Chereads / Stronger together (All of us are dead) / Chapter 10 - Chapter 9- Nothing about this situation is ladylike

Chapter 10 - Chapter 9- Nothing about this situation is ladylike

Chae Rin's POV

Cheong San has now finally come down from the window, staring out of it instead as I sit on the chair Gyeong Su had previously sat on, hands supporting my head as I stared at the floor.

"Are you okay?" I hear On Jo's voice ask, lifting my head, she now stood next to Cheong San, eyes flickering between me and him as she asked. I slightly nodded at Cheong San, in a way telling her to focus more on him, seeing as Gyeong Su had been more important to him than to me.

"Your hand" she states, he lifts it up slightly, blood likely to be on his knuckles by the way he had hit the metal shelving.

"You're not okay" she stated, my eyes wandered to his face staring down at the window expressionless.

"I'm sorry to say this... but be strong, Cheong San-ah" she comforted him.

"Don't comfort me. You're not good at it"

"No, I am" she replied softly.

"Even so, don't do it" His voice hoarse.

"I didn't know... that I Sak was such a precious friend" She continued, softly telling him.

"Thinking she's gone, made me feel like I had lost my whole world"

"Gyeong Su...must be out there somewhere" she hummed in response to his own comment.

"I wonder if things are okay outside" she wondered.

"Your dad's a firefighter, so I'm sure he's fine" He assured her.

"My mom and dad should be at the restaurant. That's the most important thing for my mom. She might be serving chicken to zombies right now" She says.

"Chae Rin's mom... is likely safe too, maybe at home still or hiding at work" He says softly, I nod, trying not to think much about it.

"I wish I could have her chicken right now" On Jo commented, I chuckled lightly.

"Me too" I said.

"You said it was salty"

"It was still good" On Jo retaliated.

"Let's have some, once this is all over, and we get out of here" He states, I nod.

"Let's survive until we get to eat chicken again" I said, they nod.

A little while later we all move to sit down and discuss our current situation, I offer my seat to Cheong San, standing a little behind him leaning against the window. Su Hyeok and Wu Jin against the recording table, Nam Ra on the bench besides the tall storage units, as the others sat on the chairs around the desks.

"I didn't hear anything" Cheong San states, "I couldn't hear anything" he continues.

"What do you mean, hear?" I ask confused.

"After Na Yeon went out, and Ms. Park went after her, I didn't hear anything after that" he explains.

"You mean screaming?" Su Hyeok asks, to which he nods.

"Maybe they didn't die then" Dae Su adds, everyone turning to look at him.

"They wouldn't have been quiet if zombies were biting them. They must be alive" He says looking around, but no one replies.

"Why won't you respond? No one's responding. I'm always talking to myself." he mumbles to himself.

"Dae Su's right..." I speak up.

"Forget it..." he sighs.

"I didn't hear anything either, they might have been able to get into a room safely" I say.

"Me neither. I was scared because I didn't know how I'd feel if I heard them screaming, but I didn't hear anything either" Hyo Ryeong continues.

"Come to think of it, neither did I" Joon Yeong says.

"Then I'm right. They're alive, right?" Dae Su asks hopeful to see his teacher.

"Maybe..." I mumble, pursing my lips.

"Should she be?" Ji Min breaks the hopeful mood, my head turning to her.

"What do you mean?" Joon Yeong says, everyone else straightening their backs to look at her.

"She's a murderer. She killed Gyeong Su and walked out on her own. Is it right for her to be alive? Aren't you all just being pretentious?" she asks.

"What about Ms. Park? Should she have died too?" Wu Jin questions her thought.

"Is that our fault?" She spat back.

"Regardless, it happened because of us" he continues.

"What did we do? Nayeon killed someone and played victim and left on her own. Because we didn't listen to her?" she scoffs.

"If no one's on your side, is it okay to kill?" she asks humorlessly, all of us look at her, she was right, she had spoken the words we didn't because we didn't want to be the bad person.

"Ms. Park talked as if we were in the wrong. We didn't tell Na Yeon to go out there. We didn't tell Ms. park to go out there, either. Why should we feel bad? Fuck. What the hell did we do wrong?" she huffs angrily, although her tone was calm.

Hyo Ryeong placed a hand on her shoulders comfortingly, but she pushes it off.

I place my hands on Cheong San's shoulders, somehow just needing that physical touch, likely just wanting to feel him, but mostly for comforting measurements of course.

"Ya" Su Hyeok calls out to everyone.

"I'm not sure if I should say this --" he begins to say, but Wu Jin interrupts.

"Then don't say it" He replies, hitting his stomach, making him wince.

"Ya... don't tell me. You need the bathroom?" I ask credulously.

"Does nobody else need it? Is it just me?" He asks the room, I sigh, watching as Dae Su slowly and shyly lifts his hand.

"Me too"

"We have to go too. But we can't go out" Hyo Ryeong states.

"Now, what do we do? Anybody wants to race the hall into the bathroom?" I smirk, they shake their heads.

"If I run, the poop might come out" Dae Su states, my expression turns into disgust, and shock.

"Why are you just... saying that, as if it's normal?" I ask him in disgust.

"Why are you blaming me? Su Hyeok is the one who brought it up. It's not a  crime to need to poop"

"It's not a crime, but..." Wu Jin begins.

"But what? Don't you need to go?" Dae Su hits back

"Yes, I do. But I don't need to poop" He replied.

"Cheong San, what about you?" he questions.

"I don't need to poop either" he responded.

"Don't you need to go?" He points at Hyo Ryeong.

"Why are you asking me?" He asks annoying.

"Why are you snapping at me" He asks just as annoyed.

"What are we supposed to do? We can't go out anyway" she continued.

"Can we stop the shit talk already and find a solution for the bathroom situation?" I urge them.

"Any ideas?" I ask, looking around.

"I have a good idea" Dae Su responded, getting up from his seat.

"What is it?" But he simply asks towards the window, staring out.

"First, boys and girls will take turns" He began, I raised an eyebrow.

"Where?" Hyo Ryeong confusedly asked him, he taps the window with a smile, "here".

"Ya, You must've hit your head, go sit back down" I rush him.

"Cut it out" Cheong San simply says.

"Why?" He asks confused.

"Girls can wait in there, and the guys will pee outside the window" he explained.

"What about poop?" Wu Jin interjected.

"Poop. Well-You can pull down your pants and hang out outside - "

"Ya! What are you doing" I moved to Cheong San's side, Dae Su now squatting down inside the room exemplifying.

"Like this. See? Outside." he continued getting down from the frame.

"Like you're taking a dump at the edge of a cliff" He squats again, now feet on the ground.

I sigh, moving back behind Cheong San.

"Ya, forget that. Sit down and let us think of an actual thing to do" I wave my hand off at him.

"But someone has to hold you, or you'd fall" He continues, ignoring me.

"How will you wipe?" Joon Yeong questions him, a serious expression on his face, Dae Su ponders for a second before standing upright.

"We can wipe each other" He states.

"What a nutjob" Joon Yeong Comments.

"Let's just hold it. If the rescuers come-" Ji Min began, but I interrupted her.

"It'll take a while for them to come. It may be the same outside the school"

"I don't know how long we'll be here, but my dad said you have to separate the bathroom from where you sleep if you're ever isolated" On Jo explained, I nod, hands back on Cheong San's shoulders...  Comfort ya know...

"Where can we make a bathroom and how?" Ji Min asks her.

"Over there" On Jo points, the recording room.

"Prez and you guys, look for something to cover the window" On Jo instructs at Nam Ra, Hyo Ryeong and Ji Min, turning to Cheong San who stood up.

"Cheong San and Joon Yeong, make something that can absorb urine and feces to use as a toilet" she continues.

"The rest of you... a screen?" She insinuates.

"A screen?" I question her.

"To block the view" She explains, I nod.

Everyone got to moving, the girls sticking CD's and paper on the window, the boys moving furniture into the recording room to give it more privacy, as Joon Yeong and Cheong San searched for the materials.

"On Jo, tape" I say putting out my hand as I begin sticking the papers on the window, she hands me a few pieces which I glue to my fingers as I move around to stick the stuff.

The boys already moving inside as they put the containers in a square to make for privacy, all the boys enter at the same time with the toilet basket as I snicker.

"They're going to pee together?" I question, the others laughing along.

But soon enough, all of them reluctantly leave, and Su Hyeok gets to use it first. 

"Let me go first, I don't want to go after Dae Su" I beg Wu Jin who was just before Dae Su.

"Ya..." I pout, rubbing my hands together.

"He's going to shit!" I whine, he sighs, opening the door for me to enter.

"Thank you, thank you!" I rush inside doing my business before leaving, much relieved, joining the girls.

All of us stood in the back, by the window, as one by one everyone went.

Wu Jin sat next to Hyo Ryeong, Ji Min in a chair to their side, Nam Ra on the same bench as always, Su Hyeok and Cheong San on the table by the window as I sat on the window frame with my feet on the table.

"Ya! I can see your underwear!" Wu Jin said turning around.

"They are shorts!" I groan.

"And why are you looking?!" I point at him, "You pervert!"

"Put your legs down" Cheong San places his hand on my knees forcing them down.

"It's uncomfortable like that" I justified.

"It's not lady like" Wu Jin sassed.

"It's an apocalypse, I peed on a basket with rubber balls and mops. Nothing about this situation is 'lady like'" I stuck my tongue out.

Su Hyeok ended up moving further out the table, leaning his ass on it sideways, a foot on the table as the other was on the floor as I sat cross-legged behind him and Cheong San.

"It's either this or I sit on somebody's lap" I shrug.

"On Jo" I smirk lifting my eyebrows teasingly, she laughs.

"Not today, we might need to run and my legs always fall asleep" she says, I sigh.

"So sad"

"At least there are cops and soldeis out there" Hyo Ryeong says hopeful, but Wu jin... once again being Wu Jin breaks that hope.

"But in the movies, cops and soldiers are helpless too" he points out.

"Still, they always save people in the end"

"That's true" I nod.

The door opens, Dae Su coming out .

"Take the toilet paper" he tells Joon Yeong.

"I need to pee" the other hurries going in, just as the air gets a whiff.

"Oh god" I gag. 

"Damn it. Just stay inside" Su Hyeok commented using his hand to pinch his nose, as I turned to the window to breathe.

"Does it smell?" Dae Su cluelessly asks.

"Does it smell?" I mock, just as Joon Yeong hurries out the room, slamming the door closed as he rushes to the window.

"Shit!" He cusses.

"What?" he asks him sitting down on an empty chair.

"Stop overreacting, asshole It doesn't smell" he confidently says.

"Sit somewhere else. Chae Rin, please sit here instead" I hear Hyo Ryeong plead, I shake my head, still staring outside.

"I like the smell of life" I dramatically say, as Joon Yeong takes deep breaths.

"There's nobody out there. There are no lights on in the stores and apartments. They all either fled or died" Nam Ra randomly states.

"What are you saying?" On Jo questions.

"I'm saying no one will come to save us" She explained.

"Don't be so pessimist" Joon Yeong says.

"Dont' you know my mom? She would've torn the shool apart looking for me, but she isn't here yet" She says, arms crossed over her chest.

"What do you want to do?" Ji Min asks her annoyed.

"I'm just pointing out the facts" she proclaimed.

"We all know no one's coming. Let's discuss waht we're going to do" Ji Min states.

"We have to wait to be rescued" On Jo oposed.

"We can't just sit here and wait, they won't search the entire school for sure. If anything, we need to get to the roof" I stated.

"We shouldn't leave safety and go somewhere dangerous" she continued, looking at me.

"What if no one ever comes?" Nam Ra imposes.

"We haven't waited that long" She said.

"Then how much longer? Do you want to wait until we die?" Nam Ra pressed.

"No. I'm saying let's wait for as long as we can. We can't go out right now anyway." she defended her side.

"It's probably because it's nighttime. I'm sure somebody will come in the morning. There are a lot of choppers flying around." Su Hyeok assures. "Let's wait until morning" he finishes.

The room goes silence, the only sound heard being Joon Yeong gasping for air before he rushes back into the recording room to relieve himself. I sigh leaning my head against the window, Cheong San's arm resting on my leg.

As night falls all of us begin to yawn, pointless to fight sleep as we're stuck inside anyways so we all make our own 'beds' to sleep in.

Some, like Joon Yeong and Wu Jin, used Dae Su as a pillow, sprawled over the floor.

Others, like Nam Ra, Hyo Ryeong and On Jo slept on the chairs using the desk as a rest for the head.

Ji Min slept in a chair, legs up on another one by the storage doors.

Cheong San slept on a chair near the desk by the window we had come from.

Meanwhile, I was sitting in the desk already fully awake staring outside.

Nothing had changed, zombies wandered through out the school, some running, but mostly just walking around mindlessly through the yard.

I could hear commotion behind me, looking behind at Cheong San who got up and stood by the window a little to my side looking out as well.

"Did you see anyone?" he asks me, i shake my head.

"Nothing but zombies" I sigh staring off at a distance.

Soon enough On Jo joins us, staring at the same sight.

"No one came" Cheong San admits, a few choppers flew around the air, although none of them near us.

"They keep flying by... but they never come close" I say, dropping her shoulder On Jo goes back to sitting down, I turn my head back to the group as they begin to wake up and gather by the desks.

Su Hyeok kept sleeping somehow.

"They'll come for us eventually" Ji Min assured.

"How long do we wait?" Hyo Ryeong pondered.

"Until they come" the other replied, I got up stretching my legs as I grab a chair and push it to sit besides Nam Ra, Cheong San sitting on the one Ji Min had falled asleep on.

"We don't even know if they're coming" Hyo Ryeong mumbled.

"So? You want to go out there?" On jo questioned her.

"But even if they come, they can't find us if they don't know we're here" Ji Min replied.

"We can put up a signal for help" On Jo suggested.

"How?"

"My dad taught me a signal that's used internationally" she admitted.

"What is it?"

"It's red and blue..." I mumble.

""Right... and it created some sort of pattern" she continued, her tone going lower and lower.

"should we just use SOS?" I suggested.

"Yes, let's do that" Hyo Ryeong agreed.

"We can't last long anyway. Three minutes of no oxygen, three days of no water, three weeks of no food" Nam Ra chimed in, I nudge her arm.

"Don't discourage them" I whisper.

"What's that?" Su hyeok asks, having just woken up.

"It's how long a person can survive..."Nam Ra said.

"It's only been a day. We have to try the best we can" On Jo softly said.

"We'll show signs of dehydration after today. We won't be able to move by tomorrow" Nam Ra continued.

"What are you getting at? Are you saying we should go? Or are you saying we'll die anyway, so we shouldn't bother doing anything" On Jo says, slightly taking a jab at her words, the room went silent.

"I don't know either" Nam Ra responded.

"Then don't say anything" Ji Min butted in.

"I think Prez means we should think about all our options, right?" Su Hyeok imposed, but Nam Ra was quick to deny that.

"She meant that we know nothing... We need to know more about the situation to think and make plans - " I begin.

"What do you mean?" Ji Min questioned me.

"Well, if you let me finish - "

"What she means - " Su hyeok starts again.

"You don't know what they're saying either" Ji Min scolded hitting his knee with her own, he also... agreed on that.

"Are you saying we need to grasp the situation before we take action?" Cheong San ponders.

"Yes, something like that" Nam Ra confirms nodding at his own take of words.

"I agree. We need to know more to decide whether to wait, run, or go out" he explains.

"How can we do that right now?" Dae Su asks continuing to pat his hair.

"Ya, stop doing that, you look like you're trying to Sae Yo Ri" mumble, he looks at me sticking his tongue out.

"We can go online if we have a phone" Cheong San pointed out.

"But we don't have one" Su hyeok reminded him.

"In the teachers' office" he simply said.

"Don't be crazy, the teacher's room is not that close, you can't just run there" I look at him.

"Who said I'm running?"

"You're not going through the window! Ya! What if you fall? Cheong San, think this through. This is dangerous"

"It's our best bet. I know you're worried but I'll be fine" He assured.

"I'm coming with you then"

"No. You are going to stay here and wait until I'm back" He said, pushing my shoulders to sit me back down.

"You're so stubborn, why don't you ever listen to me?" I huff.

"I learned it from someone" he smirks heading for the window.