3rd Person's POV
"Why are you following me? Go on your own way. I'm mad at you" Chae Rin grumbled, eyes glaring at the tall male who kept following her around the school.
"You're the only person that can talk. And why the fuck are you mad? I should be mad. I was close to getting to Cheong San" The taller one scoffed.
"As if I'd tell you where he was" She mumbled stopping in her tracks, turning around and staring at Gwi Nam who was startled by her sudden movements.
"What...?" he asked.
"Why do you even want to kill him?" She asked him.
"He took my eye!" He shouted at her, the zombies going crazy as they heard his shout.
"Well, did you do, something that could possibly make him do that?" She asked him sarcastically.
"No?" He said unsure.
"What did you do?" She sighed.
"I killed the director" He confessed, her eyes widened, almost out of her head.
"You what?!" She shouted at him.
"He said he would expel me! And told me to get his car, as if that wasn't a suicide mission" He groaned.
"And what does Cheong San have to do with any of this?!" She questions confused.
"He filmed it" he shrugged.
"So...he filmed you kill the director, how come you lost your eye?" she continues the interrogation.
"I chased him into the library, I even threw a knife at him... I missed" he sulks. Chae Rin looked like an animated character, mouth open in shock, as if she was a fish trying to eat.
"You threw a knife at him?!"
"It didn't stab him! Only the handle hit him. Anyway, I chased him into the library, and then we fought, and he stabbed my eye with the fucking phone. AND! He threw me onto the zombies. Fucking psychopath" He grumbled under his breath.
"It's an apocalypse... and you two were worried the police would care that you killed someone? When you could easily lie and say he was already turning. You two are so dumb, I swear to God" the small girl huffed walking towards the cafeteria.
"Why are you even going there?" he asked her, running to catch up with her.
"I'm going to get food, and water. I have basic needs that haven't been fulfilled for days now" she explains.
"I also have needs" he smirked, looking her up and down.
"In your dreams. Don't touch me, Mr. Halfie" she chuckled dryly.
"What the fuck is a halfie?" he asks her in disgust.
"Half-half, you know? Half human, half zombie, Hambie" She laughed.
"Why are you laughing? I made you one of those, too" He snickered, her laugh coming to an end, at the memory.
"Why would you even bite me. What are you, a dog?!" She complained, stabbing a finger into his chest.
"Ow! Ya! You smelled good!" He blurted out.
"Smelled good?! What am I now? Vanilla?!" She protested.
"It was sweeter than that. Doesn't matter, can we go inside? The sun's hot" he whined using his hand to cover the sun from his eyes, his other covering Chae Rin's.
"Ya. Take it off, I can't see anything" She huffed, slapping his hand away as they finally walked inside the school's cafeteria, zombies still mindlessly walking around, some following them due to their voices but never doing more than that.
"Why are you so mad every time you see me?" He asked her, a little mad as her reaction to him seems to always be negative.
"You bullied people" She pointed out.
"I never bullied you" he countered back.
"Yes, you did. You always bullied me out of my homework" She said annoyed.
"I didn't bully you. That was me trying to find ways to talk to you!" He objected.
"Terrible way of talking to someone. Others would start with a simple, 'hello', 'how was your day'. Why did you just 'Hey, quiet girl, give me your homework'" She questioned him.
"Because. You never replied to me when I said good morning"
"I didn't think it was for me" she shrugs.
"Yea. Cause' I would say 'good morning' to those losers" He sarcastically rolls his eyes.
"I got the waters and some snacks from the fridge, let's get out now" She sighed, grabbing onto the bag with water bottles and snacks, Gwi Nam taking the bag into his own hand, carrying it instead.
"I saved you, three times now" He says out of nowhere.
"You also killed me" She shrugs.
"Why can't you see the good in me?"
"Why do you keep trying to show off that side to me?!" She countered back, but he remained silent.
As the two walked in silence through the school, her eyes wandered around, maybe trying to see if she could catch onto any familiar faces.
"Gyeong Su!" She screamed, zombies swarming the two, Gwi Nam stared at her weirdly as he watched her turn around and look through each and every zombie that came near.
"Who are you calling for?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow.
"One of my best friends" she simply responded, walking closer to the school field, where most zombies were.
"Did he get bit?" The boy asked curiously.
"Nope... Na Yeon put a cloth with zombie blood on his wound" she gritted angry, just thinking of the incident.
"It was my fault. For leaving her in that room alone with him... I shouldn't have left" She murmured.
Gwi Nam wanted to ask why, he wanted to know the details, as he was clearly confused and curious, but he could see how her mood had dropped whilst talking about the issue, so he stopped mentioning it.
"That's I-Sak" she pointed at a girl walking around the field.
"She was bitten... she tried to help us get into the science lab, but was bit trying to do so, I pushed her off the window" She told the boy, who looked at her, eyes pitying the poor girl's story.
Her eyes, wet and brimming with tears that she refused to let fall.
"You did the right thing" he assured her, she exhales with a smile.
"I know... but it still hurts, her death made me realize how quick the bite can kill you, and take away those you love"
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Inside the music room, Ji Min and Hyo Ryeong had just filmed their messages for their families, Wu Jin asks for the camera which Hyo Ryeong hands in, and he turns it to himself.
"Mom. I want a raise in allowance" He simply says, passing the camera to Gyeong Su who sat next to him.
"Is it ready to go?" The boy asks, Wu Jin hums. Dae Su clears his throat pointing the camera at himself.
"Music and Lyrics by intergalactic superstar Yang Dae Su" he begins.
"Beat" He asks for. Joon Yeong immediately starts hitting his foot on the ground, a small smile on his face.
"Chicken tastes better fried in olive oil, pork tastes better than soy meat, strawberry cake tastes better than plain strawberries. What makes me laugh, laugh, laugh, is trans fat. Bam Bam" He sings.
"Cheong San?" He calls out to the man opposite to him handing the camera which he takes, slowly lifting it up and away from his face.
"Mom. It's me. Dad, you're okay too, right? I'm... I'm doing okay" He says, lowering the camera and silently handing it to On Jo who lifts it up, tears brimming her eyes as she thinks of what to say.
"Dad, You're okay, right? I waited for you all night, but you didn't come, so we're trying our best to hang on. You said being healthy is the best even if I don't get good grades. You said you'd come first if anything happened. You're okay right? You have to be okay, dad. You don't have to come save me. But still, I wish you'd come. I really thought you would come. But I'm okay. I only say this when you give me my allowance, but I'll say it for free today. Dad, I love you. I love you. I love you so much" she finished, showing a heart out of her fingers.
"Shouldn't someone say something for Chae Rin's mother?" Joon Yeong pondered.
"I'll do it" Cheong San offered, taking the camera back from On Jo who tried to calm herself down at the thought of having to explain to her friend's mother that she might be dead.
"Ms. Kang... It's Cheong San" He started, his head went down, reality hitting him like a truck that his friend was no longer with the group and had likely died.
"Chae Rin... isn't with us. None of us know if she's alive, or if she... I'm sorry" He said, voice breaking as he looked back down, not having the courage to stare at the camera, drowned by the thought that Chae Rin's mother could, later on watch.
"I'm sorry that I didn't protect her like I had promised" He finished, voice betraying him as it cracks, and he ends the video, a single tear falling down as he leans back in his chair, head back.
"Gyeong Su!"
"Was that Chae Rin's voice?!" Dae Su's voice booms.
The friends had just filmed their videos, in a way, leaving a piece of evidence, and a goodbye in case they did not get rescued, died, or turned.
The group all running for the window opening the curtain, just slightly to watch outside.
"Nothing's here..." On Jo said, a pout on her lips as she stared outside, sadness overfilling her.
"But it was her voice, wasn't it? Calling for Gyeong Su" Dae Su questioned.
"Yes. I think it was too" Cheong San replied.
"So, she's alive!" Dae Su cheered.
Nam Ra, gets up, her eyes behind them and facing the red curtains that were drawn on the big windows into the corridors where the zombies were.
"What is it?" Su Hyeok asked confused by her sudden reaction.
"I heard something strange" she says, dragging Su hyeok along with her to get closer to the window, the others getting close to hear what she said.
"What if she's turning?" Hyo Ryeong whispered to On Jo.
"I thought hambies didn't turn?" Dae Su interrupted.
"Jeez, you scared me" Hyo Ryeong whispered, slapping Dae Su's face who looked ahead in shock.
"My bad" he apologizes.
"I hear it" Nam Ra states.
"What?" the boy attached to her wrist asks her.
"What do you hear?" On Jo questions.
"Someone is puking. It stopped"
"What did?"
"The puking"
"Stop that. You're scaring me" Hyo Ryeong says, voice shaking.
"Don't you hear it?" Nam Ra asked the group confused.
" What are you talking about?" the girl in pink asked the black haired on.
Nam Ra's senses were heightened, her sense of hearing was much better, so was her smell, and she was slightly frightened by it, the others oblivious to the things she could sense now.
Nam Ra stared at Hyo Ryeong, making the other confused but also scared at to why she was staring for so long and with such a serious expression, Nam Ra focused on the girl's haggard breathing alongst her fast hearbeat.
"Are you scared?" she questioned.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing, it's just that you're breathing the loudest" she stated.
"Do you hear something?" On Jo questioned the group.
"All I hear is the zombie over there" Dae Su stated, Nam Ra could hear everything.
Ji Min's gulp, Joon Yeong playing with the bag zipper, even Wu Jin's fart, which startled him as she stared at him.
Dae Su's stomach, and the sound inside the storage room, where Na Yeon had been hiding.
"Let's get out of here. This place feels weird" Nam Ra insists.
"We can't just leave. There are too many zombies outside" Cheong San points out.
"Ah, we should've gone to the rooftop when the music was playing earlier. Damn it" Dae Su complained, sitting on a desk.
"Music..." On Jo pondered.
"That's right. We have music!" She exclaimed, catching everyone's attention.
"Where do we have music?" Dae Su asked confused, On Jo walks to the desk where the camera had been left at.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ya! Don't drink the water bottles" Chae Rin said swatting at his hand and closing the bottle back up.
"Then why am I carrying this bag for?!" He grunted.
"We should drink those, at times of need. There are those drinking spots on the school! Come on" She huffed grabbing onto his arm and dragging him to a drinking spot.
Gwi Nam puts the bag down as he leans down to drink the water, Chae Rin doing the same a few taps away from him.
"Oh, It's also fresher" Chae Rin smiled, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
"fuck" she hears a cuss, turning to Gwi Nam in shock.
"Did you hear that? Someone's alive" She said, eyes bulging.
"Stay here. It's someone that you don't want to see" He instructed her as he started to walk towards the voice when Chae Rin grabbed his arm pulling him back to her side.
"Where are you going?" She asked him worriedly.
"Why? Do you care?" she glared.
"I'm going to see the owner of the voice" he told her, his eyes on her hand grabbing onto him.
"You're leaving me... with the zombies?!" She whisper yelled at him, bulging eyes staring around the two, zombies sorrounding them.
"You're a zombie too, besides, I'll be quick. They won't eat you, don't worry" he said, prying her hands off of him.
"Ya! You zombie assholes" Gwi Nam yelled in a joking manner, the zombies running to them.
Contrary to when she called them, she was scared by the amount of them.
"Stop calling them over, asshole!" She cussed, hitting him in the shoulder. He laughs before walking off.
"Stay there, I'll be back soon" he said with a shake of his hand, his silhouette getting smaller and smaller the further he got away.
Chae Rin looked around as a zombie came right to her face before moving away, gulping and sighing in relief as it continued on his way, she leaned on the water taps.
"This would be the best time to get to the others... I wonder if Nam Ra is okay" She said thinking of her options.
"Gwi Nam didn't kill me now. But, he'd 100 percent kill me If I went away now... maybe it's safer to wait. And then bye-bye"
"Ah!" She heard a scream, ears perk up as she decided to ignore his instruction to stay put and walk towards the sound, just as another scream echoes through the air.
Son Myeong Hwan's wrist was being held by Gwi Nam's hand, his bone popping out of it's skin as he screamed in pain, zombies attacking him.
"Gwi Nam. Help me, asshole" He begged in screams, Gwi Nam moved to the rear view mirror of the truck watching his own image.
"Cheong San. I'll gouge your eye out" He promised, turning back to watch as more zombies compiled on top of the bully's room.
Chae Rin had her hand covering her mouth, once more witnessing the real persona of Gwi Nam, she took a few steps back, Gwi Nam still not aware of her presence.
She went back to the place he had left her at, assuming it would be safer if he simply did not notice she had left the drinking water fountains.
She stood leaning against it, her fingers picking at others as she waited for his return.
"I'm back" he smiled, she nodded faking a smile of her own.
"Who was it? Why are you alone?" She questioned him.
"It was a random guy I'd never seen, he was bitten though" He shrugs, uncaringly.
"Did you try to help him?" She asked.
"I did. But he was too scared and yelled" He confidently explained, unaware that she had witnessed it all.
Nonetheless she nods, afraid to show her doubts on his story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside the music room, the group tried their best, mounting desks and all the furniture in the room, the idea being they create a barrier, opening the door at the end of the corridor and making noise, attracting them there as they leave through the door they had entered from.
"I think this is good enough" On Jo said getting away from the red curtains and turning to look at the other 3 who were still setting up the barrier.
"Okay" Cheong San agreed.
"Aren't you coming over? Come over , so we can close the gap" Dae Su said from the other side.
"Let's go" Su Hyeok said, leading the 4 to the other side, helping Nam Ra cross and then On Jo.
"What are you doing, not crossing?" On Jo questioned as Cheong San stayed on the other side.
"Someone has to open the door" He stated, Dae Su sighs.
"Ya. Couldn't you use your head a little better?" The latter asks the small girl who look worried enough as is.
"It's okay. I'll open it and come over" He assured the group.
"Wait. I'll come with you" Su Hyeok said, crossing the gap again to join his friend.
"It's okay"
"It is not okay" he objects to his words, grabbing a chair and handing it to Cheong San as he grabbed a stand , the two walking to the door.
"Something happened between you and Gwi Nam, right? He wanted to kill you " Su hyeok asked the shorter one, once they were out of ear reach from the rest.
"Shit. I saw him kill the principal. I said I'd tell the cops, so he tried to kill me" Cheong San confessed.
"Crazy asshole" Su Hyeok cussed.
"Gwi Nam's dead" Su hyeok told Cheong San, who seemed rather relieved to hear the news.
"Really?" He asked.
"Yes. Chae Rin threw herself out the window with him. They fell from the fourth floor while we were fighting" He explained.
"But, it sounded like Chae Rin survived and yelled" He pondered.
"He grabbed her waist, she might have landed on him" The other continued, Cheong San looked down, assessing the options.
"And I like Nam Ra" Su hyeok quickly confesses.
"What?" Cheong San looks up confused.
"I've liked Nam Ra for a while" he continues.
"The class President?" His eyes bulge.
"Be good, whether it is to On Jo, or Chae Rin, okay? Although I have to say, I think Wu Jin is fighting for your place in Chae Rin's heart" He chuckles.
"What?" He asks again, the taller one shrugs with a smile.
"Just saying. If you don't make a decision, you might lose her" He pats Cheong San's shoulder, the shorter one simply staring at him without a response.
"What are you looking at? I'm going to open the door. Go, get over there. Hurry and go ." He warned him, pushing him away. Cheong San jumps onto the gap, Su Hyeok quickly opens the door running to his place as they close the gap and bring more of the furniture into the barrier.
Zombies rush in, as the group tries to steady the furniture as more zombies keep pilling up.
"Dae Su! Make some noise!" On Jo rushes.
"Ya! You zombie bastards" He yells, voice booming through the halls.
"Dae Su! Once More!" she yells.
"Come here, you fucking zombies" He screams once more.
Gwi Nam and Chae Rin were walking inside the school by now, Chae Rin had to go to the bathroom after the water break and just as she left the bathroom, Gwi Nam went himself. She could hear a faint sound on the rooms upstairs, footsteps hurriedly running and she finally heard Dae Su's scream.
Gwi Nam who was already outside the bathroom dashed towards it, and Chae Rin who knew the trouble him going to it would be chases after him calling out for him, sure that he would be rushing to get to Cheong San.
"Gwi Nam! Please stop! Ya!" She yelled
But he ignored her, running full speed towards the room, as more and more zombies rushed to the sound themselves.
Chae Rin didn't know how to stop it, and she knew that to do this, meant they had a plan to get to the roof but she was scared that Gwi Nam would impossibilitate their chances to get away, even if she couldn't.
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word count - 3228
Big Chapter, finally more of Chae Rin,and we also saw her adapting to her new senses, also using them to her own advantage.
She endured it because of Gwi Nam, and with his help, and no I'm not making him a lose interest, although he in a way thinks of her that was, but in my head, Gwi Nam does not know what his feeling is exactly.
So her choices, are still pointing to Wu Jin and Cheong San.
Next chapter we'll finally see them back together, and we'll also see her new self interacting for the first time with humans after becoming a hambie. I'm still not sure on how I'll make her react...