepped out into the cool morning air, the door slamming shut behind them with a sound of absolute finality. Since it was confirmed that no zombies were around as of the moment, no one stopped them from leaving the jeep.

Mina was left in the center of the jeep, the echo of the slam ringing in her ears. Her chest heaved. "Hah," she let out a shaky, breathy laugh. "You are just scared. Aren't you... I know it." She was talking to the closed door, to everyone and no one. Her voice rose, becoming a shrill declaration to the silent, judgmental faces around her. "I am so fucking pretty that you can't handle it. Isn't it? It's hard to argue with a beauty and brain isn't it? ISN'T THAT FUCKING IT!?"

Her screams faded into a choked silence. No one answered. They just stared.

Outside, the world was unnervingly still. The warm air was cool and clean, washing away the stale terror of the jeep. Above, the sun shone brightly, indifferent to the chaos below. The silence was a physical relief.

Yuri hugged herself, shivering despite the mild temperature. "Why are we outside?" she asked, her voice small.

Jaeyeon ran a hand through his hair, the gesture tired. "Because," he sighed, the anger gone, leaving only a hollowed-out exhaustion. "I am sick of all this. And then that student... she just got under my skin."

"But Jaeyeon—" Yuri started, her nerves evident.

He cut her off, not with anger, but with a simple statement. "There are no zombies here." He looked up, tilting his head back. "And the sky just looks disgustingly beautiful." He was right. The clouds were achingly perfect, a cruel joke. "Let's just... stay here for a while."

Yuri nodded slowly, the tension in her shoulders easing. They stood side by side in the quiet, two figures under an infinite sky, stealing a moment of peace they knew couldn't last.

Back inside the metal box, the atmosphere was still thick with Mina's outburst. Sae Joon Hyun decided to try and lance the boil. He kept his voice low, polite, but firm. "Mina," he began. "Why do you keep making trouble?"

"Shut up," she snapped immediately, not even looking at him. "Don't talk to me. You are all insane." She curled her lip. "Just remember that these pandemics spread like wildfire. We'll be dead if you all keep acting like fucking donation banks."

Sae Joon Hyun's brow furrowed in genuine confusion. "What are we donating again?"

"Your lives!" she spat, clenching her fists. "Ugh. Freaking insane." She slumped back in her seat, radiating a toxic mix of defiance and petulance.

Sae Joon Hyun sighed, turning his attention to Eunhye. "Eunhye Noona," he said, his tone shifting to one of serious concern. "She is not wrong."

A triumphant, smug grin spread across Mina's face. She shot a look at Eunhye that screamed I told you so.

Eunhye, however, remained preternaturally calm. She met Sae Joon Hyun's gaze, ignoring Mina completely. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Sae Joon Hyun stood and moved to crouch in front of her. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders, forcing her to look directly into his eyes. "Look. I know you want to help. I know your heart is in the right place. But we can't continue like this." He glanced briefly at the silent, scarred man, recalling how Eunhye had asked the team to allow any or all survivors if they come across into the group. "We don't know if they are bitten. We don't know if the virus works differently on different people. We know nothing. It won't hurt to be a little cautious. For all our sakes."

Eunhye held his gaze, her expression softening but her resolve firm. "I understand the fear," she said, her voice steady. "But what if they are fine? What if they are just people, trying to survive like us? What if this isn't what we think it is? What about our humanity?" Her questions hung in the air, a quiet counterpoint to his pragmatic fear.

They were so engrossed in their quiet debate that they all jumped when a new voice spoke, clear and clinical, from the shadows.

"About the boy."

It was In-Ha. She was sitting upright now, her hands folded neatly in her lap. She hadn't looked at them before speaking, as if she were simply noting an observation to the air.

Everyone flinched. Mina, her nerves already shot, shot to her feet. "Can you be a little careful?" she screeched. "Where did you pop up from anyway? Don't scare us like that!"

For once, a murmur of agreement ran through the group. Nods were exchanged. She’d spooked them all.

In-Ha, utterly unfazed, merely shrugged her shoulders. "He was hit on the head. It's not too bad, I have aided him. He should wake up in an hour or so." Having delivered her report, she settled back into her spot as if nothing had happened.

A beat of awkward silence followed. Then, a small voice piped up.

"I'm hungry." It was Charyeong, hugging her knees to her chest.

The simple, human need was like a spellbreaker. "Me too," Ji-Hoon said, raising his hand slightly.

Yon and Eugene followed suit, raising their hands as if in a classroom.

Young shrugged, a faint smile on his face. "I mean, we can't control hunger." Minji nodded vigorously beside him.

Sae Joon Hyun nodded. "We have chocolate bars in the bag," he said, just as the jeep door opened and Yuri and Jaeyeon reentered, their faces noticeably calmer.

Yuri looked around at the gathered hands. "What is going on here?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

Eunhye was already unzipping the duffel bag. "They are hungry," she said simply, pulling out the precious chocolate bars and handing one to each person. They had raided everything they could when they left the convenience store. But most of the items had rotted or spilled and gone bad.

The simple act of eating, the shared, quiet munching, brought a semblance of normalcy. The sky outside the windows deepened to a warmer blue.

It was Jay who broke the comfortable silence, his voice quiet and heavy. "How long..." he began, staring down at his worn sneakers. "How long do we have to stay like this?"

Charyeong pulled her knees tighter to her chest. "They are coming to rescue us. Don't worry..." she said, but her voice lacked conviction, and her eyes remained fixed on the floor.

No one had an answer. The hope felt thin, existing, but thin.

The fragile peace was shattered in an instant.

A blood-curdling scream ripped through the jeep. In-Ha was thrashing, her chocolate bar forgotten, her nails scraping wildly at the leather seat as if trying to claw her way out of her own skin. Hailey, sobbing, tried to cling to her, to hold her still.

"Oh no! We are not ready for this yet..." Yuri's voice was a panicked whisper, all her regained composure gone.

Eunhye was at In-Ha's side in a flash, her hands trying to gentle the frantic woman. "In-Ha, shhh, it's okay, we're here—"

Jaeyeon didn't need instructions. He vaulted into the driver's seat, key already in hand. The engine roared to life. "Where are we going?" Minji cried out, her voice tight with fear.

"A hospital. Any hospital," Jaeyeon gritted out, slamming the jeep into gear and lurching forward.

Eyes scanned the streets, frantically searching for a symbol of hope, a red cross. They had come across several of those, but they either seemed completely destroyed, or infused with zombies. "There!" Eunhye pointed, her hand trembling. "There's a hospital there. The building looks fine!"

Jaeyeon didn't hesitate. He spun the wheel, hitting the brakes hard near the front gate. Everyone inside swayed, holding onto In-Ha to keep her from tumbling. The zombies that had tried to follow them were shot down by Sae Joon Hyun and Minji as much as they could. The rest were left behind by the jeep's speed.

They remained quite for a while. Until the zombies around walk away, losing interest in the quiet. An observation they were now completely in hold of.

Eunhye turned to Sae Joon Hyun, her eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears. "How do we..." her voice broke.

Sae Joon Hyun swallowed hard, the weight of leadership settling on his shoulders. "Yon. Ji-Hoon. Jay. Jaeyeon. Need your help," he barked, the order clear. The named men nodded, their faces set in grim determination as they piled out of the jeep. They weren't surrounded anymore.

"We need a stretcher from inside," Sae Joon Hyun said quickly. "Young, Minji, you keep the others safe. The rest of us, we get In-Ha inside. Let's move. Now."

They glanced at the heavy main gates of the hospital.

And froze.

The building wasn't empty. It was a sea of slow, shuffling movement. Dozens of them. Maybe more. Their groans filled the air, a low, dissonant choir of the damned. They limped and swayed.

Sae Joon Hyun's face went pale. "Shit," he breathed, the word barely audible. "We are busted."

[Unidentified Seoul streets
Su-yeong & Hamin]

Hamin was on his knees, his hands hovering over Su-Yeong's form. Her uniform was torn, her skin a canvas of ugly purple bruises and deep, worrying wounds. One of her arms lay at a sickening angle.

"Su-Yeong," his voice was a dry rasp. "Are you... okay?" It was a stupid question. The most stupid question ever asked.

Her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked slowly, her gaze cloudy and unfocused. "Hamin-ah?" she croaked.

"Su-Yeong," he uttered her name again, a prayer and a sob.

"Can you hear me well?" he asked, his heart hammering against his ribs.

"Hamin-ah." Her voice was a little stronger, laced with confusion and pain. "What happened to me?"

Hamin took a shaky breath. The words felt like glass in his throat. "Su-Yeong... you were bitten."

For a second, there was nothing. Then a weak, disbelieving laugh escaped her cracked lips. "What... haha... Hahaha..." The laugh died as her eyes focused on his arm. On the angry, red scratches marring his skin. "And you?" she asked, the reality dawning, slow and terrible.

"I don't know," he whispered, looking down at the marks. "You scratched me... when I was trying to save you..."

The memory hit her then, a jumbled, terrifying flash. The teeth. The panic. Hamin pulling at her. Her own hand, swinging out wildly, connecting with his arm.

A strange, sheepish smile spread across Su-Yeong's face. It was utterly bizarre given the circumstances. "I don't feel weird at all," she said, her tone almost conversational.

Hamin's head snapped up. "What? What do you mean?" Confusion and a tiny, forbidden sliver of hope warred within him.

Su-Yeong tried to sit up, wincing but managing it. "I mean, I don't feel any different. Shouldn't I be feeling... something? By now?"

Hamin just stared, shaking his head slowly. The unknown had never felt so vast, or so terrifying. "I don't know, Su-Yeong," he admitted, his voice hollow. "I don't know what any of this means."

They sat together in the filth of the abandoned alley Hamin had taken them into. To hide, to seal themselves away from the zombies as much as they could.