Chapter Text

Chapter 1: The World Came to an End

THE NIGHT BEFORE, 10:15 PM — Isolated Research Facility, Forest

The coldness of the facility had sunk deep into their bones. Bare feet slapped against the tiled floor in uneven strides, each step wet and in a rush through the endless hallway, red emergency lights blaring, flooding it in red hue as it keeps flickering back and forth.

A white patient gown clung to one, the taller one of both of them, streaked in red, some blood his while some were not. His breathing came out ragged, broken even. Besides him, another figure a bit smaller and younger than him, clutched to his side, blood slightly showing between his fingers and slightly dripping to the floor yet his face wasn’t painted in pain though he was paler than the other figure.

“What the hell....t-they’re not sane anymore.” The shorter figure said, gasping slightly for air. 

"Not with what they did, that's the complete opposite of sane. It's a sign that we need to go," The taller male hissed through his clenched teeth, eyes scanning the hallway while carefully dragging away the younger male, minding the injury on the side. “Now. We don’t have much time.” 

“H-hyung—” The younger one stumbled, panic cracking in his voice. “What about the others? We can’t just leave them—!”

“They're gone aegi-ya.” The taller male replied, his voice strained. “We need to keep moving. They’re not them anymore. We all thought we could survive this and even escape all together to go back home...but, it just seems that their immune system wasn't holding up like ours.”

The klaxon alarm continued to howl overhead behind them, then doors hissed open one after another. Inside one containment room, a former technician that the two knew from, slammed himself against the glass, its body convulsing, bones twisted and warped into grotesque, soon followed by a few more that was in the same state of the former. 

The younger one stumbled but strong arms managed to catch him before he fell, quickly dragged him over and piggy backing him instead. "Hyung..."

“We will make it out alive and escape this place okay? Even with just the two of us.” The taller whispered, voice shaking slightly but his protective instincts kicked in as he adjusted the weight on his back properly. “I promised you this before.” They crashed through an emergency exit, running into the woods. The sound of guttural screeches echoed behind them. Somewhere nearby, something inhuman was already chasing the scent of blood.

~ ~ ~

THE DAY IT ALL BEGAN, 2:16 PM — Downtown City

The car idled in sluggish traffic, its engine humming like a restless heartbeat. Rain drops lightly against the wind shield and the side windows, crippling down the screen. 

"Man... this traffic's ridiculous," Hongjoong muttered, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as the traffic light ahead flickered red again for the third time since they had been stuck in the same lane. Yeosang, sitting in the back seat, didn’t respond nor react. His gaze remained glued to the window, brows furrowed at the sight of traffic congestion that was unusual though not uncommon at the same time. 

Mingi shifted in the passenger seat, checking his phone again as he sighed in frustration. “It’s almost been half an hour and we’re still stuck in this one lane.” he mumbled in annoyance. “Could have walked there instead.”

“And hear you complaining about having to walk? Not a chance. The last time we walked, Yeosangie had to carry you about half way. And don't say it was because of your shoes as well, you knew we were walking uphill.” Hongjoong joked, earning a huffed laugh from the back.

“Only Mingi-ya could say something like that and whine immediately after.” Yeosang stated in agreement, which caused a small whined reaction from Mingi as he jokingly nudged back at Yeosang, before turning his attention back to his phone.

"The reception’s down again. Can’t even load the map properly." He muttered while trying to refresh his screen, the silence took over the moment again for a bit, before something from the far side caught Yeosang’s attention when his eyes skimmed through the window. 

"I think the signal not working should be our least of our worries," Yeosang finally spoke, voice low as he lifted his finger to point where he was staring at. "But there’s a group of people sprinting...barefoot? From that alley—"

Before Yeosang could even finish his sentence. 

A woman's scream sliced through the air, sharp enough to turn every head walking along the footpaths and to those inside the cars. Another car up ahead reversed sharply into a hydrant. A man staggered out of the crowd, blood streaked across his chin, his eyes wild that definitely looked not normal, then he pounced onto a cyclist trying to get away, teeth sinking into their neck, blood pouring out as skin breaks.

Yeosang jolted in horror at the sight, Mingi’s mouth dropped open and even mumbled a few curses under his breath, Hongjoong on the other hand, cursed out loud, gripping the wheel. "What the f*ck is that? That’s a f*cking zombie... that's—"

"Hyung, drive now," Yeosang said quickly, adjusting his seatbelt.

“What about—"

"Just drive, now!"

Hongjoong floored the gas, bumping the car off the sidecurb and into a nearby pedestrian street that luckily had a clear path enough for the car to drive through. The crunch of concrete under the tires shook the frame. Shouts erupted behind them as people began screaming in earnest, even more now started pouring out from alleys, roads, inside shops, and train exits, all running all in panic.

All of them were running from something terrifying.

~ ~ ~

2:17 PM — Public Transit, Sector 3

The bus was very crowded and almost humid due to passengers standing almost back to back in the vehicle. Warm with the smell of rain damp coats and murmured complaints.

Seonghwa leaned against the pole to secure his spot and steadiness, earbuds in to lock out the murmurs of the other passengers, face tilted toward the window in a slight daze. His thumb hovered over a group chat notification regarding an upcoming project due soon, which he secretly dreads since one group member out of the five of them, was not even putting in a piece of effort in this project that was worth half of their grade.

I swear I will actually pull them out of this group myself the next time they pull a ridiculous excuse...

The young male was trying to listen peacefully to his playlist to avoid stirring up his brain being stuck on his project, yet he couldn’t help but see from the corners of his eyes that the majority of the passengers were fidgeting to get up or were even looking out at something which he couldn’t see due to the windows being blocked by people.

However, what he couldn’t block out was the screaming even with his earbuds in. It was only just one voice first, then another, then slow that turned into a dozen. The bus skidded to a sudden stop, making the passengers inside jolted forward. Outside, people were either running straight past the transportation in panic or people were pounding on the bus doors. Though that wasn’t what surprised them, it was what they were seeing that was unusual.

Bloody hands. All smearing after each clash of hands desperately trying to get into the bus or open the door in, all shouting in help. One woman smashed her face straight into the glass, snarling. A child next to Seonghwa screamed, then followed by many others repeating the same reaction.

“There’s blood! They're biting people! They’re—!”

The outside sight soon changed into a blood bath, as ‘other people’ ran by and jumped some who were calling for help. A man on the bus tried to open the door for some reason. Seonghwa shouted at him. "Don’t—! You'll get us all killed!"

But the doors slid open anyway and with them came it. Something that used to be human. Its eyes locked with the person right in front before lunging onto the man, mouth wide open and bit down on the man’s flesh. The man screamed out bloody murder.

That’s when chaos erupted fully after.

Screams all echoed high in the bus as more of the zombies started forcing themselves into the bus now that it was opened, Seonghwa managed to barely dodge some pushing hands as the zombie latched onto an unfortunate victim. More zombies tried to crash their way into the bus entrance and Seonghwa didn’t hesitate. He shoved through the emergency exit, scraping his shoulder on the latch while pulling himself up as he dropped into the street space that wasn’t invested with zombies. 

The screaming behind him melted into the background as his feet hit the pavement. And he ran the fastest he had ever done in his life, not even daring to look back.

~ ~ ~

2:20 PM — Platform B, Train Station

“Where the hell is this guy. He said five more minutes…Did he get lost or something?” Wooyoung checked his phone again, waiting for some update from his friend he was supposed to meet for lunch, but his friend was no way in sight yet even after the last message that he was five minutes away. 

“If he doesn’t get here any time soon, I will actually bite him in revenge, I swear.”

The platform felt colder than usual as well, maybe due to the slight cold rainy weather outside. He rubbed his arms, bouncing slightly on his feet with almost light irritation in his step, unaware of the girl pacing near the stairwell, about to skip up the stairs of the escalator... until she froze in her step, staggered a bit back with her eyes widened in terror.

Until she screamed out. Attracting some attention to her, then the screaming slowly continued like domino as did the man behind her started shouting out. 

And then—

Something fell down the escalator from above, surprisingly not knocking down those who were present on the escalators. But everyone was deeply focused on the twisted body that fell, its mouth frothing as it tumbles down to the platform floor in front of the passerbys who all looked surprised and some concerned that they stepped up to help. However, some of the people barely even registered anything wrong until the twisted body sprung up in an abnormal way to be considered hurt, pouncing immediately onto the closest person, sinking its teeth into the person tourist before a pool of red splattered fast across the platform concrete.

Wooyoung stood frozen in his spot. "What the actual f-" His eyes dragging over the scene a bit too long then he wanted, but his instinct kicked in once he hears multiple people quickly move away from the scene once they saw the bitten was also acting out. 

“Everyone! Move out of the way now!” Someone yelled out within the crowd. 

Wooyoung ducked under the railing he was previously resting on, grabbed his bag, and bolted through a maintenance tunnel with others running as well on his side, front and behind, all pressing or even bumping into him as they all tried to move. The lights flickered through the tunnel almost like a horror movie. The growls continued to echo through the end of the tunnel.

~ ~ ~

2:29 PM — Downtown neighbourhood 

Upbeat music blasted in his headphones as San hummed along with the rhythm, his steps having a bit of a kick to them as he strolls along a familiar footstep he had taken multiple times before, mind blank as he just enjoys the afternoon breeze. Enjoying the small freedom he has before having to go back to work. Thinking about his parents and how they’ve been back home in Namhae along with his older sister and his adorable cat Byeol.

I miss my pretty princess Byeol... 

Walking along the suburban footpath, he didn’t hear the first scream nor the second that came after. But he noticed the third when some people ran past him, his feet stopped when his eyes caught the panic in their actions but he couldn't even ask what was wrong as they had already ran off. San pulled his headphones off, blinking in slight confusion.

Up ahead, people were running across the street in absolute panic and chaos from behind and the side of him. When turning around to see what was causing the panic, San now knew why they were running.

People….or what used to be that before, were dashing towards him. Some with torn clothes, fabric scratched and ripped, some had broken limbs and bones bent at odd angles that made Sans stomach drop. One had a jaw that was missing while another looked as if its head was bashed into. 

A woman tripped and fell as a zombie pounced on her. San’s body moved before he could think. He lunged forward, yanking the zombie off her and kicking it hard enough to send it skidding across the ground. San was already crouching down beside the woman as he ignored the figure he had just kicked off. 

“Are you okay miss?” He asked, slight concern washing over his face.

But she didn’t answer when she looked at him, instead she was hyperventilating, sharp and wet gasps, blood sliding down her shoulder in thick streaks. This sight panicked San slightly as his hands were hovering above her figure yet that’s when he saw it.

The way her face shifted, something in her face was acting out like she was in pain. San slowly stepped back as the woman’s body twisted, bones snapping with sickening pops yet she still moved before she lunged at San. Fear slammed San the hardest as he quickly pushed back at the woman before he turned away and vaulted over a fence into someone's yard, the music still echoing from his dangling headphones but that wasn’t on his mind or priority right now.

“What the hell—?” His voice cracked as he kept running. “What the f*ck is happening?!” He tripped, fell hard against the grass.

When he looked back, something was at the fence, growling and staring right at him.

~ ~ ~

2:33 PM — City

Hongjoong’s car veered onto a narrow side street, barely missing a lamppost and other running citizens. Sirens wailed in the distance, more civilians running for their lives while getting chased after, some buildings started to catch on fire as well. 

“Watch it! F*cking watch it! Hyung!” Mingi shouted, grabbing the handle by his side above, clearly stressed out though he doesn’t know whether it was from the current situation they are in or by his hyung’s reckless driving that might drive him to have an early heart attack. 

Yeosang on the other hand, was keeping a more level headed reaction though his hands were gripping tightly onto the front two seats, mostly in fear that they could actually crash, his eyes squinted ahead. “Wait! Hongjoong-hyung, stop! You’re gonna actually run someone over!”

As soon as Yeosang said that, a figure bolted across the road they were on. Hongjoong saw this and his foot slammed on the brake just in time to avoid hitting the person, just barely touching him at most. The figure stumbled back a bit at the sudden appearance of a car. The trio inside the car were breathing heavily at the sudden stop.

“Who the f*ck is that?! He’s not a zombie right!?” Hongjoong yelled out unconsciously, still a bit under adrenaline.

“Wait-wait a minute, that’s Seonghwa-hyung! He’s my friend!” Mingi yelled, pressing down on a button to open the window. “Seonghwa-hyung! Get in here!”

The older man looked half-crazed, rain splattered across his face. His hands trembled, but when he saw a very familiar person, he exhaled sharply. “Mingi-ah?! What the hell?! How—what is happening?!”

“Get in!” Hongjoong shouted from the driver’s window. “Now! We don’t have time—!”

Seonghwa, breaking out of his daze, quickly rushed to the side of the car, managing to climb in beside Yeosang at the back, slamming the door shut just as something hit the rear window and the car’s tires made sounds in a rushed exit. A blood-covered stranger, face distorted and hands clawing at the windows and car door yet Hongjoong was fast enough to quickly break out of that area with his reckless yet quick driving.

"Hyung! You're either saving us or trying to make us sick!" Mingi shouted as he tries to keep himself in his seat as the car runs fast. Yeosang’s hands were still rested on the two front seats though his eyes were on the emergency metal bat hidden in the lower front. Seonghwa held on tightly behind Hongjoong's seat, his eyes shut tightly. 

They were all thinking the same thing. 

The world was ending.