The heavy metal lift groaned its way back down to the ground, a sound that seemed to echo the collective anxiety of the group. Minwoo was practically vibrating with a frantic, desperate energy.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking with relief as he practically launched himself into the lift cabin, jostling the others. He didn't stop moving, hopping from foot to foot even as the lift ascended, and was the first one to scramble back into the waiting jeep.

The interior of the vehicle felt different now. Cramped. The air, which had moments before been filled with the tension of their escape, was now thick with a new, unsettling presence. Sitting silently in the shadows of the back seat was the man with the burnt scars—Jeha. His staff was propped against his leg, and his unreadable eyes tracked them as they piled in.

In-Ha, carefully adjusting the tiny, sleeping bundle in her arms, was the first to address him directly. Her voice was soft, maternal. "Are you okay now?" she asked, her gaze flicking from his scars to his eyes.

He gave a single, slow nod. His attention, however, wasn't on his own condition. It was on the baby. "Are you okay?" he asked In-Ha. His voice was a surprise—a low, coarse rasp, like rocks grinding together. It was the first time they’d heard him speak more than a grunt.

In-Ha’s face broke into a warm, genuine smile. "Yes," she said, and the simple word was filled with a profound, weary happiness. "We are."

Yuri, clutching Jaeyeon's arm for courage, found her voice. "Can you... can you tell us how you managed to get through those zombies? Back there?" The image of him simply walking past the vehicle was burned into all their minds.

The man—Jeha—turned his heavy gaze to her. Yuri’s grip on Jaeyeon tightened. He sighed, a sound that seemed to carry the weight of the entire broken world. "I am Jeha," he stated, as if that explained everything. He gestured vaguely at his own chest. "And I am not a man. Can't you see?"

Yuri blinked, confused. "But—"

"The way you look at me makes it clear," he interrupted, his tone flat, almost bored. "I am not that old, alright." He shifted, the leather of the seat creaking. "And about whatever you just said...there were none outside. Before coming here though, I beat them up."

Yuri stared, her teacherly composure slipping. "You beat them up?" The idea was ludicrous.

Jeha’s scarred eyebrow twitched. "Who are you?" he asked, though it sounded more like a challenge.

"I am Yuri. A Professor," she replied, straightening her spine.

"Right. Yes. I beat them up, Seonsangnim," he said, the honorific sounding strangely formal coming from him.

"How?" The question burst from Yuri, fueled by equal parts disbelief and a desperate need to understand.

Jeha lifted the gnarled wooden staff beside him. "With this."

A cold silence fell over the jeep. Yuri’s voice dropped to a horrified whisper. "You... killed them?"

"No," he said, shaking his head with a grim finality. "I don't think they die like that."

It was In-Ha who broke the tension, her voice gentle, steering the conversation away from the brutal mechanics of survival. "Are you a student, Jeha?"

"Yeah," he said, and for the first time, a flicker of something—pride?—crossed his features. "From Incheon."

"Incheon?" In-Ha repeated, her brows furrowing. That was miles away.

"Yeah."

"I see." Her tone was soft, probing without being intrusive. "Jeha, what were you doing out here all alone in Seoul?"

He shrugged, a gesture that made him look younger, more vulnerable beneath the scars. "I don't know. Someone started acting weird in our school. The students ran out. I did as well." He spoke in a monotone, as if reciting a dream. "Then we saw a train and boarded it. Somehow I ended up here. In Seoul."

"Hah? I—I see." In-Ha sighed, a wave of sadness washing over her. "Anyway, we are sorry for what we thought about you... the marks on your face..." Her voice was full of genuine remorse.

Jeha just looked out the window. "Yeah. Whatever."

The dismissal was like a match to gasoline for Mina. Her silence shattered. "YOU ARE A FREAKING STUDENT?" she screamed, her voice screeching through the jeep, making several people jump. The zombies behind the net in the hospital began groaning louder as well.

Jeha didn't even flinch. He just gave a slow, bored nod.

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME, YOU LOWLY IDIOT!" Spittle flew from her lips as she leaned toward him, her face contorted with rage.

Tch. Jeha clicked his tongue, a sound of pure, unadulterated annoyance. He didn't look at her, but his entire posture seemed to radiate a cold, intimidating energy that washed over her. "Can you not start that again?"

The command, so quiet and yet so absolute, silenced her. She snapped her mouth shut, her fists clenching and unclenching in her lap, seething but cowed. Minwoo, all the while, sat silently in the corner, observing the exchange with wide, anxious eyes.

Jaeyeon, sensing the tension had reached a breaking point, turned the key. The jeep's engine roared to life, a welcome distraction. "Everyone hold on," he muttered, and they pulled away from the hospital, leaving its fragile sanctuary behind.

They had been driving for what felt like an eternity, the road a monotonous, broken ribbon under a gray sky. Times when they encountered the zombies, Jaeyeon would silently park the jeep and let the silence settle until they walked away. They had to save their fight as much as they could and survive without hurting themselves. Then, without warning, the jeep hit a series of deep potholes hidden by overgrown grass.

Jerk. Bounce. Jolt.

The vehicle shuddered violently. Minwoo, who had been lost in thought, was thrown forward. He grabbed onto the side wall for support, his knuckles white. The impact triggered a sudden, harsh coughing fit that wracked his slender frame.

"Are you okay?" Yohan asked, leaning forward from the seat beside him, his face etched with concern.

Minwoo nodded weakly, waving a hand as he tried to catch his breath. "Must have choked on my saliva," he muttered, his voice hoarse.

But the jerks didn't stop. The road was a nightmare. Each new jolt sent a fresh tremor through the jeep. Minwoo clung to the wall, his whole body trembling with the effort. His face, already pale, took on a greenish, waxy hue.

"Ugh," he groaned, slumping against the seat. "I feel sick."

"You have motion sickness?" Yohan's concern deepened. He moved closer to him.

"I guess..." Minwoo admitted, swallowing hard. "This is not a good feeling."

Then it happened. Another violent lurch. Minwoo's body convulsed, and a wet, ragged cough tore from his throat. It wasn't saliva he choked on. It was a fine, crimson spray that misted the air in front of him, followed by a thicker trickle of blood that dripped from his lips onto his shirt.

Yohan's eyes widened in pure alarm. "Minwoo!" He scrambled over, his hands hovering, unsure. He settled for rubbing Minwoo's back with tense, frantic motions. "In-Ha ma'am! Do you have any medicine? Anything?" he called out, his voice sharp with urgency.

In-Ha, her own maternal instincts kicking in, nodded, motioning Jeha to rummage through her bag. "I guess I might have something I had picked up when I left my house, one second—"

BAM! The jeep hit another crater-like hole. The bag flew from Jeha's hands, its contents scattering across the dirty floor mats with a clatter.

"Jaeyeon, do you mind?!" In-Ha snapped, her frustration and fear boiling over.

Jaeyeon, his own nerves frayed, gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. "How is this my fault, In-Ha ma'am? The road's bad!" he shot back, his voice strained.

Ignoring him, Jeha dropped to her hands and knees, desperately feeling around in the dim light for a pill bottle, a packet, anything. In-Ha held the baby close, looking at the mat, searching for anything she could with her eyes to help him.

Yohan kept rubbing Minwoo's back, but the gesture was now frantic, helpless. Minwoo gasped for air, each breath a wet, horrible sound. And then Yohan saw it. He froze, his hand stopping mid-motion.

Minwoo's hands, where they gripped his own knees, were changing. The skin was losing its color, turning a sickly, pale gray, like old clay.

"Uh...are you sure it's motion sickness?" Yohan asked, his voice dropping to a whisper. He began to slowly, instinctively, move away, rising from his seat.

Minwoo nodded, but he wouldn't meet Yohan's eyes. "Yeah..." he rasped. "And it hurts."

One by one, the others rose to the corner of the jeep as much as they could, their movements slow and horrified, like they were caught in a nightmare. They watched, unable to look away, as the transformation accelerated.

Minwoo's skin wasn't just pale; it was ashen. A clump of his hair loosened and fell onto the seat beside him. He began to scratch at his ears and nose, not like someone with an itch, but with a frantic, violent fury. His nails dug into his skin, and from the scratches oozed a thick, greenish, foul-looking fluid mixed with blood.

"Minwoo..." Yohan breathed, his voice full of dread.

With a sudden, jerky movement, Minwoo unlatched the window beside him and leaned out. The sound of his retching was awful, followed by the splatter of vomit—mostly blood now—hitting the road rushing past. When he pulled himself back in, panting, his face was a grotesque mask. His eyes were filmed with a sickly, veiny red.

"Uh, sorry about that," he managed to whisper, a pathetic attempt at normalcy.

Eunhye was the first to find her voice, though it was thick with terror. "Get out," she gulped, pressing herself against the wall of the jeep.

"No, no, no," Minwoo pleaded, his red-rimmed eyes wide with a desperate, fading humanity. "It's not what you think. I get really sick in cars, I swear—"

"Leave us," Eunhye begged, her fear overriding everything else.

His legs gave out then. He collapsed into a crouch, clutching at his stomach, his whole body shaking. "Just give me some medicine," he whimpered, his voice becoming something else, something guttural.

Jeha scrabbled backward on the floor, his search for medicine forgotten. He hit the back of Jaeyeon's seat with a thud. "Minwoo," In-Ha then said, her voice trembling but clear. Her baby held close to her chest. "You have to understand. You are infected..."

The words seemed to trigger something final. Minwoo’s head snapped up. The desperation in his eyes was snuffed out, replaced by a blank, predatory hunger. He stood up slowly, unnaturally. A low, guttural snarl rumbled in his chest, a sound that didn't belong to any human.

"Ah!" Eunhye screamed, her eyes wildly scanning the jeep for anything to use as a weapon.

Yon moved faster than thought. He grabbed Minwoo by the shoulder and shoved him down onto the jeep mat with brutal force. Minwoo landed in a heap.

"Now, Ji-Hoon!" Yon barked.

Ji-Hoon, his face a mask of terror, fumbled with the door latch and flung it open, leaping back as wind and noise whipped into the jeep.

Yon drew his leg back to kick the writhing form out of the moving vehicle.

But as Yon's foot connected, Minwoo's hand shot out with impossible speed. It wasn't Yon he grabbed. It was Yohan's ankle.

"Yohan!" Hailey shrieked.

With a strength that defied his slender frame, Minwoo yanked, pulling Yohan off balance. Yohan cried out, tumbling through the open door. He hit the asphalt head-first with a sickening, final crack.

The jeep sped on.

For a horrifying second, they saw Yohan's body, limp and broken on the road. And they saw Minwoo, already crawling toward him, pouncing, his form blurring with a horrific, frenzied hunger.

The sound that came from Hailey then was not a scream. It was a raw, primal wail of utter desolation. "YOHAN!"

She lunged for the open door, her entire body straining to throw herself out after him. "YOHAN! PLEASE! NO! COME BACK!"

Minyoung and Charyeong caught her just in time, wrapping their arms around her waist and hauling her back, their own faces streaked with tears as she thrashed and screamed, her cries tearing through the air, a sound of pure, unadulterated grief amidst the horde of zombies that lunged towards Yohan from all the noise and began feeding on him.

Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...

The sound was soft, electronic. A monitor?

Hailey blinked. The world swam back into focus. She was in the jeep. It was quiet. Peaceful.

"We have chocolate bars in the bag," Sae Joon Hyun was saying, his voice calm.

She turned her head. Yuri and Jaeyeon were looking at him. "What is going on here?" Yuri asked, her tone one of mild curiosity, not terror.

Eunhye unzipped the bag and started handing out chocolate bars. "They are hungry," she said simply.

Hailey took one numbly. She looked around. Everyone was munching quietly. The sky outside was still warm from the morning sun. It was... normal.

"How long..." Jay began, his voice heavy with a boredom she remembered. "how long do we have to stay like this?"

Charyeong hugged her knees. "They are coming to rescue us. Don't worry..." She wasn't looking at Jay.

Then, it happened. Exactly as before.

In-Ha dropped her chocolate bar. She began to scream, clawing at the seat. Hailey, on autopilot, felt tears spring to her eyes and held onto her nervously.

"Oh no! We are not ready for this yet..." Yuri said, her voice trembling.

Eunhye tried to calm In-Ha. Jaeyeon jumped into the driver's seat. The engine roared. "Where are we going?" Minji asked.

"A hospital. Any hospital."

Hailey’s head whipped around, her eyes scanning the faces. Her heart stopped. Then leaped into her throat.

Yohan. He was there. Sitting right beside her, alive. Whole. A faint blush on his cheeks as he looked at her, confused.

The relief was a physical blow. "Ah! You are alive!" The words tore from her before she could stop them. She let go of In-Ha and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder, sobbing with a ferocity that shocked them both.

"H-Hailey Noona. What's wrong?" Yohan stammered, his face flushing a deep red. He awkwardly patted her back.

"Haha. Look at them. Get all bubbly elsewhere," Charyeong scoffed, her tone light and joking.

"Sheesh," Jay said, locking his arms as he scanned the two, "Couple of the day."

"Shut up," Yohan said immediately, gently extricating himself from Hailey's desperate grip. He held her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. His expression was pure, bewildered concern. "What has gotten into you, Noona?"

Hailey just stared at him, her mind reeling. The blood. The crack. The screaming. It was so vivid. "Huh? Oh. N-nothing."

"Are you okay?" Yohan pressed, his gaze intense, searching her face. She felt her own cheeks heat up under his scrutiny.

He wouldn't let it go. "Why did you say that, Noona?"

"Huh? S-say what?"

" 'Ah! You are alive'!.." he repeated, mimicking her desperate cry.

The memory slammed into her again. "I did... haha... I did, didn't I..." Her laugh was shaky, insane.

"So? What is this about?" he insisted, his worry only growing.

Her eyes darted to In-Ha, who was panting heavily from her episode. "One second. In-Ha ma'am."

In-Ha looked over. "Yes?"

But Hailey didn't ask her anything. She turned instead to look out the window. Her blood ran cold. The familiar buildings. The broken sign.

This is the same hospital.

It was all happening again. Exactly the same.

She sank back into her seat, a cold dread washing over her. Yohan was still watching her, his face a portrait of confusion and concern.

'Was I asleep? That was a bad dream.' The thought was a desperate prayer. But the coppery taste of fear in her mouth, the echo of Yohan's skull cracking on the pavement—it felt too real.

'Or did I just have a vision?'

She said nothing. She just sat there, next to a living, breathing Yohan, and stared into the approaching hospital, a scream trapped silent in her throat.