It felt like a scene from a movie. Everything shining through the window seemed even more beautiful. Everything told me that it was spring.
Beep- beep-.
The students' cell phones in their desk drawers began to ring simultaneously. The loud noise caused the students to frown and raise their heads.
"What does this mean?"
The teacher, who had been concentrating on his writing at the podium, picked up his phone. His eyes widened as he read the notification, frowning.
"What is this...?"
No one spoke. Soon, a chilling scream was heard from outside the school. The scream stopped and a very faint grunting sound was heard. My eyes and body trembled.
The girl sitting diagonally to my right, her legs dangling, stood up and ran outside. As if that had been a signal, everyone else got up and ran out the door.
I felt like I wouldn't survive if I kept going like this, so I jumped up and slung my bag over my shoulder.
"Hmm..."
My partner was still asleep, oblivious to anything. After a moment's hesitation, I decided it would be best to wake him up, so I shook him awake.
I saw a large crowd of students rushing out the window. The weaker ones stumbled, while others pushed and shoved their way forward.
"You selfish bastards."
"Um... why..."
I shook my partner again, who was still sleeping, and woke him up.
"If you keep sleeping here, you'll die! Wake up quickly!"
Taehyung, who was laughing with his eyes barely open, thinking I was joking, seemed to come to his senses when he heard someone shouting outside.
"What is this situation?"
It was a question with a lot of meaning. It was Kim Taehyung who had the same expression on his face as I did a few minutes ago.
"..."
Taehyung came to his senses and briefly checked his phone, then packed his bag and put the items in his locker.
"What are you doing? Pack something useful for yourself."
He was a calmer guy than I expected. It was a completely different reaction from me, who used to dance alone, my eyes popping and my hands and feet shaking.
He came to his senses and packed all the useful items from his locker, like his gym clothes and toothbrush. After putting the items in his own locker, he began searching through other students' lockers and putting them in his bag.
Seeing as he couldn't find anything else of use, he took out a wooden broom and a mop from the cleaning supplies cabinet in the right corner of the classroom. He stepped on the wood with his foot, separating it from the rest. He handed me the short piece he'd separated.
"Keep it just in case. If there's any danger, I'll use it right away."
"Let's go to the broadcasting room. There's a CCTV there, and a bathroom. There's probably a bed there too. Before that, let's stop by the snack bar and baseball club room and grab some useful stuff."
"Aren't we going out of school?"
He asked me why I didn't go out of school like everyone else.
"It's more dangerous outside. It's out in the open, so you don't know where they're coming from. So it's better to stay at school and wait for rescue."
When I thought about it, it was obvious. They'd attack from all sides outside, and it wouldn't be possible for just the two of us to deal with them.
"It's safer to stay inside the school.
The guy quietly nodded to me and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Let's go to the nearest store first."
As expected, the teachers' office and cafeteria were a complete mess. I had a hard time finding anything useful there.
Luckily, the 500ml plastic bottles were bundled together and under the table, so they were fine. At the store, I grabbed snacks, snacks, and medicine. Since they wouldn't all fit in my bag, I put the medicine in my pocket and the other one in my pocket. Kim Taehyung carried the water, and I carried the rest.
He also left a note asking them to come to the broadcasting room in case there were any survivors. Will they come?
The spacious broadcasting room felt stuffy.
"The broadcasting room is quite spacious, isn't it?"
"It was originally the chairman's office. They said they changed it into a broadcasting room during remodeling."
"It felt somehow spacious."
Taehyeol, who was organizing the luggage he brought in the corner, looked out the window and said.
"First, let's block the door. Is there anything heavy? The chair is too light."
Our movements became more hectic. I'd drag heavy items out of the booth, and Taehyung would quickly lift them and place them in front of the door. The sliding door meant there was no need for them to be piled like this, but I still diligently pulled them out of the booth just in case.
After piling up the items in front of the door, Taehyung came out carrying a mattress and blanket.
I pushed the food into the refrigerator. It was full of food.
After that, I stuck a pile of newspapers that had been stuck in the corner of the broadcasting room to the window facing the hallway. I did it again. Only after the third time did the outside light stop leaking in. I stuck it again, hoping our voices wouldn't leak out.
"Okay, from now on, we'll only live here in the broadcast room. If we go outside, we'll die."
Because I'm dead. Taehyung emphasized this word and stroked his neck with his thumb.
"Personal behavior is strictly prohibited except in the bathroom."
Taehyung nodded at my words and continued.
"If we find out anything about them, let's write it here."
Taehyung said, erasing the whiteboard where the broadcasting department's schedule was written. Write down even the smallest things.
Watching us bicker so much, but then seeing how our opinions aligned so well in these situations, I had a lot of thoughts. I never thought it would end up like this. How did it end up like this?
Fortunately, the power doesn't seem to have been cut off. The charger is working fine, and the school Wi-Fi that Taehyung hacked into is still working fine. Meanwhile, I've been searching anonymous sites like crazy.
"Oh, my eyes are going to pop out."
Taehyung rubbed his eyes roughly and threw his phone far away. He'd learned more than he'd expected. They only move when they hear sound, and they're widespread in our neighborhood.
There were more people using anonymous sites in our neighborhood than I thought.
Among them was my friend. He left a comment.
- Hye-rin, I'm Yeo-ju. Let's survive and fight together.
A reply was posted.
-Hey, heroine. I'll take the workshop and come to Olcon.
Hyelin went a step further. She was probably trying to act more calm and cheerful.
While browsing an anonymous website, I came across this post. It said she started keeping a diary to record her current situation. After reading it, I took out a notebook from my bag and started writing in it. I pressed down on the table, writing down the words.
I want to live here. Do the adults know we live here?
Our neighborhood was completely locked down, with only the occasional plane or helicopter hovering overhead. We tied high-visibility clothing to the broadcasting studio windows to signal our presence. Yet, no one even tried to rescue us.
No, they are unaware of our existence.
The creatures passing by the door seemed unaware of our presence. They simply walked with an odd gait, their ears perked up, and their murmurs, searching for food, made no effort to open the door. Perhaps they were unaware of our presence.
A thought suddenly occurred to me and I asked Taehyung.
"Are there any other survivors besides us?"
"no."
"..."
"There won't be any."
The answer was no.
"They must have been bitten to death by those things while searching for food because there was no food. That's why they don't leave here. There are still survivors here, and they're coming out. Look at them. They're walking around with their ears pricked up. They're trying to bite someone."
We decided to devise a plan. Just in case we ran into them. If they came at us, let's blow their heads off with that baseball bat. Taehyung picked up the baseball bat that was rolling around and swung it. There was a gust of wind.
Then, a toy BB gun caught my eye. Do these things fit inside a BB gun? I asked, holding up the pellets.
"Where did the soybean sprouts come from?"
"It was at the store?"
"Why did you sell something so dangerous?"
Taehyung said with a displeased expression. "So, are you going in?" At my irritated question, Taehyung placed a soybean pellet against the mouth of his BB gun. It didn't go in, but it did get stuck.
"Oh, it doesn't go in. So, do I have to throw it by hand?"
"Then how about this? Hang a soybean pellet on the gun's mouth and shoot a BB. Wouldn't that go far?"
Oh, that's a plausible method. But will the soybean ball move in the direction we want? Taehyung hesitated for a moment before answering my question.
"Instead of trying to attack them with this, let's use it to make noise and send the zombies rushing towards us away."
"Oh-. That sounds plausible."
A pretty good idea came to mind. Taehyung got up and wrote down what they had talked about so far on the whiteboard.
But we're running out of water and food. Taehyung said as he opened the refrigerator, probably because he was thirsty.
"what?"
I headed toward the fridge. True to Taehyung's words, more than half of the food that had once filled it was gone, and the trash can a short distance away was filled with the same wrapping paper. "Oh, Taehyung. I think we should get out of the broadcasting studio." I sent Taehyung the words I couldn't bring myself to say out loud. Taehyung's expression betrayed the situation.
I had to go out of the broadcasting room soon.
