11 The Escape

[AN:

- Sup guys, back another chapter.

- plan to continue writing even after they escape Hyosan City. I'm trying to go for that Resident Evil style continuity. I don't know, maybe I'll change my mind or have other ideas once I get to that stage. I'm planning on having the characters narrow down to On-Jo and close friends for future chapters.

- I will prob show them in college

- Starting next week, the upload speed will lower to probably once a week.

]

***

"What the hell was that?"

Inside the kitchen backroom, Yoon Gwi-Nam had found another hiding spot after using several other survivors as meatshields to escape the zombies. Hours sitting inside the freezer with nothing but silences was soon interrupted by a loud explosion.

Slightly opening the door, Gwi-Nam saw the zombies that previously occupied the kitchen were now throwing themselves towards the huge bonfire of zombies that were not situated at the destroyed front wall of the cafeteria.

And in the distance, he saw a familiar face being carried off by two other students: Cheong-San. Forgotten anger surged forth through his veins. It was always that fucking golden boy, the apple of Hyosan High Schools' eye. Not only was the constantly top-scored of the year, Cheong-San always get in the way of their endeavors, one way or another. The remainder of this morning's blackmail came back to mind.

A slow slept crept along his face as Gwi-Nam had a brilliant idea. This was the apocalypse now. No laws or teachers to berate him. Now, the rule of the jungle ruled supreme, and he would finally crush that goodie-two-shoes like how everyone else did to him. No longer was Gw-Nam going to be Myung-Hwan's sidekick.

"I'll be the king of this school!" whispered Gwi-Nam crazily to himself. Unknowingly, a pencil laid on the wet floor of the cafeteria dropped from the pocket of one of the students in the previous chaos of the initial zombie infection.

Preoccupied with his own self-delusions and attention towards the zombies piling towards the bonfire, Gwi-Nam slipped on the pencil, hitting the bench seat as he fell onto the ground. Several of the infected students, some still burning, turned towards the noise.

"Fuck!" Breaking out into a sprint towards the outside of the cafeteria, Gwi-Nam never made it more than three steps before being dog-piled by dozens of zombies. With his right hand stretched out of the pile towards the direction that Cheong-San had been dragged off to, Gwi-Nam let out a scream. "I promise that I will kill you Cheong-San!"

As the paying of being bitten all over eventually got to the bully under the pile of bodies that feasted on him like a piece of meat, Gwi-Nam felt something grab his hand.

And the last thing he heard hymn of a song with no words.

***

["From the sea to the skies far above, the Hundred Legions led by the Emperor march towards battle, ensuring freedom for all the known world."]

"Boring. Get to the fight scene already."

In a dark theater, a magic crystal broadcasted a mover that filmed the men and women marching to combat, swords, and shields ready. The scene changed to a recording of battle.

Thistle Marico who sat near the front of the broadcasting watched the mover eagerly. But once again, someone in the back shouted up again. This time throwing fried Dentifilo's pops at the projection.

"Where's the battle? Hurry up!"

["These brave men and women gladly serve our armed forces, ensuring our safety against the dangers of sea beasts and other nations that still continue the abhorrent practice of slavery and racial segregation-"]

Tired of the mover being disturbed, Thistle stood up. Turning around, he called out the person that kept interrupting the mover. "Can you be quiet! Some people are trying to watch the film, asshole!"

"What did you say?" A large man stood up from the back seat, blocking the light emitted from the crystal as he did so.

"Shit."

Behind the movie theater, Thistle was getting his shit rocked.

"Puh!"

Punched in the face, a boy with feline features stumbled back towards the wall. Grasping the indents between the bricks to stand up, Thistle stood up dazed. Tasting the metallic tang of iron in his mouth, he spits out blood.

"You Felinor fucks just don't give up, do you?" said the man with pale-dark green skin and grey hair. He was of Celtor descent, one of the races that used to reign supreme over the seas. But ever since their city was lost to them, they've migrated to Western Luminant.

"What can I say," said Thistle, "Felinors always land on their feet."

As the giant Celtor was about to punch the small boy in the face, a hand grabbed his wrist. Grabbing the wrist was a man wearing a white cloak with a hood covering their face. But the thing that stood out the most was the katana by the man's side. "Why you-"

"That boy is an initiate at the Isle of Vigils. If you wish to pursue further confrontations with him, you will face the full wrath of our warriors. Which do you choose?"

Glaring at the hooded figure, the Celtor pulled his arm out of the man's grasp before walking away.

Walking up to the bruised Felinor, the hooded man pulled the boy up to his feet. "Boy, why must you always get into trouble wherever we travel?"

"Sorry, Templar Ishel," said Thistle rubbing the back of his head. "It's just that I couldn't stand him disrespecting those soldiers who sacrifice themselves for the empire."

"Ah," said the Templar, "I almost forgot that you came from these lands. But do not let your love of your homeland distract you from your studies. You have yet to master any Mantras."

"Sorry," said the boy. "I promise that I'll try harder when we get back to the Isles."

"And see to it, I shall."

***

Feeling light hit his face, Cheong-San lazily tried to stand up, only to feel a weight holding his arm down. Groggily, he saw that it On-Jo, who had gripped onto his arm as they fell asleep last night. A couple of feet away was I-Sak, sleeping with her blanket that she always brought to school.

On the other side, Gyeong-Su's head rested on his arm, leaving a large drool stain on the fabric. Disgusted by his friend, he shook free of Gyeong-Su's grasp, only for the boy to turn the other way and hug Dae-Su, who was also snuggled by Joon-Young.

Against the wall, the eldest Jang slept with her head dipped down, Woo-Jin resting his head in her lap.

Hyo-Ryung, Ji-Min, and surprising Na-Yeon slept closely together, like 3 peas in a pod. Like Cheong-San, Su-Hyeok slept on the ground next to the class president, Nam-Ra. Across from them, the senior student Jun-Seong snored loudly, causing Mi-Jin's head to gradually rise and fall on his belly.

Surprisingly, Ms. Park was already awake, sitting at the computer with bags under her eyes.

Last night, Cheong-San and the group of students made their way to the broadcasting room. Both Cheong-San and Ha-Ri were hugged respectively by On-Jon and Woo-Jin. Trailing behind the two were Min-Jae and Jun-Seong. who carried a bag of snacks they've found in the Choir room after a suggestion from Mi-Jun who, surprisingly, used to be part of the Choir.

Thinking of the moment they entered the broadcasting room, Cheong-San recalled the moment.

***

"Cheong-San!" shouted On-Jo, pushing through the students to give the taller boy a hug. Wrapping her arms around his back, she held onto him tightly, even as Cheong-San continued to walk into class. She was soon followed by Gyeong-Su and I-Sak.

After doing a supply run for food, Cheong-San and the group of students had made their way up to the roof. Offering once again to let the two lonely students join them, Cheong-San was denied once again, as both wished to remain on top of the roof.

"Cheong-San!" said Ms. Park, walking in front of him. "I heard from your classmates you went off on your own - what were you thinking? They're so few of us left alive. It's important that we stick together, especially in times like these." But seeing the Cheong-San bloody clothes and the other group of students that came with him, she softened her glare. "But I'm glad to see you still alive, the same with the rest of you."

"What is that smell?" grimaced Mu-Jin, using her hand to pitch her nose. "It smells like shit."

Several eyes turned to Dae-Su.

As Ms. Park helped the upperclassman settle in, his friends pulled him to the side. "Where were you? You said that you find Ms. Park."

"Sorry," Cheong-San said scratching his head. "I got sidetracked."

"You bastard," said Gyeong-Su before smacking the back of his head, followed by I-Sak punching his arm and On-Jo kicking the back of his leg. Hearing the bell chime ring out, Cheong-San's smile turned wry. Who knew that increasing 'Fortitude' didn't need zombies and explosions to increase.

"YES, food!" cheered Dae-Su, picking up Joon-Young away from the computer, spinning the boy with glasses around. "I can't wait to eat those instant noodles."

"But how are we going to cook the noodles; we need hot water to cook them," asked Ji-Min.

"We brought two gallons of water and a kettle from the kitchen," said Min-Jae, lifting both up.

"We can't cook it indoors," said On-Jo, shaking her head. "We need some way to light the fire. Besides, it wouldn't be safe to do so inside an enclosed space like this room."

Putting away the lighter she was about to bring out of her pocket, Nam-Ra moved her hand back to cross her arms. "When full, the mind is clear. When not, it is full of thoughts."

"What does that mean?" asked Su-Hyeok.

"Nam-Ra is saying that when we're hungry, we tend to not think logically," explained Ms. Park. "But On-Jo's right, we have no safe way to start a fire in class."

"We don't need a fire," said Cheong-San, picking both the kettle and container of water. Pouring the water into the kettle. Filled up, he placed the kettle on the ground. He heard them whisper about what he was doing. Concentrating, he focused on the familiar throbbing in his head whenever he used either [Lightning Blade] and locked on it. And just like that, thin sparks of yellow electricity leaped from his hands, centimeters away from the kettle on the ground, to the metal exterior.

"Yo, what the fuck!" pointed Gyeong-Su, backing up with the rest of the boys. The girls, on the other hand, had just remained in their seats, frozen in shock. Ms. Park's eyes widened comically at the sight.

"How are you doing that, Cheong-San?" asked On-Jo, the most flabbergasted of them all. She grew up living next to the boy since she was six years old and, at times, in the same apartment. Looking at the group of upperclassmen looking mildly amused at their reactions, she felt slightly hurt that they knew of Cheong-San's secret before she did. Stamping out the irrational feeling down, On-Jo shook her head.

"Are you a mutant or something?" asked Joon-Young cautiously, pushing up his glasses as he examined Cheong-San's hands after it stopped applying electricity to the now whistling kettle, which no doubt attracted more zombies to their room. Standing up, Cheong-San casually summoned Mistral before heading out again. "Ask those guys, I already explained to them. If you have any questions, I'll answer them once I go clear the zombies near our room."

"I'm coming," said On-Jo, grabbing the spear from Su-Hyeok's side.

"Wait, it's too dangerous-"

"Do you know how I felt when you just left the room?! For all I know, my best friend that I knew my whole walked outside to his death on a suicide mission!" shouted On-Jo in tears. "My dad...my dad...I can't lose you too!"

Cheong-San stared at On-Jo in silence. For a moment, no one said anything.

As On-Jo was about to continue convincing him not to go out, she felt two arms gently wrap around her back. Opening her eyes, she saw that something blocked her sight. It was Cheong-San's shirt.

"On-Jo... okay, I'll stay here."

***

["Martial Law Command has acted swiftly and thoroughly. We sealed off the entire Hyosan area to prevent the situation from spreading to other regions. If you live outside the area under martial law, please stay calm and return to your normal lives. Currently, Martial Law Command is doing its absolute best to quarantine those infected and to rescue and protect those who are not. We continue to operate, as always, in strict compliance with the law and Federal regulations. Fake news about the Hyosan epidemic is spreading fast..."]

"Wait...they can't mean, that, are they?" said Joon-Young with worry lacing his voice.

"What are you talking about?" asked Hyo-Ryung getting worried as well.

"They're about to cut all the internet in Hyosan" stated Nam-Ri evenly, unphased by what she had just said.

["...Martial Law Command will sensor all unconfirmed rumors, simultaneously, in the interest of operational efficiency; all cell phone services, landlines, internet services, and all communications originating in Hyosan will be terminated from this point on.]

"Shit. Fucking assholes," cursed Mi-Jin, kicking a box of CDs over. "They're really going to cut off the phones and internet."

["We at the Martial Law Command, and its advisory council, are doing our best to suppress the continuous spread. Moreover, we are focusing all of our resources to rescue the people who are currently trapped."]

At this point, the class president was now at the window, watching several helicopters fly by. "If they really wanted to save us, they would've done more than send back Facebook post telling us to wait for rescue." Taking out a lighter and cigarette, Nam-Ra started smoking as she stared outside wistfully.

"Hey, can I have a smoke?" asked Mi-Jin. Glancing at the older girl, Nam-Ra offered a stick to Mi-Jin before lighting it up as well. Now, there were two people smoking by the window as everyone else watched the news through the monitor.

["If you live in Hyosan, and you're watching this now, please try to stay hopeful and wait in your location to be rescued."] The video then stopped abruptly, refreshing to show the iconic pixelated dinosaur that now indicated that there was now no internet or cell service.

"What do we do now?" asked Ji-Min, who was hugging Hyo-Ryung.

Standing up, I-Sak started to pace around. "We need to leave! This is how the movies also end up; with a big explosion and everyone dying."

"We wait for the government to send someone to rescue us just like they said," replied Ms. Park, trying to calm the students down. "If we wait, they'll eventually send one of those helicopters to the school."

"And be blown by their missiles?" asked Woo-Jin.

"They're rumors," spoke up Na-Yeon. "For all we know, it could be some sick bastard trying to mess with us. No way they would do that knowing people were still alive in Hyosan."

"They would," said On-Jo, fiddling with the cuffs of her jacket. "My dad used to be a part of the joint-operations team that worked closely with the Americans. He said they had to do terrible things during those missions. But we should wait, we haven't waited that long yet."

"Then how much longer? Do you want to wait until we die?" asked Nam-Ra. "And how do we know there's enough room for everyone to leave? There's a lot of us."

"We can't just sit on our asses and do nothing," added Su-Hyeok. "There is only so much food and water here for everyone."

"Even with Cheong-San's new gifts," said Ms. Park gesturing to the silent boy, "it's too dangerous for such a large group to travel out of Hyosan. How would we even leave the city, much less the school before any of the infected attacked us?"

"We could use the school bus," offered Ha-Ri. "While it might have some of our...team left inside, we could get rid of them easily with him."

Seeing the group not reaching a stalemate, Nam-Ri decided to act. "How about we do a vote, Ms. Park? That would be the fairest way to decide what to do next."

Although the teacher had wanted everyone to hunker down until rescue came, Ms. Park realized it wasn't realistic to believe that rescue would come to them either.

Currently, there were 17 people, including herself, in the broadcasting room. "Alright, all in favor of staying at school until rescue?"

Seven people raised their hands. They were On-Jo, I-Sak, Na-Yeon, Jun-Seong, Ji-Min, Joon-Young, and Ms. Park.

"All against staying?"

The rest of the students raised their hands, including Cheong-San himself.

"Now we need to plan," said Nam-Ra, pulling a chair out to sit down. "To safely get to the bus, we need a distraction, something to divert their attention away from us as we make our escape."

"Sound," said Dae-Su. "Mr. Lee said that these zombies are attracted by sounds the most."

"And knowing that the parasites that control the corpses of those zombies via the brainstem and allow them to perform basic functions such as running and crawling, this also means they lack any cognitive function to closely pay attention to their surroundings to thoroughly distracted." reasoned Joon-Young.

"Are you saying we leave the safety of school?" pointed out Na-Yeon, still against the idea.

"We already voted, didn't we?" replied I-Sak, who was also reluctant with leaving. Seeing no one stand up against the proposal now that voting was over, Na-Yeon grumbled to herself.

"Exactly," said Cheong-San, " when I was looking around the school, I noticed that when Ms. Park spoke the zombies would flock to the nearest speaker like On-Jo to fried chicken." Already foreseeing the kick to the leg, he sucked up the pain like a man.

"If you are all dead set on pulling off this plan," said Ms. Park, "I'll stay back to keep the infected distracted. Someone needs to use the intercoms."

"Not necessary," shook Nam-Ra. "I was a part of the broadcasting club. We can rig the CD player to the microphone and play something instead. No need to leave anyone behind."

"She's right Ms. Park," said Su-Hyeok. "We're all in this together. There's no leaving anyone behind."

As everyone in class 2-5 and the upperclassman got into a group hug, Ms. Park started to chuckle as her eyes teared up a bit. "I'm proud to be your teacher."

***

As the loudspeakers turned on, blaring on about surveys conducted and social experiments on economic disparity, the teacher and students of Hyosan High School quietly crept outside of the broadcasting room one by one. The zombies crowded around the various loudspeakers, clawing upwards toward the sound.

With him in the lead with Mistral drawn, Cheong-San crept down the stairs first. Most of the zombies had been drawn away from the stairways, clearing the area at the mouth of the stairs and glassdoor entrance. As Gyeong-Su was about to continue walking down the stairs behind his friend, Cheong-San raised his hand, pausing the entire line of people.

Near the principal's office was a zombie, banging his head against the windowpane. Quickly stepping towards the zombie, a quick slice of his rapier cut the zombie's head cleanly from the body. Unsummoning Mistral, Cheong-San made sure to catch both the body and head of the zombie, slowly laying it down as to not attract anymore from the noise.

Cheong-San signaled at them to continue forward.

Sticking to the side of the school building, the group used the hedges to hide from the zombies as they snuck past the infected, making their way towards the forest.

As they were about to head down towards the bus at the entrance of the school, Cheong-San stopped as he heard a stifled cry behind him. Near the trunk of a tree, several girls and Ms. Park were surrounding Ji-Min, who was now sobbing at the root of the tree.

"What is it?" asked Ms. Park, kneeling next to the crying girl.

"We need to get to the bus! Whatever she is crying about can be dealt with later," said Na-Yeon.

Seeing Ms. Park glare, Na-Yeon decided to shut up.

"What is it?" asked Hyo-Ryung, the girl's best friend. "C'mon, we're almost to the bus. We're almost safe."

Ji-Min pointed down at the school gate at one of the cars located nearby. "That's, *sniff*, that's my dad's truck."

A somber mood had now eclipsed the atmosphere.

"Maybe it's not your dad's?" suggested Dae-Su. "And if it is, it doesn't mean that anything happened. They could've escaped."

Hyo-Ryung, still hugging the crying girl, gestured at the bigger boy to shut up. Seeing this, Dae-Su zipped his lips tight before throwing the imaginary key away.

As Ms. Park was about to speak up, she heard a scream come from the school. Turning to the direction of the sound, she and several others not talking to Ji-Min looked near the entrance of the school.

A sudden surge of zombies had started were charging through every nook and opening of the school building, heading towards the gate.

"We don't have any more time," said I-Sak, gripping the Ji-Min with the help of others up. "We need to go - now!"

Running down the forested hill, the group broke through the trees and onto the school road. As they ran to the bus, Cheong-San cleared the zombies in the front, leaving the strays for others to push back or immobilize with their spears or arrows.

Na-Yeon, who struggled to keep up with the main group, tripped after a sudden collision with a zombie. As Na-Yeon struggled to get up from the ground, the zombie she collided with crawled ferociously towards the girl. Before the infected could land a bite, a leg kicked it away. It was Gyeong-Su.

"Get up!" shouted Gyeong-Su.

Shocked, Na-Yeon grabbed his hand as they both began to join back with the main group. "You saved me."

Gyeong-Su looked at her as if she was retarded. "Of course I did! Now shut up and start running!"

Cheong-San ran first towards the gate, slashing and hacking away at the nearby zombies. Prying the closed doors of the bus with his hands, he saw that the inside of the school bus was empty.

"Clear, get on the bus!"

As Ms. Park was the only person, besides himself, with any experience driving a car, she was given the task of the driver. Making a headcount that everyone was on the bus, Cheong-San threw the backpack at On-Jo.

"What are you doing?" On-Jo asked, catching the backpack. "Why are you heading back out!"

"I'm going to buy us some more time by closing the gate," Cheong-San said, walking out of the bus. "Close the door, Ms. Park. Once I close the gates, I follow you guys with one of the cars."

"No!" shouted Ms. Park, about to sit up from her seat. "There's no point in risking your life. We're all going to make it. Come back here now, Cheong-San."

But the boy had already run towards the group of zombies approaching. Cursing, Ms. Park began backing the bus slowly out of the gate.

Running towards the zombie, Cheong-San found a large cluster of them before unleashing [Lighnting Blade].

The familiar tingling in his head along with an ache surfaced to mind as two rays of electricity bisected half-a-dozen infected a meter away. After his first use of the Mantra, Cheong-San estimated based on the increasingly painful headache that he was limited using the Mantra about three to four times before he needed to rest.

Using [Lightning Blade] one more time, Cheong-San turned to check the status of the bus. Seeing that it now was already out of the gate, he ran back towards the bus.

Reaching the gate, he quickly pulled the gate closed. Scanning the nearby cars around, Cheong-San pulled a zombie woman out before slicing her head. Ignoring the white specks of light that entered his body, he reversed the car and began following the bus that had started to drive away several moments earlier. Thankfully, the bus wasn't going too fast because of the cars littering the road, forcing the larger vehicle to slow down and turn carefully.

Cheong-San felt his grip relax on the Hyundai he was in. They were going to make it out of Hyosan.

***

Alone on the rooftop of the school, Chul-Soo watched as the car and bus drove away from school. Yesterday, Chul-Soo and Eun-Ji were offered again to join Cheong-San's great escape.

They declined.

Chul-Soo declined for several reasons. He was afraid that the boy's plan to leave the school was too brash and dangerous. Why spend the effort to leave the school when he could stay safely on the roof and wait for help? The other reason he stayed was that he wanted to be with Eun-Ji.

Eun-Ji, for some reason, had decided to stay on the roof as well yesterday. Chul-Soo was ecstatic to hear that as well. Until he found himself on the roof alone.

Despite wanting to go down and look for his crush, his fear of the infected and death overpowered those urges. He would stay on the roof and wait, watching as the bus and car got further and further away.